57 Channels and Only This Is On - 8/20/11

Quote of the Week: I don’t usually get to do the shakedowns, it’s very exciting. (Dawn Summers, Weeds)

Song of the Week: Teenage Dream – Katy Perry (The Lying Game)

Big News of the Week: Miami the Most Corrupt of a Corrupt System: Maybe it is because I went to a college that won as many games as years I attended, but I never understood the fanaticism of college football. Then there is the whole no playoff thing. And it has shown to be the most corrupt system in all of America (which says a lot considering our political system). And the latest in the long line of corruption is a ponzie schemer rolling on the college who detailed years of kickbacks to players including a boat that got wrecked and even an abortion for a stripper. I would say the death penalty is warranted, but it is not like that is going to stop anyone.


Leverage: Best part of the episode: Eliot in his Indiana Jones outfit. Classic. We finally met the big bang and learned his motive. Interesting proposal, Nate gets the lowdown on the scummiest of the scum, but the other dude gets to profit Martha Stewart style. I’m guessing dude ends up in jail by the hand of Nate and his crew by the end of the season. You can stream recent episodes on TNT.tv. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Maybe I am just bored with “A” (I do not trust the promo monkeys when they elude that we may find out who (s)he is soon) but I do like this new evil step sister storyline. Evil is much more entertaining when there is a face attached to it. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Also check out my first impressions of The Lying Game and my last impressions of The Nine Lives of Chloe King.


Free Download of the Week: Magnifier.blogspot.com: Three months Google launched its new music site in beta. In it you can upload 20,000 songs to your account and use your Andriod devise to listen to your library on the go. But since I did not have an Andriod, I did not really care until Google launched Magnifier where you can add hundreds of free songs to your Google Music account. Of course there is a drawback that you cannot download these songs to your computer (or at least not yet, supposedly it is in the pipeline). The free music is an eclectic mix of everything from Alice Cooper to Wyclef Jean, Johnny Cash to John Legend, and even two songs from the dearly departed Jani Jane and his band Warrant. And be sure to bookmark the site because there will be a new free song every day. If you need an invite to Google Music, I have four invites to give, just shoot me an e-mail (sorry foreigners, Beta is currently only open to Americans) although I got an invite from Google less than twenty-four hours from requesting one.

Deal of the Week: Save up to 57% on Hit Movies & TV Deals (Batman Begins, Just Go with It, Planet Earth)

New Album Release of the Week: Muppets: The Green Album

New DVD Release of the Week: POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Video of the Week: American Horror Story has been dropping “clues” for the last couple weeks and now they have released the first promo featuring the actors from the show including Tami Taylor and, well, it is just as confusing as the “clues.” American Horror Story premieres October 5 on FX.



Next Week Pick of the Week: The Liquid Bomb Plot, Sunday at 9:00 on the National Geographic Channel: I have a full review on this special tomorrow but I will leave you with what we call in the industry a tease: Ever wonder why you can only take three ounces of liquid on a plane? You actually have Tang to thank for it. Seriously.

Around the Tubes - 8/19/11

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Hulk Hogan's MCW, Fix This Kitchen, True Blood, The Love We Make, Rebirth, The Angry Beavers, The Sing Off, Fall TV, INSP, Wendy, Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood, Leverage, and American Horror Story.

- Hulk Hogan and midgets. I have nothing more to add.


Hulk Hogan’s MCW


- Not so fun fact: I am not the best reader in the world. Like when I got a press release for Fix This Kitchen I got really excited when I thought I read, “see if you would be able to be featured on Fix This Kitchen” but after rereading, it turned out it actually read, “see if you would be able to feature Fix This Kitchen.” Sigh, I could really use a new oven, which I am pretty sure is older than me (hint, hint). You can check out those who did get surprised with a new kitchen when Fix This Kitchen returns September 10 at 9:30 AM as part of A&E’s The Big Help block.

- A new True Blood coming your way this Sunday at 9:00 on HBO. Here is a sneak peak of Jessica unloading to Nan:



- Showtime has lined up its 9/11 anniversary programming which will include The Love We Make premiering Saturday September 10 at 9:00 which follows Paul McCartney as he goes through the streets of New York City in the aftermath of the World Trade Center’s destruction as well the planning and performance of the benefit concert at Madison Square Garden six weeks later. Then on September 11, the network will air Rebirth that follow five people’s lives who’s livers were forever changed by the day and a minute by minute time lapse evolution of the memorial where the Twin Towers once stood.

