Number one on my most anticipated list for fall television was The Ex-List. Of course that was mostly by default, thanks to the writer’s strike it looks like most of the quality shows won’t show up until mid-season while the fall is mostly populated by easy to put out shows. And really the main reason why The Ex-List stood out from the rest was that is was being ran by Diane Ruggiero who wrote some of the best episodes of Veronica Mars who bolted after some created differences.
But six episodes were in the can before Ruggiero so I figured that it would at least start strong. And apparently I figured wrong. Where to start with what is wrong? I guess you start with the casting most notably the lead Elizabeth Reaser (The Family Stone) who is really miscast. The show is built to be this quirky drama but Reaser just doesn’t have a handle on comedy. Bella needed to be portrayed by an actress that can walk the line chronically clumsy but never actually crossing the line and Reaser just cannot find the rhythm.
The supporting cast is just not likable. First there are Bella’s roommates and companions Alex Breckenridge (Dirt) and her obscenely oversized bangs and Adam Rothenberg (Mad Money). Then there is Amir Talai (Mad TV) who just seems like a throw away character that seems to have no reason to be there. The most unlikeable is most recent ex-boyfriend Mark Deklin (Herbie - Fully Loaded) who is only around because he shares custody of a dog with Bella.
The only good thing about the show so far is Bella’s sister Rachel Boston (American Dreams) who is a lighting bolt on screen and may have been a better choice for Bella. What’s odd is even though he bachelorette party is the catalyst for Bella getting her fortune of she has one year to find her soul mate of spend the rest of her life alone, we actually do not meet her fiancee in the first hour.
The worst casting award goes to Bella’s first chance encounter with one of her exes in Eric Balfour (Can't Hardly Wait) who is right up there with the dudes from Heroes in the How Does This Dude Still Find Work category. Without him in future The Ex-List has room for improvement but I don’y see how it can get much more better especially with the exit of Ruggiero.
The Ex-List airs Fridays at 9:00 on CBS. You can stream recent episodes over at Innertube. You can also download The Ex-List on iTunes.
A plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Miracle at St. Anna, Chuck, When Weather Changed History, Gemini Division, The Comedy Festival, The Office, Harry Potter, Crash, and Estate of Panic.
- Miracles of St. Anna is getting a lot of buzz and for those that have not seen it yet, as it is currently in theaters, here is a synopsis along with two clips from the film.
Directed by Spike Lee from a screenplay written by James McBride, the author of the acclaimed novel of the same name, the film chronicles the story of four African-American soldiers who are members of the U.S. Army as part of the all-black 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy, during World War II. They experience the tragedy and triumph of the war as they find themselves trapped behind enemy lines and separated from their unit after one of them risks his life to save an Italian boy.
Miracle at St. Anna explores a deeply inspiring story that transcends national boundaries, race and class to touch the goodness within us all.
- Fans of Chuck should definitely check out insidebuymore.com where viewers can join up as employees of Chuck's workplace and get the latest insider news about the show, and connect with fellow fans.
- For this history buff, the first season of When Weather Changed History was very entertaining and the second season starts up this Sunday October 5 at 9:00 on the Weather Channel with the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. For the second season, also look for episodes on The Great Chicago Fire, the Titanic, the Hindenburg, Killer Smog of 1948, the Dust Bowl, the D-Day Invasion, Floods of 1993, Greensburg, Kansas, the Heat Wave of 1995, Katrina, Valley Forge, and the Super Outbreak of Tornados of 1974.
- When I last talked about Gemini Division I mentioned how it was odd that they would debut the web show during the Olympics and because of Olympics I completely forgot about it until I was recently sent a reminder and of a re-cap the show recently did. Head over to GeminiDivision.com for that recap.
- The Comedy Festival is taking place November 20-22 at Caesar’s palace in Las Vegas featuring Jerry Seinfeld, Katt Williams, a roast of Cheech and Chung (naturally), and many more. If you are in the area you can find ticket information at thecomedyfestival.com. If you cannot make it, keep your eye out on TBS who will be airing many of the events.
- For those that cannot get enough of The Office or are already going through Harry Potter withdrawal with the final book already out, be sure to check out Atom.com’s two part episode J.K.’s The Office and Salesman’s Stoned. Click for Episode 1 and Episode 2.
- With HBO and Showtime battling over the title of best original programming, Starz has thrown its hat into the ring with a Crash based on the movie. I cannot say have much excitement with the show because I do not get Starz and I thought Crash was one of the worst movies ever in the history of the world. But those interested you can watch the premiere episode online now before it airs October 17. Head over to starz.com/crash to give it a look.
