Okay, maybe I've been too harsh on Battlestar Galactica lately.  From their last episode, it looks like they're back on track, and the suspense till next week (we finally find out who the final five are!) is killing me.

      I recently saw FX's new show, The Riches, and I have to say FX has struck gold again.  The show is instnatly appealing, plus I love black comedy, and dysfunctional families are IMO the perfect recipie for a good drama.  Check it out Mondays at 10/9c.

      I just finished Angel.  I thought they had a great last season, but I hated how they ended it.  Hated it!  They killed of my favorite character!  And how can Joss end the series with such a huge cliffhanger?  I'm thinking about doing a blog on the show, but my last Buffy blog didn't get hardly any comments, so maybe those season countdown things don't interest very many people.

Hope everyone had a good Spring Break.  I know I did.  I got to go skiing in Salt Lake City.  I got a nice tan, although my legs got plenty worn out, as well.

Many of you guys may not know that I have my own website where I review television shows and do a few movie reviews every now and then. It was a pet project I started last Janauary, but I've really gotten into it since then, and I would really like it if you could check it out. You may like it, you may not, but it'd be great if you tried it out and left me a comment in my guestbook.

Link: www.motionpicturereviews.com

Heroes is really on a roll. The writing has sharped up, the stories are getting more darker, we're getting more action, and we were just left with a huge cliffhanger yesterday! I'm pretty sure Peter won't die, while I'm praying a little that Mohinder will ( does anybody else find him boring? although it did kick ass that he figured out Sylar so quickly). I really like the new Hero we were introduced to, that's an awesome power. I really thought for a moment that Simone was alive.

Battlestar Galactica pissed me off Sunday. They just killed off my favorite character, without any explanation! The character's death came from out of the blue. BSG is frustrating me a little this season. They started off the season really strong, but these past episodes haven't been up to par. We're getting close to the season finale, though, so things are bound to pick up.

I've really been getting behind on my television. I havn't seen 24 or Veronica Mars for weeks, but thank god for DVR. Maybe this weekend I'll be able to catch up.

And in better news, I just found out that one of my favorite shows, Nip/Tuck, has just been renewed for three more seasons by FX, with a 22 episode order for season five. How awesome is that!

Warning: This is a very long blog, full of my opinions and rants.  Please feel free to skim through and read the parts you're interested in.  As always, commenting is appreciated.

Last week I finally finished viewing every season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I started my Buffy dvd marathon about eight months ago (I've also been vieweing Angel, as well), and it's a bittersweet feeling knowing that I'm finally done with the series.

I'd heard about the series for a long time, but had never given it a chance. I thought it would be a silly show that would bore me, and I never bothered to give it one hour of my week. Finally three years after it ended I finally decided to rent season one from my local video store. I wasn't wildely impressed. It was good, but some of the episodes I had to force myself to watch. I'd heard many people say that the episodes only get better, though, so I pushed myself through, and midway through season two I knew I was addicted.

Alias has long been my favorite show, and I still think it is. I do think Buffy is better, though. Alias first two seasons I still think beat anything else, but overall Buffy had a better series run. It was more focused while Alias wandered off and lost it's way in some of it's later seasons, and Joss Whedon does season arcs like nobody's business. He also is constantly refrencing back to past events (he never dropped the Amy as a rat storyline), which is a real special treat for fans who have seen the show from beginning to end. Not many series are as good as continuity. I also loved all the flashbacks the series had, showing how our four favorite vamps: Spike, Angel, Drusilla and Darla came to be.

Alright, let's get on with the season countdown already. Here the seasons in order from my least favorites to my favorites. Warning: There are spoilers for each season in their season reviews, so don't read how I felt about a season if you haven't seen it yet.

Season One:

Buffy had a good first season. It was a brilliant mix of horrory, comedy and melodrama, and it introduced great characters that were instantly relatable. It was just nowhere near as good as the series would get. The Master was fun, but he was never a truly menacing villian. When I viewed some of the episodes a second time after I'd already completed the series, I liked them a lot more. Which is probably because I love the characters a lot more now then when I first was introduced to the series, and I have an emotional attachment to them. It's also fun to see the core scooby gang before all the other characters came along.

