Quote of the Week: You listen up, Pierce! I'm gonna tell you what my mother told me when I wanted to quit cheerleading: You're not very pretty, you have no boobs, and you can't do a basket toss to save your life. But you made a commitment. So pick up your pompoms, Pierce, stuff your bra, and get ready for the team bus to forget you at a Taco Bell, because life is tough. But we soldier on, and that's just the way it goes. (Annie - Community)
Big News of the Week: Don’t Bring Chuck Back Early: Last week when I talked about Southland being canceled I pondered what that meant for its midseason shows. Right after I wrote that rumors started up on the internets that Chuck could return as soon as this month. As much as I would like to bring back the Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week, this is a bad idea to end all bad ideas. Bringing it back with only a week or two to promote only to air for a month before taking a holiday break, then air a couple more episodes to be preempted by the Olympics will most likely kill Chuck. There is not even a street date for the second season DVD yet. If NBC is truly making a killing monetarily with Jay Leno despite low ratings, the network should just bite the bullet.
Then they can relaunch the network in a sort after the Olympics where (along with the NFL playoffs) the can promote the return to quality programming of Chuck, Parenthood (which looks to be good and hopefully the stuff behind the scenes doesn’t disrupt that too much) and if they were to move up the premiere of a show, make it Friday Night Lights. Promoting FNL during the NFL playoffs and the biggest sporting event of the year, what a novel idea. But I am not holding my breathe that NBC will do the smart thing because they didn’t even air one FNL promo during the Super Bowl last year.
Coalition Links of the Week: This week, we offered up some valuable lessons ABC, CBS, NBC and the CW can learn from the success of GLEE. (The TV Addict)
Vance loved what may have been Mia Michael's last choreography for SYTYCD on So You Think You Can Dance Canada's Top 6. (Tapeworthy)
Free Download of the Week: Glitter and Doom Preview – Tom Waits (tomwaits.com): Usually when an artist does a preview of their upcoming album, you may get one download, but Tom Waits is letting you download an eight song sampler from his new live album.
Video of the Week: The two Congressmen featured represent areas in and around Cleveland, luckily not mine. But I implore my neighbors to make sure they do not vote for either of them when they come up for reelection next year.
Next Week Pick of the Week: Mercy, Wednesday at 8:00 on NBC: Now that the fall season is in full swing, it may be time to give a chance to a new show you have overlooked. Sure Modern Family is the closest to undisputed best new show of the fall while Mercy got killed by critics. But it is not as bad as they would let you believe. Well, actually it is, but that is the charm of the show and sometimes I laugh more and harder than I do at Modern Family or some of the other sitcoms currently on air. Then for the November 4 episode, be on the look out for Elizabeth Moss who gets admitted into the hospital according to tvguide.com.
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 Friday Night Lights, Tidy Songs, Eventual Salvation, Saturday Night Live, Shameless, and Dexter.
- We may be six months away from Friday Night Lights actually airing on NBC (assuming it doesn’t get pushed up, check back tomorrow when I suggest the network does just that, but not Chuck) but is nice to see the network is still doing a little promoting for the show. Here is a behind the scenes look at a commercial filmed for DirecTV. Now if you excuse me, I have to go door to door to see if any of my neighbors subscribe and don’t mind me coming over every Wednesday for the next thirteen weeks.
- Is your iTunes library a mess with missing album art or other missing or misspelled information? Not me because I am obsessive compulsive when it comes to your libraty. But if you have a lot of songs that need archived properly you may want to give TidySongs a look.
- Documentary fans will want to tune in Monday at 9:00 on the Sundance Channel for Eventual Salvation where Dee Rees follows her 80-year-old grandmother Earnestine Smith, as she returns to her adopted home of Liberia to help rebuild a country emerging from 14 years of civil war. In other Sundance Channel news, their blog has just added Village Voice columnist Michael Musto as a writer for SUNfiltered.
