REVIEW: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (On the Wings of Keeradaks)

I’m so happy my optimism in this series is paying off.

Three episodes in, and the future is looking bright in this final season of The Clone Wars. In a nutshell, I’m beginning to care about each character more and more, and the stories being told are getting better, or at least this one is. I’m still unsure if this final season will be the usual mini-arcs that the show is known for, or if it will be one big long arc. We shall see in the coming weeks. Regardless, everything going on right now? Thumbs up.

When last we left our heroes…

This episode picks up pretty much immediately where the previous episode left off, where we see Tech of the Bad Batch working fast in order to properly disconnect Echo from the Techno Union machine he’s hooked into. If you remember, Echo has been cybernetically changed, and it made me make a lot of dumb Star Trek jokes in the previous review. I’ll try to lay off those here. We pick up immediately right after this happens, we’re in some fun Clone War action and the “Advanced” Battle Droids of the Techno Union are making Imperial Stormtroopers look like crack shots (I always have to chuckle when the battle droids are standing like ten feet away from our heroes, guns blazing, and STILL missing.

When they are successful in disconnecting Echo, Echo gives the absolute best line of the entire episode. “Rex… I got a big headache.” Dammit, this line should give me tears, because despite not having seen this character since Season 3, it very much brings back the old jabber the clones would often give through the entire show, and it fits so damn well here. 10/10 on that line.

What also gets a 10/10 is that watching this, I began to realize just how much I was starting to like all these characters, particularly the Bad Batch. Admittedly when they first came onscreen, I wasn’t entirely sure I would care that much for them, but they are genuinely becoming pretty god characters, and I do hope they aren’t just dropped after this arc. There was actually a moment here in the episode where I had to ask myself if Wrecker was about to die, and I was actually hoping he wouldn’t die. That only tells me that I am really starting to like these characters.

Wrecker die? I’m Anakin Skywalker, and I won’t let Wrecker die!

Our heroes escape the Techno Union, and Wat Tambor survives an explosion that likely should have killed him (but he can’t die until Episode III so count your blessings I guess), and we get a sequence that genuinely made me uncomfortable to watch. There’s just something about a sequence in which our heroes balance on a pipe, miles in the sky, that makes me shiver. Maybe I have a slight fear of heights when watching these. I don’t know what it is, but I was once again convinced someone was going to die.

All I want is a railing!

This might ironically lead me to one of my bigger criticisms of the episode… they probably should have had someone die. I don’t know, this might feel pretty trivial in the long run, but I mean, it really feels like this sequence was needlessly tense. I feel that the scene would have been far stronger if they showed us a little mortality here. Show us that the Bad Batch aren’t exactly immortal. The fact that everyone gets out of this jam just kinda took me out of it. Just barely. I don’t know if we will see the Bad Batch killed off in this final season or if they’re just a one and done team, but I feel that if maybe Wrecker, or Crosshair was lost here, it would have made me care even more for the surviving members of the Bad Batch.

Admittedly though, their leap of faith in their escape is pretty cool.

Dun dundun dun dun, dun dundun dun dun…

The heroes go to the village of the Natives who appeared in the last episode, and they get angry that Anakin and the clones have broken their word and that the war is coming to their village, and this is where my only other major criticism comes into play. Rex makes a bit of a speech about how yes, they unfortunately did bring the war to their village, but makes the excuse of what they did to Echo as a reason they had to? I don’t know, the speech he gives just doesn’t really fit the situation if you ask me. But I admit I do have to hold off on more Borg jokes with this speech with all the “turning him into a machine” and “robbed him of humanity” statements he makes.

Rex successfully convinces the natives to join them in their fight against the Separatists, and admittedly, this battle is pretty cool. It’s very much a well executed David and Goliath battle as we see the natives and this group of clones fight of this droid attack force, complete with two big walkers, some badassery from the Bad Batch, and some absolutely charming banter from Echo to Anakin which very much brings me back to the good old days of the show.

Chakotay, pew pew… (Hooray for in-jokes)

The way the episode ends isn’t anything special, after the awesome battle, the natives thank the Jedi, and say the Jedi will always be welcome, and then we get some more dialogue from Rex and Echo, and how Echo tells him that it’ll be just like old times. And Echo seems skeptical as he repeats the phrase in a very unsure manner.

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN!!!!!!

