57 Channels and Only This Is On - 7/9/11

Quote of the Week: Let me tell you something, you’re gonna be the quarterback of the Dillon Panthers next season. And you’re gonna shine. (Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights)

Song of the Week: Devil Town – Tony Lucca (Friday Night Lights)

Big News of the Week: Casey Anthony Trial: So I have no clue who Casey Anthony was before this week, and honestly still not entirely sure why she is national news, but for some reason white woman have not been this mad at a verdict since O.J. Simpson was deemed not guilty. I do not know why someone that no one knew before this trail could get everyone up in a frenzy (seriously, America how about caring more about our fallen soldiers dying for our freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan than some random chick in Florida) but now I am going to Vegas to see what the Over / Under on the number of seasons until Casey Anderson makes it onto Celebrity Rehab.


Leverage: It is a shame that the killer was clearly recognizable to me from the second flashback because other than that it was a fun silly little episode. You can stream recent episodes on TNT.tv. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.

Falling Skies: After last week’s creepy ending I kept waiting for a twist ending and it was a little weird ending the episode on a normal dinner scene. I guess sci-fi shows has engrained in me that something shocking would close out every episode. Andb I do not care if they are just kids, if someone is shooting at me, I am firing right back. I’m also killing the sleeping skidders. If the skidders control the mechs and the skidders are dead, the mechs are useless. You can stream recent episodes over at tnt.tv. You can also download Falling Skies on iTunes.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King: For those taking part in my Chloe King Drinking Game (take a shot whenever you thing of Buffy) probably got really tipsy this week when Chloe got super hearing just like Buffy in the episode when Jonathan was going to go on a killing spree. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Nine Lives of Chloe King on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I feel a little cheated that they have spent the last couple episodes playing up is Ian really dead or not storyline just to find out that he was a live, but wait he “shot” himself (though probably did not). Plot twists upon plot twists are a little tedious. And I wonder when everyone is going to realize the reason “A” is always one step ahead is because “A” is tapping their phones. It is the only logical answer assuming the show does not go supernatural (or “A” turns out to Aria which is my second guess as who is “A” after Allison is still alive). You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: Grandma Saracen and Tyra Collette. Sigh. It is good to see them one last time (and it is a shame we will not be seeing Tyra in a Wonder Woman costume every week next fall, I would have tuned in no matter how bad it was). But it is weird that they are playing Tim and Tyra up as some grand love when they did they same thing with Lyla last season. I would gladly go to jail if I had those two fighting over me when I got out. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.




Free Download of the Week: Dangerbird Summer Sampler 2011 (Amazon MP3): This sampler includes songs by Fritz and the Tantrums, Minus the Bear, and Beady Eye (which is just Oasis without Noel Gallagher).

Deal of the Week: $5 Indie MP3 Albums: Amazon currently has almost 500 indie albums for only $5 including ones from The Civil Wars, Broken Bells, Lissie, and Band of Horses.



New Album Release of the Week: Red River Blue - Blake Shelton

New DVD Release of the Week: The Lincoln Lawyer

Video of the Week: For the latest installment of HBO’s documentary series, Love Crimes of Kabul goes inside the Bagh Woman’s Prison where half of the prisoners are there for “moral crimes” like running away from home, adultery, and premarital sex. Check out a trailer below and tune into Love Crimes of Kabul Monday at 9:00.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Friday Night Lights, Friday at 8:00 on NBC: Earlier this week, Friday Night Lights racked up its fourth straight Scooter Television Award for Best Scripted Show (it was keep from a clean sweep from the final season of Veronica Mars) which sadly be the last time it wins that award as the series run comes to an end next week. And while you are waiting for the last episode to air (or want to relive the series for you lucky DirecTV viewers), head over to NBC.com to flip through the Friday Night Lights Yearbook.

Around the Tubes - 7/8/11

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 Around the World for Free, Alphas, Design Star, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Killer Shots, The Car Show, Falling Skies, The Office, Motley Crüe, Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon, Reggae Summerfest, and Rocco DiSpirito.