Favorite Episodes: "Angel" was a great episode, and was the first hint at what the series truly had to offer. "Prophecy Girl" was a fantastic season finale.

Season Four:

I am not a big fan of season four. The Initative plot was the main reason why; those zombie soldiers in the season finale were so cheesy, they actually made me cringe. I also was never a big fan of Riley. Maybe because he was just too ordinary, but Angel and Spike always interested me more. The season was also a little choppy, and just didn't seem as cohesive as other ones. It's one of the only seasons to truly depict the gangs college years, though, (in later seasons almost everybody drops out), so its unique and defenitely deserves a vieweing on that part. The season was also the beginning of Willow's relationship with Tara, who has always been one of my favorite characters of the series, and Zander's relationship with the always hilarious ex-demon Anya.

Favorite Episodes: Despite a less than stellar arc, the season did offer very many good stand alone episodes. Including Hush (Buffy's most frightening episode), Living Conditions (an hilarious episodes about the pains of college roomates), The Harsh Light of Day (the beginning of Buffy/Angel's first crossover episode) and This Year's Girl (which features the return of one of my favorite characters: Faith).

Season Seven:

Season seven was good way to end the series. The First was the ultimate villian for Buffy, and that fight in the hell mouth in the series finale was the perfect way to end the series. It wasn't the strongest season, though, which I mostly attribute to how the second half of the season was almsot one very long slumber part. Way too many whiny potentials that distracted from the main gang. And can I add how pissed off I was when Buffy got kicked out of her own house? (Sorry, it wasn't too long ago I viewed that episode, so the memories still actively in my mind.) Overall, though.... Spike with a soul, the destruction of the council, the introduction of the ubervamps: the season was action-packed and highly enjoyable, and I was very satsified with the way Joss ended the series. Oh, and I have to give a shout-out to Andrew. Loved the character. He was hilarious, and provided great comic relief during serious episodes.

Favorite Episodes: "Never Leave Me" was an emotional, jam-packed episode. "Conversations with Dead People" also blew me away, and "Lies My Parents told Me" was also great (I can never get enough Spike backstory). But the the winner is defenitely "Chosen".

Season Six:

Season six was darkest season and one of the most emotional. And I absolutely loved it. Buffy getting ripped out of heaven by Willow was heartbreaking (Willow's face when Buffy tells her the truth in "Once More, with Feeling" always gets me every time), and it was the toughest season for our hero as she struggled to live in a world that she didn't want to be in. It also was the beginning of the Spike/Buffy relationship, which I am a big fan of. The season began intenesely with Buffy's ressurection, and ended on just an emtional not with Willow almost ending the world. Magic as a metaphor for drugs was well done, and Willow's departure in the dark arts is truly chilling. I loved all the character development in season six, and I didn't even mind that there was not truly threatening villian (the Trio was pretty funny, at least).

Favorite Episode: The musical "Once More, with Feeling" is the clear winner for me. One of my favorite episodes of the entire series in fact.

Season Five:

It was hard for me to decide between season's six and five, but I think ultimately I liked season five better. Glory was a great villian. Scary and yet hilarious at the same time. The way the writers introduced Dawn was great, and I never hated her the way other fans did. I was happy that Riley finally left this season. The death of Buffy's mother was the most emotional episode Joss has ever created. The season was full of action, emotion and drama. It was a fantastic season.

Favorite Episodes: "Into the Woods" is really good; Riley's departure always gives me goosebumps. "Fool for Love" was fantastic, as is "Family" (When I truly feel in love with Tara) and "Blood Ties". The clear winner for me is "The Body", though.

Season Two:

What the writers did with Angel and Buffy's relationship this season knocked my socks off. The Angel arc in the second half of the season was fantastic; never have I seen a show take such a chance as this one did. Angulus was such horrible villian because of the way he was determined to hurt Buffy and her friends. The season is also notable for the introduction of Spike and Drusilla, who quickly became two of my favorite characters. This was the season where the show began to grow up and become a masterpiece. The only negative note is that you have a bundle of filler episodes at the start of the season, but there are plenty of fantastic episodes to make up for it.