- Awake your inner-child because The Angry Beavers: Season One and Two is hitting shelves this Tuesday but of course you can always preorder today.



- Wonder why The Sing-Off is the best talent competition on television? Check out this video:

Straight Up A Cappella


- We are less than a month away from the kick off of the fall television season and tvguide.com has you covered with info from over sixty shows including refreshers of returning shows, the eleven most promising new shows, a day by day schedule and premiere calendar.

- INSP (The Inspirational Network) recently announced their fall line-up starting September 26 including new to the network Bonanza, The Big Valley, The Brady Bunch, and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.

- There won’t be new shows just on television, on September 15, Alloy Entertainment will premiere a new web series Wendy staring Tyler Blackburn (Pretty Little Liars) and Meaghan Martin (Mean Girls 2). Wendy is an updated telling of the classic Peter Pan story. Head over to the Wendy YouTube Channel to subscribe so you are alerted when new episodes are uploaded ever Tuesday and Thursday, watch a music video of Tyler singing a song from the show, and find out how you can download the mp3 for the low, low price of free.

- TCM received it most ever Emmy nominations for Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood and if you missed it the first time around, they are re-airing the seven part series in its entirety starting Monday September 5 at 12:45 PM.

- Leverage fans rejoice, the show has been renewed for a fifth season of fifteen episodes. The show commences its summer episodes August 28 before finishing out its fourth season with new episodes in November and December.

- FX has released a couple more video clues for their upcoming American Horror Story which you can check out with the links below:

Clue #7: Stairs
Clue #8: Melt
Clue #9: Red Cello
Clue #10: Rubber Bump

Actually I’m Attached to my Toxins, We’ve Been Through a Lot Together

For anyone hoping to one day own ever season of Spin City on DVD, you probably have Mr. Tiger Blood to thank because just months after his Adonis DNA started to creep out for everyone to see, Spin City: The Complete Fifth Season, and the first to feature Charlie Sheen, has finally hit shelves. He replaced Michael J. Fox who off screen had to bow out due to his fight with Parkinson’s and on screen left after taking blame for Mayor Randall Winston’s association with the Mafia. Unfortunately Connie Britton left the show with Fox so anyone looking to see a pre-Tami Taylor Britton will have to pick up earlier seasons of the show.

Heather Locklear did return for her second season as the mayor’s Communications Director to get co-top billing with Sheen which lead to the funniest moment of the season during the credits where they share a scene where Locklear has a look on her face that read “why did they bring in the bum, I could have led the show by myself” while Sheen’s face read, “why won’t she have sex with me, I thought it was written into my contract?” On the show, Sheen took over as Deputy Mayor who had a reputation as a womanizer with a history of substance abuse named Charlie. No, seriously, that was how his character was actually described on the show.

With two leads whose comedy was not their strong suits, thankfully Spin City brought back some characters that could actually deliver a joke correctly. Barry Bostwick is back as the absentminded mayor as was resident kiss butt Richard Kind who may have the biggest mouth in the business. But the comedic standouts continued to be the bickering roommates Alan Ruck, the inept womanizer and the gay homosexual Michael Boatman. Lana Parrilla (who plays the Evil Queen in the upcoming Once Upon a Time) was also added to the cast as the office secretary but I do not remember one storyline she was given this season or was even spotted outside the office.

Throughout the season you will be able to spot such guest appearances by Marcia Cross, Raquel Welch, Rena Sofer, Jason Priestly, Vanessa Marcil, Kelly Monaco, Scott Wolf, Alyssa Milano, Willie Garson, Samm Levine, as well as Regis Philben, Barry Melrose, Rosie O’Donnell, Roy Firestone, and the disembodied voice of Bob Costas as themselves. You can also see a pre-fame Dakota Fanning, Kal Penn, Geoff Stults, Sarah Shahi, Bonita Friedericy, Kevin Rankin, Jack McGee and Seth Myers and blink and you’ll miss them cameos from Eric Stonestreet, Beth Riesgraf and Jenna Fisher.

You can now buy Spin City: The Complete Fifth Season now with all twenty-three episodes on four DVD’s (those who hate extra content wil be glad to know there is none on the set). Check out a clip below with new castmember Charlie Sheen and pre-Alias Sarah Shahi:



Full Disclosure Notice: This DVD set was given to me by Shout Factory for review.

