Man, it’s a big week for DVD releases. I mean, really, who hasn’t been waiting for Charles In Charge Season 5 and that Knight Rider reboot? OK, maybe they’re not all blockbusters. But after that, the list is mighty impressive. You may find the shelves at your local DVD purveyor in danger of collapsing under all of the awesome. Joining The Middleman, we have Dollhouse, Doctor Who: Planet Of The Dead, Battlestar Galactica 4.5, and Torchwood: Children Of The Earth. Crikey. And that’s not all. There are even more releases, links, and me prattling on about all manner of nonsense, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, tomorrow’s the big finale of Torchwood: Children of Earth, so let’s check in again to see how things are going. I couldn’t let last night’s climactic moment go undiscussed. But before we get into that, there’s been a lot going on. It’s been a hell of a few days for Jack, Gwen and Ianto.

The writers have done an amazing job of making the 456 one of the most menacing alien threats ever seen on Torchwood or Doctor Who. We still barely know what they look like, or even how many of them there are. We didn’t get to see their alien spaceships, but none of that matters. The communicating through Earth’s children is chilling enough that we can infer the rest … and be scared out of our minds. Read the rest of this entry »

“Sorry, folks. No regular third season of Torchwood this season.”

“What? I’ll not hear of it!”

“Instead we’re going to give you a one-week, five-night Torchwood event. Five episodes over five nights telling one big story.”

“Bold words. If you’re only going to give me one week of Torchwood all year, it’d better be damned good!”

What a bold experiment, but the storytelling potential here is amazing. Did they pull it off? Read the rest of this entry »

It is a rather well-known fact that quite a few dudes (one example being our beloved staff writer Brett) think that two ladies doing the nasty is totally hot. It is an oft commented-upon pop culture phenomenon that Hollywood likes to cash in on, from House’s Thirteen (among others — see also: Callie of Grey’s Anatomy, Angela of Bones) gallivanting up and down the Kinsey scale to Katy Perry’s famous debut ode to exhibition lesbianism. It’s titillating (see what I did there? Punny, right?) and edgy to have two girls hook up on-screen, and is counted as a win-win. Not only does it make your show look modern and progressive (usually — it can be and mostly is handed poorly, but at least it’s handled), but it brings in the casual dude watcher who’ll tune in week after week in hopes of catching a lip-lock between two ladies. And yet, very rarely do you ever see it even hinted at that two dudes might also want to do the do with each other.

There are a few good reasons for this. For starters, female sexuality tends to be far more fluid than male sexuality. This means when you’ve got two ladies hooking up, it’s easy to write it off when it’s convenient. It was just a phase, you can say, or, that girl was special to this character, and now she’s found the right man to settle down with and have a million babies. And even if the two chicks do end up in television’s happily-ever-after land, lesbians are the ones that settle down with their sperm donor kids and Subarus. Plus, it’s hot. It’s totally hot. Girls and guys agree it’s hot, right?

And then there’s the distinctly American prejudice against guys being gay. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve reviewed a number of good shows already here at the Babble. BBC America doesn’t appear to be slowing down, as they have a host of new series, movies and fresh seasons of established faves on tap for 2009. Here’s a quick preview of what’s in store for the coming months.

• Mistresses – Debuts this Friday night at 8pm. Its normal time slot will be Fridays at 9pm. Four 30-something friends ponder their relationship woes. They all share one thing in common: infidelity. Looks like a Brit version of Sex and the City. Let’s hope it’s not as obnoxious. I’ll give it a watch and do a more extensive review down the road.

Read the rest of this entry »