Best of the Week - 11/3/12

Quote of the Week: You’ve dated plenty of men who were better looking and sexier, beefier and brawnier and more cut and darker skinned and longer hair and taller and richer and more successful and funnier and friendlier, who have more summer homes and foreign cars and motorboat and yachts, who are more well-traveled and know more languages than him. (Dalia, Suburgatory)

Song of the Week: Sussudio – Phil Collins (as sung by Tessa, Suburgatory)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Hurricane Sandy: If you can donate, head over to redcross.org.

Free Download of the Week: Ain't Messin 'Round - Gary Clarke Jr. (Amazon MP3)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5: This month’s five dollar albums include The Black Keys, Willie Nelson, Nas, and Oasis.


New Album Release of the Week: Most Of My Heroes Still Don't Appear On No Stamp - Public Enemy

New DVD Release of the Week: The Amazing Spider-Man

Video of the Week: I do not think endorsements move the needle at all and anyone who does so is really annoying (full disclosure, I have endorsed people in the past but have abstained this year mostly because there is no one worth endorsing) so really, if you are going to endorse anyone, you might as well make it entertaining, like when Avengers director and Buffy creator Joss Whedon endorsed Mitt Romney.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Election Coverage, All Day Tuesday on Most Channels: Yes election day is finally here, or as us Ohioans most care about, the day after the election when we do not have to watch any more of starting Wednesday (for those fortunately to be in a solid red or blue state, commercial breaks have been about fifty percent political advertising since the start of the Olympics). As I mentioned above I am not endorsing anyone this time around but I do know who I am voting for though I can be swayed either way. So I wonder just how much do celebrities care about their candidate because I am willing to vote for the candidate of their choosing. Keep in mind as I am in Ohio, this state has a 51.7% chance of deciding the election and my vote has a 12.3% chance of being the deciding vote. So I could be completely swayed by, say, a personal concert from the Dave Matthews Band. Or maybe Clint Eastwood could put me in his next movie. Or maybe Scarlett Johansson is willing to drive me to my polling place in her Black Widow costume. Or maybe one of the Koch brothers could part with a million dollars (which would be a drop in the bucket of the over billion dollars spent in this campaign on both sides). Mmm, I think I am going to go hit up Scarlett Johansson on twitter.

The Twelve Events That Will Make 2012 Awesome

Sure the world might be coming to an end December 21 but that does not mean we cannot have a little enjoyment before it happens. Here are twelve things that could lessen the blow of the world ended by the end of the year.

12. Detox - Dr. Dre: I put this at number eleven last year just in case it was not actually released and twelve months later no sign of it even if the first single was release in 2009 with the second last year. Maybe because neither really caught fire is why we are still waiting. Dre has eleven and a half months until the world ends, so hopefully he can get it out by then.

11. Work It: I have been waiting way too long for a Bosom Buddies reboot and I have a feeling this will be as close as I will get. And I will enjoy all three episodes that air before it is canceled.



10. The Amazing Spider-Man: When they first announced they had dropped Sam Raimi from the Spiderman franchise I was all ready for a boycott (even if it freed him to do another Evil Dead movie). Then they cast Emma Stone (number one on my list of the 100 Most Entertaining People of 2011) as Gwen Stacy and even though I do not care for her as a blonde, or with bangs, I will see anything she is in until she makes a bad film. Plan your July 4th weekend accordingly.



9. Bruce Springsteen: Yeah The Boss does seem to do his best work when a Republican occupies the White House (Born in the USA, The Rising) but with the economy in the tank maybe the working man’s hero of the past four decades may just have another good one in him despite the Democratic president which will be the first since the passing of his longtime sax man Clarence Clemmons. Plus the new album cannot possibly be worse than Working on a Dream.

8. In Living Color: I have long nothing is as good the second time around, then Beavis and Butt-Head came back funny as ever (granted their television watching habits have been less to be desired) so maybe the return of In Living Color for its specials (and possible regular series) will still be funny. And it will be see if any of the original cast will show up.

7. The Avengers: All of the individual Avengers movies have been at the very least solid and hinted at a collective movie and have now assembled under the tutelage of Joss Whedon. Sure I would have rather seen a Justice League movie this year instead, but you will take what you can get. The movie hits theaters May 4.



6. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: There will be two Lincoln starring movies released this year and who would have guessed that the one with Steven Spielberg directing Daniel Day-Lewis as the titular character (along with Sally Fields, Joseph Gordon-Levett, Tommy Lee Jones, Lee Pace, Walton Goggins, John Hawes, and Hal Holbrook) would not be the most anticipated one. I guess he should have added more vampires and cast Ramona Flowers as Mary Todd. The movie is set to hit theaters June 22.

5. The Mayans and Roman Emirich Could Be Wrong: Sure, the Mayan calendar maker may not have had any insight into when the world end and stopped in 2012 just because he figured taking the calendar out 5000 years in the future was good enough. In any case, you may want to spend the year partying like its 1999 just in case.

4. House of Lies: Sure I did not love the first episode (see Previewing House of Lies) but is nice to see Veronica Mars back on weekly television without having to slum it on a horrible show like Heroes.

