
Hello! Wow it's been a while since the last blog - disappeared for a while there but Badgersmuffin and I are back with a new blog! Hope you haven't forgotten me! ![]()
We thought a brilliant blog to return with would be one listing our favourite and least favourite moments in TV for this year since it should be fresh in everyone's memory! Since I've seen the current seasons of only five shows I thought I'd choose one best moment per show!
Enjoy! And let me know what your favs were!!
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Warning: This Blog contains spoilers! If you have not seen the most recent series of Chuck, Pushing Daisies, CSI, Bones or Dollhouse but plan without spoilers to then you may not want to read!
And remember, these choices is my opinion so don't hate ![]()
....First a few things I didn't enjoy so much....
CSI - Too much focus on Langston....Yes we know he's Lawrence Fishburne, Morpheus from The Matrix but please does he have to solve EVERY case!? It's an ensemble cast, give Nick, Catherine and Greg a little more screen time - Please!
Bones Finale - does anyone else feel a little cheated!?... Don't promise every Bones fan the one thing they've wanted since the very first episode of the show only to provide us with a pretty cheap trick. The episode was good, but as a finale - not so good! And don't even get me started on the memory loss thing....
Pushing Daisies - so much potential, not enough time... A negative aimed solely at the Network , its annoying that stories had to be hurried and finished in time for the finale. Ned's brothers and dad, Chuck's dad, Emerson's search for his daughter, Ned's feelings for Olive... all were rushed to a resolution or even left unresolved. That said, they did the best they could!
...Ok, lets not dwell of the negatives and get on with the positives(nb: in no particular order!)!
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1. Olive Snook (Pushing Daisies - Season 2)

"...It's crazy. It's like imagining us as hobbits. Or on jet packs. Or hobbits on jet packs."
I liked Olive from season 1 of PD, she was funny and sassy but I always preferred Chuck and Ned since their relationship was incredibly cute. Plus Olive's crush on the Pie Maker made her less interesting and anti-Chuck - which I hated. Season two Olive was so much better, funnier and probably the most entertaining of the main cast. She had a lot more screentime away from The Pie Hole, spent more time helping them solve mysteries and had a cute new love interest in the end- all of which helped me begin to completely adore her character. Kristin Chenoweth plays her brilliant, who'd have thought someone so tiny could steal any scene she's in - plus, what a voice! Olive Highlights: Olive as a nun, Pigby (!!), secret handshake with Chuck, "Comfort Food" - every scene, Olive mack (!), and Randy Mann (Aw).
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2. Episode: "Turn Turn Turn" (CSI - Season 9, Episode 16)


CSI main characters have been dropping like flies recently (a metaphor our much loved bug-man, Grissom, would appreciate) Fact: CSI Has not been the same since Grissom left or even Sara and Warrick for that matter. But "Turn Turn Turn" made me believe it was possible for the show to live on without them. The story centres around the lovely Nick who is called to a motel where a young girl is found murdered; the episode sees Nick remembering the previous crimes he's investigated at the same motel and the realisation that they are all connected. I loved the episode because, first, it's a new twist to the usual episode storyarc, secondly, it's an emotional episode centring on Nick (all previous episodes as such have been of top quality: Grave Danger 1 & 2, Gum Drops) and thirdly, god does Nick know how to cry!! Now if the CSI writers can just produce a few more killer episodes like this next season they will please a lot more fans!
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3. Dollhouse - Whiskey's backstory (Season 1, Episode 11/12)
"...imprint the broken Doll..."
The last few episodes of Dollhouse were fantastic and the revelation that Dr. Saunders was a Doll was brilliant - complete shock! The flashbacks to her past as a doll provided not only a backstory for Whiskey but also for Alpha and how he became 'broken'. I was always curious about the scars on Dr. Saunders' face, and why Alpha had only scarred her but not killed her. So seeing this as his first outward act of violence was interesting and shocking. Although I think, the flashbacks failed to show why Alpha was so obsessed with Echo - we, as viewers, saw throughout the whole season how different she was to the other dolls - but we didn't really see how Alpha knew. Anyway, I digress.... The scenes between Topher and Saunders' were brilliant and left a few unanswered questions - why did Topher make her hate him!? Seeing Saunders walk away from the potential to know the truth about her life before she was a doll is a great sentiment to her character and how important she sees her role as doctor and protector of the Dolls. Amy Acker once again proving she is a brilliant actress!
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4. Booth & Brennan's Circus act (Season 4, Episode 12)

