Thank You 2012, I Was Entertained This Year

If you are reading this feature, it means the world didn't end on the 21st December and I have recovered from the family Christmas madness. I know some of you are disappointed about the end of the world -- especially one super X-Files fan who believes in Chris Carter for the past 20 years. The truth is most of us are happier to see other people saving the world from the apocalypse or living in one or killing zombies on TV shows and movies. I don't know about you, but my entertainment is set for the next few years! The world is not perfect, but at least we are giving the opportunity to escape into another dimension the moment we turn on our entertainment devices.

An affogato isn't the same without ice cream. When it's Supernatural, if there is no angst no drama, it isn't fun. 

One of the biggest changes that we saw this year was the changing of the guard from previous showrunner Sera Gamble to Jeremy Carver. I was very sad and worried to see Sera go but the announcement of the return of Jeremy Carver at the same time was comforting. Apart from Ben Edlund, I cannot think of anyone else but Jeremy Carver to helm the show I love so much.

I am very happy with the direction of season eight. The core of the show still remains the same -- it is about the brothers saving people hunting things, the family business! But Jeremy and the writing team are putting details under the microscope. We are digging deeper into details within details, just like when we write academic papers -- we dig, we research, we focus on different aspects, but the paper is still the same subject matter. On Supernatural, we are seeing our heroes -- Dean, Sam and Castiel -- gaining different perspectives about each other, family, life, friendship, hunting and monsters. These new perspectives are hovering over the core theme of the show -- the brother relationship. 

Off the set, the cast has a very busy and fun year too -- Jensen's Angeles is like one of the best songs I've heard all year; Jared and Gen became first time parents; Misha, Vicky and West welcomed a new family to the family; Supernatural was in Hall H once again at Comic Con; and I am proud to be an attendee at one of the conventions this year in Chicago. The magnitude and charisma of Supernatural is unbelievable. As Eric Kripke said, Supernatural is like seeing his kids growing up and going to colleague. We are proud to be fans of Supernatural. 

In terms of other shows, I was really sad to see the end of Lost, 24 and Smallville. I asked myself: what am I going to watch and blog about now? I was desperately looking for good new shows to watch and I was concerned that I won't find any. But time has changed! We live in the beginning of the golden era of the genre shows!

We are seeing a wave of awesome genre shows in recent years and most of them are worthy to stick around -- Arrow, A Game of Thrones, Once Upon A Time, The Walking Dead, The Vampire Diary, Grimm, True Blood, Revolution, Dr Who, Falling Skies, Being Human and Warehouse 13. With S.H.I.E.L.D is in development, television is going to be better! And I hope we will see medical dramas and procedural cop shows to die down a little, because I think TV viewers have enough of them! They are all the friggin same! And if anyone is looking for a new reality show idea, STOP! JUST STOP! Unless it involves the Ghost Facers or Derren Brown, I don't want to know! 

Eric Kripke's new show, Revolution, is kicking ass! Comparing the show with Lost and Supernatural is not unheard of, but Revolution is the new Lost in terms of the scale and epicness. I told myself, this show cannot fail! Kripke's work deserves to be seen by more people and people need to know he is very good at what he does! Now we have to wait until March to see the second half of season one of Revolution.

Apart from Revolution, I most look forward to the return of A Game of Thrones. I love a HBO show and I hate a HBO show. The hiatus of A Game of Thrones is as long as a season of Supernatural being on air. How is that NOT insanity? I am currently reading A Dance With Dragons, I probably will revisit A Storm of Swords soon to get ready for season three of A Game of Thrones. The TV series is known that the TV series will not follow the book chapter by chapter, in fact I am a little disappointed how little Dany's prophecies were covered in season two, but it is still more than acceptable for television. A Game of Thrones is a great show! The book series is much bigger than Lord of the Rings. It is the most epic thing I've read. I hope season three will be really epic. Mr GRRM, please hurry up and finish writing The Wind of Winter and A Dream of Spring.

Once Upon A Time is becoming a favorite show of mine. I really look forward to the arrival of Hook and Cora, and how things will develop with Emma. I hope we get to see Baelfire. Please! Please let Nail be Baelfire! I am rewatching season one now, and I want to get up to speed so that I can blog about theories and my wishlist.

2012 has been a game-changing year for Joss Whedon and Marvel going forward. The battle between DC and Marvel intensifies in 2013 as Superman, Iron Man III and Thor 2, and more to follow in 2014 and 2015 with Captain America II, The Avengers II and (hopefully) Justice League. Marvel's phase II is in place, and DC is playing catch up. But this battle will set the trend and define the entertainment business for the next decade. It will also be the decade that belongs to the geeks!

But who will come out as the winner? Let's not kid ourselves, it is war! Fans love Whedon, it was the best decision from Marvel to involve him for The Avengers and other projects such as S.H.I.E.L.D. What would the complacent DC do to compete? We will compare them, we will criticize them, we will see Comic Con as the main PR battle ground for the studios. This is exciting for fans! I cannot wait to see Twilight to get out of the way (and I wish the 50 Shades movie will never see the living daylight). I want more superheroes movies.

What do you most look forward to in 2013 and beyond? 

As this is the last post of the year, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for sharing and caring this year. I wish you all a wondering New Year and a very awesome 2013.