3. The 2012 Olympics: The greatest sporting even comes around every four years (two if you include the winter version) and I may watch even more this year as this will be the first one I will be able to watch in high definition. Get ready to plop yourself on the couch starting July 27.

2. Mumford and Son / The Avett Brother: As you may have noticed there was a lot more folksier music on my 100 Best Songs of 2011 list than in previous years and these two bands kicked open that door two years ago with a pair of great albums. Both should be back early this year with new material. Bassist Ted Dwane recently called their second album "Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake." The Avett Brothers again worked with uber-producer Rick Rubin who worked on I and Love and You.

1. The Dark Knight Rises: If you need to ask why this is number one; obviously you have not seen the first two films of the trilogy. You might want to get in line now for the July 20 release date.

I Want My Movie Trailers - 12/13/11

Every week or so I like to take a look at new music videos that catch my eye and really do not do the same for movie trailers because interesting ones do not hit the interwebs as frequently as music videos, but a bunch that caught my eye have been released recently and I thought I would share them. I am not sure if this will become a regular feature, but feel free to shout me a holler if you think you can come up with a better title than I did (which should not be too hard).


Cabin in the Woods – April 13



When I first heard about the new Joss Whedon movie Cabin in the Woods my first thought was, that sounded much better when it was called Evil Dead (and to show nothing is sacred anymore, word is we are getting an Evil Dead reboot in the near feature sans Ash; my soul is weeping). But like it says I the trailer, “You think you know the story… Think again” and after watching it I look to be wrong pigeonholing it because from the cabin in the woods setting, there looks to be something entirely different going on a bigger scale. At the very least Cabin in the Woods will be something to hold us over until the inevitable Army of Darkness reboot nobody ask for hits movie theaters.


The Five Year Engagement – April 27



Comedies are notorious for frontloading trailers with all the funniest bits, but if there are other scenes even half as funny as Bright Abbott singing We Didn’t Start the Fire with past girlfriends and a child shooting people with arrows, The Five Year Engagement will be worth watching. Really, when was the last unfunny movie Judd Apatow (who apparently now goes by “The Producers of Bridesmaids
” for some reason) was apart of? And I swear I heard Annie Edition try to do an English accent in the trailer which may also make the movie worth the price of admission.


Battleship – May 18



The second Battleship trailer has landed, now with 100% more Landry Clarke. But the movie could employ the entire cast of Friday Night Lights and I’d still be a bit worried. Best case scenario is it is Independence Day at seas. Worst case scenario, Transformers at sea.


What to Expect When You’re Expecting – May 11



The trailer work like the longest game of good news (Elizabeth Banks) bad new (Cameron Diaz) good news (Brooklyn Decker) bad news (Brooklyn Decker in a fat suit) good news (Chris Rock) ban news (Jennifer Lopez) good news (Anna Kendrick) bad news (the dude from Gossip Girl) good news (Big Poppa) bad new (the dude from Glee). I think the bad news will win out because the movie looks like He's Just Not That Into You if the all the chicks got knocked up. But seriously, can we please stop these horrible “ensemble” movies that spend too much money on talent and none on actual screenwriting?

Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Television Shows of the 00's

By now I hope you have had the chance to digest The 100 Greatest Television Shows of the 00’s. If not, follow the link to give it a look before reading further. I didn’t do an introduction to the list because I tend to get wordy when I get on a roll and I just wanted the list to speak for itself, only adding a quick note to the requirements. So I will get wordy today instead.

Yesterday kicked off a year long look back at the decade that is about to end. Every month for the next twelve months (sans December where I will be too busy doing my usually year end retrospective) I will release a new comprehensive list remembering the best of the 00’s. I do mean comprehensive because I have been researching these list for the last two years to make sure they are as complete as they could be. Of course I am only an armchair pundit and will not have gotten to experience your favorites, so if they are missing, that most likely be the case. Granted there is an off chance I did catch it and just didn’t like it (I’m talking to you the people who still think Heroes is watchable).

Like I said before, I wanted to have the lists speak for themselves so just like yesterday future list will be just that. But much like today, the day after a “Greatest of the 00’s” list, I will delve a little deeper and over digest each list. I would first like to say that I may the eligibility requirement September 1999 to August 2009 because it seemed easy to include full season and thus eliminating such quandaries like “should Freaks and Geeks included even though it only aired half a season?” So here is the 100 Greatest Television Shows of the 00’s by the numbers:

Shows by Network
NBC - 14
ABC - 11
VH1 - 11
FOX - 10
CBS - 8
MTV - 7
WB - 6
Comedy Central - 5
HBO - 5
CW - 4
Showtime - 4
ESPN - 3
TNT - 3
UPN - 3
ABC Family - 2
Bravo - 2
G4 - 2
National Geographic - 2
Cartoon Network - 1
CMT - 1
DirecTV - 1
FX - 1
MSNBC - 1
PBS - 1
Spike - 1
Tech-TV - 1
USA – 1

Shows by Genre
Drama - 30
Comedy - 19
Competition - 10
Documentary - 10
Sci-Fi - 10
News - 9
Variety - 6
Music - 4
Animation - 2

