Ever year since Africa, Survivor
like to tinkle with the rules just to keep the contestants on their toes, but no shake up is bigger then the two big changes on the most recent Exile Island edition. First is the look of the tribes, now there are four teams of four that were divided by age and gender. One of the young bucks even labeled the female groups “The Spice Girls” and “The Golden Girls.” I loved how two of the “older” contestants complained about their labeling. The other big shocker, and by shocker I mean it was when they unveiled it at the reunion show, is the inclusion of an exile island. One person will be banished their, it seems like if their team loses the reward challenge, and will have to stay there until the immunity challenge.
If there was one thing that really stuck out at the beginning of this season it was, well, Danielle’s breasts. Not since Eliza from Vanuatu has a contestant utilized the push-up bikini to its fullest potential. And the cameramen, who I think work for Club MTV in the early 90’s bringing the up-shirt shot to cable, were more than happy to focus in on her every time she bent over. And I’m sure they were happy when her team picked her to do the running in the first challenge.
But Danielle lost for her team and Misty got the short end of the stick and ended up having to be the first to stay on Exile Island. This didn’t bode well for me as Misty was my preseason pick to win this season. But one thing that Misty had on her side was that there is an immunity idol, which the finder can use at anytime, even if they are voted off, hidden somewhere on the island. Apparently Jeff gave her a hint that totally went over my head but somehow Misty was smart enough to read into the “fate left you behind” statement. And even if you don’t find it, it’s a good thing to let everyone else think so, much like Misty seemed to do when she rejoined everyone. If people think you have the idol, they may not vote you off think you will use it. Of course this could backfire if there is anyone smart enough to force someone to use their idol early, so they can vote them off early. This new twist should make the physiology of the game more interesting.
The early loss along with Misty being exiled didn’t seem to hurt the Spice Girls as they ended up coming in first in the immunity challenge while the Golden Girls came in last and voted off the stronger Tina. Brilliant move on the Golden Girls’ part as with the small groups it is safe to assume it won’t be long until there is some sort of merge (and if you paid attention to the preview, it isn’t hard to figure out when that will happen; or if you read the new evil TV Guide, you will even learn how. I really hate the new evil TV Guide). So it won’t really hurt too much to get rid of the strong player early.
Now on for some predictions and observations:
Most interesting day job: Logging Sports Promoter/Performer
Most Likely to Pull a Judd: Shane
Will be most loved: Bruce
Most likely to quit: Cirie
Most likely to hook up: Nick & Danielle
Most Likely to be Stuck on Exile Island the Most: Bobby
Girl whom I still have dirty, dirty sex with even if she hadn’t showered for a month: Danielle
Next to be voted off: Aras (Seriously, what’s with that yoga stuff?)
Winner: I’m still going with Misty (but if I were to revise things I’d go with Terry)
Verdict: Much like a crack addict, I just can’t stop. I will still be watching this live while taping Smallville and Everybody Hates Chris.
Last week Veronica Mars blew Lost out of the water with one of the best hours on television this year while Lost once again was seen dragging its feet in revealing anything. This week Lost was on hiatus by showing one of the better episodes from last year in the lone Hurley-centric one. On the other hand, with little competition, Veronica Mars had its first drop off of the season.
The drop off could be attributed to how great last week’s episode was and this week things seemed to slow down a little. That’s not to say there weren’t a lot of great things about last night’s episode, I loved when the lead singer of Spoon serenaded Veronica with the Elvis Costello song appropriately called Veronica. Yeah, I never seem to find any Costello music at my local karaoke bar asides from (What’s So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding, (granted it's technically a cover of a Nike Drake song) but it was still a nice touch. Plus the best line of the night, “Do either of you have any experience being a horse’s ass?” was uttered during this scene.
Plus I’m having some timeline questions after watching the episode too. If my memory is correct, Sheriff Lamb closed the case and ruled it as a suicide by the bus driver. Then after the case was closed Curly Moran was found dead. So why would Lamb be questioning those didn’t take the bus home about him? Speaking about Curly, it was hinted at earlier this season, and we get video evidence that Weevil gave the dude a beat down before his death.
Earlier this season I suspected that Woody Goodman was the target of the bus crash going after his daughter but after Keith heard the tapes it turns out that Goodman may have been in on the bus crash after Gia told Lamb that her father insisted that she not get back on the bus. Also implicated was Terrence Cook who apparently was hooking up with Ms. Dumass (you know the one Dick wanted to call him Ree-chard). Apparently Lamb also has something on him because he brought him in for questioning about the now open bas crash case.
