Best of the Week - 2/26/11

Quote of the Week: We could also stop using the letter “M” but I think that idea is isguided and oronic. (Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: Angel of the Morning – Juice Newton (as “sung” by Gloria, Modern Family)

Big News of the Week: Muammar al-Qaddafi Back in the News: If he wasn’t one of the worst’s dictators, you would almost have to feel bad for Muammar al-Qaddafi. Growing up in the eighties, all us school children hated him and his anti-American rants as he was the reigning craziest dictator but in recent years he has been outshined even crazier rulers like Kim Jong-Il, Saddam Hussein, and the nutjobs in Iran. But Qaddafi came back in a big way this week when his country Libya seems like the next Muslim country to fall which had led to classic Muammar being Muammar moments that leave some nostalgic for his heyday in the eighties. And the cause of the unrest in his country is even more humorous: Mariah Carey. Apparently Libyans are not happy that Muatassim Qaddafi, Muammar’s son, had paid the songstress, as well as Beyoncé and Usher, millions of dollars to perform as little as four songs for the ruthless dictator. So the next time you are downloading one of their songs illegally, do not feel bad because they support terrorists.

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: Blue Skies Again – Jessica Lea Mayfield (iTunes)

Deal of the Week: Save up to 59% on Oscar Nomanees (The Dark Knight, Toy Story 3, Sound of Music)

New Album Release of the Week: The Valley - Eisley (Head over to Spin.com to download to tracks for free and stream the whole album)

New DVD Release of the Week: Bambi

Video of the Week: I have never received any greater advise ever than to never trust a big butt and a smile. And the great thinkers that gave us that pearl of wisdom have recently reunited and we on Late Night this week, backed by The Roots. And since one Bell Biv DeVoe song is not enough, the trio filmed a second performance exclusive to the interwebs and I bring it here for you. You’re welcome.

Bell Biv DeVoe – Poison


Bell Biv DeVoe – Do Me!


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Cape, Monday at 9:00 on NBC: Poor Summer Glau, she cannot seem to get anyone to watch any show she is on. Her most successful show to date is one and a half seasons. At least her latest outing The Cape was her first not regulated to the Friday Death Slot. But the show is coming to a close for the season (most likely ever) tomorrow after just nine episodes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 2/6/11

Shameless: Showtime was nice enough to give me a preview of tonight’s episode and I didn’t have much expectations going to the show but it was highly enjoyable. I am not sure it happens every week, but the episode starts up with the greatest “previous on” segment where William H Macy is sitting in a hospital bed saying, “Here is what you missed on Shameless last week: I got really drunk… I’m not sure what happened after that.” Sure I have now seen Emmy Rossum do her lady business more than I would like to, which is something you would have to see every week because it is in the title sequence, and you get a bonus scene as part of tonight’s episode which also features an bachelor and bachelorette party while Frank learns that his third testicle may not actually be a good thing. If you have missed Shameless, Showtime is reairing the first four episodes starting at 5:00 tonight which give you time to catch up before a new episode at 10:00 after new episode of Episodes and Californication because it is not like there is anything worth watching tonight.

Chuck: Is it wrong that I was disappointing it is Volkoff going off to jail not mama Bartowski, because I would much rather have Timothy Dalton stick around long that Linda Hamilton. At least we got more Jeffster. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

Greek: If Ashleigh hooks up with Dr. Mike Burton I will be totally creeped out even more than Cappie taking advantage of a drunken Casey. I do not think she will be happy when she wake us tomorrow. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



The Cape: When I saw we had our first female baddie of the week I was hoping for a good old girl fight with Orwell and how disappointed that we only got a punch out of each of them. Hurmph. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Cape on iTunes.

Harry’s Law: Hopefully the fast food lawsuit goes forward because Scoote McGavin remains to be the best (and really only good) thing about the show. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Lights Out: It has long been debated what would happen if a boxer took on an MMA with the consensus being that neither could beat each other at the other’s sport. Except of course in a fictionalize setting with Lights taking out an MMA fighter in the octagon. Hulu. You can also download Lights Out on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: I am jealous that Dr. Cooper was never lectured a class I attended. I may be more jealous that I never got acting lesions from Penny. It should also be pointed out that Outsourced had a much more entertaining Bollywood dance sequence two weeks ago. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.