A very silly episode but also weird and very funny; I loved seeing Booth & Brennan go undercover again, especially Brennan who seems to just completely let go of herself sometimes when in character. But it's the Knife throwing act in particular which I remember the most from the episode purely for the expression on Brennan's face (one of pure glee) throughout the whole performance. Ok, so the first time I watched it I did so peering through my own hands but that just made the performance all the more entertaining. Brennan's immense trust in Booth is shown often in the show, but mostly figuratively or spoken in 'anthropological terms'. But in this scene is shown quite literally - she places her life in Booth's hands and trusts him completely with it. On the surface it's a wonderfully silly scene with a beaming, one-eyed, Brennan skipping around the stage, but underneath there's a heart-warming subtext!

Couldn't find a video of the scene online but check out the next best thing....a little gif Katherine (Badgersmuffin) made of this scene for me! Awesome!
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I've had a massive "Chuckathon" since last Saturday which involved me watching the entire two seasons in the space of about 4 days (Season 1 took me a day to watch
) - before last week I'd never seen it! The show is amazing and I'm so glad I finally got round to watching it
On the negative side, all 35 episodes have merged into one mass of Chuck-ness making it difficult to pick out something I loved about Season 2! BUT...I have managed it ![]()
5. Casey's 'High C' - Chuck versus the Sensei (Season 2, Episode 9)

John Casey, a big, sarcastic "seething mass of pain" and former choirboy apparently!? This is the moment I went from liking Casey to loving him! Hilarious moment, which caught me completely off-guard, and made me burst out laughing instantly. Chuck and Sarah's reaction are fantastic too! It's amazing how one little moment can make you fall in love with a character, but it is a brilliant moment. One of many for Casey. (Close 2nd place was "Chuck Versus the Cougars" as its one of my favourite Sarah episodes!)
Hope you enjoyed my picks....I've missed blogging...let me know what you think and what some of your choices would be ![]()
Challenge 11: Character Entrances
The Challenge:
Pick five character entrances you like, the scenes have to be the first time you saw that character as a viewer rather than a flashback to the character's past. Describe the scene, pick a quote which symbolise the scene you picked and how you react/ed to the entrance. To make it interesting we had to try and pick different characters to our usual choices so the selection reflects diversity over 'absolute favourite'. I've tried to pick character intros I remember over characters I love; I've also tried to pick a range of character entrances, both funny and dramatic (the majority are dramatic since they seem to be the ones which stick in my mind)
Here goes...Enjoy ![]()
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The Dramatic Entrance:
Claire Bennett (Heroes)


Season 1:Episode 1 - Genesis
The Scene: shaky handheld camera, girl in a cheerleader outfit runs up some steps of a derelict structure, hangs off the edge, screams, Thud, gets up, pops arm back in socket, stares at camera
"This is Claire Bennett. That was attempt number six"
Ok 'ew ew ew' is the big reaction, of course, to the horrible arm crunching but I remember literally yelping when she jumped because it really shocked me. I think I was expecting her to fly or something rather than sort of 'Jump-Scream-THUD'. I liked that they put her in a cheerleading outfit - not in that way - but it just created an odd combination of images. The scene also sets the character of Claire up quickly and easily; she's popular but holds a dark secret. I kind of always liked Claire in the first season because she was never really helpless and this scene shows that perfectly. Very dramatic entrance to a show
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The "Oh my god" Entrance:
Irina Derevko (Alias)


