Best of the Week - 11/12/11

Quote of the Week: Trust me, if I had a death ray I wouldn’t be living here. I’d be in my lair enjoying the money the people of Earth gave me for not using my death ray. (Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: Kiss from a Rose – Seal (as sung by the cast of Community)

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: A Melancholy Happy Tails to Heavy D: I lived in the right time for rap music with the Golden Age of the genre spanning my middle and high school years. And if I were ever to get around to writing a book on the Golden Age of Hip Hop, Heavy D and the Boyz would definitely get a couple pages. The Overweight Lover MC showed that people of girth were not just resigned to being a novelty act and could actually flow and dance (seriously, check out the Now That We Found Love video; though rewatching it, we may have him to thank for the super-shiny suits that dominated videos in the genre from the nineties; and the see-through suit that one of the dancers wore remains disturbingly funny). Heavy would be one of the few rappers who collaborated with Janet and Michael Jackson (on his underrated Jam) and his Nuttin’ But Love video featured a pre-Friday Chris Tucker and Rebecca Gayheart back when she was still referred only as the Noxzema Girl. Heavy would later focus on acting playing the guidance counselor on Boston Public and stared in the recent Tower Heist film. But his greatest contribution to television remains as providing the theme song to In Living Color. Heavy D was 44 and gone way too soon.



Free Download of the Week: When I Was Young – Nada Surf (Rolling Stone)

Deal of the Week: 100 Holiday Albums for $5 Each: We are still six weeks away from Christmas but for those already to get their holiday cheer on, Amazon MP3 has 100 Christmas albums for $5 each including She and Him, Boyz II Men, Snoop Dogg (seriously), and John Denver teaming up with the Muppets.



New Album Release of the Week: Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982 - 2011 - R.E.M.

New DVD Release of the Week: The California Raisins Collection

Video of the Week: The latest episode of Boardwalk Empire hits HBO this Sunday at 9:00 and here is a quick promo:

Ep. 20: Two Boats and a Lifeguard - Preview

Next Week Pick of the Week: Suburgatory, Wednesday at 8:30 on ABC: Being a suburbanite, I was interested in checking out Suburgatory expect it airs opposite Survivor (which I cannot miss because it is basically the only watercooler show I watch. So after it premiered I fired up Hulu to give it a look except it was not there. Same for abc.com and iTunes. I checked back a week later and still not up. I resigned that the show would be a DVD catch up until last week I noticed it was finally on Hulu (sans the Pilot, but since I had some credit for Amazon Instant Video, I checked it out there; you can also download Suburgatory on iTunes). So after a quick marathon I am finally caught up and ready to call it the best new show this fall on terrestrial television which says a lot because as funny as it is, I am a bit offended at its depiction of the suburbs. But there are few things funnier than a black dude in a Medium fan club.

Around the Tubes - 11/10/11

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 Where Soldiers Come From, Being Human, Homeland, Sons of Anarchy, Chuck, Taylor Dayne, Southland, Nurse Jackie, Franklin and Bash, TMC, and polling results.

- Tomorrow is Veterans Day (for those wondering why you won’t be getting mail) and to honor the occasion, tonight on PBS they are airing the acclaimed documentary Where Soldiers Come From at 9:00. You can also stream the film in its entirety on the POV website starting tomorrow until December 11.

- Being Human returns to Syfy for its second season this January and here is a first look at its return:



- Got a webcam and a microphone? If so you can take a polygraph just like everyone on Homeland this week. Head over to sho.com to give it a shot. If you do not have the equipment and live near New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, or Los Angeles, you can take on in person, head over to the website for the when and where.

- Fans of Sons of Anarchy should be happy to learn that the current fourth season will be getting an additional fourteenth episode. Update your television calendars as now the season finale is slated for December 6.

- Chuck fans while you are waiting for the next episode, head over to the Verbanski website to check out Carmichael Industries biggest competitor (hint: roll over the crest with the gun for an Easter egg)

- Taylor Dayne is back and her new single Floor On Fire is already entered the Billboard Dance Charts in at number 8.

- The most influential talk show host? Ellen DeGeneres. Head over to Klout to see the entire top ten (spoiler alert! Arsenio Hall did not make the list).

- Marla Bibbs (yes Florence Johnston) will be guest starring on Southland next season reteaming her with her 227 daughter Regina King. No word on when Jackée will show up. The new season starts up Tuesday January 17 on TNT. The Gibbs episode is set to air the 24th of the month.

