Lets Dance Moms!!

 

Now I really am not a big fan of reality TV.  I want a story, and not an a story of swapping wives between families that are polar opposites. I think the reactions are slightly staged, nor do I like billionaire families living on the bayou in communal trailers, or dysfunctional extravagant housewives that I can't relate to. However, I have a guilty sin, it is Abby Lee Miller!! Yes I love Dance Moms!! I have my son watch it with me, we adore the drama, chaos and beauty of the dance.

Now I have been watching since the beginning as Abby starts every episode with the pyramid. We all know her pyramid, it is her way of  praising or chastising her preteen minions. Her girls are listed in pyramid form from bottom to the top according to their performances in competitions. Now this year she is considering improvement, and leadership too as criteria,  so it has expanded since the beginning. The first year I swear most of the year Nia Frazier, Paige Hyland, and Mackenzie Zeigler were on the bottom. Brook Hyland (Paige's older sister), and Chloe Lukasiak  were the middle and Maddie Zeigler, Joy of Abby's life, and dance perfectionist was on top.  Now all the girls on this show are amazing dancers. That is why they are in Abby's Dance Company.

There have been a couple of additions to the original dance company. Cathy Stein brought her daughter Vivi-Anne to train with Abby.  Cathy owns a dance studio herself. It is called the Candy Apple Dance Studio in Canton, Ohio. Living in the west the ideal of going that far for a dance class seems like a lot of work. It is  about 100 miles and 2 hours away,  too much for me. Our class was 10 minutes away and I thought that was interrupting to my schedule. Ok, so I am not the most dedicated dance mom. Anyway, Vivi-Anne was not that good, and really not that interested in dance. Cathy soon became Abby's enemy. She is controlling, self centered, and annoying, with a voice that would strip a bird of its feathers as it flew over. She is periodically on the show just to irritate the Abby Lee Miller Dance Company, and it does make good ratings to have antagonists. She is perfect for that role.

Then there is Jill and Kendall.  Jill is a dance center hopper, trying to promote Kendall her daughter.  Kendall is actually a good dancer and is worthy of being in the company. In fact she was in the company, that is until overbearing Jill got frustrated that Abby was not giving Kendall the solos she deserved and took her to Candy Apple Dance Company.  Cathy loving to stick it to Abby, took in the pair and gave Kendall some breaks.  The bloom wore off, and now Jill has again hopped back to Abby studio.  Abby has refused to let her come back, she does let Kendall dance in group, but she is not in the company and not on the holy pyramid. I fully expect her to get frustrated, fight with Abby and hop again.  For now she is trying. Abby is far more generous than I would be, but Kendall is good, and she can not help who her mother is.

So now you have met the dancers, lets meet the moms. Christy is a blonde who has become better looking and more polished since season one. She is Chloe's mom. I loved her classic blond beauty, now her personality has regressed. She is like roller derby mom. Sometimes that is needed on the show, sigh...  I love Chloe, in fact that girl is a beautiful dancer. She is my favorite, but I do favor a ballet dance better than jazz or acro. She is going to do well.

 Maddy and Mckenzie's mom is Melissa. Melissa used to work for Abby.  Abby does favor Maddy. Maddy produces. She  has more crowns than most drag queens.  Melissa is hard to figure, she is evasive to the point of ridiculous around her engagement, people pleases to try to make friends with moms who are jealous of her daughters position with Abby. She is at times uptight and other times quite likable and pleasant.  Nia's mom is Holly. Holly is my favorite mom. She is Dr. Holly to all of us. She is well educated, woman the least chaotic. Yet when needed she is capable of taking care of business.  Lastly is Kelly. Kelly is an attractive woman, but a drama queen. twice she has withheld one of her girls from competition to make a point with Abby. If I were Abby I would drop kick out of the studio.  Her Paige has the look of Chloe, though she is not as developed.

Every week these people entertain the hell out of me. I can't wait to sit down at the end of the day on Tuesdays and watch them.  I love that Abby is not the perfect body dance instructor, she is over bearing, antagonistic, and yet her girls are great dancers. Actually Abby does have a beautiful face, so if I am addressing her size, I need to state that fact. The mothers are gossipy, drama queens (some more than others) and God forbid you be a new dance mom, they will eat you up and spit out the bones. Yet I sure do love them and this show!!

Let's talk, Tick!!

 

He was an invention of New England Comics, as a mascot for their newsletter. New England Comics is a chain of comic book stores in Massachusetts.  The Tick is the undisputed spoof king of superheroes. Later Ben Edlund (original artist) started writing stories with The Tick in them. In 1986 he wrote a 3 page story in the newsletter about how our hero, The Tick, escapes from a mental hospital. His crime fighting life has begun.