But as for the main storyline of the week, again there were some holes. First and foremost, if Rashard is the second coming of LeBron James, there is absolutely no why he would at a recruiting trip to UCLA because dude’s not going to college. Also having the returning Jackie in on the plan the whole time wasn’t as cool as finding out Veronica and Duncan had the whole thing planned out last week. But it was a nice turn to see Wallace has rebounded with Jane, the chick who had a crush on Wallace and was last seen on crutches.
Next week, due an extremely annoying scheduling decision, the Grammy’s will be on versus new episodes of Lost and Veronica Mars. I think I’ll watched the scripted shows on Wednesday and save the Grammy’s for later that way Toss Up will still be on Thursday and do a Grammy review on Friday, but schedule is subject to change. The Grammy’s should be really good this year and the U2 with Mary J. Blige duet should be worth the price of admission. Plus it should be interesting how the proposed duet between Madonna and the Gorillaz (yes the cartoon band) turn out. But I don’t know why the show isn’t on it’s usual Sunday when there’s nothing else worth watching on. With this week’s Hurley-centric re-run I assume there will be another one coming up soon on Lost or possibly a Libby one to confirm my current theory (see it here - Toss Up… ). While on Veronica Mars Jackie learns how to cope with her dad being an accused murderer. Hey she should talk to Logan about that. Also Dick’s ex-flame, Madison Sinclair will make an appearance too. Here is the official press release from the good people at UPN/Warner Bros.:
MUCH TO HER SURPRISE, VERONICA IS MOVED TO HELP JACKIE AFTER SHE IS ACCUSED OF STEALING MONEY DURING THE WINTER CARNIVAL FOR THE SENIOR CLASS TRIP, ON "VERONICA MARS," WEDNESDAY, FEB. 8 ON UPN
Jeffery Sams ("Soul Food") Guest Stars as Jackie's Dad Terrence Cook [Scooter's note - they said this last week, but only pictures of Cook appeared in the episode], and Tina Majorino ("Napoleon Dynamite") Returns as Mac
"Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough" -- When all of the proceeds for the senior class trip disappear while in her possession during the Neptune High Winter Carnival, Veronica must identify the clever thief among them and surprisingly finds herself defending Jackie as accusations fly, on VERONICA MARS, Wednesday, Feb. 8 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on UPN. Guy Bee directed the episode from a script written by Diane Ruggiero. Tina Majorino guest stars as Mac.
Meanwhile, Keith confronts his baseball idol and client Terrance Cook (guest star Jeffery Sams) with questions about his past and the bus crash. Later, Dick tries to humiliate Beaver in front of his carnival date as Logan sets his sights on a sophomore.
This month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame is by a band I love so much, I devoted a whole week to celebrate the band’s latest album last year. But SHoF honor goes to the album that started it all, Under the Table and Dreaming. The band of course is the Dave Matthews Band. The band came from the south just as grunge was dying and rock fans were looking for something new, and things don’t get much more different than having a full time violinist and sax man.
It took me a while to be sold on DMB because I really didn’t care too much for the first single, What Would You Say as I found it a little too odd. But as each subsequent single was released, Ants Marching followed by Satellite, the band grew on my more. Eventually a buddy of mine got me the album for my birthday and I was blown away. The interchanging of the different instrumentation was refreshing and the melodies were so well crafted you never realize that most of the songs clock in at over five minutes.
The album starts off with what still remains as one of my favorite songs, The Best of What’s Around. The song start what seems to be the common theme of the album, no matter how bad things get, you still have me, and I still have you so let’s live life to the fullest. And whenever you want to go a little further with a lady friend, you can always bust out the line, “See, you and me have a better time than most can dream, have it better than the best.” Further along on the album is Dancing Nancies, a clever ditty pondering your life as someone else then realizing the one you have is good enough.
Ants Marching is a great song that I would always put on whenever my life got too monotonous. It always reminds me never to get in a rut or I’d become another marching ant on the sidewalk. Jimi Thing is just on of those songs you need to play in the summertime blaring in your car with the windows down. The song was the highlight of my first ever DMB concert. Then near the end is the best song on the album, Warehouse, a song that has only gotten better with age. If you are lucky, they will play this the next time you go to one of there concerts so you can go “woo” at the beginning. The album caps off with the instrumental #34, which is also the track number, a song is a light, moving song, that plays as a lullaby to the album.
Dave Matthews Band has gone on to make many more album, all of which I own, including most of there live ones, although Under the Table and Dreaming still remains their best. To look a look back at my special DMB Week here are the links to those pages:
Ranking the Albums
My History
Best Songs
Best Live Albums
Stand Up Album Review
Back in 1998, it was safe to say that Train were headed towards One Hit Wonder land with their very catchy, if not somewhat odd, Meet Virginia. But just around the time everyone forgot about them, they surfaced three years later with what could be one of the best songs this decade, Drops of Jupiter and landed at number two of my Best of 2001 list. That song along warranted the band to release a couple more albums.
