Life Is Sweet

There is really no better advertising for Life, the BBC Earth miniseries which recently aired on Discovery, then “From the Makers of Planet Earth” which is one of the things on top of the list of reasons you should upgrade to an HD television set. Where Planet Earth focused on ecosystems around the worst, Life, out today on DVD and Blu-Ray, takes a look at the species that inhabit them from the jungles of Africa to under the arctic shelf.

© Barrie Britton

The first episode of Life is a primer for the series with the closing one takes a look behind the scenes of the humans (who show up only once in the other episodes) that were given the tasks to film in such remote locations. In-between each episode is dedicated to Classes such as Reptiles and Amphibians, Mammals, Fish, Birds, Insects, Plants as well as some subsections including Hunters and Hunted, Creatures of the Deep, and Primates.

© Stefano Unterthiner

If there is one complaint I have heard about Life it has been the narration from Oprah Winfrey, which could get bland at time and lacks the emotion that corresponds with the beauty that is presented on screen. If you were one of those that thought that during the Discovery telecast are in luck because both the DVD and Blu-Ray feature a music only viewing option. Both sets are also available with original British narration from David Attenborough; in fact the DVD is actually two dollars less than the Oprah version.

©Neil Lucas

If there was another complaint I could come up with it would be dedicating a whole episode to plants. Sure the Venus Fly Trap and other insect eating plants are entertaining, but watching a vine taking days to climb up a tree: not so much. Even more disappointing is the Behind the Scenes companion for the episode that shows much of what made it to screen was actually a blue screen with most of the plants actually were film inside.

©Rupert Barrington

Oprah haters may also want to pass on the Behind the Scenes episode because there are extend versions of each segment presented as bonus features, a ten minute behind the scenes look at each episode on how the filmmakers got the shots that ended up in the show. We also get to see cameramen struggle with gets great shots such as a komodo dragon hunting a water buffalo who takes a week from receiving a poisonous bite from the dragon until he is sick enough to eat. Or another that took three weeks of squatting to catch on film two birds mating which in total took less than a minute. One camerman even gets too close to a school of flying fish that choose to spawn on him. Also included in the set is eighteen minutes of deleted scenes, most of which were cut from creatures featured in the original series as well as a new segment on grass.

© Hugh Miller

As the above mention of the water buffalo, animal lovers be warned, the hunting scenes do get quite graphic and you may want to watch the series with a finger on the fast forward or next chapter button and skip the Hunters and Hunted episode altogether. But it is worth it to check out the rest of Life for its awe-inspiring shots from around the globe of 130 (54 of which have never been filmed before) different stories of species and the mate, find food (and avoid being that for others), and adapt to their environment. All presented in an entertaining package that you will not want to turn your eyes away from, especially when it is presented in HD.

Previewing Are We There Yet?

Earlier this decade, UPN was the place for urban comedies, but it then closed up shop the two sitcoms that got grandfathered to The CW were quickly banished to the Friday death spot and then quickly canceled. Now TBS looks to be the spot for the niche genre with two Tyler Perry productions already on the air and on Wednesday it adds Are We There Yet?, a remake of the 2005 Ice Cube flick. Though the sequel got a name change (Are We Done Yet?) the new show doesn’t despite the family being domesticated in Seattle without anywhere to go.

It is easy to get your hopes up for the sitcom version of Are We There Yet? because of the involvement of Ali Le Roi who was the show runner for Everybody Hate Chris. And he even brought in the patriarch from that show Terry Crews to fill in for Ice Cube while his female counterpart, another UPN expat, Essence Atkins from Half and Half. And though Crews is as entertaining as usual (albeit even more tamed down than Julius) there is just something missing: actual funny lines. Even token white dude Christian Finnegan (Best Week Ever) fails to bring the funny.

The show does have its moments; mostly in next week’s 9:30 episode where Crews and his new son argue over what is the better football, American or European (what we call soccer) which leads to some entertaining physical comedy from Crews. And whenever Ice Cube shows up as his new SWAT officer brother-in-law is comedy gold just because Cube goes over the top in his acting as if he only watched eighties sitcoms to prepare for the role. But it is not enough funny to tune in every week.