Time for some Clone Wars Prediction Smackdown!

Is Echo the equivalent of a sleeper agent? Is he perhaps still connected to the Techno Union in some way? Tambor said that the clones ruined years of research when they abducted him and destroyed his work, yes, but it’s not unlike this show to pull a potential fast one on us. I can’t help but feel that Echo might know more than we’re being led to believe here. That or he’s going to go through a whole lot of PTSD here, and won’t exactly get the happy ending we hope he gets.

Well I mean, we definitely don’t see him in Star Wars: Rebels, so yeah, I’m not expecting good old Echo to last much longer, sadly. Here’s hoping his final story arc here really delivers. I have no doubts it will.

Three episodes in, and this show is flying high in my eyes! Again, I’m not sure if this ends this particular arc, or if there’s more to come, or if the entire season will be one long arc, but regardless of what happens here, I absolutely have no doubt that this will be well worth the journey. While this episode isn’t perfect, it’s definitely the strongest of the three out right now, and I wanna see more of it right the fuck now. It hasn’t blown me away yet, but I have no doubts it will. Keep it coming, Clone Wars!

Looking forward to next episode!

REVIEW: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (The Bad Batch)

Well with all this Star Trekkin’ going on right now with Star Trek: Picard, and how awesome a series that’s turning out to be right now, I almost completely forgot that this month, we get the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which debuted on Friday. I would not have seen this for a while had I not been browsing one of my Star Wars groups just now to see if they’d shared a music video by The Hu. They had. But the silver lining was that I found out that The Clone Wars had finally debuted!

We’re getting the band back together!

For a small summary of what I thought of The Clone Wars, let’s just say that I am not a very big fan of the Star Wars prequels. In fact, they are the movies that birthed my inner critic. While I can appreciate the aesthetic of The Phantom Menace, the jumbled narrative of it trying to squeeze as much as it does into a two hour movie hinders the story immensely. Attack of the Clones is no better. If it weren’t for that awesome final act of the film, I’d write off Attack of the Clones as potentially the absolute worst Star Wars movie ever made. Revenge of the Sith I find myself in a minority on. Everyone calls it the prequel movie that’s actually really good. I highly disagree. I find it the most disappointing of the trilogy. Partly because I ruined my viewing experience by reading the novelization before watching the film (seriously, the novelization kicks ass), butI mean even without the novelization, the movie just doesn’t know how to handle its characters, making every decision in this movie feel so forced and uninspiring. Anakin’s conversion to the Dark Side of the Force remains one of the most underwhelming moments I’ve ever seen in all of Star Wars (and yes… the book does it better, don’t fucking say it doesn’t). You can say what you want about the sequel trilogy films, and the problems they admittedly have, but they are a much easier watch for me than the prequels, and I tend to care about what each character is going through in that trilogy more than I do the prequels.

“If you’re not with me, you’re my enemy!”
You know… because the audience is too dumb to piece together that you two aren’t best buddies anymore.

Enter The Clone Wars, which despite starting off with an absolutely forgettable movie (seriously, does anyone talk about that thing anymore?), exceeded pretty much every expectation I had. This show takes one of the most integral plot points of the entire Star Wars franchise, and runs off with it, crafting one of the most intriguing, well developed, tenderly handled animated shows I’ve ever seen. I was not expecting this level of excellence in a show that was taking place in the same universe of movies where someone literally says “I hate sand.” Hell, for as forgettable (or even cringey) as the opening movie is, it handles so much of the Star Wars universe rather nicely, and shows that it cares about how it handles characters like Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the new face, Ahsoka Tano, and that’s not to mention Asaj Ventress, who is easily one of my favorite characters of the franchise now. While the series definitely has its not-so-good episodes (usually those that focus on the droids, or Jar Jar Binks… yeah he’s in it too), this series would blow my mind with how it handled its stories, characters, concepts, it was so great that I actually almost want to refuse that it takes place in the prequel movie universe. There is no fucking way something this good takes place in a trilogy of movies that bad. And there is no way a paragraph will properly tell you how great it is. I’ve also recently started watching the spinoff, Star Wars: Rebels, which while not exactly the same quality material, is still pretty fun. If you have not seen this series, there is no better time to start! And this is coming from a die-hard Trekkie!

