Simon Pegg in Star Trek
Now I have a reason to watch a “Star Trek” movie it seems, as JJ Abrams, mad man as he is, has cast probably the weirdest cast in one of the most truly overrated franchises of all time. Rather than stuff the cast of this prequel/reboot/remake/restart with young fresh faces, he’s instead casting a variety of older actors and younger actors. Chekov is Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban is Bones, John Cho is Sulu, and Sylar is Spock. And yes, there’s also the bad a*s and confusing cast news that Simon Pegg is Scotty. Simon Pegg as Scotty? Oh yes. As a big “Spaced” geek, this news is again, confusing and rather appealing. Pegg was entertaining in his brief role in “MI: 3,” and I look forward to seeing what he can do for this series. Abrams may prove successful appealing to almost everyone with this unusual and creative casting roll call. I’ll be there opening day.
Two shows can be the same and still be fun
Chuck and Reaper is what I refer to. Both shows feature two inept geeks who work at a major retailer who have a round table of goofy friends, a demanding boss, a supporting family, and get involved in situations way beyond the scope of their world in which they only seek minimal satisfaction and nothing more. “Chuck” has that formula except he has important government information downloaded into his brain and works with two secret agents to foil terrorists and gangsters. One is a gorgeous blond woman, and the other is a gruff officer played by Adam Baldwin. “Chuck,” while repetitive, is very funny and a lot of fun to watch. Baldwin is just hilarious as the straight man who tortures Chuck (Zachary Levi), while Yvonne Strahovski plays Sarah Walker, an absolutely gorgeous but sympathetic mentor to Chuck. And then there’s “Reaper”; basically, it’s the same show, but in this one, Sam (Brett Harrison) discovers his family sold him to the devil in exchange for his dad’s life. Now after his birthday, he’s become the devil’s bounty hunter, catching and trapping escaped souls from hell who wreak havoc on Earth. While the series is also repetitive, what saves it is Ray Wise, who is just slick as the devil who has a bit of niceness to him when talking to Sam, but is not afraid to ruin his life to get him to perform a task. Both are shows that may not be long for this Earth but are fun while they’re on.
Shameless shilling Can still be Funny
“30 Rock” is currently one of my favorite series on NBC as it’s a consistently fresh if not blatantly promotional show that touts NBC and all of its affiliates at every turn, but it’s still a great show thanks to the ensemble cast, and even succeeds in making Tracy Morgan funny. In spite of my huge crush on Tina Fey, she’s utterly hilarious here, and Alec Baldwin is just the icing on the sake. Recently, the show’s writers gave me a further reason to follow this show as Jerry Seinfeld guest starred on the premiere obviously touting “Bee Movie” which was made apparent by constant references, a screen saver of the movie placed in the foreground on a laptop and Seinfeld basically saying “I get to promote Bee Movie,” looks at the camera, “Out in theaters everywhere November 2nd…” In spite of the shameless promotion, his episode was still hysterical as he and Tina Fey played off each other fantastically and made for the absolute best scenes including one where Fey begins bawling and accidentally sounds like a Seinfeld impression. “Are you making fun of me?!” Seinfeld asks, Fey replies in what sounds like a Seinfeld impression, “No, this is how I sound when I’m crying!” Seinfeld glares and declares, “I think I’m a little offended!” Got to love the Sein.
It’s Always Sunny and Funny
I like to compare this show to “Seinfeld,” where we set down on four people who hang out at a specific place, every episode has a theme but no plots, they ruin the lives of everyone they come across, and are all incredibly despicable. Also, both shows are utterly hilarious. I don’t think there’s been a show like “It’s Always Sunny” where I’ve laughed near vomiting, ever. Well there was “The Office” and “The Honeymooners,” but that’s a different story. You’ll be guaranteed to cringe at most of what occurs during this series, but that’s the damn point; strictly a word of mouth series, which is how I discovered it, we follow four young simpletons hanging out at their dive of a bar, and getting into the weirdest situations. In one episode, they attend an anti-abortion rally to meet women, while another episode has them entering an underground fight competition to make money. Filled with excellent comic timing, and great acting, “It’s Always Sunny…” deserves more attention than it gets. Oh yes, it’s on FX.
Jason is Supernatural
So, since they haven’t solidified the actual character of Jason will be in the show, I’m inclined to be hesitant, but the news that Jason Voorhees will be in one of my favorite shows on television is great news. Jason is undoubtedly my favorite figure of the slasher sub-genre, so in which way he’ll be used on this series is still up in the air, but it’s exciting to think he’ll be invading this series. I’m curious how they’ll integrate him into episode 10, and I’m anxious to see how this will play into Sam’s quest to save his brother’s soul, as well as the response from Dean who is a huge movie geek on the series. Either way, this show presents more reasons why it’s utterly the best series on the CW.
