Santuary’s on Syfy tonight, and frequent reader of CliqueClack, Ruby T., is Guest Clacking today with a few reasons why you should be tuning in to the show. Ruby is a writer from Chicago and a science-fiction/fantasy aficionado (all right, a geek).

1) It’s derivative, but in a fun way. I always enjoy spotting a nice sci-fi homage (or rip-off, if you prefer). Sanctuary as a whole is a kind of mash-up of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and X-Men, with the ageless Helen Magnus as a Mina Harker/Prof. X character. But it gets better. I don’t even have to know the actual names of the episodes anymore. It’s just “that Tribbles episode” or “the Fight Club episode” or “the Cloverfield episode.” Tell me, what self-respecting geek would not be intrigued by this? (Okay, if you want to look up those episodes, their real titles are “Nubbins,” “Warriors,” and “Instinct.”) On a side note, you can also play “Spot-the-Syfy-Star” with Sanctuary’s guest roster featuring names like Rekha Sharma of Battlestar Galactica and Michael Shanks of Stargate.

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Today’s guest clacker is Paul William Tenny, a frequent commenter here who runs a website called The Media Pundit, covering movies, TV, and other entertainment subjects.

I’m no television historian, but as a keen observer of emerging trends, the thing that piques my interest these days isn’t web-to-television series like Sanctuary or Quarterlife, or the resurgence in popularity (though not in numbers of shows on the air) of sitcoms; it’s the “one-off” series concept.

For any given idea, you’ve got a number of mediums that lend themselves to a certain method of storytelling. Some stories are best told in short form and end up as movies. Good book adaptations have too much happening, so you double down and end up with a miniseries. Open ended stories make good television series but are prone to exhaustion, especially serial dramas.

Is there a sweet spot?
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8:00p/7:00 Central

• Programming is hard, and especially around the holiday season. So NBC, who has more trouble than usual of late with quality programming, has put together a series of specials spotlighting the best holiday moments in various categories. The specials will run through Christmas and start tonight with Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown. These are to be followed by: Songs of the Season, TV’s Merriest Christmas Moments, TV’s All Timem Christmas Songs and a ‘Hilarious Home Video Countdown.’ That’s setting a pretty high expectation putting ‘Hilarious’ right there in the title. There’s a reason Rosie’s Variety Show didn’t say Rosie’s Hilarious Variety Show. False advertising is a serious crime.
• Cartoon Network has a new Batman: The Brave and the Bold, featuring Aquaman, followed by a jellyfish attack on The Secret Saturdays. They also don’t give episode details on their site. MyNetwork TV is riding the ongoing success of WWE SmackDown! to an unprecedented ratings victory over The CW last week.
• FOX still wants to know Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, while Melinda tracks down a girl who’s been missing for 12 years on CBS’s Ghost Whisperer. National Geographic counters with the Dog Whisperer in case GW fans are easily confused.
• ABC has the live-action Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, while The CW brings you Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Nickelodeon has Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh! reuniting the entire cast for this holiday special.

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8:00p/7:00 Central

• It’s the first season finale of Toughest Race on Earth: Iditarod on the Discovery Channel. Nome is less than 100 miles away and it’s time for the racers to dig deep.
• Tonight on ABC, Wife Swap features switches between a mother who’s given up her own dreams to allow her husband 30 years of delusions that he can still be a rock icon and a mother of nine who rules with an iron fist. TLC brings another Real Simple. Real Life.
• Over on CBS, Melinda tries to help a man suffering from amnesia on Ghost Whisperer. And I’ll bet Jim’s hanging around, too. In fact, if you’ve seen last week’s episode take a wild guess who the man with amnesia is.
• Much easier to figure out is MyNetwork TV’s WWE SmackDown! See a man. Smack him down. All hail Vince! Have we had the wrestling edition of FOX’s Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? yet? How about the babes of wrestling edition of NBC’s Deal or No Deal?
• Chris’ popularity is put to the test in high school when the dorkiest girl in school asks him out on The CW’s Everybody Hates Chris. Then, on The Game, Melanie finds a “McHottie” at work.

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Sci Fi

After premiering with the highest ratings of any new series on Sci Fi since Eureka, Amanda Tapping’s pet project seemed almost inevitably headed toward a pick-up. Today, Sanctuary got that second season renewal, with 13 more episodes slated for 2009. I think the show is really starting to settle into a nice groove, fleshing out some of the supporting cast at the sanctuary and getting more creative with the abnormals.

In a way, this is also a validation of the extensive green screen technology in use. While there are still some weak spots, for the most part they do a nearly seamless blending of live-action and special effects. And with the green screen, the budget is primarily computer graphics, which has to be cheaper than extensive sets and costuming. What this means is that we have the ability to reduce the budget for high quality science fiction and fantasy shows by implementing more of the techniques being pioneered here.

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Good comments once again don’t go unnoticed. Brookie Crawford, a frequent commenter (using the pseudo name ‘vacelts’), divides her time between her children and her love for good TV.  She writes reviews for Napping at Redlights and Newsvine. We asked her if she’d like to contribute something this week and she was nice enough to respond. Here’s Brookie’s report on the best shows so far this fall.

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It’s hard to believe that it’s already November and that we are two months into the fall TV season.  Sweeps will be starting soon and it’s time to see how this fall’s new shows measured up.

I have to admit that overall – with a few exceptions – it’s not been a very impressive freshman crop.  I’m guessing it’s a result of last season’s writers strike and can only hope that we can expect better in the future.

Without further ado, here’s my report card for this season’s new shows:

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Animal Planet

8:00p/7:00 Central

• While FOX still wants to know Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, NBC just wants to know if it’s a Deal or No Deal.
• TLC offers up another Real Simple. Real Life. helping real women with their … real lives. Yeah, I guess that was kind of obvious. So do I have to explain what ABC’s Wife Swap is about? Do people think it’s a show about swingers? Ha! Even the official description of the series makes sure to clarify this: “The wives exchanges husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover just what it’s like to live in another woman’s shoes.” That, my friends, is hilarious!
• MyNetwork TV doesn’t have to explain that WWE SmackDown doesn’t have men smacking their women down. Even though, I think that has happened on occasion actually.
• When a kid’s make-believe friend causes havoc, Melinda has to play a game of hide-and-seek on Ghost Whisperer. Also, does death come knocking? You know it would be sometime this month (sweeps!) if it’s gonna happen.
• The CW offers Everybody Hates Chris, with Chris trying to break up Doc’s relationship, followed by The Game, with Kelly and Jason both trying to move on. Meanwhile, Discovery is relocating Toughest Race on Earth: Iditarod to face all this competition. Tonight, Eskimo Nelson considers dropping out of the race while the Busers make a move to help Martin secure another win.

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