Doctor who? What's he talking about?

By Jason Davis     February 27, 2006

It seems that the grim reaper has a mind to usurp this little TV column. Last week, I delayed my report on the Gallifrey Convention in L.A. to discuss the unexpected death of BABYLON 5's Andreas Katsulas. This week, we lost Don Knotts and Darren McGavin. Though I remember Knotts well from his five-time Emmy-winning performance as Barney Fife on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, I have to say that he will forever haunt my mind as Luther Heggs from 1966's THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN which I took great pains to seek out on TV every year around Halloween. McGavin... well, McGavin was Carl Kolchak. The man had an epic career, but he'll always be that surly reporter from the 1972 TV movie THE NIGHT STALKER and its follow-ups. I still shudder at the memory of learning that Stuart Townsend had been cast in the part for the remake--blasphemy I called it, and the TV audience seemed to agree if its fate was any indication. Suffice to say, the two men will be missed and my regards go to their survivors.

Back to your regularly scheduled, previously pre-empted programming. Gallifrey One, for those not in the know, is the annual DOCTOR WHO convention held every February in Los Angeles for the last 17 years. I've been going since 2003 and heartily commend it to fans of the series or, indeed, anyone who enjoys a good time. Robbie Bourget and Shaun Lyon who, with the help of wonderful staff, put the whole show together do an amazing job and go out of their way to bring in guests from other genre favorites to supplement the guest of honor from DOCTOR WHO.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't spend an entire column rambling on about a con I attended, but there was something a little special about this year's event. This was the first Gallifrey since the airing of the new series in the UK. It was a completely new experience and I'm quite certain most of the new faces in attendance were there on behalf of a television show that hadn't even (officially speaking, of course) hit US TV screens. That's a bit astounding, don't you think? Granted, whenever a panelist asked how much of the audience had seen the new series, a forest of hands filled the room. They were seeing it whether network executives had the sense to run it in a timely fashion or not.

(It was at this point in the column that Jason's seven year-old Windows '98 machine gasped its last after some ominous murmurs all week. An emergency operation performed by the unqualified columnist allowed both a CD-ROM burner and much of the machine's hard drive to be moved to a newer model that he'd had sitting under the desk for some weeks. The column will now resume, but the writer begs your forgiveness if the enthusiasm generated in the preceding paragraphs seems to have abated whilst he spent seven hours looking for network drivers without an internet connection.)

It's really a remarkable thing to see how many people have actively sought out the program. I know at least five people who were never fans of the original but went to great lengths to get their hands on the new series as the buzz spread online. This brings me to something I was discussing with a small group of folks, including Lee Whiteside of sftv.org (Nice to finally meet you, Lee): I think it's time for people like Joe Straczynski, Joss Whedon, and that lot to start creating content for the Internet. Sure, we've got Internet downloads of a number of TV series, but I'm talking about original programming distributed via podcasts on a subscription model akin to HBO's. Wouldn't it be grand to yank the networks out of the picture? There'd be no more stories about how this suit got in the way of telling the story. Obviously, an effective business model would have to be developed and there will always be people who want to exchange their financial resources for an opinion in the production's direction. Still, I think it's a compelling concept that could easily be the next big thing. You heard it here firstI hope.

Bold new media models aside, the convention was full of this kind of energy. People were discussing possibilities all over the place. There were panels on DVD authoring and the writers of new DOCTOR WHO were on hand to chat about the new show's relationship to the older one. All around, people were invigorated. The really interesting thing is that they'll all tune in again for SFC's broadcast of the series. I have no doubt that the Internet download crowd will still show their support of the legitimate cable broadcast and I think that goes a long way to prove critics of downloaded television wrong in a philosophical sense if not a legal one. It's still wrong to download, don't get me wrong, but I think it's interesting that viewers are perfectly happy to sit through commercials to support the series and do their part to make the Sci Fi Channel airings a success.

