Mankind has infiltrated the farthest reaches of space and the 'Verse is being ruled by the ’Alliance’ - an autocratic government-like entity. It is 5 years after the war between the Alliance and the Independents or the ’Browncoats’ which put the Alliance in power. The Alliance exercises control over the planets that form the central core but the planets that inhabit the outer reaches of space still try to resist it’s power.

Captain ’Mal’ Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), a disenchanted ex-Sergeant in the Browncoat army and still very anti-government, leads a raggle of space smugglers on his spaceship, a Firefly-class transport, ’Serenity’.

The crew on Serenity is a varied bunch - the peppy chief engineer, 'Kaylee' (Jewel Staite), the pilot and resident comic 'Wash' (Alan Tudyk), his wife, the soldierly career woman and second-in-command 'Zoe' (Gina Torres), the Man They Call 'Jayne' (Adam Baldwin), a mercenary thug and odd jobs man and the stunningly, beautiful 'Inara' (Morena Baccarin) - a companion (the world’s oldest profession gets another name) and thorn in Mal’s side.

Mal himself has a skewed moral code but is extremely protective of his crew whom he regards as family. Joining the crew as passengers are 'Shepherd Book' (Ron Glass) a preacher, and two fugitives, the prim 'Dr. Simon Tam' (Sean Maher) and his crazy little sister 'River' (Summer Glau), a psychic and child-genius who has been subjected to mind-altering experiments by the Alliance.

Firefly - the series (Rating: 5 /5)

The tv-series ’Firefly’ which aired in 2002 for a couple of episodes until it was cancelled is the brain-child of Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel).

’Firefly’ as a series is certainly very engaging. It is envisioned along the lines of a Sci-fi Western (anachronism, but there it is!) with characters carrying gun-holsters, rifles, Colts and riding horses well into the future. The rationale for this was that the inner core planets under Alliance control were well-developed but the outer planets were places where people were just dropped off with a minimum of water and food and forced to populate worlds in a Frontier-like existence.

The most precious commodity and contraband in this future is food, not the protein-synthesized stuff that can feed a whole family for a month, but real, fresh food, which is in short supply on the outer planets. The show depicted the two worlds beautifully, the very well-developed modern inner core planets (all steel and glass, tall buildings and modern gadgetry) and the ’Wild West’ outer planets (undeveloped desert-like terrain, mining planets etc). Sometimes the show got too Western for me, like one episode which featured a bordello (and wouldnt u know it - a Madame called Nandi and Hindi music playing in the background argh!) and a gun battle, but the drama and the characters definitely made up for it.

Whedon’s vision for the future was that there were only two superpowers left - America and China, the Chinese angle is woven into the script subtly. We have characters wearing Oriental clothing, Chinese characters and instructions everywhere instead of English and the most fun of all, Chinese phrases introduced into the language. The Chinese words and phrases are included for situations which do not really need translation (I'm sure people can think of several situations where) and this introduced a sense of authenticity into the script. However, for a future in which a remaining superpower is Chinese, there are hardly any cast members, even extras who are even vaguely Oriental - blatant oversight, I feel.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Whedon’s vision is that he doesnt subject you to the horrendous masked creatures, scaly lifeforms or little green men that science fiction generally suggests. There are no aliens in this world, the only evil is unleashed by or is human. The most evil are the ’Reavers’, people who cut their own faces, living on the outskirts of the 'Verse. To elaborate in the words of one of the characters

’If they catch you, the Reavers will rape you continuously until you die, cut you up and eat your flesh and carve your skin into clothing ... and if you are very lucky, they will do it in that order.’

Firefly worked for me because of the fantastic chemistry between the cast, fresh episode storylines each with an abundance of drama, humor and action and very decent special effects. Oh, and did I mention, I’m a sucker for spaceships :D

Serenity - the movie (Rating: 5 /5)

Even though TV networks unceremoniously pulled the plug on the series, it went on to gain a massive fan following with the result that Whedon wrote and directed the movie in 2005. The movie kept all the actors from the series, with a plot emphasis on the story of Simon and River. In an attempt to complete the story arc, the movie deals with some mysteries underlying in the TV series, about River, Shepherd Book and the Reavers. While River and the Reavers are dealt with in the movie, the resolution of Book’s character was very unsatisfactory.

In the movie, after picking up Simon and River, Mal and his crew soon realise that River is not who she seems. Apparently she is very valuable commodity to the Alliance who have sent a special agent known only as the Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to eliminate her and the secrets she carries. The Operative’s search for River forces Mal and crew to carry out their own investigations, leading them to a planet called Miranda and a hideous discovery about Alliance experiments.

