*Well welcome back everyone! I hope you enjoyed the ‘surprise’ column about gaming that I threw in there. I’m planning on making it a regular (although for now, monthly) occurrence here at Still on the Shelf. However, if there is an outcry for more, I’ll seriously consider bumping up its schedule. After all, we aim to please our visitors here at SotS. But we can’t do that if you don’t contact us. So either drop me an e-mail or better yet, join the forums and let me know what you think!

*What a difference a year makes. Less than 6 months ago I was complaining about how bad the Justice League Unlimited was. Now I find that this is one of the few shows that I actually looked forward to.

But this isn’t the only show that I’ve come to feel that way about - the other show being Star Trek’s Enterprise. This show has been absolutely fantastic this year, with possibly some of the best episodes from any Star Trek show.

Unfortunately, news has come that Enterprise is getting canned. And I have to say, I’m pretty disappointed by this news. Not only because it means no new Star Trek, but because of the potential this show started to show. If they had cancelled it last year I wouldn’t have cared. It was a mediocre show at best. But this year the show really improved, and frankly, it’s one of the best 5 shows on TV right now. Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. As it stands now, it will be another one of those shows that I’ll forever wonder “what if…”

So can we do anything? Probably not. But there is a Save Enterprise campaign under way, and I recommend anyone interested to check out the site. I’m not very surprised that Enterprise was cancelled, since Paramount (which owns the rights to Star Trek) has been pulling some of the Star Trek computer games while they’ve been in the works. I think Paramount has basically given up on the Star Trek property all together. Although to their credit, they did try to reduce the licensing fees (although I don’t know by how much) to encourage UPN to pick it up for a fifth season. Star Trek in recent years has just been unprofitable. And let’s be honest, with the exception of this season, Enterprise wasn’t really a great show.

Now I don’t think this is a flaw with the concept of “Star Trek” as it is with poor corporate management. The studios really didn’t do a whole lot in terms of pushing the edge with Voyager, and the property just got ‘flat.’

So what does this have to do with Justice League Unlimited? Well my fear is that JLU may face the same problem. Think about the similarities. A show that was below average up until this season has fully reinvigorated itself with some brilliant stories and character development. The main difference is that JLU has had some pretty solid numbers, especially among younger demographics. But the threat is always looming.

The problem with TV executives is that they often focus on the bottom line. I can’t really blame them for that; it IS a business after all. But because of that focus, they don’t always recognize a shift in writing and give it the credit it deserves. Let’s hope that Cartoon Network is a little more forgiving than UPN.

*A few months ago I talked about how certain shows and comic books try to get away with cussing by changing the words a little. For instance changing ‘hell’ to ‘shell’ is the favorite trick on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now as I suggested, I’m not really a fan of this. Either you swear or you don’t. If you aren’t clever enough to say something without cursing, then just curse. This ‘shell’ behavior is neither funny nor clever.

At the time I suggested that you simply make up new words as your curses. And in all the places to find an example, Spongebob Squarepants is the last place I thought I’d find it. Yet they do a brilliant job of disguising curses. For instance, whenever Spongebob gets upset he’ll say ‘barnacles’. And when he gets really upset he’ll say ‘tartar sauce.’ It’s both inoffensive and clever, and that makes it funny.

*Although I suppose if I had a 4-year old walking around shouting “barnacles!” I might feel differently.

*I’ve been watching Ghost in the Shell on Cartoon Network, and I can’t decide if I like the show or not. It’s a pretty gritty, and often depressing, cartoon. At it’s best it’s a great philosophical take on modernization and the role technology plays in our lives. But at it’s worst however, it tries to politically preach to the audience, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the show’s writers aren’t from the ‘right side’ of the political spectrum.

There are two things that bother me about this show. One is that for a super secret covert unit that can seemingly infiltrate anywhere, they are a noisy group. In one episode while sneaking around a terrorist base they have a robot that is loud in moving, talks a LOT, and bumps into things. How in the world are they supposed to sneak up on people making that much noise?

The other thing that bothers me isn’t really a flaw with the program, it’s more a pet peeve of mine. The endings on this show are often so open-ended and non-conclusive. I suppose it’s a reflection of the nature of their work and a reflection of ‘real life’. But man, does it annoy me. I like things to have a nice conclusion. To be wrapped up at the end of the 30 minute show. I know that’s not ‘realistic’ but that’s the precise reason I want things to be wrapped up. Life has enough ‘unknowns’; your entertainment should endeavor to have actual resolution to their stories and plot lines.

*I think I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: comic previews are going to drive me insane. Our own esteemed Craig Reade writes a good newsletter previewing upcoming comic books (April’s preview). And frankly it’s one of my favorite things to read. Helps me keep up on what’s heading down the pike.

However, it causes serious confusion on my part when I go to a comic book store. Outside of my regular titles, I’m always waiting for some mini to start. And yet because of the previews being so far in advance I can never actually remember what month they are supposed to launch. So I end up expecting to see a certain title months in advance.

I suppose I could just look up when the titles are coming out. Or make some kind of list. But frankly that seems to resemble work a little too much for my tastes. Plus I’d rather be enjoying reading the comic books that writing lists about them. And heck, if I’m going to write about comic books, I’ll do it for you guys instead.

*Well that’s it for this time. I should have a couple of interesting thoughts next week. The sudden cancellation of Enterprise has caused me to juggle some things around for this week’s column. Until then…

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