Musings From the Back 9: New Shows Edition

The Playboy Club

When every critic bemoaned that The Playboy Club was simply just a simple Mad Men rip off, I came to the show’s (and the upcoming Pan Am, look for the review tomorrow) defense saying The Playboy Club was a rip off of Mad Men because they were set in the same time period would be like saying Mad Men was a rip off of American Dreams. But now that I have seen the first episode, Eddie Cibrian (Invasion) completely steal Don Draper’s cadence is really distracting and it is not a good sign for the show that Cibrian’s speech managed to be more distracting than Amber Heard (Hidden Palms) in, or out, of her bunny costume. Sure if there is anyone who can reach Don Draper level of douchebag, it is Cibrian who does not even need to act to pull it off, but he did not need to also copy his speech patterns.

It is also not a very good sign when Heard is your strongest actor on the show. The other bunnies range from bland to over the top to painful to watch. Jenna Dewan-Tatum (Melrose Place) falls in the latter category as a bunny that is dating the bartender who, surprise, is not happy that he has to watch his girlfriend get ogled every night. Laura Benanti (Starved) is the house bunny whose lip syncing was so distractingly bad, I thought I was watching an episode of Glee. Naturi Naughton (3LW) is simply the token black chick who says something sassy at the end of every scene.

Even though she came across as only a caricature of a Playboy bunny, Leah Renee (Runaway) started out by having the only interesting part of the first episode, hiding a deep dark secret from her co-workers. Was she some sort of Gloria Steinem undercover spy? Did she have some vendetta against Hugh Hefner and was using the job to get to him? Nope. Her husband is gay (and she may or may not be a lesbian, it is unclear at this point) and is the leader of some underground gay homosexual society. What?

The Playboy Club airs Mondays at 10:00 on NBC. You can stream recent episodes over at Hulu.com. You can also download The Playboy Club on iTunes.


2 Broke Girls

Ever since they broke up How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory, neither has really shared a timeslot with anything else worth watch. 2 Broke Girls (when it moves to 8:30 next week) looks to break that trend. Kat Dennings (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist) is the queen of snark and if Beth Behrs (American Pie Presents: The Book of Love) can find some subtleties in her socialite character could be the breakout star of the television season. And who knew Garrett Morris was still alive? But they need to find a new cook because dude got annoying quick. Is Vic Tayback available for the role? (Wait, unlike Morris, he actually is dead? Nevermind.) But I really like the running tally of money at the end of the episode and I have a feeling that number will go down almost as many times it goes up.

2 Broke Girls airs Mondays on CBS. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.


Whitney

Whitney Cummings (Comedy Central Roasts) created two shows on the schedule this fall and just based on first impressions only, she clearly chose to star in the wrong show. 2 Broke Girls was filled with laugh and set up an interesting premise for the future. Whitney is a bland relationship sitcom from the nineties that tries to update the format with unfunny crass jokes. The show is also reminiscent of crappy sitcoms that NBC usually orders for midseason but ends up burning off during the summer (100 Questions, Friends With Benefits). The only thing you can get coming away from the show is wondering just how bad is the Chelsea Hander sitcom that Whitney made it to air first is. A couple years back NBC tried to launch a Wednesday comedy block before it moved 30 Rock to Thursday about two weeks later and dropped the other one. I would not be at all surprised is either Up All Night or Free Agents (hopefully the latter) gets the Whitney timeslot before we start handing out candy to trick or treaters.

Whitney premieres Thursday at 9:30 on NBC. You will be able to stream episodes over at hulu.com. You will also be able to download Whitney on iTunes.

Sing Like We Used to, Dance When You Want To

Had Jeff Probst not pulled the names Ozzy and Coach out of his hat as which former contestants would go for redemption on the new season of Survivor, the Bing Crosby / Davie Bowie Award for most random pairing may have gone to Needtobreathe who opened up for Taylor Swift on her latest tour. Swift is best known for her diary style lyrics set against shiny country-pop music while Needtobreathe leaned toward roots rock. But if you headed out to see the Speak Now Tour, before Swift brought out her Broadway style show there were just four dudes with nothing but the instruments they played.

You would think Needtobreathe would be more a fit to tour with fellow Carolinian sibling fronted band The Avett Brothers, but you cannot fault Bear (vocals) and Bo (guitars) for not passing on playing to packed arena across the country all summer even if over half the attendees were teen girls. The Brothers Rinehart are taking the momentum of the tour and putting it behind their fourth studio album The Reckoning
.

Though high on passion like The Avett Brothers both on stage and in the studio, Needtobreathe is a more traditional band with traditional instrumentation where banjo are usually used as song accents, not the lead instrument. The Reckoning actually starts out with one of their more adventurous tracks Oohs and Ahhs filled with distortion and the first in a minor key for the group before settling into their more rootsy songs.