Are We There Yet? airs Wednesdays with new episodes at 9:00 and 9:30 on TBS.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CXXXII

Quote of the Week: You strike at the shepherd, and the sheep may scatter. (Boyd Crowder’s congregation, Justified)

Song of the Week: Blaze of Glory – Jon Bon Jovi (as performed by Jeffster, Chuck)

Big News of the Week: A Melancholy Happy Trails to Gary Colman: As a child of the eighties of course I watched Diff’rent Strokes, a show that could have only been made that decade (rich white dudes adopts two kids from the ghettos, if they did it now, it would probably be foreigners a la Angelina Jolie). I was really young at the time so I really do not recall much else about the series except of course for, “Whacha talkin’ ‘bout Willis.”

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Chuck: So Papa Bartowski gets shot near a laboratory where they were able to bring Shaw back to life (after being brought all the way back from Paris) and no one thought to give it a try for daddy. Keep in mind selectively using Claire’s blood on Heroes is one of very many things that made that show unwatchable. And how is a guy as paranoid as him not wear a bullet proof vest? But still it is hard to complain about am episode that included a Jeffster music video (except that they haven’t yet released a full version to the internets). Although the duo better not be on the run for very much next season in order to shed some budget. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: See my Parenthood review. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: A female Sheldon is cool for a one off thing but I fear that Blossom may return again next season might be too much of a good thing. And I would have liked to see some failed matches before they got to the female Sheldon. Sheldon on a blind date with a normal person has to be the highest of high comedy. You can download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Parenthood: Not so fun fact: I once dyed my hair black. I couldn’t wait long enough to get rid of that hair soon enough that I got a premature buzz cut so I had brown roots up the sides and the black still up top. Needless to say I got ridiculed as much as Ted dying his blond. Too bad the season ended before we could see Haddie’s dyer’s remorse. But my favorite part of the episode was when Zeke laid into Timm for having an extra latter in his name. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Justified: Good old Dewey, getting deputized. If he gets banished from the church again I wouldn’t mind seeing that as a spin-off. Though I was hoping that was going to Be Stephan Root coming to the VFW with a court order to come inside. But everything seems to be coming together (I wish the previously on portion was actually longer) and we may be looking at some big blowup between Raylan, Boyd, and Bo, and I would be surprised if all three are still alive by the end of the season. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Free Download of the Week: Matador Records - Intended Play 2010 (Amazon MP3): Artist included on the sampler include Cat Power, Pavement and Ted Leo.

Deal of the Week: Blu Ray Spotlight for Dad (Iron Man, Sin City, Planet Earth)

Video of the Week: It was pretty clear for a long time that Lost wasn’t going to answer all the questions it posed throughout it series run, and below is a rundown of a few of them. Keep in mind the video is produced by a site called College Humor, so some are asked for humorous effect, and some were actually answered if you were paying attention and of course they missed quite of few questions (but if you made that video with every unanswered question it would be a couple hours). But still a good watch. And of course you acn also check out my series review of Lost: Whatever Happened Happened.



Next Week Pick of the Week: It’s Memorial Day, turn off your television and enjoy the great outdoors.

Around the Tubes vol. LII

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 Drop Dead Diva, Life, True Blood, Stadium Slugfest, Team Coco presents Writers Live, and the Worls Cup.

- Need something to watch this long weekend, Lifetime is running a Drop Dead Diva marathon of its first season Sunday starting at 10:00 AM. For those with an adverson to commercial, Drop Dead Diva season one comes out on DVD next Tuesday. Look out for season two the following Sunday. Here is a preview:



Also coming out on DVD, as well as Blu-Ray, June 1 is the BBC miniseries Life which you may have caught earlier this year on Discovery hosted by Oprah Winfrey. I should have a full rundown by then, until I do, check out this preview clip:



- Also next Tuesday at midnight (9:00 for you west coasters) HBO will host the True Blood Ultimate Fan Experience, featuring a live Q&A via satellite with creator Alan Ball and select main cast members, a screening of the True Blood: Season 2 finale episode and a sneak peek of what's to come with an extended Season 3 trailer. The event will take place simultaneously at movie theaters in 50 markets across the country. There are two ways to get passes to the screening event:

Win a VIP pass through the True Blood Ultimate Fan Facebook Sweepstakes at www.facebook.com/trueblood.

