57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CIV

Quote of the Week: A, there are no cows in space and B, didn’t you wear that like five years ago? So don’t you think it’s time to move on? (Alexis, Castle)

Song of the Week: CNR – “Weird Al” Yankovic (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon



Big News of the Week: Trauma Not Getting Renewed: Of course right after its best episode of the season, NBC announced that they were not going to order up any more episodes and if essentially done after its initial thirteen episode order. And if my math is correct, that puts its run over just before Christmas (assuming all of them get filmed by then). This means that we will most likely see Chuck, which got ordered up six more episodes, early 2010. And I as stated earlier, premiering Chuck before the Olympics is not a bright idea.

Trauma: Nothing like a Halloween episode to finally kick start the show. Although it may not be a good sign that my favorite character on the show in the fairy intern who isn’t actually part of the main cast. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Trauma on iTunes.

Greek: Oh, crap, we really are going back to the lame love triangle (quadrangle if Rebecca is going to be included). And the ending just ruined what was turning out to be one of the show’s best thanks to some entertaining one liner’s courtesy of Rebecca Logan. Really the only way the ending could have been worse is had Evan walked in on the two kissing and the show ended with shock on all three faces (or four as Even would be there to walk Rebecca home). You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Castle: The baby egg gave me some bad flashbacks. The period before I was supposed to hand mine in for eighth grade health class I leaned a little to my desk while Lil’ Scooter was in the fanny pack and cracked it making me settle for a D. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes. Also be sure to check out my chat with Stana Katic.

Modern Family: I have when networks think we’re stupid. Seriously, we just saw Manny and Luke get in a fight last week and now it’s the first day of school? If you are going to air episodes out of order, at least make sure there are no glaring continuity errors. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Survivor: Samoa: A fairly mundane episode, but judging from the previews, next week will more than make up for it. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Community: Whoa, they gave Star Burns some lines. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Free Download of the Week: Brushfire Records Fall 2009 Sampler or Lost Highway Sampler: T For Texas T From Tennessee (Amazon MP3): In the first sampler, you have Jack Johnson’s label featuring himself G Love and Special Sauce and Zee Avi. On the other there is more of a southern rock with Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and one of my favorite songs of the year, Sugarfoot by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.

Deal of the Week: Indie Films up to 40% Off (Reservoir Dogs, Carmen, The Doors)

Video of the Week: Being Halloween today, here is a little Hallowwen cheer courtesy of Ryan Adams:




Next Week Pick of the Week: Greek, Monday at 9:00 on ABC Family: The last episode before the show takes a hiatus until January and hopefully we see Casey reject Cappie (or at the very least make him buy a razor to shave off that silly fuzz on his face) so he are not stuck back at the beginning of the series with Cappie and Evan fighting over Casey. Also let’s hope that Heath gets a better send off then Fannie got.

Around the Tubes vol. XXVII

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 Rescue Ink Unleased, Explorer: Inside LSD, Alice, Dexter, The Office, Lopez Tonight, and Mercy.

- Tonight at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel is the season finale of Rescue Ink Unleashed. The boys are on the trail of a shady bulldog breeder, what may be a puppy mill for horses, while Big Ant and Batso try to fix up a run down Ambulance for the boys to use. In other National Geographic Channel news, tune in next Tuesday (Nov 3) Explorer: Inside LSD as the first human trails in thirty years of the drug start up again.

- After the successful sci-fi version of Wizard of Oz two years ago, Tin Man, SyFy is giving Alice in Wonderland a sci-fi makeover in a two night event, December 6 and 7. Here is a first look at the trailer:

Alice


- As I mention a few weeks ago, Showtime is launching a new webisode Dexter: Early Cuts chronicling in animated form of the teenage years of Dexter Morgan. It has now gone live so head over to sho.com to watch it. In other webisobes news, The Office spinoff Subtile Sexuality featuring Kelly’s girl group with Erin with cameo’s from Andy and Ryan has also gone live with its first three episodes and a music video that can be found at SubtleSexuality.com.