(Scooter’s Note: There is no “reality” because I divided those shows into Competition and Documentary)

Shows by Debut Year
Pre-1999 – 15
1999 – 5
2000 – 4
2001 – 9
2002 – 8
2003 – 13
2004 – 7
2005 – 9
2006 – 8
2007 – 9
2008 – 7
2009 – 6

Shows by End Year
2000 – 2
2001 – 4
2002 – 6
2003 – 5
2004 – 8
2005 – 7
2006 – 8
2007 – 8
2008 – 2
2009 – 8

Creators with Multiple Shows
Brian Fuller - 3
Joss Whedon – 3
Aaron Sorkin – 2
Denis Leary – 2
Greg Berlanti – 2
J.J. Abrams – 2
Norm McDonald – 2
Rob Burnett and Rob Beckerman - 2
Rob Thomas – 2

Cast Member in Multiple Shows
Adam Baldwin - 3
Denis Leary – 3
Tom Cavanaugh – 3
Allison Hannigan – 2
Chi McBride - 2
Ian McShane – 2
James Purefoy – 2
Jason Segal – 2
Julie Gonzalo – 2
Katie Finneran - 2
Kevin McKidd – 2
Lee Pace - 2
Mark Valley - 2
Nathan Fillion - 2
Norm McDonald – 2
Rachel Nichols - 2
Sarah Paulson – 2
Seth Rogan - 2


Still on the Air - 42

One and Done Seasons – 26

Jumped Networks – 4

(Scooter’s Note: The UPN/WB and G4/Tech-TV mergers and the special Friday Night Lights agreement with DirecTV and NBC are not included in the number. Monday Night Raw is only counted once.)

Disappeared in the Digital Age (no DVD, no streaming, no (legal) downloading): 18

One last thing, since the decade is over and there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on what to call it, when you see me talk about “Greatest of the 00’s” think the last syllable of Cheerio’s.

And in Terms of a Plan? We Fight

Much like Buffy the Vampire Slayer before it, I was late getting into Angel. And much like I caught up to Buffy thanks to FX running two episodes a day, I got my daily dose of Angel on TNT going through whole seasons in less than a month before catching up with the new airings on the network. Angel started out as just an extension of Buffy, not really noteworthy in itself the first couple season, but finally came into its own and truly because better with each passing seasons and that is why it is this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.

Please note this isn’t a post to try to capitalize on the annoying impotent vampire craze that is going on now (in fact it just shamelessly ties into a much bigger post being released this coming Tuesday, so be sure to come back then), because let’s face it; the title character was the least interesting on the show. The show was slow to start when it was just Angel, Cordelia and Doyle. But it finally hit its stride when Angel moved into the abandoned hotel and recruited what would end up being his core group by the end of the second season when Fred join Gunn, Wesley, Lorne in the cast.

And as good as that core group was in the beginning, the show went into overdrive in its fifth and final season. This is when Angel Investigations arch-nemesis Wolfram and Hart decided to give them the keys to their LA office for Angel to run and his buddies to get their own niche in the company. It probably wasn’t a coincidence that the season was the first in which creator Joss Whedon only had one show on the year and just came of a season that saw Buffy end and Firefly prematurely canceled.

The last season also saw the inclusion of comic relief courtesy of Harmony, a former classmate of Cordelia turned vampire as Angel’s receptionist at Wolfram and Hart. Not that the show needed more comic relief because even though Angel was routinely considered darker than Buffy, Buffy never had an episode as whimsical as when Angel got tuned into a puppet. And as tentative as I was as first as Spike joining the cast, it ending up a good thing if only for the astronaut vs. caveman debate. Not the mention the final season also saw a post-Firefly, pre-Chuck Adam Baldwin as the liaison to the Senior Partners.

But of course just when the show turned on its after burns in terms of creativity, the show got canceled. Yet somehow, the series finale with the gang opening up the gates of hell as repercussions of assassinate the Circle of the Black Crown was a satisfying ending in its ambiguity, and frustrating at the same time.

Playing the Percentages vol. II

It is time for another rousing round of Playing the Percentages, again along for the ride is the good people from TV on the Brain. If you want to play the home game, just drop your thoughts in the comments or leave a comment on a question you would like to be answered at a later date. Now let us play the game where I will play the role of the House Republicans with Jo playing the role of George Bush.


What are the chances that Pushing Daises has a sophomore slump?

Scooter: 10%. Where someone like JJ Abrams is high concept, low results, Bryan Fuller has proven to be high concept, high results, well at least when people turn in. Plus it is had to have a sophomore slump when your freshman year is cut in less than half.

Jo: 0%. Bryan Fuller and crew didn't even get a full season one thanks to the strike. So he's had nearly a year to think about it. And even though this show has a very specific premise, there is a rich well of story to tell in this beautiful fantasy world he's created.


What are the chances that the best show of this season will be a mid-season replacement?

Scooter: It is not a good sign when the best new show of the season I have seen is Raising the Bar with Zack Morris and his absurd hair. I was looking forward to Ex-List until Diane Ruggerio left unceremoniously. She just happen to get quick work with Rob Thomas on the reboot of Cupid. Thrown in mid-season shows by Mike Judge and Joss Whedon plus the much buzzed Kings I’ll go a high as 92% on this.

