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Headed Off the Cliff
2006-11-01 22:10
by Jon Weisman

So after next week's episode, as many of you know, ABC pulls Lost off the air until February, replacing it with Day Break, which through all its commercials looks like the answer to the question, "What if we decided to take the very popular movie, Groundhog Day, and remake it in the most uninspiring way possible?"

Though I might be a little wrong, there's a good chance that I'm quite sufficiently right. Now, in the Wednesday 9 p.m. timeslot, Lost has already been shedding viewers to CBS' Criminal Minds, which is fine - the core audience of Lost is sufficient to keep the cheeseburgers coming to the island. However, Day Break figures to practically beg ABC viewers to sample other programming (in addition to getting Barry Manilow stuck in my head). ABC may well be living its own recurring nightmare in the timeslot soon enough, and I am more than a little curious how the folks at the network will weather it. Maybe they, like Phil Connors, will only escape by learning to truly love all their fellow man.

As for Lost, tonight's episode intrigued me, touched me and saddened me, and not because of the ongoing realization that there just weren't enough ugly people on the doomed flight. (To think Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro are coming off the bench - now that's a deep roster. If only Lost could figure out how to intergrate them into the flow a little better.) As an actor, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has my ever-loving heart. The guy is just a hammer.

Comments
2006-11-01 23:03:40
1.   D4P
Greg Brock tipped me off to the big TV news. This is a bummer.

In the "Fall Preview" article in the September 25, 2006 issue of ESPN Magazine, the Sklars announced that "after 77 episodes, we're bringing Cheap Seats to a close by cleaning out our video closet in a very special series finale." Scheduled to air November 20, the finale will include racquetball, amateur bowling, curling, model airplane racing, and ping-pong. The episode also features an appearance by New York Yankees outfielder and Cheap Seats fan Johnny Damon.

2006-11-01 23:04:40
2.   Bob Timmermann
I didn't even realize that "Criminal Minds" got renewed.

RIP, Mr. Eko. I hope that someone forgives you. Too bad you didn't get to finish your church.

2006-11-01 23:34:09
3.   4444
Re: groundhog/day break

- I rewatched Groundhog Day a few months back. It was probably the first time I had seen it since 2000 or so. That movie holds up really well.

- I caught one of the many commercials on abc for Day Break this past weekend, and saw that the best looking girl from my high school, Moon Bloodgood, is opposite Taye Diggs in a starring role. It was impossible to resist making a note (since directv's schedule only goes out 2 weeks) to set the tivo for what will most likely be an "eh" program.

(What a male.)

2006-11-02 01:15:42
4.   Benaiah
You got that right. It is nuts that the show essentially just has perfect 10s lounging around waiting for a permanently-unable-to-perform on one of the stars that necessitates a call up to the show.

At this point the sole representative of the tail section is Bernard, hardly a major character. Considering that everyone that has been killed off lately has been from the back of the plane it seems that JJ and Co must have decided to wipe the petrie dish clean of that particular experiment. In Season 5 will the last Other be killed off as Jack, Kate and Sawyer battle UFOs and Samurai warriors? Stay tuned I guess. RIP Eko, I would have killed off half the cast (Charlie and Claire spring to mind immediately) before you.

2006-11-02 08:15:40
5.   DXMachina
I think Bernard will be fine as long as Sam Anderson manages to avoid getting stopped for DWI.
2006-11-02 09:21:05
6.   Bob Timmermann
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was just pulled over for not having an American driver's license wasn't he? Or was he another DUI?

I have high hopes for next week. I don't seem to be as frustrated with the show as other people are, including my girlfriend, who got me to watch the show, but has now given up on it because she found the plot too frustrating.

2006-11-02 09:32:49
7.   Jon Weisman
I am not frustrated at all. I will admit that I'm somewhat feeling carried along at this point - I don't keep track of details and have no idea where the mystery is taking me, but I find each individual episode so interesting that I just enjoy the ride.

I could be wrong, but my sense is that the people who are frustrated are the people who want answers - the number of answers they are given are never enough. Or, they just are cynical about the show's ability to deliver compelling resolutions. I don't feel that way.

2006-11-02 10:10:05
8.   mintxcore
4

remember, Bernard was actually seated in the front near Jack (and Rose). He was only in the tail section because he was visiting the bathroom.....

2006-11-02 10:11:01
9.   DXMachina
6 - Yes, you're right. I misread it. He was pulled over for speeding, and they found he didn't have a valid license.
2006-11-02 10:50:22
10.   Bob Timmermann
My girlfriend always wants the endings spoiled for her for any movie or TV show. So I would have to think that "Lost" is frustrating her because of that.

I've adopted the Weisman policy of avoiding watching previews of shows now.