Register for general admission passes at www.truebloodultimatefan.com. Passes are available on a first come first serve basis.

Can’t make it; check out a two minute preview of the new season below:

Season 3 Clip Preview

- In other HBO news, the channel will be hosting the very first ever pro boxing match in Yankees Stadium next Saturday (6/6) at 10:15 between super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman and three-time world champion Miguel Cotto.

- Conan O’Brien fans in Chicago, tickets go on sale today at 10:00 AM for his one hour special tentatively titled Team Coco presents Writers Live and will also feature longtime sidekick Andy Richter. The special will be taped on Thursday, June 17, at 7 p.m. (CT), and premiere on TBS Sunday, June 27, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

- Are you ready for some football? No spring practices for the NFL, but the world’s football with next month’s World Cup. If so, you will want to check out Terra.com a bilingual digital media company catering to U.S. Hispanic soccer fans. There is even a fantasy game you can sign up for.

Feed Your iPod vol. XLV: Delicate

My head still hurts from the Lost finale and my lengthy write up of the show (see Whatever Happened Happened). While I have Lost on my mind, I thought I’d go back to one of my favorite song placements from the show, Delicate by Damien Rice that closed out a season one episode where Hurley humorously ran out of battery life. Below is the clip from the show and under that is the song as a whole.

Delicate – Damien Rice

Whatever Happened Happened

If Blogger allowed subtitles, it would be, “Unless of course it was all a dream then that didn’t really happen.”

Please, if you will, jump into the Hot Tube Time Machine all the way back to February 10, 2005, a mere week into the inception of the 9th Green and my very first mention of Lost here, Déjà Vu All Over Again. In the post I mention my first apprehension to the show going in the long run because it had just already in the first season utilized the second of the biggest clichés in television history when we learned that Claire had come down with a bout of amnesia. But I bring this up because of the first overused cliché they used, the “it was all a dream” sequence when Boone saw Smoke kill his sister until Locke said, “Psyche! It was all a dream Boone, she is still alive.”

There is always a lot of talk about if a series finale could tarnish a show and the answer is no. The Seinfeld was considered bad but is still regarded as one of the funniest shows in the history of television. The Sopranos ending created such visceral hatred but I still saw it on plenty of Greatest of the 00’s lists and even topped a few. These were like seeing Joe Montana in a Chief’s uniform, sure you do not want to see it, but it doesn’t disqualify him from the Hall of Fame.

While the series finale may not tarnish the show as a whole, it completely ruined the last season. As one of the few people that actually like the flash-sideways, to go back and realize that forty percent of the season happened in the dead minds of the castaways so they could have the lamest high school reunion ever really ruined that part of the season I had previously liked so much. And what was with everyone with a drinking the kool-aid look to everyone sported after they flashed. They were all way too happy to realize they were dead.

And who was and wasn’t invited was befuddling. Sure they could explain away Michael as being stuck Jacob Marley style with whispering chains (along, plausibly, with Eko, Nikki, Paulo and a few others) but what about Walt? Could have had some flashes at some time with Vincent? And who invited Ben? Did he really redeem himself that much as Hurley’s number two? And what happens to him outside the church? Couldn’t he have gone with Alex and or Rousseau? Speaking of children, where were Aaron, baby Charlie, Ji Yeon, and the spawn of Sawyer? Shouldn’t have Richard warranted an invite? Sure if the island was underwater, he never gets eternal life from Jacob, but if sideways was just make believe anyway, he could have made an appearance.

