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VERONICA'S PICK FOR NEW SHOW
Terra Nova
(Premieres Sept 26
@ 8pm - FOX)
Starring: Jason O'Mara, Christine Adams, Stephen Lang
This cool looking show from the Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, Rene Echevarria (Castle) and Brannon Braga is about an ordinary family, participating in a daring experiment, journeys back 85 million years to prehistoric Earth. It’s the year 2149 and Earth as we know it is dying. The only choice left to humanity is to start over in the past where scientists are able to find a portal that allows time travel, and perhaps the opportunity to start anew and actually get it right this time.
Terra Nova stars Jason O’Mara as the patriarch of the Shannon family, Shelley Conn as his wife, Landon Liboiron (Degrassi!) as their son and Naomi Scott as the daughter. As with any drama, paradise re-imagined needs a villain or two and those that oppose them. As the season plays out, we’ll find out the real mission behind Terra Nova and those who seek to destroy it.
Why I’ll watch: I want to see dinosaurs chase people down and devour them.
ASHLEY'S PICK FOR RETURNING SHOW(S)
Community / Parks and Recreation (Premieres Sept 22 @ 8pm & 8:30pm - NBC)
Community – Starring: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Yvette Nicole Brown and Chevy Chase - A smarmy lawyer whose education is deemed void by the bar is forced to attend a local community college with an extremely eclectic staff and student body.
Parks and Recreation – Starring: Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott - The absurd antics of an Indiana town's public officials as they pursue sundry projects to make their city a better place.
Why I keep watching: There are so many comedies on the air right now and so many of them have the same comedic formula, working within cubic phrases just to create the perfect punch line. It’s boring. But there are a few comedies that continue to push the envelope. Smart and witty comedies. The easy way to categorize them all? Any comedy without a laugh track. Those are what you should be watching.
Community never gets the respect it deserves. The episodes are so off the wall, dripping with nerd references, interwoven with other episodes, there is just so much effort and passion poured into each half hour and most people don’t even realize it.
Parks and Recreation is much the same. The comedic genius of Amy Poehler has never been better and the characters are so well developed and down to earth, it gives that same feel the Office did when it first came out; a relatable work environment with coworkers you wish you shared a cubicle with. Addictive comedy you can’t live without.
images from google images
On a gorgeous Summer evening, we had the pleasure of seeing the Canopy Theatre’s production of Lysistrata – the Sex Strike, our first taste of outdoor theatre on the Philosopher’s Stage Downtown Toronto. We arrived early at Philosopher’s Walk in the UofT grounds and found a sweet spot to lay our blanket down between the two stages.
Lysistrata (Claire Acott) is tired of the Peloponnesian war and with the help of the women on all sides, strategizes a way to end the war by withholding sex from their husbands and lovers until a peace treaty is signed. Calling themselves “Women for Peace”, Lysistrata along with the Spartan women Lampito (Andrea Blakely) and Iris (Kathleen Black) band together to keep their men wanting them but remain unattainable, sending their men into a fit of sexual frustration.
When their lovers return on leave from the war, the women’s resolve is tested, Myrrhine (Carolyn Hall) being the first woman to waiver in the women’s treaty after her husband Kinesias (Chris Murray) returns after many months with an impressive erection. The men’s frustrations and difficulties are very apparent – as seen by the massive fake boners each male actor sported throughout the second act.
And it’s not just the Athenian men that are suffering, their Spartan counterparts are equally on edge and hard….pressed to find a willing woman to warm their beds. But the women stay united in their desire for the war to end and for the permanent return of their lovers and they do not give in to their own natural desires until a peace treaty is signed.
Lysistrata – the Sex Strike was a hilarious, fun and wholly entertaining adaptation to Aristophanes’ “Lysistrata”, addressing the question that has plagued mankind for centuries; can sex be used as a motivator? If you haven’t already guessed, Lysistrata is a piece of work over 2000 years old, and she has most certainly aged well with a theme that is still used in modern times by women to get what they want. But it’s not just about withholding sex to get their way, at its core Lysistrata is about female empowerment, the only power they were allotted at the time.
We have to wonder how all the male actors were able to keep a straight face and remember all their lines while having to wear towels over their raging fake boners bouncing about up and down the stage. We’ll freely admit that we hoped for a male wardrobe malfunction from some of the actors. Afterall, all that separated us from them was a flimsy towel. Platonic love? Yes, please.
But giant appendages weren’t the only things popping up last night; to our surprise we spotted a familiar face in the crowd. It was none other than Neil Silcox, who played Laurence in Hart House’s production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels back in January that we so enjoyed. True to our CityGirls roots, we stayed planted where we were and just stared at him boldly from across the aisle.
Lysistrata – the sex strike is only on for 2 more shows. If you haven’t seen yet, we encourage you to do so tonight or tomorrow before it’s over. Tickets are $10 at the door.
images curtesy of
Canopy Theatre
It’s that time again! Well, not quite, but we’ve definitely fallen into the Summer TV hiatus and networks are scrambling to promote and create buzz around new and returning fall shows.
As in the past, even though we lack any real credentials to do so, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight some of the upcoming fall shows we’re excited for. Over the next month leading up to premiere time, we'll be pointing out some shows you should keep your schedule open for come Fall.
ASHLEY’S PICK FOR NEW SHOW
Ringer (Premieres Sept 13
@ 9pm – Global/CW)
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar leads a similarly complicated and dangerous life as she goes on the run after witnessing a murder and assumes the life of her wealthy identical twin sister, which isn’t as idyllic as it may have seemed.
Why I’m watching: Not that TV is necessarily starving for strong female characters anymore, but the return of one of the originating kick-ass tough girls is something to be celebrated. Sarah Michelle Gellar may not be slaying any vampires this time around, but her history on the small screen is enough to put my stakes in.
VERONICA'S PICK FOR RETURNING SHOW
Castle (Premieres Sept 19
@ 10pm - CTV/ABC)
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic
Castle is a true favorite of ours. Not just because of the storylines in which the characters are not afraid to poke fun at themselves, but also the undeniable chemistry between Richard Castle (Fillion) and Kate Beckett (Katic). What is surely going to be yet another explosive and entertaining season, we’ll finally learn the fate of Kate, having been shot at the end of season 3. Surely we know she will not die, Castle without Beckett is like milk without cookies. It just won’t happen.
But the real question that has been on our minds is, what is her response going to be to Castle’s desperate whispered declaration of love as he held her bleeding body in his arms? For that and to learn of the conspiracy behind her mother’s murder, we will tune in each and every Monday.
Why I keep watching: Richard Castle really is ruggedly handsome. images from imdb
Terra Nova