- The upcoming Sci-Fi Channel reality show Estate of Panic recently got its host in Steve Valentine of Crossing Jordan fame. The show is set to premiere Wednesday, November 12 at 10:00.
Where Chuck took the approach to a lengthy layoff after a quick minute recap before starting something new (see Previewing: Chuck), Pushing Daises took the opposite approach and devoted almost half of its premiere to recapping the first season. The Pushing Daisies approach may be better to in bringing in new viewers, but they could have recapped a little faster.
Giving so much emphasis on the narration and the flashback, my boy Emerson Cod seemed to get the short stick in terms of a storyline. But they planted a couple more seeds about his missing in action daughter which he is apparently trying to find via a pop up book, a new hobby he picked up last season.
Then there is the head scratching plot twist with Olive heading off to a nunnery because she hated hiding all the secrets she accumulated in the first season. I totally did not get why Olive had Aunt Lily take her to the nunnery if she was one of the people she was trying to escape. I wonder if there is a deleted scene out there somewhere that explains this. Or explain why Lily stuck around to keep her tabs on her.
The mystery of the week with the bees may have been the weakest of the series, but that could have been because it didn’t have the usual twist and turns due to all the time dedicated to bring people back up to date. Hopefully now that everyone is caught up, Pushing Daisies can get back into the groove starting next week.
Pushing Daisies airs Wedsdays at 8:00 on ABC. You can stream recent episodes over at ABC.com. You can also download Pushing Daisies on iTunes or through Amazon Video on Demand:
Say will you want about the alien that currently is Michael Jackson and his inching closer to a confrontation with Chris Hansen, but the music still stand up and October shows exactly why because even with the circus surrounding Jackson, twenty-five years after the release of Thriller, you will still hear the title track at every Halloween party this season and lands itself into the Scooter Hall of Fame.
The reach could also be seen when iTunes first started selling videos on its service and Thriller remained a mainstay at the top of its chart for months and will most like make a return to as the holiday approaches. And the epic song surly produced an epic video which was an event when it premiere. Lasting thirteen minutes, Jackson reinvented the music video into mini movies with plots and stories and massive budgets. And don’t tell me the song comes on you don’t feel an urge to do the zombie dance.
Just when you think Thriller, the song or video, couldn’t get any more menacing, along comes Vincent Price in what could be considered the very first rap cameo in a pop song. To this day in the right context, Price’s words can send shivers up my spine. See for yourself:
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).
You would think after only a handful of episodes under its belt and a eight month hiatus that Chuck would take its time reintroducing itself, but beside a quick minute recap from our protagonist, the show hits the ground running with its second season premiere. Well not literally as it actually starts with Chuck being hung Vanilla Ice style with the dude from The Green Mile playing the roll of Suge Knight.
The show doesn’t seem to start too far into the future than we left off and the new Intersect is nearly complete and Casey’s boss is still keen on having him eliminate the old one once. Sadly most of the best scenes were repeated from the promo that has been in heavy rotation since the Olympics like the car crash, Chuck finding Awesome and his sister in the shower, Casey’s man love for Ronald Reagan, and the Token Hot Chick in her underwear. Well, I guess that is something worse seeing again.
There is some good new and bad news about the cast. The good being that it has ballooned up to now include Awesome as a full fledged cast member as well as Big Mike and the Nerd Herd triad of the Indian, the hot Asian and the soon to be meeting Chris Hansen looking guy. The bad is that unfortunately to make room for them they did not decide to cut loose Morgan who is as annoying as ever.
Chuck airs Mondays at 8:00 and you can always steam recent episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Chuck on iTunes or on Amazon Video on Demand:
It is never a good sign opening up an article entitled, Senate Sends Big Spending Bill to Bush with a picture of these goons attached. For those that cannot pick out their Congressmen in a line out, that is from left Ted Stevens, John Barrasso, Larry Craig, and Sheldon Whitehouse. What, was Mark Foley on the next elevator? And no, the bill had nothing to due with the much ballyhooed bailout package that has been talked about for the last week. Nope this is a separate bill that gives $25,000,000,000 of taxpayer money. Also included was a record setting 70,000,000,000 to the Pentagon while the Defense Department (um, isn’t the Pentagon defense?) got a six percent increase to 488,000,000,000. Gotta pay for those wars. And despite all the talk on earmarks on Friday, the bill also contained 2,322 pet projects costing taxpayers $4,900,000,000. The article also had this to say,
“Democrats also wanted to avoid an election-year clash with Bush that would have played in his favor. They are willing to take their chances that Democrat Barrack Abeam will be elected president in November and permit increases for scores of programs squeezed by Bush each year.”