And the absence of Faraday and Charlotte could be explained away by Desmond respecting the request of Eloise Hawking, but as the “time cop” shouldn’t she know if a world created by a group that leaves, would that world cease to exist and she then was denying her son a chance to pass on? And why care enough to include Miles, Artz and Anna Lucia in you sideways world but not even invite them to your reunion? Sure they did not have some epic love story, but neither did Locke or Boone (did I miss a scene when Boone had his flash backs?). Neither did Sayid and Shannon for that matter. Seriously, Sayid pines over Nadia, cris-crossing continents trying to find her, watches her die, but his true love is a chick he dated for a week.

The big irony for me when it comes to Lost is when ABC shipped Monday Night Football I said there was nothing left on the All Broads Channel for guys to watch except for Lost. It wasn’t until the finale did I realize that Lost in fact fit right in with all the other televised chick flicks on the network. Lost was never a genre show, the sci-fi aspect of the show was no less a gimmick than a hospital or the suburbs. This is why we would never get some important answers to questions like: "Why was Sun the only living member of Oceanic 6 that didn’t flash back to 1977?" because it never matter. If you need and answer, it was just a way for the writers to keep Jin and Sun away from each other for another two seasons because it would make for a more emotional reunion and subsequent farewell.

The finale was for all the people who would annoyingly mash up character names and fights to the death arguing over if Kate should pick Jack or Sawyer and cried when Penny called Desmond on the freighter for the first time. Sure I enjoys the first couple flashes in the finale (to a point, they really went overboard with all of them) but that just isn’t me, I could have cared less who Kate picked as long as the writers found new ways to get her out of her clothes and didn’t well up during the phone call because I was still trying to figure out how present day Desmond was able to get nineties Penny to call him. It is probably not a coincidence that some of my favorite characters on the show, Ben, Locke, Hugo, Faraday, Miles, rarely got any sweet lovin’ if any.

A secondary irony is for the whole series all I ever heard about the show was, “I have no clue what is going on but I love it.” Well I almost always new was going on (I could never wrap my head around the idea of the Constant) I never thought the show was all that great since the second season. But in the end it may not have been a good idea to trust someone behind Crossing Jordan and Nash Bridges.

Lost: The Series gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Times Change, We Need to Change as Well

I tend to avoid bio-flicks. Why would I want to watch the Fresh Prince pretend to be Muhammad Ali when I can watch Ali as himself in When We Were Kings? The problem with most bio-flicks is they try to cram a whole life’s work into under two hours. When bio-flicks usually work is when they take a small segment of a person’s life, especially a little know, but important, aspect that an audience can learn about. That is such the case with the latest Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino) directed film, Invictus.

The film takes a look at the life of Nelson Mandela shortly after taking the office of president of South Africa and trying to unite the country after years of apartheid. His unlikely solution was to get the country behind its rugby team for the upcoming World Cup being held in the country after realizing all the white people in the stands were cheering for their Springboks while all the blacks were cheering against them as they came to represent apartheid. A story most of us Americans have never knew of because the sport is not big here and we were too busy following the O.J. Simpson murder case in 1995. Had this been a normal Mandela bio-flick, we would have gotten a large chunk of him during his nearly three decades spent in jail, and the rugby portion would most likely been boiled down to one scene if it even got mentioned at all.

In Invictus, Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby) plays the newly elected president who reaches out the captain of the national rugby team played by Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting). I’m am sure some people could give grief to Damon’s accent in the film, but it really didn’t bother me as there are plenty of actors in the film that have natural South African accents that were hard to understand what they are saying at times.

Politics aside, Invictus makes for a pretty decent sports movie. Being about a sport that is so unfamiliar with American movie goers, it isn’t bogged down with sports clichés that you see over and over with to the point you expect them in overdone sports over here like baseball movies (though it still has some of the universal sports clichés that populate most sports movies). There are some amazing camera shots like a ground view shot of a scrum and a game that was played in monsoon type rain. And of course when the Springboks plays the All-Blacks of New Zealand we get treated to the Haka which makes you wonder why this hasn’t been imported into other team sports. Maybe if LeBron had done the Haka before games instead of clowning around with silly bowling skits or his cheesy WWE-style chalk throw, maybe he would still be playing.

