James Van Der Beek and Katee Sackhoff star in the short film.
It was staple TV viewing for every kid and teenager in the 1990’s…a bunch of teenagers donning colorful lycra, yelling “It’s Morphin’ Time!” and basically kicking ass. In general, looking back, it was light and fluffy and pretty bad but we never knew it and now, in a bootleg-ish short, some of our favorite rangers are back, but in a very different way.
A very dark and very gritty and very (almost) R-rated version has hit the internet starring James Van Der Beek (Dawsons Creek/CSI Cyber) and Katee Sackhoff (BSG) and is directed by Joseph Kahn. (Detention, Toque)
Being nothing short of awesome, it’s being hailed as “a twist on the Power Rangers mythos”, the short film is a a well crafted brilliant cgi-heavy send-up of dark and gritty fan films while also somehow being a fun addition to the genre. Check out the SFW version below (the NSFW version is vimeo only)
Speaking to Hitflix, Kaan said the prospect of making such a heavy twist on a fun show drew him to the project. “I think the trick that I really wanted to do with this was to make that dark and gritty version that everybody keeps talking about, but really do it. Really see if I could totally accomplish it with essentially a really incredible incredibly silly property.”
The irony here is that I wouldn’t even want to make “Power Rangers: The Movie’ for real. Like if I had to make a ‘Power Rangers’ movie, this is it. It’s 14 minutes long and it’s violent and this is what I have in me. If they offered me the 200 million version, the PG-13 version, I literally wouldn’t do it. It’s just not interesting to me.”
Shame Kaan feels so strongly about standing firm on never touching the project again in any form but at least, our inner 90’s teen/wannabe power ranger still lives….well sort of.
A CSI spin-off, A television show about people watching television and celebrities stranded on an island…these are just some of the new shows Network Ten have announced to start in 2015.
CSI: Cyber: A spin-off from the massive CSI Juggernaut (the 4th spin-off to date) see’s Special Agent Avery Ryan (Patricia Arquette) head the cyber crime division alongside Senior Special Agent Elijah Mundo (James Van Der Beek) Aruquette’s Ryan appeared in an season 14 episode of CSI that worked as a back-door pilot to this new spin-off.
I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here: It’s survivor meets Dancing with the Stars in this Aussie version of the massive UK reality hit that will see 10 well known Australian faces head to the South African jungle to compete in challenges with hopes of raising dollars for their chosen charity. No names as yet though comedienne Julia Morris and Bondi Vet Dr. Chris Brown have been announced as hosts.
Goggle Box: In a nut shell, Goggle Box is a show about people watching television though it’s being pushed as a weekly observational series which captures the reactions of ordinary Australians as they watch the nightly news, argue over politics, cheer their favorite sporting teams and digest current affairs and documentaries. Based on the UK show of the same name.
The Odd Couple: Friends’ star Matthew Perry’s return to series TV in a remake of the classic comedy of the same name which sees Perry as Oscar Madison play opposite Thomas Lennon as Felix Unger. The former college buddies end up living together after the collapse of both their marriages. Parenthood’s Lauren Graham has also just been announced to join the show as Oscars ex-wife Gaby.
Shark Tank: Remember Dragon’s Den? That Aussie show from 2006 based off the UK show in which inventors pitched their products to a panel of wealthy investors only to find the offers involved them losing 50% of their business? There was also a US version of the show called Shark Tank. It’s exactly the same as the UK version….and now our version of the same name as the US version.
The Bachelorette Australia: We all know what this one is right? It seems there’s more interest in who will be the first bachelorette than the show itself after the disaster that was this years The Bachelor. Ten are yet to announce a name though former bachelorette’s Laurina ‘dirty street pie’ Fleure, Chantal Hryniewski and Zoe O’Brien have been thrown around while winner (and eventual loser) Sam Frost (who was considered to be the front runner) it seems is no longer in contention after her ‘post-show antics’.
Anything here take your fancy? Being a Patty Arquette fan, I’ll give Cyber a shot plus anything with James Van Der Beek is worth a watch!
James Van Der Beek Stars in Friends With Better Lives. Source: Provided
The pulled-after-eight-episodes American comedy Friends With Better Lives (Or FWBL) is finally making is Aussie TV debut with Channel Eleven airing the series starting September 9th.
From the press release: Friends With Better Lives is a romantic comedy about six friends at different stages in their lives: married, divorced, newly engaged and single. They are all outwardly happy but are finding it tough to look at each other without wondering who really has the better life.