Moments like this are absolutely everywhere in the series. Anakin Skywalker truly feels like he is on the slippery slope to becoming Darth Vader. Asaj Ventress is also probably the best character of the series. I really hope we see her this season, though since her story ends in a novel, I’m not holding my breath.

With all this said, how is the debut episode of its final season?

I am happy to say that The Clone Wars doesn’t feel like it’s skipped a beat at all. By the time the familiar opening theme played, the little words of wisdom displayed on the screen, and the narrator set up the scene for the episode to play out, I was ready to take a nice big bite out of this Star Wars sandwich. I was happy to see that the voice-acting felt as lively as ever, and the animation feels strangely more fluid. I hear a lot of complaints about the animation in this series being hard on the eyes, and I just don’t see where it comes from. I personally enjoy it. It has a charm.

Now I’m going to get a little spoiler-y here so read on at your discretion.

Previously on Star Wars: The Clone Wars…

“The Bad Batch” begins an arc with the clone characters, Rex and Cody, as they discover that their friend, Echo might actually be alive. Echo was last seen in the third season, giving his life so his friends could get away. After the Clones find themselves on a losing streak on the planet Anaxes, due to droid army starting to better analyze tactics used by the clone army and better adapt them, Rex gets a gut feeling that his friend is alive when he realizes the Clone Army is using a lot of skillsets and Strategies he and Echo put together. So Cody and Rex enlist the assistance of Clone Force 99, otherwise known as the Bad Batch.

Think of the Bad Batch as a Clone Army A-Team, only more unstable. The team consists of four clones, with varying unique abilities that make the team a force to be reckoned with. One has super-human strength, one has enhanced eyesight, one has superior mapping senses, the other is a computer wizard, you get the idea, the show describes them as clones that are defective, but possess “desirable mutations”.

You’re playing with the big boys now…

Admittedly, this is an element of the episode that I have mixed reactions to. The characters are fun and all, but they’re a little too by-the-book in how they’re portrayed as characters. The computer wizard is super smart, the guy who maps out the area super well has a headband that very much makes him feel like a discount Rambo, you got the enhanced eyesight guy who is broody, doesn’t say a whole lot, but can snipe enemies really good, and then you got super-human-strength guy, who feels like a psychopath. Their ship is crashing, and he’s just laughing as it happens. Like a maniac. It just feels like they play too much like a character archetype. And this leads to some predictable clashes with the main characters which doesn’t feel that interesting. granted, I am happy they stay away from being too predictable in which their clashes only get them into trouble, only for them to understand and respect their differences and get out of trouble at the last moment, but honestly, had they gone this route, I would not have been surprised.

This debut episode for this final season doesn’t pull too many punches, it feels like a setup episode, which a lot of Clone Wars episodes are. If they’re going to be giving us the typical mini-arc stories this show is known for, I can expect things to pick up in the upcoming episodes, but that’s not to say this episode is dull, we get some fun action, we get a fun story, and it does leave me on a good note in which Rex makes a startling discovery (SPOILER) when he realizes his friend Echo might not be dead as once thought.

One thing I like about this show is that the clones of this show actually develop into characters that feel more fleshed out than typical clones.

I really need to credit Dee Bradley Baker, who voices all these clone troopers. I have no idea how he does it, but the guy knows how to bring out each performance as if it were an entirely different person. This cannot be easy. The guy is basically acting with himself a good amount of the time, likely listening to his own lines through a headset, and interacting with it as if it were someone completely different. I have no idea what he does to bring these performances to life, but he does it so great in this series, and it’s no different here. Granted, I think some of these Bad Batch clones have different voice actors, but Baker still puts up an impressive performance(s).

There’s not too much to analyze in this episode as it’s a pretty safe plot for the most part, in a show that’s only 30 minutes long, but as safe as it feels, I am very much looking forward to what this final season has to offer us. Already we have a hook for what to expect next episode with Rex maybe once more coming face to face with Echo, and while there hasn’t been any Jedi action yet, we know that later on, we’re expecting Darth Maul and Ahsoka Tano to make another appearance. Apparently, it’s also going to be exploring the Siege of Mandalor, which is an event that impacts the other Star Wars show everyone’s raving about, The Mandalorian, so why lie? I’m excited.

Yeah… I’m excited to see this.