For the special features on the blu-ray (in stores now as a combo pack and also separately available in DVD, On Demand and digital download forms) you get an in-depth picture-in-picture commentary with insight from the cast, crew and Clint himself. Two behind the scenes featurettes, a standard making of which includes Freeman and Damon meeting their real life counterparts and a separate one about turning the Hollywood star into a rugby play, along with the Invictus music trailer as well as access to BD Live. There is also a twenty minute excerpt from The Eastwood Factor which will be available June 1 individually or part of the blu-ray box set Clint Eastwood Collection which features 10 of his classics.

Invictus gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.



Full Disclosure Notice: This Blu-Ray was given to me on behalf of Warner Brothers Entertainment for the purpose of reviewing the movie.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CXXXI

Chuck: Of course Superman isn’t dead, simply pumping him with bullets will just annoy him. And annoy everyone who was happy to see Superman gone from the show. The only thing worse than having Superman around again: Jesffster breaking up. Hopefully a reunion tour is already in the works. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: How did nobody point out the most in sulting part of the movie based on Ted’s life: being portrayed by Chris Kattan. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: I loved how everyone looked so different a couple years ago, yet Sheldon looks exactly the same. And we finally find out how the elevator got broken. See Lot, it is possible to give satisfying answers. You can download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Castle: I really hope that next season doesn’t turn into a season of will they or won’t they with near misses every couple episodes. But it looks pretty clear they are going into that direction. 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.

Lost: Only two and a half more hours and I don’t have to watch the show again. Can’t wait. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Justified: With the condition that he will keep his robe on, can we make Stephan Root a recurring character? With Winona as a court reporter, it cannot be that hard to write him into the show. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Parenthood: When did Patty Prior turn into such a good actress? My heart was breaking right along with hers during the episode. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Modern Family: I guess it is a good thing Hailey didn’t go to the Lakers game because of the run in with Kobe because he has been known to being attracted to girls of that age and skin color and doesn’t like the word no. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Community: When I saw they going towards the obvious who will he pick cliffhanger I first wondered how are they going to turn the overused plot point on its head. My second thought was, they better not end it with Jeff picking Annie as the big twist. Naturally I was a bit disappointed with the ending. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: I literally stood up and clapped at the end of Buddy’s speech at the boosters party. Hopefully more people follow Buddy and put some support behind the Lions. And I also have a solution to the anemic Lions bleacher situation, bring in Mama Smash, she is better than a whole team of cheerleaders. And I hope this week we saw the conclusion of the art internship, because I am ready to move on from the storyline as a viewer. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Best of the Week vol. XLIV

Quote of the Week: You know what Buddy, you need to polish that ring of yours, its looking a bit tarnished. (Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights)

Song of the Week: September – Earth, Wind, Fire and Rain (Chuck)

Big News of the Week: No More Lost After Tomorrow: 119 hours down, two and a half more to go until I no longer have to watch Lost. I am sure I will have a lengthy series review up next week (definitely not by Monday though, will need a full day to sleep on it). Interestingly enough HBO also wants you to DVR the Lost series finale because the premium channel will be premiering a new True Blood promo for its third season. Then embedded in the promo will be a special QR code for an exclusive clip entitled Eric and Sookie. To access the clip, simply take a picture of the QR code on your smartphone. This will need a QR reader, and if you do not have one, try Inigma.

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: Sittin’ on the Hitz - Digital Underground (Amazon MP3): I do not think there was a bigger Digital Underground fan than me circa middle school. I even tried to get busy in a Burger King bathroom before I really knew what that meant. So the nostalgic side of me may have even paid for this track, but thankfully Amazon is giving away the track for free. Now if you excuses me, I have to go grab somebody in the biscuit even if I am still not entirely sure what it means.

Deal of the Week: Final Days: Save up to 58% on Spotlight Deals (Sons of Anarchy, Damages, How I Met Your Mother)

Video of the Week: Living in the Cleveland area such. Business has been fleeing for years and really all we have going for ourselves is that at least we are not Detroit. We haven’t even won a major sports championship in the state in my lifetime, or in the lifetime of anyone under the age of forty-six. Which could explain why local celebrities (including our governor, a senator, a Real Worlder, and Carl Monday who is sort of the Cleveland version of Chris Hansen) resorted to making this video below in hopes that it will sway LeBron James to stay in his hometown. And yes I am a little offended that I wasn’t asked to participate.

