AFTERTHOUGHTS (60)
EMPIRE’S 50 GREATEST TV SHOWS EVER MADE!

And on Empire’s list…

45. Farscape 1999-2003
An Australian sci-fi series featuring muppet aliens from The Jim Henson Company – it's not exactly a pitch that says 'edgy' or even very good. Against the odds, though, Farscape emerged as an innovative, amusing and endlessly watchable romp as Astronaut John Crichton fumbled his way through life on the other side of the galaxy while dropping endless pop culture references that were clearly lost on his alien companions. In Claudia Black's Aeryn Sun was found one of sci-fi's favourite pin-up girls and the chemistry between Black and co-star Ben Browder was so apparent they were reunited after Farscape's cancellation for the final series of Stargate SG-1.

30. Dexter 2006-present
The last thing the world needed was another series about a forensic scientist but it certainly adds something to the mix when said CSI is also a recreational serial killer. Mischievously sadistic, Dexter is a darkly amusing tale of a psychopathic monster living in the heart of sunny Miami and trying to reconcile his stabbier urges with being an otherwise decent guy. Michael C Hall is flawless as the carver in question and the show sports one of the cleverest title sequences around.

27. Six Feet Under 2001-2005
Dark, comical and really rather wonderful, it's little wonder that Six Feet Under flowed from the same pen that gave us the equally incredible American Beauty. Alan Ball's HBO series about a dysfunctional Pasadena family who run an independent funeral home was a wonderful meditation on life, love and grief. Headed up by Peter Krause as the prodigal elder son Nate Fisher and featuring Michael C Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose and Rachel Griffiths, the cast, like every facet of this compelling production, oozed class.

25. Futurama 1999-present
It's unfair to compare Matt Groening's other show to The Simpsons. Because what is as good as The Simpsons? Judged on its own merits, this futuristic comedy about the bumbling employees of an intergalactic delivery company is witty, silly and completely non-sensical in just the right measure. It's got some characters who don't work (Hermes Conrad, we're looking at you), but Bender the antagonistic robot makes up for any faults. It was revived for a reason, you know?

24. Twin Peaks 1990-1991
Who killed Laura Palmer? That was the question on everyone's lips during 1990 as David Lynch's bizarre small town mystery unfolded on our screens. A demon called Bob, a little man who talked backward and minor pie fetish were just some of the features on display here. But despite a healthy dose of surrealism everything fell into place. Until the rather less appealing second season, that is, where the question on people's minds was more akin to 'Who is Windom Earle and what in God's name is going on?' but that's beside the point.

17. South Park 1997-present
The Guinness World Record holder for "Most swearing in an animated series," Trey Parker and Matt Stone's crudely animated monster is going strong more than ten years later after we were first introduced to Cartman and the boys. Still offending just about everybody on the planet, it has avoided jumping the shark by continuously changing its targets and, most importantly, remaining incredibly funny. While it's undeniably puerile, the secret of South Park's success lies in the fact that its intentions are essentially good. Those who challenge common sense and general decency are the ones in the firing line – anybody else who gets hit are, well, collateral damage.

15. Heroes 2006-present
We'd heard shows before boast about 'cinematic' production values, but Tim Kring's Heroes actually meant it. Every super-charged hour boasts lavish amounts of special effects – Hiro's time-freezing abilities are particularly cool – and a classy, noirish aesthetic partly inspired by M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. But eye-candy alone wouldn't have won Heroes its place on this list. Kring's genius was in bolting the flashy action onto a slow-burning storyline full of shadows and mystery. And having a really cute, invincible cheerleader in the cast doesn't hurt none either.

13. Battlestar Galactica 2003-present
Dark, unflinching and often brutal, BSG is a very long way from the camp seventies show of the same name. In fact, given that this is one of the most pioneering sci-fi shows in decades, its name is probably its biggest liability. This is a show more concerned with internal rifts, politics and strife than spatial anomalies or aliens with forehead prosthetics, making it a far more introverted character-driven drama than anything in the Star Trek canon. Edward James Olmos' gravel-tongued Admiral leads a great cast of characters (Gaius Baltar, we salute you) and the epic space conflicts, portrayed with a shaky, hand-held style for realism, are blissfully rendered mayhem.

9. The X-Files 1993-2002
Created by surfing enthusiast Chris Carter, The X-Files proved to be the show that could do anything. It could modulate its tone from Twin Peaks creepy to Texas Chain Saw Massacre terrifying to Three Stooges silly. It had a pair of good-looking, charismatic heroes with deliciously simmering sexual chemistry – plus a rogue's gallery of memorable villains, including the putrid Flukeman, stretchy Eugene Tooms and butt-loving Cigarette Smoking Man. Of course, the long-running 'Myth-Arc' conspiracy plotline would have baffled Einstein and was never properly wrapped up in any case, but with at least one more big-screen outing lined up for Mulder and Scully there's still time to redeem the show that launched a thousand Dark Skies.

