Idiocracy may not be a word you have ever heard before but all you really need to know is it was conceived by Mike Judge, the mind that brought you the subversive Beavis and Butt-Head and the brilliantly funny Office Space as well as the watchable King of the Hill. The plot of the movie is pretty ingenious as Judge notices that dumber people are breeding at a higher rate while the smarter people tend to wait, sometimes to the point that it ends up being too late. At this rate, Judge theorizes that this will lead to the dumbing down of America that will make the Paris Hilton-obsessed of today look like Rhodes Scholars in comparison.
The story starts off in present day with your average Joe, quite literally as his name is Joe and he is completely average in every way, in Luke Wilson (Legally Blonde) picked for his averageness for a military experiment to see if they can keep soldiers alive for future wars. Since they didn’t have a comparable female in the army, the military pays a pimp Upgrayedd (played by Scareface whose Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta was hilariously used in Office Space) to offer up one of his ladies in Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live).
Naturally the experiment goes bad when the main guy behind it ends up in jail leaving no one to know about it. And it is not until the Great Garbage Avalanche of 2505 until they are jarred loose from their sleeping chambers into a world that is run by corporations, the Congress is now sponsored by Pepsi and the Secretary of Defense mentions Carl’s Jr. in every sentence because he gets a fee for it.
It is because of the anti-corporate message that you probably have never heard of Idiocracy as the movie was released by 20th Century Fox, whose parent company News Corp is one of the worst offenders of greed trumps morals philosophy (also displayed in their television division as I mentioned in Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Ten Times…). Judge may not have helped things when he depicted Fox News anchormen of the future on air wardrobe as no shirts for the guys and bikinis for the woman. Nonetheless the braintrust at Fox with their hurt feelings decided to only give the film a limited release, no trailer, no ads, no press kits, and the film wasn’t even screened for critics to review.
The morons of the future, in true Judge style, are what makes the movie. Dax Shepard (Let's Go to Prison) is Joe’s inept lawyer and the one who tries to help him to the Time Machine that could get him and Rudolph back to present day. Stephan Root (Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story) is your future judge, Justin Long (he’s a Mac) is your future doctor, and Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) is your future president, Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, while Thomas Hayden Church (Ned and Stacy) is the CEO of Brawndo, a Gatoraid type sports drink that now is delivered to all the drinking fountains instead of water.
Certainly anyone who has found enjoyment in Judge’s past work will love this movie as well. But be warned that the future is scary and you may wonder at the rate our country is going that it will really take 500 years for a show called Ow, My Balls! to be the highest rated show on television. And I not even sure how to explain the Oscar winning movie that year, you just need to check out the DVD to get the full effect of the film.
In a story I broke this weekend, the Writer’s Guild has gone on strike an quite frankly, I could care less. Well that was until I came up with a solution to keep some of the shows on the air: Hire scabs, and by hire scabs I mean hire me to write for your shows. Best case scenario I can take a sinking ships like Heroes (and shows that have yet to get afloat like Bionic Woman) and turn them around. Worst case scenario the shows continue their downward spiral they were already on. And even then there can be some positive can come out of it because you can film my debacle for a reality show that you can air instead of repeats.
Before you laugh at my proposition to write for a show, let me mention that I wrote three well received short plays in college as well as rewrote a play I was in that also happened to land me a Best Actor award. So in addition to writing I could also up the great acting quota on a show like Heroes (which definitely needs it) where I could be, for instance, Elle’s boyfriend (assuming she is still around, seriously Heroes, characters on your show disappear faster than my friends when the check comes). I even came up with a cool ability where dude can enter other people’s bodies and control them.
I hate to pick on Heroes, okay maybe not, but the show would be so easy to fix. All you have to do is have Hiro go back to the lackluster showdown of the season finale where he does what needs to be done, put a bullet in Peter’s brain to keep him from exploding than have a massive fight with Sylar involving all the heroes that were in the plaza, Matt and Jessica of course would end up being casualties. Then since the present would have chanced so much, we can forget anything that happened this season ever happened. And since Peter is dead, Elle wouldn’t have to go to Ireland and she would have more time to have dirty, dirty sex with her boyfriend.
Seriously, who couldn’t get behind that idea? So if you are a network executive, shout me a holla as I have much more ideas roaming around my head for different shows. This offer is not valid for Friday Night Lights because certainly there is no way I could improve that show.