Since they do not take as many chances as some of their contemporaries, there is not the high payoff like the recent Mumford & Sons album, Needtobreathe comes closest to them on A Place Only You Can Go but is much sweeter than any songs Marcus Mumford has written so far. Drive All Night gives me a classic Bob Seger vibe. Wanted Man sours with Viva la Vida style vocals that close out the song. While Maybe They Are on to Us may be the most haunting the band has ever been and stands out as one of the better tracks because of it. But the high water mark on the album is Able. The band has bad much of its success on the Christian charts even if their lyrics are not at all overtly religious, but Able is the closest the band has sounded in going to church, but do so in a way that a U2 song does (the title track comes in a close second in this category). But none of the songs really stick out too much like other bands that have taken the Americana flag in recent years and ran with it. But The Reckoning is a good placeholder while waiting on the next Avett Brothers or Mumford and Sons albums to be released.

Song to Download – Able

The Reckoning gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television - 9/19/11

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.


What You Want - Evanescence



Rock is slowly dying to the point that I am almost looking forward to the new Evanescence album. And from the first single, it sounds like they are going heavier than their last one. But someone should have told Amy Lee in the five years since she last recorded an album, the raccoon eyes have gone out of style.


Body and Soul - Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse




Is it wrong when I see Amy Winehouse in this video I can’t help but think she looks like an extra from Jersey Shore? Too soon?


Even if I Don’t – Rachael Yamagata



It is weird to think of her decade long career, Rachael Yamagata has yet to rack up a hit yet. Even though she makes solid videos, she has not made that one ultra catchy song that her peers manage to write. Of course if this were the nineties, this would be the type of video that would have gotten overplayed on MTV enough to make it a hit. Awe, I mss those days.


Young Blood - The Naked and Famous



I was going to post The Naked and Famous new video for The Sun but it lived up to at least half the band’s name and I could not find an edited so I will take this time to share their older song Young Blood which had it not been for Foster the People, would have won the Peter Bjorn and John Award for catchiest indie pop song of the summer. It is really hard to beat a song out for that award that features a whistle solo.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 9/18/11

Quote of the Week: I know there’s alcohol at high school parties, I watched Friday Night Lights. (Max, Parenthood)

Song of the Week: Everlasting Light / Tighten Up – The Black Keys (Free Agents)

Big News of the Week: The Fall Television Season Starts this Week: I am still trying to figure out how I am going to watch six hours of television on Monday alone. Here’s hoping something gets canceled.


The Lying Game: I guess it is not that surprising, I guessed it early on, but we actually got confirmation that the parents knew the twins mother who is now in some mental hospital. Now I wonder if maybe if Heroes guy or the other guy will turn out to be the father. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Lying Game on iTunes.

Weeds: It has so long since they talked about him, I completely forgot Stevie even existed. But then again the show likes to randomly bring up characters they forgot about like when Heilia showed up a couple weeks ago.

Parenthood: I am not one to comment on people’s looks, glass houses and all, but whoever is the hairstylist on the show needs to be fired for whatever she put on top Haddie’s head. And if that was the actress’ decision, they should kill her off for that. There is no excuse for a bad perm mixed with a Jheri curl in 2011. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: Holy Machete sighting! The Sons better okay that deal because that is one dude I do not want on his bad side. Interesting both Clay and Jax are using the deal to get themselves out of the crew, even more interesting would be if the rest of the club kills the deal as I am not sure they have the votes right now. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: South Pacific: Last season, Survivor brought back two of my least favorite contestants of all time and ended up with the worst season ever in the history of the show. So this season at least had to start out better, right? Except the brought in one of those hated contestants nephew and I could have listed a hundred Survivor contestants before I would have guessed they would bring Ozzy back. But I guess I have to admit this season got off to a more entertaining start even if the eye candy was significantly down this season. Unfortunately the focus was still focused on the returning Survivors with only the unlikeable pot dealer and Cochran, who tries way too hard the only ones sticking out so far. Them and Russell’s nephew who weirdly is holding a grudge against the lingerie football player (wait, did I really write that as a profession) simply for being hot. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Free Agents: A solid start, but the show really needs more Giles in future episodes. As for the show that preceded it, I refuse to watch anything called Up All Night that does not involve Rhonda Shear. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Free Agents on iTunes.

Free Download of the Week: Bonus EP - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (iTunes): Bob Seger is one of the last iTunes holdout, though only a pair of live albums are the only things available to download from him currently, there is also this free six song EP.

Deal of the Week: Wilco Albums for $5 Each: With their new album The Whole Love being released later this month, for the month of September you can get every previous Wilco studio album for just five dollars (even though A Ghost is Born is not on the page, it is also that price, you just have to search for it).

