The second season of truTV’s Black Gold kicked off last night with a lot of changes. The first season featured three competing rigs vying to be the first among the group to hit oil. But this time around, the show focuses solely on the crew of Rig 28 with a huge dilemma. They need to find oil in 50 days or end up losing the lease on their plot of land. Basically, if they don’t hit crude, the crew will lose their jobs and cost the company millions of dollars. The pressure is definitely on and viewers will be riveted in watching to see if the hardworking roughnecks will make the deadline. I like the fact that the new season will be focusing on one rig this time around since it’ll allow us to get to know the crew members and dig a little deeper into what makes these men tick. I mean, really, can you imagine CHOOSING to be out in the 110 degree heat, working on a 15-story rig and getting all muddy like that?
The new season’s opener which premiered August 19th, introduced a newbie to the rig named Cheston. Cheston is a great addition to the show since viewers can see through his eyes how hard it is to learn this job. The veterans really don’t want to be bothered with a new trainee or “worm” as they call ‘em and so we get to see Cheston having a real tough time figuring out what he’s supposed to be doing. Check out this video clip of his on the job training.
To make matters worse, daytime driller Pee-Wee doesn’t want the newbie around and is actually gunning for him to get fired. Hopefully Cheston will be able to survive this trial by fire especially since viewers will be drawn to this underdog. I, for one, can identify with Cheston because we’ve all been there at some point in our lives. Whether we’re a new kid at school or working our way up the corporate latter, we know how it feels to be the lowly peon. So Cheston should hang in there and not take all the abuse personally. I don’t think it matters who it is, every worm on the rig would have to go through this “rite of passage”. They’ve obviously got to earn their right to be on the rig. Not everyone is cut out for this type of work. It’s labor intensive, physically draining, hot, dirty and I’m pretty sure it’s smelly too. I can’t imagine going through what Cheston’s going through on the job but I could see myself getting the same expletive-filled “employee review” that he got in the following video clip.
But beyond all the in-fighting and name calling, the show should be an eye-opener for the nation. As a country filled with gas-guzzling SUVs and minivans, most folks don’t think twice about the fuel that they pump at their local gas station. The show gives us all a rare glimpse beyond the gas pump and into the lives of these roughnecks that are simply trying to provide for their families while helping supply our nation with some crude.
Oh, and one other neat little tidbit I’d like to point out is concerning the pipe supplier on the show. His name is Michael Patrick McConaughey who happens to be Matthew McConaughey brother. The two even appeared together in a movie titled “The Newton Boys” back in 1998.
Anyway, Black Gold is definitely a “must see” in my book. And when a show like this is run by the geniuses behind “Deadliest Catch” and “Ice Road Truckers”, you just know there’ll be some heart-pounding drama on hand. To get a taste of what the show is about, be sure to check out the truTV’s Black Gold trailer up on youtube.
Watch for new episodes of Black Gold every wednesday night at 10pm on TruTV.
I finally had the chance to watch the unaired “Epitaph One” episode that’s now available on the Dollhouse: Season 1 DVD set. And I’m relieved to be able to say that “Epitaph One” lived up to all the hype. I was a regular viewer of the Joss Whedon series on Fox and I’m glad to see the show getting some much deserved buzz surrounding the release of the DVDs as well as the upcoming season. Fox really put the kibosh on the show by putting it in the friday timeslot but hopefully the show will be able to turn it around and bring in some more viewers this coming season.
Anyway, “Epitaph One” takes place in 2019 with the world in chaos due to the technology that developed out of the Dollhouse/Rossum Corporation. Felicia Day does a fantastic job in leading the group of renegades that are trying desperately to make sense of what’s happening. The main cast appear via flashbacks and provide viewers brief glimpses of what took place to cause such a catastrophe.
here are some random tidbits from the episode:
- Topher lost his mind at some point and is as annoying as ever.
- we learn that Echo develops a way to block imprints
- Paul becomes Echo’s handler
- in the future, there’s a way to imprint the same person into multiple bodies. that’s just freaky!
- there’s some sort of relationship between Boyd and Dr. Saunders/Whiskey.
- oh and speaking of “Dr. Saunders” – apparently Amy Acker will be moving on to another series so her role will be diminished in season 2. so sad. she was superb as Dr. Saunders.
oh and it has been reported that Whedon & company will be working on a smaller budget. I’m not sure if that will affect the look of the show but they’ve already said that the episodes will no longer be 50 minutes anymore like they were in season one.
I love how William Shatner can make anything sound like Beatnik poetry. The man is a master at voice-overs. I still think of his Ben Folds produced Has Been record as pure genius. And apparently Conan O’Brien thinks so too. Check out this recent clip of Shatner on the Tonight Show reading Sarah Palin‘s bewildering tweets as poetry!
It’s a bit sad to see that the gorgeously animated Dragon Hunters didn’t find a wider audience. I guess that’s what separates indie films with the marketing power of the majors like Disney and Dreamworks. My kids watched the DVD last week and I noticed that the kids were going back for third and fourth viewings. Usually, they’d be satisfied with a movie after maybe a second run-through so it was a bit surprising to me to see them wanting to watch this particular movie over and over again. So, I sat down and watched Dragon Hunters with them and realized how breathtaking the visuals are. The unique look of the various dragons in the film as well as the detail that went into the landscapes and castles are fresh and inventive and not the typical fare that one would normally see in a children’s animated film.
The film is a CG-animated adaptation of a french TV series which follows a gentle warrior named Lian-Chu along with Gwizdo and a rabbit/dog type creature named Hector. They encounter a little girl named Zoe who’s home is being threatened by the World Gobbler dragon. I’ll admit that the storyline and dialogue are a bit weak here but my take on this is that the movie just HAS to be seen and not heard. People, give this NON-Pixar movie a chance!