As I mentioned this weekend, the internet was all a buzz last week when the new broke that a Joss Whedon produced, Eliza Dushku staring show Dollhouse was announced. I too got excited but only for about a half a second because I saw the show was being created for Fox. Long time readers to the 9th Green know I have not watched anything on the network since the series finale of Arrested Development (fun fact: the same year Arrested Development got canceled, The War at Home got renewed for a second season by Fox).
And since it is on Fox, everything about this show screams that it will not see a second season. In fact if this were Over/Under and I were Commissioner Statboy, I would make the line a Wilbon special at 3.5 episodes before the show is cancel (feel free to let me know if you would take the over or the under). But maybe I should look at this like Marshall and break out a legal pad and make a list of pros and cons to watching Dollhouse:
Well that is three to ten for the cons. And that could have been worse because I didn’t count the shows that even got multiple seasons but still got jerked around like Boston Public, Arrested Development, and Dushku’s previous outing on Fox, Tru Calling. Not too mention last season’s Drive which I was enough not to start watching because, as my sources tell me, was pulled before all the episodes aired.
As for Dollhouse, I’m gonna pass watching it when it hits television (which could be as soon as January depending on the writers strike). I’ll just wait for the inevitable Complete Series DVD to go next to my Undclared, Firefly, and Wonderfall sets. And for those dumb of you to actually watch the show, start your Save Dollhouse Campaigns now. And please don’t let me hear you whine when Fox pulls the plug after a month.
Quote of the Week: Like Jane Goodall observing the apes, I initially saw their interactions as confusing and unstructured, but patterns emerged. They have their own… language as you will. Well it seems the newcomer approaches the existing group with the greeting, “How wasted am I?” which is met with the approving chorus of, “Dude.” (Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory)
Song of the Week: If I Could - Blue Merle (Friday Night Lights)
Big News of the Week: The Writers Go on Strike: The Screen Writers Guild goes on strike tomorrow and to show you my lake of enthusiasm on the subject, when someone told me this, my only reaction was, “I hope the Friday Night Light writers cross the picket line.” And what I don’t understand about this whole strike is I have read writers have been writing none stop in case there is a strike. Now I have never been on strike myself, but shouldn’t you slow down heading into a strike telling your boss, “If this all you get out of me now, think next week when I’m not here at all.”
Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:
Chuck: Leave it up to Captain Awesome to make Morgan tolerable this week. Unfortunately he looks to be back to his abnormal self by the end of the episode. Yawn. And just how pretentious do you have to be to have sex to the Arcade Fire? No wonder Chuck hasn’t had a girlfriend since college. Now I like pretentious music as much as the next musical snob but I still break out Prince, Boyz II Men or Dave Matthews Band when it is time for some sweet lovin’. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.
The Big Bang Theory: I have stood by all the nerd talk so far this season because for the most part I have gotten most of it, but Sheldon’s Doppler Effect costume went over even my head. Can anyone tell me how exactly that the costume represents the scientific notion? And I hope that the producers took note that the Token Hot Chick’s look much more attracted with the hair pulled back in the costume (click below to enlarge) than the bangs across the hair she has been sporting so far. Chick’s hair across the face has been pretty bad this year on television. Did the hairdressers go on strike too? Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download or The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Heroes: Wait, did I fall asleep and missed Kristen Bell? That must be the case because I really can’t remember anything memorable from this week so I must have been asleep. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Pushing Daisies: I hope this is the week where everyone who said Olive was the weak link in the show after the first episode eat a little bit of crow after seeing she could be an integral part of the show and can definitely be a focus of an episode. It is turning out that Olive and Emerson relationship is the most entertaining in the show. Hopefully she uses his services in the future again. Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
My Name Is Earl: Last year’s Our Cops Is On was easily one of the funniest half hour ever on television. The hour long sequel just proves there is such a thing as too much as a good thing. Even if the trimmed the best into a half hour I’m not sure if it would live up to the original. And the only thing the new one did was remind me that Earl still hasn’t crossed anything from the first Cops yet. I still want to see him cross “stole Mimi’s cop car” off his list. But at least there was no Michael Rappaport. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.
Survivor: Jamie turning in the not-immunity idol has to be a top 5 Survivor moment of all time. Even though I new it was coming, I was still laughing hysterically throughout her whole speech and Probst’s response. But the best was at the end he tossed the not-idol into the fire. Classic. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.
