Best of the Week - 9/22/12

Quote of the Week: Of course he's in pain. Women are conniving soul crushers and if he realizes that,he'll be okay. He has a chance. (Hank, Parenthood)

Song of the Week: The Heart of Rock and Roll - Huey Lewis and the News (Go On)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Mitt Romney Hates 47% of Americans: I asked it before and I will ask it again, I wonder if Mitt Romney actually wants to be president because the guy does not talk about. Last week during the Middle East kerfuffle, Mitt sent out a press release that turned out to be extremely incurrent when all the facts came out. Naturally Mitt doubled down on his stupidity instead of admitting a mistake. The gaffe machine kept going this week when a tap was released talking at a $5000 a plate fundraiser that 47% of the population are dependent on the government who will vote for the president no matter what. Way to right off half the population Mitt. But as it turns out 81% of that 47% have full time jobs. And nine of the top ten states with the most 47%ers are in the Deep South, from South Carolina to Texas (the other being Idaho) which are the most conservative states in the nation with the exception of Florida. So it makes me wonder if Mitt even wants to become president because he is going up against an incumbent that does not deserve to be reelected and will probably still end up losing.

Preview Picture of the Week:

Motocross Champion Ashley Fiolek on Switched at Birth

Free Download of the Week: The Boys’ Club Live EP – Erin McCarley (NoiseTrade)

New Album Release of the Week: Babel - Mumford and Sons

New DVD Release of the Week: Marvel's The Avengers

Video of the Week: You would think Daniel Day Lewis playing Abraham Lincoln would be epic, but I was left after watching the trailer that it needed more scenes with Lincoln slaying vampires.


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Neighbors, Wednesday at 9:30 on ABC: It is premiere week and there is no show I am looking forward to this week that is premiering more than The Neighbors (please note I have already seen Last Resort and you too can on Yahoo). The show harkens back to the days when television executives were clearly on copious amounts of cocaine, aka the Gorlden Era of Awesomely Bad Television. The Neighbors features a human family who moves into a neighborhood of aliens and hilarity will ensue (presumably). And if we are lucky, we may even get to see our first male giving birth scene on television since that one episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Just remember that The Neighbors is on after Modern Family for one week and moves to 8:30 next week.

Around the Tubes - 9/21/12

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 Treme, The Latino List: Column Two, Ice Road Truckers, American Masters, Iron Man, The Emmys, Drugs Inc., To Catch a Smuggler, Velvet Underground, Liz and Dick, Monday Mornings, Showtime, Kara McGraw, Holliston, the Harlan Globetrotters, and ABC Family.

- Treme returns this Sunday on HBO and for those that need a reminder of what happened last season, below is a recap:


- The latest documentary from HBO is premiering this Monday at 9:00. The Latino List: Volume Two features video portraits of a cross-section of Latino notables who have richly contributed to the fabric of contemporary society, including Christy Turlington Burns, Victor Cruz, George Lopez, Soledad O’Brien and Raul Yzaguirre, among many others. Check out the trailer below:


- The season premiere of Ice Road Truckers is this Sunday at 10:00 on History and you can check out a preview below:


- American Masters: The Day Carl Sandburg dies premieres nationally Monday at 10:00 on PBS (check your local listings just in time of the 45th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize wuinner’s death. The fild will be available on DVD the next day.


- Also new to the DVD shelves next Tuesday is Iron Man: Armored Adventures Season 2 – Volume 2.

- The Emmys are this weekend and to get you ready watch the video below where Parker Posey plays an over the top acting coach who only teaches how to give an Emmy acceptance speech.


- Look out for a new season of the National Geographic Channel’s Drugs, Inc. premiering Sunday October 21 at 9:00. But before that on October 8 at 9:00, check out new series To Catch a Smuggler where you will go behind the X-ray scanners and security doors at JFK with officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

- The Velvet Underground and Nico is turning 45 this year and to commemorate Universal Music Enterprises will be releasing a Super Deluxe version of the album on October 30 with six CDs featuring 30 previously unreleased tracks, including a previously unavailable November ’66 live concert performed by the Velvets’ original, five-person lineup—Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker and Nico—at the Valleydale Ballroom in Columbus, Ohio, and Nico’s Chelsea Girl, an album released in October 1967 (seven months after the Velvets’ disc) which included all the members of the band as well as a teenage folksinger named Jackson Browne. The box set also includes an 88-page booklet featuring a new essay by band biographer Richie Unterberger.