And yes I copied and pasted that, the typo isn’t mine.
But I want to go on the record that I am completely against the bailout plan for Wall Street. You know, the one that was quickly thrown together by George Bush (who has been sporting an “Is it January yet” face all week) and the Senate Democrats. You know when those two entities agree on anything it cannot end well on principal alone. It was interesting that when John McCain called out Barrack Abeam for being the most liberal person Obama shot back that he was just voting against Bush’s boneheaded ideas yet he was quick to get on board with Bush on the most important legislation of his tenure in the Senate.
To get off track for a second, what is with this “call me if you need me crap”? Say what you want about John McCain but at least he showed up to do his job that he was elected to do. The people of Illinois, Arizona and Delaware did not elect these guys to run for president. Why is Congress the only place in America where if you do not show up for work not only do you not get fired but you may get a promotion for skipping. Congressmen have successfully cut their work week down to three days while taking six week vacations after every four weeks of work.
If you are running for president and are still collecting $169,300 of our tax payer money per year, you better show up for work. Which of course none of them actually do. In my life time only Bob Dole had the common courtesy to actually resign from the Senate to run. Speaking of Senators McCain and Obama doing what they are paid to do, both in the past days said they had previously warned on the floor of Congress of the impending economic crisis. Well you are both legislator, if saw this coming why didn’t you write any legislation to stop this from happening instead of grandstanding in front of Congress. Well I guess we know why Obama wasn’t willing to write legislation to regulate Freddie, Fannie and AGI because he was number two in donation received from both. Then you have Chris Dodd number one and he is the Finance Committee Chair who just happens to be the lead Senate Democrat in trying to rush bailing out those that were so generous to him.
But back to this horrendously stupid bailout plan. Having Bush and the Dems actually agreeing as a sign of a horrible things to come, I am against it because it benefit two types of people: the greedy and the stupid. The greedy is obvious, these fat cats gambling with your savings in hopes to buy a third yacht. But one group of people you don’t hear about is the stupid because the Congress doesn’t want to put blame the people that will be voting in about a month.
To clarify the stupid, these are the people that kept on accumulating debt (college loans, mortgage, car payments, credit cards) but instead of paying those off debts you thought that buying an HDTV, sound system and a Playstation 3 would be a better investment than paying off stuff you already owe. And because you all just had to have a bigger house than you could I am stuck with a $24,000 bill which is how much each American will have to pay when you divie up the 700,000,000,000 bail out figure tossed around, even though I paid off my student loans ahead of time, on the path to doing the same for the mortgage I’m paying, pay off my credit card in their entirety all the while being what the government likes to label as poor.
Seriously people, it is not hard to create a budget. The next (or first) time you buy a house take you current income, subtract all you monthly debt you may have (loans, credit card minimums), factor in monthly expenses like grocery and if the number is bigger than the suggest monthly mortgage payment then go ahead and buy. If not, keep house hunting for something more in your price range, and if that number turns out to be less than zero, it may be time to cancel your Netflick subscription and get out of the red (I know someone whose phone number changes every other month because she cannot pay the bill yet has yet to cancel her Netflick, so I know very well just how stupid people are when they come to their finances).
Keeping a budget is simple third grade math people, it isn’t hard. Or maybe this is why a show called Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader is so popular. I do understand that some people were unable to keep up with their mortgages for various reasons and they do deserve help, but a majority of that 700,000,000,000 is just people who feel they should live in houses bigger than they can actually afford.
What is really scary is the people behind the bailout plan are keep on trying to sell their plan by saying that the American taxpayers can actually make money on all the bad mortgages over time. Are these people serious? This would be like losing your life savings at the blackjack table, having your parents bailing you out only to go to the roulette table and telling your parents they may get they money back with interest This bailout cannot happen and certainly cannot be handled by the likes of George Bush and Chris Dodd.
And just when you think it couldn’t get worse for Americans last week, on Thursday Fred Durst announce that he was getting Limp Bizkit back together. God help us all.