Season 1, Episode 22 - "Almost Thirty Years"
The Scene: Sydney strapped to a chair, sitting with "The Man", guy tells her he isnt "The Man", gets up, silhouette of a woman walks into the room, cut to Sydney's face, shock
"Mom?"
You don't even see her face, only her shadowed figure and voice before panning to Sydney's face and her reaction - that's what makes this scene so cool. The scene wasn't about the viewer and how we would react when we saw her, it was about Sydney and her reaction. It wasn't a scene I particularly remembered well for any sort of drama or over the top craziness just the perfectly tense cliffhanger. I always just remember Sydney's reaction before quickly jamming Disc 1 of season two into my DVD player - tense stuff!
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The Funny Entrance:
Angela Montenegro (Bones)
(As you can see, I've cut my screenshot to give the girl her dignity)
Season 1, Epsiode 1 - Pilot
The Scene: Woman walks up to arrivals board, board broken, tries to catch people's attention, walks up to attendant, attendant silences her, tries to talk, attendant silences her again, woman rolls eyes, flashes bra
"Was Guatemala awful? Was it horribly backward?"
I remember this one because I think it really suits her character; you look back at the first episode of many shows and you can see how much the writers have 'tweeked' characters over time. But I still think Angela's entrance fits her personality - off the wall, weird and abrupt. It always makes me chuckle when I see it
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The Perfect Entrance:
Clark Kent (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman)

Season 1, Episode 1 - Pilot (1)
The Scene: Bus pulls up, man steps out, puts down case (C.K.), looks around, cut to bus skidding down the road out of control, man looks over, people walking across the road oblivious, bus halts just in front of old lady, man looks around and runs off, old lady points at bus, hand print.
When you're introducing Superman/Clark Kent you have to do it right because it has the potential to be awesome. I think this one does a pretty good job; yes its quite cheesy (two nuns, a lady with a pram, some children and an old lady all happen to be walking across the road as a bus hurtles uncontrollably down the street - cue, Clark Kent!) but it has two signature moments for me, seeing the 'C.K.' on Clark's case and seeing the handprint on the bus. I can't remember Clark's entrance in Smallville but I don't think it was as perfect as this one. Plus, Dean Cain - dreamy!
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The 'rip your heart out and hand it back to you' Entrance:
Illyria (Angel)


Season 5, Episode 15 - A Hole in the World
The Scene: Fred lying in Weasley's arms, dead, Weasley hugs her, her eyes turn blue, body starts to shake, Weasley is thrown backwards, camera pans away from Fred's body, Illyria stands up, looks at her new body, looks up
"This will do"
It took me a while to decide on this, my fifth and final pick; I'll admit Angel was the last place I wanted to look as it's been so long since I've seen it. But I can't think of many other character entrances which are as heart-wrenching as this one. Just as I was sobbing my little heart out at the death of my beloved Fred there's an evil looking Smurfette on my screen - "Hang on a sec..." -Fade to Black-
Dramatic. Marvellous.
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I hope you enjoyed reading. Let me know some of your choices?
Sorry - haven't blogged in a while - a mixture of being mega busy and mega uninspired! The new site layout disorientated me slightly and caused me to shy away from the site a little more. I won't rant about the likes and dislikes I have, I just hope the bugs are sorted if nothing else..
Anyway, a new challenge is here (yey!)
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Challenge 10 - Guilty Pleasures - We all have music, films or hobbies we're embarrassed about but love secretly! Now's the time to name and shame....split into five categories; TV, Music, Film, actors and misc (hobbies, etc)
Disclaimer: The below embarrassing items of media wonder are clas*fied as such by the author (me!) and by definition are not intended to harm or criticise anyone else who may enjoy these products or those who consider them 'cool'.
(In otherwords, all the things I've mentioned in my blog are embarrassing for me to like, but please don't get offended! It's all subjective and a little bit of fun!)
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Television
I'm not embarrassed of too many TV shows I watch, I'm into some superhero cartoons like Justice League, X-Men and Batman which is not something I'd admit to many people I've just met; I am a 'superhero fangirl' so although embarrassing, its more of an embarrassing extreme to my personality! One that's terribly embarrassing considering my personality is Laguna Beach - I really enjoyed it. I have no idea why because the people on the show epitomise everything I hate about young people these days but god I love it!
Don't hate me, anyone who loves Laguna Beach or The Hills - it's just very not 'me' and therefore incredibly embarrassing! I also adore Pocoyo, a kiddie show narrated by Stephen Fry; I dated an animation student at university so I blame that! Really it's just too cute to be embarrassing...no really it is I swear!! ![]()