New Album Release of the Week: Pearl Jam Twenty (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

New DVD Release of the Week: Happy Endings: The Complete First Season: Since Sony Television was nice enough to send this set along, let me saw a few things about it. First, for those that watched the first season and wondered why Dave was still moving out of Alex’s apartment in the middle of the season, the episodes on the DVD are ordered the way they were originally intended to air including the mysterious thirteenth episode that did not air during the first season but ABC randomly aired a couple weeks ago. Extra include some pre-air specials from abc.com and about ten minutes of deleted scenes including one where it tells you why the wedding crasher showed up half naked and in rollerblade. Also the Osama bin Laden joke, that was removed when the episode aired a week after he was killed, has been restored.

Video of the Week: New episode of Border Wars tonight on the National Geographic Channel at 10:00. Check out a preview below:

Smuggler’s Tunnel


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Playboy Club, Monday at 10:00 on NBC: I recently received a press release claiming The Playboy Club is receiving the least amount of buzz of shows airing on network this fall (along with Glee and Charlie’s Angel; while Chuck, Supernatural, and Fringe are the most buzzed about according to this list, alrighty) so let me give it a little love before joining the long list of failed NBC shows. Though I do not know how a show that is probably going to be heavily promoted during Sunday Night Football the night before and features hot chicks in bunny outfits can fail. But then again NBC could not use SNF to turn Friday Night Lights into a hit, so it is possible.

Around the Tubes - 9/16/11

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 Living for 32, The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen, CBS.com, How to Make it in America, Bar Rescue, TNT Mystery Movie Night, Lorena Sarbu, Progressive, Txchnologist, and The Sing-Off.

- Tonight Showtime will be premiering Living for 32, a documentary where a Virginia Tech shooting survivor goes undercover to gun shows across the country in an attempt to prove how easy it is anyone to buy a gun and bypassing the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (commonly known as the Brady Bill) in the process. Living for 32 (in honor of the number of students that died that day) airs tonight at 8:00.

- It is a shame The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen does not air an hour earlier next Monday so it could go head to head against the season premiere of the Two and a Half Men reboot. Maybe Charlie was too afraid of losing. But anyway. Here is a promo featuring a special guest:

SheenRoast: Sheenpocalypse


- Speaking of CBS, they officially launch its fall schedule next week and to honor the occasion, they just revamped their website cbs.com. The site features easier access to the most recent full episodes, improved social media outreach, this week’s schedule at-a-glance, improved promotional capabilities through multiple promo elements/sections (both for entertainment programming and now links to CBS News, CBS Sports and the Shop), “inline” video via the upper marquee (one-click and video plays on grayed-out home page), one click to play video (when user clicks show sub marquees, CBS Library show image, etc, they will be delivered to show page and video will play right away), and tablet friendly – all site elements except full episodes will be available via tablet browsers,

- HBO has recently released character posters for the upcoming season of How to Make it America and here is one for Rachel:



- Spike TV recently announced that it picked up a second season Bar Rescue, which just hit a series high rating this past Sunday. Production of the new ten episodes will begin this winter and will air in the Summer of 2012.

- TNT’s Mystery Movie Night starts up Tuesday November 29 at 9:00 and here is its first promo:



- Carrie Underwood will be performing It Had to Be You with Tony Bennett in an upcoming episode of CBS’s Blue Bloods wearing Lorena Sarbu. Check out a picture from the episode below:



- Flo from the Progressive commercials was recently nominated for Advertising Icon, head over to Buzfeed to vote for her or the other nominees.

- We have all known someone touched with cancer and this study at Txchnologist finds that music therapy can lower anxiety and pain.

- And just because, an acapella version of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air Theme to promote the new season of The Sing-Off premiering Monday at 8:00.

Fresh Prince Performance

Lyrics Quiz: Survivor

In honor of the return Survivor last night, I thought I would take the only pop song ever inspired by the show (Destiny Child’s Survivor which they wrote in response that the group kept voting out members like the reality show) and run it through iTunes’ Genius feature and these are the songs that came back. 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 and give you credit. Please keep in mind the lyrics quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please only use your own meandering mind to guess them.


