Pioneer on the Internet – Sean Gursky

Like millions of fellow Canadians I enjoyed watching the 2010 Olympics from Vancouver. It was a fantastic seventeen days and I was able to see a lot of memorable moments play out live. I am going to miss switching between three Canadian networks and one American to get complete coverage and regardless of the day or time you knew something from the Olympics would be on.

One thing I am going to miss the most is the commercials. Advertisement is a necessary evil but I never felt one commercial overly annoyed me, even when played repeatedly. Some commercials still managed to excite me, get my blood racing and induce goosebumps. If you were lucky enough you would see the longer version of a commercial and feel a new surge of emotions all over again.

Here are some of my favorites from February:

Molson Canadian – Made From Canada (YouTube – 1:00)
It has great shots of Canada, inspirational words and as the commercial comes to a close you hear the powerful and always motivating music from Clint Mansell. I saw this commercial several times while I had a MGD in hand and felt a little guilt.

Visa – Go World
The “Go World” campaign was amazing. The commercials would change based on current events (like when Canada won its first gold, YouTube – 0:32) and as the medals accumulated the first names of the athletes would be added into the commercial. These were never dull and even after seeing the Dan Jensen (YouTube – 0:30) or Sara Renner (YouTube – 0:32) ad spots multiple times I still got emotional over it.

More TV spots available at YouTube or on their Facebook page.

Coca Cola – Whose Game They’re Playing
The first time I saw the “Whose Game They’re Playing” (YouTube – 1:02) commercial was in a movie theater in January and the way I felt then is how I felt all the way through February. It’s a great commercial, one that would always force me stop what I was doing and watch.

I have noticed that video montages have been appearing on networks as the Olympics came to an end, but one that really stands out was Stephen Brunt’s emotional discussion about being Canadian and celebrating as a nation. Even after multiple viewings it’s still good.

Thanks Olympics for giving us Canadians something to feel and cheer about, it’s been a fantastic seventeen days.

Will next season start with them landing at LAX successfully or has all of this happened before and will continue to happen?

I wrote that on May 14, 2009 and for the last 265 days I have continued to think about it, understand how it all connects and patiently wait for the last eight and a half months.

I have continued my MSN profile tribute, which has been running since before the start of season five and will continue with it through the remainder of season six. May seems like such a long time ago, and here I am, hours away from the wait being over. It feels like it has gone by fast, and other times it has dragged on.

Tonight will be the last Lost premiere. The last chance for a new curve ball to be thrown. The last time the season can open on a new eye and a new piece of the puzzle to be introduced. Tonight is the last time I order Hawaiian pizza for the premiere. Tonight, it is finally tonight. I am almost in disbelief that this moment has finally come.

It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress. (Jacob from The Incident)

Life goes on and sometimes the blog gets left behind.

The Christmas break for TV shows has started to kick in. Some shows (FlashForward, V) may not return until after the Olympics, others will begin again in January, but this quiet is the calm before the storm. It will give me a chance to re-watch season five of Lost and prepare for the final season in February.

Details about the sixth season are very accessible. Casting spoilers can appear in an interview for TV Guide or in a not-Lost related article. With just over fifty days to go it is easy to cave and read the smallest detail, but I want to go into February with as much unknown as possible.

To pass the time a little easier and get excited for the upcoming season I have spent a lot of time watching fan made Lost trailers. In Preparation for Season 6 is some of the best fan work I have seen on any trailer. Keeping in ABC fashion (where no new footage is shown in previews) these videos do a great job of building up certain elements of the show.

Blue Skies Over Bad Lands
Sadly the giant black hole that appeared over Norway turned out to be nothing more than the Russians testing a missile out at water. The photos from this entertained the alien geek in all of us and fueled the what if conversation a little bit more.

Tube Steak Challenge
A long overdue update wouldn’t be without an increase to the Tube Steak Challenge. Thanks to my nieces second birthday I was able to add three more to the drive to fifty-two.

On the Edmonton Journal website today I saw an article about the new arena increasing property values. The text didn’t grab my attention as much as the concept of the arena.

I immediately thought of one thing; the new Apple Magic Mouse!

Way to go team, way to go.