- When Saturday Night Live announced their first months of hosts, Gerard Butler was the only one that said must see TV to me. Here’s hoping for a 300 parody. In other SNL skit wish list, could Mike Myers have a Kanye West discussion with Taylor Swift when she hosts next month?
- Showtime has announced that they are importing the long running English show Shameless to their network staring William H. Macy (Wild Hogs) for the pilot. In other Showtime news, starter October 25, Dexter is getting its own animated series Dexter: Early Cuts which you will be able to find on Sho.com.
It is hard for any hip-hop head not to have chills during this year’s Hip Hop Honors dedicated to the twenty-five years of Def Jam (although who invited Ja Rule). I am doing my own dedicating to the label with this month’s lyrics quiz. All of the songs came directly from the label or were produced by Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin and in some cases that is both. As usual, place your guesses in the comment (or e-mail me), both artist and song title (make sure to get your guess to songs released in this decade), and if you are correct I will un-bold the lyric. Please keep in mind the lyrics quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please only use your own meandering mind to guess them. Now onto the quiz:
1. You still acting up. Running around here like some brand new (chicken) about to get (plucked). 2. Shadowboxing when I heard you on the radio. I just don’t know what made you forget I was raw. (Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J; guessed by Doug) 3. So like my girl Foxy, a (expletive deleted) went Def. So (expletive deleted), who’s your to ten? Is it MC Shan? Is it MC Ren? (Hip Hop Is Dead - Nas; guessed by Rose) 4. You give me your number, I call you up. You act like your (expletive deleted) don’t interrupt. I don’t have no trouble with you(expletive deleted) me. But I have a little problem with you not (expletive deleted) me. 5. So I took a big chance at the high school dance with a lady that was ready to play. (Walk This Way - Run-DMC and Aerosmith; guessed by Rebekah) 6. Hey, we don’t know each other well so why I keep picking up my cell? Memories just keep ringing bells. Ding, ding, ding, ding. 7. You will see him on TV, any given Sunday. Win a Super Bowl and drive off in a Hyundai. (Gold Digger - Kanye West and Jamie Foxx; guessed by Doug) 8. I got a squad with a list of complainers. I should have started R.A.P.E.: Rappers Against Phony Entertainers. (Pop Goes the Weasel - 3rd Bass; guessed by Doug) 9. The fellas want to have a barbecue tonight. I think it’s on about 5:00. They say it’s gonna have many Daisy Dukes and this is gonna be live. (Sweet Potato Pie - Domino; guessed by Doug) 10. The rap era’s out of control, brothers selling their soul to go gold, going, going, gone. (Crossover - EPMD; guessed by Doug) 11. Since these girls peeping me I’m a glide and swerve. These hookers looking so hard they straight hit the curb. (Regulate - Warren G and Nate Dogg; guessed by Doug) 12. Foot on the pedal - never ever false metal, engine running hotter than a boiling kettle. 13. Bass, how low can you go? Death row? What a brother know? (Bring the Noise - Public Enemy; guessed by Doug) 14. What I got you got to give to your daughter. You do a little dance and drink a little water. (Give it Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers; guessed by Doug) 15. First time I shot her, I shot her in the side. Hard to watch her suffer but with the second shot she died. (Delia's Gone - Johnny Cash; guessed by Rebekah) 16. Get the feeling of peace at the end of the day. And when your bulldog barks and your canary sings, you’re out there with winners. 17. I’m not a martyr. I am not a prophet. I won’t preach to you, but here’s a caution: You better understand I won’t hold your hand. 18. The year is ’94 and my trunk is raw, and in the rearview mirror is the (expletive deleted) law. (99 Problems - Jay-Z; guessed by Doug) 19. The truth is, I don’t stand a chance. It’s something you’re into and I just don’t belong. (Beverly Hills - Weezer; guessed by Rose) 20. I don’t mind saying it’s a sad, sad story when a mother will teach her daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger. (Not Ready to Make Nice - Dixie Chicks; guessed by Doug) 21. Hand grenade pins in every line. Throw ‘em up and let something shine. Going out of my (expletive deleted) mind. Filthy mouth, no excuse. 22. Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in. Are you aware the shape I’m in? My hands they shake, my head it spins. Oh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in. (I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers; guessed by Rebekah) 23. Guess who he saw? Dave the dope fiend doing dope and he don’t know the meaning of water or soap. 24. I’m a b-boy, standing in my b-boy stance. Hurry up and give me the microphone before I bust in my pants. (Slam - Onyx; guessed by Doug) 25. I got a love jonz for your body and your skin tone. Five minutes alone I'm already on the bone. (I'll Be There for You / You're All I Need to Get By - Method Man and Mary J. Blige; guessed by Doug)
With all the acclaim around its other programming on its network, it is sometimes easy to remember that one of the first buzz shows on FX, Nip/Tuck, is still on. Although not for long as it enters its sixth and final season starting tonight with ten straight episodes before concluding with the second half of the season sometime in 2010.