Favorite Episodes: "Surprise" and "Innocence" is the best two parter the series has ever done. "Passion" made me cry. I loved Jenny and her death was just so cold and horrible, and Giles pain afterwards was heartbreaking. "Becoming" parts 1 and 2 are my favorite, though.

Season Three:

The best season arc = the best season. I loved Faith. The good slayer who turned bad and then good. Eliza Dushku was a great actress and she did such a good job at displaynig Faith's inner demons. Buffy's struggle to reintegrate into the gang after she ran away was also a great plot. Plus there's the Mayor (one of my favorite villians) and senior year for the gang. I also really liked Oz and Willow's relationship and Zaner's with Cordy. This season was the ultimate Buffy season. That Faith/Buffy fight scene in "Graduation Day" really wowed me the first time I saw it.

Favorite Episodes: "Graduation Day" parts 1 and 2. I really liked that the students of Sunnydale finally fought back. Plus, there's "The Wish" and "Doppelgangland". Both fantastic episodes just for evil Willow.

Top Ten Characters:

10. Andrew                      05. Angel

09. Giles                          04. Spike

08. Tara                           03. Faith

07. Anya                           02. Buffy

06. Drusilla                       01. Willow

After eight months, I have finally finished viewing all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and four seasons of Angel...I just started the fifth).  I never saw either show live, so this was the first time vieweing for me.  Yeah, I know I'm about five years late. 

I absolutely loved the series, and it's a bittersweet feeling knowing that it's all over.  I'll have a much more longer blog post on it later counting down seasons from best to worst, favorite characters, and so forth.  I just finished the series finale, and it's eleven o'clock right now.

Hey, I've gotten to see the pilot episode for five new shows premiering in the fall.  Here is my take on them (you can find the full reviews here):

Heroes (NBC): I liked this pilot, and could really see it developing a loyal cult following.  I'm now sure if it will become a hit or not, but it has been developing a lot of positive buzz and that's good.  Anyway the power's the people have are cool, and while some of them are the pretty basic ones such as teleportation and ability to fly, some are more complex and interesting such as the one Niki Sander's (Ali Larter) has: a violent doppelganger self.  It was a little slow, but they had to introduce so many characters that I'll forgive them.  They also do an excellent job intertwining the characters life, and it appears that an apocalypse is on the way.  That's always intersting.

The Nine (ABC): I really liked this pilot also.  It has a five star cast that you'll probably recognize from at least a dozen other shows.  The show does a good at keeping you wanting to come back for more, as each episode will have a ten minute flashback showing what happened during the 52 hours our characters were held hostage (the show show's the beginning of the robbery, but then jumps to the aftermath 52 hours later).  I really liked all the characters, and I know I'll be checking this out in the fall.

Traveler (ABC): A mix of 24 and Prison Break, as two guys get caught up in a conspiracy that frames them as terrorist.  It didn't bring entirely anything new to the genre, but it sure was damn entertaining.  I liked our main characters and the 45 minutes did fly by, so I'll keep watching (that and the fact that I want to know what's going on).  The question though is that since it's a midseason replacement will viewers give it a chance when many show's like it, such as Kidnapped and Vanished, will have already been released.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC): Three words.  Fun, Fun, Fun.  This show was able to attract some star power, as in addition to Amanda Peet, Mathew Perry and all the already known actors from television and movies the show has as series regulars, the pilot episode also has Felicity Huffman and 36 Mafia as guest stars.  The pilot episode is very dense, so as a result it feels like they have to inform you on a lot and it's a little slow.  But the script sparkles in so many places that I was very excited about the next episode.  I can't wait to see where they take it next.

Kidnapped (NBC): This pilot I wasn't very impressed with.  I mean it's a fun kidnap drama, but it's pretty much by the books.  I kept waiting for something to happen that would make it stand out, but everything that happened seemed like I'd already seen it somewhere else.  It's not bad, it's just not at all original.  I really like Jeremy Sisto also, but unfortunately this show didn't just click for me.