To me there are two types of TV: When Lost is on, and when Lost isn’t on.

Unfortunately we sit in that eight month void when Lost is not on, but I am able to get by with the new fall programming on the networks. My weekly viewing routine has stayed the same as last year, but with a few slight changes.

30 Rock and Community join my ‘watch immediately’ category. I was able to catch up on 30 Rock over the summer months and have been happy to add this to my weekly programming. After going through the series in a matter of weeks I was really satisfied and glad to finally catch up on a show that has been dominating the Emmy’s for the last few years.

Community was a leap of faith and it has paid off in a big way. The pilot was made available for online viewing prior to its network premiere so I had read a bit of chatter about from those in TV IV and thought it would be worth looking into. It had a slow start and I was doubtful if I would stick with it, but after a third of its season I look forward to Thursday’s when I can see this in the NBC comedy sandwich.

During the summer months we also caught up on Entourage and Weeds. After seeing bits and pieces of Deadliest Catch we tuned in for its complete season on Discovery and love every moment of it. We can say that we have seen Deadliest Catch in four separate countries, a show none other can claim.

A surprise addition to my schedule came when I had some time in September to watch both seasons of True Blood. After you binge on a show there is always some separation anxiety, but after finishing True Blood I was in a rough spot. I haven’t felt this kind of withdrawal from a TV show since Dexter. Even now I still miss it, and the wait for its return next summer is made easier knowing that Lost stands between me and the return to Bon Temps.

There Goes My Hiro

It has been almost a year since I saw my last episode of Heroes. This time off was not intentional, we just never got around to watching the remainder of season three after its mid-season break. As the months went on we had stock piled enough episodes to binge properly we just never returned.

We continued to put it off in favor of some other time, and when Buffy and Angel occupied our summer we fell further away from Heroes.

Now season four is off and running and with nearly twenty episodes to catch up on our motivation and enthusiasm about returning to a show that has betrayed us was growing thin and I finally made things official and bid farewell to Heroes.

I have never quit a show during its run. Shows have been cancelled on me (Daybreak) while I was watching and others came to an end (Battlestar Galactica, ER); but I have not stopped mid-season on a show before. Abandoning a show I have invested many hours in was a difficult choice, but it was oddly liberating to no longer have Heroes hanging above me.

“What I did on my summer vacation” by Sean Gursky

This past summer, Jenna and I spent some quality time watching a TV show. Our television summer hiatus included watching two shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Two shows is a small number, but these two shows comprised of twelve seasons, had 254 episodes between them and it consumed four months of our time.

The Whedon vempire (vampire empire) was cheesy, fun and a good way to make the gap between new television. When Angel became its own series we watched the shows the way they were meant to be watched, meaning we were true to the air dates of the shows and watched them in the order they aired. This made any character or story cross overs a little more enjoyable. Oz would leave Sunnydale and then appear in LA, or when it involved a major reveal like Drusilia or Darla going from one show to the other, or Faith crossing between Los Angeles and Sunnydale it was a great payoff. I wish they would have utilized that more because when it happened it was fun television.

Trying to review these shows is tough, each had such strong high’s and such terrible low’s. We were warned about season one of Buffy, and it’s a good thing because if we didn’t know it would improve our enthusiasm to continue would have been lower than a snake pit that frat boys worship in their basement. One thing I did appreciate was that even if an episode was weak it would be referenced later (usually in jest) or they would go back to a character that was introduced (Ms. Calendar).

I have always read about Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog and Dollhouse being Whedeonesque but I never appreciated that until Buffy. There is a definite character and language style about Whedon shows. It was a common occurrence that a serious episode would end on a one liner from Xander. Or there would be one extra beat too many after a line and credits would roll. It was common that there would be throw away lines that were awkward and didn’t fit, but it was Whedon’s trademark coming through.

Buffy was our favorite series of the two, and some of the best episodes I have ever seen came from Buffy. Episodes like Passion, The Body, Hush or The Gift were amazing. They were what kept us coming back for more, hoping for repeat perfection. The seasons started to blend together but I was a big fan of two through five. When season five started I was against it completely because they blindsided the audience with the introduction of Dawn.

