Chuck: So last week Chuck downloaded a whole other Intercect into his brain and saved the Token Hot Chick from a mind melt. And this week no mention of either this week. Not that I really care because I was too busy jamming to Jeffster to notice. Fernando really made that scene though. Unfortunately it didn’t distract enough from a heavy dose of Morgan whom Chuck should have let die. But I have to admit those two and Jeffster spying on Anna while the Token Hot Chick and Casey spied on them was pretty funny. You can stream current episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.
Lost: I hate these episodes where we know everything that was going to happen. We knew Locke was going to get rejected by the Oceanic 6 yet we spend a whole hour seeing him do just that. But Holy Walt sighting! Of course that ended up being a waste because Locke didn’t bother to ask him to go back. The only things that happened were we found out that Locke was alive with the second castaways (which I predicted, well the separate events happening) and that Not-Henry killed Locke (which I didn’t predict).
And I really dislike the seemingly arbitrary time travel: the Jack, Kate, Hurley, Jin, Sawyer, Juliet, Faraday do; Ben, Lepidus, the Others don’t; Locke did, but doesn’t now. Then there are Sun and Syaid who are yet to be determined (my guess is they are even though everyone thinks Sun is the one that ran off with Lepidus, my guess it is a not son dead Charlotte.
But my biggest complaint is Ben lying about not going to Locke, basically meaning that we cannot believe anything he says, and Whitmore for that matter. In fact, I seriously question if Helen is really dead (was that Peg Bundy?) but just an elaborate hoax perpetrated by Whitmore to make sure Locke had nothing to live for. So basically half the things we “know” on Lost could just b be a lie created by either Ben or Whitmore. My hopes of a satisfying ending to the show decreases wit every passing episode. You can stream current episodes over at ABC.com.
Survivor: If Coach gets voted off in the next couple of weeks he can rest in the solace that he can be cast in the next season of Tool Academy. He is starting to tread into Johnny Fairplay territory. I wonder just how long until his tribe turns on him, and if the switch teams I have a feeling he would be the first to go if his tribe losses. I love the secret alliance and I cannot believe it has taken this long for someone to start one. I just wonder if the dude Taj recruits will be down but I am sure Sierra will be up for it. You can stream current episodes over at Innertube.
Friday Night Lights: You really fault Landry for making a move on the lesbian: how can you resist a chick that serenades you with She Don’t Use Jelly by The Flaming Lips. Although I’m not sure I like the musical direction Crucifitorious is taking. And is there any bigger slap in the face to Buddy Garrity to have his kids be into soccer and Veganism? It was hard not to feel bad for the guy (and I certainly didn’t need to hear about his daughter’s lady parts). And I wonder what the Over/Under is on the games before Mr. McCoy is banned from the football field. You can stream current episodes over at NBC.com.
Quote of the Week: You’re like the poster child for friendly fire. (Casey - Chuck)
Song of the Week: Africa – Toto (as performed by Jeffster; Chuck)
Big News of the Week: NBC May Bring Back I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!: It may just be a coincidence, but interestingly enough word leaked a day after I posted my interview with John Lehr about his tenure hosting I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! that NBC is considering resurrecting the show for the summer. Maybe NBC agreed with me that the show was before its time. And hopefully the network agrees with Lehr that the show shouldn’t be taken as serious an d let the host mock the contestants. Hopefully the show doesn’t become too successful because we may end up with weekdays of the Jay Leno 10:00 hour preceded by Celebrity at 9:00 next with only 8:00 for scripted shows on the Peacock. Check out our full discussion of Lehr’s involvement in the show:
Coalition Links of the Week: Does Nick "Normund Gentle" Mitchell deserve another chance at the American Idol crown? (BuzzSugar)
Vance loved the season finales for Privileged and Leverage. While Leverage has been picked up for Season 2, here's hoping Privileged returns too. (Tapeworthy)
This week, Jace was thrilled by Lost and Damages but also admitted his secret love for animated series like Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Wolverine and the X-Men. (Televisionary)
What's a hipster to do? Marisa pre-emptively fought back against those who would ridicule her devotion to American Idol. (TiFaux)
After watching the Grey’s Anatomy-Private Practice crossover, Jennifer came to one conclusion: Addison Montgomery needs to go back to Seattle Grace. STAT. (Tube Talk)
Raoul talked to Charlie from Hell's Kitchen about making sauce, hitting the sauce and everything Ramsay. (TV Filter)
Free Download of the Week: Barenaked Ladies (Amazon MP3): Amazon is offering up five free songs from those quirky Canadians but keep in mind the songs all come from the Ladies’ children’s album. Some Fantastic I Can Sing Off The Hook Maybe Not In The Car
Video of the Week: In a story I broke a couple months ago, Ben Silverman is batting .000 over at NBC (see: Your New Most Inept Executive Is…) but he may of actually found something watchable to put on his network that may get him close to the Mendoza Line in Kings. Being a history buff (the story is a reimagining of David and Goliath) the show looks epic and appropriately enough premieres on the Ides of March at 8:00 (that is the 15th for those not up on your Shakespearian plays). Here’s a clip:
Next Week Pick of the Week: Tool Academy, Sunday (March 8) at 10:00 on VH1: It has been a fun ride so far and the final three of Matuflex, Shaun and mini tool will get cut down to two for the Tool Academy finale on next week. And if NBC is reading the 9th Green, hopefully VH1 was poking around when I suggested Celebrity Tool Academy featuring Ashton Kutcher, Terrell Owens, Sean Hannity, Pete Wentz, Spencer Pratt, Al Gore, Sean Avery, Donald Trump, and Alex Rodriquez.