- After taking the million dollar prize on Survivor (as well as a hefty consolation prize as runner up on another occasion) you would think Survivor’s Parvati Shallow would not need to borrow money any time soon. But she will be embarking on a trip around the world for free on the aptly titled web show Around the World for Free. Starting today at 2:00 PST Parvati will take off on a hundred day adventure with nothing but a backpack and a smart phone and tablet (and of course a camera crew). Since she has the smart phone, you can follow her in real time over at Twitter or CBS.com. Who know, she may be stopping in your hometown and may need a place to stay.

- Alphas, the new Syfy series, finally premieres Monday at 10:00 and here is a sneak peak:



- Monday also sees the return of a bunch of shows including Design Star on HGTV at 9 while over on Syfy will air new seasons of Eureka at 8:00 followed by Warehouse 13.

- Ever thumb through National Geographic and wonder to yourself how they get such beautiful pictures, well you are in luck because on Nat Geo Wild Killer Shots will follow photographer Andy B. Casagrande as he captures amazing and rare moments from nature. Here is a look at what you can expect if you tue in tonight at 10:00.

Shark’s Eye View


- While Wednesday on Speed there will be the series premiere of The Car Show hosted by Adam Carolla. Speed says of the show, “Funnyman and automotive freak Adam Carolla brings you the ultimate car lover's show, featuring awesome cars, epic driving adventures, and the best of automotive culture. It's the perfect mix of comedy, shop talk, and eye candy brought to you by Adam and his co-hosts, Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive journalist Dan Neil; "TheSmokingTire.com" founder Matt Farah; and former NBA Champion John Salley.”

- It only took three weeks, but TNT finally renewed Falling Skies for a second season. Look for the ten episode season to air again next summer.

- The Office has finally found a replacement for Michael Scott, James Spader will be reprising his role of Robert California for its next season.

- If you think you are a Motley Crüe superfan, Nikki Sixx is looking for just that. Enter the On the Road with Nikki Sixx contest and you can win an all expence paid trip to Los Angeles to meet the bassist.

- Showtime recently secured the rights to Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon. Look for the documentary that follows that band from its Bible Belt beginnings to superstardom August 21 at 10:00.

- The Jamaican Tourist Board recently secured R. Kelly, Nicki Minaj and reggae legend Beres Hammond for Reggae Summerfest July 17-23. For more information, head over to ReggaeMusicfest.com.

- On newsstands next week is the latest Redbook when they talk with Rocco DiSpirito on what scared him into getting healthy, how his cooking changed, and even one of the first dishes he ever made (spoiler alert: lobster bisque). My first dishes I ever made: grilled cheese.

2011 Summer Music Preview

Scanning the list of albums coming out this summer it looks like yet again the music industry will be holding out their big guns until the fourth Christmas with albums by U2, Coldplay, Dr. Dre (?) and Pearl Jam likely to have new albums out by Christmas. But there are some new albums released before Memorial Day that may be worth checking out. Here is a list. You can preorder the album on Amazon by clicking on the title or through iTunes by clicking the artist's name.

July 12
Red River Blue – Blake Shelton
All of You – Colbie Caillat
Yours Truly – Sublime With Rome
Just Me – Brian McKnight
If Not Now, When? – Incubus


July 19
Time of My Life – 3 Doors Down
Universal Pulse – 311
In the Mountain in the Cloud – Portugal. The Man


July 26
Rabbits on the Run – Vanessa Carlton
LP1 – Joss Stone
Back Pages – America
Game Tested, Street Approved – Black Rob


August 2
Watch the Throne – Kanye West and Jay-Z
Sky Full of Holes – Fountains of Wayne
Young Love – Mat Kearney
King – O.A.R.


August 9
Sweeter – Gavin DeGraw


August 30

White and Black America – Lenny Kravitz
I’m with You – Red Hot Chili Peppers


September 6
Seeds We Sow – Lindsey Buckingham


September 13
American Goldwing - Blitzen Trapper


September 20
My Life Too, the Journey Continues – Mary J. Blige
Tony Bennett: Duets II – Tony Bennett


September 27
The Whole Love - Wilco


October 4
Evanescence - Evanescence


TBD
Blakroc 2 – BlakRoc
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall - Coldplay
The Dreamer, The Believer – Common
All of Me - Estelle
Loso’s Way 2 - Fabolous
How You Do – Mayer Hawthorne
Anthem Inc. – Naughty By Nature
Lifestyle – Nelly Furtado
Songs of Ascent – U2
Laughing Down Crying – Daryl Hall


With two singles already released months ago, I thought we may have gotten Detox by now, but alas it is still relegated to the obligatory “maybe this is the year Dr. Dre releases Detox” status.

