Bl-ub-og Ub-entr-ub-y

My sister got The ZOOM Catalog when we were little. I was only two or three at the time, but I remembered the book vividly even before my mom gave it to me recently. My sister was eight or nine when she got the book, and I loved looking through it with her. Even though the show was upbeat and fun, the book perfectly matches my memories of the era: a two-color drab ’70s haze, with a faint smell of old paper.

The thing about ZOOM is that it was a show completely written and performed by kids. Kids in stripped rugby shirts. The theme song (“Who are you? What do you do? How are you? Let’s hear from you!”) still stirs in me all those melancholy PBS feelings of childhood and graduating from Sesame Street to Electric Company to ZOOM.

When I flipped through The ZOOM Catalog (which is remarkably well preserved), I was struck by how familiar it all was. Things like the coveted ZOOM sticker on the cover, the Wally the Watermelon story, the instructions and pictures on how to make a Jacob’s Ladder, the “The Cat Came Back” song, and all the plays and songs and stories submitted by all the other kid viewers echoed over the decades.

The one thing about ZOOM I could never decipher was the Ubbi Dubbi language. I seem to recall my sister and her neighborhood friends speaking it, but for the life of me I could never master it.

I’m pretty sure we had the Come On and ZOOM original album of “songs & stuff” as well, but that might be either lost to time or a faulty memory. Regardless, I think it’s pretty cool that this artifact from my and my sister’s childhood has survived.

Short Season Shows

This week we watched the season finales of both HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and AMC’s The Walking Dead. Both were short-season shows – Boardwalk Empire at 12 episodes and The Walking Dead at just six.

There is still a delta between premium cable and basic cable channels. Boardwalk Empire was sweeping and lush. Similar to Deadwood (a show I am admittedly biased about because I consider it the best television show ever produced), Boardwalk Empire takes historical figures and plays with them a bit, providing a fictionalized version of them and their world. Steve Buscemi is genius in his main character role, surrounded by a brilliant cast and held up by an engaging story. Although spread over a dozen episodes, they still wrought tension from every episode… not a clunker in the bunch.

The Walking Dead, from the comic book series by Robert Kirkman, was ambitious from the beginning. To bring a zombie tale to the small screen and do it justice is a challenge. The Walking Dead comic series is one of my all-time favorites (and that of a lot of other comic fans I know). It is incredibly well-written and perfectly presented. Just basing a show on this series was enough to get me to watch.

Tracy enjoyed the first six episodes, and I’ve heard the same from others who have no familiarity with the comics. I am able to divorce myself from the source material (particularly comic books) and just enjoy a television show or movie if well done. They are different animals with different audiences and sensibilities. But it was surprising just how far The Walking Dead show chose to depart from the source. It wasn’t that deviation so much as the general meandering of the story that seemed to detract for me. The first season seemed to shamble along like of the undead walkers the protagonists are trying to avoid. The characters didn’t really develop much outside of some rather broad strokes, but I’m willing to give this another season (perhaps the gutting of the writing staff for the second season will help with things?) and see where it goes.

Must See TV

Warner Home Video recently released Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960's Volume 1 and 1970's Volume 1. I think this is a great idea: A sampling of what the world looked like at the time. I have long said to friends that I would love to see an "NBC Thursday Night '80s Lineup" DVD. Just like the two-disc Saturday Morning Cartoon volumes, they could take a similar approach here. Maybe a 1984 edition, capturing first season Cosby Show antics lifted straight from Cosby's stand-up routine, Family Ties and Cheers hitting their stride a couple years into their runs, pre-Markie Post Night Court getting off the ground with the genius of Selma Diamond originating the acerbic bailiff role, and the veteran Hill Street Blues to round out the package. They could do four volumes, one for each year the five shows were broadcast together (1984-1987). Legal entanglements, I'm sure, preclude this dream from becoming a reality, and I could do my own mix DVD of these shows if I wanted to since there are season sets available, but I'd be all over something like this!

Next up: Some ABC '80s Saturday Night with The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. Or maybe not.

