Anyone catch last night's episode of FlashForward? I thought it a little improved over other recent episodes, if only because they're pursuing the free will vs fate question a little more now, rather than "whatever happened in the flash forwards can't be changed."

*continues rewatching Lost season 3 when not writing in NaNo*

Has anyone ever watched Legend of the Seeker?

I love Legend of the Seeker, narnialover4. But, I haven’t read any the Sword of Truth books. I've head the series varies a lot from the books. I’m thinking about reading the books and just thinking of the books and the show as completely separate stories.

I don't know if any of you have ever seen the old 60s British television series "The Prisoner" with Patrick McGoohan. The CBC here in Canada ran it on Sunday mornings back in the 90s (right after another McGoohan classic, "Danger Man"), and my reaction to it was:

a) it made no sense, whatsoever
b) it was like nothing I'd ever seen
c) I absolutely loved it

AMC has now made a 6-hour (with commercials) updated mini-series starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen.

a) it sort of made sense, if you taped your eyelids open for 6 hours to avoid blinking, and paid someone to slap you every 20 seconds to keep you awake
b) it was as pretentious as anything I've ever seen
c) I'd rather be smothered in honey and dropped on a hill of red ants than subject myself to that boring, time-stealing mess ever again

Now, I like Caviezel and McKellen (the latter is EASILY the best aspect of this version), but their talents are wasted on this meandering, unfocused, pointless script. It was so dreadfully dull, it was almost physically painful.

How bad was it? AMC literally introduced every Palm Pre commercial thusly:

"Wondering what [obscure plot detail] means? Stay tuned, and we'll explain it in 30 seconds!"

That pretty much says it all. Avoid at all costs.

Yikes Steerforth! I saw the promo for that on the TV the other night and thought it might be worth a view but if you're saying it's a convoluted mess then I'll take your word for it and avoid!

I have heard of the original show "The Prisoner" and that it was a really good show. I know that it has a very loyal fan base and has achieved a sort of cult following, and that it only ran for one season. Beyond this I know very little about it. Is this a reimagining of that show ala "Battlestar Galactica"? Or is altogether something new?

Hi, Shadowlander:

Is it a reimagining along the lines of BSG? Sort of. It's just nowhere near as intelligent a reimagining as BSG. What they did was, take the basic concept, subtract the humour, excitement, and over the top elements of hallucinogenic paranoia, and replace it with, as I said, six hours of non-stop, pretentious psychobabble, with no heart or passion, whatsoever. The original was kooky, odd, and sometimes frustrating, but it was never boring, and, boy, was it scary in a lot of ways. I'd say, they stayed closer, thematically and stylistically to "The Prisoner" than Ron Moore did with BSG, but they totally dropped the ball in making it as interesting.

The thing about the original series that makes (made) it so unique is that that particular generation was so distrustful of authority, so paranoid about the emergence of a totalitarian society, that there's a palpable sense of authentic fear of the unknown future. That the premise, while psychedelically enhanced, as it were, wasn't as far-fetched as one would have liked. Our generation, conversely, isn't afraid of Big Brother. We've, ironically, embraced it. We're physically watched everywhere we go, our activities are tracked online, and our information is recorded in thousands of databases, probably only a fraction of which we're actually aware of. Why do we put ourselves in such a position? In exchange for convenience and security. We are The Prisoner now. Except, willingly. That concept would have been infinitely more interesting to explore as a means of updating the premise of the original show.

Anyway, normally I'd say not to take my word alone for it, and watch it if you're interested, but I've yet to read a single positive review of it. The production values are good, McKellen is fantastic as Number Two, but... that's it. There isn't a single good thing to say about it after that. Dreadfully dull, and immensely disappointing.

That's disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing how they re-imagined the series, especially how in many ways it influenced my favourite TV series - LOST. Steerforth, you see more pessimistic about it than most, but from what I've heard, it seems many people find it merely decent.
I don't know how long it is until Australia gets The Prisoner Mach 2, but I'm still curious to see it for myself.

