Previewing Leverage 3.x

After two seasons of dancing on the outskirts of the law on Leverage, Nate Ford finally got caught after trying to take down a crooked mayor who just happened to also be an FBI informant, taking the fall himself so his team could get away. On the bright side, while on the inside he won’t have to worry about being tempted to drink which he has been struggling with since his son died.

Of course don’t expect the rest of the team to sit idle while waiting for justice to prevail and are more than eager to break out their feeless leader, who would actually stay on the inside. Of course he is quick to find him a case of the week to bid his time because he just happened to find himself incarcerated in a prison run by a crooked warden (are there any other kind in Hollywood?).

Also lurking around the first episode back tomorrow is new player in the form of Elisabetta Canalis (American audiences may only know her as one of George Clooney’s more recent fling). The Italian spends the first half of the episode while having own run in with the previously mentioned crooked warden speaking through a translator before breaking out some English which will make you wish she continued with the translator.

Canalis’ full intentions are known by the end of the first episode which looks to set up a season long storyline. Also this season, be on the lookout for guest spots from Richard Chamberlain (The Thorn Birds), Nnamdi Asomugha (Oakland Raiders cornerback), John Schneider (Dukes of Hazard), Clancy Brown (Lost’s Kelvin Inman), Bill Engvall (The Bill Engvall Show), and Aldus Hodge’s brother Edwin even shows up in tonight’s episode (but not related to Hardison).

Leverage airs Sundays at 9:00 on TNT. The first three weeks (not including July 4th weekend when there is no new episode) will also feature new episodes at 10:00. You can stream recent episodes on TNT.tv. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.

Previewing How the Earth Changed History

Very few things on television are better than the miniseries events that pop up on cable every couple months. From Life on the Discovery Channel to America: The Story of Us from History, these shows manage to educational and entertaining and are usually presented with beautiful images made even more amazing when viewed in HD. If you like these kinds of shows, the next miniseries event is the three night, five hour How the Earth Changed History beginning this Sunday at 8:00 on the National Geographic Channel.



The episodes are broken down by element water (Water World; Sunday at 8:00), earth (Beneath the Crust; Sunday at 9:00), wind (The Skies Above; Monday at 9:00), fire (The Gift of Fire; Monday at 10:00), and a fifth episode devoted to how we uses these elements to our advantage, and sometimes to the Earth’s detriment, called The Human Era, Tuesday at 8:00. The series follows geologist Iain Stewart (warning: he is Scottish so if you are not a fan of accents, you may want to avoid) as he goes to the ends of the Earth, from Iceland to Africa (thankfully he didn’t run into any vuvulazlas), China to South America and even a couple thousand feet under the earth to see how the elements shaped where we live as well as determine which civilizations lived and died.



Ever wonder why the Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) was called the Fertile Crescent even though all we see today is desert sand? Or why that area, and other pockets around the globe, has so much oil underneath? Or why England was the center of the industrial revolution? Or how Polynesians found their way east to islands across the Pacific when currents flowed the other way? Or what wiped out the Mayans to almost nothing? And why exactly do some of us knowingly live on earthquake fault lines? All are thanks to the events and explained throughout the miniseries.



And there was nothing Stewart wouldn’t do to get to the bottom of how the elements shaped history. He walks through a blazing fire of 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. He goes down into a cave that is so hazardous, that a human would die after only thirty minutes without the proper suit on. He gets lowered a couple hundred feet into a hole, just like the natives did hundreds of years ago, as their only way to get water. He even soaks himself in naftalan which is used as a medicinal bath; naftalan is more commonly known as oil (hopefully BP doesn’t watch this segment and start suggesting that the oil bath for the Gulf Coast is a good thing).

Check out a preview from Sunday’s second episode Beneath the Crust:

Breaking Down the 100 Worst Songs of the 00’s

I did not realize it until I was actually posting the 100 Worst Songs of the 00's that it was going to be 1800th post here at the 9th Green. Had I realized it earlier, I would have made the milestone a more cheery occasion. Oh, well, there is always 2000 if I make it that far. But anyways. This list, although trudging up some bad memories of a lost decade for music when the music industry just seemed to give up and just released the same crap year after year as almost a punishment for those music lovers who decided to get their songs for free rather than pay for them. I whittled a list of almost 350 songs to the 100 that made the dubious cut yesterday. Here are the results by the numbers.