Jo: I haven't been paying attention to the new material coming out, but my money would be on proven show runners Joss & Rob as well. So I'll toss a 75% out there for good measure.


What chances does Gary Unmarried have to be this year’s The Big Bang Theory?

Scooter: Despite being much beloved now, The Big Bang Theory got crushed by critics, professional and armchair alike much like Gary Unmarried has when they first aired. But even their first were not completely unwatchable. With that said I will only give it 33% chance because The Big Bang Theory had Sheldon to build around and Gary Unmarried doesn’t have that potential break out character to lift them into bankable sitcom. Although if tweaked, Ed Beagley Jr., who I think is just currently recurring, could be that.

Jo: 25%. Jay Mohr is a bit of a love 'em or hate 'em actor. I happen to hate. And as much as I seriously adore The Big Bang Theory, they need to better balance the story telling out among all the characters because, yes Scooter, even Sheldon will get old with his schtick.

Scooter: As someone with some of Sheldon's quirks, there is plenty of of schtick left before Sheldon gets old.


What is the percentage that you will not be watching Friday Night Lights until 2009?

Scooter: 25%, I deleted all my torrent programs years ago out of security reasons (and the fear of being sued) but I am holding out hope that NBC still steams new episodes on Hulu the day after they air on DirecTV which would be the smart thing to do from a business standpoint to combat the torrent. But NBC has proved not to be the smarted network (*cough* Knight Rider *cough*)

Jo: ? 50%? I don't even know when FNL is supposed to come back. I figure since NBC is barely keeping the show alive anyways that if all else fails, I'll rent the DVDs.

Scooter: For the record, Friday Night Lights season three premieres tomorrow at 9:00 on DirecTV channel 101 (and repeated Fridays at 9:00) uncut and commercial free. Then sometime in 2009 the episode will re-air on NBC at a time and day to be determined later. I'm not sure the "uncut" is a marketing ploy or if DirecTV will be throwing in a swear word and gratuitous nudity that will be cut out for network broadcast or maybe some extra scenes. Now if only I knew someone with DirecTV so I could find this out (anyone in Northeast Ohio with DirecTV, shout me a holla).

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. XXXV

Quote of the Week: You know the lyric “I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom”: that’s me. (Tony Kornheiser, Pardon the Interruption)

Song of the Week: The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground (as mention by Tony Kornheiser, Pardon the Interruption)

Big New of the Week: Famous People Say the Dumbest Things: Well at least the pundits would have you believe. First off there was John McCain adviser Charlie Black who said that the McCain campaign would benefit from a terrorist attack which had all those pundits up in arms except they have been saying the exact same throughout the primary season as well as Hilary Clinton. Then there was Shaquille O’Neil who asked former teammate Kobe Bryant what the flavoring of his posterior was. This then got a full Sportscenter dedicated to his rap, but c’mon, who hasn’t asked everyone they met this past week to tell them how their (expletive deleted) tasted? Or was that just me? Finally there was Don Imus who asked what color Pacman Jones when it was brought up he had been arrested eight times. When one of his goons said African-American Imus relied, “Well there you go.” Alright, that dude is a moron.


Coalition Links of the Week:
If thinking The Secret Life of the American Teenager could be cheesily addictive is wrong, Buzz doesn't want to be right. (BuzzSugar)

GMMR has been podcast crazy this past week. Two, count 'em, two podcasts! In addition to the usual GMMR/Ducky So You Think You Can Dance podcast, we devoted a separate TV Talk Podcast to what shows are taking over our TV this summer. (Give Me My Remote)

Marcia decided to spend the summer hiatus watching old episodes of Buffy and wondered if the show improves with repeat viewings. (Pop Vultures)

From Miami to Vancouver, this week Rae was on the set of Psych and she's only to happy to share what happened. (RTVW)

School's out and Vance celebrates the end of an era now that Emma, daughter of Spike (from the original Degrassi) has now graduated from Degrassi High on Degrassi: The Next Generation. (Though The N will show those episodes this summer.) (Tapeworthy)

Remember that episode about the helpless dude who delivered the baby in the elevator? Oh yeah, that was every series ever. By that token, Dan decided to coin the term "elevator baby" and cement his role in pop culture history. (TiFaux)

Tube Talk shared some scoop on the new season of Psych, after an interview with show stars James Roday and Dulé Hill, fondly remembered shows that were canceled too early, and asked for help in naming Tube Talk Girl’s future baby boy. (Tube Talk)

This week we finally spotted someone who has a Nerdier license plate than the TV Addicts and released what critics, and by critics I mean listeners are saying was our funniest to date! (The TV Addict)

Kate is disappointed enough with this season of My Boys that she drafted an open letter to the show's writers. (TV Filter)


The Middleman: A bit of a fall off from last week, but I did like the gag of Hell being an office building. But there were some pacing issues keeping it from being as good as the pilot. And again, please stop spending your entire budget on bad CGI. Signs are not good for the future of the show as next week it is hastily being pushed to 10:00, so enjoy it while you can. You can dowload episodes of The Middleman on iTunes.