The Seventh Annual Scooter Television Awards

Welcome to the 7th Annual Scooter Television Awards honoring show that aired new episodes between June 2010 and June 2011. Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2011 STA's:

Best Scripted Show: Friday Night Lights

Best Sitcom: The Big Bang Theory

Best Cable Show: Justified

Best Reality Show: The Challenge: Cutthroat

Best Talk Show: Pardon the Interuption

Best Talent Competition - The Sing-Off

Best New Show: Terriers

Best Awards Show: 2011 Grammy Awards

Best Hour of TV: Bloody Harlan - Justified

Best Half Hour of TV: A Fistful of Paintballs (Part 1) - Community

Biggest Shocker: Mags Bennett serving herself Apple Pie (Justifed)

Worst Idea: Survivor: Redemption Island

Worst Moment: The Killing ending on a cliffhanger

Best New Title Sequence: Rubicon

Best Song Placement: Shout (Pts. 1 & 2) – The Isley Brothers (Greek)

Best Karaoke: Push It – Jeffster (Chuck)

Best Singing Competition Performance: Heartless – Dia Frampton (The Voice)



Hottest Token Hot Chick:







Best Character: Raylan Gibbons (Justified)

Best New Character: Hank Dolworth (Terriers)

Best Recurring Character: Mags Bennett (Justifed)

Best Guest Appearance: Betty White (Community)

Best Duo: Coach and Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

Most Entertaining Reality “Star”: Special Agent Philip Sheppard (Survivor: Redemption Island)

Most Annoying Reality “Star”: Boston Rob (Survivor: Redemption Island)

Best Quote: Listen to me: I said you need to strive to be better than everyone else. I didn’t say you need to be better than everyone else. But you gotta try. And that’s what character is: it’s in the trying. (Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights)

Show That Should Be Brought Back: Friday Night Lights

Biggest Question for 2011-2012: No, seriously, who killed Rosie Larson Will anyone continue to watch The Killing?

The Best Television Shows of 2010-11

I usually like to post my best shows of the year list after the May finales but at that point The Killing was still in the middle of its season so I decided to delay it because how the season ended would play a role in how it would land on the list. But after actually seeing the finale it was all for naught because the show dropped itself out of the top ten (and the top twenty at that). But even without The Killing, AMC actually managed its first two series on my end of year list. So here are the ten that did not have a finale so bad I wanted to throw the remote at my television:

1. Friday Night Lights, Season 5 (DirecTV / NBC)

2. Justified, Season 2 (FX)

3. Parenthood, Season 2 (NBC)

4. The Big Bang Theory, Season 4 (CBS)

5. Community, Season 2 (NBC)

6. Terriers, Season 1 (FX)

7. Modern Family, Season 2 (ABC)

8. The Walking Dead, Season 1 (AMC)

9. Rubicon, Season 1 (AMC)

10. Leverage, Season 3 (TNT)



Below is a running tally of shows that landed a Quote or Song of the Week over the past year.

Quotes of the Week
The Big Bang Theory – 6
Friday Night Lights – 5
The Killing – 4
Community –3
Justified – 3
Rubicon – 3
Castle – 2
Chuck – 2
Modern Family – 2
Pardon the interruption – 2
Pretty Little Liars – 2
Rescue Me – 2
Glory Daze – 1
Greek – 1
How I Met Your Mother – 1
No Ordinary Family - 1
Survivor – 1
Terriers – 1
The Voice – 1
The Sing Off – 1
The Walking Dead – 1
Two and a Half Men – 1

