Sharknado: The 4th Awakens

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens ~ Hey folks, it's that time of year again, in what has become an annual tradition, it's Sharknado time again. Unlike lightning, the Sharknado can strike once, twice, three times, and now a fourth. Can Thunder Levin and The Asylum keep it going for a fourth installment? I think that's a no-brainer, but that's the kind of fun Sharknado is.

After an amazing Star Wars opening with the scrolling introduction off into the stars, we learn that it's now five years later from the end of Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!. There are no more Sharknadoes thanks to AstroX run by Tommy Davidson, who has now put their space money into a clean energy, and a Shark World hotel in Las Vegas. It's just too bad that our hero Fin Shepherd, played by Ian Ziering is also headed there for a family reunion. Predictably the fun starts very quickly, with a dust devil made of sharks. Yes, a dust devil, made, of sharks. Just go with it, folks.

This sandstorm full of sharks is apparently possible because it has no water, what Astro X was capable of preventing. As long as there's no water, they can't stop these storms. So the storm chasing Fin and his family morphs as it tracks him across the United States, changing into a boulder-nado, a fire-nado, a twine-nado, and finally a nuke-nado before Fin has a final showdown with the shark-filled beast at Niagara Falls, but not before it leaves a trail of destruction in its path.

The guest star parade is incessant, much like the window cameos in the 1966 "Batman" TV series, everyone wants to be part of Sharknado. "The Today Show" hosts are back, as are Jedward, joining, among many, many others like Vince Neil of Motley Crue, Wayne Newton, Cheryl Tiegs, Gilbert Gottfried as Ron McDonald (insert your own joke), Dog the Bounty Hunter, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Lloyd Kaufman, Carrot Top, Paul Shaffer, Corey Taylor of Slipknot, Seth Rollins, Jillian Barberie, Adrian Zmed, and Christine, Stephen King's possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury.

On the minus side, the Xfinity X1 commercials within the movie itself were just embarrassing. Dodge was obvious product placement, but at least their commercial outside the flick were amusing. Really, Xfinity, really?

This one has it all - pirate ships, shark-bergs, cyborg Tara Reid, shark-fribulators, a "Baywatch" reunion, and Gary Busey and David Hasselhoff. I loved the comic book credit sequence, and I even loved the Tara Reid homage to the cover of Action Comics #1. The movie is just fun, and if it has any flaws (other than Xfinity) it's where this Sharknado takes itself seriously or gets caught up in its own franchise continuity. Otherwise it's awesome. Bring on Sharknado 5!

Slow Sad Season Start

The new season so far hasn't been all that great, at least as far as the major traditional networks go. Things like "Doctor Who" on BBC America and "The Bastard Executioner" on FX being on basic cable don't really count. The things I'm really waiting for - "The Flash," "Supergirl," even "Arrow," and even last night's "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." really haven't started yet. And I haven't yet seen the one I'm dreading, "Heroes Reborn."

The other night I had the misfortune of seeing the season premieres of both "The Big Bang Theory" and "Castle," as well as a bit of "Dancing with the Stars." All three shows have seemingly been on forever and are feeling and showing their age. And I think they may have definitely overstayed their welcome.

"The Big Bang Theory" is one of those shows that skates the edge between laughing with a section of society and deliberately laughing at them. In this case it's 'nerds' like me. On many, many occasions I have felt attacked by this show, almost like getting stuffed in a locker in junior high school. Make no mistake, for every cool reference in this show there are three wedgies lying in wait. And based on all the fat jokes on "Mike & Molly," another show from Chuck Lorre, I consider the man an equal opportunity bully.

And all of the above is on a good day for "The Big Bang Theory." The past two seasons and this week's season premiere have been plagued by ridiculous (even for a sitcom) soap opera antics with characters I really don't care about. Add in the show's prerequisite attack jokes, and it's just damned unpleasant to watch. If I'm being honest, the best part of the episode this week was spotting a "Doctor Who" lunchbox in the background.

Being a writer, "Castle" was a series I loved when it first started, no matter how implausible the premise. The light comedic approach to the drama and danger always kept the show within reach as fun entertainment. Then it got dark and serious, and obsessed with a lead character's mother murder. Follow this with the disappearance of the titular writer, and this season's similar plot with his now wife... well, as far as I'm concerned, "Castle" should have ended two seasons ago with the wedding of the two leads. As it stands now, we're in "Brady Bunch Variety Hour" territory. Kill it now.

"Dancing with the Stars" is an entirely different animal. Yeah, you can watch it for the dancing and the spectacle, or for the stars and how cool it is that they're not just learning to dance, but sometimes doing it spectacularly. That alone would be a terrific show, not necessarily in my wheelhouse, but a terrific show. But. They also have to have the freak show. What else would you call the inclusion of stars like Gary Busey and Paula Deen? That unclean feeling is both why I like "Big Brother" and don't watch "Dancing with the Stars." If we're going to do schadenfreude, go all in.

Those are some preliminary thoughts on the new season so far, more to come.