The season starts off with a prerequisite “previously on Nip/Tuck” that reminds us that Christian learned that his cancer prognosis isn’t as bleak as his doctors once thought after marrying Liz and Sean’s escalating relationship with his anesthesiologist Teddy. Then we get a humorous montage telling what has happened between last season’s finale and the new season and apparently plastic surgery isn’t recession proof. Although it isn’t explained why Teddy had so much plastic surgery that made her turn from Katey Sackoff into Rose McGowan.
This explains why they team up with a yet another Miami transplant Mario Lopez who managed to figure out the one recession proof surgery still left. And naturally more homoerotic situations ensue. The recession also hit Matt who is resigned to a new occupation that will have you laughing. The season premieres also features Wayne “Newman” Knight and Barry Bostwick going somewhere where Elaine has already gone before on Arrested Development. Although she never asked Michael Bluth to do what he asks Christian to do. Then next week’s surgery may go down in the pantheon of McNamara/Troy patients.
Nip/Tuck airs Wednesdays at 10:00 on FX. You can stream recent episode on Hulu. You can also download Nip/Tuck on iTunes.
With Cops going into its twenty-second season, it is odd there hasn’t been that many imitators over the year that try to capitalize on its longevity. The National Geographic Channel will give following law officers a try starting tomorrow night with Alaska State Troopers. What the show has going for it is the setting is a beautiful landscape that is probably more stunning for those that have access to the channel’s HD Channel. But on the other hand, most criminals try to get away with their infractions at night and I can’t image HD at night is much more stunning than standard definition.
The first episode takes you to the annual Arctic Man Ski and Sno-Go Classic which s the Alaskan version of spring Break where the drunken buffoons outnumber the troopers 750-1. Unfortunately with temperature regularly below zero, no girl going wild are found, but with alcohol freely flowing, there are still plenty of other stupid human tricks for the State Troopers to reign in including one especially bad liar they run into.
Later this season, the Alaska State Troopers run into illegal moos hunters, an eleven year old runaway (Alaska has the highest rate of missing persons reports in the country), snowmobile accidents, and the occasional shootouts. Although as of the first couple episodes, no troopers have made an appearance at the Palin compound.
Alaska State Troopers airs Wednesdays at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel. Check out a preview clip below:
Tomorrow is the debut of Hip Hop Honors celebrating the twenty-five years of seminal rap label Def Jam. And to do a little honoring of my own I am highlighting one of my personal songs that the label produced that seems to get lost in the cracks in the annals of rap history. This despite being one of the few rap songs that even non-rap heads can appreciate (I remember a guy in high school who wore nothing by Metallica t-shirts who would walk around singing the Nate Dogg parts all the time) thanks to the late back rhymes of Warren G, a sing-a-long hook courtesy of Nate Dogg (and with all due respect to Mary J. Blige, he is the best of all time), and samples provided by Michael McDonald and Young Guns, where the title comes from. I dare you to press play and not instinctively sing along with ever word.