The Bill Engvall Show: I don’t remember this show being this funny from the first two episodes, but I laughed quite heavily a few times this episode if only because I have been on the receiving end of many of bad gifts in my lifetime. Catch up on recent episodes over at TBS.com




My Boys: Really nothing to say but both the A and B plots fell flat this week. Catch up on recent episodes over at TBS.com. You can also download My Boys on iTunes.


I Love the New Millennium: Back when I Love the 90’s premiered in 2004 I said it was too soon for reminiscing on the decade, so naturally I Love the New Millennium is way too soon. And what worked well with the I Love the 80’s was hearing dudes in their thirties talking about things they grew up about; hearing dudes in their forty taking about MySpace is a little creepy. And do we really need to hear Hal Spark and Michael Ian Black’s thoughts on every subject? It is obvious Black stopped trying around I Love the 80’s Part Deux and Sparks in only funny in small bursts.


Promo of the Week: All the nerds were in a tizzy this week. No, not because Bill Gates retired Friday, but for a promo for Joss Whedon’s internet series Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog featuring Neil Patrick Harris as the title character and Nathan Fillion as his arch nemesis. Here’s the teaser:




Pick for Next Week: I Love Money, Sunday (July 6th) at 9:00 on VH1: I know I shouldn’t be this excited for a show that is going to suck massively, but I have to support my boy Midget Mac.

Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Ten Times…

As I mentioned this weekend, the internet was all a buzz last week when the new broke that a Joss Whedon produced, Eliza Dushku staring show Dollhouse was announced. I too got excited but only for about a half a second because I saw the show was being created for Fox. Long time readers to the 9th Green know I have not watched anything on the network since the series finale of Arrested Development (fun fact: the same year Arrested Development got canceled, The War at Home got renewed for a second season by Fox).

And since it is on Fox, everything about this show screams that it will not see a second season. In fact if this were Over/Under and I were Commissioner Statboy, I would make the line a Wilbon special at 3.5 episodes before the show is cancel (feel free to let me know if you would take the over or the under). But maybe I should look at this like Marshall and break out a legal pad and make a list of pros and cons to watching Dollhouse:

Pros

- Joss Whedon
- Eliza Dushku
- Tim Minear

Cons

- The Lone Gunmen
- Undeclared
- Firefly
- A Minute with Stan Hooper
- Keen Eddie
- Wonderfalls
- The Jury
- The Inside
- Point Pleasant
- Reunion

Well that is three to ten for the cons. And that could have been worse because I didn’t count the shows that even got multiple seasons but still got jerked around like Boston Public, Arrested Development, and Dushku’s previous outing on Fox, Tru Calling. Not too mention last season’s Drive which I was enough not to start watching because, as my sources tell me, was pulled before all the episodes aired.

As for Dollhouse, I’m gonna pass watching it when it hits television (which could be as soon as January depending on the writers strike). I’ll just wait for the inevitable Complete Series DVD to go next to my Undclared, Firefly, and Wonderfall sets. And for those dumb of you to actually watch the show, start your Save Dollhouse Campaigns now. And please don’t let me hear you whine when Fox pulls the plug after a month.

Into Each Generation a Slayer Is Born

Very rarely do I ever do I start watching a show after it’s started, twice to be exact. The second time was when I stayed tune to watch the post-Super Bowl Alias. They had me sold with Jennifer Garner prancing in her underwear to Back in Black so I instantly queued the seasons I missed and watch them at mass. Unfortunately the show didn’t live up to the hype and I have yet to see the last season. But the only other show that I started watching during its run definitely lived up to the hype and that is why Buffy the Vampire Slayer is this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.

The main reason why I skipped the show in its initial run was mostly because of the horrendous movie of the same name with Dylan McKay and Pee Wee Herman in his first acting appearance since, well, he opened the Video Music Awards. So there was no way after wasting and hour and a half of my life watching the movie would invest a whole hour every week for the a serialize version. But after all the praise the show received, I got a second chance when FX bought the syndication rights and started airing the show from the beginning around the start of the fifth season.

So every weekday for two hours I watch obsessively until I was fully caught up in about two months. And then the withdrawal started, going from ten episodes a week to just one was a big jolt. What really drew me into was the writing with it’s overly sarcastic characters and enough pop culture references to keep you scouring the internet each week to figure out the one’s you didn’t catch. The writing was so good it was even able to hind Sarah Michelle Gellar’s sub par acting skills (and before anyone what to argue that fact, go rent Simply Irresistible, The Grudge, or any of the Scooby Doo movies, then try to argue). And while all the fanatics fawned over the Buffy/Angel pairing, I gravitated more to Xander and the follies of his love life. Although sometimes those follies hit too close to home but luckily I never ran into a Vengence Deamon (that I know of).

But what drove the show year in and year out were the annual Big Bad’s who would make Buffy’s life miserable every year. It seemed that every Big Bad was badder than his or her predecessor. Well until we got to the nerd trio in season six, but what they lacked in scariness they definitely made up in comic relief. And who would have guessed in season six that Andrew would be the most entertain part of the last season as well as a great guest spot on Angel the following year? Thanks to the greatness of the Big Bad’s, one of the best scenes ever was the closing season of season seven’s premiere with Spike being haunted by all the other Big Bad’s.