I’m More of a Cat Person

In recent years, ABC Family has been a go to channel for guilty pleasures. But much like the channel they took the guiltiest pleasures crown from, VH1, the channel is teeter on being guilty without any of the pleasure. Pretty Little Liars is becoming more cumbersome to watch by the episode and The Lying Game debuted as a bit of a bore (see my First Impressions).

Then there is The Nine Lives of Chloe King which would be in the pleasureless guilt category had I not created the Chloe King drinking game where you take a shot whenever the show rips off Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As much grief I gave the show for its similarities to The WB classic, one of the show’s biggest problems is that it did not steal from Buffy enough.

Yeah, the best friends, chosen one, forbidden love were all Buffy staples, but what Chloe King should have adopted from Buffy was the monster of the week format. Instead of battling a new baddie every week, we only a small handful of them so the show could focus on the less interesting love triangle between Chloe, her protector, and a human she could kill if they ever kissed. The whole death thing took any intrigue of the love triangle. And let’s face it, in the finale, Chloe clearly did not kill the dude, she just paralyzed him and I bet there will be simple sure that will have him up and walking by the end of the season premiere.

It is a shame that the first season was not as interesting as the finale twenty minutes. We also got some cool action sequences (though I do not know why Chloe did not bust out her claws, We finally got some interesting plot twists: Chloe’s mom was dining with the evil dude, grandma had been poising as Chloe’s dad all along, the leader and her daughter were killed (okay, I bet the daughter survives and would not be surprised if the mom does too), and it turns out it was done so by the hand of the British dude’s brother. But I was disappointed he did not go into James Bond villain and give a monologue of his master plan when he poisoned the leader.

Had Chloe King spread those twenty minutes across the first season instead of cramming all the good stuff at the end, maybe the show would have been more please than guilt.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. You can stream episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Nine Lives of Chloe King on iTunes.

First Impressions: The Lying Game

I am probably too old and too male to be watching anything on ABC Family, but really, what else was I supposed to watch this summer: Breaking Bad? I have better things to do than watch the dad from Malcolm in the Middle cough a hundred times in the span of an hour (okay I obvious do not have better things to do because I still find time to watch ABC Family, I still choose not too).

The latest show on ABC Family comes from the same pedigree from the channel’s biggest breakout hit. The Lying Game is based on the Sara Shepard books, who also wrote the series that Pretty Little Liars is based on, though The Lying Game got optioned as a television show before the books even hit the shelves.

The story follows twins that were separated at birth (not to be confused with the show whose timeslot The Lying Game took over), one who grew up in privilege, the other in foster care and both played by Alexandra Chando (Rockville, CA). They found out that each other exist when one went searching for their birth parents and circumstances brings them together when the one from the wrong side of the tracks gets in trouble and turns to her newfound sister to help. The rich one takes the opportunity to have the poor one take her place so she can follow a lead on their mother in Los Angles.

Things naturally go wrong when the rich twin does not return two days later like she said she would. And much like the pretty little liars who never bother to ask the police or even their parents for help with the crazy stalker, the poor one thinks it would be best to continue to poise as her missing sister. But at least her lie comes with a BMW.

Rounding out the cast include Chando’s adopted parents Helen Slater (Supergirl! Wow did I have such a crush on her in my youth) and Andy Buckley (The Office), and their bratty biological daughter Allie Gonino (10 Things I Hate About You). Then there are the rich girl’s rich friends Alice Greczyn (The Dukes of Hazzard) and Kristen Prout (My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 2) and rival Sharon Pierre-Louis (Fame). And what show would be complete without a secret boyfriend, this time played by Blair Redford (The Day the Earth Stood Still).

If you noticed, I did not describe any of the supporting cast members because none of them were even strongly written. Prout is apparently the quintessential dumb blonde, but the rest are really not given any insight of them from the writers who do not even bother to make any of them easy stereotypes, they all are just bland. But the biggest fail on the part of the writers is they did not set up a compelling mystery. By the end of the first episode of Pretty Little Liars, they set up a laundry list of questions that the viewers were left wondering, but there really are none there for The Lying Game. I guess I am supposed to wonder what happened to the rich girl, but I really do not. This is really poor writing because there is plenty of mysteries that could have been put in place even if they would have turned out to be red herrings. Luckily for The Lying Game, there is still a month left until the networks launch the fall programming giving it time to set up compelling plotlines. Because what else am I going to watch until then: Breaking Bad? I am not that pretentious.