After the somewhat disappointing 2003 release of My Private Nation, the band is back with the stronger effort of For Me, It's You. The album starts off with All I Ever Wanted a song about realizing maybe a little too late what you want and is highlighted by the line “You gave me everything I ever wanted except for you.” The album also features the band’s best song since Drops of Jupiter in Cab another piano driven song with a backing orchestra but where Drops captures that summer feel, Cab does a great job catching the essences of being in New York City in the dead of winter.
Sadly Train goes back into bland rock radio clichés for most of the rest of the album. “Skyscraper, you define the skyline,” could be one of the most boring lines ever written and shows the band should stick with the more inane lyrics featured in Meet Virginia or Drops of Jupiter. Pat Monahan’s amazing voice is able to salvage some of the songs from going into Nickelback type triteness and the additions of Bandon Bush on keyboards and Johnny Colt of The Black Crowes on bass help re-energize the band somewhat, but there is still a few songs that should have never made the cut.
Stuck in the middle of the routine rock songs is the funky Shelter Me. Also stick around for the title track that is stuck at the end of the album. The romantic song, with lines like, “Everybody got something that they want to sing about, laugh about, cry about, it's true, for me it's you,” is a jazzy song that Monahan’s voice shines on. Maybe in another album or two, Train will have compiled enough great songs to put together must own “Best Of” package.
Song to Download - Cab
For You it's Me gets a ![Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-iVFV0hXCTSYP16K_V0Rrxp3GqFrtBIJKeTUyQ2LpxZQ9XKHFj6QGtqqa7oxhLadLV8vUj8R84AftD8IKUSfN0u_u0CYDtJwhrpCPN2DBWquAIDv0jbVlhZL0mDFKlPKluGyxw/s400/small_elevated.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
Finally my constant emails have been answered and now I can actually download my favorite episodes of Laguna Beach into iTunes. Okay that opening was a bit of sarcasm but sadly for those that can’t get enough of the drama, MTV, along with Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, are starting to put up selective show in iTunes at $1.99 an episode. It should be interesting to see if any of the shows sell well because these channels are known for showing the episodes ad nausea. If someone misses The Gauntlet 2 tonight, are they really going drop two dollars when the show will be repeated about twenty times before the next episode air? And most of the shows are already available on DVD and I’m not sure who would want to buy a specifics episode instead of buying a whole season of the show on DVD except if you are a fanatic of someone who was Punk’d. Comedy Central actually seems to try to combat that by having episodes of Drawn Together up on iTunes days before they debut on the channel. Here’s a list of new shows available threw iTunes (to access, click the SNL ad in the sidebar and click on the TV Shows tab)
Comedy Central:
South Park Seasons 1&2
Drawn Together Seasons 1&2
Best of Comedy Central Stand-Up
Nickelodeon:
Spongebob Squarepants Season 1
Dora the Explorer Season 1
Zoey 101 Seasons 1&2
MTV:
Beavis and Butthead (selections from the Mike Judge Collection vol. 1)
Laguna Beach Season 1
Wonder Showzen Season 1
Gauntlent 2
My Super Sweet 16 Seasons 1&2 (possibly the worst show ever to air on TV)
Jackass vol. 1
Punk’d Seasons 1-3
The N:
South of Nowhere Season 1
Speaking of iTunes I was surprised last week when I opened up my feed that tells me what the top 25 most downloaded songs were when it had multiple songs by people I’ve never heard of. So I opened up the music store to investigate only to find all of the songs were part of a made for TV musical on the Disney channel. Over a week later, half of the top ten downloaded songs are still from the soundtrack, and as a whole, High School Musical Soundtrack has had a stranglehold as the number one most downloaded album. I think it’s safe to say the music business is still in a downswing if a made for TV musical from a cable channel is dominating thing. For those interesting in discovering real music, iTunes is offering a video from The Today Show of new artist KT Tunstall who has an album, Eyes to the Telescope, coming out next Tuesday. It's somewhat hard to find, but if you wait in the main music store page, there should be an ad that comes up at the very top of the page.
There is nothing more annoying then the musical snobs that drop their end of the year “Best of” list chock full of bands you’ve never heard of. So I’m stuck reading reviews of Sufjan Stevens because you’re too stuck up to admit that the Dave Matthews Band could put out a good album just because they’ve been played on the radio in the last ten years. (Feel free to check out mine - Best Albums of 2005) Another act that keeps coming up in year end lists is Cat Power, whom I never heard a song from yet the musical snobs always wax poetic about since she started recording back in 1995.
