Best of the Week - 2/5/11

Quote of the Week: How much of a bad guy is her brother-in-law? Heads in a duffel bag or just an (expletive deleted)? (Raylan, Justified)

Song of the Week: I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor (as sung by the Gallagher Family, Shameless)

Big News of the Week: Charlie Sheen is a Bi-Winner: Charlie Sheen was in rare air this week, he haven’t seen a public meltdown this big since Britney Spears circa 2007. But Sheen is much bigger, he is like Spears, Mel Gibson, and Lindsay Lohan all mixed in one bag of tiger blood and Adonis DNA. The next question is what network ponies up three million dollars for a Charlie Sheen reality show with his goddesses? And will that give up are inevitable first on screen reality death?

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: The Beat Goes On - Beady Eye (iTunes): The Gallagher brother from Oasis that was the singer but didn’t do the song writing has finally after decades of fighting has left his big brother behind for a new band featuring two other Oasis vets. Grab their first single for free.

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5 Each: This month you can pick up albums from Beastie Boys, Counting Crows, R.E.M., Eisley and more.



New Album Release of the Week: Collapse Into Now - R.E.M.

New DVD Release of the Week: The Walking Dead: Season One

Video of the Week: As I mentioned earlier this week, Breakout Kings premieres tomorrow on A&E and you can check out the trailer for the show below:

Breakout Kings - Theatrical Trailer


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Event, Monday at 8:00 on NBC: It has been over three months since that last episode of The Event so hopefully there will be a lengthy recap before the first of two episode on Monday because I only have vague recollections of what happened in the first ten. I guess it may not matter as the promo for the show’s returns seems to have a couple of big spoilers, like what will The Event be? Bad Promo Monkeys.

Around the Tubes - 3/4/11

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 Beast Hunter, Ultimate Factories, Saturday Night Live, the 50 Best Music Scenes in Movies, Army Wives, Breakout Kings, Big Love, Greeting Cards, Esperanza Spaulding, INXS, and Showtime renewals and premiere dates.


- New show alert: Beast Hunter on the National Geographic Channel staring Pat Spain. In each episode Spain goes in search of bizarre creatures that are a thing of legends. Tonight he will be on the hunt for the man ape of Sumatra. In future episodes Pat will be on the lookout for the nightmare of the Amazon, the Swamp Monster of the Congo, the Sea Serpent of the North, and the Mongolian Death Worm. Check out a preview below:

On Orang Pendek’s Path


- The National Geographic Channel recently also send me the greatest (and worst) bit of swag ever: a bottle of Jack Daniels in honor of the product being featured on Thursday’s installment of Ultimate Factories which will be followed the week after (3/17) with Jack’s natural companion Coca Cola. So be sure to tune in so more people are compelled to send me alcohol. Although I may regret that considering my track record with drinking Jack Daniels.

- Miley Cyrus is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend and here’s hoping she doesn’t ruin the best skit of the season, The Miley Cyrus Show. Check out a promo below where she uses her alter ego’s catchphrase.

SNL Promo: Miley Cyrus


- Moviefone recently released its list, and accompanying video, of the 50 Best Music Scenes in Movies and no need to discuses number one because it is obvious (if you need to look to figure that out, I am not sure we can be friends), but there are plenty of spots worth debated. Like how is Sister Christian from Boogie Nights only #25; that is a top 5 lock. And the song at the end of The Wedding Singer isn’t even the best Adam Sandler musical moment (that would be him serenading the old Asian lady in Happy Gilmore) or even the best in the movie (Love Stinks, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me).

- Army Wives returns this Sunday for its fifth season at 9:00 on Lifetime, here is a sneak peak:

Army Wives Season 5 Exclusive Sneak Peek


- In a story I broke yesterday, Breakout Kings premieres Sunday and A&E has launch a new Catch a Con contest to celebrate. If you live in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Chicago, there are people in orange jumpsuits roaming your cities and to “catch” them and win up to $5000, all you have to do is download GoldRun app on your iPhone and once you spot a con, take a picture and share it on Facebook for a chance to win.

- With only three episodes left, here is a tease of the next episode of Big Love:



- Who better than Gaddafi to tell that special someone how you feel. Head over to voiceyourfeelings.com where you can have the dictator say things like “Live from Libya …Wish you were here! No, really, I could use some help” for a greeting card that will be sent to anyone you want.