The Lying Game airs Mondays at 9:00 on ABC Family. You can stream episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Lying Game on iTunes.

Lyrics Quiz: Adult Contemporary

The Adult Contemporary charts recently hit its fiftieth anniversary and to celebrate Billboard counted down the fifty biggest AC artist in the chart’s run. Even though I was not an adult for most of its existence, I still have plenty of songs from artists on the list and created this month’s lyrics quiz based on the top artists of which I have music by on my iPod (sorry Herb Alpert). As always leave your guesses, both artist and song title, in the comment section or e-mail me. If you are correct I will un-bold the lyric and give you credit. Please keep in mind the lyrics quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please only use your own meandering mind to guess them.


1. Excuse me forgetting, but these things I do. See I’ve forgotten if they are green or they’re blue. Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean, yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen. (Your Song - Elton John; guessed by Angie)
2. Home, don’t it seems so far away? We’re traveling light today, in the eye of the storm, in the eye of the storm. (America - Neil Diamond; guessed by Angie)
3. There was a blood and a single gunshot, but just who shot who? (Copacabana - Barry Manilow)
4. Son I’ve made my life out of reading faces and knowing what their cards are by the way they held their eyes. (The Gambler - Kenny Rogers; guessed by Angie)
5. Children play in the park; they don’t know I’m alone in the dark feeling low. Time and time again I see your face smiling inside.
6. I was stranded in the combat zone. I walk through Bedford-Stuy alone. I even drove motorcycle in the rain. (You May Be Right - Glass Houses - Billy Joel; guessed by Angie)
7. We’re going to party, karamu, fiesta, forever. Come on and sing along. (All Night Long (All Night) - lionel Richie; guessed by Angie)
8. I wish I could just make you turn around, turn around and see me cry. There’s so much I need to say to you, so many reasons why. You’re the only one who really knew me at all. (Against All Odds - Phil Collins; guessed by Angie)
9. Well my hands are shaking and my knees are weak. I can’t seem to stand on my own two feet. Who do you think when you have such luck? (All Shook Up - Elvis Pressly; guessed by Angie)
10. From where I stand you are home free. The planets align so rare, there’s promise in the air and I’m guiding you through every turn. (Magic - Olivia Newton-John; guessed by Angie)
11. Every night in my dreams I see you, I feel you.
12. Old dream maker, you heart breaker. Wherever you’re going, I’m going your way.
13. All I needed was a friend to lend a guiding hand. But you turned into a lover and mother what a lover, you wore me out. (Maggie May - Rod Stewart; guessed by Angie)
14. I feel find anytime she’s around me now. She’s around me now almost all the time. And if I’m well then you can tell she’s been with me now. She’s been with me now quite a long, long time and I feel fine.
15. When you walk by every night, talking sweet and looking fine, I get kinda hectic inside. Baby I’m so into you. Darling if you only knew all the things that go through my mind.
16. Something in the way you love me won’t let me be. I don’t want to be your prisoner so baby won’t you set me free? (Borderline - Madonna; guessed by Angie)
17. We’re coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
18. Thirteen month old baby broke the looking glass. Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your path.
19. You got the body now you want my soul. Don’t even think about it. Say “no go.” (I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) - Hall and Oates; guessed by Angie)
20. I took for granted all the times that I thought would last somehow. I hear the laughter, I taste the tears, but I can’t get near you now. (Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx; guesse by Angie)
21. What’s you got cooking, how’s about cooking something up with me? (Hey, Good Lookin' - Hank Williams; guessed by Angie)
22. Stronger than any mountain cathedral. Truer than any tree ever grew. Deeper than any forest primeval, I am in love with you. (Longer - Phoenix - Dan Fogelberg; guesed by Angie)
23. It happens every day no matter what you say. You find it happens all the time. Love will never do what you want it to. Why can’t this crazy love be mine? (It's Not Unusual - Tom Jones; guessed by Angie)
24. I’m lying alone with my hand on the phone, thinking of you ‘til it hurts. I know you hurt too but what else can we do? (All Out of Love - Air Supply; guessed by Angie)
25. They say are love won’t pay the rent before it’s earned, our money’s all spent. (I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher; guessed by Angie)