Songs by Year
2000 – 7
2001 – 8
2002 – 4
2003 – 9
2004 – 7
2005 – 9
2006 – 13
2007 – 17
2008 – 8
2009 – 18

Songs by Genre
Rap – 33
Pop – 28
Rock - 18
R&B - 9
Dance - 6
Adult Contemporary – 3
Country – 3

Artist with Multiple Songs
Britney Spears – 5
Fergie / Black Eyed Peas – 5
T-Pain - 5
The Ying Yang Twins – 4
Limp Bizkit - 4
Yung Joc – 3
Good Charlotte – 3
Jennifer Lopez – 3
Katy Perry – 3
Lady Gaga - 3
Soulja Boy Tell ‘em - 3
T.I. – 3
Akon - 2
Ciara – 2
Creed – 2
Daughtry – 2
Lil’s Jon and the Eastside Boyz - 2
Lil’ Wayne – 2
Nelly – 2
P!nk – 2
Pitbull - 2

The 100 Worst Songs of the 00's

1. London Bridge - Fergie

2. Lollipop - Lil' Wayne and Static Major

3. If U Seek Amy - Britney Spears

4. Stars Are Blind - Paris Hilton

5. Jenny from the Block - Jennifer Lopez featuring Styles P and Jadakiss

6. The Anthem - Good Charlotte

7. Cameltoe - Fannypack

8. I'm in Luv with a Stripper - T-Pain featuring Mike Jones

9. When I Grow Up - Pussycat Dolls

10. Gimme More - Britney Spears

11. A Bay Bay - Hurricane Chris

12. My Humps - Black Eyed Peas

13. This Is Why I’m Hot - Mims

14. Axel F - Crazy Frog

15. Fergalicious - Fergie

16. Liquid Dreams - O-Town

17. Crank That (Soulja Boy) - Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em

18. Laffy Taffy - D4L

19. Chain Hang Low - Jibbs

20. My Neck, My Back (Lick It) - Khia

21. Put it On Me - Ja Rule featuring Lil' Mo and Vita

22. Lip Gloss - Lil’ Mama

23. Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father) - Lindsay Lohan

24. Get Low - Lil' Jon and the Eastside Boyz and Ying Yang Twins

25. I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) - Pitbull

26. Salt Shaker - Ying Yang Twins and Lil' John and the Eastside Boyz

27. Stanky Legg - GS Boyz

28. Blue (Da Be Dee) - Eiffel 65

29. Shots - LMFAO and Lil' John

30. Poker Face - Lady Gaga

31. You're a Jerk - New Boyz

32. Low - Flo Rida featuring T-Pain

33. She Hates Me - Puddle of Mudd

34. Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas

35. It’s Not Over - Daughtry

36. Just Dance - Lady Gaga and Colby O'Donis

37. Grills - Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp

38. Right Round - Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha

39. Grace Kelly - Mika

40. Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani

41. It's Goin' Down - Yung Joc featuring Nitti

42. Pop - N*SYNC

43. Eat You Alive - Limp Bizkit

44. Home - Daughtry

45. Do I Make You Proud - Taylor Hicks

46. Word Up! - Korn

47. Clothes Off!!! - Gym Class Heroes featuring Patrick Stump

48. All the Above - Maino featuring T-Pain

49. I’m Not OK (I Promise) - My Chemical Romance

50. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous - Good Charlotte

51. She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy - Kenny Chesney

52. LoveGame - Lady Gaga

53. Party Like a Rock Star - Shop Boyz

54. I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic! at the Disco

55. 3 - Britney Spears

56. Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) - Fergie

57. My Way - Limp Bizkit

58. Kiss Me Thru the Phone - Soulja Boy Tell 'em and Sammy

59. American Life - Madonna

60. Behind Blue Eyes - Limp Bizkit

61. Ur So Gay - Katy Perry

62. Break Stuff - Limp Bizkit

63. 24's - T.I.