- Lindsay Lohan created some headlines by being cast as Elizabeth Taylor in the Lifetime Movie Liz and Dick which is set to premiere in November and now you can take a look at the first key art with a look with Lohan in the role.



- Production is now under way for TNT's Monday Mornings, a powerful new series from award-winning producer David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope) and practicing neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, on whose book the series is based. The medical drama stars Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, TNT's The Company), Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica), Jennifer Finnigan (Better with You), Bill Irwin (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), Keong Sim (Glee), Sarayu Rao (Lions for Lambs) and Emily Swallow (TNT's Southland). TNT has ordered 10 episodes for the first season of Monday Mornings, which is slated to premiere in early 2013.

- If you have not picked up a 2013 calendar yet, you may want to so you can mark down that Shameless, House of Lies, and Californication will be starting up their new seasons starting January 13 on Showtime.

- Kara McGraw is releasing her new album The Hound and the Hare next week which will raise funds for thirteen charities over thirteen weeks.

- Expect a lot of stammering when Caite Upton (the former Miss Teen USA contestant) willmake a guest appearance on FEARnet’s Holliston. Look for the episode when the new season airs next spring.

- The Harlem Globetrotters have announced their 2013 Rookie class including two females (the 10th and 11th female to ever make the team since 1926). They will be embarking on a world tour with over 270 games this season, which is kicking off at brand new Barclays Center in Brooklyn on October 7th.

- ABC Family is bolstering its orginal programming by greenlighting three new pilots. Terminales is a one-hour drama based on a successful Mexican television format by Miguel Angel Fox and follows a young woman’s life after she is diagnosed with a terminal illness. The pilot was written by Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz. Aaron Kaplan (“GCB,” “The Neighbors,” “Terra Nova”), Fogel and Lefkowitz will serve as executive producers. It will be produced by Lionsgate in association with Televisa. Phys Ed is a half-hour multi-camera comedy series about a high school’s star jock who returns to teach at his former alma mater only to find that, even though he’s changed, nothing else really has. The pilot is written and-executive produced by David H. Steinberg (“American Pie 2”). It is produced by Prodco, Inc. Continuing Fred is a half-hour multi-camera comedy about 20-something Winifred “Fred” Harris, a newly-graduated slacker with an overbearing family who surprisingly finds purpose when she begins to teach at a local elementary school. Written by Bill Daly (“Mike and Molly”), the pilot is produced by Prodco, Inc.

First Impressions: Survivor: Philippines

I never liked the concept of Redemption Island. Why does Boston Rob need redemption? Russell Hantz? Coach, Ozzy? None of them needed redemption other than being douchebags . I always thought if you are going to bring someone back for redemption either have it be someone that did something colossally stupid (like the dude who gave away immunity and was promptly voted out) or someone who was medically removed from the game. Well Survivor did the latter for its Philippines season bring back three contestants that were had to leave the game prematurely.

Thankfully none of the returning cast mates turned out to be Colton Cumbie, the gay homosexual racist Republican from last season whose appendix was about to burst. Instead, the first, and probably most (in)famous casualty Michael Skupin, who fell into the fire during the second season, swinging the season, is back a decade later. Also returning is Russell Swan, surprisingly because dude almost died the first time around with his eyes rolling into the back of his head. His exit also swayed power his season and was yet another absurdly lucky play that benefitted Hantz during his two seasons. Lastly is Jonathan Penner, who got a life threatening infection during his second time playing the game.

Those are not the only familiar faces in the Philippines as they brought in not one, but two celebrities that rival Jimmy Johnson as the most famous contestants ever. This includes fellow sportsman Jeff Kent, perennial All-Star baseball player for the Giants and Astros who just retired four years ago. Also joining him on the island is Lisa Whelchel who may better be known as Blair Warner of The Facts of Life. Unfortunately for next week’s preview, she may not be around long enough for Tootie to join her for the friends and family challenge.

