Big News of the Week: A Chris Brown Comeback?: I keep a close eye on the iTunes charts and there was an auspicious addition to the top 25 earlier this week with Forever by Chris Brown making an appearance. Why would a year old song by a convicted woman beater become one the most downloaded songs in the country? Apparently Chris has a viral video to get him some good press. And I am not referring to his apology video he issued this week. Nope, he has this video to thank for making his music relevant again.
Now I am not the biggest fan of weddings or viral videos, but that was pretty cool. If I ever get conned into getting married, one of the stipulations will be I allowed to bust a move down the aisles, preferably to Bust a Move because getting married to a dude who beats his girlfriend might not be a good omen for a marriage.
Coalition Links of the Week: After watching the long-awaited DVD release of The State: The Complete Series, Marisa was pleasantly surprised to see how well the show stood the test of time. (TiFaux)
After Mischa Barton's mental and physical issues, Matt is glad the CW working on a contingency plan for The Beautiful Life. (TV Fanatic)
For us, the summer is all about So You Tthink You Can Dance. If you're a fan, check out the latest SYTYCD Edition of The TV Talk Podcast with GMMR & Ducky. We talk performances, the 100th ep & why we love/hate Katie Holmes. (The TV Talk Podcast)
Buzz wondered if TV series reboots like 90210 and Melrose Place are better or worse off for bringing back old characters. (BuzzSugar)
Vance wanted no hate for the remaining Top 8 dancers, but he felt the Cancer Dance was a little manipulative on So You Think You Can Dance. (Tapeworthy)
Kings: Wow. You know n episode is great when you think it over, look at the clock and it still is only half way through. I was for sure that it was the end of the episode when the King got shot and we would have to wait for the finale to see the outcome. You can stream current episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Kings on iTunes.
Rescue Me: I really don’t have much to say because I am still trying to understand that ending. You can stream current episodes over at Hulu.
The Philanthropist: I am with Teddy’s wife, why fly her to Kosavo for a surprise. And for it to turn out to be a dedication to their dead son made it even more befuddling. You can stream current episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download The Philanthropist on iTunes.
Free Download of the Week: Chuck vs the First Date (iTunes): If I recall, iTunes offered up this episode when it first premiered last fall, but this time around it is also available in HD. So if you been wondering if you wanted to get into the show or not, here is a good primer.
Video of the Week: I still haven’t gotten around to watch season three of Dexter as the DVD set isn’t out to next month, but for those that have Showtime and are caught up, here is a promo for season four which premieres on September 27 at 9:00:
Bonus Video of the Week: I had this 57 Channels all ready to post last night, but I had to add this trailer for Spartacus: Blood and Sand. I really had no idea what to expect when I watch the video because I never heard of the show before someone at Starz sent me the link (granted the dated Kirk Douglas movie popped into my head). And it was jaw droppingly good. If you liked HBO’s Rome or the movie 300, watch this promo and then try not to get depressed that it doesn’t premiere until January (and if you are too cheap to get premium channels like me, it will be at least an extra six months wait until a DVD). Crash was as bad as the movie and as entertaining as Head Case and Party Down are, they certainly no watercooler shows, but if Spartacus lives up to this promo, it will put Starz on the map.
Next Week Pick of the Week: Charm School with Ricki Lake, Monday at 9:00 on VH1: Like most Charm Schools, the last couple episodes have been boring. But one this is for certain, win or lose, the three finalist will probably end up on I Love Money in the near future.
I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Wanted, Jay Leno, Three Sheets, Big Ideas, Taco Bell, Obama, House of Payne.
- NBC has a new controversial show called Wanted which is now streaming its first episode over at NBC.com.
- Also over at NBC.com they have set up a webcam as they build the new Jay Leno Show set. While there you can also check out two insiders blogs.
- For those that missed the season premiere of Three Sheets, you can currently download the episode for free on iTunes. This Monday, Zane Lamprey heads to Tanzania to taste the local drinks.