- Esperanza Spaulding is a better person than I am because she made a very elegant response to the backlash to winning the Best New Artist last month on The Gayle King Show. I would have said, hey all you annoying twelve year old Justin Beiber fan: shut the frack up. The twerp didn’t even deserve to be nominated, so back into your little hole until the next award show to let stupid people vote on the awards. (And Mumford and Sons are the ones that deserved the award anyway.)

- Fans of INXS will want to head over to AOL’s Music’s Listening Party where you can stream their new album Orginal Sin where artist Ben Harper, Rob Thomas, Pat Monahan perform the band’s classics with the band.

- NBC just cannot find any sort of luck. Just as they were announcing her as a mentor on their new singing competition The Voice, Christina Aguilera get busted for public intoxication (insert your own Not Myself Tonight jokes here). That’s not what we call winning. Hopefully fellow coaches Cee-Lo Green and Adam Levine can stay out of the drunktank before the April 26 premiere.

- Showtime recently announced that both Shameless and Episodes have been picked up for a second season. Also here are the released the dates for its Spring and Summer premieres. Here they are:

Nurse Jackie – March 28 at 10:00

United States of Tara – March 28 at 10:00

The Borgias – April 3 at 9:00 (2 hour premiere, new episodes starting the following week will begin at 10:00)

Secret Diary of a Call Girl – April 7 at 10:30

Gigolos – April 7 at 11:00

The Real L Word – June 5 at 10:00

Weeds – June 27 at 10:00

The Big C – June 27 at 10:30

Web Therapy – July 19 at 11:00


Comedy Specials:

Caroline Rhea and Friends – March 5 at 9:00

Fierce Funny Women – March 10 at 8:30

Aries Spears: Hollywood, Look I’m Smiling – April 16 at 9:00

Jon Lovitz Presents – April 23 at 9:00


Documentaries:

Ahead of Time – March 3 at 8:30

Behin the Burly Q – March 31 at 8:00

Previewing Breakout Kings

Who would be better at catching someone who has broken out of prison better than someone who has actually done so themselves? Not that any correctional facility would let a criminal that has already escape leave it premises to do such a thing. Luckily television is restrained by such this as reality so we can get a show like Breakout Kings that has such a premise.

The show features two federal marshals who are tasked at apprehend a convicted murder who has broke out from prison. Laz Alonso (Leprechaun: Back 2 the Hood) is the straight laced former desk jockey eager to show he has the chops to be out in the field. While Domenick Lombardo (The Wire) is the shoot from the hip fed with a drastic idea of utilizing convicts that he previously hunted down after their successful breakouts from their respective prisons.

The crooks include Jimmi Simpson (Herbie: Fully Loaded), the mastermind of the group, a former professor that deals in psychoanalysis. Malcolm Goodwin (Leatherheads) is the street smarts. They are rounded out with some muscle and a former beauty queen turned con artist but do not get too attached to the characters because one doesn’t even make it to the end of the Pilot while the other doesn’t show up in the second episode (A&E send along the first and third episodes so I do not know if it is explained why the character is not asked back on the team.

Showing up starting the second episode is Serinda Swan (Smallville’s Zatanna) as an expert tracker who learned the skill from her bounty hunter father and has extra motivation to help out because she has a daughter at home and her baby daddy doesn’t always get her to visitation time. The carrot at the end of the stick is for every escape they help capture is an extra month they get knock off their sentence at country club prison, but if one of them cuts and runs, they all get their jail time doubled at a maximum security prison.

Rounding out the cast, and bringing up the cop to con ratio to even, is Brooke Nevin (The Comebacks) the information guru who is find sitting behind a desk, and not so much anywhere else, which of course Simpson loves to psychoanalyze. Also be on a look out for Billy Riggins who show up in the third episode as the convict of the week.

Breakout Kings is really two shows, the marshals are your typically cop drama with Alonso and Lombardo (who is holding onto a big secret) playing up the good cop / bad cop dichotomy and Nevin dealing with deep issues of her own. While the crooks bring the comic relief reminiscent of conmen and women of Leverage and are never ones to turn down a good quip or good natured shot at their coworkers. That changes a little when Swan gets added to the cast as she is more serious that her handlers. But Simpson is clearly the breakout star (no pun intended, okay, maybe a little intended) of the show. His attention to detail and mommy issues (the cons get a cell phone while on the job which he uses to check in with his to humorous consequences) is the perfect mix of Sheldon Cooper and Howard Wolowitz but with a gambling problem.

Breakout Kings airs Sundays at 10:00 on A&E. You can download a sneak peak (and presumably future episodes) of Breakout Kings on iTunes.