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Music
My music taste has always been a little random, I like a bit of No Doubt, Daft Punk I'm even partial to a bit of Marilyn Manson but also - and here's my guilty pleasure - Britney Spears.
Let me first say, I was 12 years old when she first 'burst onto the scene' so I was the niche market she appealed to (along with pervy old men!). She was the first popstar I was obsessed with so I've defended her to the hills through all her recent years of troubles (despite the fact that the girl clearly went ga-ga for a few years!). I love listening her music when I'm doing housework; I'm a proper old-school Britney fan and, yep, I'm damn proud of it (but also, yes deeply ashamed!) Most pop divas don't have the luxury of my pride, most I say are awful but secretly love; I have a bit of Shania Twain on my ipod (my mum's fault!) and of course Mariah Carey! I also like Girl Aloud who are just pure poppy trash (for my American friends, Girls Aloud won an 'American Idol' type competition in the UK; in otherwords they are entirely manufactured).

(A more innocent time
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Film
I own the whole Fast and Furious collection and I'm currently in a brief over the top obsession stage with them. I'm also dead excited for the fourth instalment which I will be forcing my friends to go and see - secretly of course, outwardly I will seem as uninterested as possible! I know nothing about cars really and I'm not a 14 year old boy so this guilty pleasure is yet another baffling one! Even worse is that my favourite instalment so far is probably Tokyo Drift which is easily also the worst and cheesiest. On to another set of films, Scooby Doo I've watched too many times (the shameful reason is given below) even though it is awful beyond words... Princess Diaries also make me feel warm and fuzzy when I watch them (that's Disney for ya!) and I admit that I watch them for a much needed bit of innocence in my life. Sometimes as well, my friend Katherine (yes I'm bringing you into this one!) and I fast-forward through Bring In On just to watch the last 10 minutes and then moan about how the Toros SO had the better routine! ![]()

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Actors/Character
I have a crush on Velma from the Scooby Doo
it's a geek thing. Or an intelligence thing.. Or maybe it's an orange jumper thing? Who knows but either way it's a little weird. Linda Cardellini made her almost geeky-sexy in the live action films which is where the shameful crush manifests from but I think its harboured from an earlier affection to the cartoon version. Whatever the reason, it is without a doubt a baffling crush! Another more normal crush, but one I've been too embarrassed to admit is Michael Cera (he was in Juno by the way - I loved him in those little yellow shorts), he has a real geeky charm I find so crushsome!


(*sigh*
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Miscellaneous
I'm not OCD at all but I recently listed all my DVDs and games I own on a Microsoft Access spreadsheet; each have a picture of the DVD cover attached....oh the shame... I'm also absolutely obsessed with making sure my ipod playlist is impeccably neat (i.e. no duplicate songs, all band name correctly written, all songs in order) which again suggests I'm a little obsessive-compulsive but I'm honestly not....I just take pride in my gadgets
It's also been explained to me by certain members of my family that naming my computer is incredibly odd - which I agree with, but this hasn't stopped me naming my new computer! Derek!

Well I've named and shamed most of my more awful embarrassments. Anyone have any they wish to share? Promise I won't laugh!! ![]()