Central couple Bobby (Kevin Connolly) and Andi (Majandra Delfino) are married with kids with another on the way who are struggling to find a balance between being married with kids (and being pregnant) and keeping the romance alive in their relationship. Bobby’s best friend and co-worker Will (James Van Der Beek) has just moved in after finding his wife having an affair with their marriage councilor but he refuses to believe the marriage is actually over.
The beautiful Jules (Brooklyn Decker) has found herself a new boyfriend in free-spirted environmentalist Lowell (Rick Donald) who owns and runs a local organic health food coffee shop while Kate (Zoe Lister-Jones) finds herself more successful in her professional life than her romantic one.
Of all the characters, It’s Kate and Will, both steadfast and overtly determined to outdo the other, who bring out the biggest laughs, often finding themselves in a myriad of dating disasters while their happily co-joined friends natter among themselves about the troubles that come with coupledom.
Like most comedies that have come out in the past few years, the humor offered up by FWBL leans more towards the adult side (think Two and a Half Men, 2 Broke Girls and Mom) thankfully though, it’s not as crass as the aforementioned shows that seem to push the boundaries of what’s subtle and what would make one blush. FWBL finds the right fit with it’s taste level resulting in a nice balance between comedy and sexual comedy – a certain scene (and very funny one at that) in the pilot episode see’s a surprise birthday party resulting in another surprise all on it’s own for married couple Bobby and Andi.
While Two and Half Men and 2 Broke Girls never appealed to me, FWBL fitted quite nicely into my viewing roster and I found myself looking forward to the next episodes and while the show itself is nothing really new, FWBL is just a fun show with a fun cast that offers up some fun laughs.
Yes, FWBL was pulled after just eight episodes in America. As someone who was enjoying the series, I assumed everyone was watching it, so I was certainly surprised by the news of it’s cancellation (considering FWBL comes from the same network that brings us the god-awful Mom) but hopefully, Eleven will air the additional four episodes not aired in the US.
So here it is, I enjoyed FWBL, was sad to see it cancelled and can’t wait to see those missing last four episodes if and when they eventually air. Give it a shot, see what you think, even if it’s just to see James Van Der Beek playing funny after his stellar turn in Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23.
Friends With Better Lives begins Tuesday September 9th, 9pm on Eleven.
Having not been attracted to watching Two and Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Mom, How I Met Your Mother or any other filmed-in-front-of-a-live-audience comedy (nothing since Friends and Will & Grace has taken my fancy), I was somewhat cautious about checking out Friends With Better Lives (or FWBL).
Funnily enough, the show, starring James Van Der Beek (fresh of a stellar turn in Don’t Trust The Bitch in Apartment 23) was funny, entertaining and highly engaging. Sure the humor was somewhat crude – but not to the level of 2 Broke Girls, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the first three episodes I watched and naturally assumed if people are watching the horribly unfunny Mom (sadly starring the talented Anna Faris) then people were watching FWBL.
Guess I was wrong, so needless to say, when CBS threw out their list of cancellations, I was shocked to see FWBL sitting on that list.
Another notable entry on their cancelled shows list was the Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Geller comedy The Crazy Ones. Now, this show was the highest rated comedy debut of the 2012/2013 season in the US (15+ million viewers) but upon airing it’s season finale, only 5 million viewers were tuning in.
Also cancelled: Toni Collette drama Hostages, Kristin Davis comedy Bad Teacher (only after 4 episodes!) and the awful Intelligence starring LOST expat Josh Holloway and CSI Maven Marg Helgenberger.
The much hyped How I Met Your Mother spin-off How I Met Your Dad was also a no show on the list of pick-ups.
So what did CBS pick-up to series order? Battle Creek by Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) and starring Josh Duhamel, The Tea’ Leoni led drama Madam Secretary plus another new CSI spin-off, CSI: New Orleans starring Scott Bakula.
In the way of comedy, Matthew Perry will be given another shot at a new series with The Odd Couple with Lindsay Sloane while New Kids on the Block singer Joe McIntyre plus ex Roseanne star Laurie Metcalf are headlining The McCarthys.
And finally, The Mentalist fans will be happy to hear the drama was given a last minute series renewal, though i’d expect this one to be it’s last.
What are your thoughts on the axings, cancellations and pick-ups?
I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about ‘binge TV viewing’ lately and it seems, every list, is as different from the other. We all have our favorites, those we recommend to others and those we keep to ourselves as guilty pleasures. With quite a few shows now on hiatus or heading into break, you may need something to keep your eyes on the screen so here’s my choice picks for ‘binge worthy television shows’.