I mean sure, Star Trek: Picard is still on the frontlines as far as my priorities are concerned, but I am happy to see this show finally getting some proper closure. This is a show that very much always felt like it got the short end of the stick when it came to properly finishing it. Season 5 was a good finale, but it still felt like something was missing. Season six was also good, but was hardly something I’d call closure. While I’m not going to say that this final season will be proper closure until I see how it finishes, I have little reason to be nervous about how it will end. This was a show that always managed to surprise me while I watched. There were times they showed something that was absolutely jaw-dropping in execution, and I have no doubt that this final season will have these moments as well.

How was this debut episode? It gets a thumbs up from me. As simple as it is, simplicity is not a bad thing. It’s a good way to get the fans of the show back in the mood, back in the groove, and it does a good job of showing that it’s got some cards to play still. I look forward to seeing how this season goes, and I wait with baited breath for this second episode to drop.

Bring it on!

USA: Final Season Of ‘Burn Notice’ Premiere Date Set, Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman Join Cast, NEW TRAILER!

Thanks to the urgings of Talk-Radio Tastic (my Dad) I started watching the USA hit spy series Burn Notice two weeks ago.  I have no idea how I had neglected this series as long as I did and I have become absolutely addicted to it to the point where I did Breaking Bad-style marathoning, watching the first six seasons in a week.  Regret and sadness has set in, though.  I’m going through withdrawal, I’m beating myself up over not following the series from the beginning, much like I hadn’t with Battlestar Galactica (I only started watching that series seven months after its series finale aired) and to make matters worse, I just found out that the upcoming seventh season will be its last.  Well, at least I have my Michael Westen sunglasses to help me cope.

Via Press Release:

USA NETWORK’S EMMY-NOMINATED SERIES “BURN NOTICE” WILL AIR ITS FINAL SEASON THIS SUMMER
Hit Original Drama Series Returns Thursday, June 6 at 9/8c With 13 New Episodes

New York, NY – May 10, 2013 – USA announced today that its Emmy®-nominated original drama series and ratings juggernaut BURN NOTICE will air its seventh and final season beginning Thursday, June 6 at 9/8c. The hit series, from Fox Television Studios and creator Matt Nix, stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, Sharon Gless and Coby Bell, and will join an elite group this season as the network’s third series to cross the 100 episode milestone.

“BURN NOTICE has had an incredible run over the last six years, and we could not be more proud of the extraordinary talent both in front of and behind the cameras who have collectively made this show into one of the most popular and lauded shows on TV today,” said Chris McCumber, USA Network co-president. “From day one, BURN NOTICE’s characters, storylines and mythology have consistently captivated a massive audience, and this final season will raise the stakes even higher, leading up to a spectacular series finale,” said Jeff Wachtel, co-president of USA Network.

The adrenaline-charged seventh season of BURN NOTICE will keep hearts racing as viewers uncover the details of the mysterious deal that fans’ favorite renegade spy, Michael Westen (Donovan) struck in the season six finale. Michael’s past and present collide as he tries to rebuild relationships with his family and friends while pursuing a dangerous mission involving the CIA and a lethal network of operatives. Recurring guest stars this season include Jack Coleman (“Heroes”), Adrian Pasdar (POLITICAL ANIMALS) and Stephen Martines (“The Closer”).

Over the years, BURN NOTICE has been honored with numerous industry accolades, including an Emmy® nomination and Gracie Award for supporting actress Sharon Gless, as well as an Edgar Allan Poe Award for showrunner Matt Nix. The BURN NOTICE: A New Day digital graphic novel won the AdAge Vanguard Award for the Most Innovative Broadcast Brand Extension in 2011. The series has also been praised for its impeccable stunt work and has garnered multiple Emmy® and Screen Actors Guild nominations. Greatly beloved by fans, BURN NOTICE was nominated for Favorite TV Obsession in 2011 and Favorite Cable TV Drama in 2013 at the People’s Choice Awards.

A critical hit since its inception, the Los Angeles Times praised the series, saying it had “a smart, savvy edge that seems fresh” and the Chicago Tribune called it an “espionage gem” and pointed out “The characters always come first, and they are all very well realized.” USA Today noted it “mixes drama with humor, often through dry narrative asides,“ and Entertainment Weekly called it a “can’t-miss.”

