Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Television . . .

Call me boring, but I like TV. Escapist TV, that is. I can't do the "slice of life" stuff that normally shows up on Lifetime. I see "life" every day. Extending it into my down time just doesn't work. So, costume dramas, mild science fiction, and adventure is what I look for.
Here on the east coast, TV is an hour later than my Midwestern mind can assimilate - particularly when I have to get up at 0500 every morning. So, thank you, electrical engineers, for cable and DVR.

There are two programs I have been recording lately. The first is a rather unusual extension of the Terminator movies - Terminator, the Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Probably the most interesting character in the series is Cameron (Summer Glau), a re-programmed terminator sent to protect John Connor. Her name is a paean to James Cameron, the director of the first two Terminator movies.

The photo below shows most of her. She previously appeared in "Firefly" and "Serenity." She has a rather odd appearance, but moves like a dancer - which she is. An extremely talented ballet dancer, which was exhibited in Monday's episode.




The other is The Tudors on Showtime. I religiously watched The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Elizabeth R, Elizabeth, Elizabeth - the Golden Years and a few others. I watch them again every time they pop up on TV or cable. English history is intriguing to me, since my g.grandfather and g.grandmother emigrated here from Coseley, Staffordshire. Also, Sir Leonard Halliday, a distant (too many greats to enumerate here) grandfather, was Lord Mayor of London in 1605.

This series begins its second season on 30 March. In spite of many odd twists of history - like Henry FitzRoy dying at the age of three, or Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk marrying Margaret Tudor (after she marries and kills the King of Portugal . . . huh?) - it has very good acting, great costuming and scenery and an interesting story line. Natalie Dormer, whom I had never seen before, is an excellent Anne Boleyn.


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