Essays

Chuck Versus the Top Ten

/ / Essays, Top Tens & Lists

The nerd who became a spy. I’m talking of Charles Irving Bartowski. Chuck is set to begin it’s fourth season next week (not bad for a show that’s faced possible, even probable, cancellation every year!). So today we take a look back at the ten best Chuck episodes (at least so far).

Cutting down the list to ten left of several key moments and characters off the list including love interests Kristen Kruek and Rachel Bilson, the first performance of Jeffster, John Laroquette as the perfrect spy, the tango, the not-so-perfect spy couple of Fred Willard and Swoozie Kurtz, Captain Awesome’s night as a spy, Chuck’s red test, Casey’s daughter, Ellie and Awesome’s wedding, the giant jug of cheese puffs, and Chuck and Sarah finally getting together in Paris.

Okay, that takes care of what didn’t make the list. Now let’s take a gander at what did…

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Top Ten Returning TV-Shows

/ / Essays, TV News 

TV’s new Fall Season seems to be upon us. There are plenty of new shows. There are also more than a few who were dragged out back and unceremoniously capped in the back of the head and dumped in shallow graves. I’m still a bit bummed with the fact that both Life and Pushing Daisies got the chopping block, but there are still plenty (at least ten) which are returning and are worth watching (including a couple returning tonight). Is this a top ten you are sensing? I think it is.

Before we begin let me take a moment to give a shout out to NBC’s Chuck which only misses the cut because his return won’t happen until Spring of 2010. Damn you NBC!!!! (And you wonder why you didn’t get a single show on the list) Okay, having gotten that short rant out of the way, now on with the list…

10. Dollhouse

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Untempered Bond

/ / Essays, Theme Week

The year was 2002 and the 20th Bond film Die Another Day was a hit at theaters 40 years after Bond first picked up his Walther PPK in Dr. No.

There was much discussion about where to take the character.  Many were in favor of bringing back Pierce Brosnan who had some early misgivings about returning for another Bond film, but instead the franchise decided to move in a new direction by allowing Die Another Day (which had paid homage to several of the previous films) to be the swan song of the old Bond flicks and reboot the entire franchise with a new rougher and less sophisticated Bond.

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RF’s Top 7 Bond Villains

/ / Essays, Theme Week

Who says seven is lucky?  Seven is a dangerous number.  The seven deadly sins, the seven evil dwarfs (um…maybe I’ve got that one wrong).  As part of our continuing Bond Week, today we give you the seven deadliest and most memorable villains of the Bond series.

Here are seven of the deadliest and most memorable Bond villains.  Did your favorite make the list?

Ernst Stavro Blofield

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Steele Bond

/ / Essays, Theme Week

Timothy Dalton left the franchise after two films in the midst of MGM’s legal and financial nightmare that threatened to end the series for good.  But that was not to be.  Much like Dalton before him, Pierce Brosnan had been offered the role of Bond years before. but could not accept because of his starring role in Remington Steele.  Fast-forward a few years, and again like Dalton, Brosnan was given a second chance.

With GoldenEye Bond was relaunced with some subtle differences.  Bond was no longer the hot-shot top spy, now he was “a relic of the Cold War” who seemed out of place in the current world events.  M was also given a drastic makeover as Judi Dench took over the role, the first woman to do so, with a particular flair and wit.  The movie was a huge success and Bond and Brosnan continued for three more profitable films, making Bond not only relevant to the modern world, but worth the ticket price as well.

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