He is first a black and white comic that the store helps finance. The Tick gets his sidekick Arthur in 1989. Every super hero needs a side kick. Some of his characters are Chainsaw Vigilante, Man eating cow, and Paul the samurai. One of my favorite networks finally gave The Tick his own television show in 1994, the Fox Network, home of the X Files which you know I love. When I first met started dating my husband he loved The Tick. He watched the show every Saturday. Townsend Coleman was the voice of The Tick and the famous Monkee (from the 1960's singing group) Mickey Dolenz was the voice of his sidekick Arthur. That was season one. Ron Paulsen was Arthur in seasons 2 and 3.  TV brought a weirdo, shallow, wimpy  Batman named Die Fledermaus, Sewer Urchin, who was a stupid Aquaman, and lastly American Maid. She was a combo Wonder Woman and Captain America. There was also a live action series in 2001 by Fox, but it was gone in a short 9 episodes. The Comic lives on!!

 

I was reading tonight No. 9, from March 1991. It is one of the black and white versions from New England Comics. The first page The Tick wakes from sleeping to say, "I just had the most horrifying nightmare...That I stop existing for 8 months." On the page under the comics it says over and over "NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING.........."  

The Tick and Arthur are going across country in a car to New York, they are going to take the exit 749, Deertown-Hobbleville Expressway, on a 1959 map. This will get them into NYC. As they leave town, they discover that all the inmates from the asylum have escaped with the Tick, and have become his following. Though they are saddened by his departure, but they are determined to make him proud. They are beginning a new society called,  "Mystic Order of the Arachnid Vigilance".  They will support it by buying real estate for no-money down and sell it for huge profits.  I think they were watching too much late night television.

As we drive cross country we discover that our super hero does not ask for directions, which results in The Tick and Arthur being lost in the desert after week 2. To which they swear to ask for directions. Later Arthur says they have made an important discovery when they have discovered the "road to no where".  I too have been on that road before.... More than I care to admit.  The heroes eventually find exit 749, and after filling their Merury Bobcat Villager with gas, they are on their way.  They run into the "Civic Minded Five" a crime fighting group who is battling "Chainsaw Vigilante". At this time the comic of course is to "be continued" until next time. 

I love the back of the comic book as it is filled with articles, editorials, and fan mail. They have the worlds best stalker fan who sends them limericks like:

              The Tick is a crime fighting hero-

        whose intelligence is very narrow

         In fact with that jerk

         Arthur the clerk

          Their I.Q. totals less than Zero.

Also:  

Tis the night for ghosts and ghouls

to stalk and prey on wandering fools

but those hellspawns from the grave

All bow down to their master Dave, he, he, he

His stalking fan was Dave Lavictoire, from Ontario, Canada. So that is my information about The Tick. So now I am off to get another Tick Comic. Have a good one.

The Field Where I died, and the Real Housewives....

 

Ok, I have been on a binge of the X Files for the last week. I am in season 4. Until yesterday, I watched nothing else. So I have been out of touch with my favorite appendage, my cable box. I have also given up sugar.  I gave up drinking 22 years ago. When I got pregnant, I thought it was license to put anything and everything into my mouth. So now is the time to let go of my favorite food group sugar!! Not a food group? Yeah right, tell that to my detoxing body.  Anyway the X Files have comforted me all week long, like an old friend.  My favorite episode of all time is  Season 4, The Field Where I died. It was the 5th episode that year. It aired in 1996.

This person named Sidney calls in a tip about a cult named "Temple of the Seven Stars", so the FBI does a raid on the cult. They have an arsenal of weapons and the leader is abusing the children. During the raid they can't find the members. Mulder has this weird feeling like, Deja vu walks into a field, finds a bunker underground and there they are, ready to drink the Koolaid.  This is a wonderfully romantic story of reincarnation, Mulder's story. The wife of the leader Ephesian, appears to have multiple personality disorder upon questioning or at least that is how it appears! Her name is Melissa.

There is a weird connection between Melissa and Mulder. It is at that time she slips into other characters. One of them being Sydney. Later as they further question her, a character begins speaking with a southern drawl, and leads Mulder and Scully out to the field reciting a journal entry from 1863.  She tells them she was there, and so was Mulder. Melissa is this very lost, 25 year old woman who has stumbled into this cult, married Ephesian, and can not find her way out. She has witnessed the abuse of the children, and it has fractured her psyche. Her past lives are bleeding through this life. Mulder wants to embrace it while the predictable Scully thinks Mulder may be on the edge himself.