- No word on when it will return, but when it does come back, Nurse Jackie will feature guest spots from Joel Grey and Aida Turturro who will reunite with Sopranos co-star Edie Falco.

- Even more guest stars are signing for the TNT show Franklin and Bash including Peter Weller, Jane Seymour (play Zach Morris’ mom), and Beau Bridges is set to return as Papa Franklin.

- TCM recently announced its guest hosts for the month of November including Oscar winning actress Eva Marie Saint (7-13), film critic, lecturer and author Kenneth Turan (14-20), and actress Rita Wilson (21-27)

- In polling news, Poll Position finds 63% Americans believe the White House should comply with a subpoena from Congressional committees demanding the White House turn over documents related to the Obama administration’s $535 million loan guarantees to the now-failed solar energy company Solyndra. (The margin of error is +/- 3%) They also found 76% of Americans do not miss the NBA at all. (The margin of error is also +/- 3%) While a poll conducted just after Herman Cain’s new conference Tuesday found that 43% of Americans do not believe him, including 48% of woman, Independents at 45% margin of error, you guessed it: +/- 3%).

I Never Changed My Number, Still Got the Same Address

While talking about Last Man Standing with a friend of mine recently, he told me he was not watching the show because the Tim Allen sitcom is stuck in the nineties. I retorted by saying the reason why I was watching Last Man Standing was because it was stuck in the nineties. I bring this story up because the new Keith Sweat album 'Til the Morning could have been recorded fifteen years ago, hermetically sealed, put in a time capsule, dug up a month ago, and released in tact yesterday. And though my buddy may scoff at that, for me it is highest of high compliments.

Just how stuck in the nineties is ‘Til the Morning? Not only does he regroup with LSG (his RnB supergroup with Gerald Levert and Johnny Gill) on the track Knew it All Along, but he even recruits Coko from SWV (no, she was not the one that participated on Survivor), who very well could have been hermetically sealed herself way back in 1998 because no one has heard from her since, for My Valentine. He even reprises basically the entire chorus from his 1996 hit Nobody for High as the Sun, but this time sans Athena Cage.

Not surprisingly the worst song on the album is the one track where Sweat tries to update his sound for To the Middle where he trades auto-tuned verses with T-Pain. And if robotic singer was not bad enough the song asks “how many licks ‘til I get to the middle.” Eww. Seriously, Tootsie Pops should be looking into a lawsuit right about now. The rest of the album is pure Keith Sweat: he is going to wine and dine you (One on One), take you wherever you want to go (Getaway), of course he is going to give it to you (Make You Say Ooh) all night long, (‘Til the Morning) and even put a ring on it (Ring Size) because he likes it.

Song to Download – Knew It All Along

‘Til the Morning gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Previewing AFI’s Master Class – The Art of Collaboration

Back in college I worked at the local amphitheater and besides your usual rock concerts, on most weekends it also served as the summer home of the local orchestra. And yes it was almost as boring as you are thinking, and even more on weekends when they would perform the same music. On the bright side, unlike the rock concert, we were allowed to sit down during the performance. The only two performances I looked forward towards each year where the 4th of July concert and every year John Williams would stop by as the guest conductor which would always include a climatic performance of Indiana Jones Theme.

Williams will be joining long time collaborator Steven Spielberg next Tuesday for TCM Presents AFI’s Master Class – The Art of Collaboration: Steven Spielberg and John Williams premiering at 8:00. In fact next year will mark forty years of working exclusively together with next year’s Lincoln as their twenty-sixth film together including The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse both due this Christmas. Their work has led to Williams taking home three Oscars, the same number Spielberg has.

Aside from talking about their most famous works like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, and of course the Indiana Jones films (Steven even makes fun of the fourth movie in this special) the two discuss some of the most memorable music scores to them including Vertigo, Spartacus, On the Waterfront, and Amadeus which Spielberg calls one of the characters of that film. The duo even took time to take questions from the audience filled will AFI Conservatory students.

TCM Presents AFI’s Master Class – The Art of Collaboration: Steven Spielberg and John Williams airs Tuesday, November 15 at 8:00 on TCM.

I Want My Music Television - 11/7/11

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.

Party - Beyoncé featuring J Cole




I could have sworn that Andree 3000 was originally on the Beyoncé track. I am not sure who J Cole is, but it is certainly a downgrade. At least they keept the Ladi Dadi sample in tact.


Make You Say Ooh – Keith Sweat



Who is ready for a Keith Sweat comeback? I am assuming everybody out there has their hand up right now.


