TV Shows We Most Look Forward to Watching in 2010!

As Summer begins to slowly wind down, we simply cannot contain our excitement anymore! Yes, Autumn/Fall is here….which means, TV is our best friend again with our favourite shows and new ones coming to our airwaves! Let’s check out which ones MOST excite our TV buff senses…

1. SPOOKS

Oh YES!!! Last series gave us such an explosive finale we could hardly believed our eyes! Replaying the scene of the bomb explosion over and over again just to catch a glimpse of whether Ros (Hermione Norris) escaped or met her horrible fate, was making us near bonkers! We HAD to know but alas, no luck! Worse, after the series ended, Kudos Productions, cast and crew, would not reveal whether Hermione Norris would be returning to the next series! Agent Ros, aka Hermione Norris, is the epitome of COOL on TV! Not only is she gorgeous, she’s cool as a cucumber, cold if she wants to, fit as a fiddle, quick with her body movements (arse-kicking, arm-twisting, neck-breaking, pure tough running) and a wicked sense of humour. She doesn’t shy away from having an acid tongue if she wants to. She’s a hard pill to swallow which makes Ros such an engaging character that viewers of “Spooks” just can’t get enough of. Well, WE can’t get enough of her, so there! And Hermione Norris IS Ros. Period. No one else can pull off this unflinching, unapologetic but eternally fascinating character except Hermione Norris. That’s just a fact.

So, the latest update about the new series is that it will air on BBC sometime in November this year! Unfortunately, we couldn’t get anything out of Helen James Production, who recently filmed the behind-the-scenes footage of the show and obviously had some scoop about Hermione Norris, no matter how hard we pressed on! Oh, brother! Guess we have to wait until the show is ready to put out some teasers, then. Bugger! God Damn!

2. Lip Service

Alright, the creators of this series had us at “British version of The L Word“!! Icing on the cake is the lovely, adorable Laura Fraser, whom we all loved in “Nina’s Heavenly Delights“, who is one of the featured lesbians in this heavily anticipated BBC3 new series! FYI, we all HATED Ilene Chaiken’s “The L Word” as it was trashy, nonsensical, poorly written, exploitative show that catered more toward the mainstream (aka male viewers!)… The stories and characters after Season 1 were so far from reality about lesbian lives that none of us could bear to watch after Season 3, however much we love Jennifer Beals. Needless to say, watching Season 2 and 3 of “The L Word” was more painstakingly torturous than pouring acid into our eye sockets!!! And that’s probably an understatement. There are no words in describing Ilene Chaiken’s fuckeroo state of mind when she overturned a reasonably good 1st season into nothing but rubbish for the rest of the show!

Hence, when BBC3 announced its plan to air “Lip Service” this year with some comments from the creator, Harriet Braun, who wrote for the critically acclaimed serial dramas, “Mistresses” & “Hotel Babylon,” since last year, we were over the moon. We were ecstatic! We were so very excited! At last! A proper series about lesbians (oh yes, we ALWAYS prefer our own British storytelling especially when it comes to character-driven stories!) and instead of the tired Los Angeles scene, we’ll be watching the ladies in action in Scotland – most specifically… Glasgow!! YAY!! LOVE, LOVE Scotland!!! (Shout out to some of our friends in Edinburgh, Stirling and Aberdeen!) And then, who’s producing it? None other than the very COOL Kudos Production who’s given us so many unforgettable, original, exciting serials from “Spooks” and “Hustle” to “Life on Mars” and “Ashes to Ashes.” So nothing will go wrong. That’s a promise. No, we’re no psychics but our hearts and minds are telling us, “Lip Service” is going to KICK “The L Word” all the way to Timbuktu! Yes, that’s how much we loathe the LA-based show! Urgghh…

One of AfterEllen‘s columnists, Great LezBritain, had some scoop about the series since they visited the set last year (we think!) and also recently had a chance to preview the 1st episode of it! Oh, those lucky gals! And nope, they’re keeping mum about it until the air date is around the corner. Bugger!

As if this anticipated show airing in the coming months isn’t enough, BBC3 also teased us with this mini-clip of the series in the beginning of this year! Oh, those sadists at BBC!! If you haven’t seen it, just take a peek…you won’t regret it!