A Little Something for Bonnie Tyler

A lot of folks seem down on the new season of Heroes, but I am back on board the Heroes bandwagon. I loved much of the first season. It faltered a bit near the end, but overall it was a fun ride. Season two, on the other hand, fell apart quickly. Hiro stuck in feudal China with Adam was a black hole that I don't think that season ever recovered from. I am pretty fickle when it comes to TV. I have no qualms about leaving a show mid-season if I become bored with it. So I approached this new season of Heroes cautiously and avoided the pre-première clip-show.

The season's storyline is called "Villains", and I have been pleasantly surprised by this young, four-episode season so far. My wife and I blew threw the first three episodes Monday night, and snuck in the fourth episode before settling in for the debate last night. The show seems energized, refreshed. It's pulling elements from so many sources -- like the "four years in the future" thread obviously owing a debt to Chris Claremont's classic "Days of Future Past" X-Men story arc -- but reverently in my mind.

The reveals have come fast and furious in these first few episodes, and I never felt like the writers were taking a desperate, "let's throw everything and the kitchen sink at them" approach. It feels more like the writers are having some fun, and it's translating well for me. My wife and I have found ourselves jumping in our seats at some of the scares, laughing out loud at some of the dialogue, being surprised by some of the reveals, and being intrigued by where the new storyline is headed.

Some of the stuff that has us enjoying this season (spoilery)... Claire is invincible. Sylar is a Petrelli. Future Ando with powers! Future Ando with powers killing Hiro! Mama Petrelli taking over the Company. The Haitian's back! Parkman's African guide. Mohinder powered up, horny, and making like Brundle-fly. Daphne. HRG. The genetically engineered triplets. And more!

Another plus? While Kristin Bell is easy on the eyes, she's a horrible actress (with apologies to my wife), and I was thrilled that she was only briefly in these first few episodes and may have been killed.

Before the television season ramped back up this fall, we rewatched the majority of Heroes season one for the first time since it originally aired, and that first two-thirds of the season was lightening in a bottle. Then season two turned around and broke my heart. So I approached this new season guardedly. And after these first few episodes I am cautiously enjoying it. While I don't think the show will ever match the heights of season one's episode 17 (It's called "Company Man", but my wife and our friends all refer to it as "the best episode of Heroes. Ever."), season three is at least fun. And I'm willing to be carried along for the ride.

My Secret Shame

Ok. I cop to Real World/Road Rules Challenges (which kicks off a new season tomorrow night!). I love 'em. I live for 'em. They are my guilty television pleasure. Number One with a bullet. And I also admit that in the long months between Infernos and Gauntlets and Fresh Meats, I have turned to others. While my Coral and CT are away, I have found comfort in the arms of Bravo's Kathy Griffin and Million Dollar Listing. Yeah, it's embarrassing, but it gets me through the night. But the CW's 90210 has totally caught me off guard.

Teenager hyper-dramas are usually the providence of my wife's viewing domain. I scoffed at her Dawson's Creek. I chided her Gilmore Girls. I outright laughed at her Charmed. But I watched the 90210 series premier two-parter with her last week and was completely smitten. I wasn't a huge fan of Beverly Hills, 90210. I watched the original show for most of its run I suppose, but that was more out of habit than affection. Yet somehow the hooks for this new generation, with silly nods towards the original show, have sunk deep right out of the chute.

I feel about this show the same way I felt while reading Adam Nimoy's book: I shouldn't like this, I don't for the life of me understand why I like it, but I can't wait for the next episode to air!

Don't get me wrong. This thing has flaws that stretch for miles -- plot holes, apparently only one teacher on staff at West Beverly High, predictable storylines, the same horrible acting and delivery of lines by Nat at the Peach Pit. But I am completely and totally sucked in.

The DVR is set up to record this thing every Tuesday night, but tonight it's up against the double-length premiere of J.J. Abram's Fringe. I don't think I can wait even one extra night for my 90210 fix, and I know my wife is really looking forward to checking out Fringe. So it may make for a late night of viewing tonight, and we watch one of them in real-time and the other on delay. The sacrifices we make...