Songs of the Week
Chuck – 4
Friday Night Light – 4
Community – 3
Parenthood – 3
Pretty Little Liars – 3
How I Met Your Mother – 2
Glory Daze – 2
Lights Out – 2
Modern Family – 2
Outsourced – 2
Rubicon – 2
Sons of Anarchy – 2
Terriers – 2
The Big Bang Theory – 2
Castle- 1
Covert Affairs – 1
Franklin and Bash – 1
Greek – 1
Memphis Beat – 1
No Ordinary Family – 1
Rescue Me – 1
Shameless – 1
Survivor - 1
The Voice – 1

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 7/3/11

Quote of the Week: Do you know what else is going to be distracting to them, is when they turn their phones here in about thirty minutes and they look at iTunes and see you sitting way above their records. That’s going to be so distracting. How are they going to focus with all that iTunes domination happening? (Blake Shelton, The Voice)



Song of the Week: Spirit In the Sky – Norman Greenbaum (Friday Night Lights)

Big News of the Week: Dia Frampton is the Only Player that got Robbed and Kept all Her Jewelry: To be honest I wrote that title right after The Voice finale and opened with a joke about Barry Bonds, George W. Bush and the 1972 Russian Basketball team needing to make room in the asterisk club for Javier Colon. But three days later I do not particularly care anymore because I realized like everything that allows internet voting, the show has no creditability for that simple fact. Sure Dia Frampton still was robbed but since she outsold everyone else on The Voice, having the hightest charting single after ever show and the only one to hit number one on iTunes she should easily find a new record contract and have more flexibility than Javier not being the winner to have more creative control and record with her band Meg & Dia. And keep in mind the person Dia sang a duet with on Wednesday, Miranda Lambert, made it to the finals of Nashville Star and lost to some dude named Buddy Jewel. Yeah, never heard of him either.

But what is frustrating about The Voice is the solution to fix its voting problems is really easy: give equal weight to the three voting methods, 33.3 % from internet, 33.3% from phone, and 33.3% from iTunes. That way people that actually spend their hard earned money on the music have the same say as losers who created a hundred different e-mail accounts because they believe their opinion is more important than everyone else. So if the producers of The Voice are reading this, feel free to use my idea, all I ask for in return is a private performance of Genie In a Bottle from Christina Aguilera (preferably Christina circa 1999). Since I started this with a Kanye West quote, I’ll give the last word to him and his thoughts on the finale:



Falling Skies: It may be hard not to be distracted by plot points that were already used in alien invasion movies. Seeing Noah Wiley dragging the unconscious alien around, it was hard not to think of Will Smith in Independence Day or even Aaron Eckhart in Battle: Los Angeles who also captured aliens for study. But the ending was extremely creepy with both the alien and kid waking up at the same time. You can stream recent episodes over at tnt.tv. You can also download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I have long been in the A is a not so dead Allison so I am predicting that is who the shadowy figure in the house that her brother is hiding. But what happened to the that one’s chick’s girlfriend’s family that lived in the house? Here they just renting from the family and moved out or are the writers making things up as they go? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: Holy Smash Williams sighting! Of course that is just what Tim Riggins needed to see right out of prison, his archnemesis excelling at the college level. Hopefully he can get things together by the end of the season. Unfortunately that end of the season is coming way sooner that I was hoping. With every passing playoff game I cringed because the faster they get to state, the faster the season would end. And after avoiding looking up the number of episodes left all season, the promo monkeys finally clued me in that there are only two episodes left. Sigh. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Free Download of the Week: 23 This Year: The Sub Pop Amazon Sampler: This sampler includes songs by Fleet Foxes, The Head and the Heart, and J Mascus.

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5: This month you can grab albums by Prince, Fleet Foxes, Huey Lewis and the News, and Blake Shelton.



New Album Release of the Week: Grand Theatre Vol. 2 - Old 97’s

New DVD Release of the Week: Gettysburg / Gods and Generals (Limited Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

Video of the Week: What better day than the 4th of July to honor the newest citizens of the United States of America than with their own documentary Citizen USA which attends naturalization ceremonies in all 50 states. You can watch it Monday at 9:00 on HBO. Here is the trailer:



Next Week Pick of the Week: It’s 4th of July: Go outside, eat some hot dogs and watch the firework.