Quote of the Week: You thought the opposite of loser is community college graduate? (Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory)
Song of the Week: Eye of the Tiger - Survivor (as sung by Earl Hickey; My Name Is Earl)
Big News of the Week: We’re All Screwed: Well at least those of us in America. Then both canidates had a chance to ease the minds of the public but neither did at the debate last night even when Jim Lehrer tried to get them to do it time and time again (five by my count). Bob Barr is looking more plausable.
Coalition Links of the Week: After one of the more frustrating Emmy experiences in memory, Buzz proposed five ways to fix the show. (BuzzSugar)
Plattie explained exactly why she hates British soaps. (Pop Vultures)
Vance is disappointed with buzzworthy shows 90210 and Heroes so far but is totally charmed by Privileged. (Tapeworthy)
This week, Jace took an advance look at HBO's pond-skipping new comedy Little Britain USA, from the warped minds of David Walliams and Matt Lucas. Yes, you'll be talking about Mr. Doggy come Monday. (Televisionary)
She's easy to hate -- the Tim Gunn disrespect, the constant laughing, the hyperconfidence -- but Marisa can't help but like Kenley on Project Runway. (TiFaux)
Raoul talked to Misha Collins about his role on Supernatural. (TV Filter)
The Joy of Painting: I have become so cynical that I see partisan politics everywhere now. Case in point, the last two Bob Ross paintings have been of the Alaskan landscape leading me to think, “someone at PBS is in the tank for Sarah Palin.” Yeah, I need help.
Greek: Finally Evil Frannie is back. I have been waiting for that shoe to drop for almost ten episodes now. And with Frannie looking to get her presidency back should keep the fireworks coming for the rest of the season. You can stream current episodes over at ABCFamily.com. You can also download Greek on iTunes.
Gary Unmarried: Not as bad as the critics would have you believe, a decent amount of laughs in the first episode and I don’t want to go NBA Draft Analyst on you but the show has some upside. But one thing that bothered me is how did Jay Mohr not know Jamie not have a kid? He’s painting her house, how did he not notice the toys laying around. You can stream current episodes over at Innertube.
Pardon the Interruption: I am not one for superlatives, but the Kimbo Slice interview was the best ever in the history of PTI. It was the first time I was aware of anyone swearing during Five Good Minutes and Tony Kornheiser looked visibly scared despite Kimbo being via satellite. Throw in the hateable Dan LeBatard and I had to watch it a couple times. You can download the PTI podcast for free on iTunes.
My Name Is Earl: A solid return after a subpar third season thanks to Earl getting back to the list. Seth Green was hilarious as the Make-A-Wish that Earl stole from him and any show will be hard pressed to come up with a funnier musical segment than Earl singing Eye of the Tiger to his dad when he went to beat up his former neighbor this season. You can stream current episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.
Free Download of the Week: Chuck (iTunes): We are two days away from the new season Chuck, and you know what that means: more gratuitous Token Hot Chick pictures. For those that cannot wait you can download the premiere for free on iTunes. And for those that do not want to download it, you can also stream the episode on Hulu or Amazon Video on Demand.
Promos of the Week: Three years ago I claimed that the TV Gods were against me because they schedule Veronica Mars and Lost, my number one and number two shows from the previous season, at the same time. And that is happening again this season but this time around it is much easier on account I do not have DirecTV to watch Friday Night Lights so Pushing Daises it is. Here is a behind the scenes look of Pushing Daisies and for those with DirecTV, something to get you hyped up for the third season of Friday Night Lights for those with DirecTV:
Next Week’s Pick: Pushing Daisies, Wednesday at 8:00 on ABC: If I am not mistaken, Pushing Daisies was one of the first shows to run out of episodes due to the strike so it has been a very long time since we have seen The Piemaker and the gang. With all that time off it should be interesting to see how they relaunch the show.
The granddaddy of all reality shows is back and in HD for the very first time. I cannot comment on how much better the show looks as I will be watching Survivor: Gabon in SD. And for one of the very few times the premiere has been expanded to two hours. Well, it was basically just two episodes on one night. The show is back in Africa for the first time since the third season which was panned for being not having any color. But this time around Gabon is right in the middle of a rain forest which should look great in HD, not that I will be able to tell.
I loved the opening challenge, having the contestants decide to either go after the immunity idol or help their team get extra rice. Then the same tribe dominated the next two challenges. Yawn. Of course the school yard pick ‘em was completely bizarre with some of the most inane picks ever. It was like people were thinking picking who they would like to vote off the most not who would help them win immunity.
