Friday, December 30, 2022

Powerless—Funniest Sitcom

Emily Locke arrives as a new director at Wayne Security in Charmed City, full of excitement and idealism about her new job. But she almost gets killed before she can arrive at work. Why? Charmed City is ground zero for fights between minor superheroes and supervillains. Emily’s train is derailed by a supervillain, and the superhero Crimson Fox saves her and the rest of the train. Emily looks like she’s going to explode with delight.



Wayne Security was founded by the distant Bruce Wayne. They try to create products to help citizens protect themselves from supervillains (and the fallout from superhero battles). Emily is raring to go with her team of experts. Unfortunately, the Charmed City division is headed by a lesser cousin, Vanderveer “Van” Wayne. He is shallow, obnoxious, stupid—everything that would make a normal person quit. But not Emily. She constantly locks horns with Van, who often doesn’t even get what the argument is about. But she usually wins—kind of.


What makes things worse for Emily are the three leading specialists she has to work with. They are technical geniuses, but normally don’t pay attention to what she says. Teddy is arguably the greatest genius, but is high strung. He is depressed for almost an entire episode. Ron is easy-going—too easy-going when a project needs to be done. Wendy is flat-out hostile to Emily, always insulting her with a smile on her face.


Jackie is Van’s deadpan personal assistant. She started out young and idealistic like Emily, so she constantly tries to discourage her. Although, she is sometimes Emily’s ally. Jackie often gets in a good one to undermine Van, without his being able to figure it out.


Everyone does a fantastic job in the show. The writing is excellent, sometimes with good workplace humor, often with zany lines that come out of nowhere. Usually the best scenes are between Emily—played by Vanessa Hudgens, known from her role in the High School Musical franchise—and Van—played by Alan Tudyk, known from his roles in Firefly and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Vanessa Hudgens is incredible. She goes through multiple extreme facial expressions every minute.


I say that Powerless is the funniest sitcom ever. Currently on The CW.



Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Kirstie Alley Passed Away

Kirstie Alley passed away at the age of 71. She was best known for her long-running role in Cheers. But her breakout role was in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

 


She played Lieutenant Saavik, a Vulcan. Kirstie Alley said she had practiced arching one eyebrow for years, which she was convinced help her land the part.


Saavik was unusual in that she showed a good amount of emotion for a Vulcan, even shedding a tear at a funeral. This was later explained in the books that she was only half Vulcan. Since this was never mentioned in the films, that information is not considered canonical.


(Yes, the terms canonical and non-canonical come from how Bible scholars refer to the books of the Bible as canon—coming from a Hebrew word for a measuring rod—and other ancient religious texts as not canon. In Star Trek, the TV shows and movies are canon, while the books are not. Are we clear?)


So Kirstie Alley will be remembered for a number of roles she played, but many fans will chiefly remember her for the unique spin she brought to a Star Trek character.


 



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