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 8/13/11

Quote of the Week: You know what's sad: him being gay is the least of our public relations problems. (Needles – Rescue Me)

Song of the Week: Sometime it Takes Balls to be a Woman – Elizabeth Cook (Weeds)

Big News of the Week: A Melancholy Happy Trails to Jani Lane: I missed the original Warrant run because at their height I was going through my hardcore gangsta rap phase, but I have to admit whenever Cherry Pie would come on MTV I would not change the channel for obvious reasons (or the vastly underrated Uncle Tom’s Cabin which featured banjo two decades before it became en vogue). Of course by the time I got back into rock music, grunge had come and swept hair metal bands off the charts, but I can still look back and call Heaven one of the top five greatest power ballads ever in the history of the world. Sadly the world last saw Jani Lane, a guy who at one post landed one of the hottest token hot chicks ever to appear in a music video, an overweight drunken mess on the second season of Celebrity Fit Club on VH1.




Pretty Little Liars: Aria kissing a dude who takes pictures of her while she is sleeping unbeknownst to her is still not as creepy as the writers trying to make us think that her affair with her teacher is some grand love story. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King: So was the date that turned over the pictures a My turncoat or is dude going to show up dead soon because he made out with one? Seems weird for a My to give up the Uniter to someone with plans to kill her. But I was a little surprised that mom’s boyfriend did not turn out to be evil. They always turn out to be evil. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Nine Lives of Chloe King on iTunes.

Rescue Me: They could have devoted a whole episode explaining all the dirt they could have dug up on the firehouse. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Rescue Me on iTunes.

Also check out my season reviews of Falling Skies and Switched at Birth.


Free Download of the Week: Invisible - Skylar Grey

Deal of the Week: Blu-Rays for Under $10 (The Dark Knight, Watchmen, Office Space)

New Album Release of the Week: Jeff Bridges - Jeff Bridges

New DVD Release of the Week: Dexter: The Fifth Season

Video of the Week: Next up on HBO’s summer documentary series id Gloria: In Her Own Words. The Gloria in question is feminist icon Gloria Steinem who in interviewed (natch) from her Manhattan apartment as well as archival footage of her being interviewed by Barbara Walters, Helen Gurley Brown, Phil Donahue, and Larry King. Check out a trailer below:



Next Week Pick of the Week: The Lying Game, Monday at 9:00 on ABC Family: Based on the books written by the same author of Pretty Little Liars, The Lying Game also looks to offer up some of its own teen intrigue of its own. Hopefully it does not follow its predecessor by taking a promising plot and make it cumbersome to watch at times. Two things The Lying Game has going for it is the highly likeable lead actress Alexandra Chando as twin sisters separated at birth (not by a hospital mistake, but by foster care) and the best use of music in a promo in recent memory when it used Adele’s Rumour Has It for its ad campaign. Take a look at an extended promo below.

The Lying Game: 60 Second Preview

Around the Tubes - 8/12/11

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Strike Force, Haven, Weird Vibes, Pretty Amazing Contest, Teh Big C, Nurse Jackie, California DMV, and American Horror Story.

- Cinemax may be best known (well only known) for its late night programming but the premium channel is finally starting up an original program in primetime with Strike Force about charismatic former U.S. Special Forces operative joins forces with a stealth British military unit they stop a terrorist plot. The premieres tonight at 10:00 and you can check out the first six minute below:



- Also on tonight is a new episode Haven which promises to have the first fully integrated storyline with Twitter which will last for seven episodes. As the perss release says, “In the story, Vince (Richard Donat) and Dave (John Dunsworth), who run the newspaper in Haven, join Twitter as newcomers to the medium. Viewers who follow their characters (@VinceHaven, @DaveHaven) will see them interact with a mysterious Twitter user (@ColdInHaven) who knows more about Haven – and Vince and Dave – than anyone should.” But do not worry if you are like me and find Twitter a complete waste of time, viewers unfamiliar with the micro-blogging site will still be able to enjoy the episodes.

- MTV Hive yesterday launched a new internet only show Weird Vibes and the inaugural episode profiles the hardships of being in a buzz band and features interviews with Best Coast, Au Revoir Simone, Small Black, Tanlines, Beach Fossils, Frankie and The Outs; as well as music videos from Team, Friends, Wu Lyt, Shabazz Palaces, Grimes and Vivian Girls. You can watch the full episode below:

Get More: Weird Vibes, MTV Hive

- In other MTV news (you hear it da da da, da da da, first; sorry I watched too much of the MTV Anniversery special last week), the channel has teamed up with Seventeen Magazine to honor five young woman in a half hour special premiering Tuesday August 30 at 8:00. The winner of the Pretty Amazing content will land on the cover of the October issue of Seventeen.