Community: I still can’t Chang’s elf out of my head. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Outsourced: I do not know if the getting on train thing is real, but I hope it is because it was hilarious. I would also like to point out that I was The Pretzel king back in my team building days. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Outsourced on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 1/30/11

Chuck: Seems a little naïve that Mama Bartowski has been working to bring that Volcov for two decades but Sarah thinks she can do so in short order. But if next week truly is the final showdown between Chuck and Volcov I will miss Timothy Dalton who has been a short in the arm this season. If Mama Bartowski goes down with him, I won’t be as sad to see her go. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Holy Meg Manning sighting! One thing that has bugged me since the show returned is that the final scenes I have always been under the impression what we are seeing is the scene through A’s eye. Like this week we see what I assume is A picking up his (her? But they looked kind of manly) coat and gloves from Aria’s mom at the dance. Here is what bugs me, last season; we see what we assume to be A destroying Allison’s memorial. But at the start of this season, nerd boy admitted to destroying said memorial. Does that mean he is A or is the last scene not necessarily always A? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Greek: From the first segment, I was hoping that they were actually going to cram Beaver into every scene Lost style, but alas the writers were not clever enough to figure out how to make that happen. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



The Cape: So it has all but said our load that Orwell is Chess’s daughter, but how long has it been that Chess couldn’t even recognize his own daughter even behind a thin mask? Is this a Superman glasses situation? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Cape on iTunes.

Castle: I found it a little creepy that Castle was all but professing his love for Beckett while she was trying to solve her mother’s mother. But we did get another puzzle piece. Which begs the question who is behind it all, the chief of police, a politician, Castle’s buddy, the mayor? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Harry’s Law: If they added Shooter McGavin to the cast, I would watch this show every week. He would make a much better foil for Harry than the balding dude. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Lights Out: I bet that the person slyly taking a picture of Lights giving a gift to the DA’s kid will come out in the near future. Once you owe a favor to a guy like that tends to never go away. Hulu. You can also download Lights Out on iTunes.

Community: I wonder if Pierce saving Annie is sowing the seeds for the group to move into his house at some point when they cannot conceivable have the whole study group in the same classes every year. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Outsourced: I’m with Todd that the fart-o-matic is hilarious. But not as funny as Rajiv’s attempt at making a joke that turned out to be a math problem. And I swear the nameless guy at the lunch table is really just C. Thomas Howell circa Soul Man. Also, bonus points for the sitar infused version of Is She Really Going Out with Him? while Todd was revealing to Charlie that yes, she was really going out with him. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Outsourced on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 1/23/11

Chuck: Aw Jeffster, you still rock even if it for the most uncomfortable five minutes on television. And more Jeffester would have been better than the how will Chuck screw up the proposal storyline which need more anti-French Casey rhetoric. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: I was really dreading this episode and it was more depressing than I thought it would. A Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion deserved better than this. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I swear Hefty Hanna gets heftier in ever subsequent flashback. But anyway. I am surprised that we actually got to see Allison get murdered (I think, almost) on camera or at least heard. It will be interesting to see what the girls do with that information. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Greek: Holy Dr. Mike Burton sighting! More surprising appearance though was Katherine. It is ironic that Rusty was making fun of Lost because at least on Lost, there were actually character that never returned to the island unlike Cypress Rhoades where everyone inexplicatively comes back. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



The Cape: In a story I broke last week, Orwell will turn out to be Chess’s daughter and that was all but confirmed this week. At least I hope everyone out there is smart enough to put two and two together. And I am already bored with the kid storyline, how about cutting him out of the show until the series finally when he reveals to his son that he is The Cape. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Cape on iTunes.

Harry’s Law: I would have like this show a lot more if instead of following a shoe store lawyer in a big Ohio city, it followed a bowling alley lawyer in a small Ohio town. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Skins: I made it to the first commercial break before I had to turn it off and had to seriously consider joining the PTC. I guess I can add this to my list of things that officially make me old. You can stream recent episodes on MTV.com. You can also download MTV's Skins on iTunes.

Glory Daze: Did they really need to ship Annabelle away in a cult? I understand they want keep Brian as a player, but they didn’t have to send the character away like that because I was hoping they would keep the actress around because she was highly likeable. On the bright side, the show’s use of Sister Christian rivals Boogie Nights as the greatest usage of the song ever. You can stream recent episodes over at TBS.com. You can also download Glory Daze on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: This really could have been a two parter, an episode devoted to the car pool and a second just at the convention. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.