A breakout hit, BURN NOTICE premiered in 2007 as the #1 new scripted series in P18-49, P25-54, and total viewers P2+. In 2009, BURN NOTICE became the most watched scripted series ever on basic cable in P18-49, the first-ever series to break 3 million in the demo in a year. BURN NOTICE has been one of the top ten scripted series on cable every year it has been on the air and was a successful lead-in to hit series launches for ROYAL PAINS and SUITS. When BURN NOTICE aired Thursdays at 9pm last summer, it became the top performer in that timeslot on cable, outperforming FOX head-to-head in P25-54, P18-49, P18-34, and total viewers P2+.

Fans can catch up on season six of BURN NOTICE on VOD or via streaming at usanetwork.com starting on May 7. The mobile app Shadow Recruit challenges viewers to get inside Westen’s mind, test their spy skills and become his “shadow.” Plus, fans can explore the show’s mythology through the award-winning graphic novels BURN NOTICE: A New Day and First Contact, which feature the hunt for those responsible for burning Westen.

BURN NOTICE was created, written and executive produced by Nix. Mikkel Bondesen, Alfredo Barrios, Craig O’Neill, Ben Watkins, and Terry Miller serve as executive producers. From Fox Television Studios, Fabrik Entertainment and Flying Glass of Milk Productions, the series films in Miami.

For photos of BURN NOTICE, please log on to the NBCUniversal Media Village at http://www.nbcumv.com. For more information on Burn Notice, including press kit materials, screeners, clips and photos, log on to the USA digital press site at http://www.usanetwork.com/press/burnnotice. Password: characters. Follow the official twitter feed of BURN NOTICE at @burnnotice_usa on Twitter.

Fox Television Studios produces scripted and unscripted programming for US broadcast and cable networks, and international broadcasters. Series include Burn Notice, White Collar, and Graceland, all for USA; The Americans for FX; the Emmy-nominated The Killing for AMC; The Glades for A&E; and Maron for IFC. Current FTVS pilots include Sirens for USA; Rita for Bravo; and Line of Sight for AMC.

USA Network is the #1 network in all of basic cable and is seen in over 102 million U.S. homes. A division of NBC Universal, USA is the cable television leader in original series and home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, acquired television series and entertainment events. The award-winning USA website is located at http://www.usanetwork.com (http://outbind://30/www.usanetwork.com). Characters Welcome.

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CBS: ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Renewed For Final Season

Via Press Release:

January 30th, 2013

IT’S OFFICIAL! “HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER” SUITS UP FOR ONE FINAL SEASON!

All Series Regulars to Return for Final Season, Where Audiences Will Finally Meet the Mother

CBS Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television announced today that HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER will return for the 2013-2014 broadcast season.  All series regulars – Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan, as well as series creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas – will return for the final season, where audiences will final learn the identity of the Mother.

“Through eight years, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER has mastered the art of leading-edge comedy, emotional water-cooler moments and pop culture catch phrases,” said Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment.  “We are excited for Carter, Craig, Pam Fryman and this amazing cast to tell the final chapter and reveal television’s most mysterious mother to some of TV’s most passionate fans.”

“We‘re thrilled to have the entire and incredibly talented HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER cast back for one final season to bring the series to a proper close,” said Dana Walden and Gary Newman, Chairmen of 20th Century Fox Television.  “Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are masterful and hilarious storytellers, and we have no doubt that they will guide one of the greatest comedies of the last decade to a gratifying conclusion when they finally reveal the identity of the Mother.”

Premiering in September 2005 and currently in its eighth season, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER has been a signature part of CBS’s top-rated Monday comedy block. Throughout its history, it has ranked among television’s top programs in adults 18-49 and adults 18-34. Last year, in its seventh season, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER delivered its highest ratings ever in viewers and key demographics.  This year, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER is averaging 9.75 million viewers, 4.0/11 in adults 18-49, 4.4/11in adults 25-5 and 3.7/12 in adults 18-34.

Among the numerous awards and nominations bestowed on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, the series was nominated for a 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and won the 2012 People’s Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy.  For his role as Barney Stinson, Neil Patrick Harris has been nominated for the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Emmy Awards as Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series, nominated for the 2009 and 2010 Golden Globe Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy Actor in 2011 and 2012.  For her role as Lily Aldrin, Alyson Hannigan won the 2010 People’s Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy Actress.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER is produced by 20th Century Fox Television.  Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, Pamela Fryman, Chris Harris, Stephen Lloyd, Chuck Tatham and Kourtney Kang are Executive Producers.

