Mely’s commentary about last week’s Heroes is a must-read, nicely analyzing how some of the show’s subtler themes come together. There’s some interesting thoughts in the comments, as well. I was especially intrigued by the comment bringing up the parallel between the timeline made by Hiro and the thousand cranes he made for Charlie.

Some other thoughts:

• There was a lot of scoffing at creator Tim Kring’s claim of ignorance of Watchmen, but I can see how someone could conceive this plot without knowing about Watchmen. At this point in our history, there are other inspirations for a story about a powerful person using advance knowledge of a disaster to gain even more power. I can see how the idea became more Watchmen-like once people who know superhero comics (such as Jeph Loeb) became involved, but I don’t think it’s so hard to imagine someone coming up with Linderman’s plot without having read Watchmen.
• I’m wondering if I’m the only one looking forward to tonight’s episode for the prospect of seeing Adrian Pasdar play a hardened, Machiavellian Nathan Perelli… the closest thing we’re likely to get to seeing Jim Profit show up on television again.
• One other random thought…. judging from the show’s panel at San Diego last year, I wouldn’t describe Adrian Pasdar as someone in love with the sound of his own voice. That’s kinda ironic since if anyone should be in love with the sound of his own voice….

Update: Today is Adrian Pasdar’s birthday. Hooray for April 30.

So. I set the DVR for Stephanie Miller’s MSNBC “simulcast” and tuned in after digesting the local traffic news (we Bay Area folk are in a state of emergency right now, if you hadn’t heard). While I enjoy her show from time-to-time, I was keeping my fingers crossed the Miller and crew would have a better hit-and-miss ratio than usual (it’s hard not to miss often if you’re putting together fifteen hours a week). They have some very funny moments, but there’s also a decent amount of predictable or cringe-inducing moments to the show. Overall, it was a better-than-average show with few in jokes, just what the show needed in reaching a new audience.

Anyway, some bulletpoint reactions:

• Aaaand… open into the cancellation joke. That’s probably the best way to set the tone, summarizing Miller’s flippancy and self-effacing humor.
• Oh, yes. The joke about stalking Keith Olbermann took little time, as did the jokes about alcoholic beverages. An apt introduction to the show.
• I’m counting down until some “liberal bias watchdog” website starts calling her “the Imus of the left”.
• They didn’t open with the Twisted Sister bumper, but they used it in the second hour. I miss the original version which played a clip of Howard Beale over “We’re not going to take it”. Anyone who mixes Network with bad glam rock is after my heart.

Miller certainly offers something very different from what’s available elsewhere. I frequently disclaim that she’s more of a comedian than a pundit, but watching her show today on TV made me think of what else airs as morning news and realize that Miller is one of the more substantial options for news in the morning on national TV. I’d certainly like it if she got a long-term gig, cable news could use someone as different as Miller.

Tomorrow night, Veronica Mars returns from hiatus, with its first standalone episode. I’m pretty excited about this development since it means the Spouse will finally allow me to watch Veronica Mars episodes as the air instead of waiting for the current story arc to conclude.

On a related note, in an interview with E! Online’s Kristin, series creator Rob Thomas says that reports of the show’s cancellation are definitely premature, though Thomas also suggests that fans let The CW that they support the show.

• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip will return for its final episodes on May 24.
• Would you want a Transformers earphones? A part of me thinks its pretty neat to finally see a Transformer that turns into a working device.
• Viacom gives in to the idea of “fair use” and settles the lawsuit over the “Stop the Truthiness” video. Anecdotes like that bothered me about Viacom’s battle with YouTube, I hope the company follows-through on its promise to be a little more sensitive in the future, though a part of me remains cynical. After all, in the court of public opinion only that first big number gets heard, not the corrected figure.
• In light of Sen. Durbin’s revelation that the Senate Intelligence Committee knew that the American people were being misled about Iraq, The News Hole looks at how those Senators voted on the Iraq war resolution at the time.
• Ah, already a black mark for the Lord of the Rings Online game, developers decided that they’d rather throw out a marriage feature in the game than allow it be used by pairings of same-sex avatars. It’s probably the rationalization by the developers that’s the most annoying.

I watched the Democratic Presidential Primary Debate Thursday night. Overall, there wasn’t a lot to learn about the candidates except that Mike Gravel can liven up any debate. There was one sore point that stuck out, however:

MR. WILLIAMS: Senator, thanks. I’ll give you a follow-up. I didn’t hear you mention Israel, and I ask because there is a quote attributed to your name. You said recently, “No one is suffering more than the Palestinian people.” Do you stand by that remark?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, keep in mind what the remark actually, if you have the whole thing, said. What I said is, nobody has suffered more than the Palestinian people from the failure of the Palestinian leadership to recognize Israel, to renounce violence and to get serious about negotiating peace and security for the region. Israel has been one of our most important allies around the world. It’s the only established democracy in the Middle East. It’s the linchpin of much of our efforts in the Middle East. But the United States has to get engaged in this region, and that’s something that this president has not done. That’s something that I intend to do.