Look at My Sisters, Brilliant Like Fireflies up in Their Bedroom

Major labels can be very helpful to a career because they have the money to get your music into the ears of potential fans, but sometime getting releasing the chains the bind from big corporations can be very liberating for a band. The first full length album from Eisley under Warner Bros. gave focus to their independently released EP’s but never sadly caught with a larger audience, then came their sophomore slump with Combinations which was kind of a dud.

Now free of the confines of a major label, the band sounds rejuvenated with the release of The Valley off the independent Equal Vision Records Label. When the band sings “I’m smarter than you think” during Smarter you cannot help but wonder if it is about its former label, but either way it is fun to sing along with. With the crunching guitar, the song also sets a rougher tone for the album.

With that tougher sound come more mature lyrics, gone are mythical themes of albums past replaced by songs based on relationships, some rocky (the band has been a few failed marriages and engagements in the four years since their last album) and you can hear them take those themes right on with songs like Watch it Die, Sad, and Please. But the music still swells with big orchestras, piano and guitars that adds to the weight to the growth of the band.

Song to Download – Smarter

The Valley gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Would Rather Starve than Eat Your Bread

It seemed the less Pearl Jam wanted the spotlight, the more popular the band got. They refused to make anymore videos after Jeremy off their first album and their second Vs. had the biggest first week sales to date. Then they canceled their 1994 tour in protest of Ticketmaster’s service charges and their third album Vitalogy went on to be the second fastest album at the time after behind Vs. and like Vs. is being inducted into the Scooter Hall of Fame. Those two albums that chronicle the band’s tenuous rise of fame will rereleased as a three CD set later this month. Or if you have money to burn, you can also pick up the limited edition five LPs, four CDs, one cassette, an 80-page composition notebook and a memorabilia-filled envelope set. Vinyl hounds will have to trek down to your favorite independent record store when they will be sold exclusively.

Much like its predecessor, Vitalogy starts off with a one-two punch of guitar infused aggression with Last Exit and Spin the Black Circle, an ode to vinyl. I have a theory that the band loves vinyl that they made a CD that is guaranteed to scratch the CD. But in a time when the band was anti-music videos, they came up with some interesting packaging with the medical book theme of Vitalogy (which is the study of life) and the collector cards that were packaged with No Code.

In an age when the band wasn’t keen on self promotion, Better Man was still a commercial success despite never actually being released as a single and is up there with Black as one of the band’s best melancholy songs to date. But my favorite song on the album is Corduroy, a driving song that has an edge to it but remains as catchy as any pop song at the time.

Vitalogy also saw that band go into the bizarre musically whether it be Eddie Vedder singing about bugs around a poorly played accordion or the singer just repeatedly spelling privacy over and over again for a minute, or the vitrally wordless Spanish tinged Aye Davanita that just fades out as it did in. But it didn’t get any weirder than the album closer Hey Foxymophandlemama, That’s Me which saw more repeated phrases, this time about spanking. But the highs of Vitalogy helped Pearl Jam complete one of the best trio of first albums by any rock band.

I Want My Music Television - 2/28/11

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.


I Need a Doctor - Dr. Dre featuring Eminem and Skylar Grey



After a decade long layoff, I really do not need an introspective Dr. Dre song as the second single (fifth maybe if the first four are bangers), I need Dre to be the soundtrack of me getting my drink on, my smoke on, then go home with something to poke on. And I do not even do two of the three (okay, I really do not do any of them).


Give a Little - Hanson



Seriously, they really need to put old people making out warning front of videos these days, first Parenthood and now Hanson. This trend really needs to stop.


Go Outside – Cults



MTV released their second “Supervideo” and juts like their first one it features a hot young actress (this time Emma Roberts subbing in for Anna Kendrick) and the video they made for Cults is just as nonsensical as the one they did for LCD Soundsystem.


Second Chance - Peter Bjorn and John



I always enjoy a good music video in reverce, and you can tell from the messy first frame that this would be a good one, but I wished Peter Bjorn and John would have at least tried singing backwards so it syncs up, that always makes a video in reverse.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 2/27/11

Shameless: The Gallagher family seemed a little too fine with helping faking their father’s death. Maybe wishful thinking. Then tonight there is even more family bonding when Frank actually goes sober. No, seriously. But of course it is for money.