1. Keep talking that mess that’s fine. But could you walk and talk at the same time? And it’s my name that is on that Jag, so remove your bags, let me call you a cab. (Irreplaceable - Beyonce; guessed by Rose)
2. I need a boy to take it over, looking for a girl to put you over. (What's My Name? - Rihanna; guessed by Rose)
3. See my days are cool without you, but I’m hurting while I’m with you, and you know my heart can take no more, I keep on running back to you.
4. The twenty-second of loneliness and we’ve been through so many things. I love my man with all honestly, but I know he’s cheating on me. (Creep - TLC; guessed by Doug)
5. Girl you are close to me you’re like my mother, close to me you’re like my father, close to me you’re like my sister, close to me you’re like my brother. You are the only one my everything and for you this song I sing. (All My Life - Love Always - K-Ci and Jojo; guessed by Doug)
6. Pour the wine, light the fire, girl, your wish is my command. I submit to your demands. (I'll Make Love to You - Boyz II Men; guessed by Doug)
7. Tears on my pillow wherever you go. I’ll cry me a river that leads to your ocean. You never see me fall apart. (Emotion - The Bee Gees; guessed by Doug)
8. Now you wonder why woman hate men: the sleepy silent men, the punk domestic violence men. Quick to shoot the scene, stop acting like boys and be men. (Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill; guessed by Angie)
9. Y’all didn’t have no kids, didn’t share no mutual friends, and you told me she turned trick when you broke up in ’96.
10. She has no idea what she’s doing in college. That major that she majored in don’t make no money. But she won’t drop out, her parants will look at her funny. (All Falls Down - Kanye West; guessed by Rose)
11. Thought that she was the one for me. ‘Til I found out she was on her creep. Oh she was sexing everyone but me. (U Remind Me - Usher; guessed by angie)
12. Broken heart again, another lesson learned. Better know my friends or else I’ll get burned. Gotta count on me cause I can guarantee that I’ll be fine. (No More Drama - Mary J. Blige; guessed by Doug)
13. I can’t get it out of my mind. Wow. I think about the girl all the time. Wow, Wow. (No Diggity - Blackstreet; guessed by Doug)
14. Girl I’m in love with you, this ain’t the honeymoon, we’re past the infatuation phase. (Ordinary People - John Legend; guessed by Rose)
15. I keep your picture beside my bed. I still remember everything you said. Always thought our love was so right, guess I was wrong.
16. Why do some people break up? Oh, turn around and make up? I just can’t see, you’d never do that to me. (Let's Stay Together - Al Green; guessed by Doug)
17. Love, love will come find you, just to remind you of who you are. Love, it will forsake you, threaten to break you. Take what you got.
18. What’s your problem? Let’s resolve it. We can solve it, what’s the causes? It’s official, you got issuses, I got issues.
19. I want your body ‘til the very last drop. I want you to holler, when you want me to stop. And who can love you like me? (Nobody - Keith Sweat; guessed by Doug)
20. Every night, on my knees I pray, “Dear Lord, hear my plea: Don’t ever let another take her love from me or I will surely die.” (Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) - The Temptations; guessed by Angie)
21. Music is a world within itself with a language we all understand. With an equal opportunity for all to sing, dance and clap their hands.
22. Like Dr. Zhivago all my love I’ll be sending and you will never know ‘cause there can be no happy ending. (The Hardest Thing - 98º; guessed by Doug)
23. But how many heartaches must I stand before I find a love to let me live again? (You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes; guessed by Angie)
24. I left out in a cloud of taillights and dust. Swore I wasn’t coming back. Said I’d had enough. Saw you in the rear view standing, fading from my life. But I wasn’t turning round. No not this time.
25. That’s why fake (expletives deleted) get fake (expletive deleted) digits and fake (expletive deleted) players get a real player hating ‘em.

The Twenty-Five Dumbest Survivor Contestants Ever

To show you just how shocked that Ozzy and Coach were the ones brought back for this season of Survivor, after the show announced they were bringing back Redemption Island I was so convinced that the show would bring back Matt from last season (and probably Andrea with him as the two people that returned from Redemption Island) that I started working on a list of the Dumbest Survivor Contestants Ever because Matt trying to rejoin the tribe who already booted him was one of the dumbest moves ever. Instead of going with obvious selections, apparently Jeff Probst randomly pulled two names out of his hat to come up with Ozzy and Coach. Luckily neither of them are the smartest tools on the beach so here are a list of the Dumbest Survivor Contestants Ever:



1. Erik Reichenbach (Fans vs. Favorites) - Giving up immunity his Immunity Necklace to Natalie; promptly gets voted out (please note Erik is like the Johnny Vander Meer of Survivor, this is a record that will never be broken. To do so, one would have to get voted out with an Immunity Idol in their pocket, go to Redemption Island, come back into the game and proceed to give someone the Immunity Necklace and promptly get voted out to move Erik from number one on this list).

2. Tyson Apostol (Heroes vs. Villains) - Flipping votes for absolutely no reason and prompltly getting voted out because of switching votes.

3. James Clement (China) - Getting voted out with two immunity Idols in his pocket.

4. JT Thomas (Heroes vs. Villains) – It is hard to put some who has won on this list, but dude gave his Immunity Idol to Russell which was then used to vote him out.

5. Matt Elod (Redemption Island) – Going back to his former Ometepe after returning from Redemption Islandonly to promptly getting sent right back there by them.

6. Jason Siska (Fans vs. Favorites) - Thinking a piece of driftwood was an Immunity Idol, convincing that Eliza that she should play the driftwood, then getting voted out with a real Idol in his pocket.

7. Lex Van den Burghe (All-Stars) - Saving Amber because Boston Rob asked him to, then gets voted out by Rob because he lost the numbers by keeping Amber.