We Are LeBron


Next Week Pick of the Week: Chuck, Monday at 8:00 on NBC: I was actually under the impression that last week was the season finale due to the lack of “Next Week” promo at the end of the episode, but not only is there one episode left of Chuck this season, it is a two hour episode. Which means it will conflict with the season finale of The Big Bang Theory.

Around the Tubes vol. LI

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 Friday Night Lights, Gulf Oil Spill, World's Toughest Fixes, Johnny B. Homeless, Pretty Little Liars, NBC.com, and TNT Upfronts.

- If you ever watch Friday Night Lights and find yourself enjoying the music in the show, you will want to check out the video below featuring music director Liza Richardson and executive producer Jason Katims. You will want to also check out Friday Night Lights Soundtrack vol. 2 which was recently released (especially The Avett Brothers If it’s the Beaches which was featured in the second season.



- For those following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (which you should) The National Geographic Channel will be airing a special program next Thursday at 10:00 featuring never before seen footage from the fire that ensured the blowout.

=- Also next Thursday on the National Geographic Channel an hour earlier is the latest episode of World’s Toughest Fixes where Sean Riley will stay in Las Vegas to fix a roller coaster 900 feet over the city. Check out a preview below:



- With SNL done for the season, do you find yourself going through Keenan Thomson withdrawals? Then today’s your lucky day, well actually June 15 will be your lucky day because that is when Keenan’s nine episode web series Jonny B Homeless hits Atom.com. Below is a trailer:




- The latest ABC Family program Prtty Little Liars is coming next month. Here is a character profile of Aria played by Lucy Hale:

- Enjoy NBC shows and have a social media profile (Facebook et al)? Well you can get rewarded just for being a fan of a show like Chuck, Parenthood, Community and/or Friday Night Lights. Every time you talk about a show or watch a video you get points that you can redeems for exclusive access to early previews of new and returning shows, NBC merchandise, discounts at the NBC store, show-themed virtual goods and badges and entry into a sweepstakes to win huge show-related prizes. Head over to NBC.com/fanit for full details.

- Where the major networks got most of the attention, the Turner family of networks also had their upfronts this week. Here are the things that came out of it that piqued my interest:

Conan O’Brien gets a debut date: November 8.

Don Cheadle is getting his own medical show on TNT.

The long talked about Steven Spielberg series starring Noah Wiley finally has a name, Fallen Skies. Bust still do not expect the series to hit your television until 2011.

The guys behind Leverage and The Librarian films are teaming up for a detective show described as “old-fashioned (and recently demoted) detective as he teams with four brilliant but socially awkward, sheltered academics to help him solve crimes” called Brain Trust for TNT.

The Big Bang Theory cable rights were bought by TBS and will start airing in 2011.

An eighties themed series set at college called Glory Daze will be coming to TBS and will featuring the acting talents of SNL alum Tim Meadows and the “stupendous” Juilanna Guill from Friday the 13th, the recent one, not from the eighties classic.

Scooter's Fall 2010 Television Schedule

It seems like I say this every year, but I cannot said I am that excited with any of the new shows the networks have to offer this year. Of course looking back to last year, Modern Family and Community delivered some decent laughs (especially the former) and Parenthood lived up to its pedigree. Though you may have to look to cable to find the best new show of the last year, Justified. Here the shows recently announced that I am most looking forward to (granted most are slated for midseason which tends not to be a good sign for longevity).

1. No Ordinary Hero (Tuesdays at 8:00) – You would think the Heroes debacle would keep me away from a show that already featured a guy who ruined The Thing, but it does come from the guy who gave us Everwood and Eli Stone.