64. The Kill - 30 Seconds to Mars

65. Hot N Cold - Katy Perry

66. My Prerogative - Britney Spears

67. Lean Back - Terror Squad

68. I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry

69. I Don’t Want to Be in Love (Dance Floor Anthem) - Good Charlotte

70. Not too Young, Not too Old - Aaron Carter featuring Nick Carter

71. Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’) - T-Pain featuring Yung Joc

72. Wait (The Whisper Song) - Ying Yang Twins

73. Don’t Trust Me - 3OH!3

74. Ms. New Booty - Bubba Sparxxx featuring Mr. ColliPark and the Ying Yang Twins

75. Hotel Room Service - Pitbull

76. With Arms Wide Open - Creed

77. Bartender - T-Pain featuring Akon

78. Handlebars - Flobots

79. Something in Your Mouth - Nickelback

80. Right Now (Na Na Na) - Akon

81. Goodies - Ciara featuring Petey Pablo

82. I’m Real - Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule

83. One Minute Man - Missy Elliot featuring Ludacris and Trina

84. Bodies - Downing Pool

85. My Sacrifice - Creed

86. U & Ur Hand - P!nk

87. My Love - Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.

88. Prom Queen - Lil' Wayne and Shanell

89. Ready, Set, Don't Go - Billy Ray Cyrus featuring Miley Cyrus

90. Turn My Swag On - Soulja Boy Tell ‘em

91. Love Don't Cost a Thing - Jennifer Lopez

92. L.O.V.E. - Ashlee Simpson

93. 1, 2 Step - Ciara featuring Missy Elliot

94. Shoulder Lean - Young Dro featuring T.I.

95. Get the Party Started - P!nk

96. Pimp Juice - Nelly

97. Right Thurr - Chingy

98. Womanizer - Britney Spears

99. Show Stopper - Danity Kane featuring Yung Joc

100. Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) - Big and Rich

Lyrics Quiz: Beautiful Day

If you are a World Cup fan, you have undoubtedly been inundated with U2 music lately and I thought I would take one of their most summer (which starts up next week officially) ready song through the Genius feature in iTunes and here are twenty-five songs it gave back to me for Beautiful Day. As always leave your guesses, both artist and song title, in the comment section or e-mail me. If you are correct I will un-bold the lyric. Please keep in mind the lyrics quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please only use your own meandering mind to guess them. Now onto the lyric quiz:


1. I was lost, I was lost, crossed lines I shouldn’t have crossed. I was lost, oh, yeah.
2. Let’s go and see the stars, the Milky Way, or even Mars. Well it could just be ours.  (Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz; guessed by Rebekah)
3. Sunday all the lights in London shine and the sky is fading red to blue. And I’m kicking through the autumn leaves and wondering where it is you might be going to.
4. Andy are you goofing on Elvis (Hey baby)? Are we losing touch? (Man On the Moon - R.E.M.; guessed by Rebekah)
5. Step outside the summertime’s in bloom. Stand up beside the fireplace. Take that look from off your face.
6. And when the worrying starts to hurt. And the world feels like graves of dirt.
7. Boy, one day you’ll be a man. Oh girl, he’ll help you understand.
8. Her friends are so jealous. You know how bad girls get. Sometimes it’s not so easy to be the teacher’s pet. (Don't Stand So Close to Me - The Police; guessed by Rebekah)
9. I don’t want to call my friends; they might wake me from this dream. And I leave this bed, risk forgetting all that’s been.
10. She parks her car outside my house, takes her clothes off. Says she’s close to understanding Jesus. (Round Here - Counting Crows; guessed by Rebekah)
11. Driving in on this highway. All these cars and up on the sidewalk, people in all directions. No words exchanged; no time to exchange them. (Ants Marching - Dave Matthews Band; guessed by Rebekah)
12. So slide over here and give me a moment. Your moves are so raw.
13. Steak Knife. Caro Shark. Con Job. Boot Cut.
14. Heaven holds a place for those who pray. Hey hey hey. (Mrs. Robinson - Simon and Garfunkel; guessed by Rebekah)
15. Do they know wher we go when we’re grey and old? Cause I have been told that salvation lets their wings unfold.
16. I sank into Eden with you alone in the Church by and by. I’ll read to you here, save your eyes. (I Alone - Live; guessed by Rebekah)
17. How many train wrecks do we need to see before we lose touch of? We thought this was low, well; it's bad, getting worse.
18. The embers never fade in your city by the lake, the place where you were born.
19. This is what you get; this is what you get when you mess with us.
20. You are the bearer of unconditional things. You held your breath an the door for me. Thanks for your patience.
21. You Catholic girls start much too late. But sooner or later it comes down to fate. I might as wel be the one. (Only the Good Die Young - Billy Joel; guessed by Rebekah)
22. You live in a church where you sleep with voodoo dolls. And you won’t give up the search for the ghosts in the halls. (Building a Mystery - Sarah McLachlan; guessed by Rebekah)
23. I’m coming down, the world turned over. Angels fall without you there.
24. Hey, don't let it go to waste. I love it but, I hate that taste. Weight keeping me down.
25. This is a call to the colorblind, this is an IOU. I’m stranded behind the horizon line.

