Your Favorite Shows Are Finally Back, How Did You Survive?

Normally April brings warm showers and the first signs of spring.  But it’s bitterly cold and dreary here.  But nonetheless, I’m singing like a bird.  Because this April marks the return of our favorite television shows after a much too long hiatus brought on by the writer’s strike.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m doing a little happy dance (no video of said dance will be included) because finally television as we know is returning.  And even the threat of an actor’s strike will not overshadow my joy this month.

But in all honesty, I found plenty to do in the absence of my favorite shows.  I cleared off my DVR (it is now primed and ready for the April onslaught of shows), I watched BBC America (who knew I’d like British dramas), I read and read some more (including books on my favorite shows like Supernatural and Heroes), I’ve had plenty of field trips with my kids to museums and parks, and I’ve caught up on last summer’s blockbusters on DVD.

In fact, I’ve enjoyed a little break from my TV set.  But the break is over and I happily welcome the return of my shows.

Here’s a breakdown of the returning shows (source:  TV Guide):

Mondays:

8 p.m.

The Big Bang Theory on CBS, Returned March 17

Bones on Fox, Returns April 14

Gossip Girl on CW, Returns April 21

8:30 p.m.

How I Met Your Mother on CBS, Returned March 17

9 p.m.

Two and a Half Men on CBS, Returned March 17

House on Fox, Returns April 28

9:30 p.m.

Samantha Who? On ABC, Returned April 7

Rules of Engagement on CBS, Returns April 14

10 p.m.

CSI Miami on CBS, Returned March 24

Tuesdays:

 

8 p.m.

NCIS on CBS, Returns April 8

9 p.m.

Shark on CBS, Returns April 29

10 p.m.

Boston Legal on ABC, Returns April 8

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC, Returns April 14

Women’s Murder Club on ABC, Returns April 29

Wednesdays:

8 p.m.

‘Til Death on Fox, Returns April 15

8:30 p.m.

Back to You on Fox, Returns April 16

9 p.m.

Criminal Minds on CBS, Returned April 2

10 p.m.

CSI:NY on CBS, Returned on April 2

Law & Order on NBC, Returns April 23

Thursday:

8 p.m.

My Name is Earl on NBC, Returned April 3

Smallville on CW, Returns April 17

Ugly Betty on ABC, Returns April 24

8:30 p.m.

30 Rock on NBC, Returns April 10

9 p.m.

CSI on CBS, Returned April 3

The Office on NBC, Returns April 10

Supernatural on CW, Returns April 24

Grey’s Anatomy on ABC, Returns April 24

9:30 p.m.

Scrubs on NBC, Returns April 10

10 p.m.

Without a Trace on CBS, Returned April 3

ER on NBC, Returns April 10

Lost on ABC, Returns April 24

Friday:

8 p.m.

Ghost Whisperer on CBS, Returned April 4

9 p.m.

Moonlight on CBS, Returns April 25

10 p.m.

Numbe3rs on CBS, Returned April 4

Sunday:

8:30 p.m.

Aliens in America on CW, Returns April 27

9 p.m.

The Game on CW, Returned March 23

Cold Case on CBS, Returned March 30

Desperate Housewives on ABC, Returns April 13

10 p.m.

Brothers & Sisters on ABC, Returns on April 20

The schedule looks a bit thin, but I think we will all take what we can get.  Mondays and Thursdays seem to be the nights that will pack the biggest punch.

How did you survive the strike?  What returning show are you looking forward to the most?

Does the Right Eye Hold the Secret to Battlestar Galactica?

The season four premiere of Battlestar Galactica has fans everywhere buzzing with questions and theories.  Co-Producer Mark Verheiden is pretty mum about spoilers, but he did give a clue of where to look.

Who’s the final cylon?  What happened to Starbuck?  Does she really know the way to Earth?  What is with Baltar’s harem?  Is the prophecy about Hera (Agathon and Helo’s baby) or Nicky (Tyrol and Cally’s baby)?

These are all questions fans everywhere are puzzling about.  But in a recent interview with ComicMix, Verheiden is mum on the answers to these hot questions.  The only thing Verheider will say is “As to what it all means, again, I preach the mantra of patience…”

But he is willing to talk about eyes, or more specifically the right eye:

“If there’s a single moment that I really like in that “gave me a little chill” way, it’s the red light from the raider scanning Anders’ eyeball.”

For those of you not paying attention that was Anders’ right eye.  And after scanning it, the Cylons disengaged and left.