 Mulder goes through past life regression and discovers two recent past lives. In the first one he is a Jewish woman, in Poland during WWII. The second life reveals he was alive during the Civil War. He was a soldier that was killed on the site the cult resides on. His name was Sullivan Biddle, Scully was his Captain, and Melissa was his girl named Sarah Kavanaugh.  Scully goes to the library finds the census records for both people and pictures of the lovers.  Mulder is having a spiritual experience, and I with him as he relives this period of time. It does not turn out well for Melissa as she is released  along with Ephesian, they go back with the cult, and commit suicide.  The story is haunting with a powerful love story, references to reincarnation, and our ability to live again. It speaks of what I know to be true, that true love never dies.

Anyway coming out of the sweet fog of the X Files I got stuck on the Bravo network. I used to watch the channel with fervor, Kathy Griffin, The Real Housewives of Orange County, New York, and New Jersey. The I got bored at the same chaos over and over and over.  Since it has been a while since I watched, I caught a couple of my faves tonight. The NEW, Real Housewives of NYC,  my favorite Ramona is still there though there were many new faces for her to misunderstand, and create problems with. I just love her. I will blog more about the Bravo network another time, though it is good to know somethings never change.

Tonight I am signing off early. Drop Dead Diva is over in 2 weeks until next year, and I am dying to see if Greyson is going to step up for Jane, before she marries Owen. Also Army wives is going to be gone for good in 2 episodes, so I now need to focus, and catch the last two episodes.  TV shows have been a part of my life, all my life from Felix the Cat through Army Wives and beyond. I love writing this blog about the joy they bring me, so watch them and let them bring you the same joy!!

I Want to Believe!!

 

Lets talk about The X-Files!!  Now this show is one of my top 5 shows ever. It was the first show on the Fox Network to break through the Nielsons top 20 rated shows. It is a story of Spooky Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), the once the potential fair haired boy for the FBI.   Fox (Spooky) Mulder, is now the butt of jokes about his drive for finding answers in the cases with paranormal, and alien origins. The FBI relegated him to a space in a corner of the basement, with a poster that says, "I Want to Believe".  It has a UFO on it.

FBI agent and  medical doctor Dana Scully is sent to keep watch on Mulder, apply scientific reason to his enthusiastic embrace of the paranormal. She is to report back to director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), and the other "higher ups."  They have become frustrated with Mulder's  "unbecoming professional behavior" in the pursuit of the X-files (the paranormal cases).  He is the believer and Scully is the skeptic in all areas, except she is a catholic. Stories around religion seem to bring out a believer in her. It is usually Mulder in these cases who becomes the skeptic.

I can not tell you how much I love this show!!  It incorporates my love of horror, mythology, paranormal and UFO conspiracies.  It also taps into the fear of ordinary peoples distrust with the federal government. As Mulder always says, "The truth is out there!!" Mulder believes the government is covering up the existence and even interaction with the extra terrestrials. Mulder's sister Samantha (Megan Leitch)  was abducted out of their living room while he was watching her. He was 12 years old. As the show progresses Mulder's father Bill Mulder  is found to be part of the conspiracy.  His mother, Teena Mulder ( Rebecca Toolan) has some idea of what happened, and the whole family is part of the backdrop of the show.

Scully's family too plays a part. Her father William Scully (Don Davis) dies early in the show, during an episode called Beyond the Sea.  He is a retired naval officer. He and Scully share a love of Moby Dick, as evidenced by the nick names Ahab and Starbuck they have for each other.  Her mother Margaret Scully (Sheila Larkin) is a recurring character, as well as her intuitive sister Melissa Scully (Melinda McGraw).  Melissa Scully  is killed in season 3.

The supporting cast in this show was brilliant. In season one they introduce a character called "Deep Throat", (Jerry Hardin).  He was cast in the vein of  President Nixon's Watergate Scandal of the 1970's.  He met with Mulder and Scully in secret to give them information. He was killed at the end of the first season. His replacement was "X", played by Steven Williams. These men were inside the government and remind me of the Men in Black. Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) plays their supportive and yet grumpy director.  There is an antagonist that belongs to a "secret society" trying to keep the knowledge of the aliens and the experimentation of the human/alien hybrid a secret. The call him first the Cigarette Smoking Man, later I called him cancer man. His name CGB Spender (William B.Davis) who turns out later to be Mulder's bio dad.

 Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea)  is sent to work with Mulder in the second season by Cigarette Smoking man. Gillian Anderson gets pregnant season 2 and her pregnancy is written into the script as an abduction. Krycek murders Bill Mulder, helps in the kidnapping of Dana Scully and is part of the team that murders Melissa Scully. He is really an enemy that seems to shift lines, but never really does.