Speaking of Spike, there is another great aspect of the show in that you never knew when a character would pop up again. Not even death kept some characters from making more appearances most notable Harmony who was actually more entertaining dead than alive and of course the previously mentioned Andrew who went from an obscure character from season one’s brother to the best part of the last season.

Unfortunately it’s not all fond memories for the show as Buffy remands the main reason why I avoid spoilers when I learned way too early that Tara would die causing Willow to become the Big Bad at the end of season six somewhat ruining that season for me. But the good definitely out weigh the bad with some iconic episodes like Hush where everyone on the show lost their voice for most of the episode. It’s weird to think that the show is now a decade old (well technically it will in March) but the episodes have aged well even with all the pop culture references and that is why Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the first induction into the SHoF for 2007. Unfortunately the Buffyverse has been on hiatus since Angel ended a year after Buffy and a Faith based show and Spike centered movies have since failed to go past planning stages but it was recently announced by Joss Whedon that he will doing a season eight of the series in comic book form so look out for that.


As I write this, you can currently get all seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Amazon.com for 19.97 (that’s $0.91 per episodes of seasons 2-7) and below are my three favorite seasons. You can also download the first two seasons at iTunes.

Toss Up: Lost vs Veronica Mars: Season Two Edition

Two years ago, not only were Lost and Veronica Mars the two best new show of the season, they were the best two shows on television, period. Of course the TV Gods thought it would be funny to have the two shows air opposite of each going into their sophomore season which spawned my Toss Up series. But even though this year they are back to a day apart, I will continue to bring you the weekly Toss Up every Thursday (as long as they air new episodes) to see which show comes out on top. Now I am aware that they are a few Lost fans that haven’t yet caught Veronica Mars that check out the Toss Ups, well now here’s your chance to get into the show by heading over to MSN to see the first episode of the new season. I’ve seen it myself, and really the slate has be wiped clean so you don’t need to see the first two season to jump in (but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back and check them out on DVD later). So if you have forty-five minutes go check that out. Now onto the season two Toss Up:


Death Toll
Lost: The Token Hot Chick, Ana Lucia, Libby, Henry Gale (the real one), Goodwin, Nathan, Kate’s dad, Eko’s brother
Veronica Mars: Evil Beaver, Meg, Mayor Goodwood, Aaron Echols, Felix, Not-so-Lucky, Cervando, Peter Ferrer, Marcos Olivares, Betina
Winner: Veronica Mars


Daddy Issues
Lost: Kate wished her dad left her alone
Veronica Mars: Jackie wished her dad was there more
Winner: Veronica Mars


Obligatory Psychotic Jackass Bootie Call
Lost: Sawyer got down and dirty in the jungle with Ana Lucia
Veronica Mars: Logan had essentially a high price hooker Not-Kendall
Winner: Lost


4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42
Lost: What has to be typed into a computer ever 108 minutes.
Veronica Mars: True Love Stories Never Have Endings
Winner: Veronica Mars


Knocked Up
Lost: Sun by, um, yet to be determined
Veronica Mars: Meg by Duncan
Winner: Veronica Mars


Not
Lost: Not-Henry
Veronica Mars: Not-Kendall
Winner: Lost


Music
Lost: Charlie is a one hit wonder and sings to anyone who wants to hear
Veronica Mars: Veronica was serenaded her namesake’s song title by the dude from Spoon
Winner: Veronica Mars


Setting
Lost: Deserted island jungle
Veronica Mars: Urban jungle
Winner: Lost


Faction struggle
Lost: Passengers of 815 vs. the Others
Veronica Mars: 09’ers vs. the PCH’ers vs. the Fitzpatricks
Winner: Veronica Mars


Guest Stars
Lost: Carol Vessey, Peggy Bundy, Zelda Spellman
Veronica Mars: Silent Bob, Joss Whedon, Zena the Warrior Princess, the chick from Laguna Beach
Winner: Veronica Mars


Doctor with a Problem
Lost: Jack’s dad with alcohol
Veronica Mars: Hannah’s dad with coke
Winner: Veronica Mars


Hot Dead Blonde
Lost: Shannon
Veronica Mars: Meg
Winner: Lost


Shooting Blanks
Lost: Jin (maybe)
Veronica Mars: Lucky
Winner: Lost


Best Nicknames
Lost: Zeke
Veronica Mars: Ronnie
Winner: Lost


On the Lamb
Lost: Kate before the plane crashed
Veronica Mars: Madison Sinclair
Winner: Veronica Mars


It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye…
Lost: Michael and Walt
Veronica Mars: Duncan and Jackie
Winner: Lost


On the Internet
Lost: You can download the season two finale on iTunes for free (while supplies last)
Veronica Mars: You can stream the season three premiere at MSN a week before it airs
Winner: Lost


By the End of the Season We Learned
Lost: What happens when the button isn’t pushed
Veronica Mars: Who crashed the bus
Winner: Veronica Mars


Cliffhanger
Lost: What will happen to Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Eko, Locke, Desmond?
Veronica Mars: What was in Not-Kendall’s briefcase?
Winner: Lost


So there you have it broken down numerically, Veronica Mars just eeks Lost out to have the better second season but be sure to check back every Thursday to see who wins that week. Veronica Mars premieres Tuesday, October 3rd at 9:00 on the CW. Lost premieres Wednesday, October 4th at 9:00 on ABC. And don’t forget to check out the Veronica Mars press conference transcripts - Chatting with Rob Thomas and Tina Majorino.

