Important Things With Demetri Martin

"Important Things with Demetri Martin" is a new show on Comedy Central which features the hilarious stand-up (and various other talents) of comedian Demetri Martin. My boy recommended this show to me (he has a thing for random comedy acts), and much to my surprise, I actually liked it.

It's a mish-mash of random things-- skits, musical numbers, stand-up, a funny drawing portion (!), and whatever else Martin can imagine. As a great man once said: "If you can dream it, you can do it!"... as long as it's inane enough, that is.

I imagine that "Important Things" is what what would happen if "Saturday Night Live" met "Flight of the Conchords" and they had a retarded child who then mated with "Art Attack". Maybe.

Either way, I leave you with a small clip from the show. The gorgeous Amanda Peet is in it. Enjoy!

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse

Welcome back to the world of television, Joss Whedon... I can't think of a better way to do it than with the extremely awesome DollHouse. Known for his strong, sexy female leads and his rich storytelling, fans of Buffy: the Vampire Slayer will love Whedon's latest offering.

Starring the gorgeous Eliza Dukshu, this series deals with mind-wiping, over-priced and highly illegal operations, and a wonderfully rich concept. Eliza plays the doll "Echo" who, when not on assignment, is literally an empty doll with no personality. When she's active, she's "ecrypted" with various personalities spliced together to form the most suitable person for whatever job she's on-- whether it be assassin, party girl, or even a professional negotiator.

What I like about this concept is that the possibilities are endless. If you get down to the brass tacks, it's a lot like the old "Quantum Leap" series, except done-up and fancified with all those new-fangled computer ideas. Heh.

The first episode is a bit confusing, but when you get your mind wrapped around it all, it's *extremely* interesting. I definitely recommend checking this show out-- if Eliza's not your type, maybe the so-severe-she's-pretty Sierra will be more your speed. (I applaud Whedon for constantly casting unconventionally beautiful women in his shows... :D)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

After the (very awesome) initial movie release, Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series entered the arena with one-shot, light-hearted episodes depicting everyone's favourite galaxy far, far away. Most of the episodes were amusing (the droids were generally portrayed as the comic relief), and the relationships between Obi-Wan, Anakin, and his new padawan Ahsoka Tano were tentatively explored. There was even a Jar Jar (ugh) episode or two, and most of the episodes were rife with thinly-veiled lessons for the kids.

It wasn't until episode 9 (Cloak of Darkness) that things really started to get interesting. Suddenly a huge "TV-PG: for moderate violence" sign was posted at the beginning of each episode, and 'lo and behold-- people in the animated Star Wars galaxy actually began to *die*.

No one really cares when clone troopers or the odd political figure dies every now and then, but in what is currently my favourite Clone Wars episode ever (1x10 - Lair of Grievous), one of the Jedi actually *dies*.

Another favourite is the 2-parter "Defenders of the Peace" (1x13 and 1x14), which deals with the implications of the wars on farflung, peaceful planets. The quality of the storytelling here was practically at the level of the quite-philosophical Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, and I was pleasantly surprised at its depth.

It's ironic that the stories in this animated series far surpasses the latest Star Wars trilogy, but there you go. George Lucas should be thanked for greenlighting it, and congratulated for not writing any of it. Lol.

Clone Wars is currently on its 17th episode and I highly recommend this to fans both young and old.

Wolverine and the X-Men, More Plz.

There are few things that I remember with more fondness than watching X-Men cartoons as a young girl. The drama, the action, the crazy, crazy costumes. Since the original X-Men series of the 90's went off the air, there has been no animated equivalent that has quite brought back the fond memories. X-Men Evolution, which turned everyone into teenagers, was all right, but I feel that it failed to live up to the original series' drama.

The latest offering in the animated world of the X-Men is none other than "Wolverine and the X-Men". It's an alternate universe mish-mash of events from the past series, the current comics, and the various (always evolving) backstories of each character. Wolverine is hardly my favorite character, but oddly enough, I'm not put off by the series' focus on him at all.

Cyclops, who has always been my favorite guy character, has been emasculated by the disappearance of Jean Grey, and is now a loose canon. I suppose that's the only way they could justify Wolverine stepping up, and oddly enough (again), it actually worked. Scott has always been prone to melodrama, and now he just stumbles blindly into enemy territory whilst screaming "Where's JEAN!!?" and destroying everything in his path. My likey. :)

In any case, if you're a comics fan, a movie fan, or an Evolution fan, there's something for you to like in here. It's (IMHO) the best adaptation of the X-Men that I've ever seen, be it in movie or animated form. (Yeah, I'm lookin' at you X3.)

I highly recommend giving this a look.