Friday Night Lights: This was the first episode of the season where I loved the whole episode. I guess I may have to go shopping for some crow for second guessing the murder plotline as it is working pretty well. But my favorite parts of the episode were Coach Taylor trying to get some all episode, especially the conversation with Mac. Or maybe it was Saracen asking Mrs. Coach if Landry was right that he was a chump for going back to Julie, or maybe it is that Coach is still calling Landry Lance. But then maybe it was Lance and his Jack from Lost speech at halftime. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
Promo of the Week: Okay, this isn’t so much a promo but rather an exclusive clip from this Tuesday’s new episode of Nip/Tuck. I have already seen this episode (see: First Impressions: Nip/Tuck) and anyone who is a fan of 80’s music and naked dudes, you definitely want to check out this episode because you get both in one scene. Below are also two exclusive pictures of guest stars you will see in the episode, Portia de Rossi and Paula Marshall.
Next Week’s Pick: Friday Night Lights, Friday at 9:00 on NBC: Just when you think the show couldn’t raise the acting bar any further, this week sees the arrival of Jessalyn Gilsig last seen as Claire’s birthmother for a short stint on Heroes (well aren’t they all short stints) but I will always remember her Ms. Davis on Boston Public. And since Green Week on NBC starts tomorrow, don’t be too surprised if she brings some energy efficient light bulbs with her.
Recently a bunch of television bloggers and I got together to share some of our favorite links from our sites with our readers (I am currently seeing how many Lou Bega references t takes before I am excommunicated). I will eventually end up incorporating this into my weekly 57 Channels segment, but I thought I would introduce it first plus I burned my main hunt and peck finger a typing finger so I doing this would limit some typing. You will notice a bunch of posts dedicated to the writer’s strike and the new Joss Whedon show but I haven’t written about either because I have yet to decide which story I care less about. So until I do so, feel free to check out the links below.
Mikey Likes TV: Mikey listed the many ways in which he’s disappointed by Heroes: Generations, was surprised by how much he likes the new season of Nip/Tuck and forgot about it all after news of Joss Whedon’s blissful TV partnership with Eliza Dushku.
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 so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. 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.
The song and video from John Mellencamp is an obvious reaction to the mess going on down in Jena, Louisiana (and if you were left scratching your head to it please work in some MSNBC or Newsweek into you life). Yeah what happened down there is an injustice but people are making the Jena 6 look like martyrs. The thing is they should be in jail for what they did. People are looking at the case the wrong way, they shouldn’t be released from jail because the hillbillies that started it are not, it is the hillbillies should be in the next cell over.
Do you ever get the feeling there is a huge joke going on and that no one has let you in on it yet? That is how I feel about American Karaoke and how Jordin Sparks actually won a singing competition (granted not as mind boggling as Taylor Hicks). Was everyone else actually worse than she is or was this some sort of vote for the worst thing? Either way how can people watch such bad singing twice a week for three months?
Heard this song by Taylor Swift on the radio this week and thought it was catchy. But I wasn’t surprised to learn that the chick that wrote it when she was like sixteen as it sounds like a sophomore poetry class. You’d think someone along the way would mention that the line, “wishing on a wishing star” was a little repetitive and maybe she should go with, wishing on a shooting star” instead. But since she is underage I would feel a little skeevy mentioning how bad her perm looks in the video. Nor will I mention how much better she looks in the video below. Nope, not gonna do it. I have no desired to run into Chris Hansen anytime soon.
Above is the unofficial Mt. Rushmore of new school hip hop circa 1993 and if you can name just ten of the rappers above we can be friends. Just the cover art alone could get Midnight Marauders into the Scooter Hall of Fame but the seminal A Tribe Called Quest album is more than worthy on the music as one of the greatest hip-hop album of all time.
The group’s first two albums were great in their own rights, but were still rough around the edges as the group, still teenagers at the time, were still finding themselves. Midnight Marauders is when the group came into their own and grew musically and emotionally. They have always been jazz based, but they took the beats to a new level on the disk with Award Tour, Midnight, and Electric Relaxation still ranking as three of the groups best.
As for the emotional point, here is where A Tribe Called Quest became more socially conscience dedicating a song to apartheid activist with Steve Biko (Stir it Up), called out a Sucka Nigga, and the Tour Guide for the album pointed out the increase of AIDS in the Black and Latino communities and letting you know, “You’re not any less of a man if you don’t pull the trigger; you’re not necessarily a man if you do.” But there are plenty of songs to get your groove on with Award Tour, We Can Get Down, and Oh My God to this day can start any house party.