- GOOD Magazine and Babblegum has teamed up for a new weekly show for people that want to live well and do good called Big Ideas. including Grammy-nominated artist Imogen Heap, ESPN hosts the Sklar brothers, and author and journalist Matt Mason all submitted their own ideas, ranging from the ethereal (floating houses), to the irreverent and edgy (give animals their own weapons to even the odds), to those actually being created today (urban vertical farms).
- As you may have heard, the Taco Bell Chihuahua passed away this week, in her memory; TV Guide is running through the 13 Best Animals in Commercials. Also according to TV Guide, the TV watch public is growing tired of President Obama’s constant interruptions of the TV schedule with 61% wanting to watch regular programming. Keep in mind this poll was taken from online visitors to the site so this is a type of poll I like to refer as unscientific.
- Get ready for even more Tyler Perry as TBS has ordered up another twenty episodes of House of Payne in addition to the recent twenty-six episode order. For those keeping track at home, we will be getting at the very least 172 total episodes of the show as it now stands.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
Lady Gaga may be everything that is wrong with music these days, but I cannot get enough of this Kid Cudi track which flips the otherwise unlistenable Poker Face just by saying “I” before it. And it is nice to hear Kanye West back to rapping. Hopefully he got his auto-tune singing out of system and never does that again.
If I am not mistaken, this is the first video U2 has ever made that didn’t actually feature the band. The closest being All I Want Is You that just had a quick cameo by Bono and the boys walking around the beach. Even their last foray into animation, Love Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me even had animated version of the band.
Also getting into the animation realm is Coldplay in the stop-animation form. But Chris Martin does get featured as a superhero battling a, um, giant squirrel. The band thought so much of the video you may even see it when you head out to your local movie theater in front of the feature film you go to see.
While talking about her cover of Sublime’s Santeria (see Toss Up: Brooke White vs. Aimee Allen), I mentioned you download a song of Aimee Allen for free over at Amazon MP3, and here is the video for On Vacation complete with a whistling lobster. Because music videos could use more whistling lobsters these days.
About a year ago a pair of songs caught my eye by their title alone. It turned out that I Kissed a Girl and How I Could Kill a Man were not actual cover songs (see Toss Up: Katy Perry vs. Charlotte Sometimes). The same thing happened this week while checking out the new albums that were being released yesterday. This time around the two songs in question indeed turned to be actual cover tunes taking feminine take of guy’s guys’ tunes. First off is someone who is no stranger to karaoking other people tune, Brooke White who takes on the Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody. What, did you expect the Mormon to do Sex on Fire instead? Take a listen:
Here is how not to do a cover. It sound like Brooke couldn’t decide if she wanted to do a straight up version or change it up, so we get this pseudo-countrified version. What’s worse is the best part of the original, the soaring whoa’s that haunt the chorus, on the new verson just lake the passion of the orginal. With that said, it seems like Use Somebody is this year’s Crazy in that even a bad version is still pretty listenable. But if you want to hear how you do a great cover tune, check out Santeria by Aimee Allen:
Instead of doing the safe slowed down ska of the Sublime original, Allen completely flips it and picks up a ukulele and turns the song into a beach campfire tune. It turns out so sweet it doesn’t raise an eyebrow to hear her singing about heinas and popping caps. In a battle of the covers, we have an easy winner
I may have a full review of Allen’s album A Little Happiness next week, until then, head over to Amazon MP3 where you can pick up a free copy of her song On Vacation or check out her full album or White’s High Hopes and Heartbreaks:
Sugar Ray pretty much summed up the last half of the nineties. Along with overtly happy bands like Smash Mouth and Fastball they transitioned out of the uber-depressing grunge era of the early decade to more family friendly Southern California rock that kids and their parents could listen to together. The irony with their breakout smash that captured that demographic was Fly was the lone pop friends off their sophomore effort Floored, stuck at the end of a hard rock album.
