Wednesday, February 21, 2007

No, no and yes

No, I have not joined a top secret branch of the CIA. No, I have not been adbucted by the Covenant and yes, I have run away to Santa Barbara with Michael Vaughn! Ah, I wish.

WOW, ya'll have been yakking up a storm over here at LTA. Completely oblivious am I! Nice work and thank you for continuing to support the blog. I am amazed that we can still find topics to hash out and discuss. Sometimes I think I have talked Alias dry, but you all seem to find one more topic, one last strand of conversation and I am sooooo grateful. You are keeping my baby alive.

Life has been busy here in Seattle. Can you believe that I haven't watched an episode of Alias in over 4 months. 4 months!! I know. It's bad. But basketball is taking up all of my free time. Wait, free time? What is that? I am proud to say my team is currently in 1st place and we head to the final tournament next week! YAHOO! Things will slow down tremendously in the next couple of weeks, so you will be seeing more of me soon. I promise!

Now, keep up the good work!!

Sincerely,
Girlscout

PS. Victor Garber is on board for a new show. Apparently he will be playing a lawyer, again. Fancy that. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for news!

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not ANOTHER lawyer show!!! Those network guys have no imagination and no grasp on the public. Seriously, why was Lost such a hit when it came out and Heroes a hit now? Because they are different than what we've seen before! If I see another CSI or Law & Order, I'm seriously considering canceling cable and living off DVDs.

anyways...

Here's a topic we haven't talked about before. How much of an Alias geek are you? For Christmas last year my husband bought me 4 Alias action figures. I guess they don't make them anymore so he had to track them down. I have Sloan, Vaughn, black suit Syd and "I'm 'ere. She's 'ere. We're 'ere" Syd. I currently have the black suit Syd next to my computer at work. She's there holding her laptop in one hand and her gun in the other. The only problem is when my boss asks me "what's that next to your monitor?" How do you explain without sounding like a nerd? :)

Page48 said...

New show on ABC for MV, too. No name yet, playing a "high-powered CEO", maybe a studly version of Bill Gates.

Girlscout said...

More like a HOTTT version of Bill Gates!

Hmm, I am considering posting a topic- "How did you stumble upon LTA?" hahaha

Anonymous said...

I'm already living off DVDs. Except Ugly Betty.

SRM said...

good topic GS :) I agree bonkers, I have no interest at all in seeing another lawyer show.

Let's see, how much of a geek am I...well other than owning all the season DVDs of Alias, I named my cat Milo after Rambaldi hehe.

Page48 said...

You'd think someone would pull VG aside and have a talk with him about throwing the old career away on (yawn!!!!!) lawyer shows.

I don't watch lawyer shows, I don't watch doctor shows, I'm not interested in "CSI: Podunk", and I don't watch "Law & Order: Pickpocket Unit".

ANDDDDDDD, I never want to see Dennis Franz's ass again.

Just return Alias to it's rightful place with an all new season and get it done before VG commits another TV suicide.

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to seeing Eli Stone. Maybe this time, the results will be much better than Justice. I don't know who is behind this show (writers, etc) but I will watch it. Seeing that he is back with Touchstone/ABC, maybe the offer is for something worthwhile.

At the very least he will be on the same lot with some of the old crew from Alias. Ron, Getty, MV.

Girlscout said...

I love Law & Order- all of them. They are my favorite shows, aside from Alias.

And I don't care who Victor Garber plays on TV, I am watching no matter what- but I'm loyal like that. I love him too much.

And man, bring on Vartan's show. I am all over it! Don't know what it's about, but I will watch.

Anonymous said...

Alias action figure? What a great gift. Your husband sound like a great guy!

Anonymous said...

SRG - love your cat, Milo! I voluteer at a pet shelter and would love to name all the kitties that come in after Alias. Maybe I can sneak a Sydney or Irina in one day. :)

Anonymous - he is a great guy. He teases me sometimes about being such a geek but he also bought me a Joey's Pizza t-shirt and found the Rambaldi Cube at Sam's for me. Of course, he can afford to be generous - HIS favorite show is still on (24). :)

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute ---- Scott, is that you?