Speaking of Lost here is an announcement regarding the US premiere of its 6th and last season:

ABC announces the premiere of the sixth and final season of "Lost," with a special all-night event on Tuesday, February 2. A recap special will kick off the night from 800 p.m., ET, followed by the much anticipated two-hour premiere from 900 p.m.

The series will then air in its regular time period - Tuesday nights from 900 p.m., ET - beginning the following week, on February 9.

Also, Damon Lindelof has insisted the network keep a tight lid on showing any previews from this season, but has offered a few comments on what's coming:

"I think even a single scene from the show would basically tip what it is we're doing this year, and what it is we're doing this year is different than what we've done in other years," Lindelof said in a group interview on Nov. 16 in Los Angeles, where he was promoting the Star Trek DVD and Blu Ray....

"We're kind of returning back to the same kind of storytelling that put us on the map in the first place and resolving some of these mysteries," Lindelof said.

Lindelof intends to answer every mystery the show intentionally created. For the mysteries that fans have created themselves, the show can't help you. "I think that there are some Lost mysteries that we're not even aware are mysteries," Lindelof said. "That's the thing. People ask us questions and I'm like, 'What are you talking about?' 'What happened to Scott? Are we ever going to find out who murdered Scott?' It's like, 'Ethan murdered him.' They're like, 'Well, but did he?' I'm like, 'YES! Yes, he did.' So for the mysteries that we acknowledge as mysteries, they will be answered."

I love Legend of the Seeker, narnialover4. But, I haven’t read any the Sword of Truth books. I've head the series varies a lot from the books. I’m thinking about reading the books and just thinking of the books and the show as completely separate stories.

That's the best way to go about it. They are VERY different.
In the show, I don't like Cara. They made her look too 'modern'

stargazer, very cool. I hope Australia fast-tracks the final season of LOST. I'm obsessed!

A number of the shows I usually watch are going on hiatus until January:

Heroes, in which

Castle - has one more episode next Monday before the holiday break. This is pretty light fare, but I enjoy it.

Dollhouse has been cancelled but Fox is going to air the remaining episodes beginning this Friday.

FlashForward, according to imdb, has one remaining episode to be aired in the current set, coming this Thursday evening.

In other news, the Lost season 5 DVD set is to be released next Tuesday, December 8, in the US - plenty of time to review things before the next season begins this winter.

The last episode of FlashForward for the year was played on Aussie TV, Monday night. That's a first! I thought it had some very intriguing scenes but overall was a little dull.

I've been watching Heroes: Season 4 (we're far behind the US) and I've enjoyed it quite a lot. It's not at the same level as Season 1 but it's much better than much of Season 2 and 3.

Yes, I to can't wait for Lost season five to come out next week, I need some more episodes to watch on DVD! And February 2nd can't came soon enough for season six!

Warrior, I thought season 4 of Heroes started out well but is beginning to drag a bit (but agree that it's still better than season 3).

I've now viewed the 4th and last new episode of V to air before its long hiatus until next spring. I think the show is entertaining enough as a series but is missing the "modern fascist state" atmosphere of the original, which I think is one of the most haunting and noteworthy points of that show.

It ended with a cliffhanger:

I do hope it's continued next year so we can see what happens and how closely it might track to the original concept.

I'm going through Lost again, the whole series. I'm prepping myself for February when the show resumes again. I'm only about halfway through Season 1, and it's nice to go through it again since I haven't seen some of these episodes for almost 2 years, so it's filling in some gaps in my memory. There seem to be quite a bit of inconsistencies from the early show to the late show, notably with small subplots...

Small things like that.

I'm still sticking with my original theory, and I think much of the events from the last season confirm (for me at least) my theory may still hold some water...

I've been perusing Lostpedia recently and apparently someone came up with this theory before I did as there's extensive notes on it. And here I thought I was the one that cracked the case first.

EDIT: Lest I forget...regarding Claire...

Is this intended, or is it another inconsistency in the plot, do ya' think?