Chuck: Holy Robin Givens Sighting! Did she just take the 00’s off? And working in Castle means we may be seeing more of her as she teases Casey with what is behind door number two. The rest of the episode was pretty obvious who the chick would turn out to be and the necklace being the key. But what exactly did she see? I am kind of hoping it is another Intercet. It is about time Chuck met his own match. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

Greek: Thankfully they cut to commercial after Catherine slapped Casey because I need the entire break just to stop laughing. I can’t believe it took five seasons to realized that Casey needed a good slapping. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Castle: There is nothing I hate more on television than the clichéd “x amount of time earlier” start. And this episode of Castle was even worse because it completely failed to live up to the intro. When the episode started I had thoughts of ET rolling through my head. But when the scene came rolling around again, we learn there was really no reason for Castle to be resisting. And to make matters more boring, they ended up being let go like that. No tests or anything. Hurmph. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Parenthood: Eww, they really need to add a warning whenever they are going to show graphic scenes of old people making out. That scene seemed to never end. I had to run to sink to wach my eyes out like Alex Dunphey. That aside, I do not know what Crosby is thinking but I would totally give up my first born to get Minka Kelly. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Lights Out: This is the reason why I tend to avoid fictionalized sports stories. So Lights hasn’t fought in five years and he is able to knockout a fighter who has never been knocked down before in the second round with a bad eye? Alighty. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Lights Out on iTunes.

Survivor: Redemption Island: I really have to laugh whenever Boston Rob talks down about his tribe mates calling them amateurs while he continues the same boneheaded moves that gets him voted out pre-jury. Sure he has seen the coupling alliance before as he utilized it for the closest thing to success that he has ever had in the game, but a couple is only a threat when your alliance gets down to four, and that are certainly not less than a week into the game. Yet he is repeating the same problem that got him voted out during his first go-around, an alliance means nothing if you cannot make it to the merge. And with the new twist in the game, I am certainly not blindsiding someone who could come back and haunt me. Now Rob has to shrink his alliance even more by getting rid of Andrea too because if Matt comes back and she is still around, they can both flip (not to mention he has to get rid of Kristina too because she would be easy to flip also).

But I cannot wait until next week (I wonder if this is going to be another season of Survivor where the previews are the best part of the episode). First my girl Andrea goes on a warpath and then the “biggest blindside ever.” I have a feeling that it is Russell that will be on the wrong side of the blindsided this time. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Modern Family: Poor Alex, she never seems to come out on top of her far inferior sister. You knew somehow Hayley was going to get away with her lack of a waitressing job. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Justified: Most cop shows are better when the badge take on master criminals, not for Raylan Gibbons, he is at his bed when taking on the criminal inept, and his greatest adversary just may be Dewey Crow. This guy’s stupidity knows no bounds. Raylan questioning the witness was classic. Too bad Raylan’s deputy doesn’t come around more often, and I am guessing Oxy trafficking and impersonating a Marshall may keep him behind bars for a while. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: Hopefully Sheldon’s new crew gets back together every once and a while because they were comedy gold. Can’t Sheldon make Thursday karaoke night? You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.

Outsourced: Instead accepting any of them, isn’t the correct answer to your least favorite Backstreet Boy be all of them? If you accept multiple answers, it was for the March question, because you should be able to also accept March Madness. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Outsourced on iTunes.

Best of the Week - 2/26/11

Quote of the Week: We could also stop using the letter “M” but I think that idea is isguided and oronic. (Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: Angel of the Morning – Juice Newton (as “sung” by Gloria, Modern Family)

Big News of the Week: Muammar al-Qaddafi Back in the News: If he wasn’t one of the worst’s dictators, you would almost have to feel bad for Muammar al-Qaddafi. Growing up in the eighties, all us school children hated him and his anti-American rants as he was the reigning craziest dictator but in recent years he has been outshined even crazier rulers like Kim Jong-Il, Saddam Hussein, and the nutjobs in Iran. But Qaddafi came back in a big way this week when his country Libya seems like the next Muslim country to fall which had led to classic Muammar being Muammar moments that leave some nostalgic for his heyday in the eighties. And the cause of the unrest in his country is even more humorous: Mariah Carey. Apparently Libyans are not happy that Muatassim Qaddafi, Muammar’s son, had paid the songstress, as well as Beyoncé and Usher, millions of dollars to perform as little as four songs for the ruthless dictator. So the next time you are downloading one of their songs illegally, do not feel bad because they support terrorists.