I Want My Music Television vol. LXXXIV

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


Not Afraid – Eminem



The Real Slim Shady was extremely catchy but with every passing album, the lead single from Eminem has been increasingly lame and predictable: skewering of pop tarts, Elvis costumes, peppy beat. So it is refreshing that he actually changed it up this time after admitting that Relapse was “eh.” Though he vocal style isn’t as annoying as the one he used for much of the last album, this song really isn’t much of an improvement from then.


Bang, Bang, Bang - Mark Ronson and the Business INTL featuring Q-Tip and MNDR



Sure the video is cheesy (which I guesswas the point) but sign me up for any Mark Ronson / Q-Tip collaboration.


Getaway – Michelle Branch featuring Timbaland



I can’t remember the last time I physically cringed when hearing a song from an artist I actually like (well unless you count to listening to the new Christina Aguilera album as a whole), Timbaland really needs to stop going outside his genre. Really, if you strip the song down to just the acoustics from Michelle Branch, it might be a great song, but Timbaland just has to go and make his Timbaland face and ruin everything. Hopefully there is an acoustic version of the song out there somewhere.


Lookin’ Fly – Redman



Redman playing tribute to Michael Jackson. Alrighty. The hook is taken from The Jacksons Heartbreak Hotel.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CXXXIV

Quote of the Week: Because I am just one jackass comment from doing some serious damage and if that happens I will lose my job. And I love my job, you get me? (Coach Traub, Friday Night Lights)

Song of the Week: Crazy – Patsy Cline (Friday Night Lights)

Big News of the Week: Obama Has His Biggest Pop Culture Week Since Being Sworn In: Barack Obama was everywhere in pop culture running for president but that has been slowing down ever since he was sworn in. But he was back in a big way this week. First we learned that he may or may not have been in the music video for the early nineties rap anthem Whoomp! There it Is! (I was more of a Whoot! There it Is fan). But it wasn’t all fun with Obama’s other pop culture reference of the week when he drew the ire of Jersey Shore weirdo Snookie who claims she no longer uses tanning beds because “Obama put a 10 percent tax on tanning.” I guess we now know why Republicans recently won the governorship of New Jersey for the first time in a decade). More disturbing is that John McCain actually responded to Snookie, who went on to say, “McCain would never put a 10 percent tax on tanning, because he's pale and he would probably want to be tan,” via twitter saying, “u r right, I would never tax your tanning bed! Pres Obama's tax/spend policy is quite The Situation. but I do rec wearing sunscreen.” Well actually someone poising as Senator McCain said that because, let’s face it, he cannot even turn on a computer.

MTV Movie Awards: My viewing of this award show can best be summed up by the look on the face of the dude from Inglourious Bastards after losing who had a I Came All Here Just to Lose Best Villain to Some Twelve Year Old who Looks Like a Young Ellen DeGeneres face. MTV should realize that they are losing more viewers by catering to the Twilight crowd than gaining from it. And how pathetic were all the crowd shots and they kept a heavy rotation of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Mike Tyson. Did any presenters bother to stay for the whole show? But I bet most of the viewers left too.

Happy Town: I am quite befuddled by the big twist of the week. So Mama Haplin pays an absorbent amount of money to keep Henley from exposing a murder weapon, but one of her conditions is to keep a person who knows about said murder weapon in her hometown. Um, why? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Happy Town on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: With every passing episode, Becky Sproles is moving further up my list of favorite characters on television. I just love after her long winded speech at the end of the episode; Tim just cuts her off and says, Becky… shut up… please.” But considering how amazing they dealt with sending off former castmembers last season, the two that left this week weren’t so much. Lyla comes back just for another romp with Tim including a weird interaction with Becky. While Matt was this weird open ended ride off in the sunset where we are not sure if it was a proper goodbye, or just a short (or long) joy ride.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Free Download of the Week: Pretty Little Liars Pilot (iTunes): You can also find the episode for free on Amazon Video on Demand.