So after ten years of ignoring her, I’ve decided to give her new album, The Greatest a listen. First off, to avoid any confusion by the title, I must mention that this is and album of all new material, not a greatest hits package. The album itself was recorded in Memphis with many of the cities greats including members of Booker T. and the MG’s, but doesn’t sound much like a soul record instead it’s more of a folksy country album centered around a piano. If anything, the soul musicians are able to beautifully add different instruments around the piano building up grandeur to the songs.
But the music never overshadows the voice of Cat Power, or as her parents call her, Chan Marshall. She has the haunting voice that commands attention and you can tell she’s been through her share of heartbreak. The Greatest is just one the albums you need to play driving on a warm summer night with all your windows down on a country road to fully appreciate especially the breezy, whistling inducing After it All. And even though there isn’t much deviation between songs, just like a Jack Johnson album, they are different enough that the album will never get old. Maybe now that I’m a Cat Power convert, I should finally check out that Sufjan Stevens album. Nah, I’ll just wait another ten years to check him out too.
Song to Download - After it All
The Greatest gets a ![Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebDZ0qqwOVKMZj7oFSUe8Hm3ax54U9Hp1fThJPgiddTyzcdwx_5SV6E3b7hkKyxbaDiym4COmUXT2YJnsKCUjBHI_a2xZtNoY7qFQRslP5AGO5gLkJwn2ZbO0wIF80ycbKrgPPA/s400/small_high.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
Yellowcard arrived on the scene riding in the back of the wave of pseudo-punk band that flooded the airwaves in recent years even though they sounded more like the Backstreet Boys than The Clash (think Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, and other bands your little sister listens to). What set the band apart was they violinist in the group but you have to listen pretty close to here it and really isn’t a focal point of the band unlike the ones in Nickel Creek or Dave Matthews Band. On stage, he just comes arouses like a prop much like the dancing dude from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
Now Yellowcard is back with a new album Lights and Sounds which starts earnestly enough with the instrumental Three Fights Up. Yeah it seems to rip off the opening to the Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but there are worst bands to steal from. Speaking of Yellowcard ripping off other bands, is it just me or does their new video, Lights and Sounds look exactly like the Coldplay Speed of Sound video? (Click on the song titles to compare.) But anyways. Sadly the instrumental is followed by the bland punk-pop songs that make the genre virtually unlistenable.
There are a few departures on the album from the power-pop formula like Two Weeks from Twenty which sounds like a Ben Folds song but was rejected for his album because it wasn’t as catchy and the lyrics weren’t as clever as songs that made the cut. The lyrics do tell the story of a boy who couldn’t find any work in Jersey so he went into the army and was killer ironically enough two weeks before his twentieth birthday. One must wonder if they wrote the song after watching Green Day’s Wake Me up When September Ends video. And with the line, “there's still no shame from the man to blame,” one can assume it was directed at George Bush. C’mon, Bush bashing was so 2004, where are the anti Tom DeLay songs?
Yellowcard did land a big coup by landing one of the Dixie Chicks to sing back-up on How I Go. That would be Natalie for those keeping track at home. But even her angelic voice can help out one of the worst singers making music today. When it comes down to it, it’s sad when the best song on the album is an instrumental one.
Song to Download - Three Fights of Stairs
Lights and Sounds gets a ![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 Scale.
The big news Tuesday was the unexpected merger of The WB with UPN. My first thought was, “Oh crap, there’re going to get rid of Veronica Mars.” Then after every major and minor new report mentioned the show as most like being apart of the new CW network (a name so bad you’d think they’d try to get half owner, CBS, to let them start showing Love Monkey). Add onto that the show is currently on UPN and is produced by the Warner Brothers studio, which of course owns The WB, they already both have vested interest in the show. But being beat by a repeat of Beauty and the Geek this past Wednesday may not help though.