- If you missed some or all of the new season of The Big C, you are in luck because Showtime will be airing all seven episodes back to back starting Sunday at 2:30. In other Showtime comedy news, Nurse Jackie will be welcoming Bobby Cannavale for its fourth season in all ten episodes as a hospital administrator. Look for the episodes to air in 2012.

- Just when you thought basic cable networks have run out of menial jobs to exploit for reality television, TruTV has announced they will be setting one in a California DMV. Keep in mind this is from the Ashton Kutcher production company so this may just be the most elaborate Punk’d ever.

- Last week I shared the first two “clues” for the upcoming American Horror Story, since then FX has released a bunch more, here are the links. And for anyone wondering who that is singing Tainted Love, her name is Hannah Peel.

Clue #3 – Couple
Clue #4 – Coffin
Clue #5 – Lying Down
Clue #6 – Fire

Jay is Chillin’, ‘Ya Is Chillin’, What More Can I Say?

Jay-Z and Kanye West first teamed up when West produced Jay’s Izzo off the original Blueprint album and the decade long partnership saw West produce at least one track on all of Jay’s albums since while Jay has jumped on multiple of Kanye’s songs. This included four songs recorded for West’s recent My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, two that made the album, two relegated to the free G.O.O.D. Friday downloads on Kanye’s website.

The duo parlayed that output with a new group The Thone and the appropriately titled Watch the Throne album. If you forget the album title, do not worry, Kanye mentions it in about every other song. The collaboration continues that pattern of both rappers embracing indie rock, Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver), who was all over Fantasy contributes to one song on Throne. And it is also felt right off the bat with the menacing No Church in the Wild featuring an auto-tuned Frank Ocean, despite Jay declaring its death just two years ago. Ocean (no relation to Billy) also shows up for a heartfelt chorus on Made in America (which may or may not be a epilogue to West’s Who Will Survive in America that closed out his last album).

It is not all doom and gloom like their last solo albums; the duo goes old school, really old school, on Otis, which has less to do with the late singer than the pair trying to out-boast each other. Jay-Z starts things off by trying to convince us that he invented swag (a reanimated corpse of Frank Sinatra may have something to say about that) while Kanye thinks he is going to have a get out of hell free card because he performed Jesus Walks. Even with all that over the top braggadocios, the true star of the track remains the Otis Redding sample of Try a Little Tenderness that overshadows the two rappers and is automatically in the discussion of greatest use of a rap sample of all time. OF ALL TIME!!!

If Try a Little Tenderness is the best sample on the album, the weirdest goes to Will Ferrell, no, not Anchorman, or even Ricky Bobby, but (Expletive Deleted) in Paris lifts lines from the ice skating comedy Blades of Glory and Kanye places them over Dr. Dre style staccato beats. Really, the production is the all-star on the album. RZA flips Nina Simone’s Feeling Good into a haunting chorus on New Day. West and Q-Tip create some fuzzy drums out of the classic sample Apache from the Incredible Bongo Band for That’s My (Expletive Deleted) and is taken to another with a chorus from La Roux’s Elly Jackson. While Swizz Beats makes the most out of a weird “la la la” chant for Murder to Excellence. It is a shame the rapping does not live up to the production. Even the usually quoteworthy West seems to be overwhelmed to trade verses with his mentor Jay-Z who has been living mostly off of great production since his unretirement.

Song to Download – Otis

Watch the Throne gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television - 8/10/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Cry Baby – Cee-Lo Green



My favorite part of the new Cee-Lo video: when not-Laura Winslow gets a befuddled, why did Urkel just break out in song and choreographed dance with a street full of people face.


Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera



When I first heard this song by Maroon 5 I thought do any chivks really want a dude with moves like Jagger? I always though why chick went for Mick Jagger was because he was rich and famous. I don’t Bob the bus driver who can move like Jagger is not getting many more chicks because of it. But anyway. For all the pervs out there that would get excited over a couple half seconds of naked women, there is an unedited version of this video.