The Lone Gunman, are 3 UFO conspiracy theorists who are the fan club of Fox Mulder. They actually help him and Scully with several cases, and get a spin off of their own.  They are; Richard "Ringo" Langly (Dean Haglund),  Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood) and John Fitzgerald Byers (Bruce Harwood).  They are the comic relief of the X files, and one of my favorite parts of the show.

The last 2 years of the show David Duchovny, only made recurring appearances on the show.  However this is one show where the guy gets the girl.  Eventually Mulder and Scully have a baby, William.  He is adopted out because the journey had gotten difficult for our heroes, and the federal government wants Mulder. Scully and Mulder fall in love. Eventually Mulder is cleared, and they are off to Canada, and the filming of their 2 movies. The saddest thing was to see this show over. It was a wonderful part of the romance with my science fiction loving mate, and the beginning of our lives together.  I still think it is one of the best shows ever made. This show will require many blogs to evaluate the episodes and the characters.

Sex And The City

I had a difficult week, dealing with bureaucracy (my senior year in college), the failure of my CPA and my son started high school.  Today the bug man came while I was in my office with a client, and my cat was unaccounted for, the last in a line of frustrations. My cat is about 13, we are not really sure, but I am sure if he died from poisoning I would be really upset.  That cat and I are kindred spirits. I knew the first time I saw him. The bug man was early, can you believe it? He was a half an hour early. Tonight, tattered as I was, I was flipping through the channels and I came up on Sex And the City. It was on the E shows channel, so it wasn't one of the movies but the original show.  Not only was it the show but the last 1 1/2 hours of the shows original run.

I do not claim to have much in common with Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), except earlier in my life, I had a group of good friends. Unlike Carrie, my group grew apart years ago, but I remember that time in my life with great joy. I felt about them,  like she did about her friends. My city was Portland, Oregon, not NYC.  Again when I was young it felt great. So I know that my guides are watching out for me when it comes on tv. It is like a rich dessert. Sex And The City feels like it can cure everything, as if that show was meant for me.  Ok, maybe me and 10,000,000 others in the world. Tonight though, it was for me.

Big (Chris Noth) has comeback to NYC and Carrie Bradshaw. He says he has something to tell her. Carrie says she has had enough, that 6 years later it is still the same. Carrie goes to Paris France with Alexander Petrosky (my all time favorite ballet dancer, Mikhail Baryshnikov). She is alone with out her friends. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and her wonderful Harry (Evan Handler) are trying to adopt a baby, without a lot of support from the universe, Harry says he thinks, "God has forgotten our address."  To which Charlotte replies, "We're Jews, we have been through a lot worse."  Miranda's (Cynthia Nixon) mother-in-law, Mary (all time great comedienne), Anne Meara, has had a stroke and comes to live with Miranda, Steve (David Eigenberg)and little Brady.  Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is recovering from breast cancer, and is insistent that her actor boyfriend, Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis), can have sex on location if he wants to. He does not want to. Later Samantha tells him not to when he sends her crocus bulbs. He tells her that she will recover in spring, and he is waiting for spring. We see Samantha grow in her ability to share intimacy.  I think he is her best boyfriend of all time.

In Paris, Alexander is consumed with his exhibit that includes a light demonstration.  He keeps telling Carrie, "when the exhibit is over"(a line his ex-wife says drove her crazy), they will have more time together. Carrie meets some of her fans, who want to throw her a party. It is the same night as the curators at the art museum want to examine Alexander's exhibit. So Carrie sacrifices her party, only to be ignored by him. They later fight, she leaves him and runs into Big, who has come to take her home.  On the bridge over the river Seine, he tells Carrie "she's the one".

The last few scenes revolve around the 4 women back in NYC in a restaurant, and the show finishes as they walk down the streets of Manhattan. My response to that show is always the same. Whenever I have a bad day, or a difficult time in my life, I can be guaranteed whether, it is the show, or one of the movies, when it is done, I have been with wonderful group, of interesting and loving women. When it is over, I am regenerated, and have my enthusiasm for life back on track!! Of all my favorite shows, this is definitely in the top 10, top 5 if we are talking feel good shows.

OMG, It's Sunday again!!

I  have said it before, but I love Sundays on TV. As I get ready to settle in for a few of my favorite shows, there is an additional treat for me. For those of us who loved the movie Jaws, and  love the water, it is Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. Once a year the Discovery Channel presents a whole week,  of  different shows of sharks, their attacks on humans, their feeding habits and their patrols. Sharks, Sharks, Sharks!! 