Fantasy CW Television Schedule

The big news Tuesday was the unexpected merger of The WB with UPN. My first thought was, “Oh crap, there’re going to get rid of Veronica Mars.” Then after every major and minor new report mentioned the show as most like being apart of the new CW network (a name so bad you’d think they’d try to get half owner, CBS, to let them start showing Love Monkey). Add onto that the show is currently on UPN and is produced by the Warner Brothers studio, which of course owns The WB, they already both have vested interest in the show. But being beat by a repeat of Beauty and the Geek this past Wednesday may not help though.

Aside from announcing the merger, both sides have been relatively quiet about the specifics like which shows will make up the new channel or even how much prime time programming there will be. I’ve heard everything from as little as 17 hours all the way up to 30 hours. So I have compiled a list for the newly minted CW letting know not only what shows that should stick around and those that should be dumped but a potential lineup they should use come fall using the current WB hours which I have heard a couple times as being the model for:


Must Have Shows – Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates Chris, Everwood, Supernatural
Must Dump Now – South Beach, Cuts, One Tree Hill, Living with Fran, Twins, Charmed, Eve


Monday
8:00 - 7th Heaven spin-off
9:00 - Gilmore Girls

Tuesday
8:00 - New Joss Whedon Show
9:00 - Veronica Mars

Wednesday
8:00 - America’s Next Top Model
9:00 - Supernatural

Thursday
8:00 - Everybody Hates Chris
8:30 - One on One
9:00 - Girlfriends
9:30 - Half and Half

Friday
8:00 - WWE Smackdown

Sunday
5:00 - Veronica Mars Beginnings
6:00 - Easy View Tuesday 8:00 Show
7:00 - What I Like About You
7:30 - Reba
8:00 - Related
9:00 - Everwood


On Mondays I know that this is the last season for 7th Heaven but it is still the second highest rated show currently on The WB so taking a couple characters from the show for a new show would be a wise decision and pairing it with Gilmore Girls would make a good family lineup.

For Tuesday, here is my probably too far fetched idea but I will pitch it anyways, beg Joss Whedon to create a new show for the fledgling network. He helped bring credibility to The WB with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and did the same for UPN when Buffy moved there in season 5. Whether it is a show in the Buffy-verse, a Firefly offshoot or a new show entirely, they need to beg Weadon to bring a show to the network. Then have that show lead into the best show since Buffy, Veronica Mars, would be a great pair.

Wednesday is sort of a hodgepodge as there is nowhere else to put Supernatural unless it gets paired up with Veronica Mars considering that it’s doubtful that my Weadon suggestion will come to fruition. Thursday is a combination of the best urban shows while some of the crap gets axed. Seriously how did Shannon Elizabeth get her own show? But anyways. Smackdown is perfect for Friday as it give pre-pubescent dude something to do when they can’t get a date. If only this was the case when I was young so I wouldn't have been stuck watching Urkel.

The WB loves its Easy View so why not keep it around. UPN even stole the idea by repeating Veronica Mars at 7:00 on Sundays this year. And just like The WB has done with Smallville and Gilmore Girls in the past, show the first season of Veronica Mars so late comers can get caught up. While all the new programming are good family shows, even though the dramas do have some older themes. In addition to the schedule, CW should bring back Beauty and the Geek and Blue Collar TV as replacement shows or fillers for when show go on hiatus instead a weeks of repeats instead.

The most glaring omission from this lineup is Smallville. When watching the 100th episode and watching the deaths of Lana (thankfully she came back to life) and Papa Kent (don't they know what happen the last time a show tried to go without Bo Duke?), I realized that this is the last hurrah for the show. It was good while it lasted, but it’s quickly running out of storylines and Warner Brother won’t be hesitant to pull the plug before the show does something to taint the legacy, and in turn taint the movie that will be coming out this summer, and most like future summers too. Plus it would be silly to have a television show and film franchise running at the same time. And to the Smallville faithful, you should be happy the show that the show will not be able to fall into late season X-Files type decline.

Toss Up: Lost vs Veronica Mars week 5

Just when you think Lost couldn’t get any worse, the show slips even further down. And when I say worse, I saying season two has gotten X-Files 7x bad. Once again we had to sit through fifty minutes of boring dribble only for it to pick up in the last ten minutes. But of course the marketing department ruined much of that excitement by letting us know that someone was going to die. And then the person they killed off, the token hot chick, was a bad idea to end all bad ideas.

And even though I mentioned that if Shannon was the one to die, I would never watch the show again, that was most likely an idle threat. Instead Lost will most likely move into the shows I watch but don’t want to admit I do much like the reality shows on VH1. But they might as well have killed her off because they rendered the character useless. Last season, her character seemed like the most intriguing to see how she would adapt to being on an island. Then aside from seeing Walt in the first episode, she has done nothing of note this season so far. Then after being mad at Sayid for not killing Locke for her less than two weeks ago (at least by my calculation of the show’s timeline), she willing to have sex with him which I would assume was unprotected. And what's up with the horror story, "if you have sex, you will die" cliche?