8. Colbie Donaldson (The Australian Outback) – Not choosing the easy win over Keith, instead loses to Tina in the Final Tribal Council.

9. Ometepe Tribe (Redemption Island) - Letting Boston Rob win by putting up no effort, instead playing for second place.

10. Russell Hantz (Heroes vs. Villains) - Playing a type a game that guarantees he would never win enough votes at the Final Tribal Council.

11. Yau Man / Andria "Dreamz" Herd (Fiji) Yau Man stupidly gave Dreamz a truck if he promised to give him the Immunity Necklace if he won it. Dreamz reneged and was rewarded with zero votes at the Final Tribal Council.

12. Ian Rosenberger (Palau) - Quit the final three immunity challenge (after parcicipating for twelve hours) then asked to be voted out.

13. Jonathan Penner (Race Wars) – Mutinying, then getting voted out by his new tribe.

14. Saboga Tribe (All-Stars) - Building their shelter by digging a hole in the sand.


15. Amanda Kimmel (Heroes vs. Villains) - Giving Danielle the Hidden Immunity Idol clue back (not to mention her poor performance in her two final Tribal Councils).

16. Zapatera Tribe (Redemption Island) - Throwing a challenge to get rid of Russell, then going on to lose three of the next four challenges going into a merge where they were outnumbered.

17. Randy Bailey (Ghana) / Jamie Dugan (China) - Playing fake Hidden Immunity Idols.

18. Burton Roberts (Pearl Islands) - Throwing a challenge then promptly gets voted off.

19. Marty Piombo (Nicaragua) - Giving Sash his Hidden Immunity Idol.

20. Sean Kenniff (Borneo) – Using an Alphabetical voting system which his competitors used against him.

21. Clay Jordan (Thailand) - Berating jury members at his Final Tribal Council, a vote he could have won.

22. Brendan Synnott (Tocantins) - Announcing he has an immunity idol, does not play it, gets voted out.

23. Jolanda Jones (Palau) - Picking the only tribe to never win an Immunity Challenge and being first voted out by her tribe.

24. Rafe Judkins (Guatemala) - Releasing Danni from their promise of taking each other to the Final Tribal Council, gets voted out by her.

25. Lillian Morris (Pearl Island) – Choosing to take Sandra to the Final Tribal Council over the despicable Johnny Fairplay.

Survivor: South Pacific premieres tonight at 8:00 on CBS with an expanded ninety minute episode. As for a preseason pick, I’ll go with Sophia Clarke but will be rooting for Rick Nelson, father of the twins in Nelson, because he has gown the most awesome mustache since coming back to life.

You Might Find it Cheap but You’re Never Gonna Find it Free

Blitzen Trapper were one of the bands that made my recent Best of Neo-Folk sampler and like most of the bands on the list, calling them just plain folk is going a disservice to them because they do more than just down with an acoustic guitar and churn out mellow tunes. The group’s latest album American Goldwing is their most eclectic to date with early eighties Tom Petty rock (album opener Might Find it Cheap), fuzzed out sixties garage band (Your Crying Eyes), seventies freak-out rock (Street Fighting Sun), alt-country from the late nineties (the title track), and possibly the greatest song The Band never recorded (Fletcher).

But the standout tracks are when the band slows things down and brings out that folksier sound. The mellowest tracks are Taking it Easy Too Long and album closer Stranger in a Strange Land, both of which are storytelling at its best. While Love the Way You Walk Away is the band at its friskiest and is song that just begs to play the next time you are out driving though your local country roads, preferably at night. Astronaut is a sweet ballad that turns into a country tune halfway through before returning back to how it started.

Song to Download – Love The Way You Walk Away

American Goldwing gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television - 9/12/11

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.

Michael Jackson – Das Racist



Maybe because the Das Racist track is pretty weak, their video tribute to Michael Jackson was not as entertaining as it should be, at least not the first last supper for dictators scenes. It does get better at the end because how can you not enjoy any morphing sequence and I swear I saw Alan Tudyk in there somewhere.


Sparks Fly - Taylor Swift



Here is a drinking game for all you degenerates out there: take a shot whenever Taylor Swift whips her hair; double if it’s in slow motion.


Marvin & Chardonnay - Big Sean featuring Kanye West & Roscoe Dash



Remember back in the 90’s all you need was Hype Williams to direct your video to break you? Ah the good old days. Although this Big Sean video stylistically looks a little too much like Kanye’s Golddigger video, I’m pretty sure I saw one of the same chicks from that video too.


Holy Holy – Wye Oak



Here is a fun video from Wye Oak for an amusement park theme. To think it has been over fifteen years since Mariah Carey flawlessly lip-syced on a rollercoaster in the Fantasy video (as if learning Pearl Jam’s Ten recently turned twenty years old last month didn’t make me feel old enough already).