After you grudgingly started to accept her appearance they explain how she is The Key and the season takes a staggering turn for awesome. The finale of season five was amazing. It was the perfect series ender, and even though season six was strong (Buffy struggling with being brought back could have been a nice parallel for how the show felt about being brought back from cancellation), it was too fitting of an end.

My favorite character of the two shows was Wesley. When he appeared in Buffy he was a bumbling, awkward and terrible Watcher. Giles slapped him around and after Faith went rogue he crumbled, packed up his life and went to LA where he became awesome. The transition was slow, and not without character torment. As Angel progressed Wesley came into his own with interesting story arch’s, and had several seasons of him struggling against Angel, Gunn and Fred.

She wasn’t my favorite character, but Cordellia’s transition between Buffy and Angel was amazing. In Buffy she was an annoying cheerleader that toyed with the emotions of others. When she showed up in LA she had a purpose and provided something to the team. She became compassionate and was doing things with the interest of others at heart. Her story became a little too much for us to enjoy around season four but her transition from boring to brave was good while it lasted.

It’s odd, but when we were watching Angel we wanted more Buffy, and when we were watching Buffy we wanted more Angel. We found the best experience was when Angel and Buffy shared an episode or story line (before the Angel spin off). When Angel got his own show the mystique around him was lost and the hiding in corners Angel character from Buffy had gone. I did enjoy that Angel became this caricature and instead of shying away from it they would play it up, especially in episodes like Smile Time.

However, I did enjoy the back story of Angel. There weren’t many episodes that went to his past but there was always enough to give new information on his character. There was always enough Drusilia or Darla but those two became my favorite b-characters. Drusilia never changed, she was always a star gazing, wide eyed doe and I liked her for that. Her occasional growls to Spike or lines like “I’m going to be a mummy” always kept me amused.

After much encouragement from Tracey to watch these shows I am glad we took the time to get through them, and maybe years from now we will go down this road again but for now we will let students transformed into hyena’s lie and concentrate on fresh TV in the 2009-2010 schedule.

I kind of love Battlestar Galactica. Don’t let my low post count on the topic of the show deceive you, this new version of seagurs has a fraction of what I had written before. Even though the show ended 133 days ago that won’t stop me from writing about it again, or when The Plan is released.

After the show ended in March rumors began about what the complete series would be like, when it would be released and what special features would be included. Information was slow to come out, but little by little an idea of how it would all look began to form. Soon box art and a release date was announced. I debated about whether I needed a box set of something I already owned 90% of own DVD, but I am a consumer whore and caved.

Even though the cost was high, I justified it to myself by believing this was reasonable value for a complete series on BluRay. I did not regret my decision, however, I did wonder if it was worth while. I read about what was included in this complete series and felt more confident in this purchase.

Yesterday the series was delivered to me and all concerns I had were washed away; it is gorgeous. This weekend I plan on spending many hours watching the extended Daybreak finale, special features and watching my favorite moments (Exodus Pt. 2 and Crossroads Pt. 2 come to mind) in glorious high definition and digital sound.

So say we all.

A few weeks ago the television season drew to a close, however with another binge of Battlestar Galactica and other things taking precedence I was unable to complete all of the May finales until recently. September seems so long ago, a fresh season of possibilities is now ready for critiquing. I could talk about any of the following shows ad nauseum so I will try to keep this brief.

Monday Night
Chuck: My leader of Monday night programming. There were some stunts this year (the 3D episode and large guest stars) that may not have worked as well as originally hoped, but that did not take away from a really solid sophomore season. The story progressed nicely, there was the right blend of cheesiness and humor and there was a definite story arc determined in the beginning and stuck to right through the end. This show has given me plenty of laughs and entertainment and I am extremely happy to welcome Chuck back again for a third season.

How I Met Your Mother: If Chuck had not been as solid this year HIMYM would have taken top ranks for Monday programming. Still, this year was not without its flaws. While Sarah Chalke is a fun actress her Stella character was a low point in the season. The show has dipped and dived around the ‘who is the Mother’ arc with some interesting b-stories (Robin and Barney) but it was always in the background. This season finally delivered on the goat, which has been teased about since the beginning. Next to debating when the next slap will occur this left me really satisfied.

