Critical Myth

A new book review has been added to Critical Myth-Interpretations:

Sundiver by David Brin

I’ve added some general thoughts on the original story arc for “Babylon 5″, as provided by JMS in Babylon 5: The Scripts of JMS: Volume 15.

A new book review has been added to Critical Myth-Interpretations:

The Man with the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming

The review for Ghost Hunters 4.13: “Fort Delaware” has been added to the archive.

A new video game review has been added to Critical Myth-Interpretations:

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)

The summer season is usually my time to unwind a little.  It’s a veritable wasteland of reality TV with a few choice cable network gems.  There are some exceptions, of course, and I’ll be taking a lot of time to catch up on DVD viewing and my Netflix queue!  Here’s what I’ll be watching and covering this summer (tentativel), review-wise (in CAPS), and the day the reviews should be posted (in parenthesis).

Mondays

The Middleman (ABCF)

It looks interesting, and “Kyle XY” was a pleasant surprise from this network.  Worth a summer shot, if nothing else.

Tuesdays

Wipeout (ABC)
Big Brother (ABC)

“Wipeout” looks like those great Japanese shows on G4 that I’ve become addicted to, like “Ninja Warrior”.  And “Big Brother” has, unfortunately, become a summer staple in the household.

Wednesdays

GHOST HUNTERS (SFC, Thursdays)
GHOST HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL (SFC, Thursdays)
Big Brother (ABC)

“Ghost Hunters” and “Ghost Hunters International” are a given, and I’ll enjoy having a little more time to explore my thoughts on the episodes.

Thursdays

Swingtown (CBS)

The previews for this show were actually quite funny, but I doubt it’s for everyone!

Fridays

STARGATE: ATLANTIS (SFC, Mondays)
Charlie Jade (SFC)
Doctor Who (SFC)
Psych (USA)

“Stargate: Atlantis” is another given (and that includes the SG-1 DVD coming out), and “Charlie Jade” has a lot of genre credibility.  “Doctor Who” has become standard summer fun!  “Psych” is the only show on USA that I’ll be watching in real-time; everything else will be DVD fare.

The review for Battlestar Galactica 4.10: “Revelations” has been added to the archive.

Please join me in welcoming TV-Reviewed to the growing list of sites “syndicating” my reviews! It’s a very well done site, with useful content, so I encourage my loyal readers to follow the link and check it out!

Now that I’ve completed my recap of the past season, it’s time to look to the future!  According to the current upfront announcements for the five major networks, and what we know about the cable networks, here is the projected fall Critical Myth review schedule (in order of precedence):

FALL 2008

Mondays

Heroes (NBC)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)
Prison Break (FOX)

Tuesdays

Fringe (FOX)

Wednesdays

Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Ghost Hunters (SFC)
Ghost Hunters International (SFC)

Thursdays

Supernatural (CW)
Smallville (CW)

Fridays

Battlestar Galactica (SFC)
Stargate: Atlantis (SFC)

That amounts to 10 returning shows and 1 new show, 11 in total.  That’s far more manageable than it appears, since the 4 shows from the Sci-Fi Channel rarely run at the same time or during peak/sweeps periods.  That being the case, “Heroes” and “Supernatural” will be getting heavy coverage, essentially what is happening now.

In very general terms, I am keeping the three-tier system: high priority, middle priority, low priority.

High Priority

Heroes (Tuesday)
Supernatural (Friday)
Battlestar Galactica (Monday)

This designation means that these reviews are the absolute minimum.  Even if things get crazy, I intend to keep things going at Critical Myth for those shows, releasing reviews on the days of the week provided above.  High Priority shows will receive full, detailed reviews (about 6-10 paragraphs on average).

Middle Priority

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Tues/Wed)
Ghost Hunters (Thu/Fri)
Stargate: Atlantis (Sat/Sun/Mon)

This designation means that these reviews should come out within 1-3 days of first run for new episodes.  Assuming my schedule remains open enough to keep these on the schedule, then these reviews get written as time allows after the High Priority reviews are completed.  Obviously, the days given above are just guidelines; Middle Priority shows will typically get 4-6 paragraphs on average.

Low Priority

Fringe
Prison Break
Smallville

This should be obvious.  I get to these as I get to them, and a lot is going to depend on popularity and success.  Strong shows will move into the Middle Priority column quickly.  Weak shows will not.  The gold standard here is “Terminator”…it quickly became a Middle Priority early in the mid-season.  Low Priority shows will typically get 3-5 paragraphs on average.

With the fall season now well-established, there’s only one thing left to cover: the Summer 2008 season.

This season, I’ll be summing up this unusual 2007-2008 season with a post-mortem on the majority of the shows I’ve reviewed during the year, ranking from the very worst to the very best. In some cases, the term “post-mortem” is all too applicable. This is the final part of this 11-step journey, focusing on the fourth season of “Lost”.