Tool Academy: I need someone to explain to me again how running across tapioca pudding leads to maturity? Shouldn’t playing with your food show a lack of maturity? And sadly Big Big got the ax, things will be less fun without him. You can stream recent episodes over at vh1.com. You can also download Tool Academy on iTunes.
Trauma: I though the show was going to turn the corner when Herc told the gang bangers “Don’t shoot the white guy” but unfortunately the character stuff just isn’t living up to the bang bang stuff. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Trauma on iTunes.
The Big Bang Theory: To answer Sheldon’s question he posed at the end of the episode: yes, every hot chick to walk this planet. Or at the very least every one I have ran into. You can stream current episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Castle: It always has to be the naïve husband, doesn’t it. But what does it say about me that I was thinking that the babysitter would turn out to be the culprit. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes. Also be sure to check out my chat with Stana Katic.
Sons of Anarchy: One of the most intriguing relationships of the show is that between Hale and Unser, well Captain American Hale and anyone. But the scene where Unser told Hale why he made Hale his number two was a great one. But Hale has been uncharacteristically grey recently. First he doesn’t do anything about Darby’s meth lab and then he gives Jax the video of Opie at the scene of the crime. If Hale’s moral compass starts to drift east, is there any hope for Charming? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Mercy: Even though I saw it coming, I can’t believe they let a raccoon loose in the hospital. And then Dawn Summers killed it! Good times. Although Rescue Me did a much funnier Russian internet bride storyline. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Mercy on iTunes.
Gary Unmarried: It was a little disappointing that we did get to learn what Louis said to the bully. One could deduce that it was something global warming related as it caused the kid to stay in front of The Weather Channel. But it would have been nice to know the exact threat she gave him. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download Gary Unmarried on iTunes.
Modern Family: After keeping the families separate last episode, it is clear the show is at its best when they interest. The fake producers should force the families to have at least one family dinner a week just to have an excuse to do so. And I found it odd that the eldest daughter’s boyfriend has been in more episodes than the daughter herself. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.
Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins: Someone who still watches MTV really needs to remind me when there is a new Challenge because I always seem to miss the start and have to play catch up. And oh so much happened in the first two episodes. Except any punches thrown. Instead we get a lot of head butting, literally. But my favorite moment so far was Darrell’s housewife comment. He may have said it just to get under the skin of Wes, but he basically insulted every female on the show because Kelly Anne may not even crack the top five sexual partners on the show. But what be the most shocking is Brad being on the challengers team. How many of these has he participated in and hasn’t won any yet. Even Katie and Tonya have managed to scrape out a win over the past decade. You can stream recent episodes over at mtv.com. You can also download Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins on iTunes.
Survivor: Samoa: I was really hoping that the one tribe was going to go 0-for until the merge. And how you could blame Monica (who thankfully didn’t go home because she was my pick to win it all) because you still were leading coming off the rope portion of the competition. You lost because you couldn’t get the final blocks to stay. Hopefully Russell’s tribe gets back to its losing ways, wise up to his shenanigans and vote him off. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.
Community: From the pilot I thought making Annie the lead would be best for the show and after this episode I realized how they should go about it. For a spin-off, follow her in her pursuit of a psychology degree because those scenes were the funniest of the series so far. I could pass along some plot ideas from the experiments I participated during my college days. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.
could return as soon as this month. As much as I would like to bring back the Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week, this is a bad idea to end all bad ideas. Bringing it back with only a week or two to promote only to air for a month before taking a holiday break, then air a couple more episodes to be preempted by the Olympics will most likely kill Chuck. There is not even a street date for the second season DVD yet. If NBC is truly making a killing monetarily with Jay Leno despite low ratings, the network should just bite the bullet.
. Although she never asked Michael Bluth to do what he asks Christian to do. Then next week’s surgery may go down in the pantheon of McNamara/Troy patients.
, where the title comes from. I dare you to press play and not instinctively sing along with ever word.