Not surprisingly by the time the follow-up came out, the self awaringly titled 14:59, more top 40 tracks were included with the album even starting with a song titled New Direction which was basically a parody of the nü-metal of first two albums (save Fly). A decade and two albums later the host of Pussycat Dolls Presents: Search for the Next Doll Mark McGrath and his band is completely void of anything that can be considered hard rock with the release of another self awarinly titled Song for Cougars.
Many of the songs could work as summer jams – in 1997, many of which we have heard before. They go back to featuring dance hall singers like with Fly on the album opener Girls Were Made to Love. Going Nowhere could be mistaken for Falls Apart. When they do try to update their sound, the result is the auto-tune assisted Morning Sun. And they do bring in mellow surf rocker Donavon Frankenreiter for the groovy Dance Like No One’s Watchin’ that stands out from the rest of the album like Fly did. So for all the cougars out there that flocked to Mark McGrath in his heyday and still need your summer jam for 2009, this album will help you reminisce about the good old days of 1997.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
I featured the trailer from Bandslam a couple weeks ago and now a full video for Vanessa Hudgens version of Everything I Own. I wonder if there is a longer version out there because there is an obvious edit during the song so sloppy I am surpise they would release it like that. But anyways. The movie still looks like it is going to suck and I am still gioing to watch it if only for Jason Street.
It looks like only the T.I. parody will be the only one on his upcoming Internet Leaks. Hopefully he gets inspired to send up somebody soon because as entertaining as the style parodies are, they just are not memorable. At least give us a polka Al.
I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Mercy, Naked Science: Living on the Moon, Three Sheets, Sons of Anarchy, Meteor, Are We There Yet, and Tom Cavanaugh.
- As you may already heard, Parenthood has been pushed back to midseason due to personal problems and thus Mercy has been promoted to the fall. Below is a promo for the show:
- Tomorrow is the fortieth anniversary of the moon landing and the National Geographic is celebrating tonight with Naked Science: Living on the Moon at 9:00. Check out a scene below dealing with populating the moon:
- I am not entirely sure if my cable provider has a channel called Fine Living, but considering they have a show called Three Sheets, I may have to look it up. The show follows comedian Zane Lamprey as he engages in drinking customs around the world and befriends the people who take part in them. The new season premieres this Monday at 10:00. Here is a sneek peak:
- Sons of Anarchy returns this fall and FX has already released some cool promos for the new season. Check out one below:
- That pesky Meteor is still threatening Earth over on NBC tonight. Here is a clip of wht you may expect:
- Can’t say that I ever saw any of the Are We There Yet? movies, but that isn’t stopping TBS from making it into a series. The show will star the always funny Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) taking over the Ice Cube role who will be producing the show. Expect the show to air sometime next summer.
- For those that are fans of both Tom Cavanaugh and Notre Dame, JournalGazette.net has a treat for you with the former talking about the latter. Check out part 1 and part 2 of the interview.
- This week the seven top news stories of the week according to TV Guide included Weeds, Paul McCartney and somehow Barack Obama coming up short at the All-Star got titled “Best Pitch” despite Albert Pujols having to lunge to keep it from bouncing over the plate. If that was a best pitch, I would hate to see what a bad one was. Oh, wait, I guess that would be Marky Mark.
by Chris Brown making an appearance. Why would a year old song by a convicted woman beater become one the most downloaded songs in the country? Apparently Chris has a viral video to get him some good press. And I am not referring to his apology video he issued this week. Nope, he has this video to thank for making his music relevant again.
because getting married to a dude who beats his girlfriend might not be a good omen for a marriage.
(The Big Bang Theory, Rome, Deadwood)
, watch this promo and then try not to get depressed that it doesn’t premiere until January (and if you are too cheap to get premium channels like me, it will be at least an extra six months wait until a DVD). Crash was as bad as the movie and as entertaining as Head Case and Party Down are, they certainly no watercooler shows, but if Spartacus lives up to this promo, it will put Starz on the map.
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