TV guide says Shark Week starts at 9pm today. However there have been shows on about sharks from 9am.  In fact my favorite was at 1pm pacific standard time, called "The Summer of the Shark".  It was filmed in Australia, about the summer of 2008 when 18 shark attacks happened in Australia. 15 of them were great white sharks. I love watching the gigantic white shark leap from the water and grab at a seal in mid air. So I am having a shark fest all week long.  I have always wanted to say this. I have an issue when scientists say they are just biting us to see if we are edible, they don't feed on humans.  I don't believe it matters.  It is minimizing a behavior that can kill us. I don't think I care what their motivation is. They are still biting us.  With their steel trap jaws. 

Enough shark week, I want to talk about Drop Dead Diva, one of my Sunday faves.  Brook Elliot stars as Jane Bingum a Los Angeles attorney.  Jane died protecting her boss, Jay Parker (Josh Stamberg), and she was revived. Now she has the spirit of Deb Dobkins living in her, the original Jane passed on. Deb was a model/actress killed in a traffic accident.  Deb hits the button for return and comes back to earth.   Jane Bingum is a plus sized attorney who is brilliant, charitable, and a productive attorney. Watching Jane morph into the shallow Deb, and back to Jane is hilarious.  She becomes more clothes conscious, and I love to watch her flip her hair back, with a flick of her wrist. That shows Deb is still alive and well in Jane. You really can't keep a good shopper down.

 

One twist, is that Deb was engaged to Greyson Kent (Jackson Hurst), a handsome, very sad attorney who works in the same office as Jane. He and Jane are good friends. He started to catch on that Jane could be Deb, and so Jane had to throw him off. One of the provisions of her return is that she doesn't get the guy.  Jane is now engaged to Owen French (Lex medlin) a court judge with a heart problem.  Deb's best friend was Stacy (April Bowlby), and she is also the only person, besides Jane's guardian angel who knows her secret. Stacy is a slightly vapid blond, with a good heart. She is Jane's roommate and best friend (obviously, after all she very loyal). 

The premise of the show is that Deb assumes Jane's life and develops herself.  One character I love is Jane's secretary, Teri Lee, who is always up to something wacky. Her goal now is to become a singer, so she is donning wacky clothes. She is played by comedienne Margaret Cho.  This week was great, they had cast members from Abby Lee Millers Dance Studio, in particular, Abby Lee, and Maddy. You know them from the reality show on Lifetime, Dance Moms!!  I still hold out hope that Greyson and Jane will get together, damned be the guardian angel. I liked the old one Fred (Ben Feldman- he left when he got a job on MAD MEN).  Who can blame him?  I don't like the new one.

The other show I love on Lifetime Sundays is Army Wives.  Now I have absolutely no ties to the American military.  I have never been that interested. That is until this show.  It shows the nobility of the military that keeps us safe, and the wives who sacrifice to be their mates.  I have a whole new view on patriotism and the military.  The wives, Claudia Joy Holden (played by a fave Kim Delaney-NYPD), Denise Sherwood (the famous Catherine Bell), Roxy LeBlanc (Sally Pressman), Pamela Moran (Brigid Brannagh, who has moved to California), new transplant Jackie Clark (Kelli Williams),  Joan Burton (Wendy Davis- Joan is actually an officer, it is her husband that hangs out with the wives), Roland Burton, (Sterling K.Brown, therapist on base-civilian), and the privates wife, Gloria (Alyssa Diaz). Wow, a lot of cast mates, and I didn't even include the husbands, well except Roland.

 

The focus of the show is the wives, how they band together and their experiences in the military.  They deal with many topics the real military faces from terrorism to the closure of bases due to budget cuts, deployment, post traumatic stress disorder, addictions and Denise Sherwood loses her son in battle, as he enlisted like his father. One of my favorite story lines is gay soldier Army Captain Nicole Galassin (Kelli Martin), and her girlfriend  Tonya (whom I could not find the name of). Kelli Martin was in a wonderful show in the 1990'a called Life Goes On, with Patty LuPone as her mother. There is an episode where Captain Galassin comes out to her mother, and they bring in Patty LuPone. I loved it. 

Well that's it for tonight. As I sit with popcorn on lap, watching my shows, I know tomorrow I must rise to the occasion of a new week, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Tonight I am TV girl. I now disappear into Fort Marshall, home of Army Wives. Have a good week.

Michael Weston and His Merry Band of Men

Last year I seemed to be on a Netflix kick. I was watching TV shows I never caught for one reason or another while they were on TV.  Then I discovered Burn Notice. I saw ads, it just never looked that appealing from the ads.  Well, on Netflix, I watched all 4 seasons they had to offer and almost expired waiting for the release of season 5. Which was unfair, because they did not release it until right before season 6. Grrr...
 