Yeah the previously mentioned Tour Guide can get a little annoying after multiple listens and it really hurt right around the time Phife Dawg uttered the line, Your styles are incomplete same as Vinny Testaverde” he got traded to the Brown and replaced Bernie Kosar (another brilliant move by Bill Belichicken) as QB prompting the team to be so bad it moved. Even with all that, this outing from Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad not only is one of the greatest rap albums of all time but one of the greatest albums across all genres.
In a story I broke yesterday, 90’s disposable pop is back. We learned that with the Britney Spears Blackout (see Part 1), she should have stayed in the 90’s. Today it is the kings of disposable pop, the Backstreet Boys, attempt to be relevant almost a decade after their heyday. And while we are talking disposable 90’s pop, a happy birthday today to Rob van Winkle himself, Vanilla Ice. On a completely unrelated note, a melancholy happy trails to Robert Goulet.
Unbreakable - Backstreet Boys
The new Backstreet Boys album Unbreakable is notable as it is the first from the group as a quartet. One can assume the fifth one is too busy hosting Don’t Forget the Lyrics or something to be bothered with recording. But it is not like the group is Boyz II Men who are losing a tenor; the Backstreet Boys all basically just sing the melody anyways except when the weird one does some vocal gymnastics at the end of the song.
Unlike Britney Spears who thinks she could still make relevant dance music despite girls out there today with better voices, bodies, and ten years less mileage, the Backstreet Boys are trying to age gracefully. Yeah there are a few dance tracks like the first track (after the acapella opening) Everything but Mine but the bulk of the album fall much more into the adult contemporary category with the group acting like a five four-headed Richard Marx. I would venture to say there is more piano on this album than their previous ones combines. Yeah there is nothing karaoke worthy here as I Want it That Way, but then again there really are not that many other songs that are besides Glory Days, When Doves Cry, and Endless Love.
With that said, Unbreakable is extremely boring. We are talking the album could stop for no reason and you may not even notice for an hour that it did boring. And cheesy metaphors like, “I’m a house of cards in a hurricane” (Helpless When She Smiles) and the most over used line in songwriting history, “How come you never know what you got until it’s gone?” (Trouble Is) are not helping things. But the most inexplicable part of the album was Treat Me Right, which happens to be the worst song on the album was co-written by N’Syncer JC Chasez. What’s next, a member of Kris Kross helping out on the next Another Bad Creation album? Prince helping Michael Jackson write a song for him? Are there any religious scholars out there that can tell us if this is a sign of the apocalypse?
Back in 1999 there were no two bigger acts than Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. They had the top two selling albums that year along with two of the top five biggest singles. Britney was eventually showed up by Christina Aguilera who could actually sing while the Backstreet Boys were forgotten during the crappy pseudo-punk era of this decade. While most of the rest of their ilk have moved on to movies, Broadway, reality shows, or just obscurity, both Britney and the Boys are still trying to hang on to those late nineties hey-day by dropping albums today.
Blackout - Britney Spears
On a remix of Jadakiss’ Why, Common pondered, “Why they hype Britney up, they know she cant sing?” The simple answer was she could sell albums. Back when she was the number one pop princess she got the best songwriters, producers, and chorographer and elaborate stage shows. But all those people a currently working with the likes of Rihanna and the Pussycat Dolls. So instead of working with someone like Timbaland, Britney had to settle for a Timbaland lackey Nate Hills to help write and produce half of the songs on Blackout which come out sounding just a step above the Paris Hilton album. What’s worse if he starts speaking over Gimme More talking about how amazing Britney is. Who does he think he is, Puff Daddy? At least Diddy had a few actually hit under his belt before he pulled that stuff.
Without Max Martin or Diane Warren around, the lyrics are even worse than stale beats. E-Mail My Heart seems Dylanesque compared to some of the songs on Blackout. Piece of Me is Britney’s backlash at the press and paparazzi which would have been a little more meaningful had she actually had a hand in writing it. Hot as Ice, co-written by T-Pain, is just one cheesy metaphor after another. And yes she also mentions in the song that she is also “Cold as fire.” Then Get Naked (I Got a Plan) and Freakshow, where Britney inexplicably raps, will most likely be Exhibit U and V in Kevin Federline’s plan to get full custody.