Guys, I think my husband is trying to be cute and make "anonymous" comments about how great he is.

Hmmm. Forget all those nice things I said about him. :)

SRM said...

lol hilarious, your hubby does sound cool. :) I totally want a Joey's Pizza t-shirt now!

I'm actually kinda amused because there's a character on this season of 24 named Milo and I just can't take him seriously because all I think about is my cat...

Page48 said...

Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Sounds like JJ is waffling on his plans to direct Star Trek, now that Stephen King is whispering sweet nothings in his ear in an attempt to bring JJ on board King's latest effort, "Dark Tower".

BTW, King, like Ben and Jen, can often be seen hanging out at Fenway Park.

On the subject of Star Trek, there is a good role for VG...starship captain (with a law degree, of course).

Page48 said...

Jason Bateman grabbing onto JG's coat tail. Starred with Jen in "The Kingdom" (the release of which is now put off till Sept. 28) and now signed on to work with her on "Juno" (described as a "coming-of-age comedy", one of many ways to say "fluff piece").

C'mon JG, snap out of it, if you're not careful, you're gonna wind up doing musicals.

Anonymous said...

Regarding those Alias action figures, hopefully you kept them in the original boxes. They will be worth so much more in the future with the original wrapping.

Anonymous said...

page 48: check out this site: http://blogs.citypages.com/dcody/
The writer of Juno and tell me if that woman is going to write a "fluff piece".

Hey, ebay has some of the action figures up for auction. I want a set.

Page48 said...

dlove, there's not much doubt "Diablo" would be great fun at a bachelor party.

Anonymous said...

My claim to Alias geekdom: every password for every computer account I have access to is Alias related! I can also recite the lines of most episodes as they happen.

Hello, my name is BristowVA and I'm an Alias-aholic...

bristow_24 said...

Juno is actually supposed to be quite good. It's a dramady, from the guy who made "Thank You For Smoking". Jen is a supporting role.

And Victors lawyer show *is* different. It's supernatural. There's a touch of Rambaldi:

Victor will play a senior partner to the lead role, "Eli Stone" who is an attorney who discovers that he may be a prophet.

Page48 said...

I guess as long as I insist on using "Alias" as the benchmark, I am unlikely to warmly embrace the post-Alias efforts of it's cast members, regardless of whether it's cutting edge comedy or first-class primetime soap.

I might even be prepared to declare "Juno" the feel-good comedy of the year if a "Jennifer Garner like you've never seen before" wasn't so potentially demeaning to one Sydney A. Bristow, my kickass heroine.

Apparently, I have a few issues to work through. Perhaps a few sessions with Dr. Barnett would help.

Anonymous said...

Hi, bristowva. Welcome. I share the same addiction. Not all of my passwords are Alias related.

I'm all for letting Alias be the benchmark, but what about everything else outside of that? Yes, big shoes to fill, but at least attempt to make a go at it. I took Reitman comment in regards to what she has done so far on the big screen.

Hey, what about this as a topic for the next post... Which Alias episode would you rewrite? What Alias ep didn't live up to its potential?

Page48 said...

I watched "Poseidon" last night. Mia Maestro's character died again (more head trauma, this time compounded by drowning). She's having a run of bad luck. Poor thing's just not a survivor, I guess.

Page48 said...

Which eppies would I rewrite?

Well, clearly every episode from the instant before Nadia's head torpedoed the coffee table until the finale should be shredded and redone by someone who has an actual passion for Alias.

Other than the bitter end, my rewrites mostly focus on Season 4. In particular the self-contained episodes were disappointing, although I would kill for a brand new one now. Alias was the perfect vehicle for nailbiting cliffhangers. Episodes like "Liberty Village" did nothing to sell the Alias dream.

Svogda was just Alias on drugs.

Marshall being arrested in the CIA parking lot and marched into APO with a bag over his head was just playtime for the writers, who obviously fancied another Syd/Marshall embrace scene. Sydney could have called Marshall on his cell phone and recruited him on the spot with no arrest, no bag. Marshall would have followed Sydney any-freaking-where. So would I.