3. Fringe

J. J. Abrams reallly fucked up “Lost” which sucked more and more until its last breath this year (thank God!) since Season 2. So we’re hoping that he and his crew don’t lose interest or focus when Season 3 of Fox’s mind-bending, X-File-ish “Fringe” returns soon. Last season’s finale, we saw the parallel universe of Olive Durnham and Co.’s world, which we were waiting for since the show’s inception 2 years ago! But then we also saw the UN-thinkable, wrong, simply UN-speakable thing that the creators did to the Olivia Durnham and Peter Bishop characters – the no-no romantic hook-up!!! When we saw that, we were like, “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOO!!! WHY??!!!” What’s this obsession of some TV creators/writers wanting to please the freaking viewers?! Tell your story. DO NOT direct your show according to viewers fantasy!!! Honestly. We were “X-Files” fans…naturally. So when we saw quite a few episodes in Season 2 that mirrored (copied) episodes of the classic show, we were disgusted. It’s one thing to pay homage to a show that you look up to but it’s totally a cop-out to just copy the story and modify it a bit! Anyway, back to this horrible, no-no hook-up of the main characters – ok, if you’re copying “X-Files”, why not copy its creators’ absolute loyalty to their own wish to NOT pair up Mulder and Scully romantically despite millions of viewers pleading for that throughout the show’s life UNTIL they knew that they were ending the show?! Really! Even the actors themselves, Joshua Jackson and Anna Torv, were adamant about their characters not getting involved romantically! You see! Once in a while, you know, creators and writers should listen to their actors. This time, both Torv and Jackson are RIGHT! We’ve always seen Olivia and Peter as siblings rather than having any romantic linkage. So, that bit of the season finale really got to our nerves. Some of us were bitching about it for months….well, still are!

But we’re still holding out hope that J. J. Abrams and Co. will twist that bit of “pooh-pooh” storyline so there’s NOT going to be a romance shit happening between the 2 characters which, in our opinion, totally distracts the CORE of the show, which is, FRINGE SCIENCE – quantum mechanics, metaphysics, metapsychology, paranormal activities, the lot. Certainly NOT stupid, viewer fantasy-pandering fuckeroo that is the romantic involvement of the 2 otherwise steadfast, thinking-with-brain-not-heart characters! And PLEASE!! STOP making Walter Bishop such a wet blanket anymore!!! The KEY fascination and interest with this character is that he’s absolutely clueless, a socially inept but hilarious (not on purpose) and a total science genius freak! So, when the writers started making him more “human,” and sensitive, so to speak, it took away that unique personality that Walter had in the beginning. NOT a good idea at all, J. J. and Co.! Don’t do that anymore. Please.

Season 3, BE MORE of a para-, meta-, quantum-physics-like show like Season 1, and LESS of a heavy drama, sensitive, emotional kind of show. If we want to see the latter type, we’d tune in to other better dramas. We tune in to “Fringe” to watch the great paranormal, unexplained, quantum science type of storylines. Parallel universes, psychic abilities, telekinesis, teleportation, reanimation…. all these brilliant phenomenons!!

And lastly….

4. The Good Wife

This CBS series, caught us by surprise. At first, we didn’t watch it. But then we heard about how original and uniquely different it was from other legal, courtroom dramas. So, we decided to give it a try. Lo and behold, we were hooked by the end of the 1st episode! Wow! We never thought the creators and writers could do anything differently than all the countless legal dramas that the US TV had given us all this time. This show, is not only a courtroom, legal drama. It’s much more than that. It’s law. It’s politics. It’s investigative. It’s a woman in her 40s going back to the workplace in the present climate. It’s forbidden love/attraction. It’s playful. It’s flirtatious. It’s seductive. It’s funny. It’s real. It’s all of the above and then some! The cast is brilliant! Our faves have got to be Archie Panjabi who plays this mysterious, flirtatious investigator, Kalinda; Alan Cumming who plays Eli, this sarcastic political strategist/player who’s simply hilarious! (Yes, we’re very partial to Brits and Scots!) Lastly, the deliciously manipulative, vengeful and ambitious young attorney Cary played to perfection by Matt Czuchry. What a cast indeed.

The freshman season ended with a cliffhanger. Very appropriate. We hope the show will expand the political side of the show – which is Chris Noth‘s character, Peter Florrick. And we want to see if Kalinda is or isn’t!! (Snigger!) We want to see this duel now between Alice and Cary; the continued chess game between Peter and Glenn in the political arena.

So, let the Summer end already because we can hardly wait for these brilliant shows!!

— written by TVFilmBuff, for Chatteringmind

Mosque Hysteria at Ground Zero??!