There were a few things I did pick up during the boring first part of the show. First the blonde tailie mention that she was a clinical psychologist and if my memory serves me correctly, the people who were running the hatch experiment were from a college’s psychology department. I have to believe she has something to do with it. Maybe her team didn’t push the button in the bunker that they tailies where staying in. I also found it interesting that she that she brought up the children, who I for now on refer to as the Lost Boys (get it? The show is called Lost, and then there Peter Pan, oh, never mind) a couple times. Who are the Lost Boys? Was there a large under aged presence in the back of the plane? Are they part of the Others?

Speaking of the Others, I have come to the realization that there are actually two separate groups of Others. I have grouped them into the Ethan Rom (remember him? I am beginning to wonder if the writers do) sect who I think is connected with the jungle whispers and those who were killing off the tallies systematically. Then there were the Deliverance looking guys who took Walt. I think they are both battling to for control of the island. I haven’t figured out exactly how Desmond and the hatch figure into all of this, but then again, I really doubt that the writers do either.

I also think that this was the first flashback that happens well before the crash that they dated. If you were paying attention, Shannon was playing the Dave Matthews Band’s Stay (Wasting Time) which would put it circa 1998. That would also put Jack’s meeting Desmond at the same time. And that leads to another questionable reason to kill off Shannon. For anyone who was paying attention, Shannon’s dad was the guy who died in the accident caused by Jack future wife. But they never explicitly said that’s what happened, in fact Jack didn’t even appear at all this episode, and thus ruins what could have been an interesting storyline which this season desperately need. And now with Shannon dead they really can’t explore it any further.

But now on to a show that has yet to disappoint, and easily wins this weeks toss-up (and currently has a 4-1 alltime lead), Veronica Mars. The big story this week is the return of a couple familiar faces not seen since last season, Aaron Echols, Abel Koontz, Clarence Weidman, and Cliff the not very good lawyer. Then there was the triumphant return of Dick, who is quickly become my favorite character. I loved how he actually seemed that it was cool how his dad would be arrested on sight if he ever set foot inside the US again. All that and they even had Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in his first ever speaking role playing an shady car rental employee, not to be confused with Kevin Smith who a couple weeks ago played a shady convenience store clerk. Next on the famous writer guest parade could be none other than horror guru Steven King who recent confessed his love for the show.

Where Lost spent most of its latest episode boring me to tears, Veronica Mars was none stop action with twist and turns during almost every scene. Logan got arrested for killing Felix, again, after the only witness stepped forward, with no reason given, months after calling in the anonymous tip. Then Logan decides to go with the public defendant who just happens to be Veronica’s good ol’ pal Cliff which leads to the highlight of this episode where Cliff and Veronica debate who currently owes the other a favor by ratting off what each has done for each other lately while Logan just sits and listens.

The arrest leads Logan to share a cell with his father, who is just conveniently there while being transferred. While there, Aaron mentioned that he didn’t kill Lilly. I do believe him because I never really thought he did it in the first place. I always thought he would have her killed rather to do it himself. And really why would someone who has admitted to statutory rape, numerous counts of contributing to a delinquency of a minor, infidelity, and multiple counts of attempted murder, draw the line at admitting murder. His Duncan excuse is definably plausible and that will no doubt cause some tension between the new roommates.

Logan and Duncan are now roommates because Weevil and his homies burned down his mansion after they heard Logan was released on bond, suspiciously after Sheriff Lamb said he would be a flight risk. Yet even Cliff was able to get Logan out. I wonder if by telling Logan that, Lame was basically telling Logan to leave town when he gets out.

But the major story line was the return of Abel Koontz, with days to live, asking Veronica to find his daughter, who skipped town after taking the Kane’s hush money, so he can say goodbye. And since this is Veronica Mars, finding his daughter led to a larger conspiracy of the daughter coming back to Neptune to extort more money from the Kane family. This leads to the return of Weidman who Veronica had to ask after breaking into his office “You’re the head of what again?” But even after that and butting heads all last season, they team up to find Koontz’s daughter… in the ice machine of a shady hotel, “Rooms are $30).

Then to top thing off, Keith, who just found out his daughter’s name turned up on the hand of a dead man, breaks into the bus wreckage only to find something taped to the bottom of the seat. Unfortunately it was to dark to see what exactly was there. I thought it was some sort of bomb yet I heard some people say it looked like a rat, but there was defiantly something duct taped to the bottom of a seat.


Looking ahead to next week, we get to see how the tailies live post-crash on Lost and we may learn a little more about the Lost Boys who were mention during the previews. As for Veronica Mars, Duncan and Veronica look into some sort of babysitting scandal. At first glance it looks as if Lost will be better, but as we have seen all season, the subsequent episode has always been a letdown compared to its previews. So I think it will be a safe bet that Veronica Mars will ultimately be better. Not that I’m watching Lost ever again…