Aside from announcing the merger, both sides have been relatively quiet about the specifics like which shows will make up the new channel or even how much prime time programming there will be. I’ve heard everything from as little as 17 hours all the way up to 30 hours. So I have compiled a list for the newly minted CW letting know not only what shows that should stick around and those that should be dumped but a potential lineup they should use come fall using the current WB hours which I have heard a couple times as being the model for:
Must Have Shows – Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates Chris, Everwood, Supernatural
Must Dump Now – South Beach, Cuts, One Tree Hill, Living with Fran, Twins, Charmed, Eve
Monday
8:00 - 7th Heaven spin-off
9:00 - Gilmore Girls
Tuesday
8:00 - New Joss Whedon Show
9:00 - Veronica Mars
Wednesday
8:00 - America’s Next Top Model
9:00 - Supernatural
Thursday
8:00 - Everybody Hates Chris
8:30 - One on One
9:00 - Girlfriends
9:30 - Half and Half
Friday
8:00 - WWE Smackdown
Sunday
5:00 - Veronica Mars Beginnings
6:00 - Easy View Tuesday 8:00 Show
7:00 - What I Like About You
7:30 - Reba
8:00 - Related
9:00 - Everwood
On Mondays I know that this is the last season for 7th Heaven but it is still the second highest rated show currently on The WB so taking a couple characters from the show for a new show would be a wise decision and pairing it with Gilmore Girls would make a good family lineup.
For Tuesday, here is my probably too far fetched idea but I will pitch it anyways, beg Joss Whedon to create a new show for the fledgling network. He helped bring credibility to The WB with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and did the same for UPN when Buffy moved there in season 5. Whether it is a show in the Buffy-verse, a Firefly offshoot or a new show entirely, they need to beg Weadon to bring a show to the network. Then have that show lead into the best show since Buffy, Veronica Mars, would be a great pair.
Wednesday is sort of a hodgepodge as there is nowhere else to put Supernatural unless it gets paired up with Veronica Mars considering that it’s doubtful that my Weadon suggestion will come to fruition. Thursday is a combination of the best urban shows while some of the crap gets axed. Seriously how did Shannon Elizabeth get her own show? But anyways. Smackdown is perfect for Friday as it give pre-pubescent dude something to do when they can’t get a date. If only this was the case when I was young so I wouldn't have been stuck watching Urkel.
The WB loves its Easy View so why not keep it around. UPN even stole the idea by repeating Veronica Mars at 7:00 on Sundays this year. And just like The WB has done with Smallville and Gilmore Girls in the past, show the first season of Veronica Mars so late comers can get caught up. While all the new programming are good family shows, even though the dramas do have some older themes. In addition to the schedule, CW should bring back Beauty and the Geek and Blue Collar TV as replacement shows or fillers for when show go on hiatus instead a weeks of repeats instead.
The most glaring omission from this lineup is Smallville. When watching the 100th episode and watching the deaths of Lana (thankfully she came back to life) and Papa Kent (don't they know what happen the last time a show tried to go without Bo Duke?), I realized that this is the last hurrah for the show. It was good while it lasted, but it’s quickly running out of storylines and Warner Brother won’t be hesitant to pull the plug before the show does something to taint the legacy, and in turn taint the movie that will be coming out this summer, and most like future summers too. Plus it would be silly to have a television show and film franchise running at the same time. And to the Smallville faithful, you should be happy the show that the show will not be able to fall into late season X-Files type decline.
For the first time since early December, Lost went head to head with Veronica Mars with new episodes. Who had the better one? Let’s play a little game I like to call Toss Up. (Picture to the right is courtesy of UPN/Warner. Used by permission)
Best Breakup
Lost – Claire kicks Charlie to the curb, and then slaps him when he tries to get back together.
Veronica Mars – Veronica and Duncan have a very public breakup with a lot of mud slinging only for it to be a whole set up.
Winner – Veronica Mars
Best Middle School Flashback
Lost – The cool kid tries to get the fat kid to ask out the hot chick.
Veronica Mars – Veronica puts on some horribly depressing music post break-up including How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? By Al Green from The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack.
Winner – Lost
Best Lie
Lost – Libby tells Hurley that he stepped on her foot when he boarded the plane yet she was supposedly in the back of the plane while he was in the middle.
Veronica Mars – Veronica fools everyone into thinking she’s not in cahoots with Duncan.
Winner – Veronica Mars
Best Baby Namesake
Lost – Charlie’s sister-in-law named his niece after his mother even though the father didn’t bother to show up.
Veronica Mars – Duncan names his daughter after his sister.
Winner – Veronica Mars
Good to See Again
Lost – Liam
Veronica Mars – Vinnie Van Lowe, Cliff, Sean, and Xena the Warrior Princess
Winner – Veronica Mars
Best Line(s)
Lost – Anna Lucia, “You hitting that?”
Veronica Mars – Dick, “He told me to go have sexual intercourse with myself.” Logan, “Doesn’t he know if you could do that you’d never leave the house?” Dick, “You know it.”
MIA
Lost – Michael’s still in the jungle.
Veronica Mars – Jackie hasn’t been seen since Homecoming. Plus no Beaver.
Winner - Lost
Worst Song
Lost – Charlie writes a song that in no way could get his band back on the charts.