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Starz: ‘Sparatcus: War Of The Damned’ Premiere Date Announced

Starz has announced that the final installment of the Spartacus franchise, Spartacus: War of the Damned will premiere on January 25th, 2013 at 9:00 p.m. on the network.  That is all.  Carry on.

DirecTV: ‘Damages’ Fifth and Final Season Summer Premiere Date Announced

We hate to say this, but we could really give two-sh*ts about this news.  Although we were happy to see SOMEONE save the fantastic drama Damages from cancellation after its third season, the idiots over at DirecTV think it’s a good idea to hide the show completely unless you subscribe to them.  They won’t even release the fourth season until the end of June… two weeks before the fifth season premiere!

So let’s get this straight: you want more subscribers and the only reason you picked up Damages was to get more subscribers but you think that by hiding the only scripted show you have will inspire more people to subscribe?  Brilliant, DirecTV and thank you.  Thank you for giving us one more reason to hate you besides the fact that you don’t offer Internet or telephone service and a swift breeze knocks out your service.

Via Press Release:

DAMAGES Fifth and Final Season Heads Toward an Explosive Showdown This Summer

DAMAGES, featuring Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Ryan Phillippe, Jenna Elfman, Janet McTeer and John Hannah, to Premiere July 11 exclusively on DirecTV’s Audience Network

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — DirecTV’s Audience Network (http://www.DirecTV.com/DTVAPP/content/premiums/audience) heats up this summer with the season five premiere of the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning, critically acclaimed legal thriller, DAMAGES, starring Emmy Award-winner Glenn Close and Emmy Award-nominee Rose Byrne, on Wednesday, July 11 at 9 p.m. The fifth and final season of the series, which has been nominated for nineteen Emmy Awards, centers on the timely and controversial subject of government and corporate transparency, focusing on how the ever-changing digital landscape shapes the way in which information is obtained and shared. DAMAGES is produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with FX Productions and KZK Productions.

In true DAMAGES fashion, the season features a stellar array of stars including Ryan Phillippe, who joins the cast as a series regular. Emmy Award-nominee Jenna Elfman, Academy Award-nominee Janet McTeer, John Hannah, Chris Messina, Judd Hirsch, M. Emmett Walsh, Victor Garber, William Sadler, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Gillian Alexy and Zachary Booth will be featured throughout the season. DAMAGES was created and executive produced by KZK (Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman and Glenn Kessler) and co-executive produced by Mark A. Baker.

DAMAGES (http://www.DirecTV.com/DTVAPP/content/damages) follows the lives of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), the nation’s most revered and reviled high-stakes litigator and her former protégé, the bright and ambitious Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). After four seasons of professional and personal manipulation and deceit, season five sets the stage for the final showdown between Patty and Ellen. Channing McClaren (Ryan Phillippe) is a computer expert and the iconoclastic founder of a website, McClarenTruth.org, devoted to government and corporate transparency. When McClaren is approached by Naomi Walling (Jenna Elfman), an investment bank employee troubled by her company’s conduct with insider information, it lays the foundation for the case that will finally pit Patty and Ellen against one another. In an attempt to triumph over her former mentor, Ellen hires Kate Franklin (Janet McTeer), a one time colleague of Patty’s who is all too familiar with how she operates, but whose loyalty could be called into question. Adding to the turmoil surrounding the case is Rutger Simon (John Hannah), the chief lieutenant and gatekeeper for McClaren. As the series builds to its electrifying conclusion, far more than the verdict is at stake for everyone involved.

Since its premiere in 2007, DAMAGES has received a total of nineteen Emmy Award nominations. In its first season, the series was nominated for an Emmy for Best Drama series and Glenn Close won the Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, an award she has won twice for her role as Patty Hewes. In addition to DAMAGES’ multiple Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Series, Acting, and Casting, the show has also received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Direction.

DAMAGES has been nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards. In its first season, the series earned more Golden Globes nominations than any other show on television, with Glenn Close winning for Best Actress in a TV Series – Drama.

In addition to a variety of other wins and nominations, DAMAGES has been nominated for awards from the Writers Guild and the Producers Guild.

GEEK ALERT! SyFy: Eureka Final Season, Lost Girl Season Two Premieres TONIGHT, 2012 – 2013 Schedule Info!