The songs basically are just one bad techno track bleeding into each other which may work at a rave while on mind altering drugs, but for those of you that are sober, the album is as bad as you could expect. But at least Britney can in solace that it is better than her ex-husband’s. But not by much. Here is usually where I suggest a song to download but you are better off saving your money. Unless of course you are one of those annoying semi-ironic people, then go ahead and get the “It’s Britney (expletive deleted)” ringtone so you can be the biggest tool on your block.
The good people over at FX were kind enough to hook me up with the first two episodes of Nip/Tuck but before I get into the review of what I have seen a little breakdown of the post just in case you want to avoid anything you do not want to know. The first couple paragraphs will be a quick synopsis to get you caught up on the happenings of McNamara/Troy with some mild thematic and casting spoilers of the first episode that premieres tomorrow at 10:00 on FX. If you hate spoilers you may want to come back after you have seen the first episode. I will also clearly mark when I talk about the second episode. You have been warned.
As I have stated before, I have shied away from Nip/Tuck because I have a low threshold for blood and have been told that the surgery scenes are extremely graphic despite hearing good thing about the show. But sometimes you have to bite the bullet (or in my case having my hands ready to cover my eyes like a five year old girl allowed to watch Friday the 13th for the first time).
The show picks up a couple months after last season, and the boys are moved into their new practice on Rodeo Drive. In the plastic surgery capital of the world and the newly single Sean and the always look Christen would be having the times of their lives. Instead they quickly learn they are just a very small fish in a very large pond. So the boys take matters into their own hands to round up some clients at a local nightclub and found something you need almost as much in Los Angeles as client: a publicist in the form of Lauren Hutton.
Carly Summers, the name of the episode refers to Daphne Zuniga, a client of Hutton’s. And wouldn’t you know it she lands them a consultant job on the hit show Hearts and Scalpels staring Bradley Cooper as a hilariously overacting prima donna as well as Paula Marshall as the serious actor who gets all the nominations but hides a dark past (this is Nip/Tuck). Then there is the neurotic Oliver Platt as the creator of the show and the always good for a laugh Jennifer Coolidge as a patient on the show. Also expect Tia Carrere to stop by.
The show within a show is actually as entertain if not more entertain than the actual show. But don’t expect to see Julia in the first episode; she doesn’t visit LA until the second episode and Matt and Kimber are completely MIA for the first two aside from a voice over. But Liz did make the trip across the country with the boys. And for you die-hards, you will be glad to know that there are plenty of expletive surgery scenes and gratuitous male nudity in the first episode.
Nip/Tuck airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on FX.
Review of Second Episode Airing November 1st
So by the second episode, thanks to the show, McNamara/Troy is booked and quickly assimilating themselves to the LA lifestyle. Thanks to his speaking role on the show, Sean is dating a co-star (or at least that’s is what he wants people to think after Julia lets it be known she is going to move in with someone) and Christen is getting some attention of his own after he poses for some risqué pictures. The case of the week, Joyce and Sharon Monroe, focuses on two dueling Marilyn Monroe impersonator who try look more like the real thing than the other with each being backed by the opposing doctors. Also in the episode we learn of Marshall’s dark hidden secret and we even meet Julia’s new love. Also expect an appearance by Portia de Rossi.
Quote of the Week: What is the rate of exchange on the life of a bird because if equal to or greater than mine I gotta get back to my car. (Emerson, Pushing Daisies)
Song of the Week: Living in America - James Brown (Everybody Hates Chris)
Big News of the Week: Subscribe to My Comments: I could complain on how bad the Blogger comment system is but you get what you pay for so it is hard to complain about something that is free. But this week Blogger introduced a cool new function where you can subscribe to the comments where any further comments will be e-mailed to you (keep in mind it is e-mailed to whatever address your Google account is for). I was never sure what the protocol was for replying to comments, usually I reply in the comment section and by e-mail if I have it, but from now on I will assume that if you have left a comment you have subscribed to that comment if you wanted a response. Then you can always come back and respond to my response or other people’s comments and so on and so on. So feel free to try that out sometime soon, even on this post if you see fit.
Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:
Chuck: Another episode ruined by too much Morgan. They really need to leave the comedy to Captain Awesome and Jayne because Morgan just ends up being more annoying than funny. Even all the other Buy More employees are more entertaining than him. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: Every once in a while something takes you out of a show early to the point that you can’t enjoy the rest of it, and the show totally ripping of the classic Just a Friend really irked me that I could never get into the show this week. C’mon, if you are going to call a girl Blah Blah, you at the very least mention she had 9/10 pants and a very big bra. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
The Big Bang Theory: Loved the bit of the whole week was Sheldon after finding the scarf on the doorknob from getting the Token hot Chick to figure out what the symbolism was, including how he was like twelve when he was in college, all the way to him squirming on the couch until morning. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download or The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Heroes: Leave it up to Heroes to set the bar so low they could step over it only to still find a way to limbo over it. Sure I want Veronica Mars to still be on the air, but there really was no reason to write Elle to be Ronnie but evil complete with an inner dialogue. Of course without a narration Elle had to do hers out loud. But the biggest crime was how little screen time Bell got. About ninety percent of it was already show in the promo from last week. And I could care less who Elle’s dad is unless of course it turns out to be Enrico Colantoni. But then again I’m not sure I could stand to hear another Mars alum recite horrible dialogue. With that aside, don’t forget to check out Oddsmaker: Who Is Under the Hoodie to bet on who is killing The Company members. I guess I can scratch off my far fetched Jessica and Kristen Bell ideas. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Journeyman: By far this was the strongest story of the week with the Vietnam vet hijacking a plane to help get a family that nursed him back to health out of Cambodia. Although back in the present, I didn’t care for the continuation of the gun in the gala last week. And unfortunately it looks like that may continue again with the guy still being in the hospital. If I were a betting man I would put money on the dude in the hospital being part of Dan’s journey sometime soon. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com. You can also download Journeyman on iTunes.
Pushing Daisies: I was a little disappointed at first when Olive passed up the chance to out Chuck this week but after thinking about it, it was the better decision not to yet because Olive hanging out with the aunts is becoming yet another great part of the show proving all the people that thought Olive was the weak part of the show wrong. But the best part of the show is it is the only procedural where I cannot guess the outcome with good percentage because all the cases are so out there and I can just sit back and enjoy the show without over thinking every clue because I know there is no way I am gong to guess correctly. Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
Bionic Woman: I didn’t give up the show completely but was more reading with the TV on, that is until Jamie started to speak with a British accent, which instantly turned her into uber-hot. I like how the tech dude that reminds me of a nerdier version of Herc from Friday Night Lights, who is the best part of the show, ok the only good part of the show, called her out for using the accent when she didn’t need to. I’m guessing this was an attempt of the show to be tongue in cheek (and failing) considering the actress is actually British. This begs the question with all the fake Americans on television these days where are the real British characters? I don’t think there has been one since a pre-fame Sienna Miller on Keen Eddie. Way to go with that one Fox. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
My Name Is Earl: There was nothing funnier on television this week than the “Enjoy Yourself: You Earned It” poster with the picture of Coach on it on the door of the conjugal visit room. The least funny on television this week was anything else involving Michael Rappaport. Can he just get shived already? Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.
Survivor: Wow, this has to be the most inept group of Survivors ever. Between the inability of Denise to beat James and Frosti finding out about the immunity idol I thought Todd’s head was going to explode because he seems like the only one there with a half a brain cell. And it was a little shady after saying last week he would never throw a challenge that he was quick to do so this week. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.
Smallville: There is something to say about The Big Bang Theory when all I could think about when Lana was thrown off the building was Sheldon’s diatribe a couple weeks ago about the scientific inaccuracy of Superman catching Lois Lane.
Friday Night Lights: I really couldn’t get into the episode this week because my sister paid me Friday and brought her Devil Dogg (no seriously, it was born on 6/6/06) and since she just finished season one and hasn’t started season two yet I had to spend too much time explaining what has happened over the past couple episodes so I really need to rewatch this episode to fully enjoy it. One thing that I did catch and really appreciated was when the Tennessee coach came over to the Taylor’s to confront Coach Taylor foe being butch league. Ever since it was hinted that Taylor was coming back to Dillon I knew it would end up being shady to how he got back to being coach of the Panthers and I am glad that the writers had the piece of mind to point that out. Although the old coach saying they may meet again gives me a weird feeling they may meet in the playoffs ala Voodoo last year and that may be a little cheesy. But as much problems I had with this episode, next week’s promo looks real good (see below). Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
Promo of the Week:
Next Week’s Pick: Nip/Tuck, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX: I am going to go into more detail on this show tomorrow when I preview the first two episodes of the new season.
