The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 08:33 PM PST

GET out of the gloom and doom mode because all is not lost, according to a couple of TV shows.

Even when the world has gone to hell (or is about to go to hell), there are still a few heroes among us who will do the right thing and lead mankind to victory.

It is only at times like, well, the end of the world, for example, that one truly knows the stuff he or she is made of.

So, where do you stand today? By the way, does anyone have Joss Whedon's number? He sure seems to have a thing for this awful scenario as it keeps popping up on his shows (Dollhouse, Firefly, Angel and Buffy The Vampire Slayer).

The Walking Dead: Welcome to a world in which zombies outnumber people. No matter how many sunflowers the survivors plant, the number of zombies doesn't seem to dwindle.

One group of survivors, led by a handsome sheriff who is dedicated, smart and gruff, tries to find their way to a safe zone. But at every turn, this challenge becomes a little harder and harder; not to mention the fact that everyone has a lot of personal baggage that gets in the way as well.

And, yeah, those annoying zombies don't care about personal space.

Firefly: One day in the past, the earth was reduced to The Earth That Was, and its human population had to abandon it on a great fleet to find a new planet to call home.

The year is now 2517, and humans are still looking. At least they get a new star system and have assimilated some Chinese languages into their English vocabulary. (Only two nations survived – the United States and China.)

A band of nine misfits find a home on the spaceship Serenity, captained by the charming Malcolm Reynolds, who always has great one-liners to suit the occasion.

Battlestar Galactica: The quote "All this has happened before, and all this will happen again" is repeated throughout the four seasons of this series. It marks not only the series' ominous start – with the destruction of a civilisation of humans who live on a group of planets known as the Twelve Colonies – but also of the vicious cycle of violence and hostility between the humans and the cybernetic race known as the Cylons.

One colonial battle fleet survives the attack and it is the people on board this ship who become the only survivors who go in search of the fabled thirteenth colony known as Earth.

Buffy, The Vampire Slayer: The Slayer (aka The Chosen One), by right, does not have a very long life. After all, her job description says she must fight against vampires, demons and other forces of darkness. And as a bonus, every year – before school breaks for the summer – she must stop an Apocalypse.

Buffy Summers takes all this into her stride. She has to, since her school library is Hellmouth, which basically means more demons come to hang out at this library than students.

It also means Buffy has to grow up faster than your average teenager. Her graduation day sees her fighting a crazy, destructive giant snake. Her first heartbreak happens as she stabs her boyfriend and sends him to hell in order to stop the end of the world.

She learns to prioritise when her best friend turns evil and wants to drain the earth of its life energy. And she knows better than to take any fashion tips from someone called Glory who wants to open a demon-filled portal (oh, all right, the lesson in this one is about sacrifice and not fashion tips).

Supernatural: Thank you, Dean and Sam Winchester. You guys have saved the world from demons and other supernatural megalomaniacs hellbent on destroying humans more times than we can count. OK, so we kept count, it was twice.

It all started with Lilith, a little girl with a penchant for white dresses and killer looks (Season Four). She tried to break the 66 seals to free her boss from his cage – that'd be Lucifer, he who heralds the Apocalypse.

Lilith kind of got smoked for doing this very bad thing, but at the same time she succeeded with her plan. In Season Five, Lucifer made life a living hell for Sam and Dean because he wanted to be Sam.

(Even Lucifer covets the Winchesters' good looks, eh? But, seriously, we prefer Dean.)

The brothers stopped the second Apocalypse when Sam went over the edge. No, really.

It’s party time

Posted: 21 Dec 2012 05:43 AM PST

Red FM ushers in the new year in style.

THE year has whizzed past in the blink of an eye. To celebrate, Red FM is throwing a big bash on Dec 31 at Hard Rock Hotel, Penang. The party will revel the awesomeness that was 2012 and kick off 2013 with a bang.

Red FM wants you to join them usher in the new year. Red FM's Red Beatz NYE Pool Party is in its third year running. Last year's event saw 200 people flocking to Hard Rock Hotel, Penang, to bid 2011 farewell in style and welcome 2012 with great music.

This year's poolside party promises to be just as great, if not better, with DJ Aye and DJ Roxy from Thailand on the decks. These two gorgeous and talented ladies will be spinning popular beats all through the night as you break out your best dance moves.

Count down to the New Year with the Red FM team. To be part of this event, tune in to the station to win passes. Pick up four passes each from now till Dec 28 on The Red Hub (Mondays to Fridays, 1pm- 4pm) with Linora and The Edge On Red (Mondays to Fridays, 7pm to 10pm) with Fiqrie.

Come in your best dance gear to rock the night away! You do not want to miss out on one of the most massive and splash-tacular parties of the year.

For more information, log on to red.fm. Join the Red FM Malaysia Facebook fan page on facebook.com/redfm.my and follow them on Twitter @iloveredfm.

Red FM is owned and operated by The Star.

Red FM's Station Frequencies: Taiping, Kedah, Perlis and Pulau Langkawi: 98.1 FM, George Town and Seberang Prai, Penang: 107.6 FM, Ipoh, Perak: 106.4 FM, Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan and Tapah: 104.9 FM, Kuantan, Pahang: 91.6 FM, Batu Pahat and Malacca: 98.9 FM, Johor Baru and Singapore: 92.8 FM.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Khamis, 20 Disember 2012