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: Blue Skies Again – Jessica Lea Mayfield (iTunes)

Deal of the Week: Save up to 59% on Oscar Nomanees (The Dark Knight, Toy Story 3, Sound of Music)

New Album Release of the Week: The Valley - Eisley (Head over to Spin.com to download to tracks for free and stream the whole album)

New DVD Release of the Week: Bambi

Video of the Week: I have never received any greater advise ever than to never trust a big butt and a smile. And the great thinkers that gave us that pearl of wisdom have recently reunited and we on Late Night this week, backed by The Roots. And since one Bell Biv DeVoe song is not enough, the trio filmed a second performance exclusive to the interwebs and I bring it here for you. You’re welcome.

Bell Biv DeVoe – Poison


Bell Biv DeVoe – Do Me!


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Cape, Monday at 9:00 on NBC: Poor Summer Glau, she cannot seem to get anyone to watch any show she is on. Her most successful show to date is one and a half seasons. At least her latest outing The Cape was her first not regulated to the Friday Death Slot. But the show is coming to a close for the season (most likely ever) tomorrow after just nine episodes.

Around the Tubes - 2/25/11

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 Oscars, Film Independent Spirit Awards, Lights Out, Portlandia, The Voice, The Sing-Off, Oprah, and Hulu.

- Could James Franco and Anne Hathaway break out a little Grease during their hosting duties at the Oscars this Sunday? The video below suggest it may just happen.



- A day before then (that would be Saturday) the Film Independent Spirit Awards will be handed out and you can watch the live arrivals over at Livestream starting at 2:30.

- Lights Out hit is midseason point this week and here is a sneak peak of what you can expect the rest of this season.



- Just a reminder that tonight is the season finale of Portlandia, but do not fret, the show will return to IFC second season next year and an encore of the first will begin next Friday.

- I could copy and paste on how you can audition for The Voice online, but why not just have host Carson Daily (hey, at least it isn’t Nick Lashey) tell you how in the video below. Or just click the link. Hurry up, the casting period ends March 1.



- NBC also picked up its other vocal show earlier this week, The Sing-Off. No word though if they have taken my suggestion and turn it into a weekly series. Also returning next season is more unscripted episodes of The Biggest Loser and Who Do You Think You Are.

- Seal recently sat down with Oprah for her Breaking Down the Bars series on OWN Tuesdays at 9:00. Check out a clip below where the singer talks about why he let his song be used for the woman in prison show.



- For those that prefer the Big O in written form, the March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine will feature Amy Poehler who shares her aha moment and Regina King dishing on her Best Life.

- Think there are too many commercials on television? So does Hulu’s CEO Jason Kilar who is profiled in this month’s issue of The Hollywood Reporter.

Feed Your iPod vol. LV: (There You Go) Tellin' Me No Again

For last week’s Lyrics Quiz (there are plenty of songs left) I included Macy Gray’s line about “feenin’” and went to my iTunes library to do a spell check because apparently Word is still twenty years behind in adding it into its dictionary only to find the Jodeci song was sorely missing. While scouring my boxes of randomly forgotten CD for Diary of a Mad Band copy I posted the video onto my Facebook page wondering whatever happened to the group. As my buddy Doug pointed out the group was trying to mount a comeback on Keith Sweat’s Platinum House on some channel called TV One; I have never heard of the channel let alone the show. Seriously, how is that show on some network I have never heard of when VH1 hasn’t aired anything watchable since the last season of Tool Academy? But anyway. This only led me to realize that Keith’s Keep it Comin’ is another CD hiding in one of my boxes that needed to be added to my iTunes library. After some scavenging it turns out that I also own his self title, which I completely forgot I had.

The one track of my scavenging weekend that stuck out more than any other was Sweat’s (There You Go) Tellin’ Me No Again (seriously, what did early nineties R&B acts hate about the letter “g”?). Yesterday I mocked so many artist using cassette tapes in their music videos, but I first heard the song on cassette for the New Jack City Soundtrack. I played out the cassette so much because of the song; I had to buy it again on the more durable CD format. It’s sad that modern R&B has morphed so much into rap music that smooth R&B from the nineties has all but disappeared, but as long as I keep finding gems like this in my myster box of lost CD, it will soften the blow.

(There You Go) Tellin’ Me No Again – Keith Sweat

I Want My Music Television - 2/23/11

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.


All of the Lights – Kanye West



My eyes hurt now, thanks Kanye. Odd that Kanye can get twenty different singers to go all the way to Hawaii to sing one line or less, but could only get two to show up in the video.


Mine Smell Like Honey - R.E.M.



Speaking of headache inducing music videos, here is another one from R.E.M.