Deal of the Week: The Big DVD Sale (Blu-Rays) (The Dark Knight, Band of Brothers, True Blood)

Video of the Week: True Blood returns for a third season tonight at 9:00 on HBO and from the video below, the marketing team at the station went a little overboard in promoting the show. And for fanatics of the show who have found the previous 11, below the video is the 12th and final collectable poster that HBO has been releasing over the past twelve week leading up to the return.





Next Week Pick of the Week: Persons Unknown, Monday at 10:00 on NBC or Pretty Little Liars, Tuesday at 8:00 on ABC Family: I recently did a Toss Up between the shows, but take your own pick for yourself.


One last television note for the week, I had originally planned to include the unaired pilot for The Big Bang Theory that hit the web this week, but by the time I wrote my blurb about and when I was posting it, Warner Brothers had it taken down. I have seen a couple others uploaded and taken since then. If you haven’t caught it yet, I recommend trying to find it before WB does because it is an interesting view. Try typing “The Big Bang Theory” and “unaired pilot” or “Amanda Walsh” into You Tube or your favorite video sharing site. Below is what I originally wrote about it.

Every year pilots are filmed and are almost always reshot for tinkering or cast changes, even if it is just a couple scenes and in some cases completely new episode. Such is the case of The Big Bang Theory which hit the internets this week and it surprising just how much is changed; no Kaley Cuoco, Raj, or Howard and, gasp, Sheldon actually had sex and even adhered to the profound theory posed by the great sociologist Dr. Sir Mix-a-Lot PhD. that guys are predetermined to like big butts. The unaired pilot is actually funnier than the one that aired on television but it is good they did make the changes because Katy (the Penny precursor played by Amada Walsh) is pretty unlikeable here and the boys actually having a female friend (who was likely the basis of the Sara Gilbert character) is just weird. But not as weird as Sheldon actually having sex.

Around the Tubes vol. LIV

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 the World Cup, ScatterTunes, Ice Road Truckers, American Pickers, Blacksocks, Johnny B. Homeless, and Friday Night Lights.

- World Cup starts today and there have been plenty of great commercials celebrating the event and Dodge Challenger (which just launched its Facebook page) is going to feature a game specific ad for tomorrow’s Revolutionary War rematch between the United States and England. Here is a sneak peak of what you can expect tomorrow when the full ad airs.



- If you are looking for non-stop online coverage of the World Cup, try Terra.com.

- For the gamblers out there, Spain is currently the favorites according to Bookmaker.com at +385 (21%) with Brazil close behind at +400 (20%). Head over there for all the wacky bets too like Total Red Cards which they have the Over/Under at 18.5.

- For those like me that still prefer CD’s to MP3 because you like to leaf though the booklet while listening to your new purchase, there is a new way to listen to music called ScatterTunes. They come in two forms, V-Albums and V-Wraps (for those that alright bought some songs from a certain album) both feature the highest-quality (320kbps), non-DRM MP3 tracks (which means you can play them in iTunes and any mp3 player), multi-page digital booklets, liner notes, photos, lyrics, videos and other bonus materials. For those that want to test this about before actually buying it, the site is giving away 100,000 free Taylor Swift Fearless – Platinum Edition V-Wraps (they were still available as lof last night; keep in mind this is pretty worthless unless you have already bought songs from the album). Including Swift, just added include Jewel's Sweet and Wild and Sweet and Wild (Deluxe Edition), Justin Moore's Justin Moore, and Reba McEntire's Keep On Loving You.