It is never a good sign for Survivor when the hottest chick gets voted off first and really, how dare they vote off Michelle and her exposed nipple and see-through underwear? And couldn’t they come up with a better name for Exile Island considering that they are land locked and there is no actual island. But I do like the new twist that you can choose between a clue and comfort. A change for the not so good was the “coming up on Survivor” before commercial. Hopefully this was just because of the two hour premiere and not a permanent thing. Here are some predictions for this season:
Most Likely to Quit: Kelly Czarnecki Girl Whom I’d Still Have Dirty, Dirty Sex with Even if She Hasn’t Showered in a Month: Paloma Soto-Castillo Should Be Voted Off Next: Ace Gordon Winner: Bob Crowley Back Up Choice: Crystal Cox
Verdict: It is never a good sign that they vote off the hottest chick first or when one team dominates early and Gabon had both. Hopefully the season can turn around and turn around quick. Survivor: Gabon airs at 8:00 om CBS. You can stream the show over at Innertube. You can also download Survivor: Gabon on iTunes or through Amazon on Demand:
One of my many reasons for my displeasure of I Love the New Millennium before the decade was even over is because you need time to get the full impact of the years and to better place things that overlapped years. For instance, in a decade we may look back on 2006/2007 as the year that Apple and the campaign ads inadvertently launched a new musical genre of quicky pop starting with Feist and later including Yael Naïm and The Ting Tings. Australian songstress Lenka could also fit into this category even though one of her songs haven’t been co-opted by Apple (yet, but she has been used in an Old Navy ad).
On her self titled debut, Lenka intertwines breezy pop with light emphasis on piano and drum looks. The highlight of the album is The Show, a hum a long anthem that is so catchy you may find yourself singing it at the most inopportune time. Lenka says about her album that it is a “mood enhancer” and adds, “I don’t like it when people are depressed. I want to cheer them up” and if The Show doesn’t lighten your mood you do not have a soul. Although you got to wonder why she would end the song with a chorus of people sing, “I want my money back.” I got to imagine that is not something you want an audience to sing at your show. But anyways.
Elsewhere on the album Knock Knock is a heart-felt love song that can bring you closer to that special someone. Songs like Dangerous and Sweet and Trouble Is a Friend sound like a long lost eighties New Wave hits. The rest of the album though doesn’t deviate from that formula for better or worse leaving the replay value fairly low. But hopefully on the next album, Lenka can expand more on what could be a winning formula.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though 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 not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
When it seems like every pop act is going country it is interesting to see that Taylor Swift is going the other way with the first single off of her second album. This is after they un-countried two songs from her debut album for Top 40 consumption. We will have to wait until November 11 when Fearless, which features co-written songs with Colbie Caillat, comes out to see just how far the transformation goes.
It has been almost a decade since we have gotten new material from Q-Tip which was much more dance music, but if Gettin’ Up is any indication, the new album will get back to his A Tribe Called Quest roots. The Renaissance comes out November 4.
I am never a fan of new material on Greatest Hits compilations. It just wreaks of blatant attempts of forcing fanatics to buy the album just for the track or two that they don’t already own, what’s worse is when iTunes makes those new songs “Album Only” tracks. Plus none of the songs (sans Mary Jane’s Last Dance) ever live up to the moniker greatest hit. The same goes for this Sarah McLachlan track from her Greatest Hits which probably wouldn’t crack my top twenty favorite songs by her.
Every once and a while a song just gets stuck in my head and I just break out into that song at inappropriate times and the first single from Australian Lenka falls into that category. And the video is just as quirky as the song the former of which I will talk about in greater when I review the album later this week (if I get around to it).
Three hours of Heroes? Seriously? Last season the show couldn’t hold my interest for a whole hour, forcing me to check out the latest going ons with Midget Mac over on I Love New York. Sadly no Mac around this year, but I was saved from boredom switching over to Monday Night Football in hopes that Philip Rivers would throw seven touchdowns and five hundred yards.
But let us start with shows that do not frustrate or bore while watching. The first being the biggest surprise of last season: The Big Bang Theory. It looked like your token sitcom from the last couple years, maybe a few laughs, unlikeable character and that is just what the pilot was. Yet the show grew into one of the funniest shows on television and the reason way can be summed up in one word: Sheldon.
Week in and week out, Sheldon and his obsessive compulsive ways never failed to entertained and the new season started right where it left off. In more ways in one. Sheldon was still on point with up to four lines that could be in the running for the Quote of the Week. It also left off with the return of Sheldon and Penny from their first date, but unfortunately we weren’t privy the quality of said date. But the return from last season also involved the major plot point of Sheldon being forced to lie which we already seen before.