Romantic comedies typically get a bad rap because most of them are geared totally towards the female persuasion, not caring that they are alienating half the population in the process. Then there are the few romantic comedies that manage to get both sides of the sex’s right and that is the case in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Michael Cera (Arrested Development) is the Nick in the title living out a younger version of Jon Favereau in Swingers after girlfriend, the unlikeable Alexis Dziena (Invasion), but not in a good way, dumps him and he is still calling and making mix tapes a month later. But instead of an obsession with swing music Nick is in a gay-homosexual band (despite being into chicks).
Norah, played by Kat Dennings (The House Bunny) manages to be snarky and likeable when she happens to get Nick to pretend to be her boyfriend to prove to Dziena (they go to the same all girls school complete with uniforms) that she has one not know that Nick was the Nick that keep on giving Dziena mix tapes after she broke up with him. And in their mutual dislike, they decide to hop around New York City looking for the elusive and aptly titled Where’s Fluffy.
But before they can scour the city there is Norah’s very inebriated friend that needs to make it back home which fall in the hands of Nick’s bandmates and groupie, for the lack of a better word, just known as Lothario, who would obviously not take advantage of her drunken stupor. Naturally this still do not go well when she escapes and Nick and Norah have to add finding her to their list of things to do like find Where’s Fluffy and avoid their ex’s, Norah’s of which comes in the form of Jay Baruchel (Undeclared).
Oddly enough a movie with the Infinite Playlist in the title, the music isn’t as memorable as you would especially compared to other music reliant movies like Swingers or Garden State with the expect of Middle Management by Bishop Allen (which you may remember from the trailer). And Where’s Fluffy is built up so much it is hard to be anything but disappointed with their music, although the writing gets creative with the ending to alleviate that especially if you pay attention to Nick and Norah’s last conversation. But at the very least, this movies can give anyone hope that their musical soulmate is out their someone. Now if I can just find someone who has both Frank Sinatra and A Tribe Called Quest on her iPod.
Be sure to check out the extras on the DVD where Dennings gives a five minute puppet version of the film. No seriously.
Next Tuesday sees the release of the new U2 album No Line on the Horizon (I should have a review up by at least Thursday of that week) and one of my favorite songs from the group that never was a big hit was What If God Will His Angels. I guess that happens with songs that have overtly religious song. The song was off the equally ignored Pop album. It may have been the worst U2 album, but bad U2 is still ninety percent better than any music that has ever been released.
Leverage is a show that may not show up on a lot of critics list at the end of the year but managed to put together the most entertaining new show in the post writer’s strike era that isn’t populated by a bunch of Tools. This could be that the show knows it isn’t inventing the wheel (it has a modern A-Team feel to it) and doesn’t take itself too seriously (some episodes pack more laughs than most sitcoms).
The selling point for the show is that they brought together five different, but likeable in their own way characters. The MVP of the group is Alec Harrison, the resident nerd who doesn’t care to get his hands dirty but is quick to remark on anything. Then there is Parker who may have a screw or two loose as shown in her penchant to jump off tall buildings and stab guys even if it blows her cover. For muscle is the inexcusable longed hair Eliot Spencer. The interaction between these three really amps up the humor as they deal with each other’s eccentricities.
The mom and dad of the group are Nathan Ford, the guy who realized how effective the group could be, an d Sophie Devereaux who can only act herself out of a bag when she is conning people. Their relationship should be interesting going forward with the introduction of Ford’s ex-wife for the last two episodes.
Leverage isn’t without its flaws, the loss of Ford’s son gets heavy handed at times especially for the first couple episodes. And Nathan’s drinking problem seemed to come and go depending on if the plot needed it or not, but the writing for the most part was witty to help ease these annoyances.
