Scooter McGavin's 9th Green

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Best of the Week vol. LV

Quote of the Week: I have nothing left to suck. (Purple Kelly, Survivor)

Song of the Week: Hey Hey, My My – BattleMe (Sons of Anarchy)

Big News of the Week: A Melancholy Happy Trails to Leslie Nielsen: No one did dumb comedy better than Leslie Nielsen. Most movies like that are one offs or have a sequel just do not live up to the original, but thanks to Nielsen, each of the three (or thirty-three and a third) Naked Gun movies were hilariously funny and he may have made more had one of his co-stars hadn’t stood trail for double murder. But we still had other classic comedies like Airplane!, Spy Hard and the underrated Repossessed. In his later years, it seemed like ever dumb comedy brought in Nielsen because no one did it better, and those movies were better for it.

Free Download of the Week: 25 Days of Free (Amazon MP3): Every day until Christmas, Amazon MP3 is offering a new free holiday song to download. As of right now you can pick up holiday cheer from Fleet Foxes and Indigo Girls.

New Album Release of the Week: Endlessly - Duffy

New DVD Release of the Week: Inception (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5 Each: This month you can download albums from Mumford and Sons, Spoon, Norah Jones, and Michelle Branch.

Video of the Week: Best Week Ever likes to write a lot in hyperbole so most of the videos they post last about five seconds before I movie on. But I have been watching this video for twelve straight hours.

I have no idea what Gylne Tider is, but from why I can gather from Google Translate it is some sort of talk show in Norway that in previous season focused on famous Norwegians from the sixties and seventies and their latest season is dealing with American pop culture from the eighties (as the people in the video would suggest, with some carryover to the nineties it seems). And their promotion for the season; wow, just wow. Just when you think things cannot get any more random, Tubbs starts doing air guitar. Then Little Forrest Gump shows up with a nose ring. And then there is the living half of Milli Vanilli. There is first posthumously appearance from Leslie Nelson. Then Ricky Schroder gets recognized for The Champ. Did they not get Silver Spoons in Norway? You know when Right Said Fred doesn’t even crack the top five weirdest cameos in a video you have something awesome. Considering all their current shows are unwatchable, if VH1 doesn’t import this show by next year they might as well just fold up shop. Now if you excuse me, I will be spending the next twelve hour

Next Week Pick of the Week: Big Cat Week, starting Monday, Nat Geo Wild: National Geographic’s animal focused channel is rolling out its Big Cat Week starting tomorrow and here is the full rundown for you feline lovers:

Big Cat Odyssey (Monday at 9): This show chronicles their meticulous work over three decades of filming, photographing and documenting the behavior of big cat species in Botswana.

Leopard Queen (Tuesday at 9): This show follows the life of “Manana,” a wild leopard whose territory spans the heart of the Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa.

Lion Warriors (Wednesday at 9:00): This show features lions that the proud Maasai warriors have hunted ruthlessly in return for killing their cattle so that now only about 2,000 remain in the country. If their numbers drop any lower, their populations will not be sustainable.

Lions on the Edge (Thursday at 9): This show focuses on Ruaha National Park in Tanzania which used to be a true paradise for wildlife gathered around the rich Ruaha riverbanks. Now, the worst drought in decades is pushing all the animals on a march to find water.

Friday, December 03, 2010

Around the Tubes vol. LXXVI

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 Boardwalk Empire, I am Legend, Flip, Telethon for Alzheimer’s, Characters United, Chuck Lorre, Christmas in Washington, Linkin Park, Television on Twitter, FX and Syfy renewal and premiere dates, and Christmas with a Capital C.

- The season finale of Boardwalk Empire is this Sunday at 9:00 on HBO and here is a sneak peak and what you will see:

- I am Legend recently hit iTunes for the first time with Bonus Content including behind the scenes footage and interviews with the Will Smith.

- Do you Flip? I do (I recently picked up an HD one) and so do Diddy, Brooke Burke, and Ryan Sheckler; in fact Sheckler has designed six personal Flips for this campaign.

- Tomorrow on some NBC channels (and everywhere online) there will be a Telethon for Alzheimers. If your NBC station isn’t airing it, head over to alzfdn.org to watch or donate.

- USA is using the Characters Welcome slogan to good use with Characters Unite program where if you click on the website and pledge to stand against discrimination and for every pledge made this month, USA Network will donate $1 to its nonprofit partners.

- The big cheese for CBS comedies Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, and new show Mike and Molly) will be profiled in December 6th issue of The New Yorker. Head over to their website for a preview.

