Blogging A to Z: The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

Throwback time! You may not remember this series which originally aired in the early 1990s for only a couple TV seasons. Like the Indiana Jones films, the TV series exploring a younger Indy was created and produced by George Lucas. It's a pretty cool idea given so much of Indiana Jones' life is wide open prior to the movies - what was his life like before he became a professor? The series debuted a couple years after the third film: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which even featured scenes of a young Indy played by River Phoenix. 

For the TV series, teenage Indy was played by Sean Patrick Flanery, a '90s hottie most known for films like Powder and later the cult fave The Boondock Saints. The show featured an elderly version of Jones who served as a sort of narrator, with the episode taking place as a flashback to a teen or a 10-year-old kid Indy. 

Ultimately the show was canceled because ratings weren't high enough to allow for the costly expense. Four made-for-TV movies aired between 1994 - 1996 to continue the story. 

Why You Should Watch: It's available on Netflix and DVD and is a deeper dive into the Indiana Jones universe. It's suited for kids and is more of family entertainment than anything edgy. A lot of historical characters pop up so it's even somewhat educational!

Factoid: Harrison Ford shows up in an episode called "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues."

Blogging A to Z: The X-Files

The Truth is Out There

Given that I've referenced The X-Files numerous times this month in my other reviews, I should forewarn you: I could write a LOT about this series. Ya'll might think I'm crazy. But I swear I NEVER wrote any Mulder/Scully fanfiction (or Mulder/Skinner, Mulder/alien?)

For the uninitiated: Loner agent Fox Mulder works on cases the FBI deem strange and unsolveable. Dana Scully, agent ad medical doctor, is assigned as his new partner with the intent to debunk Mulder's increasingly paranoid investigation findings (why they didn't just fire him, I don't know). The heart of the show is how the two challenge each other's ideals: Mulder, a believer in the paranormal, and Scully, who depends on logic and fact. Beyond investigating mysteries involving unseen forces, evil twins and shapeshifters, a shadowy section of the government called The Syndicate is shown to have a hand in covering up current cases, which throws Mulder even deeper into his paranoia over government conspiracy.

Humbug

I caught up with the show halfway through its run, and watched a lot of the series out of order (we are so spoiled now with Netflix and packaged DVD seasons!). The first episode that caught my attention was "Humbug," featuring the Jim Rose side show -- extreme performers famously connected to Lollapalooza in the '90s. It definitely took the series in a more inventive direction by not taking itself seriously all the time (Scully eats a bug and Mulder cracks jokes!). Other standouts are the season 2 arc when Scully is abducted and Mulder rides a ski gondola up a mountain to find her. Even re-watching this years later there's a cinematic quality to the show that makes it feel special.

The X-Files serves as a turning point for genre television; not a lot of sci-fi makes it to the networks so it takes a really inventive show to do something different. While Twin Peaks was arguably more of a game-changer, it only lasted two seasons and was so quirky it didn't maintain the wider audience the The X-Files ended up with. The 1998 movie The X-Files: Fight the Future shows how Big Time this little sci-fi show grew. I really liked the movie, but it also was probably the peak of the series. The show painted itself into a corner by featuring the two leads so much, that by season 7 the actors were pretty tired. By then it felt too late to throw in new agents, but that's what happened. I admit, I still haven't seen the very last season all the way through. It got a bit convoluted with Mulder and Scully having an alien love child. I wish I was joking.

Why You Should Watch: Foundational TV viewing for any fan of J.J. Abrams' shows, or fan of sci-fi in general. I wonder where shows like CSI or Fringe would be without The X-Files.

Factoids: The Lone Gunmen, Mulder's go-to geeks, had a brief spin-off series by the same name. One episode involved a terrorist hijack of an airplane to crash into the World Trade Center ... which aired in March 2001, six months prior to the actual attacks. Now THAT'S eerie.

Blogging A to Z: The Walking Dead

Zombies.

Survival.

Braaaaainsssss ...

I passively watched season 1 -- zombies kind of gross me out -- so this was more of my husband's show to watch than mine. But season two of this AMC cable drama sucked me right in. The humanity of this series should not be overlooked. As time moves on, survivors of a world infested with zombies are sure to create their own trouble; battles between leaders, how to care for survivor children and whether to protect them or teach them to protect themselves, trust, and of course hook-ups. Not that this show dwells much on dating relationships, but it's there.

Why You Should Watch: Horror, dystopian, and survivalist worlds come together in this unique show.  It's frequently scary, but the characters and their relationships to each other are explored enough to give it depth. If you're already a fan, or want to know more, here's a cool fansite: talkingwalkingdead with commentary on the show, the comic series and the greater world of zombies.

Factoid: The season two finale, which finished earlier this year, snagged 9 million viewers. That is HUGE for a cable show, and is the highest viewing of a cable show to date.

Blogging A to Z: The Vampire Diaries

Ah, The Vampire Diaries. What a guilty pleasure treasure trove you are.

+1 for a YA-book-turned-TV-series! The essential premise is: newly orphaned Elena meets sexy dangerous Stefan who happens to be a vampire. The town of Mystic Falls holds lots of supernatural secrets, including founding fathers who are steeped in a vampire legacy. Stefan's a vampire trying to do good - enrolling in high school, drinking animal blood - until his estranged vampire brother Damon comes to town and tests his limits.