Bodies – Cee-Lo Green



A creepy theme to begin with but the showing the video via pictures just makes it creepier, and I mean that as a compliment Cee-Lo. And poor Common, gets killed for his shades and doesn’t even get a mention in the opening credit.


Single Girls - Laura Jansen



Weird chalk outline boyfriend aside, I find this song by newbie Laura Jansen very sweet and melancholy even if Bruno Mars did the cassette tape outline a couple months. What is with the cassette comeback? I haven’t used one in about a decade.

There's a Fire Starting in my Heart

Adele has the kind of voice that all her contemporaries on the pop chart would kill for and couldn’t come close to with all the auto-tune in the world. But let’s face it; her debut album was a bit of a bore. The music she was singing over was so bland it might as well have been Musak. And so when the first single off her sophomore outing, Rolling in the Deep was released it instantly became her best song. The voice remained unmistakable, but production went to another level thanks to Paul Epworth (Florence + The Machine) with opening strumming of a guitar which adding a driving bass drum a couple lines later and turning into a full on foot stomping clap along by the bridge. Even her phrasing gets betters, when she says, “Don’t underestimate the things that I will do” you can’t help but believe her while chills go up your spine.

And that sophomore album 21 (she is keeping with the age of when she recorded the record theme from 19) continues the promise of Rolling in the Deep. After the album kicks off with the first single, it goes straight into Rumor Has It which could have been the most haunting song from the girl group era of the sixties. Then out of nowhere the song slows down for a even more haunting piano accompanying part before picking right back up again.

Aside from Rolling in the Deep, Epworth helped write two of the best songs on the album. I’ll Be Waiting opens with an Elton John flair on piano before being joined by some horns and is easily the most fun you will have listening to Adele and listening to the song makes you wonder why she doesn’t go up tempo more often. He Won’t Go starts off with the beat and piano riff from The Roots version of Dear God before morphing into a soft rock R&B song from the eighties without managing to sound cheesy.

Rick Rubin, who produced four of the tracks, goes for the less is more approach he took when guiding Johnny Cash’s American records. Don’t You Remember and One and Only are the songs on the new albums most reminiscent of her previous album. And where Rubin made an art of picking cover songs for Cash, having Adele cover Love Song by The Cure with an acoustic bossa nove twinge just doesn’t reach the highs she had when she reworked To Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan on her last album which is the only advance 19 has over 21.

Song to Download – I'll Be Waiting

21 gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Previewing Blue-Collar Dogs

George Washington owned a dog, ten in all, Abraham Lincoln owned two of them himself. In fact the seventeen last presidents had a four legged friend to keep him company all the way up to Bo who currently resides in the White Dog House. But tonight on Nat Geo Wild, the channel will premiere a show that highlights dogs that go even further than being the best friend of the Leader of the Free World.

Blue-Collar Dogs follows dogs are more than man’s best friend but help their owners do some tough jobs. And tonight starting at 8:00 Nat Geo Wild will air three straight episodes starting with Canine MD. Sure we are all familiar with Seeing Eye dogs for the blind, but some do even more than guide their owners. Watching a dog open the refrigerator , grab a Sprite, give it to his owner with a degenerative muscle disease, then close the door is a sight to be seen. And the medical field is also putting a dog’s nose to good use by having them sniff out cancer and one dog that helps her owner by predicting her blood sugar crashes.

At 9:00 is Border Hounds which views like the best dog segments from Border Wars on its sister station but goes deeper into the training that goes on to making a drug sniffing dog. And the “Don’t Touch My Junk” guy may want to skip this episode because one of the dogs smells something a suspect’s crotch area as we get to see an agent go in and fish it out of the hiding area. But the best visual is a dog training to be dropped out of a helicopter getting strapped to an agent’s back and repelling down a six story structure (as seen above).

Rounding out the night is New York Police where dogs are trained to protect the world’s busiest city by sniffing out bombs, which they did to keep the scene safe during the Times Square Bombing attempt, attacking criminals in the subway, and as part of a search and rescue squad. Some of New York’s finest four legged officers went down to Haiti to find people stuck in the rubble after last year’s earthquake. And how New York is it that even police dogs need to be issued credentials just to sniff for bombs at the US Open tennis tournament? The most interesting part of the episode doesn’t even take place in New York, but across the river at a woman’s prison in New Jersey wear inmates actually help train puppies to become bomb sniffing dogs and even lives in the inmate’s cell. Check out a clip of that below:

