Babylon 5 – Summer DVD Review – Babylon Squared

babylon 5

Babylon 5
Babylon Squared

Original Air Date: Aug 10, 1994

Aeon Cole – TwoCents Reviewer
aeon@thetwocentscorp.com

This is the twentieth episode of the first season. Babylon 4 disappeared 24 hours after it came online four years previously. What happened to it has always been a mystery and its disappearance is the reason Babylon 5 was built. In this episode we get at least a partial answer to what happened. But Babylon 4’s reappearance raises many more questions than it answers. This episode also gives us a brief introduction to one of my all-time favorite series characters, Zathros, played by Tim Choate. We’ll see more of Zathros and his kind in later episodes.

There are two separate and seeming unrelated plots happening here. One involves Delenn being summoned to rejoin her people. The other is the reappearance of Babylon 4. This episode also features a couple of humorous scenes that serve to distract from the main plot.

True Blood – Recap & Review – Bad Blood

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True Blood
Bad Blood

Original Air Date: Jun 13, 2010

Andi – Staff Writer
Andi@thetwocentscorp.com

In which Suckeh runs around with her arms flailing akimbo and screaming that the sky is… I mean that Beel has gone missing, Eric is blessedly naked and menacing, Pam is her usual hilarious self, Lafayette is his usual badass hookah self, Beel’s been working out and Jussikuh is in a whole heap of trouble. Oh, and lets not forget Sam’s kinky Bill dream, Sophie-Anne’s insanity, Jason’s impotence and the introduction of werewolves!

Chicken Little as Sookie immediately calls the police when she realizes that Bill has disappeared, but Kenya ain’t havin’ it and tells Sookie that she has to wait 48 hour before filing a missing person report. So naturally, Sookie calls bullshit on that, pointing out the overturned furniture and clear signs of a struggle, but it gets her nowhere and she makes a beeline for Bill’s house.

Drop Dead Diva – Recap & Review – Back From the Dead

photo: lifetime

Drop Dead Diva
Back From the Dead

Original Air Date: Jun 13, 2010

Theresa – Staff Writer
theresa@thetwocentscorp.com

A man named Daniel Porter has been missing for nine years as the result of a plane crash, and Jane is representing Daniel’s mother, who does not want him to be ruled dead. The opposition is his wife, who has since remarried and wants her husband to be able to adopt her child. In the middle of hearing, Jane thinks she sees Deb walk through the door, but shakes it off.

HGTV Design Star Five Premires Tonight

photo: hgtv

HGTV’s top-rated reality competition, HGTV Design Star, will return for a fifth season beginning Sunday, June 13, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Shot in New York City, the series will feature 12 creative finalists as they audition for their own show on HGTV. For the first time under the direction of Mark Burnett Productions, HGTV Design Star promises to be epic. During the casting process, Burnett, executive producer of reality competitions such as Survivor and The Apprentice, and his team, amped up the finalist criteria–emphasizing relevant expertise and hosting ability.

Doctor Who – Recap & Review – The Hungry Earth

photo: bbc

Doctor Who
The Hungry Earth

Original Air Date: Jun 12, 2010

Brittany Frederick – Staff Writer
brittanyfrederick
@thetwocentscorp.com

Our newest installment of Doctor Who finds us in the reasonably near future: Wales in 2015, where some genius is about to attempt the deepest drilling into the Earth in history. Of course, because this is Doctor Who, you know that means something nasty lies beneath.

It opens the show by eating some poor hapless guy who doesn’t even get the dignity of a name, and thus begins the carnage.

Design Star – Recap & Review – The White Box Challenge

photo: hgtv

Design Star
The White Box Challenge

Original Air Date: Jun 13, 2010

Patricia Morris Buckley —Staff Writer
pmb@thetwocentscorp.com

Imagine getting ready to snuggle in your softest, prettiest blanket and discovering that it’s scratchy, faded and smelled different? Not a pleasant picture.

But that was the kind of picture that greeted fans of HGTV’s Design Star at the beginning of Season 5. Right away, you can’t help noticing the biggest change of all. Where is Clive??? Clive Pearse has been the host since the show’s debut and his sly humor, sympathetic tone and polished demeanor have made the show so much fun to watch.

Stargate: Universe – Recap & Review – Incursion Part 2

photo: syfy

Stargate: Universe
Incursion Part 2

Original Air Date: Jun 11, 2010

Em – Sr. Reviewer
em@thetwocentscorp.com

When we left off last week, everything was out of control. The Lucian Alliance invaded Destiny. TJ, Riley, and several others were taken hostage; Eli and Chloe were separated from the rest of the crew and running out of air; and Rush, Young, and Camille could not agree on how to handle the situation.

Perhaps most threatening of all, Destiny was experiencing some mysterious glitches, causing the power to shut off and one particularly unlucky Alliance warrior to be vaporized.

Charmed – Summer DVD Review – The Day The Magic Died

photo: wb

Charmed
The Day The Magic Died

Original Air Date: Feb 16, 2003

Brittany D. – Staff Writer
brittany@thetwocentscorp.com

I can’t tell you much about what I was doing back in 1998. School drama, family drama, boy drama, it was a lot of drama. I was looking for something to relate to, and then Charmed happened. Don’t laugh. I can hear you snickering, but don’t laugh. Not only did it address all of the issues poor, young, angsting me was having, it did it with magic. Magic, people!

I’m pretty sure the youth of 1998 was going through that phase where being Wicca was the cool thing instead of an actual religion people practice, and everyone wanted love spells and magic potions to work. If you watched Charmed, you had a favorite sister (mine was Piper!) and you wanted her powers. It’s going to be hard to pick just 10 episodes to relive, so I decided we’d do a running theme. Ten creepiest demons/magical beings from least creepy to the ultimate ‘WHAAA?’ factor.

BBC America Re-invents the Crime Thriller

photo: bbc america

BBC America announced its latest U.S. premiere co-production, Luther, a six-part psychological thriller that takes a bold new look at the crime genre. Idris Elba (The Wire), who also serves as Associate Producer, will star.

Elba will play John Luther, an intellectually brilliant but emotionally impulsive murder detective. He considers his profession a vocation rather than a job and it remains to be seen if he’s a force for good or a man hell bent on self-destruction. His confidante is also his arch-enemy Alice (Ruth Wilson, Jane Eyre), a beautiful multiple-murderess who evades his grasp early on, and with whom he becomes locked in a lethal battle of wits.

Fox Orders a Third Season of The Cleveland Show

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Wouldn’t it be nice if all our favorite shows got the same treatment?

According to Entertainment Weekly, the Fox Network has announced that The Cleveland Show, Seth MacFarlane’s spinoff to his insanely popular Family Guy, has been approved for a season three pickup. This is the second freshman show on the network to receive the same treatment. Fox had previously announced Glee would also have a third season, even before the first one had ended.

The Cleveland Show debuted in September and has become the highest rated half-hour show among 18-34 year olds and teens. The show has also featured some high profile guest stars, such as Fergie and Kanye West. For season two, fans can expect to hear guest voices from Justin Timberlake, another round from Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Tony Hawk, and cast members from Glee.

My Two Cents: I wasn’t sure about this show when it premiered. I thought it would be more of the same, which in some ways it is, but I’ve come to realize that sometimes that isn’t such a bad thing. The show has actually found its own rhythm, and often makes me laugh when Family Guy doesn’t.

What do you think? Are you ready for more Cleveland?

Jake G., TwoCents Reporter
jake@thetwocentscorp.com

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