2. (Tie) Mr. Sunshine and Next (both midseason): Both star comedy gold of decades past, Matthew Perry as a sports arena manager and Paul Reiser apparently playing himself. But I have a bone to pick with the promo going around where he says he only gets noticed as the dude from Mad About You, c’mon, I will always remember his as the neurotic half of My Two Dads (and if we are remaking every eighties television show, how about that one, or will no one get by the easy DNA issues at the heart of the show?).

3. Better Together (Wednesdays at 8:30) – Time for an admission, I actually enjoyed Committed which I think lasted a month on NBC a couple years back where Jennifer Finnigan and Josh Cooke played mentally unstable potential companions with Tom Poston living in the closet. Now the duo is back (sans Poston in a closet) for another comedy round. It may last just as long, but I’ll be watching.

4. Outsourced (Thursdays at 9:30): If done right, this will hopefully be the feel good racist comedy of the year.

5. (tie) Perfect Couples and Friends with Benefits (both midseason) – Sure they look like your typical situation comedies, but one has Olivia Munn and the other has Dick Casablancas (albeit with very WASPy hair).

Here is a full rundown of the shows I plan to be watching next fall with CBS really testing my limits with all its changes (I hate change so much I refused to vote for Barack Obama because of it, not that I would boycott my first Russell-free Survivor in a year because of it).

Mondays
8:00 – Chuck
8:00 – How I Met Your Mother
9:00 – The Event (Maybe, depends how much Lost leaves a bad taste in my mouth)
10:00 – Castle

Tuesdays
8:00 – No Ordinary Hero
10:00 - Parenthood

Wednesdays
8:00 – Survivor
8:30 - Better Together
9:00 – Modern Family

Thursdays
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory
8:00 - Community
9:30 – Outsourced

Friday, Saturday and Sunday

I got nothing.

Take My Badge, but My Heart Remains

When The Black Keys debuted Frank the Funkosaurs Rex, I didn’t think they could top themselves, but their higher budget version of Tighten Up is just as awesome. For those that missed the Frank version of the song, I have included it below along with his follow up in Next Girl. And if I do not get the chance to review their latest album Brothers which dropped yesterday, let me quickly say it is worth checking out.


Tighten Up




Next Girl

Young Love: Full of Promise, Full of Hope, Ignorant of Reality

Valentine’s Day is a polarizing holiday, well mostly for women. If they are in a relationship, they love it; if not they hate it and hate everyone that is celebrating. Guys on the other had hate it if they are in a relationship, will those that are not could have thee day pass and not even know it. And Valentine’s Day the movie (out today on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, On Demand and for Download) may be just as polarizing where female loving romantic comedies will eat up this star studded affair while the boyfriends they make them watch will just be happy it isn’t as bad as He’s Just Not That into You.

The movie runs every gambit of love from school boy crush to young love (Taylors Swift and Lautner), couples ready to take the next step (Emma Roberts), a new relationship (Anne Hathaway and Topher Grace), a longer one (Jenifer Garner and Patrick Dempsey),a long distance love (Julia Roberts), the newly engaged (Jessica Alba and Ashton Kutcher), the old married couple (Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo), a guy ready to find love (Eric Dane) and yes there are even the woman who hates the holiday because she doesn’t have a date (Jessica Biel) and a pair of guys that could care less the holiday is happening because they are not in a relationship (Jamie Foxx and Bradley Cooper). Also in the cast playing auxiliary roles to those in or about to find love include Kathy Bates, Queen Latifah, George Lopez.

Naturally, like the more entertaining Love, Actually, all the players end up interacting in each other’s storyline but what it misses is the heart where you actually care about a bulk of the cast. Oh yeah, and it misses on the second half of the romantic comedy equation but that is what happens when you can based on a pretty face (Alba and Biel should consider leaving the genre altogether) instead of legitimate comedians of which there are only two unless you count Larry Miller who makes a cameo and Jamie Foxx’s camerman (Foxx plays a sports reporters who is forced to be a man on the street asking about Valentine’s Day) who has a few good laugh even if half were reduced to the Delete Scenes section.