With Serenity, Whedon has cut out some of the most irritating aspects from the show, the excessive Western-ness - he’s changed most of the music from the show, there are still the old-fashioned guns but a lot less horse riding and other dated elements - and he’s created a better science fiction movie adeventure. The movie assumes that people are familiar with the story of Firefly, but it doesnt really require it. A few of the initial scenes are a little confusing with characters and plot elements being introduced rapidly - but the attentive reader shouldnt be lost :)

I thought that he majority of the cast have handled the transition from TV to movie pretty well (and of course, I could forgive anything of anyone who looks like Mal). Perhaps the most striking actor, a new member, is Ejiofor as the Operative. The Operative knows he is evil, but believes in harnessing that evil for the greater good, which he interprets as the Alliance being in power. Ejiofor’s acting as the smooth-talking, emotionless Samurai assassin is perfectly effective in bringing an immensely scary intensity and sense of focus to his role. The end of Serenity and especially the resolution with the Operative is really silly but I guess it had to end it somehow.

Finally, this is a perfect DVD watch to while away a lazy Sunday evening when you are in the mood for a little space-action, gun-fighting, drama and humor. Dont read too much into the hype created by IMDB and you wont be disappointed. Even better is to get the DVD’s of Firefly, watch them and then catch the movie. That would be (in 'verse slang) shiny!

So Aaron won the Next Food Network Star finale last night. I was cackling when someone (Susie?) mentioned Big Daddy's Kitchen was a unique idea for FN. No, really, Guy's Big Bite has spiky-haired loon, this guy is bald!

Dont have much against Aaron, he is absolutely approachable and his food makes me drool even though I wouldnt eat half of what he cooks (clogged arteries anyone?), but his TV personality is so blah. I really hope his show is better, but, yet again, it's going to be NOTHING new and this is just what FN needs in their lineup.

I am tired of seeing all my fav in-the-kitchen shows pushed to daytime slots when I cant watch them and the evenings filled with overhyped stars and their over-exposed reality-format shows.

Lisa had an amazing pilot, I've really warmed up to her these past couple of weeks and I wanted to cook that fish and leeks recipe. Maybe not the unpronounceable, unspellable yolk sauce (at least show us the name of the dish, would love to know how to spell zabaglione(?) ), but she has tons of creativity and I would just tune in to see what she was wearing.

And Adam's was the pilot I genuinely liked the most, he was so at ease and had so much fun with it. Didnt feel like the audience laughs for his segment were scripted (really, what was up with them laughing their guts off, BigB and I were so weirded out). Adam was of course, sabotaged by Bobby Flay hating him - watch the Vegas buffet when he's in line for Adam's food, his expression speaks volumes.

Anyway, I had the inkling that Aaron was going to win when he fell flat on his face in the Vegas challenge and the judges pushed him through to the finale anyway. The rationale was that they couldnt kick off a consistent performer which to Aaron;s credit he had been so far, but if they had been true to their show they would have kicked off the non-performer that week.

And they didnt. Which meant that they had pre-determined the winner all along. And, they didnt mention at the start of the season that there was no audience poll either. Which means that I just spent abt 9 weeks wasting my time.

Grrr .... But, what will I watch next Sunday night?? :(

You know when people get extremely mad about reality TV and how it dumbs down the population and so on and so forth, I'm usually up there quietly nodding along and agreeing with them. But, that's because I have a guilty pleasure - 2 in fact. No I dont watch Elimidate or any of those trashy shows (heh heh, of course the shows I dont watch can be labeled trashy) but I am totally totally hooked on to America's Next Top Model and the Next Food Network Star.

ANTM is one of those shows, I'm not sure why I watch really, maybe it's the host Tyra Banks attitude towards the girls who come on the show - she's motherly, friendly, direct, supportive and critical all at once. And models always have some good drama going on. And I love how they look so ordinary but with digital touch-ups etc the photos always come out looking gorgeous. Heck, they even touch up their bodies, reducing a stomach here, a jaw there. There's hope for me after all ...

The reasons I watch NFNS are completely different. I'm an avid foodie but hate cooking. The Food Network enables me to cook vicariously, in fact most of the times when I do turn on the TV it gets tuned to this channel. So, when NFNS came out, I thought what a great idea it was to enable the hundreds of talented cooks out there to have their own show, when they would never have the opportunity otherwise. I've been following it every season, and unfortunately the idea seems like a total bust. Out of the winners of the past 3 seasons, only one of them has had any longevity on the food channel. But, I dont like watching his show (wasnt supporting him either :( ).

So, I was pretty much about to give up on the show completely when this season they actually had an Indian girl on the show. Now, I've felt for a long time that ethnic food is so under-represented on the Food Network, I'd love to watch all kinds of ethnic cuisines, not just Indian, but Chinese, Thai, Ethiopian etc. which was why I was really rooting for Nipa from the start.

Well, she was eliminated this week. I'm not saying it wasnt the right decision, it looked to me like she was the one to go but I think the decisions and even the competition has been getting a bit unfair. The people who come here are often home cooks, not professional chefs, why waste time judging them on technique and whether they can cook with weird, unknown foods. It's almost like asking Rachel Ray to bake something from scratch in under 30 mins. For the record, if Nipa could make fish with grape jam taste good, she has to have some serious cooking chops - especially when she evidently did not have experience with seafood.