- New episode of Ice Road Truckers at 9:00 this Sunday on History. Here is synopsis: “Failing trailer brakes and trash talk over the CB threaten to derail Lisa's comeback. Newcomer Greg races to reignite his rivalry with Jack, before a devastating wreck slams the brakes on Greg's need for speed. In the meantime, with a damaged fuel tank to deliver, Jack isn't giving up the load-count crown without a fight. Alex tries to build on his lead on Hugh, but treacherous conditions send him to the edge of disaster. Hugh "the Polar Bear" Rowland returns to Alaska at last and has to face down his other haul road nemesis: chaining up. Engine troubles leave rookie driver Ray Veilleux broken down, and all alone, in twenty-below temperatures.” If you need to catch up on the previous season, Ice Road Truckers: The Complete Season 3 was released earlier this week on blu-ray and is currently cheaper than the DVD version (which I may have more on at a later date).

- Another History show new to DVD is American Pickers: The Complete Season One. “In small towns, and along America's back roads, treasures are waiting to be uncovered--valuable relics from our history that are hidden in junk piles, buried in barns and stacked in garages. It takes experts to find them...and turn rust to riches.”

- Need a last minute gift idea for Father’s Day? Try Blacksocks.com which features, well just as the website suggests from ski to athletic socks. They also have underwear and shirts available too.

- I have mentioned it before, but just a reminder, the premiere of the Keenan Thompson featuring web series Johnny B Homeless this coming Tuesday on Atom.com. The show will also be featured on Atom TV, the half hour late night series on Comedy Central.

For those that need a 2 minute replay from last week’s terrific episode of Friday Night Light, here you go:

Toss Up: Persons Unknown vs Pretty Little Liars

Though they have had success with reality shows, television networks have yet to come with a summer scripted season that anyone wants to watch. Yet on the cable side, from FX to TNT to even smaller stations like AMC have created buzz worthy shows most of last decade. The problem has always been for the major network, their summer show have always seemed like series they are burning off in the summer because they were not good enough during the normal television season, while the cable networks have such a small slate of show, most all of them are treated like flagship shows.

Two new shows debuted this week, one network and one cable, and look like they would have nothing in common. On the network side looking to buck the trend is Persons Unknown, The Prisoner meets Lost for NBC; while ABC Family offers up the Desperate Housewives for the Gossip Girl set Pretty Little Liars. On the surface the two shows would have nothing in common, but at the heart of both shows is an overarching mystery.

For Persons Unknown, the big question is why these people were brought to this deserted town and where exactly is this town. The show started out very much like it could have Lost but instead of an island, the castaways were landlocked in the middle of nowhere, but instead of waiting until the end of the second season to see anyone off the island, we learn of a reporter investigating one of the missing persons. “Others” also show up shortly in the form of a catering Koreans and a night bellman, neither of which give us much information so far.

For Pretty Little Liars, the big mystery is who is sending all the title characters messages that only their missing friend would know. All these secrets are pretty familiars for shows of this ilk: hooking up with a teacher, same sex attraction, hooking up with a sister’s boyfriend, eating disorder. Not surprisingly the end of the episode the body of the missing girl shows up dead because the title sequence features the girls gathered around a casket. Seriously, is this the first time a title sequence featured a major spoiler?


Another thing the show share is not a particular strong cast. It may not be a good sign when your show is headlined by Cameron Frye. As seen by his recent spot on Justified, he can make a decent guest turn, but he cannot lead a series like Persons Unknown. On the other hand, Pretty Little Liars is full of actors that can barely pass a college students let along sixteen year olds. C’mon, Bianca Lawson was playing that age thirteen years ago when she was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when her current character was three years old.

In terms of a toss-up, I am going and call it a tie because Persons Unknown is the superior show with a better set up of its mystery. And being a thirteen episode miniseries, there shouldn’t be the too many to count loose ends that hampered Lost. But being on cable, Pretty Little Liars has a much better chance of extending past thirteen episodes.

Persons Unknowns airs Mondays at 10:00 on NBC. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Persons Unknown on iTunes. Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesdays at 8:00 on ABC Family. You can stream, recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes of which you can download the Pilot currently for free as well as Amazon Video on Demand:

Feed Your iPod vol. XLVI: God's Gonna Cut You Down

Asides from my yearly countdown, I rarely talk about mash-up even though I am constantly search for new interesting combinations of songs. Here is one that topped my list of Best Mash-Ups of 2006 list which is unlike your standard mash up which typically takes the vocals from one track and puts it over the music of another one. On his version of God’s Gonna Cut You Down, DJ Schmolli takes the Johnny Cash vocals, but instead of one song to put it over, he stripped down four different songs to one part to create a new instrumental. The backing track included the drums from Led Zeppelin’s When The Levee Breaks, the bass from Beastie Boys Sabotage, the guitar from Ted Nugent’s Cat Scratch Fever, and the lead guitar from The Beatles Come Together. To download the complete product, head over to Mashup Town.