You may best remember Jimmy Eat World from their huge hit earlier this decade, The Middle. Unfortunately fore some that will be your only memory of Jimmy Eat World even though they are one of the great rock bands of the past ten years. Unlike the fellow emo bands they get lumped in, they are not as uber-depressing enough for the shoe gazers that are into that scene, but haven’t recorded something that has been as accessible to the soccer moms as The Middle.
With their fifth album, Chase This Light, it looks like the group is doing their best to open themselves up to a wider audience by bringing in Butch Vig, who produce some of the biggest alternative albums of the early nineties before becoming the drummer for Garbage, to polish their latest album. And more polished it does sound. The opening song Big Casino is the loudest song on the album with a layered guitar crunch, but doesn’t come close to the bombast of previous rocker like Pain from the last album.
That is followed by Let it Happen which features the head scratching chorus, “I can laugh it off. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.” Jim Adkins has written some deep, introspective, and uplifting lyrics on the previous albums so certainly he could have come up with something better than laughing through a chorus. Luckily that is the only misstep on the album. The finger snapping intro of Always Be and the power pop of all of two and a half minutes of Feeling Lucky could get them back on Adult Contemporary radio stations that made The Middle a hit.
Elsewhere the haunting bassline, the soft vocals, and strings at the end of Gotta Be Somebody’s Blues makes it a stand out track and adds some depth to the album. Here it Goes almost has an underlining techno beat over the guitars and hand claps that could actually make the song danceable. But it is the title track that seems like all their great songs crammed into one song with its driving bass that builds the song into a great uplifting song for any occasion. Then the album closes out with the emotional punch of Dizzy. If you have forgotten about Jimmy Eat World after The Middle faded from the radio, it is time to pick up Chase This Light to get reintroduced.
Earlier this month, Santana released a greatest hits album, Ultimate Santana with an auspicious track list that may or may not have been compiled by monkeys. Seriously, the song with Steven Tyler is included? Two versions of The Game of Love? Two appearances by the dude from Nickleback? But anyways. Unfortunately my favorite song in Santana’s recent grab random singers catalogue was not included on the hits package: Nothing at All with Musiq Soulchild from the Shaman album. Now if I were ever to audition for some lame national karaoke contest, this would be the song I would sing. Fun fact: the song was written by Rob Thomas (of Matchbox Twenty fame, not Veronica Mars).
You know a song is a hidden gem when there is only one YouTube video featuring the song. (Granted there are about five random people singing the song into their webcams.) I have no clue what the video that goes along with the video is for and the song doesn’t actually start until the fourteen second mark. But it is worth the listen.
Feed Your iPod is meant to highlight songs that may not have been big hits but should be on everyone’s mp3 player. Shoot me an e-mail if there is a song you think should be included along with a short paragraph why and maybe it will be featured in a future segment.
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 so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. 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.
For a video that features a title sequence and actual actors like Kerry Washington, I except a little more. And what exactly is Kanye West bringing to the whole mini movie thing? It just seems like there was supposed to be an extended cut to this. But you really can’t hate on Common too much if the video was just an excuse to make a fake sex tap with Alicia Keys. I can be down with that.
Jimmy Eat World for some reason has been lumped into the horrible emo scene of the last couple years but they released one of the great rock songs of the decade in Pain and their break out hit The Middle isn’t the wo is me depressing songs of the genre. Yeah the video is pretty boring but Big Casino is up there as one of the best rock songs of the year.
Not entirely sure what Linkin Park is trying to get across with this video, but the melodic tune of Shadow of the Day is a nice diversion from their hard rock and rap of their other songs. Unfortunately it was covered up by all the riot sounds.
Sara Bareilles released her album right around the time Colbie Caillat dropped hers and it is a good thing I am not a betting man because I would have put my money on Bareilles as being more likely to break out of the two. Oh well. At least the video for Love Song is quirky fun.
Nip/Tuck returns this coming Tuesday, October 30th on FX and for those in the greater Los Angeles I have a treat for you. Tomorrow (Wednesday, October 25th) is the unveiling of the new Hollywood & Highland McNamara/Troy offices from 6:30 – 8:30pm. Bystanders will see into McNamara/Troy’s waiting room, featuring a live “patient” and will get a voyeuristic view into the plastic surgeons’ exam room as they remove the bandages from a beautiful patient.
