It may well be that events have conspired to bring me out of the television wilderness and back into oh glory be the TV Light. Whether or not it was a week in which both Al Gore and Tommy Lee of Motley Crue fame angled to get inside the confines of that screen that shows us pictures and colors and lights, it’s only important to report that The Ray has been awakened and is once again bright and strong and pure after a summer spent recuperating (with the Rayettes, allegedly) on a beach most tropical under French Riviera climes.
That is to say, it’s once again time to Obey the Ray.
And I have, or at least I’ve tried. There’s been a goodly amount of retooling going on to keep the C Ray Fray going strong well into the autumn’s spicy new season offerings. Instead of breaking down every show I watch each week, I (with the helpful guidance of the Ray, all hail thee and so forth) will cruise through television’s bountiful and poisonous offerings in my eclectic yet ultimately compelling and propulsive manner, with ample linkage to all the fine TV related work going on at the Blogcritics.org.
As I look back at the summer, I realize – for better or illest ill – that my television viewing has hardly slackened from the Himalayan peaks of the May Sweeps period.
Cruelly chopped at the knees
If the likely cancellation of the atmospheric procedural, The Inside, hurts me, what must it be doing to Executive Producer Tim Minear? Minear was an essential part of (Grand Maestro of Television, Oh Please Come Back to Us, the Ray Beseeches Thee) Joss Whedon’s Angel (unfairly cancelled after a brilliant fifth season) and Firefly, perhaps the worst cancellation of a great show of all time.
What’s cruelest and choppiest (chopped and screwed, as the hippest of the hip hop cats like to say) is that it was pre-empted during its summer run for some reality show about people dancing, the latest and certainly not greatest Reality Insani-Craze.
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Article comments
1 - Chris Beaumont
Yeah! Welcome back Eric! Get back on the feature list with thee!
I agree Rescue Me is absolutely fantastic, and the more I think of it Over There is also high up on the list.
From what I understand The Inside has indeed been canned, despite it being oneof the better new procedurals. But, on good news, The Closer is coming back, that show has been pretty strong. And I would be remiss if I did not mention how great Battlestar Galactica is.
2 - Eric Berlin
Thanks very much, Chris. It's nice to see that the Ray was remembered, if only by one person!
I have a bunch of Over There sitting on my DVR, waiting to be watched. It seems like something you have to really settle in and be ready for, you know?
BG is on sci-fi, right? Unfortunately, I don't get it... thankfully, I make up for it with FX!
3 - Chris Beaumont
I always liked the Ray column. Keep it around long enough, people will find it and learn to obey!
I know exactly what you mean! There are only a few shows that I don't multi task (or try not too) during, Rescue Me and Over There are two of them.
BG is on Sci Fi. Shame you don't get it! It is really fantastic. I know the season is coming out in a month or two after the Best Buy exclusive is up, I'd recommend Netflixing them,or your rental avenue of choice!
4 - Eric Berlin
Thanks Chris, I'll add BG to the long list.
By the way, I've been watching Veronica Mars all summer on your recommendation -- great stuff. I'll have to write more about it at some point.
And finally: any feedback on the style/substance of the column would also be mondo appreciated...
5 - dietdoc
Eric,
Give Over There a shot. Fx has the Tuesday, 10:00PM (EDT) locked up now and forever. Soon, it will be a new series (? Prison Break ?) and, this fall, all Hall the return of Nip/Tuck.
Enjoyed the column; keep it coming!
Cheers,
Ron
6 - Mat Brewster
Yeah! The Ray is back. After so many days of wandering aimlessly in the wilderness I now have a guide and master! Hooray the Ray.
I dig the new style of writing about what you want instead of every blasted thing that flickered over your tube. I would say that a nice hilarious bout of sarcasm flooded over something really awful that you watched might be a nice addition to the stellar shows you talk about.
7 - Eric Berlin
Mat & Ron -- Thanks hugely for the kind words and feedback both. I hope to have the new and improved C Ray Fray locked into an end-of-week pub schedule for a long time to come!
8 - Chris Beaumont
Glad you're liking Veronica! I am really looking forward to the new season.
As for content, I'm having enough trouble with writing mine timely and insightful. As it is, I haven't started yet for tomorrows posting! It's going to be a long day....
9 - Eric Berlin
I read recently that some people call Veronica the "new Buffy" which is kind of funny, and may not be too far off the mark. I'm also looking forward to the new season -- and thanks again for the hook-up!
I think the new format here will allow me to concentrate on saying what I want to while also allowing amazingingly inane and wonderful asides...
10 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Eric, good lord! what a return! this may very well one of my very favourite EB tracts right here! Excellent, that language! wonderful!
11 - Eric Berlin
Duke -- Thanks very much, man (as always!). I feel like the whole Plan is coming together of late...