5. Lost 2004-present
Only time will tell whether it's as clever as it seems, but few TV shows have gripped viewers' imaginations like this hybrid of Swiss Family Robinson and Twin Peaks. An innovative structure in which each episode hones in on a different character, with flashbacks and flashforwards expanding their backstory, ensures the entire cast is fleshed out beyond the constraints of the primary narrative. But aside from the host of unique and colourful characters – from earnest Jack to cocky Sawyer, noble Jin to bug-eyed Ben – it's the epic mysteries at the core of the story that keeps us coming back. What powers does the island have? What's that polar bear doing in the tropics? And how come Hurley never loses weight despite being marooned on an island?

Note that all comments are from the article, a few of which I may not completely agree with.
As much fun as I manage to find in all the Island weirdness, I actually have been riveted to Lost more for the characters than anything else. I really do want to find out what happens to them…
And speaking of weirdness, I think Twin Peaks got short shrift here, considering any bizarre bits we may happen to find in television today, I feel can be traced all the way back to TP’s influence. (Even Empire makes mention of TP twice, in shows that ranked higher than it.)
Not only was its shadow only too evident on shows like Northern Exposure and Picket Fences, the massive cultural impact it had clearly made strangeness welcome on the small screen, paving the way for all the off-kilter programming that came in its wake, and continues to this day.
It’s also important to note that when TP was strange, it was truly strange. Network television had never been to such surreal spots before, and truth to tell, hasn’t really been there since.
(I also happen to rather like Season 2…)

At any rate, I’m still glad TP made the list, which you can find here. Check it out for more bits on these shows, and to see if your favourite series made Empire’s cut.

Parting shot: Episodic recaps/reactions of Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, Heroes, and Lost can be found in the Archive, along with a review of the Futurama straight-to-DVD feature, Bender’s Big Score.

(Lost OS courtesy of impawards.com; The X-Files 2 OS courtesy of aintitcool.com; Battlestar Galactica image courtesy of SCIFI Channel; Twin Peaks image courtesy of tarnishedlady.typepad.com; Dexter image courtesy of fanpop.com.)

FUTURAMA:
BENDER’S BIG SCORE
(Review)

Sweet Yeti of the Serengeti! They’re back, baby!
And I honestly hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Fry and Bender and Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth and the rest of the crew till a few minutes into the opening sequence of the direct-to-DVD movie, Bender’s Big Score.
It’s only here, apparently, when the crew finds out that they were cancelled two years ago! And it’s only now that Farnsworth actually remembers to inform them that they’re fired.
It seems that the “brainless drones” and “asinine morons” at the Box Network (or is that Fox Network?) saw fit to pull the plug on Planet Express. But fret not, for Farnsworth gets a call and is informed that they’ve all been renewed again, and all those drones and morons have been “ground up into a fine pink powder,” which has a million and one uses, and becomes a running joke through the length of the hilarious Big Score.
It was also only here, after Farnsworth gives us all the good news, when I realized I’d missed that signature theme too.
Oh, the little things…

Bender’s Big Score is a sweet ride that should be a blast for all you Futurama junkies out there. It’s got some familiar faces, the debut of the alluded-to-but-never-before-seen Chanukah zombie (voiced by Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill), some neat and catchy tunes, a rather familiar-looking rabbit, and the reason why Al Gore lost the presidency in 2000.
It’s got time paradoxes and spam and inevitable doom and true love and New Scamadonia and remote-controlled solid-gold Death Stars and Kitten-class attack fighters.
Oh, and more Benders than you can shake a rusty wrench at. Plus, “the ancient and terrible secret of Fry’s buttocks”! What more could you want?!

I think we all know it’s a big universe out there. Massive. But it feels that much bigger without Zoidberg, doesn’t it?
So go on. Get ‘cher new Futurama fix, out on DVD. Now.

And if you’ve never seen Futurama before, well, all 72 episodes are out on DVD, meatbag, so go make those Fox… errr, I mean Box Network morons happy and flash those credit card digits. So says Hypnotoad.
And don’t worry. This ain’t no scam. (You can leave your email address at the door.)

Parting shot: There’re three more straight-to-DVD Futurama features scheduled for 2008, The Beast with a Billion Backs, Bender’s Game, and Into the Wild Green Yonder.
All four features will then reportedly be edited and slightly reconfigured to serve as a score of half-hour long episodes which will then air on Comedy Central; some reports say 13 episodes, some, 16.
(Okay. Whatever. Just so’s I got me my Bender…)

(Futurama: Bender’s Big Score DVD cover art courtesy of amazon.com; images courtesy of ilovebender.com.)

SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY
(Review)

Marvel’s gotten the jump on DC as far as straight-to-DVD animated features are concerned, inundating comic geeks with lackluster fare such as the Ultimate Avengers flicks and Iron Man.
DC finally got in on the act though, with the okay but not really stellar effort, Superman: Brainiac Attacks. They’ve followed that one up with the decidedly more adult Superman: Doomsday.