- As the premiere of Lopez Tonight inches closer, which will feature the likes of Eva Longoria Parker, Jessica Alba and Arsenio Hall in the first weeks, here the profile of musical director Michael Bearden who recently worked with Michael Jackson on This Is It:



- As I mention a couple weeks back, Elizabeth Moss will be guesting on an upcoming episode of Mercy and that episode comes this Wedensday. Here is a clip:

Last Thing I Said Was


- Also, I may be getting my hands on some prizes to giveaway so keep your eyes out in the next couple days especially if you are a fan of classic television.

Previewing The League

The very first year I played fantasy football I somehow lucked into the first pick and quickly snatched up Barry Sanders. That season it seemed like every game Sanders would rip off fifty yard runs only to be tackled inside the five where the Lions would turn the ball over to Tommy Vardell (who my friends mockingly called Touchdown Tommy to point out how he had more TD’s than my number one pick). After owning the cellar for the first half of the season I managed to put on a run ending up with second place. Since then I rarely even finish above five hundred.

With that decade and a half of futility, there were high hopes for The League, the latest attempt at comedy from FX. Although despite the show’s title, it seems like the show is more about thirty somethings who refuse to grow up and participating is just one sliver of that extended childhood. Sure the draft takes up a chuck of the premiere episode (including a novel idea of coming up with the draft order) but past that, it seems like fantasy football gets pushed to the background except for the occasional blackmailing induced trade that is made (Adrian Peterson gets acquired in a disturbing way).

The League is actually a fairly small five players, supposable there are two players who were on auto draft and another on the phone that go unseen so far. Mark Duplass (Humpday) is the two time reigning champ who has no problem choosing fake football over his wife, Leslie Bibb (Private Parts). The commissioner of the league Stephan Rannazzisi (Paul Blart: Mall Cop) has resulted to consulting with his wife Katie Aselton (The Puffy Chair). His brother Jon Lajoie (internet star) seems to care the least which is why he does so well. Rounding out the cast are Best Week Ever alums Nick Kroll, who isn’t above stalking a fantasy genius even is he is underage, and Paul Scheer who manages to draft a retired player at least once a year.

The League seems like it would have been a decent idea for a web series that changes along real-time with the current NFL season every week. Since The League is already filmed and in the whole I bet there may be some continuity error from actual football which is probably why they steer away from football for the most part during the second season. But for those that don’t mind crass humor of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, this may be a decent companion for the hour.

The League will air six straight Thursdays at 10:30 on FX (except Thanksgiving) starting tonight. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

We Should Have Went to the Beach

Whenever I watch a horror movie, my mind always seems to wonder to one thought: “This would be much better if there zombies in it.” The of course the next thing in my brain is, “and what if those zombies were Nazis: how cool would that be?” Leave it to those nutty Norwegians to put that idea to film. Yes, Nazi Zombies in living color (bad pun intended) for Død snø or Dead Snow for us English speakers.

Of course the drawback to a Norwegian film is that the cast speaks Norwegian and you are stuck the whole film reading. But on the plus side: there’s fracking Nazi Zombies! The story follows five co-eds who are spending their Easter vacation at a cabin up in the hills of Norway for a film marathon and snowy fun. That is until a creepy old dude invites himself in for some coffee and proceeds to call the kids stupid for coming to such a place without knowing its history. Yet he never explains why he is traveling alone in the same place. But who cares about a trivial plot point because there are Nazi Zombies!

Basically the old dude is only there to tell our protagonists why they are about to get attacked by Nazi Zombies. Once the Nazi Zombies infest there are plenty of horrifically funny death scenes to make Sam Raimi proud (Evil Dead even gets a shout out). If we are lucky, if there is ever an English remake of the film, hopefully Raimi is involved. And of course there is a gratuitous use of a chainsaw, a chainsaw to saw Nazi Zombies in half. Horror just doesn’t get better than that. Even if you are like me and hate reading especially when watching television, you will still want to pick up Dead Snow (which I think the only way you will be able to get a hold of in the United States is through Blockbuster). But did I mention there are Nazi Zombies?!