Puppies Behind Bars

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 2/20/11

Chuck: If Chuck were not to be renewed for next fall, here is hoping they pick up a prequel spin off featuring the C.A.T. Squad, I’d totally watch that over the proposed Charlie’s Angels reboot. Now if only they could work Casey into the series. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: Finally Marshall is back in New York, his dad’s death storyline went on for far too long. And what is with Barney dating a British chick? You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: So that is why the swimmer was acting so weird last week. I totally did not see that coming. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Greek: I thought this show took place in Ohio? As someone who has lived in the state for his whole life, we have had plenty of snowstorms that bad or worse, that couldn’t have been the first one they have witnessed. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Castle: Of course Castle and Beckett both had to be right, his buddy didn’t murder his wife, but she was right that he was involved with his father’s murder. I saw that ending coming a mile away. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Parenthood: I can’t believe I just watched Lyla Garrity talk down Ben Linus. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Mr. Sunshine: Hopefully they find a way to keep the pyromaniac secretary around because she was my favorite part of the show after Allison Janney. Certainly her son won’t be able to help out Matthew Perry. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Mr. Sunshine on iTunes.

Justified: Interesting that weed lady lied to the girl about her daddy dying instead telling her that he went on a business trip. What is she going to tell the girl when he doesn’t return? I guess he will “die” on the trip if she doesn’t find out the truth in the meantime. Here’s hoping she goes Hit Girl on the family if she does find out. And what was with Ava and Boyd? Did they hook up or is that the only place he thought he could go after getting beat up? But this episode featured my third favorite scene with the apricot line coming in just after the series opening and “Use it or throw it away.” You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: I don’t really think we really needed that “previously on segment.” You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.

Outsourced: It’s a shame we only got to hear three seconds of karaoke Sister Christian, hopefully there is an extended version unleashed on the internet in the near future. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Outsourced on iTunes.

You can also check out my First Impressions of Survivor: Redemption Island.

Best of the Week - 2/19/11

Quote of the Week: I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do drugs. I don’t have crazy, reckless sex with strangers. If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I’m gonna be really pissed. (Chuck Lorre – Two and a Half Men)

Song of the Week: Reading Rainbow Theme Song - Tina Fabrique (as sung by Troy and LeVar Burton, Community)

Big News of the Week: Adrianne Palicki is You New Wonder Woman: Please if you will, step into the 9th Green time machine all the way back to October of 2010 when hearing that David E. Kelly was working on a Wonder Woman television show I commented,

“No word on who will fill Lynda Carter’s spandex, but if I were a casting director, I would definitely screen test the recently unemployed and currently brunette Tyra Collette.”

Keep in mind that the show just got picked up for a pilot and there are no guarantees it will make it to air and no live action actress has donned the golden bracelets since Lynda Carter hung up her lasso of truth thirty two years ago (but this is NBC and they have been throwing everything at the wall the last couple seasons).

The casting comes shortly after another casting I suggested that Trya’s nemesis Lyla Garrity become one of Charlie’s Angels for ABC’s reboot. Unfortunately the casting director didn’t take my other suggestions of Veronica Mars and Lana Lang to fill out the trio. But with my tract record of finding role for Friday Night Lights alums, now I need to scourer the trades to find Coach and Mrs. Taylor some work. Or maybe Parenthood should take up my suggestion that the Taylors should move to California to coach Drew’s football team.

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick(s) Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: Happily Ever After – He Is We (iTunes): Don’t ask me what the band name is, but I found the song sugary sweet. For your previewing pleasure, here is an acoustic version of the song.



New Album Release of the Week: 21 - Adele

New DVD Release of the Week: All-Star Superman

Video of the Week: After the cinematic masterpiece that was Blue Crush, I assumed that we would get a chicks surfing movie once a year for a while, but no luck, not even a crappy straight to video “sequel” that has nothing to do with the orginal aside from the name and stolen plot. Finally almost a decade later Hollywood is going back to the beach with Soul Surfer.

Soul Surfer Official Trailer


First, if this chick is willing to amputate her arm for a role, just give her an Oscar now. Second, Carrie Underwood? What? Third, I had no clue that was Helen Hunt until they credited her. What has she been up to since Mad About You ended?

Next Week Pick of the Week: Episodes, Tomorrow at 9:30 on Showtime: With all the hype of the Friends returning to television, it doesn’t look like they will spend much time of the schedule together with Chandler replacing Monica and Joey’s show ending its season already. The press release teases

“Deeply regretting her tryst with Matt (Matt LeBlanc), Beverly (Tamsin Greig) returns home to find Sean (Stephen Mangan) waiting with open arms. As the pilot for the “Pucks!” pilot wraps, Sean and Beverly prepare to return to London. A final goodbye between Matt and Sean, however, takes an unexpected turn involving a missing Jaguar, a red-nosed reindeer and the smell of cinnamon.”

