areacode212

JW, Drew Goddard, David Fury, Jeff Bell, the chicks who wrote "Unleashed", Steven DeKnight, Ben Edlund and maybe a couple of others. If Jake 2.0 gets cancelled, hopefully Greenwalt will return. I was watching "Homecoming" the other day, and god was I cracking up.

I just posted this over at TWoP, but might as well share it here as well: Also, the extras for the S3 DVDs have been announced: Audio Commentary on "Billy" by Tim Minear and Jeffrey Bell Audio Commentary on "Lullaby" by Tim Minear and Mere Smith Audio Commentary on "Waiting in the Wings" by Joss Whedon Deleted Scenes from Cordy Show "Birthday" with commentary by Tim Minear/Mere Smith Deleted Scenes from Waiting in the Wings with commentary by Joss Whedon Darla: Deliver Us From Evil Featurette Season 3 Overview Featurette Page to Screen Featurette Angel Series Outtakes Amy Acker Screem Test Vincent Kartheiser Screen Test Still Gallery (Approx. 50 Images)

The real ratings test will come at the end of the month when The O.C. gets moved to Wednesdays at 9. "Conviction" actually got a 3.4 final national (the 3.8 is from the fast nationals). Which kicks ass--it held on to 81% of the Smallville audience--not bad considering SV is the WB's #2 show. A 3.4 national is higher than anything the show got in season 3 & 4, or anything BtVS got in season 7 (though Buffy S6 was regularly getting 3.4-3.7 ratings). The last time Angel got a 3.4 was back in season 2 ("Epiphany"). Plus, the demos were pretty good (increase in males 18-34, and female teens). Bottom line--the WB is probably happy. And I don't expect a big drop-off for next week's big Spike episode. Hopefully the numbers/retention will stay this high for the rest of the season, but unfortunately, I see a lot of Smallville watchers switching over to The O.C.

They may end up changing the title by the time it airs (the new title may be "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco"), but yes...the episode does involve a luchador (I don't want to read the spoilers too closely, so I don't know what it's about, other than that). I'm hoping to see Spike on the receiving end of a springboard hurricanrana. We actually get to see said wrestler in the first 2 episodes, but only as a background character. If you look closely, you'll see someone wearing a lucha mask pushing a mail cart around the W&H offices. Nothing is mentioned about him, but Angel kinda stares at him at one point.

Wow, it sounds like they're shooting episode 6, which many of you will be happy to know is titled "Night of the Luchadors".

A couple of things... If any of you are in NYC, someone from another board I go to is organizing a Smallville/Angel premiere gathering downtown: Workprints for "Conviction" and "Just Rewards" have been out for a couple of days, and I've been watching them over & over. Some of the SFX aren't complete, the scoring is unfinished, and some of the dialogue needs looping, but they're more or less the complete episodes. Since I'm still pretty excited about seeing the eps, I decided to share some quick impressions: Spoiler (Highlight to Read): The premiere is actually pretty good--the teaser is a cute twist on the typical "City of"/"In the Dark"-style teaser, with a helpless girl in an alley. The first W&H scene of Act 1 has Joss going all fancy with the camera. He mentioned how this season was going to have "West Wing"-style camerawork, and now I know what he meant. So, we get a 4-minute-long single-take scene which reintroduces the cast, as the camera swoops around corners following characters as they walk & talk, Sorkin-style. It's pretty neat, but I hope it isn't overused. The gang taking over Wolfram & Hart interests me more than Spike's presence, actually. The theme for this year is supposedly going to be "is it possible for us to use this evil power for the greater good?". As I understand it, this theme is basically the "arc" for this season. Plotwise, the episodes are gonna be mostly standalone, but we'll have this ongoing theme of corruption and making compromises (agreeing to let Harmony work for them is one example). When I first heard about it, it seemed like such a weird & jarring new premise. but based on the premiere, I think there are some interesting places they can go with it. Speaking of Harmony, if you didn't like her before, you probably won't change your mind. But if you enjoy her (as I do), you won't complain, and she looks great in her red dress in "Just Rewards". Either way, she's around for 17 eps, so better get used to her. The scene that introduces her is cute, but IMO, Mercedes has a tendency to overplay "ditzy & hyper". Try switching to decaf, Harm. Still, she has some funny lines, and she's a lot better (and more subdued) in the second ep when she tries to make conversation with Spike. Plus, it's heartening to know that she's managed to wean herself off human blood, and that she's still making an effort to rein in her evilness, without benefit of soul or chip. See? Even Harmony can grow. It's almost inspiring. When I first read the spoiler about Wes being the one to pull her from the typing pool, it seemed so out of character after what happened last time, but I bought it when I saw the ep. Look at the other people they work with. Next to clients like Fries, who's willing to unleash a deadly virus on California, and employees like Hauser, Harmony doesn't seem quite so evil anymore. Plus, it's never explicitly said, but I think part of the reason they hired her is out of loyalty to their comatose friend. Eve--a lot of fans loathe her and find her annoying already, but I'm not feeling the Eve hate yet. I may find her annoying by the end of the season, but based on the premiere, I didn't think she was that bad. She comes off as mysterious, yet kind of perky & chatty. I don't really see her as Angel's love interest (which is supposedly the direction they're going with her), but she's only been around for 1 ep. I'll give her some time before I start bashing her. Yeah, I'd take Lilah over her in a second, but if SR isn't available, I don't blame them for bringing someone new. Gunn turning into Superlawyer also wasn't as bad as I expected. Yes, it's beyond contrived, but there really is no believable way to magically turn a formerly homeless vampire hunter into a lawyer. The process itself is a bit cheesy, but I kind of bought why he did it and how he felt out of place at the beginning of the episodes. Plus, if they're running a law firm, it makes sense for a main character to, y'know, be a lawyer. I just hope he retains his old personality. The "Spike returns" special effect is cool. His screaming (shown in the promo) is not, but it's a neat way to end the episode. "Just Rewards" isn't as good as the premiere. The Angel/Spike snark is a lot of fun, and it's interesting to see the rest of the gang reacting to him. But much of the ep just plodded along at a sloooow pace, and the MOTW (a fat necromancer) bored me. Hopefully the final version of the episode will have some better editing. And where was Lorne? In the workprint, Act 1 starts off with Spike's death scene from "Chosen" ("Sunnydale, California. The Hellmouth. Nineteen days earlier"). It makes for a cool transition to Angel's office. Have we ever seen any UPN Buffy footage on Angel before? Spike's interaction with Fred should be interesting to see in future eps. Even though I've seen it, I'm still psyched for this Wednesday.

I was at Radio City last night. They should've saved "Like a Virgin" for the end. Even though everybody knew about it beforehand, it could still have been that "big surprise" climax that would've sent everyone home happy. I haven't liked Metallica in 10 years; closing the show with them was pretty anti-climactic. Plus, I got bored seeing the same videos getting nominated over & over again. It was a lot of fun being there, though. Loved the Chris Rock snark.

Judging from all the little storyline leaks that have come out this summer, that AICN report sounds legit. The latest TV Guide has a great picture of Elisha, which I scanned in if anyone's interested: http://areacode212.hostonnet.com/