It seems that after 9/11, America has become more and more conservative and exclusive. The growing number of Americans, specifically white Americans, have become more zenophobic and less tolerant of those who look, act or believe in something that they do not. This includes the “R” word that we’ve been hearing so much since Al Qaeda wreaked havoc in the U.S. 9 years ago. Religion. Yes. The battle between Christian America and Muslim America. Yup, we’re talking about these 2 religions in the same country, co-existing. It seems that a lot of Americans truly believe that the 9/11 attacks by Al Qaeda in the name of Islam, is really from the work of Islam. Hence, the birth of Islamaphobia. As a result of Al Qaeda’s hijack of the religion as their means to kill all non-Muslims, Americans see Muslims as potential risks to their own and the country’s safety and security.

Well, with Al Qaeda preaching crazy shit all over the world, with thousands of followers brainwashed into killing themselves and others who don’t so-called “believe”, there’s an argument to be had why people associate Islam as a religion on terror. However, if we just take a step back, start thinking rationally and look at history as it relates to religion. Religion has always been used as a tool of justification by governments, religious fundamentalists and the clergy for the actions they take. By claiming God as the beholder of their actions, they are able to bring people into submission of their decisions, because in the eyes of the believers, God approves of their religiously sanctioned acts, be it good or bad. Just look at the era of the Crusades. They were battles in the name of God. Period. That was then. But guess what, the same thing is happening now. Throughout the history of mankind, the fundamental thing that could bring humanity to its knees has and will always be, religion. Only religion can create endless wars and destruction. Why? It’s the fear of God. Fear that we’d be punished if we don’t obey God’s orders that are made through our so-called leaders, religious leaders.

On the other hand, religion, if treated positively, can be a tool of love, tolerance, understanding and fellowship of mankind. Unfortunately, this side of the religion “coin”, so to speak, is overshadowed by the negative side – the bad, the hate, the fear, the intolerant. It is up to all of us who believe there’s a higher power than us, which we can call God or energy or whichever, to start becoming aware that we are all inter-connected. We are one. Unity.

So, coming back to the issue of this hysteria caused by some right-wing nutjobs deriving from the likes of Sarah Palin, the GOP, the tea party and Fox News, just because of a mosque, which is NOT even going to be located AT Ground Zero, unlike what those eggheads mentioned here have claimed, they’ve made these ridiculous claims and abused people’s fear and lack of understanding. Hence, they’ve created this mass hysteria and controversy in a structure, a building, which so happens to be a mosque! Ooo, scary, right? Nonsense! The mosque is going to be located 2 blocks away from Ground Zero, for crying out loud! And so what IF it was going to be AT Ground Zero? What’s the big deal??! Have these people forgotten about their own Constitution? Whatever happened to freedom of religion?? Do they think that the U.S. Constitution that their forefathers wrote down and agreed to 200+ years ago, only applies to religion that they approve of, hence, excluding the others? So, in their minds, the term “Freedom of Religion” has an exception, that is, freedom of religion for all EXCEPT if the religion happens to be…Islam?? What IS that?!

Mayor Bloomberg’s speech was spot-on. If America bows down to fear, even fear of a mosque (God forbid!), then the bad guys win. Those bad guys who use Islam as their defence mechanism for all things destructive that they throw onto others. Those are NOT real believers of the Islam faith. Those are “false prophets”, so to speak. Just like the nutjobs who use Christianity as the tool to hate, kill and discriminate against their fellow human beings just because they’re gay or if they support abortion rights. Those, like the Islamic terrorists, are in this instance, Christian terrorists! But to make my point pure and simple, people who terrorise others are terrorists regardless of religion or beliefs. Period. So, aren’t Sarah Palin, the tea party, the GOP and Fox News playing into these terrorists’ hands by instilling fear and hysteria among New Yorkers and Americans who aren’t already feeling jumpy these days?! Are they trying to create a bigger rift between Muslims and non-Muslims in America? Are they indirectly telling America that it’s ok if you’re a Christian or any other religion, so long as it’s not Islam?

All in all, we’re seeing the political meltdown in the U.S. ever since Barack Obama became President. The rise of conservative fundamentalism will continue to a point where we see history repeating itself for the umpteenth time in the U.S. – the era of McCarthyism (every dissident was hailed as a Commy, guilty by association) and civil rights movement. America is now at the crossroads…once again. Americans MUST rise up and protect the U.S. Constitution from these groups who call themselves Americans. Otherwise, guess what, these groups – the fringe right, the religious fundamentalists, the conservative fundamentalists – win.

– written by Netizen, for Chatteringmind

There IS Justice in California After All – Prop 8 Ruled UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

On Aug 4^th 2010, California’s controversial Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional by U.S. District Court judge Vaughn Walker. Everyone who had been fighting against Proposition 8 since it was passed on November 4^th 2008 rejoiced. It was a day of reckoning for all who support gay marriage, gay rights, as victory was handed back to them again… well-deservingly.

