Network Executives, or why I have a love/hate relationship with my TV

Normally, I do not post things about television. It's one of those things like politics, people get into tizzies if you don't like what they like or have a different opinion of certain series. I will however post something that I think everyone has an issue with: Network Executives cancelling a show because they don't see it as the biggest show on television. Thus far, my favorite television network, the Sci-fi channel, or Syfy as it is rebranded, has cancelled or is in the process of cancelling at least 4 of my favorite television series. A brief description will follow.

One: Eureka- Granted, it was probably a very expensive show to produce, but it was a show about a town of super-geniuses doing alll kinds of cool sciency stuff. It had great characters, a wonderful history that they could have explored at anytime, and a near-infinite amount of material to pull from. I'm the least angry at syfy for this one because it wasn't necessarily their decision, Comcast, the parent company, pulled the plug. They also ended this show the only way it could have ended, with the characters continuing on with their lives. Anger meter: 1 of 10.

Two: Stargate Universe- Once again, probably an expensive show, but it was full of possibility. It was dark and gritty, something that had never been done in the continuity of the world before. I liked it, a lot. Syfy left this show on a cliffhanger, and didn't even try to tie it up. The characters were real people, trying to survive against everything. It was amazing that all these people had to work together, even though there was enough hate to go around. Anger Meter: 5 of 10.

 Three: Alphas- A cool subset of the superhero genre, this show ended on another cliffhanger. Most of the effects were CGI, with what looked to be actual locations used in filming. The sets couldn't have been that expensive to build, mostly office building interiors and the like. I am upset that this show ended, because once again the character driven show was great. Anger Meter: 3 of 10.

Four: Haven- This show was an expansion into a Stephen King world, based on one of his short stories, The Colorado Kid. I wanted to see this show go on for a long time because it had such fantastic potenial. The characters were awesome, the history of the town was revealed bit by bit, leaving viewers wanting more. I am unsure whose decision this was, but I am upset, Stephen King does fabulous work and this series pulled for the source material and mixed in unique elements, making me sad to see it go, especially on a ridiculous cliffhanger. Anger Meter: 6 of 10.

 Five: Warehouse 13- The season finale aired tonight, with the disclaimer of "The Final Episodes" coming in 2014. This show is once again full of so much potential I feel is being wasted. The characters live in a world of so called "endless wonder". Unfortunately, this endless wonder is gettin a 6 episode send-off with a shortened 5th season. The characters are great, the sets are fantastic, and the nods to real life events make me wonder if there isn't some collection of powerful items in the world somewhere. This one was syfy's call and they chose to pull it. I can only hope that the last season does justice to the Warehouse and it's agents. Anger Meter: Pending, currently 8 of 10.

Syfy has the potential to be the greatest and only real source of science fiction and fantasy entertainment on TV. Their programming line-up has everything, from paranormal investigation shows, to crazy competition series like Face-Off, to fantastic imports like Continuum and Lost Girl, to great original series like Defiance and Being Human. My only hope is that they remember the fans that made them, and unfortunately they have alienated many fans by looking the other way when they should be fighting for what made their station the only one I would tune to during prime time.

The opinion is mine, but I'm willing to share.

Laterz

New Years...

I know this blog is about 10 days late, you don't have to explain that to me.

I celebrated New Years Eve with a wonderful group of people. There was laughter, fireworks, movies, and I believe a neighbor that was upset with our festivities and tried to quiet us with a couple of shots from his pistol. That however, is not what this post is about. This message is for those that have the varying New Year's resolutions. Quitting smoking, losing weight, saving money, etc. These are all very solid and completely overused promises to yourself that get broken within the first week, sometimes within the first day. Here is my New Year's resolution: I promise to be a better me. Does that mean I will drop everything and go work at an animal shelter for the rest of my life? No. What it means is that I will open myself up to the world. I will be nicer to the ones that I know and the ones I don't know. I will be more forgiving to myself. I will not hold grudges against anyone else. I will give more and love more. By the end of the year, I will know more about myself, my limits, what I like and don't like than I ever have before. This is my New Year's resolution, this is my promise to myself and the world. So, if you need a kind word, or if you just want to say something in response, get my attention somehow.