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 9/10/11

Quote of the Week: This ain’t a job. It ain’t an occupation. It's a calling. (Tommy, Rescue Me)

Song of the Week: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – Iron Butterfly (as played on the bagpipes, Rescue Me)

Big News of the Week: GOP Debate: I really do not pay too much to debates until about a month before people actually start voting, but I usually still tune in to the early ones. But this year’s Republican debates have been excruciationing to sit through I finally figured out why: where is Jimmy McMillan? I thought he was going to run as a Republican nominee for the president this election cyce yet he has yet to eb invited to any of the debates. Sure I do not actually pay it, but is the rent still not too damn high?


The Lying Game: Wow, the I accidently tipped the guy a fifty instead of a five and no do not have to pay the bill was the greatest move ever. And if it was not clear enough that the dude was poor, hustling at golf pretty much sealed it. But what made me laugh the most was when the dance instructor stopped things because of statutory reasons. It was almost a direct shot at the other show created by the same writer, Pretty Little Liars, with it’s icky teacher / student relationship. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Lying Game on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: And fears I had about the show continuing its slump from last season were quickly laid to rest because it was back to its season two glory right from the start. It was nice to see the dude from Terriers take up shop in Charming, adding a nice wrinkle to the town, although it took me a while to recognize without the beard. Also taking a while to place was the new assistant U.S. attorney. I recognized him right away, but could not remember what he played. The second scene I remembered he was a priest, then the third time he appeared I finally remembered he was on Deadwood (yet another actor from that show that made its way to Charming). You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Also check out my season (series) review of Rescue Me.

Free Download of the Week: Little Lie – Lindi Ortega (Spinner)

Deal of the Week: Save up to 57% on Blu-Ray Favorites & More (Inception, The Dark Knight, 300)

New Album Release of the Week: Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton Play The Blues

New DVD Release of the Week: Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) [Blu-ray]

Video of the Week: Henry Kissinger arguably had more to do with shaping the post-war policy of the United States than anyone else and Monday he sits down with the National Geographic Channel at 8:00 to talk about it. The two hour special comes from twenty-five hours of interviews and below is a sneak peak:

Kissinger


Next Week Pick of the Week: Parenthood, Tuesday at 10:00 on NBC: With Friday Night Lights ending its run this summer, Parenthood inherits the title of best show on network television (not surprisingly they share producers). If my memory serves me correctly, Adam quite his job just after knocking up his wife even though it was his sister Julia that was trying to get pregnant. Both Crosby and Haddie had sex with FNL alum to disastrous consequences. While Amber decided college was not for her much to the distain of Sarah. While Drew continues to stay in the background.


With 9/11 tomorrow, if you already inundated with retrospectives, here is another one to check out: Beyond 9/11: Portraits of Resilience which will debut tomorrow at 8:46 A.M., ten years to the minute the first airplaine hit the World Trade Center on HBO in association with Time magazine. Check out a trailer below:

Around the Tubes - 9/9/11

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 True Blood, Psych, Fix This Kitchen, The Hour, From the Sky Down, The Car Show, Gigolos, Dean Martin, Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen, Screen Actors Guild, TV Guide, and Jillian Michaels.

- True Blood closes out its fourth season this Sunday at 9:00 on HBO. Here is a sneak peak:

Season 4 Finale: Death Is Coming

- Fans of USA’s Psych will want to head over to psych.usanetwork.com by September 21 to sign up for a chance to win a free pair of tickets to Fan Appreciation Day on October 6 in New York City. Stars and creator of the show will screen the sixth season premiere and participate in a Q&A for 500 fans. Not feeling lucky, the site will also stream live coverage.

- If you are like me and stare at your kitchen every night wishing it would magically create itself more counter space, here is a show for you: Fix This Kitchen whose new season premieres tomorrow at 9:30 AM on A&E. Check out a promo below (and if anyone at A&E is reading this, I my kitchen, which is stuck in the seventies, available to feature on the show).



- In this month’s New Yorker, Nancy Franklin reviews the BBC series The Hour.

- Last night From the Sky Down premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and for those that were not in Canada can see the documentary stateside when it hits Showtime Saturday October 29 at 8:00. The documentary sees members of U2 discuss the making of Achtung Baby which turns twenty this year (wow, really, that makes me feel old) and is directed by Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim. Check out a trailer below:



- Next week on The Car Show (Wednesday at 10:00 on Speed), Adam Carolla will welcome special guest Bruce Jenner.

- Fans of Showtime’s Gigolos note that the new season has a premiere date: October 20 at 11:00. For those that need to catch up, the season one replay began last night and will continue to air Thursdays at 11:00.

- Autumn officially starts in two weeks so it is time to get ready for new Christmas albums to hit store shelves and starting things off is Dean Martin’s My Kind of Christmas
which you can pick up starting September 20. The album will feature a duet with Scarlett Johansson on I’ll Be Home for Christmas along with thirteen other holiday songs.