But thanks to Sheldon and his revolving bends, he made the rehash fresh again. And even Raj and the other guy were entertaining especially the part when they were trying guess put Sheldon over the edge. From the season opener, The Big Bang Theory could be in the running for funniest show on television at the end of the season.
As for How I Met Your Mother, Robin said it best when she said, “Be gross, be inappropriate, be Barney.”
Heroes once again teased me with yet another near death of Osmosis Dude, not once, but at the top of both hours. For the sake of that is good acting, please let him stay dead next time, stop teasing me. Then after nine months of “suspense” the guy that “killed” Fly Guy was actually Future Osmosis Dude. What the frak. The only thing worse than that reveal was flipping right over to MNF to find out Rivers had yet to throw a TD with about five minutes left in the first quarter.
Of course no one ever actually dies on Heroes. Not Osmosis Dude. Not Fly Guy, Not Split Personality Chick. Not the Dude from A Clockwork Orange. But the most egregious was the showdown between the Brain Sucker and Healer Girl. How could both come-out alive. The show is full of major cop-outs, but this one some how became to biggest cop-out of them all. We have seen a twig through the head “kills” her, yet Brain Sucker can take out part of her brain and nothing?
At least Kristen Bell popped back up in the second episode even though I lose a little part of my soul to see her slum it on the show. And she even got some screen time with Weevil. But it was a little weird seeing Osmosis Dude being portrayed by someone who could actually act. If only they would let Weevil do all the acting for him. And with Hiro back with Ando, Hiro is less annoying again, plus watching the DVD that Sulu told them not to watch was the best of the episode. And the African may be the new Haitian.
You can download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes and watch it every week Mondays at 8:00. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes and watch it Mondays at 8:30. You can also stream both of the shows on Innertube. And since it returned last week you can download Heroes on iTunes and watch it Mondays at 9:00. You can also stream the show over at NBC.com. You can also view all shows on Amazon Video on Demand:
In a story I broke last week, everyone is going country. But unlike Jessica Simpson and people of her ilk, Darius Rucker, you may know him better as Hootie of Hootie and the Blowfish fame, just doesn’t put on the cowboy boots and ten gallon hat and throw in a fiddle or two hoping to appeal to country fans without going too far away from their pop roots, Rucker has dove head first into his country debut Learn to Live and you even believe when he talks about owning the Best of Patsy Cline.
Just as his first solo album Back to Then was a seamless transition from the frat rock of Hootie into a classic R&B singer, the baritone of Darius is a perfect fit singing in front of fiddles, banjos and slide guitars. And he goes full country where he loses the girl, loses the dog, but that’s okay because there is plenty of whiskey to drown his sorrows. Things do not get much more country than All I Want where he tell the cheating hussy to take the house, the money because, “All I want you to leave me is alone.” That’s some Garth Brooks stuff right there. Also in that vein is the equally entertaining song about drunk dialing, the appropriately titled Drinkin’ & Dialin’.
But Live to Learn is filled with plenty of country music cliche with quicky plays on words like Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It. Then there are more than enough over dramatic songs like It Won’t Be Like This For Long, an ode to a daughter that is growing up to fast (don’t they all) or the even more sappy I Hope They Get to Me in Time, a first person account of a car crash victim. Then there is the title track which sounds like a cast off from a Carrie Underwood album.
It should be noted that the first single, Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It just so happens to be the first top five country song by a black dude in twenty years. Charlie Pride anyone? Remember the good ol’ days when Ray Charles and Lionel Richie could be found on the country charts and Kenny Rogers could be found on the R&B charts before music got so homogenized.
Like most of America, I missed Masters of Science Fiction when it was actually on television, apparently it ran for a month last August on ABC. It was a spin off of Masters of Horror: Season Two Box Set, a show on a channel I don’t get and has the same premise of taking a short story from well respected writers in the genre and turn them into a short film that fits into an hour of television. The DVD set features two episodes that never made it to air.
The cast is decent with John Hurt (Hellboy), John Locke (Lost), Sean Astin (Rudy), Sam Waterston (Law and Order), Brian Dennehy (William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet), Anne Heche (Six Days, Seven Nights), Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange [Blu-ray]), and James Denton (Desperate Housewives). Only Little Brother lacks a decent marquee name. But the real star of the entire series is Steven Hawking who narrates each episode with an intro and outro of them all giving us life lesson of what we should have learned from them.