The opinion is mine, but I am happy to share. Laterz.
--F.W.

Sit down!

I am not one to complain a ton. Yes, as a human I tend to complain about things like the weather and other such nonsense. There is something that I find disturbing though. As of right now, the United States Congress is in a complete deadlock over how to fix the money problem so the government does not go into default on the debt it has. So far, myriad proposals have been sent to the legislatures and have all been denied. I do not want to tell them how to do their job, I'm sure it is a difficult one, and I will refrain from hitting the "panic mode" button because I know that the Congress will arrive at some reasonable conclusion prior to the deadline of August 2nd. What I wish to say is...HURRY UP! There was a situation not long ago where the Congress was stalled on a budget decision, that could have cost many people, including some close to me, alot of money. Now, they face a similar situation where millions may not be paid again. I realize the security risk of having all 100 Senators and 435 Representatives in office at the same time, but this is an important matter with very little time to spare. My suggestion is that if every seat in both houses are not filled, then they need to recall those duly elected representatives and have everybody deciding this matter. Once this matter is resolved, resume your normal lives. I would say it is comparable to a business about to go into default on it's loans. They call everyone together and figure out how to fix the situation.

On that note, I do have one idea that may ease the debt and I know many will not be happy with it, but it's just an idea: Put a 1% Federal Sales tax on everything. 1% isn't much if you think about it, instead of paying $1.53 for that soda you just bought, pay $1.54. Most people, when they see a penny on the ground, or get a penny back from a purchase, they throw it into the penny collection thing at the counter. Consider this statistic, according to the US Census Bureau (http://www2.census.gov/retail/releases/historical/marts/adv1012.pdf) Americans spent $380 Billion dollars in December 2010 in the retail market. Now, 1% of that is 3.8 billion dollars. If you multiply that number by 12 month you get 45.6 billion extra dollars of funding for the US government per year. I know that isn't much compared to the 14 trillion dollar debt, but that is something.

Like I have said before, and will say again, the opinion here is mine, but I am willing to share.
Laterz.

Connections and something better than mediocrity.

Today as I was eating a rather normal lunch at a fast food chain known as Chik-Fil-A, I noticed that all the people around me were mostly neutral about the place. There were a few children that were playing in the playpen area, but most of the adults were just eating, unconcerned with the attitudes of those around them. This was something that I didn't feel was out of place, after all if a stranger came up to you and was not of the opposite sex and/or not attractive to you, then it would be odd for them to approach you. I followed this trend and did not stray from my seat other than to grab napkins and some dipping sauce for my fries. This is what disturbs me: in the age where international connections can be made with a click of a button, it is considered odd to try and make a face to face connection. That is another discussion for another time. As I was leaving the restaurant, I asked the cheery employee behind the counter to fill my cup up with the soda I was drinking so I would have some on the road. In response to my appreciative words, I hear "My Pleasure" instead of the normal "Your Welcome". Those two words turned the rather normal and lackluster lunch I had into a pleasant half-hour spent in a calm dining environment.

The opinion is mine, but I'm happy to share. Laterz.

Madness is a Two-Way Street.

So, as I sit watching a TV show called "The Batman" I realized that more people are inclined to become the Joker rather than the Batman. Most people, when confronted with a situation that they cannot control, feel helpless. This helplessness usually results in a violent reaction, this violent reaction results in a "adrenaline rush" that makes the person reacting feel powerful. Power is an alluring thing. People are also destructive by nature, (look at the kick most people get out of seeing something blow up in a movie) hence the desire to be in a overwhelming situation again, and the easiest way to do that is create the situation yourself. The Joker does the same thing, he wants to be able to have that rush of chemicals and the best way he can think of to do that is to make a situation in which he is overwhelmed and he has to "fight", either physically or mentally out of it. The Batman's emotions have dictated that he only "fight" against the ones that are causing chaos, although he maintains the original principle of getting a "rush" from the fight, exemplified in the smirk that he usually carries when he knows he has the bad guy beaten. This emotional tug of war is something that most people want to avoid, so they opt for the most destructive and least resistive path to the emotional high.

This opinion is mine, but I don't mind sharing. Laterz.