Also Hathaway shows that she should return to the genre more often as her storyline was by far the most entertaining. And there are some other hilarious moments including the Taylors at track practice where Lautner has a run in with a huddle (which was supposed to be funny) and Swift’s running style (which I am not sure was supposed to be funny but was anyway), then the younger Robert’s boyfriend has maybe the funniest scene I the movie while Lopez and Foxx rattle off a few good one liners. But for a movie that runs just over two hours, you should expect more than five big laughs through the film.

The blu-ray (which comes in a combo pack with the DVD and a digital copy) is pretty thin in the bonus feature department. There are your usual blooper real (which half is less bloopers and more the crew snapping the time marker but it does lead to a funny call back to a previous Garry Marshall flick) and audio commentary (which is mildly entertaining because Marshall oversells almost everything). And for all you ladies out there, there is also an extended sneak peek at the new Sex in the City 2 movie. There are also two short featurettes with stars talking about their Valentine’s Day experiences and other about working with Marshall along with a music video from Jewel. But the twenty minute deleted scenes with introduction from Marshall are worth checking including a bit where Foxx interviews Denver Nugget’s Chris Anderson in a tattoo parlor and a PSA featuring Dwight Howard and Penny Marshall (yes, Garry cut his own sister out of his movie).



Full Disclosure Notice: This Blu-Ray was given to me on behalf of Warner Brothers Entertainment for the sole purpose of reviewing the movie.

King Arthur’s Journey Has Ended

I hate Russell Hantz. Not in a love to hate kind of way like some of his Villains brethren, but I hate him to the point that I wish he had never been cast on Survivor. After dominating the screen time last season by sabotaging his own tribe last season, he was back for another go around and weaseled his way to the end yet again thanks mostly for being on the receiving end of two of the top four dumbest moves ever in the history of Survivor (and this does not even incude the dumb move Amanda made by giving the Idol hint back to Danielle). Tyson changing his vote for no apparent reason, which would have sent Russell packing, instead Tyson gets his torch snuffed out. Then J.T. for some bizarre reason gives his Immunity Idol to Russell for no logical reason and promptly gets voted out at the hands of his own Idol. Keep in mind that J.T. didn’t make the dumbest move in Survivor history, Erick deserved that (dis)honor.

And Russell is wrong when he says there is a flaw in Survivor. No, Russell, you are the flaw and deserve the title as dumbest player in Survivor history because you are too dumb to understand the rules as they are presented to you. Just because you can bully your tribe mates to get yourself way to the final vote doesn’t mean you can bully Jeff Probst into changing the rule. There is a reason Big Brother quickly changed its rule after one season from America voting to the housemates, people vote are among our dumbest America has to offer (look at how some of our political elections have gone for the last couple decades). Russell put up two of the most pathetic final tribal councils and walked out of them with a paltry two votes in total.

Besides that, Heroes vs. Villains was surprisingly entertaining after the big dud of the first All-Stars season (with Fans vs. Favorites being not that much better). That was thanks to the players this time around actually acting strategically, not just spitefully voting out all the winners the first time they got. In fact this time around three of the four previous winners here made it to at least the jury with two at the final tribal.

And if Russell put himself in the discussion of the dumbest player in Survivor history, Sandra should be discussed as one of the best ever (and I didn’t even have her in my top twenty-five Greatest Survivor Contestants Ever list that I published right before the season). In her two wins, she has received twelve of the sixteen total votes cast at her final tribal councils. And Parvati shouldn’t be too far behind because she was the clear mastermind behind her and Russell’s alliance and still played in a way they managed her a few votes on the jury.

As Survivor has wrapped up the most recent All-Star season, I have a suggestion for their next one: Winners vs. Losers. You can take this idea a couple different ways, if you can get 8-10 (depending on how big they want the cast to be) former winners to take another go at it, have two tribes with the other being the greatest players to have never actually won (like your Rob’s Boston and Cesternino) or go big with the losers tribe and have everyone be someone that was voted out first (or second) their season. Or if you can only get around five winners, go four tribes: Winners, People who lost the final Tribal, a tribe of people who made it as far as the jury, and finally a rejects tribe of people who never saw a merge their season. No matter which way you choose, just do not bring back Russell.

Survivor: Heroes vs Villains gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.