The stories themselves are your run of the mill Sci-fi stories like living underground in a post-apocalyptic state, the guy whose memory is wiped clean ever hour, the alien visitors, a robot that can feel, mutants that are discarded into outer space, a Big Brother type society, and machines that get too smart. Most of stories take them too seriously for their own good and only Jerry Was a Man is the only one with a sense of humor about it.
But each stories is at the very least watchable, but only hardcore Science Fiction buff would want to add the DVD, which comes with zero extras, to the library. For everyone else, Masters of Science Fiction would be a decent add to your rental service if your queue is getting low.
Quote of the Week: If straight guys weren't so insensitive we wouldn't be left to clean up the pieces. (Deputy Leo, Greek)
Big New of the Week: RIP TRL: The music industry likes to blame illegal downloads and insiders say that the internet, video games, and DVD's have cut into the disposable income of music buying, but Total Request Live doesn't get enough credit for killing off the music industry. The show started modestly with band like Dave Matthews Band regularly appearing on the countdown. That was until the obsessive fans got involved. And by obsessive I mean teenagers who had nothing better to do with their time but sit in their bedrooms and vote for the latest Backstreet Boys video. Record executives caught on and spent most of their time and money catering to fans of the show and undoubtedly had interns themselves voting hoping to break new artist instead of actually cultivating fans the old fashion way of touring and actually play good music. Puddle of Mudd was even banned from the show for bribing people to vote for their videos. Thus the music industry only focused on acts that could get voted on the show and music that would appeal to anyone over twenty would not get any marketing push unless they were already a known commodity. That is when the music industry lost generations of previous loyal music fans who began content with filling their iPod's with golden oldies never to turn on the radio to be force fed the crap they tried to sell as music over the past decade. And soon an unwatchable show got even worse when they began only playing thirty second snippets for the videos. So goodbye TRL, you won't be missed.
Coalition Links of the Week: Buzz wondered which TV shows made you feel the most emotionally attached. (BuzzSugar)
Marcia was thrilled to introduce a Pop Vultures spin-off site, The Spelling Bee, which is dedicated to the best of guilty pleasure TV. (Pop Vultures)
Vance makes a few casting suggestions for "Ryan" on Brothers & Sisters and has a slew of promotional and sneak peak photos from the new season. (Tapeworthy)
This week, Jace took an advance look at the first three episodes of Season Two of NBC's action comedy Chuck and loved every single second. (Televisionary)
Get it in gear LC, Spencer, Audrina and the rest of you guys on The Hills. At some point you're going to have to admit that you're on television for a living. No one is fooled. (TiFaux)
The TV Addict offers up five easy steps to fix Saturday Night Live. (The TV Addict)
Kate watched this week's episode of Gossip Girl with a drink and a candle. (TV Filter)
I Love Money: Poor Entertainer, first he has to stoop so low as to suck New York toes then he loses only because he cannot hold onto a poll. Big surprise at the vote off with Brandi C. quitting and there still being another elimination. Although everyone but one person is shown in the promo for next week so it is pretty easy to tell who gets voted in and voted out. Stupid promo moneys.
Greek: Two gay homosexuals doing the how I know you're gay bit: hilarious. Only funnier if they would have done that with a straight dude. But anyways. I am not sure how I feel about Casey hooking up with the RA. I still think it would have been better off if she stayed single for the rest of the semester. And I really hope Dale spills his heart out to Casey one of these days. You can download episodes of Greek on iTunes.
Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Island: How did I forget to talk about the premiere last week? So this time around they have some Survivor-light living quarters and no teams, but they still are voting people off. Two episodes in and I still don't quite understand the rules. When do they start building the boats? Shouldn't the people with keys start on that? And there is nothing more annoying in these reality show when people just quit. And just because Abram asked to be voted off doesn't make him that much noble than the other dude.
Free Download of the Week: NBC continues with their free stuff on iTunes with pre-airing episodes of Lipstick Jungle and the updated Knight Rider.
Promo of the Week:Two new CBS shows premiere this week, The Mentalist on Tuesday at 9:00 and My Worst Week on Monday at 9:30 and I have your first look at the two freshmen series. Unless of course you have seen this somewhere else making this your second look.
Pick for Next Week: Survivor: Gabon, Thursday at 8:00 on CBS: The granddaddy of reality shows is finally coming to HD with a two hour premiere. Well at least for you that have an HDTV. I will be sure to pick one up myself as soon as the government bails me out of my rising debt. Although come to think of it, maybe I should add said HDTV to my debt before they bail me out with the HDTV as part of the bailout.
A plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Frank TV, Whatever, Martha, Kimberly Elise, Cuba Gooding Jr. and The Hill. No seriously, I am actually going to talk about The Hills.
- Thne baseball playoff are around the corner and you know what that means: an absurb amount of ads for Frank TV. And just in time for the elections Frank Caliendo ia taking on both canidates.
McCain
Obama
- Finally someone is putting Martha Stewart in her place and that person just happens to be her daughter Alexis (who knew Martha ever procreated?). The new show Whatever, Martha premiered last Tuesday at 9:00 on Fine Living Network (whatever that is) and here is a look at the show:
- Kimberly Elise has joined Cuba Gooding Jr. for the latest TNT orginal movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story about world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon who pulled himself out of the inner-city. No release date yet.
- Also in the TNT pipeline is a new show staring Jada Pinkett Smith called Time Heals. Smith stars a nurse nd single mother. The show is created by someone that had to do with St. Elsewhere and being produced by someone from My Boys. No timeline for when or if this will hit the small screen.
- One last TNT news, the network announced this week that they were renewing both Saving Grace and Raising the Bar.
- I am not sure what it is about the 9th Green that say, "Please send me information about The Hills" but I was actually sent information on the show. Apparently LC and Audrina were recently caught dancing onstage with Epic Records band The White Tie Affair, whose showcase just happened to be featured on last wwek's episode. You can find the picture here. Yes, completely spontanious dancing I persume. Oddly enough, I suddently have to urge to out gay celebrities and post pictures of Britney Spears without her lady garments on.
Yesterday I mad a run down of the music that will fill the fall air this season but today I turn inside to the television that will put me firmly into my couch as the leaves turn colors. Well some of these shows are on a short leach like Gary Unmarried. But no shorter leash than on Heroes which was abysmal last season and the first season was not much better. It does not bodes well that last season I found myself switching over to I Love New York because I was so bored with Heroes. But anyways. Here is what I will be watching, and for the most part, enjoying and their start dates:
Then for the midseason, I will be looking out for Lost, The Goode Family, Cupid and the NBC showing of Friday Night Lights. And specials like Hip Hop Honors on October 7 featuring Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Slick Rick, and Too $hort. And of course the debates between John McCain and Barack Obama on September 26, October 7, and October 15 with Sarah Palin and Joe Biden going at it on October 2. I will also be trying to catch up on the second seasons of Dexter and Big Love as well as the third season of Weeds on DVD.
who bolted after some created differences.
But six episodes were in the can before Ruggiero so I figured that it would at least start strong. And apparently I figured wrong. Where to start with what is wrong? I guess you start with the casting most notably the lead Elizabeth Reaser (The Family Stone
) who is really miscast. The show is built to be this quirky drama but Reaser just doesn’t have a handle on comedy. Bella needed to be portrayed by an actress that can walk the line chronically clumsy but never actually crossing the line and Reaser just cannot find the rhythm.
) and her obscenely oversized bangs and Adam Rothenberg (Mad Money
). Then there is Amir Talai (Mad TV) who just seems like a throw away character that seems to have no reason to be there. The most unlikeable is most recent ex-boyfriend Mark Deklin (Herbie - Fully Loaded
) who is only around because he shares custody of a dog with Bella.
The only good thing about the show so far is Bella’s sister Rachel Boston (American Dreams
) who is a lighting bolt on screen and may have been a better choice for Bella. What’s odd is even though he bachelorette party is the catalyst for Bella getting her fortune of she has one year to find her soul mate of spend the rest of her life alone, we actually do not meet her fiancee in the first hour.
) who is right up there with the dudes from Heroes
in the How Does This Dude Still Find Work category. Without him in future The Ex-List has room for improvement but I don’y see how it can get much more better especially with the exit of Ruggiero.
.
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on my 
, a show on a channel I don’t get and has the same premise of taking a short story from well respected writers in the genre and turn them into a short film that fits into an hour of television. The DVD set features two episodes that never made it to air.
), John Locke (
), Sean Astin (
), Sam Waterston (Law and Order), Brian Dennehy (
), Anne Heche (
), Malcolm McDowell (
), and James Denton (
). Only Little Brother lacks a decent marquee name. But the real star of the entire series is Steven Hawking who narrates each episode with an intro and outro of them all giving us life lesson of what we should have learned from them.