Stick a fork in her: The Bionic Woman is done. What? She’s bionic; she’ll heal fast. Rumors of the show’s demise persisted for months, but its status remained in seemingly eternal limbo, thanks to the writers' strike. While NBC has yet to officially pronounce the show DOA, last week Bionic co-executive producer David Eick confirmed the cancellation to Sci Fi Wire, dashing the hopes of its dozens and dozens of remaining fans.

Now, I realize this news is probably, well, duh to anyone who watched even a couple of episodes. The incredible hype surrounding the freshman series fizzled to a barely audible meh as the season progressed. Eick attributes the failure to the show never coming together as hoped:

“I just felt that the process was so frustrating, and the conditions under which we were making that show never really came to fruition in such a way that I felt like we could make the show well. The actress (Michelle Ryan) we found was wonderful. Some of the writing was good.”

Wonderful? Well, her abs were wonderful. And some of the writing was good? That must mean some was bad. Which, of course, it was. Bionic Woman had that killer combo of uninspired dialogue, unintelligible storylines and an underwhelming lead. Also, God, how boring was her boyfriend? Snore. If he’s a secret agent, than he must be 00Zzzz.

You could count me among some of the most excited pre-fans as I eagerly awaited its arrival last fall. Heck, I think I even drooled a little. But once the dream became a reality, oh, how the wheels came off. Granted, I stuck with it so much longer than I should have. The potential of Sarah Corvus was that strong. Still, even I didn’t bother to watch the show’s final pre-strike (and now, ever) episode. I have only so many hours in my life; why waste one more? … continue reading

Ever play a game of telephone as a child? What starts out as "Katee Sackhoff is frakking hot" somehow becomes something like "my kids are smoking pot."

Apparently, we adults are not immune to such childish pastimes. Last week, reports began circulating that Katee Sackhoff had been loudly distancing herself from not only Bionic Woman (not that I blame her), but also Michelle Ryan. One blogger reportedly attended a recent sci-fi convention at which Sackhoff spoke publicly about both Battlestar Galactica and Bionic Woman, and has insinuated that Sackhoff said some not-so-nice things about both the show and Ryan.

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Whenever I turn on my TV these days, I get the strange urge to pull a Paul Revere in my living room and start screaming, “The British are coming! The British are coming!” Until I realize, oh wait, they’re already here. This season a brigade of British actresses are breaking out their best American accents to star in new prime-time shows. Among them are a bionic woman, an undead girl, a Terminator fighter and a vampire helper. Here's a look at the U.K. actresses making time on American TV screens.

I think you’ve already met Bionic Woman Michelle Ryan and her abs. In the last episode, they put her real accent to good use undercover as a British exchange student. An Englishwoman playing an American girl pretending to be a British student? It was like Victor/Victoria with accents instead of gender. … continue reading

Last week, Private Practice and Bionic Woman were jointly, and depressingly, reviewed in The New York Times. The essence of the review appeared midway: "Both shows suggest that the easiest way to make a female protagonist likable is to dumb her down with self-doubt." I had planned to watch Bionic Woman but not Private Practice. However, I decided to check out both and see if the prognosis was as bleak as the reviewer suggested. My conclusion, not surprisingly, was both yes and no.

I started with Private Practice, which I'm not going to thoroughly review, except to say that it was disappointingly stupid. If Audra McDonald is going to do television instead of Broadway, then it needs to be good television, people!

For anyone unaware, Private Practice is the ill-advised spin-off of Grey's Anatomy (which I do not watch.) The show's opening introduces us to the other doctors in Addison's new practice. Fertility specialist Naomi (Audra McDonald), Addison's best friend, is sobbing on her bathroom floor eating an entire cake.

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So, was it good for you? The much heralded, much anticipated, much drooled-over Bionic Woman premiered last night. Are you still basking in the afterglow, or do you feel like you’ve taken a cold shower?

Me, I’m already smitten. But not with the title character. Oh, Sarah Corvus. You had me at “Time out.” Seriously, what is it about the bad girls?

*** Warning: Spoilers! *** … continue reading

I really hope you weren't planning to do anything but watch TV tonight. I'm cursing my Xanadu tickets. Nah, not really, but there's a lot to take in on the tube tonight!

Let's get the obvious one out of the way: Kate Walsh has her own Private Practice starting tonight at 9/8c on ABC. I'm giving it one episode to impress me, and if it doesn't, I'm done, despite my abiding love for Audra McDonald.

Next, it's finally here: Bionic Woman premieres tonight at 9/8c on NBC. … continue reading

Bionic: bi·on·ic; adj.
1. of or relating to bionics
2. having normal biological capability or performance enhanced by or as if by electronic or electromechanical devices
3. being hot, so freaking hot

Wow. The new Bionic Woman Michelle Ryan is making me rethink the dictionary definition and then some. If I had to put a polite disclaimer on yesterday’s post, then we’re going to have to go DEFCON 4 for today’s. I mean it, this could require military intervention and full-scale quarantine. Good thing Michelle has been working out.

One armed pull-ups? That is so hot, I think we need to see it again. … continue reading

Lori and I stumbled across BBC America's fantastic drama series Jekyll a few weekends ago when we were surfing our On Demand channels, and by the end of the first episode, we were hooked. The six-episode first season, which went out with a bang this past weekend, is a suspense thriller with an excellent cast and an old story that somehow comes across fresh. James Nesbitt is brilliant and believable as both Tom Jackman and his alter ego Mr. Hyde, the lesbian private detectives drive the plot forward and provide some necessary comic relief, and Michelle Ryan, who did not impress us in the Bionic Woman pilot, nails her role as Tom's mysterious assistant/nurse perfectly here.

But the one who really impressed me the most was Gina Bellman as Tom's wife Claire. I'd only ever seen Bellman previously on the very funny British comedy Coupling, playing the fairly limited, over-the-top and occasionally annoying role of narcissistic bisexual Jane.

Beyond thinking "Hey, that's that actress who played the bi chick on Coupling," I didn't pay much attention to Bellman in the first few episodes of Jekyll, because Claire's role was initially fairly small and mostly limited to wondering why her husband kept disappearing for days at a time. But once she discovered his secret in episode three, Claire suddenly started to get interesting, and in episode four, it was like "forget Tom's alter ego, who is this other Gina Bellman?" … continue reading

Via Pop Candy, I came across the Bionic Assessment Test, which is a blatant marketing tool for NBC's upcoming Bionic Woman (as though all the pictures of Katee Sackhoff and Michelle Ryan haven't been enough to drown out the mixed reviews and bad casting), but also a fun way to spend a few minutes.

The test has you add and subtract as quickly as you can, repeat short series of tones, and remember ridiculous details about images that flash across the screen for seconds. You also have to type words according to a disorganized keyboard pattern, ignoring all previous QWERTY training. It reminded me of trying to trace something in a mirror or to look cute in high school gym class — much harder than it should be. … continue reading

This morning I watched the new promo for Bionic Woman. I was ready to rave about it. I was psyched. Michelle Ryan looks pretty badass, and there are even a few glimpses of Katee Sackhoff this time. She plays Jaime Sommers' nemesis, Sarah Corvus.

But then my glee vanished in a puff of bad casting: Isaiah Washington will appear in at least five episodes of the series as — oh, who cares who he'll play or what he'll do? It's bad enough that Travolta's probably going to ruin Hairspray for me, but now this? What's next: Bill O'Reilly as a guestbian? (Actually, that would be fun. Jenny leads the DTO in a rumble!)

Anyway, you may have the technology, NBC, but I doubt you can rebuild Washington's career. But I've already given him more virtual ink than I wanted to, so here's the new trailer. Grumble. I mean, uh, enjoy? … continue reading

The last time I blogged about the new Bionic Woman, I was skeptical. Well, I still am. But this picture of Katee Sackhoff makes me want to tune in.

Wow. Hello! The only thing hotter than a kickass bionic woman is a kickass bionic, um, badass. The Los Angeles Times notes that Sackhoff's role in the new series is not entirely clear: … continue reading