OMG, those babies are awesome.

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Jack -n- Zoe time is better than Peanut Butter and Jelly time!

Man, I was so glad Wendy didn't have her real baby with her. I would not have been able to stop worrying enough to enjoy the show.

I'm very slow. I forgot Wendy was mini-van mom's name, and thought you were talking about one of your friends, and couldn't quite figure out what "real" baby meant, in that context. Durrrrrrrrrrr. All better, now.

Also? Me, too. Now we just have to worry that the baby doesn't grow up mommyless, and that they race organizers don't kill the baby.

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It's a really smart decision from a practical perspective, too. Much easier to film with a doll than a real baby.

So, I was slightly unclear from the show, but I tend to agree with my friend T who thinks that The Company do not have the baby, but, rather, he's at a safe house (and that, likely, tonight, he'll be taken by The Company).

Which, yes, that's certainly a reasonable read of what we've seen (IIRC). But it makes it so that I, as a viewer, am not at all conflicted about who I want to win. Only one person actually (as opposed to within their own head) really needs to win. So, until they give me as compelling a reason for someone else, I want Nathan (whose character name I will someday learn. It took me a couple/few months to get the names on Heroes, too) to win.

I think the reason that, while I have little clue on character names, I can keep them straight easily enough is that 1) they all have simple, clear, and different stories. I could summarize each car's motivation in a sentence, and 2) they look different, especially when they're together. We may have multiple dark-headed young men, but, based on who their scenes are with, it's immediately clear which one this one on screen right now is.

Which, yay.

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I think Drive is fucked by those ratings.

Shit.

What I think I want is for Tim to make movies and Joss to come back and make TV shows. I think those are the media best suited for their particular skills. Tim should direct his own dark, noir twisty scripts. It worked for John Dahl! (Red Rock West, The Last Seduction, Kill Me Again). And Tim's better at that stuff. Maybe do a miniseries like The Lost Room on Sci-Fi. Tim could do that and it would live on in DVD. I'm sure Tim's deal with Fox is good for his bank account, but I don't think he's ever going to break a show to success on that network. They won't spend the time to grow the audience. I bet he could do a great show for FX though.

And Joss should quit movies, corral a big team of super talented writers and get back to complex, serial drama with fantastical storylines.

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It's a really smart decision from a practical perspective, too. Much easier to film with a doll than a real baby.

It would be too fantastical, as well. I know from my short road trips with infants that having to stop to nurse or change a baby just wouldn't help your time this kind of cut-throat race.

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It took me a couple/few months to get the names on Heroes, too

I have this problem too, Abi. On The Riches, the only character names I have down pat are Wayne and Delilah.

As for Drive, I can remember that Nathan's character is Tully (Tully What or What Tully, I don't know) because it's written on the side of his truck, I know brother Sean's name for really obvious reasons, but can't remember the bad brother's name yet.

Other than that, the names are still pretty hazy, but the characters are memorable and I can picture each of them easily.

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I think i have a robot brain when it comes to remembering things like character names, song lyrics and pointless trivia that will do me no good in the real world.

i'm bummed about the ratings. i really hope tonight is better.

did it really take Corinna telling Tully that she was the little blonde girl that watched her parents die for people to figure it out? (does that sentence make sense? anyway.) right when they showed the little blonde curls i knew it was her.

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I'm awful with character names. Drive has the problem I've seen many series have, which is alternately calling characters by their first name, surname, and nick names. Mind you, the characters and actors are so distinct here it's not a big problem. I had real problems with "Traveler" because of the name thing, and the fact two of the pretty boy actors blended for me.

I'm also really glad the cars are distinctive, and match what I'd imagine each character would drive.

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did it really take Corinna telling Tully that she was the little blonde girl that watched her parents die for people to figure it out? (does that sentence make sense? anyway.) right when they showed the little blonde curls i knew it was her.

I knew right away, too.

As for Drive, I can remember that Nathan's character is Tully (Tully What or What Tully, I don't know) because it's written on the side of his truck, I know brother Sean's name for really obvious reasons, but can't remember the bad brother's name yet.

He's Alex Tully, and his wife is Kathryn. His new partner is Corinna.

Mr. Bright is the race guy. Wendy is the new mother. Sean and Winston are the Salazar brothers. That guy from JoA is the AWOL guy with the annoying wife. That other guy that's in everything is the guy who is sick (and is traveling with his daughter). And? That's about it. I don't know most of the actors and I think somehow that makes it harder to learn their character names (or maybe it just makes it more obvious to me that I don't know their character names -- because they all have to be "that guy" or "that woman").

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I don't want Tim to leave TV, because even if the shows don't take off, I've gotten like 20 hours of great entertainment from him in the last 3 years whereas filmmaking schedules would limit him to no more than 4 or so hours over the same period.

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