Sing Your Own Song - John Wesley Harding



I am not sure if this is a great homage to You Can Call Me Al or just lazy. It does not help that I am not sure which one is John Wesley Harding and the other is certainly no Chevy Chase.


What Do You Take Me For – Pixie Lott featuring Pusha T



I may have to watch Pixie Lott a couple more times before I have a coherent thought on the video.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 11/6/11

Once Upon a Time: I was a little surprised that we did not see Maleficent in the real world. At first I thought it was because the Evil Queen was going to remove her heart for the spell as I was unaware that the old dude was her father. I thought it was just her man servant. But the most interesting scene was The Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin talking in the real world. Sure the kid thinks everybody in town is walking around in a haze, but you have to wonder who exactly knows what, and these are the two leading candidates to actually have memories of fairytale land. Snow White’s grandkid just does not happen to get adopted by her archnemesis in a town populated by fairytale characters.
You can stream current episodes on Once Upon a Time. You can also download Once Upon a Time.

The Walking Dead: Sure Shane is a jerk and all, but I did not see him leaving the fat dude for dead (morally aside, how was he going to be able to get back to the truck and then the farm without him, and in the dark at that). I just picked up my jaw at that scene about an hour ago.
You can stream recent episodes over at amc.com. You can also download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Pan Am: This may be the episode where the show finally turns the preverbal corner as it was the first one I whole heartedly enjoyed if it were not for the pilot subplot. Hopefully he gets fired because the pilots have never quite fit in to the show very well. But Christina Ricci’s back-story was extremely enjoyable. Note to self: start tipping waitresses three cents and if they call me on it, tell them it is to get them from getting complacent in a no end job. Brilliant. Bonus points for next week when Smash Williams makes his return to television.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pan Am on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: Seriously, the Slutty Pumpkin? Wasn’t that season one? Just because everyone complained that Lost did not tie up most of it loose ends does not mean that this show does. If everyone has forgotten about the storyline, you really do not to bring it back up even if it is unresolved.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Sing Off: With three all-male college groups left in the competition it is not surprising they finally gave one the ax, but after giving the best Swan Song of the season, is it too late to give the University of Rochester YellowJackets a reprieve? Maybe they should start rewarding the group that gives the best Swan Song performance and let them back in the competition at some point. The Dartmouth Aires regain their spot on the top of my power rankings this week for the first time since the second week thanks to a rousing Queen medley (insert your own Antoine Merriweather singing Queen joke here), but it was still disappointing that Bohemian Rhapsody got resigned to a medley, they should have just performed that because it is basically three different songs in one anyway.


The Sing-Off Week Five Power Ranking (change from last week in parentheses)
1. Dartmouth Aires (+1)
2. Afro Blue (-1)
3. Delilah (+3)
4. Urban Method (-)
5. Vocal Point (-)
6. Pentatonix (+1)



You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Sing-Off on iTunes.

Castle: Early on I actually pegged the one hostage as an inside man until he had a seizure then I just figured I had too big of an imagination. I guess maybe they should have sent in an actual medical examiner instead of Beckett and maybe they would have know he was not epileptic.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Parenthood: Julia kind of overreacted a bit with the sushi. Really having her doctor explain to her baby mama what she could and could not eat would probably have been a better idea.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Survivor: South Pacific: First off: bad promo monkeys who spoiled the merge. I was eagerly hoping that there was not going to be a merge to see Ozzy’s face when he learns he would have to spend a couple days at Redemption Island, only for it to be ruined for me on Sunday. Booooo. With that out of the way, I never understood why there are not more people flipping votes after a tie. I would much rather bail on my alliance than go to rocks even if there is a Redemption Island safety net. Though I have to question Coach for not using his Immunity Idol to try to save himself or somebody in his alliance.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Revenge: I still hate the start of the series and really do not care for any of the characters beside Amy Abbot, but gosh darn is this show getting good. Two major what the frack moments this week. I have long pegged the annoying little frat boy as a gay homosexual con man, but what I did not see coming was the computer nerd blackmailing him for sexual favors. Then the other was Not-Amy Abbott bashing in the skull of the bodyguard then showing up all happy, happy, joy, joy on Amy’s doorstep. I cannot wait until the next episode (which sadly I will have to because of some study country music award show next week).
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Grimm: I originally thought this episode would be about Hansel and Greta, thankfully I was wrong when they started having sex and it ended up being the Goldilocks and the Three Bears. But they really took way too long to have the only interesting character in the cast to show up. The Big Bad Wolf did not even make an appearance until over half way through. But it was worth the wait when he hysterically tore some dude’s arm off.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.