It is like good ice cream.  That would be Haagen Das, for me.  Sweet, rich and can not be replaced by cheap imitations. So Michael Weston (Jeffery Donovan) is a spy given a "Burn Notice" from the CIA. For those who don't know what a burn notice is, the intelligence agency discredits or basically fire agents.  In this case Michael Weston is dumped in Miami, Florida, no bank accounts (they are frozen), no I.D. nothing.  In the show an old girl friend, Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar, Love Her!!), is called to come to his aid, as he awakens bruised and battered in a cheap motel.  Fiona (who sticks around, God only knows why),  is joined by Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) a drunken, semi retired Navy Seal who a has a penchant for rich middle aged women. Michael is Robin Hood and they are his merry band of men. Later they are joined by his chain smoking mother, Maddie (who finds out he is in Florida), and  his slightly ne'er do well younger brother Nate. His mother is the wonderful actress  Sharon Gless who won my heart in Cagney and Lacey, and his brother Nate is Seth Peterson. This is the basic line up until later when Jesse Porter (Coby Bell), a spy Michael accidentally burns, joins the band. He eventually finds out Michael burned him, is angry for a while but then forgives him.

The premise of the show was to find out why Michael was burned and get him back into the CIA, it is the only life Michael can imagine. Even when he and Fiona rekindle their relationship and she questions why he can not just have a regular life, he tells her it is all that he is. Anyway, He rents a $200 a month ratty loft in a warehouse building behind a club. It kinda grows on you after awhile, and they go to work doing odd jobs that require the wonderful sleuthing skills he acquired while in the CIA.

Fiona is an former IRA bomber, who has extensive knowledge of making homemade bombs, she also buys and sells guns. She makes herself very useful to Michael, which provides them the opportunity to grow close again. Sam Axe is charming in his tropicals shirts, and unshaven manly man appearance.  He provides contact with people he knows at the "agency".  He helps Michael in his jobs too and sometimes goes undercover as "Chuck".  He and Fiona become friends, though at times they seem to be at each others throats. One character I love is Barry (Paul Tei) He is the metro-sexual  bookie, fake ID maker and money laundering genius that helps them, and even goes to them for help. He is also called "Bad Checks Barry".

I love this show, this year in sadness, I had a hard time watching the first few episodes this season.  They put Fiona in prison. I glanced at the show a few times, but until the episode came that let her out of prison, I did not watch them all the way through.  Sadly the episode she is released, Nate, Michael's brother is shot and killed while helping them catch Michael's arch nemesis, Anson Fullerton (Jere Burns).  Seth Peterson did a great job, my only hope is that they will find a way to bring him back.  TV can bring anyone back from the dead.

One of my favorite parts of the show is the narrating during the show.  When they are assembling bombs, or bugging cell phones, Michael narrates spies techniques,  used in surveillance and espionage.  In my next life I want to be a high tech spy. So every  Thursday, when I am not watching Project Runway you can find me at Burn Notice, on the USA Network.  If not there I will be on Netflix watching the reruns, or my purchased copy of season 5.

 

I Love Spike!!

             Ok, we are still talking Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but let's discuss Spike. Played by American actor James Marsters. He comes to Sunnydale originally with vampire Drusilla (Juliet Landau).  Drusilla turned Spike.  Spike's human name was William Pratt.  He lived in 19th century England with his mother Anne (Caroline Lagerfelt).  He was  a very mild, well mannered upper middle class young man.  He was also awkward and innocent to the ways of women and the world in general.  He wrote poetry and Spike (then William) was a momma's boy.  Good thing for her, because he eventually turned his mother too. She lost about 30 years off her life and became vital, and cured her tuberculosis.  I swore if anyone were going to turn me into a vampire, they had to do it before 38.  Who wants to live hundreds of years old?  Well after seeing his mother, I changed my mind, I am up for it anytime in the future. Anyway off topic.  He then staked his mother and ran off with Drusilla.

            William was a passionate vampire. He was originally called "William the Bloody" for the bad poetry he wrote.  It was mentioned in season 2 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  He got his nickname (Spike) because of how he tortured people, with railroad spikes.  He also killed 2 vampire slayers.  In his vampire meets punk rock look, he walked around Buffy like the conquering demon. He actually came to Sunnydale to kill Buffy, to add to his count. Along the way the journey changed. Angel or Angelus (David Boreanaz) as he was originially called, was his grandsire.  Sire is the term the series uses to explain the vampire turning a human. There are scenes of the 2 of them roaming the country side wreaking havoc on the people.  Spike said, "Drusilla sired me, but you made me a monster."  