Gay rights including gay marriage, is a right that can’t be voted on. If rights had to be voted on, then we wouldn’t have civil rights, women’s rights, pay equality, the whole nine yards. Governments are elected not to become the cheerleaders of the majority but to protect ALL of their citizens. As former PM Jean Chretien said when Canada was the 1st country in the Americas to allow gay marriage in 2005 (technically Canada, through Ontario province, was the 1st country in the world to allow gay marriage when it passed in Jan 2001 in Toronto!), “The role of the Government is to protect the minority against the will of the majority.”

Another thing about the debate of same-sex marriage is the separation of church and state. The proponents of Proposition 8 keep bringing up religion as the fundamental factor for discriminating against LGBT and gay marriage. Have they forgotten about the U.S. Constitution? That there’s a separation of church and state?? Are they implying that they want the U.S. to become a religion state? Hmm..that reminds me of…get ready for this…The Islamic Republic of Iran… or The Islamic Republic of Pakistan… or The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan… all of which are in a state of human rights disgrace as a result of the “R” word – RELIGION! Do these American religious crackpots want the country to become a religious state? If so, then I hope the supporters of a secular state strike them down hard so they won’t be able to even think of questioning and fighting to make America the United Christian States of America! God forbid! No pun intended.

So, while country after country regardless of religion (c’mon, Catholic countries like Spain, Portugal, Argentina?!), EVEN a developing country like South Africa, is moving toward societal progress in terms of giving equal rights to LGBT, the U.S. on the other hand, who is supposedly THE model democratic country and leader, is still stuck in the mud of backward, religious fundamentalism that continues to fuel hatred, bigotry and fear!

So, Judge Walker’s duly made ruling in striking down the horrendously discriminatory and bigoted Proposition 8 is a big welcome celebration, not only to Californians but to the rest of the U.S. and the world! California has always been seen as the bedrock of liberalism and open-mindedness in the eyes of the outside world – largely due to the influence of Hollywood. But when Proposition 8 was passed almost 2 years ago, everyone in the world was shocked – shocked that the land of Hollywood which was always seen as championing (or so it seemed!) human rights, progressive thinking and equality, could actually voted for this piece of crap! Then everyone saw the hypocrisy and the schizophrenic nature of Hollywood and its so-called big influence. If Hollywood had wanted to help to destroy this piece of hateful legislation, it could have very easily done so. C’mon, the amount of $$ that the industry has is enough to buy up the entire country for that matter.

But it’s all water under the bridge for everyone who’s been fighting Proposition 8, I guess. Hopefully, the appeal from the Proposition 8 proponents, the religious fundamentalists, will NOT prevail but that this ruling will force the country to face up to this inevitable human right once and for all – all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court…

I’m holding out hope for the U.S. as the next country to allow gay marriage. Until then, BRAVO, CONGRATS to ALL Californians and Americans who’ve been fighting for gay rights and against Proposition 8! This victory is only the beginning. There’s a long way ahead so plough on, supporters of civil rights and gay rights in America!

This victory, in my opinion, is largely credited to 2 legal eagles whom we can easily sum up as the most unlikely partners in bringing this case to the U.S. District Court – former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson and David Boies – 2 attorneys who argued on opposite sides of the Bush vs. Gore election case in 2000! A project of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, both gentlemen united to file a lawsuit on behalf of two same-sex couples who were denied marriage licences because of Proposition 8 in the U.S. District Court in California. Olson and Boies are from either side of the political aisle. But kudos to them in presenting clearly right from the get-go that fighting Proposition 8 was neither a conservative nor liberal issue. It was and will always be a civil right issue. And American value issue. In my opinion, these 2 attorneys are the true heroes of the gay rights struggle.

Meanwhile, for those of you who may not have seen MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann’s impassioned Special Comment that he made right after California passed Proposition 8 at the same time as the U.S. elected Barack Obama as the President on November 4^th 2008, Olbermann appropriately re-aired it on the night when Judge Walker tossed out Proposition 8 on August 4^th 2010. Here is the classic, memorable and unforgettable video clip:

Also, if you haven’t read Judge Walker’s final and full ruling, you simply must. The 136-page ruling is a novel-like page-turner! I guarantee you that you will not regret reading it! Judge Walker truly knocked one out of the ballpark with his clear, concise and articulate points in his ruling. You can download here

— written by Netizen, for Chatteringmind