Veronica Mars – While moping around Veronica listens to Paula Cole’s I Don’t Want to Wait (and didn’t make a Dawson's Creek joke) and The Hollies’ Air That I Breathe (to be honest, I do have this on my iPod).
Winner - Lost
Pep Talk
Lost – Sawyer tries to help Hurley out on how to hook up with Libby.
Veronica Mars – Dick tries help Veronica forget about Duncan by explaining why Duncan would hook up with Kendall in graphic detail.
Winner – Veronica Mars
4 8 15 16 23 42
Lost – Were nowhere to be found.
Veronica Mars – Were on the fortune cookie Duncan gave to Veronica in the season premiere with the words “True love stories never have endings.”
Winner – Veronica Mars
Worth the Wait
Lost – Comes back after a hiatus with a decent episode, a good one, and an absolutely boring one.
Veronica Mars – Comes back after a hiatus with one of the best hours this year on television.
Winner – Veronica Mars
This week’s toss up was no contest as Veronica Mars had one of the best episodes this year whereas Lost was one of the worst hours of television I’ve seen this year. I would rather watch an hour of Emily’s Reasons Why Not and Courting Alex than to see Fire+Water ever again.
Lost had a Charlie-centric episode but his flashbacks/dream sequences didn’t do much to help the storyline. I guess they were trying to convey that he has abandonment issues and doesn’t want to lose his new family (Claire and Aaron) like he did his real one. But much like Jack the episode before, they made him out to be such a tool that I really don’t feel sorry for him. Even Locke became more unlikeable and for some reason is keeping all the Virgin Mary’s around. ThenThrow in some weird piano and religious metaphors and you totally lose me. There are very few things more annoying than dream sequences.
The non Charlie segments were somewhat better with an exchange between Hurley and Libby that totally change my crack pot theory about the mysterious tailie. Last Week (See Toss Up… ) I theorized that she is whom Jack wife left him for. But when Hurley asked her if they had met before and she gave the obviously improbable lie I’m thinking that she worked at nut house where Hurley was at because she did mention that she was a psychologist. I wouldn’t be surprised if she is aware of the numbers too and was working with Leonard.
Then there was Veronica Mars who packed in more excitement before its theme song than Lost had all episode. The show starts off with a very public breakup followed by a great montage of depressed Veronica (personally I would have thrown on a little Anna Begins in this situation, but anyways). But this was all a part of a great plan Veronica and Duncan devised to get his baby from the Mannings. I have to admit I was completely fooled and didn’t suspect anything that grand until Veronica looked behind her when she was about to go into her apartment only to go next door.
There were a few things that bugged me with the whole plan though. First when Veronica brought Vinnie in, presumably in the “private” letter meant for Duncan, Vinnie’s the type a person whom would have turned around and seen if Celeste would have upped the offer. Also why would Celeste’s personal assistant, who she was putting through grad school, participate in all of this? Then there is the sequencing where Vinnie and the chick make the fake phone call in Big Bear, drive back to Neptune to pick up baby Lily, and drive to Mexico to use Veronica’s ATM all in the time allotted by the other thing that happened. But since the episode as a whole was great, it’s easy to overlook the holes.
Elsewhere in Neptune, Wallace has come back and he says it was to play basketball. But it turned out that was a lie and he was really getting away from being apart of a hit and run back in Chicago. Again a big plot hole in that most schools don’t people who transferred in the middle of the year play sports and Wallace was able to do it and then was able to transfer during the season to get back on the Pirate squad. I can’t imagine that the California and Illinois High School Association rules are that lax.
Then there was a small advancement of the Felix murder as Logan and Weevil continue to look for the real killer. The only real news here was that Felix was hooking up with one of the lady Fitzpatrick’s. But this whole storyline were enhanced by the involvement of Dick who is currently neck in neck with Barney from How I Met our Mother for the best character on television. Dick wasn’t the only one to get off some one-liners as Xena as an FBI agent had some great lines at the expense of Sheriff Lamb my favorite was when Lamb expressed interest in joining the FBI.
Next week Lost is already back to repeats while Veronica seems to be helping out Wallace in the little hit and run incident. For more on Veronica Mars, here is the official press release From UPN:
A DETERMINED VERONICA HELPS WALLACE CLEAR HIS NAME WHEN TROUBLE FOLLOWS HIM FROM CHICAGO, ON "VERONICA MARS," WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1 ON UPN
Jeffery Sams ("Soul Food") Returns as Baseball Legend Terrence Cook
"Rashard and Wallace Go To White Castle" -- Wallace is forced to turn to Veronica for help when a star player from his former Chicago high-school basketball team and his shady uncle falsely name Wallace as the driver in a tragic hit-and-run accident, on VERONICA MARS, Wednesday, Feb. 1 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on UPN. John Kretchmer directed the episode from a script written by John Enbom.