- You have a week and a half to prepare yourself for the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen featuring roaster Mike Tyson. Yes Charlie Sheen and Mike Tyson will be in the same room at the same time. You have been warned.

The Roast of Charlie Sheen	Mon, Sept 19 10/9c
Driving the Roast Express
www.comedycentral.com
Comedy Central Funny TV Shows Roast of Charlie Sheen

- TNT has just announced that Mary Tyler Moore will be this year’s recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award which will be handed out at the 18th annual award show January 29 to air on the channel.

- TVGuide.com has released something called the Social Power Ranking where users can easily find where they can discuss a particular show or episode, right from the TVGuide.com homepage.

- Jillian Michaels will be October’s covergirl for Redbook which is hitting stores next week. Inside she talks about adopting a baby from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and leaving The Biggest Loser.



- In this week’s political press release of the week, why let the five nut jobs in Iowa determine election results with their silly straw poll? Now anyone in America can participate in the Comic Book’ First Straw Poll. Pre-Order your favorite candidate’s comic before September 29 to have your voice heard.

You Need Two Things to Survive: Sex and Fire, One's no Good without the Other

For almost two seasons it was clear someone was not going to make it to the series finale of Rescue Me. It has been a long time since anyone lst their life in the line of duty, Damien came the closest being relegated to a vegetative state. If someone were to go Tommy would be the obvious choice because creator Denis Leary seems like the guy who would like to watch his own funeral as a fallen hero. Lou’s health made him another prime candidate as well as Chief Finberg who had some mental health problems. Black Shawn just got married and being happy never tends to last on shows like this. But it never crossed my mind the whole crew would go out in a blaze of glory, but there was Lou eulogizing five caskets in a church. Oh, wait, that was just a dream sequence. Nevermind.

That pretty much sums up the last couple seasons of Rescue Me: big build up with little payoff. Off the top of my head I cannot think a show the utilized the “Just Kidding, it’s Just a Dream Sequence” plot more than this show. Tommy fantasizing about taking a drink accounted for about half of them. And that does not even take into account the time he was drinking and talked to all the dead people in his life (or that one season where he saw Jesus and Mary Magdalene) or the times he would take a drink, talk to the dead, and then spit the liquor out. Apparently he has finally learned to chat up the dead with drinking as shown in the final scene.

After Tommy wakes up at the beginning of the finale, we learn that Lou was the only one that did not make it out the building alive and the remaining guys were left to memorialize the fallen lieutenant. After another rocky season, the death brought the show back to its roots focusing on the guys in the firehouse ranging from heartwarming to hilarious, Rescue Me really did locker room talk better than any show ever on television. Sure the scene where Tommy delivering his kid by himself in under a minute was completely absurd. And how can Tommy reject baby names for being to gay when Shea Gavin sounds like the gayest French restaurant ever? But anyway.

As strong as the series finale was, it does not hide the fact that Rescue Me should have ended about two seasons ago when the show shifted from being about the firefighters to a show about the Tommy, Shelia, and Janet love triangle. At that point the show seemed like it was just feeding Leary’s ego where he got to simulate sex with every hot guest star that walked on the set then the tribute to the profession it started out as. Then we started getting more painfully long scenes that left you looking at the clock seeing if it was actually lasting as long as it felt. Even though it could have ended a couple years ago and everyone would have been happier for it, the final shot was a fitting ending for a show born out of 9/11 just days before its tenth year anniversary.

Rescue Me 7.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Rescue Me: The Series gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television - 9/7/11

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.

The Scientist – Willie Nelson



Just in case you did not think Willie Nelson covering Coldplay was random enough, here come the music video presented by Chipotle, that fast food restaurant you are familiar with but never actually visited, about, um, I have no idea. Are we not supposed to eat pork or something?


A Long Time - Mayer Hawthorne



The latest from Mayer Hawthorne is a good enough song, but the rediscovered VHS tap has been done before and better by multiple artists (see Snoop Dogg). Okay seeing some dude doing the Thriller dance is still entertaining and the random country jingle. I cannot believe Don Draper okayed that to air.


Love the Way You Walk Away – Blitzen Trapper



You may remember Blitzen Trapper from my Best of Neo-Folk and the boys have a new album coming out soon and here is their first single. Even though I have a bunch of their songs on my iPod, I new the band consisted of lead singer Josh Groban, keyboardist Napoleon Dynamite, and the dude from The Civil Wars on bass.


Hot Buns – Foo Fighters



Um, so the Foo Fighters created this video to promote their upcoming tour. Just do not ask me why they decided to do so by dressing up by Willie Nelson, Rob Zombie, and ZZ Top. For those braver than me, there is an uncensored version.