Verheider promises that we’ll learn more about it next week.  But could a scene before it hold a clue.

Moments before the recently self-identified cylon Sam Anders went face to face – or eye-to-eye – with the toaster-version of the cylons, his fellow recently identified cylon Colonel Tigh had a hallucination on the bridge.

In his dream sequence, the one-eye Tigh shoots Admiral Adama in his right eye – the very same eye Tigh is missing as a result of the cylons on New Caprica.

About this Verheider quotes writer David Weddle:

“I was waiting for someone to pick up on that telling detail. Congratulations. But I am disappointed you have not figured out its significance within the larger mythology of the show. It’s all laid out for you. All you have to do is run the episode over again in slow motion, and the deeper truth will be revealed.”

Well they say the eyes are the windows to the soul.  Can they be the window to the secret of BSG?

 

Check out the screen shots from that sequence above.  What do you see?

Maybe I’m reaching, but in Adama’s glasses I see the reflection of the board behind Tigh.  With the hole that bullet left, I think his eye looks like the Eye of Jupiter.

I’ve read on some boards (I can’t remember where, sorry) that the Canadian version was bloodier that the Sci Fi version of the episode so I’m not sure if that makes a difference in the image.

If that is the Eye of Jupiter, what does it mean?  Why did Tigh shoot the right eye?  Why did the cylons scan Anders right eye?  Is there a connection between these two events?

Could Tigh have used his hallucination to send some kind of warning to the toaster cylons through Sam’s eye?

—–

Related Post:

Are the Final 5 Cylons from Earth?

Could Cally be the Final Cylon on BSG?

Is the Doc John’s True Love on ‘New Amsterdam?’

It’s only been six weeks since the premiere of New Amsterdam and John Amsterdam is in mortal danger again.  Or is he?

Since the pilot, John has been pursuing Sara Dillane, the doctor that saved him after his heart attack in the opening segment.  But did she save him?  She was the one who found him on the subway platform and worked on him.  But didn’t he still end of in the morgue, pronounced dead by Sara herself?

It was in the morgue that he woke up, a result of the work of a blessing/curse (depends on how you look at it) by an Indian shaman in 1642 granting him immortality until he finds his one true love.

But John was sure that the heart attack was a sign that he’d come across “the one.”  He thinks it is Sara and has been courting her ever since.

Then in last night’s episode “Reclassified,” John says he’s feels different when he’s beaten to a pulp by some Russian mob thugs.  Is that proof that Sara is indeed having an impact on his mortality or is it wishful thinking on his part?  He seemed to have healed without issue.

Then in the closing moments, John is shot by the Russian mobster’s little brother and the question of his mortality is answered.  Or is it?

If you think that Sara is indeed John’s true love you could argue that the shot wasn’t fatal as proof of his survival.  Could he have survived because their hearts haven’t been fully intertwined as one yet?  Could the fact that he woke up in a hospital bed instead of the morgue be evidence that there has been some change within John?

Nevertheless those same arguments could be used if his mortality savior is someone else that he is in current contact with.

Personally, I don’t think that Sara is the one.  I think the fact that she couldn’t save him in the ER in the opening episode was foreshadowing that she isn’t the one to save him from eternal life.  But I believe that the heart attack is a sign that his true soul mate is near (otherwise, it would be a pretty boring series if there was no hope that he will find reconciliation with his mortality).

So if it’s not the doctor, who is it?  Was it someone he saw in passing in that first episode?  Or is it someone we see ever week?  Right now, besides Sara, John sees two other women regularly – his partner Eva Marquez and his boss Callie Burnett (Susan Misner).

Callie wasn’t in the pilot, but since we don’t know how this blessing/curse works the heart attack could have been the sign of a future meeting.

However, my money is on Eva.  John was with her moments before his heart attack.  Besides they seem to have chemistry as partners.  Yet, she’s right there in front of him, but he doesn’t really notice her.  And she will not be easily won over by his charms like the good doctor. 

Sure John Amsterdam is not without appeal and he’s had nearly 400 years to perfect his pick up lines for women, but I think the woman that is to be his true soul mate has to stand out from all the other women he’s known.  She won’t be easy to woo.  She will have to be a match for him on more than just looks.  They will have some common interests, goals.  She will be his equal, not another conquest.  Someone that he will not be able to put aside even if he doubts she’s the one.

And put aside is what it looks like he might due to the sweet doctor next week if he doubts her role in his life.  Next week marks the finale of a short eight-episode season.

We know that John can survive a gunshot to see another day, but will New Amsterdam survive to see a second season?