Rise Above 1 – Reeve Carney featuring Bono and The Edge



The U2 Spiderman musical has been universally panned but you would figure at the very least the music would be good, but I am not sure if their collaboration with Spiderman himself Reeve Carney is even good enough to be on the Pop album. Hopefully their album with Danger Mouse comes out sooner than later so I can forget about this song.


Comeback Kid (That's My Dog) - Brett Dennen



Is it too late to nominate Comeback Kid by Brett Dennen the song of the summer? It is absurdly catchy and the video even features baseball. Plus how can you not get behind a white dude with thick read hair who turns That’s My Dog into a catchphrase?

This Is the Most Rocking Game of Charades Ever

Aw, summer television. When else can a show entitled Switched at Birth become a viable option to watch? The title alone makes it sounds like it would be better suited to be a Lifetime movie than an actual series. But considering that I am deaf and was switched at birth (okay, only one of those is remotely true) I felt obligated to tune in. Plus I wanted to see how, or even if, they would explain how someone did not realize that their kid was of a different ethnicity (granted I am still waiting Big Love to explain how the original Hendrickson’s managed to have three kids with three different hair colors).

As it turns out, at least one of the parents actually realize that the blonde kid may not actually be his which means the others are pretty much idiots. Not that I expect someone who tried to hook up with her son and JD McCoy’s father to be a MENSA members but just because a distant relative was Italian does not explain a half Italian half Hispanic daughter when you are both very WASPy.

Bad parenting aside, Switched at Birth managed not to so bad its good, or really even just plain bad at times. Sure there were some overtly primetime soap clichés like gambling additions, the warring mothers, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and the most egregious soap cliché which went into high gear in the finale and will no doubt carry into the next season: the love triangle between the girls that were switched at birth. But the show managed to find a heart that other new shows this summer never found (see yesterday’s Falling Skies season review). Katie Leclerc (who’s first acting gig was ironically on the episode of Veronica Mars where Mac learned she was switched at birth with Madison Sinclair) was a great find as the deaf Daphne and it is hard not to root for her on the show. While Vanessa Marano is, well, entertaining in a mini-Eliza Dushku kind of way. Hopefully ABC Family is smart enough to hold off new episodes until next summer because much like last year’s Pretty Little Liars, the show probably is not good enough to catch when it is up against real competition.

Switched at Birth 1.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Being the Leader of a Post-Apocalyptic Gang of Outlaws Has Been Exhausting

Spielberg! Aliens! The Dude from ER! It was hard not to get excited for the Falling Skies (well maybe not the Noah Wiley part) as producer Steven Spielberg made the most beloved alien movie of all time. Of course the aliens in Falling Skies did not come in peace or for Reese’s Pieces. But the problem with the television is that unlike the eighties movies, he was unable to create any likeable characters. Ten episodes later and the only one I can name off the top of my head is Pope (even worse, I do not even care enough to look the other ones up), yet almost thirty years later I can still recall Elliot and Gertie.

Where Falling Skies lacked in character development, it almost made up for with its sci-fi parts of the storytelling. The skidder upped the creep factor whenever crawled across the screen with their menacing four legs and only became creepier when we saw them cuddling with the children they kidnapped (which it looks like the harnesses that are put on the kids are turning them into skidders, which begs the question, will they grow two more legs or are the skidders a different entity). Then you had the nearly indestructible mechs with their sonic boomsticks. Although the aerodynamic aliens shown to be controlling the skidders like pets: not so scary looking.

Watching the final two episodes of the inaugural season of Falling Skies, I could not help but think about the first season finale of Lost where we spent two hour trouncing around the island looking for dynamite and kidnapped Aaron only for the episode to end with us not being able to see what was down the hatch. The first hour of Falling Skies seemed like a stall tactic while we are forced to watch a power struggle between Noah Wiley and the commanding officer while we are left screaming at the television, just bomb the alien structure already. And much like Lost, we leave the season with the biggest question unanswered, in this case why are the aliens here? I was expecting the chick from Veronica Mars to interpret their masterplan James Bond villain style in that last scene but it never came.

But it was that last scene which will be the reason to tune in next season (well that and much like this year, it’s not like there is anything much better on in the summer). What do the aliens want with Noah? How long do they plan to keep him? Will the resistance try to rescue him? Will they tell him their masterplan Dr. Evil style? Will we care about them more any anyone else in the cast? I am almost excited for next season. Almost.

Falling Skies 1.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.