The Good:
The gimmicky fat of the original comic book story—particularly the quartet of Super-replacements who pop out of the woodwork once the Last Son of Krypton bites the big one—is wisely trimmed off, paring the tale down to its essentials, and allowing the storytellers to more deeply explore the effect Superman’s apparent death has on Metropolis and those closest to him.
We see how Jimmy, Perry, and of course, Lois, deal with their grief as their beloved champion and friend dies while protecting humanity from the evil forces of destruction, personified by the killing machine known as “Doomsday.”
Here, Doomsday is a merciless juggernaut, bane of innocent deer and doggies called “Biscuit” alike. Oh, and Men of Steel as well.
A tough baddie is key where Superman is concerned, and it’s fortunate that the Doomsday sequence is particularly effective, the action and suspense dealt out with skill and style as the two combatants rumble throughout Metropolis.

And though I do miss Tim Daly as Clark/Superman, genre mainstay Adam Baldwin (seen on The X-Files, Angel, Firefly, and presently, Chuck; Baldwin also voiced Green Lantern Hal Jordan for the Justice League animated series) does a commendable job, edging out early George Newbern (who voices Supes on Justice League) with his vocal performance.
Acing their characters as well are Twin Peaks’ and Reaper’s Ray Wise (as Perry White) and Lost’s and Pushing Daisies’ Swoosie Kurtz (as Martha Kent).
Jimmy’s subplot is also interesting, though perhaps could have benefited with slightly more screen time. (Jimmy is voiced by Adam Wylie, Zack on Picket Fences, and the voice of Brainiac 5 on Legion of Super-Heroes; Entourage fans may remember him as Jay on “One Day In The Valley.”)

Finally, there are also nice tips of the proverbial hat to the Fleischer animated Superman shorts from the 40’s and the Legion of Super-Heroes comic book, as well as a playful swipe at the aborted Superman Lives script written by Kevin Smith, with Smith making a brief, amusing cameo.

The Bad:
I definitely miss Dana Delany as Lois, as Anne (Ally McBeal; Men In Trees) Heche’s interpretation seems strangely insubstantial.
But, as disappointed as I am with Lois, James Marsters (another genre mainstay, having spent considerable time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off, Angel, as well as kicking around Smallville more recently) does a sad-a$$ job as Luthor. (Clancy Brown did such a dead-on, bang-up job as Lex, I still “hear” that resonant voice whenever I read a comic with Luthor in it.)

There’s also the gross underutilization of Cree Summer—who did work on Batman Beyond, but is more (in)famously known for her turn as Foxxy Love on the audaciously hilarious Drawn Together—and John DiMaggio—Brother Blood on Teen Titans, and brilliant and unforgettable as Bender on Futurama. Summer and DiMaggio appear in Doomsday as Mercy and the Toyman, respectively, both characters getting rather limited—and truncated—screen times.
I mean, when you’ve got Foxxy Love and Bender in one movie, you sure as heck ought to use them.
The reimagining of the Toyman here as a sort of Goth loser also doesn’t really hold a candle to the creepfest that is his incarnation on the Superman and Justice League animated series.

The Ugly:
And I thought Supes looking inordinately tired in the first season of Justice League was bad…
Here, the strangely chiseled cheekbones of the Man of Steel make him look rather… odd. It’s a curious design choice that somewhat compromises the hero’s look. Fortunately, the animation’s good, so that sort of makes up for Kal’s ugly mug.

And the Downright Strange:
There is a curious homoerotic vibe that Luthor exudes in Doomsday. How else should one take it when Lex, in the opening VO, uses the word “beautiful” to describe his nemesis?
Then, in a later sequence, after Supes’ “death” at the hands of Doomsday, a bare-chested Luthor apparently traps the Man of Steel in a room equipped with red sunlight generators and wails on the beleaguered hero with a pair of kryptonite gloves, all the while screaming things like “Why did you leave me?! Why?” and, disturbingly enough, “Who’s your Daddy?”
Now, the homoeroticism in this antagonistic relationship has long bubbled beneath the comic books’ four-colour surface, but its presence here just feels very off-key.

It should also be noted that Superman: Doomsday is rated PG-13: there’s action aplenty, extras and supporting characters and animals meet untimely demises, and, when we enter the story, we discover that Superman and Lois Lane have been, well, Superfriends for the past six months; the kind of Superfriends who snuggle and spend the night at each others’ places…
Having said all that, this is the most mature and adult I’ve seen DC animated stuff get, and for the most part, it’s a commendable effort, though it may not exactly be for the kiddie brigade.

Ultimately, I may have a number of issues with DC’s sophomore stab at the direct-to-DVD world, but it’s clearly the best effort to date, taking us to places we’d never reached before in past animated DC works. It also leaves the limp Marvel efforts eating a whole lotta dust.

(Superman: Doomsday DVD cover art courtesy of amazon.com.)