The Big Bang Theory: A consistently enjoyable show. It was always a reliable choice on an otherwise busy Monday of programming. Thinking back on the year that was I am not sure I could define one main plot point. There was relationship tension between Penny and Leonard, but everything seemed to be a stand-alone story. The laugh track can be a bit extreme for some viewers but don’t let that spoil what is an otherwise smart and cute story.

24: I groan when I think of what I sat through with season six of 24. On the roller coaster ride of this series season six was the lowest point. The writers strike was a blessing in disguise as it gave more time to develop the season seven story, craft Redemption to be a nice lead-in for the season. The tension level was high to start the season but slowly lost momentum. It was good TV but I was never as fixed to the TV craving the next episode as I have in the past with the series. I may put 24 into exile next season.

Heroes: I stopped watching after the third Chapter break, or the mid point in season three. I have put this series in limbo and will watch the most recent episodes during the summer time. This is the equivalent of a show being put in purgatory, it could return from it, or it could disappear forever if I am not impressed.

Tuesday Night
Fringe: I have a love/hate relationship with this show. There have been some strong story arcs, but they would be intermixed with stand alone episodes that did not further the overall plot. Having watched the pilot last summer I feel like I have been watching this show for years and to think it has only been a single season is surprising. I want to like this show, I am excited for the mythology they have created but it is not addressed the same way the mysteries in Lost was set up and I find my interest fluctuates.

Wednesday Night
Lost: The highlight of my television week. When Lost and Battlestar Galactica were on at the same time I was a happy person. This season has been extremely well done, a lot happened in this short season and the set up for the final season is huge. This show will always be my favorite regardless of what else airs that week, I just have to wait until January to feel that way again.

Scrubs: I love Scrubs. We have had some great moments, but the last few seasons have been mediocre in quality and I was prepared for this season on ABC to be its last. The stories had an improvement, the lighting was turned down and the fantasy sequences were less outrageous. The final minutes of the season were a perfect series finale, and now that there is talk of bringing the crew back for another season I feel incredibly torn and not sure I will add it to my television line up.

Thursday Night
The Office: A reliable choice on Thursday’s, easily the highlight of the day. This show is easy to get into and you can lose yourself in that half hour laughing through most of it. I enjoyed the Michael Scott Paper Company arc and am pleased to see some development with Jim and Pam.

ER: I was glad to have been with this from the beginning, and its final season was a nice ending. This year had a really good story, past characters being brought back was a nice touch and went out with another busy day at County.

Survivor: Easily digestible television that has been a routine of mine since 2000. I enjoy Survivor for the inter-personal conflicts, the variety of challenges and how I go from hating a character in the beginning to loving them in the end. I have no other investment in this series other than out of habit. I do not need to watch this live, and if I miss a week I can still follow along the following week. This year was enjoyable but not as good as some in recent memories, still I will tune in for the next edition in the fall.

Friday Night
Battlestar Galactica: What more can be said about a show that I have talked about in length on here and have seen each episode four or more times? I loved this show completely, I still enjoy watching episodes and have probably not come to terms with it going off the air. It was an end of week highlight and I have felt my Friday’s a little lacking since March 20th.

Dollhouse: Like Fringe, I am in a love/hate relationship with this show. When asked “Which show should Fox cancel: Dollhouse or Fringe?” my answer changes, likely based on how terrible either episode was the previous week. I am pleased this show will have a second season to continue with the trend that season one finished with, but there is only so much I am will to tolerate Joss; make the next season good or I will have lost all hope. If this show could maintain the quality it showed in the final episodes of season one then this could be a weekly favorite.

Sunday Night
Dexter: That show was on television? A show that has a limited number of episodes that airs at the beginning of the television year could easily be forgotten but many months ago there was another installment of Mr. Morgan and his life as a serial killer. The time has made me forget the good and bad points of the last season but the tension was always at a point of breaking with Miguel, Rita and an endless supply of foes in Miami.

Thanks 2008-2009 television season, you were great and treated me to some amazing moments. See you soon with a new batch of shows to watch.

slashfilm posted:

Michael Emerson, who plays Ben Linus on ABC’s LOST, says that the season finale for Season Five will make you want to eat your soul.