Equally lame was Weiss buying into Sydney's "I work at a bank now that I'm no longer a totally wicked kickass spy babe" routine. C'mon Eric, you call yourself a CIA agent and you're falling for this crap? And while we're at it, haven't you noticed Marshall is missing???

All that being said, Season 4 had some great moments and even the 4th Season of Alias is better than anything I'm watching right now.

The only other thing that really pokes me in the eye is the Syd/Dixon/Jack relationship. We know that Jack recruited Dixon several years before Dixon started working with Sydney, so clearly Dixon and Sydney worked together for almost a decade without Dixon letting on to Sydney that he knew her father was a spy. Syd never gave Dixon so much as a "why the hell didn't you tell me?" and yet Dixon was so brutal to Sydney for keeping the truth about SD6 a secret from him. That whole scenario is twisted out of shape and wasn't handled with care by the writing team. However, it is fiction and stuff happens when you're just making it up as you go along.

So, in conclusion, while it sounds like I want the whole series re-written, it's really just the finale and the self-contained episodes that I regret. My other beefs are minor and easily forgiven in light of the brilliance that was the hallmark of Alias and is not the hallmark of anything on TV today.

SRM said...

good call on Jack recruiting Dixon and never telling Syd, that never even occurred to me.

SKlaft said...

A comment of the Dixon/Jack beef.

A a higher ranking officer in SD-6, Jack may well have chosen who should be drawn into the organization and directed their recruitment without ever having any contact. Dixon may never have known that it was Jack who recruited him.

-R.

Page48 said...

Ah, but Jack confessed to Vaughn that he (Jack)is the one who sold Dixon the lie.

Page48 said...

Nadia gits herself a job!

"Mia Maestro has come aboard CBS' drama pilot The Man. It centers on an undercover cop (LL Cool J) who juggles his job and his adopted children. Maestro will play a doctor who is close with him."

Now, according to Wikipedia, "LL Cool J" is short for "Ladies Luv Cool James". Not being a follower of the Cool One's illustrious career, I had to google-image his sorry ass to see who exactly he is. Having done so, I'm betting the ladies are probably scared shitless of Cool James.

LL Cool J is the anti-Weiss. Daddy Sloane would have this guy iced if he so much as glanced at Nadia. So would I.

There, it took a while for that 27th comment, and honestly, I'm not sure it was worth the wait.

uncle111 said...

Let's make it 28-
I'm almost finished with my Alias screenplay. I have 2 more sections to write (trying to finish that in a couple of days), then several of us are going to videotape a read through and make corrections/adjustments. Then I'll have to cut about 20 pages to fit the optimum length (that part is going to be painful because this thing could serve as an outline for a whole season.)
Once I send it out to be registered and copyrighted, it is off to the contest. THEN, I'll send it to JJ and Jen to see if they are interested.
Who knows

Anonymous said...

uncle 111,
when will you post it or make it available for us? I'm been wanting to read this screenplay since you first started talking about it.

Might be just what the blog needs.

Page48 said...

Looking for some light reading? Tons of it?

Google "Jennifer Garner" along with "Star Trek"

Rumours galore...."Fascinating"

uncle111 said...

Not sure yet about posting it. I need to get it out to try to sell first and need to see if posting could harm the sale. If it wouldn't, I would want to convert it from script format to something more readable. I would post in installments on a site where I could have a section up for a week and then pull it and replace with the next installment.

SRM said...

looking forward to it uncle!!

Page48 said...

Under the "How the Hell?" category:

How the Hell did "Stargate SG-1" make it to a tenth season and 200 (and counting)episodes, when the decision to axe "Alias" (clearly a far superior show) was made after about 92 episodes and the final season cropped shorter than a Marine's haircut?

I remember scoping out Stargate when it was first hatched in 1997, mostly out of curiousity because of the "MacGyver" connection, but Stargate just doesn't do a thing for me. Yet here it is 10 years later celebrating Eppy 200, whilst "Alias" has gone the way of "Get Smart".

I double-dog dare anyone to make sense of that.

SRM said...

huh, I've never seen that show but I highly doubt anyone could say it's better than our beloved Alias. Ah well. I wondered the same thing about ER, I watched it in the beginning but how the hell it's lasted this long is beyond me...