The first few seasons did test people on their camera readiness, cooking, recipes, personalities which is all fair since Food Network does want a likeable host to helm any new series but making them have a POV, or even testing technique, their food knowledge, making them prep their own food and judging them if they cannot seems very arbitrary. All these things can be learned after all. And once they have their own show they would definitely cook their own type of food. Because NFNS insists on a culinary POV, I'm not at all sure I want to watch any of the remaining contestants. I'm not talking about their personalities, it's just that none of them have a unique culinary POV, by unique I mean something that Food Network doesnt already have.

If it just came down to the personalities, I would love to see Lisa win. She's interesting to watch, is very creative and makes a lot of different food. Kelsey this week was especially impressive and if she continues to evolve, she could make for a good competitor. The rest have been falling to pieces in either one competition or the other. This season's screening is evidently faulty when in the first competition itself a stand-up comedian got an attack of nerves everytime she presented to people. So, either FN needs to take a look at their screening process or re-think their challenges to get the best out of the competitors. Because as past history shows the winners of the Next Food Network Star really havnt been all that.

So, the other day I happened across episodes involving a cup of joe and a purportedly hip, young Bollywood director K - let's call him KJoe for want of a better name.

This was a talk show that I'd heard various (all bad) reviews of. But, you know that they say about curiosity and papayas ... plus KJoe had invited most of the happening and beautiful celebrities of Bollywood and being a closet-celeb-watcher it was inevitable that I would be suckered into it.

The first few episodes were borderline dull, with KJoe setting my teeth on edge with his 'Haayy-lo' greeting to the stars, that is, until I hit upon the mother-lode of episodes.

Before my disbelieveing eyes, KJoe actually introduced an ultra-famous celeb starlet with the words 'The moment I set eyes on her, I knew ... She's my Poo!' .... and delivered with a totally serious, straight face nonetheless. Freaking hilarious!!

After wiping the tears from my eyes, I watched the rest of the interview. The deal here was this - KJoe had invited 2 guests, one was one of his supposed bff's (best friends forever, duh!) and the other was ThePoo!!

Now, KJoe proceeded to fawn all over ThePoo calling her accomplished, beautiful, a star, ad nauseum, and suddenly turns around to his bff and says 'And you've had a couple of flops, right?'. Bff, completely deflated, mutters a 'Yee.. ah' while ThePoo looks on serenely smiling, flipping her hair etc etc Bitch-o-meter alert here!!

While I'm amused, this is still being totally insipid so I stop watching. Maybe I will re-watch on a really, really dull day but I doubt it.

Oh, why no names ? Maybe, I just wanted to call someone poo here (still rofl) ... after all I'm not the first and the name has been immortalised on the silver screen :P

Anyway, looks like this is another talk show involving (in)significant events in the over-exposed lives of celebrities . I may have picked the worst episodes to watch, but since I cant tolerate the director's movies, I cannot be bothered to give his show another chance.

Now that I think of it, two words would aptly replace all of the writing above wrt this show - Ho Hum!!

Here be spoilers:

I never seem to get too much current TV viewing done. Mostly, I watch reruns or else get shows on DVD for a marathon viewing. So recently, when a friend raved on and on .. and on ... about the start of the 3rd season of Lost I wasnt much impressed. One day with time hanging heavy on my hands, I checked out the abc.com website which carries previous episodes and I was hooked. So there I was, developing a pleasant Wed night addiction until the shocker of the season (oh well, for me, remember I am a virgin viewer) ..... the episodes actually stopped airing until Feb. Bad, ABC, very bad!! :( At least, I now have enough time to catch up on my viewing of the the previous seasons.

However, there are some things which irritate me exceedingly about the show. I love, love, love the incredible look of the show, the locations, the mysteries of the island and a lot of the characters and stories. But, I just hate how everyone has this incredibly melodramatic or picked-upon background. Michael's story was really too unbelievable complete with evil-ex-gf-accident-son-hates-me angst. I hate it when I can feel heavy-handed manipulation and his story seemed to be written to have the max tear-jerking effect. I especially hate that with the exception of the handful of people who the stories focus on, the rest of the 40 survivors can be led about like sheep. There's kidnappings, deaths, black smoke monsters etc going on and all these people seem to do is turn up for the funerals, no questions asked. If people were dropping dead at such an alarming rate, I think I would be more interested and not wait to be asked and feel 'left out' of things. Oh well, I know why this is so, it just irritates me. And I was so sad when Ana Lucia was killed :( - the one strong, female character in the show! Yeah, yeah Kate's there but I cant feel any empathy for her! It's a good thing she's with Sawyer now, Jack is too upright for her anyway.

So all that's left now is to wait till Feb :( I wonder if this season will get any better, so far the first six episodes havnt really been that impressive .... familiarity (in this case, with the Others) breeds contempt and all that. However, I say watch out for that Juliette, she has this manic quality about her that should be fun when it's unleashed :P The writers maintian that there's a logical, scientific explanation for everything that happens on the island. I'm going to be waiting with interest for that revelation. I just hope it doesnt go the way of a 'government experiment gone terribly wrong' ...