The season finale of Leverage airs tonight at 10:00 on TNT where the gang takes another try at trying to steal David miniture. You can catch up on the whole season with a whole day marathon on TNT or download the show on iTunes or Amazon Video on Demand. Check out a clip from the finale tonight below:
Tomorrow is the season finale of 10 items of Less on TBS at 11:00 so I thought I would finally unveil the long promised video where I ask John Lehr about his hosting duties on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
Sorry for shaking the camera while laughing, I should have sprung for a tripod. I also talked to John what we can expect from the future from him in 2009, check that video out:
Tool Academy: VH1 has some weird scheduling. No Tool Academy or Rock of Love Bus tonight because of the Academy Awards yet Confessions of a Teen Idol is a go. Versus the Super Bowl No Bret Michaels but the Tools and Teens were new. Yet there were no repeats against the Grammy’s, the biggest night in music for a once music channel. It is odd to think that airing against the Academy Awards would bite into their viewers but I bet repeating an episode twenty times in a week hurts more than any special programming it goes against. In other VH1 news, Ricki Lake has been tapped to be the head master of the next Charm School featuring rejects from Rock of Love Bus and Real Chance of Love. I cannot wait. You can also download Tool Academy on iTunes.
Chuck: Just what is chuck’s brain made of that he can store all these Intercets in it? Bryce uploaded two (although the second time seemed to get dropped from the storyline because it hasn’t been mention since as to why and what was uploaded) and now he has FULCRUM’s up there too. Hopefully this eliminates the silly plot points where he doesn’t flash on FULCRUM agents on sight even though they are in the Intercet. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.
Trust Me: The Sarah storyline this week really encapsulate why the show isn’t picking up steam, the writing is really subject. I have no clue is she actually realized she is now a lesbian, was she joking, was she just trying to talk herself out of hooking up with the dude? I have no clue. And they really need to work the daughter into the show more because she was the only redeeming quality of this past episode. You can also download Trust Me on iTunes.
Gary Unmarried: Is Jamie King even on this show anymore? I cannot even remember the last episode she was in.
Lost: There are very few things I hate more on television than those silly “Thirty-Six Hours Eariler” beginnings. What the text should read is “The First Act Is Boring So We Are Going to Start in the Third Act in Hopes That You Don’t Fall Asleep or Turn off the TV. Plus We get to Write Less Because We Will Just Show the First Couple Minutes of the Episode When We Get to it in the Story. Oh, and Spoiler Alert: Kate and Hurley Will End Up on the Plane.”
Maybe this was to distract from the gaping plot holes like if the conditions had to be as close to original crash then 1) why were they flying West, not East 2) why did they all get to sit in first class? 3) and most important, where the frak was Walt? And about the “crash” how did they warp to the time Jin was stuck in and how did they warp to the ground? They can either crash and warp or warp and plummet to their deaths; you don’t just warp to the ground safely.
As for some predictions: Kate gave Aaron to Sawyer’s baby mama; Charlie was the one who told Hurley about the plane (which is also why he had the guitar); Jin, Myles and Faraday have been living amongst the Dharma Initiative for the past three years (although Sawyer and possibly Juliet have not unless he has been bribed with enough Dharma Beer); Ben had Syiad extradited to Guam; the people in Coach did not warp in time and are the people that shoot at Sawyer at. el. when they stole their pontoon; Ben killed (or at least attempted to kill) Penny. You can stream current episodes over at ABC.com.
Friday Night Lights: I was waiting for Rigging to get a hold of JD. And his tour of Dillon certainly disappoint. But nothing this episode beat Billy staple gunning his hand to the wall. And I cannot believe Tyra was that stupid to believe the cowboy. And thanks to the Promo Monkeys who spoiled what was coming up with their relationship, it looks like she shouldn’t have. You can stream current episodes over at NBC.com.
, the creepy girl from Small Wonders, Kimmy Gibler and Shanice. You can download Confessions of a Teen Idol on iTunes.
(Pushing Daises, Smallville, Batman)
) is the Nick in the title living out a younger version of Jon Favereau in 
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), but not in a good way, dumps him and he is still calling and making mix tapes a month later. But instead of an obsession with swing music Nick is in a gay-homosexual band (despite being into chicks).
) manages to be snarky and likeable when she happens to get Nick to pretend to be her boyfriend to prove to Dziena (they go to the same all girls school complete with uniforms) that she has one not know that Nick was the Nick that keep on giving Dziena mix tapes after she broke up with him. And in their mutual dislike, they decide to hop around New York City looking for the elusive and aptly titled Where’s Fluffy.
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(I should have a review up by at least Thursday of that week) and one of my favorite songs from the group that never was a big hit was What If God Will His Angels. I guess that happens with songs that have overtly religious song. The song was off the equally ignored Pop album. It may have been the worst U2 album, but bad U2 is still ninety percent better than any music that has ever been released.
. Check out a clip from the finale tonight below: