gina torres

With Helen Mirren's Detective Tennison bowing out on Sunday's Prime Suspect finale, television is losing one of its finest tough broads.

Tough broads have feelings and faults, but they're nobody's baby. They also don't give a crap what you think of them. They dress for utility not for style, and they work -- usually in domains stereotypically belonging to men.

We'll miss you, Detective Tennison. You are the inspiration for this list of tough TV broads - the ones little girls and little boys can look up to.

I tend to have very little patience with new television programs. I usually give them two or three episodes and then I tune out. I did that for Desperate Housewives during season one and I still don't regret canceling my Season Pass to that show. And now, this fall, I am doing it once again. I get all giddy over new shows that I think have a great premise, and then I get bored quickly. Apparently I can't handle more than 5 seconds of bad television. Here are The Five: New shows that are already getting old:

(S01E01) I'm one of those people that truly believes that any TV show or movie premise could be great. Because it's not the premise of a show that's most important. Really, what does the premise of a show have to do with anything? A "great" premise could have horrible writing, acting, direction, while a show that seems to have a "typical" or "boring" premise can be great if it has good writing, acting, and direction. Seinfeld was a show about "nothing" but it was the writing and the cast that made that show great. Heck, what was the movie My Dinner With Andre but two guys eating dinner and talking for two hours?

So it's not the premise of Standoff (hostage negotiators are also lovers!) that is disappointing, it's that there's nothing really special about it. Not yet anyway. But it's a show that has promise, and here's why.

Press kits usually come in one of two ways: they're either a very basic press kit, just a folder with the show's logo on it, and some print press materials inside, maybe a few photos. And then there are the other ones, the press kits with really cool collectibles inside and/or an innovative packaging. The one for FOX's Standoff seems to be in the middle. It comes with the basic paperwork stapled together (no folder??), but also includes two neat collectibles.

Last, but certainly not least, we are giving you a preview of the shows that FOX has planned for the fall season. We've already discussed ABC, CBS, and NBC's new shows. Let's just say that our TiVos are going to be working overtime this fall.

For FOX, we're covering comedies Happy Hour, 'Til Death, and The Winner. And the dramas are Justice, Standoff, Vanished, and The Wedding Album. The network was kind enough to send us the DVD screeners but, since we can't technically "review" them, we're just going to give you a short preview and our initial thoughts.

The reports of Claudette's death are greatly exaggerated, it seems; we nary hear a word of her fall, just Dutch's report to Kavanaugh that she's doing better. This episode primarily dealt with the now svelte Kavanaugh and the story behind his still-worn wedding ring. I have to admit that, at first, I thought Vic was behind Sadie's alleged rape. Though that turned out not to be the case at all, it sure seemed to help the Strike Team out in some respects.

Oh, and by the way, it's great to see Gina Torres, one of the Firefly crew, back on the small screen!

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is trying to squeeze every penny out of Firefly fans? Yeah, me too.

Titan Books, which published a companion book to Serenity, is preparing a companion book to the Firefly television series. Creator Joss Whedon wrote the introduction to the Serenity companion, which features the original script to the movie, storyboards, production notes and behind-the-scenes stuff. No word on whether Joss will endorse the new book. Firefly: The Official Companion is scheduled for release this summer.

The news service over at Sci Fi channel has an interview with Loni Peristere, visual-effects supervisor for Serenity, who reveals how to find the easter egg on the DVD. Here's how:

• In the main menu, highlight 'Play'
• Press left on your remote
• A marker on the right side of the menu will highlight
• Press enter

[Via Pop Candy]

The British think that Serenity, the movie based on the short-lived Firefly series, was pretty damn good. Good enough, in fact, that they voted it among the top movies of the year in a poll for Channel 4. It comes in at Number 3.

The station's website says "the excitement and spectacular set-pieces are in place, but they are balanced by strong characterisation, distinctive dialogue and effective performances." Yes, that is a rather tempered way of saying "we love these guys!" I know it was my favorite movie-going experience of the year because 1) I went on opening night with a bunch of Firefly fans who cheered throughout the movie and then freaked out when a certain character met up with a certain toothpick the size of a telephone pole, and 2) I love those those guys!

Here are the Top 5 movies according to the Channel 4 poll:

5. Crash
4. King Kong
3. Serenity
2. Batman Begins
1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

That number one pick is a real shocker, eh?

Whitney Matheson over at the Pop Candy blog on USA Today has an interview with Joss Whedon, who ranks No. 13 on her list of Top 100 Entertainers of 2005. Personally, I'd put Whedon at #2 (I'm still a bit peeved about a certain character who was killed off in Serenity) and I'd put Steve Carell at #1. But, I digress. The interview clears up the Entertainment Weekly article that mis-represented Whedon's feelings about Serenity and Firefly. He doesn't directly reference the EW story, possibly because he did the Pop Candy interview before the article printed, but he does say that he'd love to do more with the crew of the Firefly and, he says, huge DVD sales may help him get two more movies made. I know I did my part for him this Christmas. He also talks about what he'll be doing in 2006: writing Wonder Woman, creating a new Buffy comic, and pushing very hard for that Spike film we've all been hearing so much about. It's a good interview that didn't really tell me a whole lot that I didn't already know, but it's nice to hear from him.

If I were fellow blogger Keith, I would be writing this article from a totally different angle. I would probably be doing cartwheels at the thought of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, written and directed by Joss Whedon. Alas, I missed the boat when it came to Buffy, so today's news breaks my heart. An article in the latest Entertainment Weekly with Joss Whedon says he has come to terms with the fact that there won't be any more Firefly movies.  Serenity only made $25 million in the United States and it's not yet clear how well the DVD will do (it went on sale this week). But, that amount of money isn't enough for Universal to launch a franchise of films. Sigh.