Meanwhile, Veronica and Keith stumble on evidence that links Jackie's dad Terrance Cook (guest star Jeffery Sams) with the teacher that died in the bus crash. Later, looking for solid proof that would tie his gang with the Fighting Fitzpatricks mob, Weevil asks Veronica to bug Father Patrick Fitzpatrick's confessional at the local church.
It seems as if the amount of deaths of major characters on television shows have gone up significantly in the last couple years. Death on TV seemed few and far between when I was younger but it’s gotten to the point where we see one about once a month. The latest will be on the next episode of Smallville where “someone close to Clark will die.” Usually I like to stay away from spoilers but when the show has been hyping it at every commercial break, it’s really had to do (see how much I hate spoilers here – Spoiled). Luckily I have stayed away from finding out who dies so here I bring to you the odds of who will be knocked tomorrow night:
Clark, Lex, & Lois (nil) – Not going to happen even though Clark technically already died this season and Lex has been fatally shot twice in the last three episodes and averages about four near deaths each season. The trio will be showing up in the Superman Returns movie next year and the WB wouldn’t let a silly television show confuse people.
Martha (100-1) & Jonathan Kent (95-1) – Both also show up later in Superman lore with Martha making the Superman costume. The only why that either would die would be if Annette O’Toole or Bo Duke decide to leave the show. Jonathan is slightly higher due to connection to the election.
Lana Lang (25-1) – Her odds would have been higher because I thought no show would kill off the token hot chick, but with the death of the token hot chick on Lost, it puts Lana’s mortality in question. But if she is the one to die maybe she can star in a straight to Cinamax movie with the token hot chick from Lost. Mmm, maybe I should root for her to die. But anyways.
Lionel Luther (10-1) – The only character that I consider disposable because the elder Luther hasn’t done much this episode. The only reason he isn’t the frontrunner is that it’s been advertise that “someone close to Clark will die” and Lionel doesn’t necessarily fit that description.
Chloe Sullivan (3-2) – The only main character created solely for the series so they can easily get rid of her without any major uproar from the comic book geek community. Plus the last friend who learned Clark’s secret was quickly moved out of town and off the show.
Feel free to place your bets in the comment section (assuming you don’t already know the outcome, please don’t ruin it for the rest of us). Also I currently working on a post for the new CW channel where I will tackle many question like is the merger a good thing, what shows should, and ultimately will end up on it, and a few suggestion. That should be up on either on Friday or Saturday, tomorrow will be my usual Thursday Toss Up between Veronica Mars and Lost who will go head to head with new episodes for the first time in about two months. I may even throw in my first album review of the year this weekend too.
Just two weeks after Emily’s Reason’s Why Not (see my review – First Impressions) for the first and maybe last time, CBS debuted their sitcom about a woman in her early thirties in New York City looking for love while juggling her job with Courting Alex. Now there are some differences between the two shows the biggest being that Courting Alex doesn’t have a narrator unlike almost every new show this season. Another big difference is that, unlike Heather Graham, Jenna Elfman isn’t an absolutely horrible actress.
But there are still are similarities between the shows other than the setting the most notable being that neither induced any laughter. Not one. There was barely even a chuckle inducing joke in the show.
The show follows Elfman’s lawyer character around as she tries to balance her job in her law firm, run by her dad, played by the poorly used Dabney Coleman, and a dating life. And at the beginning of the show she’s not doing a good job as she took a business call while on a date. But things seem to change when she meets Scott, played by Ed’s Dr Burton. Scott’s more of a free spirit whose tavern happens to be in the way of a skyscraper Elfman’s firm is trying to build. But instead of convince him to sell, she instead is attracted to him and through him looks to be more spontaneous. Or that looks like what the show will be about, not that I’ll stick around to find out.
Verdict: Not as bad as Emily’s Reason Why Not, but that’s not saying much.
On a side note it looks like UPN and the WB will be no longer at the end of this TV season as they will be combining come next fall. I did read somewhere that will be announced soon that Veronica Mars will be on the new network CW, for a third season, hopefully this is true. I may have more on this tomorrow when I discuss the upcoming Smallville death or Thursday during my usually Toss Up segment. And maybe my new friends at UPN (whom I hope will also make the transition to CW) will give me some insight into the situation.
Last summer, Wedding Crashers was toted as the return of R-Rated comedies and which basically means more swearing and nudity. But a movie can have all the F-bombs and boobies, it still needs to have a plot, good acting, and be well written for it to be entertaining. The plot itself is brilliant, built around the concept that there is no better place to hook up than at weddings. And just because you are not invited shouldn’t stop you from sampling from the easy chick buffet.