Dead Snow gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Television Characters of the 00’s

Before you read this post, check out The 100 Greatest Television Characters of the 00’s if you have not already.

When I decided I was going to lists to commemorate the greatest of the decade, I knew it was going to be hard as I already put way too much thought into my end of the year ones. But The 100 Greatest Television Shows was relatively harmless as the top ten was pretty obvious for the most part and I didn’t even quibble very much with the other ninety. Then I started trying to rank the greatest characters from the decade. Really anyone I listed in the top ten could have been a worthy number one. And of the five different trial runs I made, I had some characters move sixty different places from list to list. And some of the lists from here on out will be just as hard if not harder. So look out for a new Greatest of the 00’s list coming sometime next month (especially for all the dudes out there). Until then, here is a breakdown of The 100 Greatest Television Characters of the 00’s.

Shows with Multiple Characters
Friday Night Lights – 8
Lost – 7
Chuck – 7
Arrested Development – 6
Rescue Me – 6
Veronica Mars – 6
Ed – 5
Greek – 4
Knights of Prosperity – 4
Angel – 3
Everwood – 3
Everybody Hates Chris – 3
Firefly – 3
My Name Is Earl – 3
Pushing Daisies – 3
The Big Bang Theory – 3
Castle – 2
Dead Like Me – 2
Deadwood – 2
Rome – 2
Smallville – 2

Characters by Main Occupation
Student - 24
Fire Fighter – 6
Sales Clerk – 4
Scientist - 4
Doctor – 3
Manager – 3
Mercenary – 3
Owner – 3
Soldier - 3
Crime Fighter – 2
Detective – 2
Grim Reaper – 2
Janitor – 2
Lawyer – 2
Private Investigator – 2
Salesman – 2
Sherriff – 2
Special Agent – 2
Homemaker – 2
Waitress - 2
Cab Driver – 1
Captain – 1
Car Dealer – 1
CEO – 1
Coronel – 1
Cook – 1
Crime Scene Investigator – 1
Executive – 1
King – 1
Leader – 1
Magician - 1
Mechanic – 1
Medium – 1
Principal – 1
Prisoner – 1
Security – 1
Singer – 1
Socialite – 1
Delivery Man – 1
Watcher – 1
Unemployed – 1
Writer - 1


Characters by Original Network
NBC – 27
ABC – 18
FOX – 12
UPN – 10
WB – 8
CBS – 6
FX – 6
ABC Family – 5
HBO – 4
Showtime – 3
TNT – 1

Actors Who Appear Multiple Times
Adam Baldwin (John Casey, Jayne Cobb)
Nathan Fillion (Mal Reynolds, Rick Castle)
Ian McShane (Al Swearengen, Benjamin Silas)