+1 for strong female characters: Elena isn't a damsel in distress, she fights back and has proven resourceful with a plethora of enchanted amulets, rings and works with her witch friend Bonnie who to cast spells (vampires can usually be foiled by a good spell).

+1 for immortal feuding brothers: The Salvatores are the heart of the show; vampire brothers at odds who still remain fiercely loyal despite their differences.

Old Timey Stefan and Damon!

+1 Eye Candy: Pretty people invade this show. Pretty girls, hot guys, sexy undead. Yep. Sometimes that's what does it.

+1 WTF Plot: The pacing on this show is much like taking an episode of 24 and setting it to fast forward. Or  a chipmunk on speed. Just as the plot hints toward something -- boom! A character dies/falls into a crypt/is cursed/ is staked. Romances turn up every which way, new baddies come to town and curse things and then get killed. It's quite a bit to take in at times, but if it proves to be too much, think! Eye Candy and relax.

Why You Should Watch: TV that's fun and isn't afraid to poke fun at itself. See also: Eye Candy/Pretty People.

Factoid: The wife of the actor who plays Stefan Salvatore showed up this season as a doctor. No surprise: she's also very pretty.

Blogging A to Z: Undeclared

Undeclared is a gem of a show from 2001-2002 that was treated with the same sort of network respect as shows like Firefly: airing episodes out of order, switching nights, etc. (both shows aired on FOX). So most likely if you've seen Undeclared, it's been through its second life on DVD or on cable on IFC.

This is Judd Apatow's second show, following the similarly ill-fated Freaks and Geeks, and features a cast of actors you now see on TV and in movies.

That bottom row in particular: you can see Carla Gallo as Dr. Sweets' girlfriend on Bones (Dr. Sweets having come from Freaks and Geeks), Charlie Hunnam is on Sons of Anarchy, and Seth Rogen has been in Superbad, Knocked-Up, 50/50 and a bunch of other movies (he also had a role in Freaks and Geeks). The red-shirted guy, Jay Baruchel has shown up on a lot of shows, like Syfy's Being Human, the film The Sorcerer's Apprentice with Nicholas Cage, and he voiced a kid in How to Train Your Dragon.

Also, Jason Segal (How I Met Your Mother) plays a rejected boyfriend in half the episodes, whose cringeworthy behavior turns stalker-like.

So what IS Undeclared? It's about a kid named Steve's college experience and his adventures living in the dorm. To his detriment, this experience also includes his recently divorced father (pictured above) who lives in town and tags along. This show really nails the experience of dorm life and the strange new freedoms of living away from home for the first time. Or trying to get away and not quite being able to.

One of my favorite episodes is when Marshall (in the striped shirt) gets sick, and Rachel (yellow sleeves) wants to help him with homeopathic methods. She has good intentions but essentially does not know what she's doing, and meanwhile Marshall slips further from consciousness, while still trying to maintain his job in the cafeteria.

Why You Should Watch: If you've ever lived on a college campus, this will bring back memories.

Factoid: Lots of guest stars flow through this single season series: Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Ted Nugent, Ben Stiller. Plus then-unknowns Amy Poehler, Jenna Fischer, Busy Phillips (who also appeared on Freaks and Geeks) show up in episodes.

Blogging A to Z: True Blood

The letter "T" is for True Blood, the HBO series based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie/Southern Vampire book series.

I'm more a fan of the books than the show, but I have to admit the casting is excellent. When I first saw promo pictures, I knew they nailed Eric in particular, and Bill and Sam are pretty good too. Anna Paquin as Sookie isn't who I pictured, but given her work in the X-Men movies I knew she'd be a good choice. In the books, Tara is not depicted as African-American, but she's also not central to the series. It works to change characters sometimes to bring a different spin to the TV version. Although, Tara is pretty annoying.

Sookie Stackhouse (don'tcha love that name?) is a blue collar working gal serving drinks at bar in fictional Bon Temps, Lousiana. She can read people's thoughts, an ability she views as a flaw, which hinders her from living a normal life. One night at the bar she's drawn to a man's peaceful presence, and she finds she doesn't need to block his thoughts -- she can't read them at all. Turns out, Bill Campbell is a vampire, and all his thoughts are blocked to her. Vampires just staged a coming out throughout the nation in attempts to mainstream into society. Soon, Sookie's relationship with Bill integrates her further into the vampire world, including their intricate political ruling system. The ruling vampires want to use Sookie's ability to their own advantage, but good 'ole Vampire Bill tries to protect her.

The name True Blood refers to the synthetic blood drink manufactured for vampires. The show's first season makes a lot of allusions to vampire hostility in comparison to racial and sexual discrimination in our world. A sign in the intro reads "God Hates Fangs," so you can see right away, not everyone is glad vampires are alive/undead and here to stay.

Why You Should Watch: While the show takes a lot of liberties from the books, it's fun to see familiar characters spring to life. Because it's HBO, expect a lot (A LOT) of bare skin, risque plots, and pretty graphic violence. Season 2 veers away from the books quite a bit and I kind of lost interest.  If you aren't squeamish this series is a fun ride.

Factoid: Author Charlaine Harris said as she brainstormed writing the series, she contemplated giving Sookie a fake leg! Instead, her "disability" ended up as mind reading.