Hitting us like a shovel to the face, we just found out that not only is Eureka‘s fifth and final season starting tonight, but the second season of the Canadian transplant and now SyFy hit, Lost Girl will begin immediately after the Eureka premiere.  In the annals of television history that has to be the quickest transition between seasons a show has ever had in the U.S.  If you’ll recall, Lost Girl‘s first season just premiered in January and it just wrapped up a few weeks ago.  Yes, we are aware that the show has been on in Canada sice 2010 and we are just catching up with it here in the states, but still, SyFy S.O.P. on imports is to wait and have them air a season behind their country of origin.  This tells us that SyFy is very high on this show and that they are scrambling to get the season two episodes aired so that they can air season three episodes simultaneously with the Canadians.  Good for them as short breaks between seasons only help to keep audiences interested.  Read the full press release for more details below.

In other news, we just found out that SyFy’s upfront advertising event will be on April 24th.  As we’ve noted in the past, SyFy traditionally holds their upfront events in April ahead of the major networks upfronts in May.  For those unfamiliar with the upfront advertising events, these are the events that the networks hold to sell airtime to their advertisers.  This is the Christmas morning for television junkies like us when the networks announce their upcoming schedules and we find out what’s new, what’s renewed and what’s been canceled.

Now, what should be of particular note is, as we mentioned in our big Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome piece, that this is where we’ll really have an idea of what’s really going on with the BSG spin-off prequel.  As we noted, despite statements to the contrary by SyFy, we think it’s certainly a possibility that B & C will wind up being broacast on the network and not digitally, (or at the very least, they’re hedging their bets and it’s still up in the air) and the upfronts will give us a real indication of what direction they plan to take it.

Again, if SyFy announces that they will be airing the 90-minute B & C pilot in the Summer or Fall of 2012, all bets are off and they will be treating B & C as a backdoor pilot and will rely on its Nielsen 18 – 49 numbers, to determine which medium the saga will be distributed on.  If, on the other hand, they announce it for early 2012, then you can pretty much expect that it will be launched as a digital series exclusively, as they claim that they have intended from the beginning.  That being said, that’s nothing to fear.  Read all about why a digital B & C is actually a good thing, right here.

Now, what if they don’t tell us when they plan to air the 90-minute pilot?  Well, then… we’re screwed.

Via Press Release:

NEW YORK – April 9, 2012 – The spring season of Syfy’s “Powerful Mondays” programming block will feature the fifth – and final – season of the beloved, iconic series Eureka on Monday, April 16 at 9PM (ET/PT), followed by the second season of the sexy supernatural drama series Lost Girl at 10PM (ET/PT).

As Eureka’s thrilling fifth and final season kicks off, the town is reeling after the Astraeus and her crew mysteriously vanished just before their planned launch to Titan. When they finally crash land, Allison and the crewmembers are shocked to find themselves back in Eureka – and that they’ve been missing for four years. As the town copes with the shocking personal changes that have happened during their long absence, Sheriff Carter and Henry try to uncover the truth about the forces behind the crew’s bizarre disappearance – with deadly results.

Eureka stars Colin Ferguson (Sheriff Jack Carter) Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Allison Blake), Joe Morton (Henry Deacon), Erica Cerra (Jo Lupo), Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo) and Niall Matter (Zane Donovan). Returning for the final season will be popular guest stars Wil Wheaton (The Big Bang Theory, Star Trek: The Next Generation) as the contentious Dr. Parrish and Felicia Day (The Guild, Red) as Dr. Holly Marten. Co-creator Jaime Paglia and Bruce Miller are executive producers. The series is produced and distributed by Universal Cable Productions.

In the Lost Girl season two opener, a nomadic Fae sideshow comes to town to take advantage of the chaos caused by both the bombing of the Light Fae headquarters and the declining physical condition of The Ash. Lost Girl stars Anna Silk as Bo, co-starring Kris Holden-Ried as Dyson; Ksenia Solo as Kenzi; Zoie Palmer as Lauren; Rick Howland as Trick, and K.C. Collins as Hale. Lost Girl is a Prodigy Pictures Production in association with Showcase. Executive producers are Jay Firestone, Michelle Lovretta and Peter Mohan. Lost Girl was created by Michelle Lovretta.