Character without a Last Name – 5

Title Characters – 6

Characters Who Died - 6

Characters not in the orginal Cast - 14

Youngest Character – Louise Brooks

Oldest Character – Harvey Lipschultz

The 100 Greatest Television Characters of the 00’s

1. Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D - The Big Bang Theory

2. Veronica Mars - Veronica Mars

3. Jaye Tyler - Wonderfalls

4. Landry Clarke - Friday Night lights

5. Coach Eric Taylor - Friday Night Lights

6. Barney Stinson - How I Met Your Mother

7. Georgia "George" Lass - Dead Like Me

8. Emerson Cod - Pushing Daisies

9. Tammy Taylor - Friday Night Lights

10. Benjamin "Ben" Linus aka Henry Gale - Lost

11. Colonel John Casey - Chuck

12. Michael Bluth - Arrested Development

13. Edward "Ed" Stevens - Ed

14. Albert "Al" Swearengen - Deadwood

15. Richard "Dick" Casablancas - Veronica Mars

16. Thomas Michael "Tommy" Gavin - Rescue Me

17. Dr. Harold Abbott Jr. - Everwood

18. Jayne Cobb - Firefly

19. Earl Jehosophat Hickey - My Name Is Earl

20. Hugo "Hurley" Reyes - Lost

21. Rockefeller Butts - The Knights of Prosperity

22. Lucius Vorenus - Rome

23. Penny - The Big Bang Theory

24. Olive Snook - Pushing Daisies

25. Sean Leslie Garrity - Rescue Me

26. Julius - Everybody Hates Chris

27. Eugene Gurkin - The Knights of Prosperity

28. Dexter Morgan - Dexter

29. Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds - Firefly

30. Buddy Garrity - Friday Night Lights

31. Franco Rivera - Rescue Me

32. Bill Haverchuck - Freaks and Geeks

33. Charles "Chuck" Bartowski - Chuck

34. Special Agent Sarah Walker - Chuck

35. Lieutenant Kenneth "Lou" Shea - Rescue Me

36. Keith Mars - Veronica Mars

37. Joy Farrah (Hickey) Turner (née Darville) - My Name Is Earl

38. Andrew Wells - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

39. Chloe Sullivan - Smallville

40. Sheriff Don Lamb - Veronica Mars

41. Krevlornswath "Lorne" of the Deathwok Clan - Angel

42. Kaywinnit Lee "Kaylee" Frye - Firefly

43. Sherriff Seth Bullock - Deadwood

44. George Bluth Sr. - Arrested Development

45. Winifred "Fred" Burkle - Angel

46. Daisy Adair - Dead Like Me

47. Mike Silletti - Rescue Me

48. Chris - Everybody Hates Chris

49. Carol Vessey - Ed

50. Brian "Smash" Williams - Friday Night Lights

51. Frannie Morgan - Greek

52. Lester Patel - Chuck

53. Dr. Daniel Faraday - Lost

54. Lucille Bluth - Arrested Development

55. Darnell "Crabman" Turner aka Harry Monroe - My Name Is Earl

56. Joan Girardi - Joan of Arcadia

57. King Silas Benjamin - Kings

58. Tyra Collette - Friday Night Lights

59. Dwight Kurt Shrute III - The Office

60. Jonathan "Jack" Donahue Bristow - Alias

61. Eli Cartwright Goggins - Ed

62. Sayid Jarrah - Lost

63. Warren P. Cheswick - Ed

64. Richard "Rick" Castle - Castle

65. Tobias Fünke - Arrested Development

66. Bart "Black Shawn" Johnston - Rescue Me

67. Louise Brooks - Gary Unmarried

68. Detective Katherine "Kate" Beckett - Castle

69. Gourishankar "Gary" Subramaniam - The Knights of Prosperity

70. Titus Pullo - Rome

71. Dale Kettlewell - Greek

72. Margaret "Meg" Pryor - American Dreams

73. Maggie Dekker - Eli Stone

74. Jeffery "Jeff" Barnes - Chuck

75. Ned "The Piemaker" - Pushing Daisies

76. Devin "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb, M.D. - Chuck

77. Lyla Garrity - Friday Night Lights

78. James "Sawyer" Ford - Lost

79. Rebecca Logan - Greek

80. Johnathan "John" Locke aka Jeremy Bentham - Lost

81. George Oscar "Gob" Bluth Jr. - Arrested Development

82. Matt Saresen - Friday Night Lights

83. Miles Straume - Lost

84. Eli "Weevil" Narvarro - Veronica Mars

85. Alec Hardison - Leverage

86. Wendy Watson - The Middleman

87. Casey Cartwright - Greek

88. Charles Gunn - Angel

89. Hannah Rogers - Everwood

90. Francis "Squatch" Squacieri - The Knights of Prosperity

91. "Big" Mike Tucker - Chuck

92. Shirley Pifko - Ed

93. Cindy "Mac" McKenzie - Veronica Mars

94. Maeby Fünke - Arrested Development

95. Rochelle - Everybody Hates Chris

96. Harvey Lipschultz - Boston Public

97. Lana Lang - Smallville

98. Detective Eddie Arlette - Keen Eddie

99. Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, Ph.D - The Big Bang Theory

100. Harold Brighton "Bright" Abbott - Everwood

(Scooter’s Note: Only characters that were introduced and featured for at least one full season between September 1999 and August 2009 were eligible for this list. For a complete breakdown on the list, check out Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Television Characters of the 00's.)