Breaking Bad: Without a doubt, Breaking Bad makes every binge worthy list. It should. It’s ridiculously good. I never watched Walter White and Jesse Pinkman when Breaking Bad originally aired….yes I know that makes me a bad television blogger, but it was one of those shows I had to be talked into watching…and watch I did. I binged on the entire series of Breaking Bad over the space of 2 months and am somewhat glad I was able to take in the entire story-line in one sitting. Made me appreciate what was on offer and experience the build-up to that last season without beak.
Stars: Aaron Paul, Bryan Cranston and Anna Gunn
Seasons 1-5 available on DVD
The Comeback: Lisa Kudrow (post Friends) as a faded and jaded actress named Valerie Cherish who has allowed cameras follow her and her journey to reclaim her former spotlight. A show that was well before it’s time and only really appreciated after it’s demise. Great to hear talk of a possible comeback for The Comeback!
Stars: Lisa Kudrow, Malin Ackerman and Kellan Lutz
Series one available on DVD
Melrose Place 2.0: The beauty here is that fans of the original series like to claim this re-boot never happened but for those new to the series, we’ve got an 18 episode single season that follows a who-dun-it murder mystery of Melrose’s junkie landlord Sydney Andrews. Everyone is a suspect and it’s great to watch while playing drinking games (that mostly involve guzzling your wine anytime Ashlee Simpson appears to act or whenever a character from the original series pops up!)
Stars: Laura Leighton, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Calabro and Ashlee Simpson.
Series One available on DVD (from Amazon or eBay)
The Chicago Code: Jennifer Beals post The L Word as tough as nails Teresa Colvin, Chicago’s first female police superintendent who plans to bring to light the mass of political corruption currently polluting the town. There’s connections to the Irish Mob, undercover cops, and this accents all-round.
Stars: Jennifer Beals, Jason Clarke and Matt Lauria
Availability: None as yet 😦
Tim Daly and Laura Leighton. Source Provided
EYES: Tim Daly as a smarmy and cocky Harlan Judd, who is the head of J.R Investigations, a risk management firm that will bend all aspects of the law to get results. His company is in financial crisis, his competitor wants to buy him out, there’s a mole within the company, his staff have secrets of their own and his love interest is a do-good lawyer who has issues looking the other way. ABC shamefully only ever aired 5 episodes of this 12 episode first series back in 2005.
Stars: Tim Daly, AJ Langer, Laura Leighton and Natalie Zea
Series One is not available on DVD but can be found on YouTube.
ORPHAN BLACK: Fast paced sci-fi thriller that looks into the world of human cloning and accelerated human evolution through the eyes of young mother Sarah who’s world comes crashing down when she discovers she’s not as unique as she originally thought. Edge of your seat stuff that keeps knocking out reveals and epic scenes.
Stars: Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Garvais and Dylan Bruce
Season one now available on DVD.
Miranda: Britt comedy at it’s best, Miranda Hart is an unlucky in love, bumbling and fumbling joke shop owner/operator who manages to give the crazy that goes on inside her head a life all it’s own and spreads it among those around her including her highly posh and overbearing mother, her vertically challenged best friend and co-worker and the man of her dreams who works down the road.
Stars: Miranda Hart and Tom Ellis
Seasons 1-3 available on DVD
Dawson’s Creek: You can’t have a binge list that doesn’t include Dawson’s Creek. It’s the mega 90’s teen drama that gave us James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams. Joey has feelings for Dawson but Dawson is too interested in his movies to notice Joey, that is until new girl Jen Lindley comes along while Pacey is having secret meetings with his teacher. Drama, ugly crying, teen sex…this has got it all.
Stars: James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams and Joshua Jackson.
Seasons 1-6 available on DVD
Nip/Tuck: Christian loves drugs, money, women and sex. His professional partner Sean McNamara loves his son, his wife and his professional career. It’s the lives of two plastic surgeons trying to rule the roost, deal with their inner demons and still come out on top regardless of who they end up hurting. One of the greats to come out of the 90’s/00’s period.
Stars: Julian McMahon, Dylan Walsh and Joely Richardson.
Seasons 1-6 Now available on DVD.
Cougar Town: Bad title, good comedy says it all. Cougar Town feels very Scrubs with it’s humor (created by the same team) and as you watch through the seasons, you’ll see this great show evolve from it’s ‘cougar’ story line into a very tight and funny comedy around friends and family. Don’t judge this show by it’s title!
Stars: Courteney Cox, Busy Phillipps, Christa Miller and Dan Byrd.
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