It was apropos that they brought back three wounded survivors this season because there were already some injuries in the first three days. Right off the boat Jeff, who was injury prone during his major league career, tweaked his knee right off the boat. And we may have found out just how Michael feel into the fire after getting cuts on his head, hand and foot.

But the first episode belonged to Zane Knight who was quick to create an alliance with every single person on his tribe, and then told people he had alliances with everyone else. Then after putting up a pitiful performance in the immunity challenge, he stupidly offered himself up to be voted out. But here is the rub, Zane actually thought by putting himself on the chopping block he could Jedi Mind Trick people into voting for Russell. The force certainly was not with Zane who was prompted voted out which means I am going to have to update my list of the Dumbest Survivor Contestants Ever list.

Contestant I’d Most Like to Have Dirty, Dirty Sex with Even if She Hasn’t Take a Shower in a Month: Angie Layton

Winner: Roberta “R.C.” Saint-Amour

Back Up Choice: Michael Skupin

Survivor: Philippines airs Wednesdays at 8:00 on CBS. You can stream episodes on CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

You Can't Escape the Rising of the Tide

I have a love / hate relationship with The Killers. I loved the synth-dance-rock of their debut Hot Fuss. I hated their overblown arena rock follow up Sam’s Town. By the time their third album came out, I learned how to stop worrying and learned to accept the pomposity of Brandon Flowers continuing attempt to be the new generation Bruce Springsteen (circa Born to Run) and his continuance of falling short of such goals.

From the opening blips of the opening track Flesh and Bones it sounded like they may be going back to their older sound, but alas, even though there seems to be more synthesizers on Battle Born, the band’s fourth album, it seems like they are quickly covered up and drowned out by a wall of guitar sounds. The band does lay off their Springsteen ambitions aside from the lead single Runaways which sound like their last chance power drive, but still comes up short compared with their other Springsteenian attempts like When We Were Young.

Unfortunately Runaways is the best the album has to offer. Really the only reason to listen to the rest of Battle Born is to hear just how pompous Brandon Flowers can get like when he “swears on the head of our unborn child” or, “I drove through the desert last night, I carried the weight of our last fight.” C’mon Brandon, it cannot be that hard carrying weight while you are driving. Unless, of course, you were driving a smart car. And I could not help but laugh at the way he delivers the line, “Don’t want your picture on my cell phone” on Here with Me. So I think I am back off The Killer bandwagon. But I will surely be back on in two years.

Song to Download - Runaways

Battle Born gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

You Might Put Your Love and Trust on the Line

Ben Foldes Five!

Fraggle Rock!!

Stacey Pilgrim!!!

The dude from Singled Out!!!!

The dude from Hot Tube Time Machine!!!!!

This is so awesome I do not even care if Weezer (who ironically wrote a song about Fraggle Rock (at least I want to believe the Doozers in My Name Is Jonas is a Fraggle Rock reference)) did the same video with The Muppets a decade ago. If there was a complaint to be had it is the lack of Marjory the Trash Heap.

I Want My Music Television - 9/17/12

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 Will Wait – Mumford and Sons


One more week until the new Mumford and Sons album drops and after watching their live performance from Red Rocks I cannot wait, but alas I will wait (unless someone is nice enough to stream the album early). But after watching the video it is weird to think that who may very well be the biggest band in the country has foe a drummer, the lead singer’s right foot.


Live and Die - The Avett Brothers


Yep it is a good month for folk music between Mumford and Sons and The Avett Brothers who look to be having a lot of fun during their music video. It has to being a smile to your own face. And the American flag awning looks very cool.


Kill the DJ – Green Day


That is two music videos from Green Day from their new album that features a bunch of parting models. I know the album is a three part concept album about pre, post, and during a party, it is still a little weirde seeing the former punk band perform, non-ironically, in what looks to be a roller disco dance party, but without the skates.