As for the acting Vince Vaughn returns to his roots by channeling the character that made him a star, Double Down Trent from Swingers although his character her might actually be more over the top. His partner in crime is the low key Owen Wilson who unsuccessfully tries to ground Vaughn throughout the film. After years of successfully crashing weddings they decide to crash the granddaddy of all weddings, that of the daughter of Treasury Secretary played by the always get Christopher Walken. But things get off track want Wilson decides to break one of the rules of wedding crashing, Rule #22: You have a wedding and a reception to seal the deal. Period. No overtime. But Wilson, in a play to win over the Secretary’s daughter, accepts an invitation on Vaughn’s behalf, who hooked up with another of his daughters, to his summer house for the weekend. But I’m sure anyone would do the same thing if the girl in question happens to be the hot chick from The Notebook (not that I've seen it or anything).
The writing is what brings the movie down somewhat as there were a few lulls in the movie where nothing seems to be happening. Plus there is an uber-cheesy montage where Wilson, in the middle of the night, goes to the door of the girl he is pining over only to go back to his room instead of knocking only for the girl to decide to go to his room later, but decides not to knock either. And one can’t help to think that most of the funniest lines were ad-libbed by Vaughn and Wilson.
Be sure to check out the extra on the DVD including the 24 pages of rules to crashing wedding. And make sure you check out the extremely hilarious karaoke version of 99 Red Balloons that Vaughn and Wilson do in a deleted scene. But for some reason they have bother the Uncorked and Theatrical versions of the film on the DVD. It seems like a waste of space and makes suspicious that there will be another Special Edition of the movie that will be released in the future.
Wedding Crashers get a ![Terror Alert Level: Severe [RED]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjcsCV5I3jWQDVTcnVoXbArSx3kHl02FZ8FkOHBBKP2w8mQulcCF614SIw1GjuB2JtKV2YcQOKXtMlnW2ulLSOvYvvXzDwZ3JF4Mlh0Dt2nfEL1oGLh0sk7O-GRHWbCPvJmMMKg/s400/small_severe.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
- The big sports story of the week was that Antonio Davis went into the stands while his New York Knicks were visiting the Chicago Bulls. I’m really surprised that after the Artest brawl last year that we didn’t see a rash of fans hoping to goad players into a million dollar lawsuit. More surprisingly the fan in the incident, Michael Axelrod, was willing not to file a million dollar lawsuit in exchange for an apology. For some reason Davis has decided not to apologize which means he’ll end up paying Axelrod thousands of dollars for the lawsuit to go away. Hopefully the 22 year old will spend the money on some Rogaine because he is way too young to be sporting the Matt Hasselback hairdo.
- After a hard fought Ice Skating National Championships to decide who gets to go to the Olympics they still named someone who didn’t even compete just to show why Ice Skating isn’t a sport and should be banned from the Olympics. You didn’t see the Jets, who many thought would make the playoffs in the preseason, petition the NFL to get a free pass into the playoffs because Chad Pennington went down? But it’s almost poetic justice that Michelle Kwan got an exemption considering she was the one bumped to alternate when Nancy Kerrigan got knee-capped. But I don’t blame Kwan considering where Kerrigan is these days but I’m sure when the next Winter Olympics come around Kwan will be on Skating with the Stars too with her partner Nelly.
- The big news out of the Australian Open, and really the only reason I know it’s going on is the reports that Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova are hooking up down under. For those keeping track at home, if this is true, Roddick has pulled off one of the greatest feats of our lifetime by somehow being able to upgrade from Mandy Moore. But both tennis stars are denying the reports and have even pulled out the Friends Card. I never understood this tactic from a guy’s point of view. Why would anyone deny that he’s hooking up with one of the hottest chicks in the world? Even if it weren’t true, that doesn’t mean you need to lie and say you are, but you don’t have to deny it either, just play coy or evade the question, which would in turn make everyone believe its true and you don’t have to lie.
- Alex Rodriguez finally decided he is going to play for the U.S.A. in the World Baseball Classic. This is most likely the best chose because no one in America will be watching when he chokes because we’ll all be watching March Madness. Had he when with the Dominican Republic he would have disgraced a whole nation, who would be watching every pitch of the tournament, when he strikes out in the bottom of the 9th to eliminate his team.
- Not really sports related but here’s another exclusive picture courtesy of UPN/Warner Bros. (all rights reserved and all that other legal stuff) from the upcoming Veronica Mars episode on Wednesday at 9:00 so thanks to them.