I went into the season five finale of Lost cold. All I saw was a cut off preview after the end of Follow The Leader, but surely not enough to have predicted what would happen last night. Right from the opening you knew this episode was going to be different, and having what Michael Emerson said in the back of my head I was prepared for anything…how naive I was.

It feels like the fifth season just started and now I begin the last eight to nine month wait for the final season to return. Last nights episode was everything I could have hoped for and then some. If you had not seen the finale then turn back now because I will be talking about episode specific things.

The beginning sequence set the tone for the episode with the introduction of the infamous Jacob, and perhaps the Black Rock approaching in the distance. Jacob appearing as a background character in the lives of Oceanic 815, at critical times in their lives was a huge thrill. It almost became a game of ‘guess who the character is’ when you went through a flashback. Jin and Sun’s wedding vows, the “count to five” surgery Jack had always talked about, Kate and Tom getting their memory lunch box, Sawyer’s letter, Nadia’s death; little pieces of history coming together.

The first hour was so packed with plot and development that I was exhausted when it was all over, and then the final hour flew by. Juliet’s death was so much more painful after you see her parents flashback and then the quick (and long overdue) conversation with Rose and Bernard, the incredible reveal of what was in the Ajira 316 cargo box and finally Ben’s rage on Jacob. Everything was coming to a brilliant end, my brain was reeling from the last few minutes. Then, just when you cannot take enough the screen goes white and…

…the ultimate cliffhanger.

Everything about this show is now uncertain. Whatever I had figured out is now rewritten. What is going to happen next? Better yet, what can happen next? Even though 30 years separate the events will the death of Jacob be affected by Juliet setting off the bomb? Or was Miles right and the Incident Jack was trying to prevent was actually him that caused it and nothing will change? Will next season start with them landing at LAX successfully or has all of this happened before and will continue to happen?

Today the countdown starts, I will just close my eyes and count to five. One…

The third, and hopefully, final show that I watch aired its final episode this week. The doctors and nurses of Sacred Heart aired what could have been the series finale for Scrubs on Wednesday. I have been a fan of Scrubs for many seasons. Like most shows I watch over multiple years I was able to see the show start out young, and fresh, and then slowly evolve over time.

Whatever road it went down Scrubs still remained one of my favorite shows to watch. The comical timings were excellent, the dream sequences were outrageous (Turk and JD walking into Sacred Heart as pimps, Luftballons) and had some remarkable jokes (Pancake Drawer, Warrior, Safety Dance, Toto, Moment Killer). I think I reference Scrubs in my day to day conversations more than I realize. Scrubs also had a direct impact on “Pioneer on the Internet” as I adopted the “My” naming convention for posts back in November 2005.

Scrubs is one of the only shows where I have spent hours going through uploaded clips and remembering the good times. Even while finding clips for this post I spent another hour going from one to another, trying to find specific moments or just see what people had thought was worthy of uploading.

Still, for all of the good times there were some low points with the Scrubs franchise. Most fans of the show will agree that the first few seasons were amazing and the quality started to go down around the later seasons. To add insult to injury the show suffered neglect by NBC and was not given proper treatment in its seventh season. The future of Scrubs was in jeopardy and Bill Lawrence (creator) was able to negotiate a move for the show over to ABC and give it the proper ending he felt it deserved.

The season on ABC had a definite change in production, writing and feel. The show returned to a darker lighting, with less focus on trying to outdo past stunt and more on the people and relationships. It was a season that fans could be proud of and remember Scrubs the way it used to be.

Now, the future of an ninth season is to be determined but Zach Braff has decided to leave the show and Bill Lawrence is unsure of his involvement for another season. I have read discussions that the show would continue and focus on the new interns, with some remaining cast to help out. I can see it working, but for me, at least emotionally, Scrubs ended on Wednesday night.

The final episode, appropriately titled “My Finale”, was an emotional and fitting end for the show. Many things were not addressed but it was great closure on several items. The fifty plus guest appearances was a fantastic touch at the end, especially Mrs. Tanner from the epic season one episode My Old Lady.

This series had a healthy mix of relationships, medical drama and comedy. Occasionally the balance would shift but at the core of it all was a fantastic show that is worthy of multiple re-watches or watching for the first time.

Finale five!