tv shows what u into

[5FDP]

Does that include his "music" career? (I use the term loosely... and yes I am also a huge Seagal fan. He helped trained Lyoto Machida to do the "crane" kick against Randy Couture.)

Ummm... yes Songs from the Crystal Cave was actually quite good.

[griffin]

QI was back tonight with the newest season (K), and I was lost for breath from laughing so much.
Along with Gruen Planet repeats on weeknights at about 10pm and the Checkout on Thursday nights, QI is a must-see show on Wednesday nights. (all on ABC channels)

[Sinnertwin]

I'm a fan of anything Seagal. The man can do no wrong in my eyes. I stand and salute his autographed photo on my wall each morning

I need to get me one of those

[GoktimusPrime]

I recently picked up the 2006-07 series of Saiyuuki (a.k.a. Monkey Magic) and started watching it with my daughter. So far we've watched the first three episodes, and here are my thoughts so far (removing my Nostalgia-Goggles and trying to look at it objectively)...

The main characters, then and now

Ready the Wave Motion Cannon, oh sorry, wrong story

The old series is a lot more faithful to the original story - the new series makes a deliberate departure from it, but still remains fairly true to the 'core' of the tale (i.e. they're still travelling to Tenjiku in India on their quest for the Buddhist scriptures).

I can appreciate the changes they've made to the new series. I think they don't just want to re-tell the same story that the previous series (and so many other incarnations) have already done. Also, they seem to want to give the story a broader audience appeal, such as introducing a new recurring female character, a thief known as Rin-Rin; having a thief in the party also makes it feel a bit Dungeons and Dragonny; but from a story POV, because she's not one of the holy pilgrims, she's more free to do more morally dubious acts without being thwarted or reprimanded by Sanzo. There's a lot of fun to be had with this character. Also, keep in mind that while Sanzo is played by women in both series, the character is meant to be a boy, so in the original version there are no recurring female characters. So Rin-Rin is like to the new Saiyuuki series what Tauriel is to the Hobbit films (and arguably even Arwen in The Lord of the Rings; a minor character in the books who's far more prominent in the films). But some audience members might also view her as the "Poochie" of the story... but she's still a pretty fun and endearing character nonetheless (and certainly not a Mary Sue "Drift" character ).

You remember Tauriel and Rin-Rin from their original stories, right? No? Neither does anyone.

They've skipped a lot of the origin story, but rather make mention of it as the show goes along (we do see Sanzo rescuing Goku from being buried under the mountain in a flashback). But certain events are unseen, and others occur in a different chronology; e.g. originally Sanzo places the golden ring on Goku's head shortly after freeing him (otherwise he'd just fly off!), but in the new series, Goku actually pledges to follow Sanzo, Hakai and Gojo (who are already Sanzo's disciples, whereas originally Goku was the first disciple and had to fight Hakai and Gojo who then became disciples) and he's later given the ring. While this does deviate from the original story, it also does establish a deeper emotional connection between the main characters. Goku and Sanzo seem a lot closer to each other in the new series -- more than just master and disciple, they're actually friends (Goku initially mispronounced the word for friend - saying "Namaka" instead of "Nakama" (仲間), and it's a recurring thing in the series, where Sanzo also refers to Goku has her, uh, his "Namaka." Sanzo is a far more caring pastoral priest, rather than the emotionally detached authoritarian from the old series. It's sometimes funny watching Sanzo give into her, uh, his emotions (e.g. repeatedly slapping Goku across the face then immediately begging for his forgiveness). And while Sanzo is still an avid pacifist, the new one is a bit more savvy in battle, e.g. issuing battle commands to the disciples... but is always sure that the demon that they're fighting is never killed.

Sa Gojo is a far less whiny and more deadly fighter too. They've replaced his big cleaver staff with a pair of sai, so he's like Raphael from the Ninja Turtles. He's also the most intellectual of the lot, which is more accurate to the original story. The new series kinda portrays him almost like the "Tony Stark" of the group (he even carries magical items which can project holographic transmitted images etc.).

The new Cho Hakkai plays up more on his sensitive side and less on his... well... piggish nature. Sensitive New Age Hakkai isn't quite as fun as the boorish "swine" we saw in the old Hakkai. He still is a fun character in his own right though, very much the most selfish of the group. One great moment was when Sanzo has been captured by the Ox Demon King, and while Gojo swears that they'll rescue him, Sanzo tells them to leave and save themselves, and Hakkai just LEGS IT!

I've only watched the first 3 episodes so far, but while it is a VERY different show from the old one, it is also quite enjoyable. The more updated special effects are a lot less cheesy than the old series, and watching Goku fly on Kintoun is pretty awesome... almost like watching Iron Man take flight, only it's a monkey standing on a cloud. It'd be kewl to see at least one time when Kintoun breaks the sound barrier and we can see the sonic boom. Hasn't happened so far, but it's still REALLY cool watching the jet stream. It's come a long way from a miniature stuck on a big piece of pink cotton.

But I'll say one thing that the old series did better than the new one, and that's Goku's little ritual he had whenever he summoned Kintoun! In the new series, Goku pulls out a petal from his shirt and throws it - it grows to the size of a boogie board which he jumps on, then cloud vapours form around it. Yeah, it's fast and furious, but it doesn't beat that iconic whistling blow while shaking two fingers in front of the mouth that Goku did in the old series! That is something I really miss!

Fffffeeewwww-fwit-fwit-fwit-fwit-fwit-fwit-fwit-CHING!

--------------------------------------------------------------
P.S.: I've heard that Sakai Masaaki, the actor for Goku/Monkey in the old series, makes a cameo appearance in the new series. It's also strange seeing Goku being so much taller. The old Monkey was quite short, as Sakai Masaaki is only 165cm (same height as Emma Watson), but Katori Shingo stands at 180cm (same height as Orlando Bloom)

[Megatran]

^ I've only ever seen the original series of Monkey Magic. It brings back warm & fuzzy childhood memories.

What I was never able to work out was why they changed actors for the character Pigsy during the series. Does anyone know why???

[Sinnertwin]

^ I've only ever seen the original series of Monkey Magic. It brings back warm & fuzzy childhood memories.

What I was never able to work out was why they changed actors for the character Pigsy during the series. Does anyone know why???

Before they signed on for Season 2 of Monkey, Nihon TV offered him the lead on Ikenaka Genta 80kg

[5FDP]

^ I've only ever seen the original series of Monkey Magic. It brings back warm & fuzzy childhood memories.

I think every child of the 80's grew up watching it on ABC. After all, Monkey Magic was irrepressible

[Bartrim]

I think every child of the 80's grew up watching it on ABC. After all, Monkey Magic was irrepressible

I hated Monkey Magic as a kid. Gave me the creeps along with Tom Baker as Dr Who. Two shows that I couldn't watch.

[5FDP]

I hated Monkey Magic as a kid. Gave me the creeps along with Colin Tom Baker as Dr Who. Two shows that I couldn't watch.

Fixed for you

[Bartrim]

Fixed for you

No no. Tom Baker gave me the heebie jeebies. The eyes, the scarf. Looked like a creepy pedo.