              Now lets talk about that weird co-dependent relationship with the crazy Drusilla.  Before she comes to Sunnydale, I guess she is attacked by an angry mob in Prague and is weakened, I say insane.  Spike takes care of her to the point of stupidity. Whats worse is that after Angel sleeps with Buffy and becomes Angelus again (evil), he takes Drusilla for his own.  Spike and Angel then are rivals.  Spike then forms an alliance with Buffy. This eventually offends Drusilla and she runs off with a demon. Talk about a relationship ripe with bad karma.  After losing Drusilla, he kidnaps Willow (Alyson Hannigan).  He wants Willow to put a spell on Drusilla, so she will love him again.  When that doesn't work, he decides to torture people again to win her back. Strutting around arrogantly he takes a lover in Harmony (Kendall McNab), cheerleader of  Sunnydale high, and turns her.  She is loyal, scatterbrained and needy. Of course, Spike really could care less.

               Spike discovers this ring called the gem of Amarra, that can make a vampire indestructible. He decides he must have it, and goes after Angel (who has the ring) to get it.  He loses and is temporarily implanted with a chip that basically makes him impotent in regard to harming anyone. Every time he goes to hurt someone, human or demon, it zaps him, creating great pain.  He goes to Buffy for protection during this period.  Now Spike becomes pathetic, taking bits of money for information. He is like a snitch to the Scooby Gang, with loyalty toward none.  At this point he is repulsive to Buffy and the gang.

               Now lets talk Buffy.  In season 5 he discovers he has fallen in love with Buffy, much to his dismay. He tries to get closer to her, much to her chagrin.  He becomes obsessed with Buffy, so much so,  that he has Warren Mears (Adam Busch) create a Buffy robot that responds to him with love and loyalty. Spike is the anti poster child for mental health.  Buffy is grossed out by this when she finds out. He continues to fight with Buffy to show loyalty to her, and frankly just to be near her. Buffy is killed off at the end of season five, or I should say she sacrifices herself to save Dawn (Michele Trachtenberg).  When Willow makes a spell to bring Buffy back, for a time Buffy is disconnected from her friends and her life. It is during this time she starts sleeping with Spike. When Buffy dumps him, he goes through these trials and obtains a soul.  He loves Buffy the rest of the show, so much so he sacrifices himself to save the world, and I think in part to show Buffy he is a better man.

               Spike comes back and shows up in Los Angeles in Angel.  He is resurrected by an amulet. He still has a soul, but he also has that smart mouth, punk attitude a long with it. Except for Buffy, Spike is my favorite character.  In part because he is very flawed, therefore very human (in theory).  He is a romantic too, as evidenced from his mother to Buffy. Every women he loves, he really is devoted to. He again becomes a rival for Angel, who has always been the vampire with a heart of gold, helping the helpless.  Spike now has a soul, and Spike sacrificed himself to save the world. So who is the real vampire for the good?   For a time in Angel he is a ghost that only Fred (Amy Acker) can see. Once she is killed, he joins Team Angel.  He joins with them in battle bringing on the apocalypse at the end of Angel, again, losing his life.

               Though losing his life a few times Spike keeps coming back, and slowly redeems his selfish, destructive ways as a vampire. I love that he is smart mouthed, arrogant, insecure, and vulnerable. . His looks are severe, and the punk look with the white blond hair against the black wardrobe and duster coat is very attractive.  He is a paradox in character, which makes him interesting.  I like him much more than Angel.  Watch Spike and you will agree that Buffy without Spike is like eating nothing but white bread.  James Marsters does a great job with the accent and his portrayal of spike.

Buffy and The Scooby gang

           I just discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic books recently.  I watched and adored it all 7 seasons on television. This year my son watched and adored all 7 seasons.  Though I am now reading the comic books,  I still yearn for Sarah Michelle Gellar's portrayal of Buffy. The spunky blond girl doing a flip over a grave stone and kicking a vampire in the head, then when he down, staking him in the heart.  Sigh....The film came first. It is where the idea of  “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” came from.

             I personally will never watch the movie. The story goes that in the world, at any one time, there is only one slayer to fight vampires, demons and dark entities.  A watcher helps train her and guides her in her battles.  The slayers are chosen from birth, or “fated”, and usually they lead a short, lonely existence. That is until Buffy Summers transfers to Sunnydale, California from Los Angeles. She was in a lot of trouble, so her mother moved her to the suburbs to give her a fresh start.  This slayer is fresh all the way around.  Petite, blond, rather cynically perky ( I know that is a contradiction in description, but true nonetheless), and she can kick the butt of any or all the demons and vamps necessary.  Sunnydale sits on top of Hellmouth. The portal to hell is in the HS library, also known as the lair of librarian Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head).  Giles, is Buffy’s watcher. So the demons and evil creatures are constantly available to fight.