(via the NY Times’ debate transcript)

Okay, so did someone else write this follow-up question for Brian Williams or did he really ask a candidate to defend a statement taken out of context to give it a different meaning? That’s pretty… well, if Williams researched the statement himself and knew about the original context, that’s pretty slimy but if he hadn’t realized that the quote had a very different meaning when put into context (getting it from another article without doing follow-up research) that makes him look as poorly informed as Katie Couric.

(Alternatively, I guess you could say he took a bit of misinformation that was already out there and gave the candidate a chance to refute it officially. That was once my defense of Rich Johnston’s gossip column.)

Last night, I caught the season premiere of Bill Moyers’ Journal. Moyers has been the focus of a lot of blogosphere buzz (and a retaliatory Googlebomb) for Buying the War, which examines journalistic failures leading up to the invasion of Iraq. Moyers continues his examination of journalism by interviewing two people changing how people get their news — Josh Marshall of TPM Media and Jon Stewart of The Daily Show.

Both interviews are solid and Moyers talks with both of them as someone who is a part of their audience and understands the factors driving their work. The result is one of the most revelatory interviews I’ve seen with Stewart. Crooks and Liars has a sample clip of the interview but the whole show is worth watching. Check your local PBS listings to see if it gets rerun.

• Allison Stewart will be headlining NPR new youth-oriented morning news program (it’s the show meant as a younger Morning Edition) but will continue to work with NBC News.
• Dave Carter notes that a new volume of Yotsub&! has been solicited. Good news for the series fans and for those who were tempted to check out the series but turned off by its disappearance.
• The Sci-Fi Channel announces its summer line-up. The highlights: Doctor Who returns on July 6, Eureka returns on July 10 and Who Wants to Be a Superhero returns on July 25. Upcoming debuts include a new edition of Flash Gordon and a reality series focusing on English “psychological illusionist” Derren Brown.
• AfterEllen’s malindo notes a lack of lesbian themes Turner Classic Movies’ plans to explore gay images in classic cinema.
• Dorian gives us a spoiler-free review of Doctor Who’s third season. I’m looking forward to this season.

BBC America is sending a double decker bus around the country to “feature the latest and greatest in British music, product, television and entertainment.” The bus is currently in San Francisco (it makes its final appearance in Union Square on Saturday), with stops in another twelve cities scheduled.

April 29-30: San Jose
May 1-2, 5: Los Angeles
May 7: San Diego
May 9-10: Phoenix
May 16-21: St. Louis
May 18-19: Denver
May 24, 26: Chicago
June 1-2: Atlanta
June 5: Washington DC
June 8: Philadelphia
June 8-10: Boston
June 14, 16, 18: New York City

Meanwhile, the network set the first few premiere dates for its new themed line-up. The Innocence Project, a legal drama I’d guess is based on the real-life legal clinic of the same name is the first to debut on May 10. Meanwhile, Hex returns on June 2 and Footballers’ Wives starts its final season on June 6.

Today’s edition of Journalista! opens with the following quote:

It is not like I have given up completely on manga and if there is something I really wanted to create as a manga, of course I would. I have been working steadily in anime so it would not be possible to create manga on the side. To create manga takes a great effort and it is a personal work.”
- Satoshi Kon

Satoshi Kon’s done manga? So, uhm, why hasn’t anyone tried to publish his work? It may not be as good as his recent animation work, but it seems like something that would have a built-in audience. Hello? Vertical? This sounds right up your alley.

The quote comes from an interview at Tokyopop.com (which, briefly led me to hope that T-pop would be publishing Kon’s manga work). This part:

Last year at the Hawaii Film Festival that was held, and the small synopsis they had in the program with Paprika said is was like a collision of Hello Kitty and Phillip K. Dick. I felt that was correct.

…has me nostalgic and excited. When I lived in Hawaii, the Honolulu International Film Festival was a highlight of my year. That’s where I saw Princess Mononoke as well as Welcome Back Mister McDonald two of my favorite films. It’s also where I saw Keiko Agena steal the spotlight in Hundred Percent and learned about the fafafine of Samoa. I’ve taken a look at the film festivals in the Bay Area, but none of them have the dynamic that made HIFF so exciting. I’m not sure why that is, except that maybe since the Bay Area can support so many film festivals, they can all specialize in a way HIFF couldn’t. I became accustomed to the variety HIFF offered, the specialized film festivals in the Bay Area get a feeling of sameness when I read their schedule.

Getting back to Paprika, doesn’t “a collision of Hello Kitty and Phillip K Dick” scream, “Make a countdown clock until this makes it to a local theatre?”

I’ve had a copy of The Golden Compass for years. It’s a book that’s many people who know my tastes have recommended to me and I’m never in the right mental place to get beyond the first chapter. Well, now it turns out I’ve procrastinated long enough for the book to get optioned for a movie adaptation, survive development hell and get produced as a movie that’s starting its marketing campaign.