Dylan Walsh (“Dr. Sean McNamara”) and Julian McMahon (“Dr. Christian Troy”) will see themselves for the first time in holographic form and will also be available to meet with fans for an autograph signing. Click below to enlarge the official invitation:
But for those of you like me that are not close to sunny LA (unfortunately it is starting to feel like autumn here as it barely got above 50 today) you can stream the event at http://www.mcnamaratroyla.com/losangeles/ (keep in mind I assume the time is PST so take that in account when tuning in). But you can check out the site now as it has exclusive video, an image gallery, and you can even get McNamara/Troy to make a house call to a friend (and by house call I mean they will call them). It also has driving directions to their office for those that can make it in person. And be on the look out for my review of the season opener coming soon.
and the brilliantly funny Office Space
as well as the watchable King of the Hill
. The plot of the movie is pretty ingenious as Judge notices that dumber people are breeding at a higher rate while the smarter people tend to wait, sometimes to the point that it ends up being too late. At this rate, Judge theorizes that this will lead to the dumbing down of America that will make the Paris Hilton-obsessed of today look like Rhodes Scholars in comparison.
) picked for his averageness for a military experiment to see if they can keep soldiers alive for future wars. Since they didn’t have a comparable female in the army, the military pays a pimp Upgrayedd (played by Scareface whose Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta was hilariously used in Office Space) to offer up one of his ladies in Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live).
) is Joe’s inept lawyer and the one who tries to help him to the Time Machine that could get him and Rudolph back to present day. Stephan Root (Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story
) is your future judge, Justin Long (he’s a Mac) is your future doctor, and Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) is your future president, Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, while Thomas Hayden Church (Ned and Stacy) is the CEO of Brawndo, a Gatoraid type sports drink that now is delivered to all the drinking fountains instead of water.![Terror Alert Level: Severe [RED]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjcsCV5I3jWQDVTcnVoXbArSx3kHl02FZ8FkOHBBKP2w8mQulcCF614SIw1GjuB2JtKV2YcQOKXtMlnW2ulLSOvYvvXzDwZ3JF4Mlh0Dt2nfEL1oGLh0sk7O-GRHWbCPvJmMMKg/s400/small_severe.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
(and shows that have yet to get afloat like 
) and turn them around. Worst case scenario the shows continue their downward spiral they were already on. And even then there can be some positive can come out of it because you can film my debacle for a reality show that you can air instead of repeats.
because certainly there is no way I could improve that show.
(fun fact: the same year Arrested Development got canceled, The War at Home got renewed for a second season by Fox).
. Not too mention last season’s Drive which I was enough not to start watching because, as my sources tell me, was pulled before all the episodes aired.
![Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCbHfExiuXqojow1zxkBUX6j-9BHg9IyrfzqR77jnja2Xq6dbv-7iiqMFzp_UKXGcUF9FyAHqCkNxa5uitXa5Xu2Q1OboN9-TLjsaeI1a2eoGLORU4vkTQ54l1C-_cZyn81QHyQ/s400/small_guarded.png)
on my ![Terror Alert Level: Low [GREEN]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5jUNMqnrEt-A-laO7HQcvH_2mssvEmU-3Ljc21QB95bE8gBS-ozxxmgUMEDQnUAPq4VYFmBlF5RIkGoiRjdCR8euNAtMTAaPmay8ZF4Lg3LY4TNqjAOq_3qDmalmC9AxLMIoVw/s400/small_low.png)
on my 
![Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebDZ0qqwOVKMZj7oFSUe8Hm3ax54U9Hp1fThJPgiddTyzcdwx_5SV6E3b7hkKyxbaDiym4COmUXT2YJnsKCUjBHI_a2xZtNoY7qFQRslP5AGO5gLkJwn2ZbO0wIF80ycbKrgPPA/s400/small_high.png)
on my 
with an auspicious track list that may or may not have been compiled by monkeys. Seriously, the song with Steven Tyler is included? Two versions of The Game of Love? Two appearances by the dude from Nickleback? But anyways. Unfortunately my favorite song in Santana’s recent grab random singers catalogue was not included on the hits package: Nothing at All with Musiq Soulchild from the Shaman album. Now if I were ever to audition for some lame national karaoke contest, this would be the song I would sing. Fun fact: the song was written by Rob Thomas (of Matchbox Twenty fame, not 