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I took the kids to see Ben Stiller’s family-friendly hit movie Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. The film featured a star studded supporting cast including Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson and Bill Hader. The writers were obviously gunning for the broad “summer-blockbuster” audience since there wasn’t much plot here to get in the way of the action and mayhem. And that was fine by me since I had a group of kids in the theater that needed constant stimulation to keep ‘em in their seats. At times, with the Smithsonian museum being featured so heavily in the flick, it felt a bit like a promotional tool to get kids to visit the exhibits in DC. As a matter of fact, I’m feeling a bit compelled to schedule a trip with my kids to the “Air and Space” museum this summer! Anyway, it’s a fun mindless diversion for the family. Don’t get too caught up by the many plot-holes in the story, just take the kids, turn off your brain and enjoy the ride.
favorite scene: Octavius (Steve Coogan) and Jedediah (Owen Wilson) battling in slo-mo (a parody of the movie “300″ ) most unwelcomed cameo: the Jonas Brothers as cherubs
I don’t know about you but I’m a bit tired of networks stretching the season finale shows to two hours. C’mon, sitting through nearly two hours worth of recaps and rehashes to simply find out who the DWTS Season 8 champs are, was a bit painful.
So, as I had mentioned yesterday, Shawn and Mark did indeed win the competition. But it was definitely close. Apparently there was only 1% difference in viewer votes between the two final couples. I think the outcome might have been different if Cheryl and Gilles had done something other than that awfully dated “Flashdance” routine.
There were several awkward moments during the live telecast including some off-color jokes by Lawrence Taylor and Steve Wozniak forgetting how to do “the worm”. But the ultimate “cringe-fest” occurred during “The Roast” segment done by Jeffrey Ross. It’s definitely tame compared to a real Roast but still the harsh jokes make ya squirm just the same. heh.
It’s now down to three celebs on Dancing with the Stars – Shawn Johnson, Melissa Rycroft and Gilles Marini. All three are very capable dancers and have been consistently at or near the very top of the judges’ leaderboard each and every week. I wasn’t really sure who to root for up until I saw the freestyle segment last night. I have to say Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas’ freestyle was an absolute joy to watch. Their dance featured intricate moves, high energy and fast technique that blew away the other two couples in the competition. Of course it’s ultimately up to the voters to crown the winner but if it were up to me, I’d pick Shawn.
Be sure to watch the season finale tonight at 9pm on ABC.
sweet! According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox will be renewing Dollhouse for another season. The show had a lot stacked up against it especially since it was relegated to the dreaded friday night timeslot. But due to strong DVR and online streaming numbers, the network execs decided to keep the show going. Kudos to Joss Whedon for creating such an interesting show. Honestly, I think Eliza Dushku‘s acting chops are painfully limited to carry the show by herself so thank goodness the supporting cast on the show is very strong. But ultimately what brought me back to the show each week was the intriguing storyline about the underground organization and the far-reaching conspiracy to keep it hidden. Oh, and the season finale that featured Alan Tudyk as Alpha was brilliant and showed how great the series can actually be when the writing and the performances are equally rock solid.
Musical segments rarely work in a sitcom especially when it’s not part of the normal structure of the show. But thankfully last night’s Kidney Now bit on 30 Rock finished off the show’s season with a bang. The show struggled with incorporating celebrity guests this season and I really thought Tina Fey & company were doomed with having the likes of Clay Aiken (never funny) and Mary J. Blige on the show. Yes, the spoken lines by Sheryl Crow and Elvis Costello were stilted and unnatural but I can forgive it all due to the fact that the ending tribute for Milton Greene was so well done. So often, songs written specifically for sitcoms feel like an afterthought but in this case the song “He Needs a Kidney” was the highlight of the episode. Check it out…
The celebrities in the tribute for Milton Greene include: Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Adam Levine, Adam Horovitz, Sara Bareilles, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Talib Kweli, Michael McDonald, Rhett Miller, Moby, Robert Randolph, Rachael Yamagata, Cyndi Lauper and Clay Aiken (isn’t his “15 minutes” over by now????).
As a longtime Lost viewer, last night’s two hour season finale was a bit of a letdown. Yes, there were some questions answered including what happened to Bernard and Rose but wedging “Jacob” into everyone’s past lives felt a bit forced and awkward in a way. and don’t get me started on the the fist-fight between Sawyer & Jack and the shootout at the Dharma camp. Those two scenes (along with some others) simply felt like they were just milking the clock, trying to stretch the story into a two hour special.
here are some random thoughts on last night’s show -
- It still seemed unnatural for Jack to decide to go through with the bombing of the Swan especially now that he revealed it was all because of Kate.
- And Juliet getting sucked down the shaft was sad but her motivation for going along with Jack was also a bit murky and underdeveloped.
- Learning that Jacob is just a man that doesn’t age (like Richard) wasn’t what I was expecting. sort of “meh” for me. I was actually distracted somewhat trying to remember where I’ve seen the actor (playing Jacob) before. It took me a while but Mark Pellegrino is best known as Rita’s ex-husband on Dexter.
- Oh, finding out Locke is actually quite dead was a nice twist. So I guess the living Locke isn’t Locke at all but “Man no. 2″ in the opening scene.
- and it appeared to me that Jacob was aware of Locke’s plan with Ben. So why didn’t Jacob put up a fight before Ben stabbed him? no struggle? for such a mystical figure, Jacob was pretty easy to kill. or can Jacob even be killed? hhmmmm…
- and the biggest downer of all – having to wait til 2010 for the next episode. so frustrating!