              Buffy unlike most slayers has friends, her side kicks helped her fight demons. She calls them the Scooby gang. On a slightly interesting note, Sarah Michele eventually plays in a Scooby Doo movie with her real life husband Freddie Prinze Jr.  Anyway, I am veering off topic.   She meets Xander (Nicholas Brendan) and Willow (Alyson Hannigan) when she first comes to Sunnydale High.  Xander and Willow have been friends for a long time, and are socially nerds.  Willow has a secret crush on Xander, who pretends not to notice mostly.  A couple of seasons go by and they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other until they are caught and damage their own relationships.  Xander also always is crushed on Buffy but they remain  friends. Well except for that episode when Xander does a spell that  makes all the women love him. 

              The characters that appear in the show are some of my most favorites in television.  Buffy dies twice in the show. Once very briefly, which introduces Kendra Young (Bianca Lawson), a new slayer.  For the first time ever in history there are 2 slayers.  She is killed by vampire Druscilla. When Kendra dies, obviously "the powers that be" have not caught up as to what is happening, and that generates Faith (Eliza Dushku), the dark slayer.  Faith appears in the books, and the comic books. At first she tries to fit in with Buffy, and then goes Rogue. She is as bad as some of the vampires she kills. Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), and Harmony (Mercedes McNab) are the two popular girls who play rivals to Buffy during high school. Cordelia eventually dates Xander for a time, until he hooks up with Willow and is caught in a compromising position. Willow finds a quiet boyfriend in OZ (Seth Green) who plays a band and is a werewolf.  Eventually he needs to find himself and leaves Sunnydale.  Willow then meets Tara (Amber Benson), falls in love and is forever more a lesbian. Willow also becomes a powerful witch during the show. Now I almost forgot one of the most interesting characters, Dawn (Michele Trachtenberg).  One day Buffy comes home to find out she has a sister.  She is the only one who remembers a time before Dawn. To everyone else she has always been there. She was not a real person, but a "Key" created to protect Buffy From the villainous Glory ( Claire Kramer).

           The high school is destroyed after graduation, Cordelia goes to Los Angeles and works for Angel (David Boreanaz) in his spin off. I actually like Cordelia, as she grows and evolves in Angel.  One of my favorite characters is Anya Jenkins (Emma Caufield) the vengence demon that dated, almost married Xander.  She was hilarious.  I read Joss Whedon considered her comic relief. She was a cross between socially awkward and a girlfriend from the 1960's. She seemed to struggle with being human.  She was a vengeance demon, turned human afraid of bunny rabbits, that's right I said bunny rabbits. Then there is Druscilla (Juliet Landau) and Spike (James Marsters).  A pair of co-dependent vampires that come to Sunnydale. Druscilla is gone and leaves Spike behind. Spike really needs a blog of his own. He is a bane of Buffy, and helps eventually save the world.

              Buffy has really 3 lovers (except for the creepy guy freshman year) during the show. Angel is the first. Their story line is a Romeo and Juliet kind of love. I say that because Angel is a Vampire with a soul.  When he sleeps with Buffy the pure joy makes him lose his soul, and eventually Buffy has to send him to hell.  Not to fear, he comes back, and when it is unbearable to be around a woman he loves but can't have, he moves to LA and has his own show. Angel then helps the helpless. Riley Finn (Marc Blucas) is a straight arrow, boy scout-military type guy, Buffy meets in college. Where Angel was elusive and mysterious, Riley was reliable.  He is participant in a covert government project to rid the world of Vampires and demons. He was was written out of the show, and off he went. Which brings me to my favorite lover of Buffy's-- Spike. He was a complex character which seemed to be a bit of  martyr. He seemed lack character, was selfish and yet he truly loved Buffy. For a long time Buffy hated him, then they were lovers. Buffy seemed to hate herself for her feelings for Spike, and was not afraid to let him know that constantly. In the end Spike sacrificed his life to save the world, proving him to be a true hero.  Then he showed up in LA and was in Angel's show.

That is the basics, and if you have not had the pleasure of meeting or viewing Buffy and the Gang please do, I will introduce the comics later.  I could go on and on with the topic of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  The comics start after (SPOILER ALERT)the demise of Sunnydale and the television show. You can find these seasons on Amazon.com. I am sure they are on Ebay, and probably your local second hand entertainment store.  So, Happy viewing and have a great week!!