That said, I commend the new series to each and every one of you. The Sci Fi Channel will be airing the first two episodes on March 17 and continue with one new episode each Friday thereafter. Meanwhile, the UK will be getting the second season at roughly the same time. I realize that BATTLESTAR and the two STARGATEs will probably be back by the end of DOCTOR WHO's twelve week run, but I'm secretly hoping that the series does well enough to merit SFC picking up the second season straight away. AMC is airing back-to-back seasons of HUSTLE in this fashion, but they also co-produced season three of that series with the BBC so that probably figures into their strategy. Still, wouldn't it be spectacular to have WHO be a hit over here too? It's hard for me to imagine the show being common currency at the water cooler, but it's a distinct possibilityas long as we make it happen. That brings us to the end of this week's column. The Olympics are at an end, so NBC is back with new programming. MEDIUM and NUM3ERS are now making their way to DVD in May. I've got a functioning computer. You have a lovely day (if your day is not lovely, the writer of this column accepts no responsibility for your "glass-half-empty" state of mind). If you need me, I'll be watching MOONLIGHTING. Write to wastelandjason@hotmail.com with comments or recommendations for what you'd like to see in next week's column.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27

24 (8 PM PST, Fox) "Day 5: 4:00PM - 5:00PM" Jack follows up on a lead from a dead informant. Handy chaps, dead informantsuse them for the TV listings here...get the occasional error if the schedule changed after they died of course.

MEDIUM (10 PM PST, NBC) "Sweet Child O' Mine" Allison develops maternal feelings for a boy accused of murdering his boss. That's what he needsstrong guidance on how not to get caught next time.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28

SCRUBS (9 PM PST, NBC) "My Buddy's Booty" Turk suggests that J.D. and Elliot need booty calls. That logline combined with the title conjure unsettling images in the columnist's fragile mind.

SCRUBS (9:30 PM PST, NBC) "My Cabbage" J.D. tries to get his intern, Keith, fired. Is it because Keith stole J.D.'s cabbage? You'll have to wait and see.

SUPERNATURAL (9 PM PST, WB) "Shadow" Sam is reunited with the girl of his dreams. If he knew anything about the kind of show he's on, Sam would know this is unlikely to be a good thing for him.

THE SHIELD (10 PM PST, FX) "Kavanaugh" Someone called Kavanaugh does something...I guess. Has anyone ever noticed that the pilot episode is edited differently on the DVD than it was on its initial airing? Strange, that.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1

LOST (9 PM PST, ABC) "Maternity Leave" Clare seeks the location of the hidden Others base...evidently, General Kenobi is there with the Death Star plans.

VERONICA MARS (9 PM PST, UPN) "Ahoy Mateys!" Yet another rerun, though if it stars Kristen Bell, it's probably good.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2

SMALLVILLE (8 PM PST, WB) "Splinter" Silver Kryptonite? See, that's what I get for not watching this show. I'm hideously behind on Kryptonite identificationonly recognize green, red, gold, and blue. Does anyone find it disturbing that spell check doesn't have a problem with the word "Kryptonite?"

MY NAME IS EARL (9:00 PM PST, NBC) "Didn't Pay Taxes" A problem I wish I'd had last year.

THE OFFICE (9:30 PM PST, NBC) "Dwight's Speech" Dwight must conquer his fear of public speaking before addressing an audience of coworkers.

FRIDAY, MARCH 3

GHOST WHISPERER (8 PM PST, CBS) "Demon Child" I had this show on last week while waiting for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA to airput me right to sleep...barely woke up in time!

STARGATE: SG-1 (8 PM PST, Sci Fi Channel) "Crusade" Claudia Black is back in the short-lived BABYLON 5 spin-off! Er, no. Well, the first part is true. I love Claudia Black. Did I mention that?

STARGATE ATLANTIS (9 PM PST, Sci Fi Channel) "Inferno" I'm guessing there's fire involved...

NUMB3RS (10 PM PST, CBS) "Protest" A retired agent returns to investigate a bombing similar to one that occurred 35 years ago.

MONK (10 PM PST, USA) "Mr. Monk and the Astronaut" Imagine thatOCD in space. Weightlessness would probably drive the poor guy bonkers.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (10 PM PST, Sci Fi Channel) "Lay Down Your Burdens Part 1" The ominously titled penultimate episode finds the Galactica discovering an inhabitable planet. What do you want to bet that something goes wrong?

SATURDAY, MARCH 4

HU$TLE (10 PM PST, AMC) If you've not seen this series, I highly recommend it. In fact, I picked up the region 2 DVDs of season one so I could catch the episode I missedgood stuff.

SUNDAY, MARCH 5

Pull out your DVDs and re-experience old episodes of THE WEST WING or GREY'S ANATOMY.