The Five Most (and Least) Anticipated Questions for 2011 Fall Television

How fitting that the day after Labor Day the fall television season unofficially starts off with the return of Sons of Anarchy. So I thought I would look at the five biggest questions going into Fall.


1. Will Beavis and Butt-Head Still Be as Funny? Somebody recently ask me this and my simple question was no not because it would be stale but simply because we were fifteen years older than when it first came on. But from the promo where they watch Jersey Shore, there will still be plenty to laugh at, at least nostalgically.

2. Can The Walking Dead Match its Behind the Scenes Drama on Scene? I was not enamored with the first season as some were (it at limes moved as slow as some of the zombies on the show), but I still enjoyed it. Yet since the show ended its six episode run the show has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Most concerning was AMC forcing show runner Frank Darabont, the guy who brought the comic book to the small screen and wrote and directed the Pilot and replaced him with a dude whose last two lines on his resume are Hawthorne and Crash.

3. Can Sons of Anarchy Bounce Back? Let’s be honest, the Irish storyline was painfully bad. It was a two-three episode arc that they stretched into a full season. Now with Ireland in the rearview mirror, it looks like the show is going back to the Jax vs. Clay storyline that made the first two seasons so compelling, so hopefully so if the fourth season.

4. Should I Be Excited for Something “From the Writers of Lost”? Once Upon a Time toped my list of Most Anticipated Shows of Fall 2011 but I do have big reservations about the pedigree. Hopefully the creators of the show look at how their bosses flubbed Lost and learn from their mistakes, because if done right Once Upon a Time can be a grand television show.

5. Can The Sing-Off Transition into a Weekly Contest? The Sing-Off was a nice winter diversion when there was nothing else on in the two weeks leading into Christmas but now it is going head to head with the befuddling reality ratings king, Dancing with the Has Beens and Nobodies. The show was lucky to lose its one link and made a huge upgrade by bringing in Sara Bareilles. But I have not liked the song selections from the promos. Seriously, can we please put a moratorium on people singing Rolling in the Deep who are not named Adele?


Since you cannot have light without dark, here are the least anticipated questions of fall:

1. Does Kate Beckett Survive? (Spoiler Alert for Stupid People!!!) Yes.

2. Ozzie or Coach? First off I hated bringing back Boston Rob and Russell and hoped Survivor would never do that again, or the stupid Redemption Island twist. Of course they brought back both. After it was announced that it was going to happen, I initially thought bringing back Matt and Andrea, the two people who were brought back from Redemption Island, would be a no brainer. (I secretly hoped they would go Erik and Matt as a battle between the dumbest Survivors ever). But then they revealed the two returning contestants would be… Ozzie and Coach? What?!? Was there anyone sitting at home thing, “you know who I want to see more of: Ozzie”? Survivor has come off of three of its four worst seasons in a row, I fear this season will make it four of the worst five.

3. Will X-Factor Outsuckshine American Karaoke? Let me get this straight, the show is being judged by a Pussycat Doll (on her fifth reality show), someone who has not had a hit in two decades, and the biggest douchebag. The real question is why would anyone watch this?

4. How Will Morgan Use the Intercet? Hopefully it kills him in the first episode back. If not the show may go out with a whimper not a bang.

5. Who Is the Titular Character on How I Met Your Mother? If I had made this list for the last five years, this question would have made it ever time. I cannot even remember the last time I cared who the Mother is.


And here is what I will be watching this fall and when they return. Mark your calendars.

Mondays
8:00 – The Sing-Off (NBC) 9/19
8:00 – How I Met You Mother (CBS) 9/19
8:00 – The Lying Game (ABC Family) airing now; note the new starting time starting next week
8:30 – 2 Broke Girls 9/19 (premieres at 9:30 before moving to its regular timeslot)
10:00 – The Playboy Club (NBC) 9/19
10:00 – Castle (ABC) 9/19

Tuesdays
10:00 – Parenthood (NBC) 9/13
10:00 – Sons of Anarchy (FX) Tonight
10:00 – Covert Affairs (USA) 11/1

Wednesdays
8:00 – Survivor: South Pacific (CBS) 9/14
8:30 – Free Agents (NBC) 9/14 (premieres at 10:30 before moving to its regular timeslot)
9:00 – Modern Family (ABC) 9/21
10:00 - Revenge (ABC) 9/21

Thursdays
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 9/22
8:00 – Community (NBC) 9/22
10:00 – Beavis and Butt-Head (MTV) 10/27

Fridays
Chuck (NBC) 10/21
Grimm (NBC) 10/21

Sundays
8:00 - Once Upon a Time (ABC) 10/23
9:00 – The Walking Dead (AMC) 10/16
10:00 – Pan AM (ABC) 9/25
10:00 – Homeland (Showtime) 10/2
10:00 - Hell on Wheels (AMC) 11/6
TBA - Leverage (TNT) 11/27