The High Road - Joss Stone



Broken Bells went walking through a post-apocalyptic landscape for their video of this song, and Joss Stone went a complete three-sixty by strolling through a magical forest. Complete with an elephant.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 9/16/12

Quote of the Week: I do not watch dating shows… except Beauty and the Geek. (Parker, Leverage)

Song of the Week: Higher Ground - Franky Perez and the Forest Rangers (Sons of Anarchy)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Arab Spring Take 2: I do not like politicizing death, so I am just going to stay quite like many people should have this week.

Preview Picture of the Week:



The Voice: Who would have guessed that a white kid from Colorado would get chosen by singing a Bob Marley song, but not the chick who was born in Jamaica? But anyway. I was severely disappointed with the first week of The Voice because they have yet to audition anyone that was already on my iPod (unlike seven singers last season). I was not even familiar the boy bander who I am highly suspicious actually sold a million records. The only person I recognized was Daniel Rosa from season two. I am not against bringing back past contestants, but Daniel Rosa (he does gets points for singing Somebody That I Used to Know to a bunch of people who rejected him)? What the heck happened to Ducky (never forget)? Instead of a proper power ranking (I will wait until all the Blind Auditions, but you can get a sneak peak to the right) here is a power ranking of the biggest sob stories which they really ratcheted up for season three. And no, absurdly hot chick who had to be home schooled because she is absurdly hot in a town that cared more about sports did not make the list.

5. Nigerian refugee

4. Dad has a long fight with triple-cancer which he eventfully dies (and does not get any chairs to turn around

3. Broken jaw at the hands of racists

2. Home invasion, kidnapped mom at age 7

1. A lot of sob stories, but hands down, nothing beats having a virus that shuts down your vital organ, put you into cardiac arrest which leads to an induced coma. How lucky though to wake up a day before the Super Bowl (also known as The Voice pre-show)

You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice with the widget at right.


Go On: Same as the first episode, I laughed plenty of times (especially when Chandler made his assistant play goalie), but I am not entirely sure why I like the show.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Go On on iTunes.

Parenthood: I take it Bob lost in the primary and that is why Amber is working at the Luncheonette. Which sadly looks like the hot receptionist is no longer around. Le sigh. Another big cliffhanger that apparently got resolved during the hiatus is that Adam found a way to keep The Luncheonette and send Haddie to Cornell. Le sigh again.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: The last two season of the show really dragged on for me, but the show finally kicked back into high gear with the fifth season premiere. Well that is until Michael from Lost flicked his cigar. That was really something I did not need to see. But if I am not mistake, that was the third person that Tig was responsible for killing thanks to a Clay lie: Opie’s old lady, Michael’s daughter, and his daughter. I have a feeling that Tig is not going to let that go unnoticed. I know I said the exact same thing last season, but Clay is going to die this season, the question is by whose hand.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: The Charmer Sampler – Aimee Mann (Noise Trade)

Deal of the Week: $5.00 Bob Dylan Albums: In honor of his latest album being released this week, Amazon has a bunch of Bob Dylan albums for only $5.00 including the new album Tempest. You can also grab some of his songs for only $0.50 during the sale.

New Album Release of the Week: Battle Born - The Killers

New DVD Release of the Week: Get A Life: The Complete Series

Video of the Week: Last Resort was number one on my list of most anticipated new shows of the fall season and it did not disappoint (Autumn Reecer playing a weapons contractor notwithstanding). You can see for yourself below because Yahoo is giving early access to the Pilot. After seeing it I am not sure where they go from there (if I was the shadowy figure behind what happens, I would just send a navy seal team to go in discretely an eliminate everyone), but I have a feeling this may not make it to Thanksgivings. But I will surely enjoy all four episodes that air.

Next Week Pick of the Week: Weeds, Sunday (Tonight) at 10:00 on Showtime: I am woefully behind on this season (I am just to the point where Andy starts teaching Jewish classes) but tonight is the series finale of the show with back to back episodes (or a one hour finale depending how you want to look at). For those that need their Andy fix after the finale, you are in luck because his new show Animal Practice premieres next Wednesday. On Yom Kippur (natch)