Around the Tubes - 2/18/11

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 Are We There Yet?, Being Human, Big Love, Battle: Los Angeles, Secret Service Files, January Jones, Portlandia, Pretty Little Liars, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.


- Before the new episode of Are We There Yet? series stars Terry Crews (Nick), Essence Atkins (Suzanne), Teala Dunn (Lindsey), Coy Stewart (Kevin), Keesha Sharp (Gigi) and Christian Finnegan (Martin) will answer questions submitted by fans. Head over to TBS.com or the show’s Facebook page at 9:30 next week to participate.

- A new episode of Being Human is hitting Syfy this Monday at 9:00, here is a sneak peak:

It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Wrong


- I finished season four of Big Love this weekend and now ready for the DVD of the final season to hit shelves. For those watching in real time on HBO, here is a recap of the last episode to get you ready for the next episode on Sunday. And do not forget Margene’s blog who’s latest entry is a Girl’s Gotta Dance.



- For those looking forward to the upcoming Battle: Los Angeles (or just like winning stuff like a PS3) visit the movie’s Facebook page to play Battle: LA W.A.T.C.H.

- There are a couple new installments of the Secret Service Files coming up with four episode spread across Sunday and Monday on the National Geographic Channel starting at 8:00 each day. Here is a preview of what you can expect:

Secret Service Argent Training


- AOL Moviefone recently talked to January Jones about the grace Kelly comparisons, just how revealing her X-Men wardrobe is, and what is next for Betty Draper.

- It was announced this week that IFC’s new series Portlandia has been renewed for a second season for ten episodes starting January 2012. And on tonight’s episode will feature the band Echo Echo.

- What better way to celebrate President’s Day than a Pretty Little Liars marathon. Starting at 1:00 PM on ABC Family with the midseason premiere going all the way up to 8:00 with a brand new episode. George and Abe would certainly approve this message.

- TV.com recently nabbed an interview with Camille Grammar who revealed she tried to quite in the middle of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

First Impressions: Survivor: Redemption Island

Survivor: Redemption Island poises the question can the unredeemable actually be redeemed? For its new season Survivor brought back two of its biggest doushebags ever for another go around. Boston Rob gets his fourth go around even though he failed to make the jury on two of his previous season. Then the other contestant is the one person that can make Rob seem sympathetic, Russell who gets to play for the third time (and most likely last since it has been brought to light that he spoiled his first two seasons, which is a breach of contract that could cost him millions) who played the dumbest game ever only to repeat it on the second go-around and got completely outplayed by two girls.

Of course Redemption Island has less to do with the two returning contestants and more with the place voted out contestants go to battle in hopes to reenter the game. We will have to wait until next week to see how it fully works after a second contestant gets voted out (or possibly the third episode depending on when exactly the competition takes place). But from the preview it looks like something out of MTV’s The Challenge and it looks like Francesca Hogi will be taking on a dude (though the thick leg in the preview could be a production personal doing a run-through or someone from a later challenge) and hopefully it is Russell.

Then at some point during the season, the person left standing on Redemption Island will be released back into the game. I originally assumed that it would be around the merge, but the Redemption Moments were all of jury members who went fairly deep in the game. So I wonder when they get to the jury, will the person still on Redemption Island be able to sit in on Tribal Council? Hopefully they are not let back in late in the game because the later the less I like the idea of Redemption Island.

After a poorly cast Nicaragua season, there were plenty of standout characters from Redemption Island including redneck Ralph Kiser and an overabundance of eye candy highlighted by Andrea Boehlke but former Special Agent (?) Phillip Sheppard was the breakout star of the premiere episode. He bragged about his ability of being able to read people thanks to his federal agent (?) yet he has the social skills of Sheldon Cooper. His blowup was one of the more entertaining tribal councils in a while. Hopefully he somehow manages to stay awhile but sure dumb luck.

Contestant I’d Most Like to Have Dirty, Dirty Sex with Even if She Hasn’t Take a Shower in a Month: Andrea Boehlke

Winner: Andrea Boehlke

Back Up Choice: Mike Chiesl

Survivor: Redemption Island airs Wednesdays at 8:00 on CBS. You can stream episodes on CBS.com. You can also download Survivor on iTunes.