2006-11-02 10:54:08
11.   Jon Weisman
10 - That policy will change your life.
2006-11-02 10:57:03
12.   Bob Timmermann
For starters, I didn't know ahead of time that anyone was going to die on "Lost" last night.
2006-11-02 11:03:19
13.   Jon Weisman
Me neither.
2006-11-02 11:28:07
14.   Tangled Up in Blue
3 - I went to high school with Moon Bloodgood as well. In fact I was friends with her at the time (she had a different first name then). It has been strange seeing her on the relentless ad campaign for the show. When did you graduate?
2006-11-02 11:29:04
15.   Jon Weisman
14 - Dare I ask what her first name used to be? The last name alone is hard to believe.
2006-11-02 11:31:18
16.   Tangled Up in Blue
It was Korina. Here last name is the real deal.
2006-11-02 12:11:28
17.   Benaiah
13 - I didn't either, so it seemed to come out of left field. I am wondering if the dramatic tension for tbe episode came from watching the preview and thus wondering the whole time when the things advertised will actually happen.

I agree with you that the plot is carrying me. I don't even try to figure things out because things are happening way too fast/much. This isn't really a bad thing, I just wish that they would allow the drama to build (I know I am beating a dead psuedo-priest here) because I simply didn't believe it last night when Eko died. It came so out of the blue that I was left in total denial, waiting for Eko to recover.

2006-11-02 13:13:56
18.   Bob Timmermann
Eko!

Come back!

Eko!

Come back!

2006-11-02 13:21:28
19.   Eric Stephen
10,11 I think I need to adopt this policy of not watching previews. It seems like a lot of work, trying to avoid all the previews, though.

I suppose it's not any harder than what I do for some sporting events. I have a 3-TV setup in my living room, and I often watch a game on delay on the big screen while having some other (live) event on one of the other TVs. This is troublesome if the live game is on ESPN2 or something with a scrolling score bar or with constant updates.

2006-11-02 14:33:19
20.   Jon Weisman
19 - It's easy. Just speed through the ads and shut off your TV as the scenes from next week come up.
2006-11-02 20:12:39
21.   Benaiah
Best Office line of the week:
Michael: "Tonight, one of our most ethnic employees, Kelly, has invited all of us to a Dwali celebration for her community."
2006-11-02 20:26:01
22.   Jon Weisman
21 - Hey, give us a chance to see it at least. (Particularly in a thread that shows how hard we try to avoid spoilers.)
2006-11-02 20:30:58
23.   Benaiah
22 - Jon I am really sorry. I waited two hours to post that and finally thought I was safe. Sorry.
2006-11-02 20:54:48
24.   Jon Weisman
23 - You just need to think about time zones ... it wasn't even 8:30 at Screen Jam's world headquarters :)
2006-11-02 21:16:20
25.   Bob Timmermann
20
It was one of the first lines.
2006-11-02 22:33:04
26.   Jon Weisman
Okay, I watched it. Poor Roy - his ego is really shattered.
2006-11-02 22:44:53
27.   Benaiah
26 - Yeah, pretty amazing that the guy who once told Jim that he was glad to have Jim around Pam at work so she wouldn't talk to him after work now a) gets dressed up to impress her and b) leaves when he sees her dancing with another guy.

On the Jim/Pam/Karen front the episode was a little disappointing. There was a promise of several things but in the end there were no new developments.

2006-11-03 19:07:20
28.   JoeyP
The Office is 20 minutes of great satire. If they devoted too much time to the 'seriousness' of Jim/Pam/Roy, then the show would lose its uniqueness that sets it apart. It'd be another 'scrubs', just set in an office.

I personally hope The Office keeps the Jim/Pam stuff to a minimum, and keeps up the sharp witted satire.

My hope for The Office is that it becomes a 2000 version of Seinfeld. Great comedy, great writing, but basically about nothing. Leave the seriousness out of it. JMO.

I'm sure I'm not the first to have suggested this, but does anyone think Roy is a dead-ringer for Brett Favre?

2006-11-04 13:30:05
29.   4444
14 - I was class of 94 @ EHS. A fellow '94er friend of mine works for Disney/Touchstone these days and has done some press junket stuff with her for for 8 below, or 8 miles down, or 8 degrees is cold or whatever it was called.

28 - Totally agree on the "seriousness." it's fun and interesting, but at the same time, I think it would be for the worst if it became way too much the focal point of the show. The writers (uhh.../actors, as it seems this is one of the few shows where everybody acting gets a writing credit, too) have sufficiently baited me with Karen, anyway. I'm almost bummed at the impending Jim/Pam re-kindling.

2006-11-06 16:17:33
30.   Tangled Up in Blue
29 - Go Aztecs. I was class of 93. I hope Daybreak is better than it looks. ABC is certainly pushing it in a big way.
2006-11-07 13:22:55
31.   MadMonk
Eko, RIP. It was a surprise to me that he died in the episode. You'll be missed for Eko is one of the more compelling characters in the show.

ABC.com has the preview of the first 20 minutes or so of Daybreak online. It looked promising but draggy. Not sure if I'll stick around for the 2-hour premiere.

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