- In a story I broke last week, Christmas in Washington will air on Friday December 17 at 8:00 on TNT and it has just been announced that Andrea Bocelli will be joining the lineup that already includes Mariah Carey, Annie Lennox, Maxwell, and Matthew Morrison.

- Fans of Linkin Park will want to check out Linkin Park Radio which includes previously unreleased tracks, demos and covers that can't be heard anywhere else.

- I do not Twitter, but some television show creators do and not surprisingly they have run into viewers who have had some choice words over the site. The Daily Beast takes a look at the phenomenon.

- FX recently announced the premiere date of a couple of their shows, animated series Archer returns January 27 at 10 and new show Lights Out about a former heavyweight fighter bows January 11 at 10:00. While you are waiting, play the Lights Out Game for a chance to win $1000. In other premiere date news, Syfy has announced that Being Human is set to debut January 17. The channel also ordered another season of Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files and Ghost Hunters, and 12 new episodes on top of the current season of Hollywood Treasure.

- This Sunday you can see Ted McGinley in the new GMC movie Christmas with a Capital C at 7:00 with encores at 9:00 and 11:00.

Thursday, December 02, 2010

We on Award Tour: 2011 Grammy Nominations

The 00’s is when the music industry went in the tank, yet as sales go lower and lower, it seems like every year there is yet another new music awards show (there is another new one airing in a couple months), but there still remains only one award show that matters: The Grammy’s. Okay, the awards themselves are not that credible (Hilary Clinton has more Grammy’s than Bob Marley, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix combined) but you know they will put on a great show. No acts announced yet (hopefully they will be better than Katy Perry and Justin Beiber), but they did announce some nominees last night (head over to Grammy.com for the full rundown):

Song of the Year
Beg Steal or Borrow – Ray LaMontange and the Pariah Dogs
(Expletive Delete) You – Cee Lo Green
The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert
Love the Way You Lie – Eminem featuring Rihanna
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum

Who Will Win: Ray LaMontange and the Pariah Dogs
Who Should Win: Cee-Lo Green

Wait, they actually nominated for a songwriting award a song they cannot even say on network television? Also nominated a song that includes the lyrics, “It’ three AM and I’m drunk again.” You cannot call the Grammy’s stuffy anymore. It is such a weird group it is hard to pick a favorite, but Ray LaMontange is the most “traditional” song, but Mirada Lambert may get the sentimental vote.

Best New Artist
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence + The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Who Will Win: Drake
Who Should Win: Mumford and Sons

Best New Artist is always a tossup, but I have been playing out Mumford and Sons for most of the year. But I can see them or Drake or Florence and the Machine also taking it. Since there is no one in the academy under sixteen to stuff the ballot like the AMA’s, Beiber doesn’t have a chance. And for those wondering, Esperanza Spalding is a jazz artist, and as Herbie Hancock’s win recently, do not count her out.

Album of the Year
The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
Recovery – Eninem
Need You Now – Lady Antibellum
The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream – Katy Perry

Who Will Win: Eminem
Who Should Win: I do not care

Wasn’t Lady Gaga nominated for the same album last year? How does this happen? Even more puzzling, Kate Perry gets nominated? Ugg, I could care less for this category.

Record of the Year
Nothin' On You – B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars
Love the Way You Live – Eminem featuring Rihanna
(Expletive Delete) You - Cee-Lo Green
Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z and Alicia Keys
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Who Will Win: Jay-Z
Who Should Win: Cee Lo

A strong category (though I would have exchanged Airplanes for B.o.B.’s song here) but there was no song more infectious this year than the one that Cee-Lo gave us. Here is hoping that they let Cee-Lo perform the real version on the telecast.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

They're Singing Deck the Halls but it's not Like Christmas at All

And really, it is not like Christmas at all if I do not hear Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). Where most Christmas tunes are of a more cheerful variety, Christmas was one of the first heartbreaking holiday song for those that do not have anyone to kiss under the mistletoe during the wintery months. Whether it be the original with Darlene Love backed by Phil Specter’s Wall of Sound, or U2 with Bono in full Elvis mode, more the more melancholy version utilized by Death Cab for Cutie, I cannot go a December without hearing multiple versions of Christmas (Baby Please Come) which is what makes it this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame. Below you can watch their versions of their song and click on the artist names to buy the song on iTunes, or you can head over to RCRD LBL to download the version by Slow Club for free.

Darlene Love