Community: With meta jokes being so popular these days, I wonder at what point do they ask the guest if it is okay to reference their past. Like did they pitch the Cosby’s joke when they were negotiation with Theo Huxtable, afterwards or just slipped it into the scrip and hoped he would complain? If you didn’t catch it, Theo was wearing of Cliff’s patented ugly sweaters which he said he got from his father.) You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Outsourced: I guess we have Glee to thank for this episode, thankfully without the distractingly bad lip-syncing that the unwatchable is known for. Bonus points for the getting in early on the Behind the Music episode. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Outsourced on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 1/16/11

Quote of the Week: Abrakazam jackass. (Beckett, Castle)

Song of the Week: Eric B. Is President - Eric B and Rakim (Glory Daze)

Big News of the Week: Obama Wrecks Havoc on Scheduling: No one should whine that a television show gets bumped by the president, but ABC could have done a better job with its programming when Obama’s address went long. Seriously, when it goes long, wouldn’t the smarter decision have been preempt Modern Family, and then do commentary until 9:30 and show the regularly scheduled Cougar Town at its regular time. And if you must air Modern Family twenty minutes late, at least repeat it later in the week instead of that horrible new doctor show (I feel bad that Matt Sarasan and Jane Tyler are slumming it on that crap) or on Friday or Saturday because I am sure a Modern Family repeat would do better rating than anything you had scheduled. Or even better yet ABC, how about putting Modern Family On Demand? Hurmph.

The Cape: I didn’t except much from the show because the promo made it look somewhat laughably bad, but thanks to those low expectation, I was actually entertained. Though it should probably not go two straight hours again and I hope that the other villains are more interesting than Cain. Plus I wonder if Vegas will let me bet on Orwell turning out to be Chess’s daughter. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Cape on iTunes.

Greek: They are not even back together yet and I am already sick of Cappie and Casey. What I am not sick of, and hope not to ever be of is slyly-evil Dale. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Castle: This episode got me wondering what exactly is Beckett’s conviction record. Considering the dude was one of the richest dudes in the world, frozen assets or not I am sure he could find a good lawyer that could talk him out of a flimsy, and coerced, confession. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Parenthood: Did Parenthood, in its second season, really rip off a storyline from the final season of The Drew Carey Show? The dot com boss taking over the company seems really similar. And did Amber really fake see a movie she was actually in (the latest Michael Cera movie being Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in which she was one of the seven evil ex’s and was number on on my 25 Best Movies of 2010 list)? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Glory Daze: And the least surprising plot twist of the week goes to Christy still having a copy of Joel’s notes / drawings. You can stream recent episodes over at TBS.com. You can also download Glory Daze on iTunes.

Also check out my Preview of Lights Out and television fans will want to check out my review of Clicker, the universal remote that you can open beer with.

Free Download of the Week: Frankie & Johnny - Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town: Fans of The Sing-Off will want to grab this song for the low price of nothing.

Deal of the Week: Save up to 47% on Select Blu-ray (Love Actually, Inside Man, I Know Pronounce You Chuck and Larry)

New Album Release of the Week: Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes - Social Distortion

New DVD Release of the Week: Justified: The Complete First Season

Video of the Week: For anyone who has wondered how to pronounce “Golddigger” in sign language, here is someone performing a certain Cee-Lo Green song for their sign language class. Naturally not safe for work and doubly so if you boss knows sign language.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Comedy Night Done Right, All Night Thursday on NBC: After the Jay Leno Hour, it is hard to be surprised at anything NBC tries, but after Leno showed that comedy at 10:00 may not be the best idea, it is a little surprising that NBC is going three straight hours of comedy starting this Thursday (rumor has it they may be joined by ABC who may expand their Wednesday block to three hours also). We will have to wait to see how it plays out, but from the promo below it is clear what shows NBC are favoring. When it starts out talking about six people brought together, you would think it would be one from each show, but nope, it is Steve Carrell, Ed Helms (The Office), Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey (30 Rock), Amy Phoeler and Rob Lowe (Parks and Recreations). Sorry Community, Perfect Couples, and Outsourced, if (when) the network goes back to two hours of sitcoms, two of you are likely gone.