You Make Me Pull, I'll Put You Down

There may not have been a cooler beginning of a television show than having the protagonist walk up to a bad guy twenty-three hours and fifty-five minutes after telling said bad guy he had twenty-four hours to leave town or he would shoot him. Unfortunately for Raylan Givens of Justified, the shooting got him transferred from sunny Miami to the one place he didn’t want to: home. He spent his whole life distancing himself from his father and even when back in Kentucky stayed away from him until of course he got in trouble with the law. It didn’t help that his ex-wife moved back to the area with her shifty new husband.

Now there is a premise that Seth Bullock could get behind and thankfully Timothy Olyphant doesn’t seem to care about typecasting as Givens might as well be the great grandson of his previous Deadwood character. We even get a couple of Deadwood reunions in the first season of Justified most notably with Bullock trading wits one more time with Dan Dougherty who played an escaped convicted holding hostages in Bullock’s office.

Aside from former Deadwood cohorts, there was plenty of other great casting choices including Stephan Root as a judge who wears little under hid robe but a gun. Alan Ruck as an informant turned on the run dentist. And then there was MC Gainey as the local kingpin, father of the guy Raylan shot upon return to Harlan, and former father-in-law to the girl Raylan bedded upon returning home.

Aside from the casting, another strong point for the show was the case of the week that never sank into the same rut of “ripped from the headlines” of other procedurals. Some of which featured criminals of the week so stupid that some even tried to out draw Raylan even knowing of what happened in Miami.

But it was the overarching storyline of Raylan and the one person that survived his bullet, Boyd Crowder. After coming out of surgery saying he was a changed man, Boyd still straddled the line of morality the rest of the season using whatever means necessarily to get everyone on the right path. Even if that means blowing up a truck full of meth supplies meant for his father (and not so coincidentally shipped by an associate of the man Raylan shot in Miami and unsuccessfully tried to have him killed twice already this season).

Raylan may have 99 Problems, at least two of them are female thanks to Ava seeing his ex leave his room last week. Everything comes to ahead tonight when the first season comes to a close. The Givens and the Crowders have been crossing each other paths all season and with Bo’s shipment getting blown up by Boyd and Raylan wanting Arlo to wear a wire to bring the Crowder clan down, there are plenty of double crossings going down tonight.

Justified 1.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Previewing Neighbors from Hell

Looking over the press release from Neighbors from Hell you have to wonder what is the odder paring: “Series from the producers of South Park and Madagascar” or the married couple being voiced by Mad TV’s Will Sasso and Saturday Night Live’s Molly Shannon. One you wouldn’t think in the same sentence and the other being rivals for many years (or at least their shows were). But anyways.

Neighbors from Hell, TBS’s first animated comedy, wants to be an animated version of an eighties sitcom. All the clichés are there, nuclear family, wacky uncle, wise sidekick, evil boss and of course neighbors from hell both figuratively, the neighbors are extremely annoying, and literally because the family depicted is actually demons from Hell.

See Balthazor Hellman is your regular, television loving demon (only in Hell could anyone enjoy Two and a Half Men) who is chosen by the Devil to go up to Earth posed as a normal family and get a job from a drill company and sabotage their most sophisticated drill from reaching their homes. Naturally Balthazor has his family watch shows life Growing Pains to see how to assimilate among the humans. Though watching Alf may have been a bad idea as the wacky uncle takes to eating cats.

Animated shows by nature are overthetop, but Neighbors from Hell takes it too far, the Hellman’s neighbor ia so annoying you hope that one of the demons actually kills her. And Balthazor’s above ground boss (That 70’s Show Kurtwood Smith) manages to be even more immoral than his one down under. The kids are just caricatures of teenagers today but with green skin and the ability to perform magic. The one bright spot is the dog like pet as voiced by Patton Oswalt.

Neighbors from Hell airs Mondays on TBS.