Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Scrubs News

From TVGUIDE.com "The cast actually heads back to work tomorrow to do some reshoots on one of NBC's final five pre-strike episodes. After that's completed, they'll begin work on the first of 18 episodes to unofficially air on ABC next season. I'm also hearing that producers are unofficially adding three new interns to the cast in a recurring capacity. Sources confirm that my agent is all over that shiz."

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

HIMYM At It's Best

Funny thing is, not only did Britney Spears not ruin How I Met Your Mother, it was actually one of the best episodes of the season. They total under utilized Ms. Spears which was just enough for me. Meanwhile, Sarah Chalke(Scrubs)was great as Ted's doctor/love interest. I have read that she could only do one episode, and there rumors that Scrubs might come back AGAIN next year (more on that later), so I doubt that she will end up being Ted's wife...but none-the-less, it was a great outing and very clever. You can start watching this show anytime now, you won't miss anything and its pretty funny. Go for it.

The Scrubs story goes like this: ABC is interested in Scrubs for one year, so NBC which hates Scrubs and has done everything in its power to destroy the show, might have to pick it up for one more year just so ABC won't. Cute. NBC has treated this show like Sam Lufti treated Britney Spears, yet this relationship can't end with a restraining order. We shall see how it plays out...either way the viewer is the winner.

We watched Old Christine too last night and the whole Matthew-Christine-Barb triangle was both funny and a little gross, but Wanda Sykes can do no wrong in a supporting role. If you put me on the spot and said which sitcom cast has the funniest and most talented ensemble players behind a major star...I would first say the Office, then 30 Rock (natch) then of course comes Christine -- the cast is beyond tremendous.

So far, the Badgers have made up about .00001% of all Sweet 16 coverage on TV and the internet. I like to fly below the radar like everyone else, but throw Bo Ryan a frickin recruiting bone and give the man and his program some glorified TV time.

NBC is announcing its fall schedule tomorrow instead of the usual May Up-Fronts. This is part of their new commitment to 52 weeks of programming which has no real fall season. Some say its daring, some say its stupid, some say who cares - they are in last place and are the worst run network on TV hands-down. Given that theory, I will wait to see what CBS and ABC do, because as of now, they set the trends for new programming. FOX has already put its stake in the winter with Idol and 24 forgoing Fall for baseball and concept shows. I personally like new Fall premieres, its kind of exciting. So let NBC try to steer away from it, until they figure out how to better position FNL, Scrubs, The Office and 30 Rock, they are destined to live in the basement.

Monday, March 24, 2008

All Quiet on the Midwestern Front

College basketball has dominated my world since Thursday afternoon. I spent most of Thursday day wishing I was watching hoops and spent Thursday night watching the Badgers take care of Cal St-Fullerton. The night ended on a buzz-kill as the final game, UCLA vs. Mississippi Sr. High School, was already a major blowout.

Friday mid-day was much more exciting as we got to see W. Kentucky hit the desperation three to win in overtime, and Davidson beat Gonzaga....Little did we know that Wisco and Davidson were on a crash-course to destiny in Detroit.

Saturday was spent at Joe Sensor's in Plymouth watching the Badgers with my old man...more than 10 times I noticed his attention was off the Badger game and focused on a big-screen featuring a loop of old hockey and soccer fights. Nice.

Wisco wins and Saturday night was spent watching more games at Jakes in Eden Prairie and then at the lovely Mystic Lake Casino. In my defense, Lauren had a friend in town with her two kids, so I was on WEEKEND HALL PASS. It.was.awesome.

After another day of game watching at home, which featured three 2 point games all ending within 10 minutes of each other at about 4 PM (kudos to CBS for getting us around the nation quickly)...we finally settled in to 'Beauty and the Geek' last night. This time it is Beauties vs. the Geeks. I am not sold on this concept yet, and will give it another couple of weeks before I bag it. The talent show went to the Geeks - shocker.

Tonight we have HIMYM with Brittney Spears, so here is to hoping it was a good casting decision and the show works. I want them to get picked up for next year, but not at this cost.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

TOUNREY TIME!!!

Even Lost takes a backseat tonight. Badgers on at 830 central.
I didn't get to watch much today (read: none) because of this pesky job I can't shake, but tonight and tomorrow and this weekend is all about hoops.

Now here is what you need to know...BREAKING NEWS

CBSsportsline.com NCAA March Madness On-Demand is AMAZING. Log-on, pick your game, and you know..WATCH IT LIVE! Even if you go full screen and step back, it might as well be TV. The stream is great, the site is working, and the kinks are minimal. I am so proud of the progress our country is making in technological advances regarding streaming live college basketball to my desk.
Also this, there is a 'boss button' that throws up a spreadsheet just in case...when you click on the spreadsheet, the game returns. I LOVE AMERICA.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Naked Fat Borat Guy Gets a Sitcom...

and with Bernie Mac? An SNL Skit? They should be so lucky...
TVGuide.com reports,
"In 'Starting Under', Mac will play a man who moves in with his son and then starts working for him at a marketing firm, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Ken Davitian (Borat's companion) will play Ken, who is described as "gregarious," "stout" and possibly Polish."
I would also describe him as healthy, handsome, and hard to look at when wrestling naked.

SNL STILL BLOWS
My personal grades from this past weekend...
Spitzer opener was a D. Do you know how funny it could have been had they focused on Kristen Wiig as his wife, and what she must have been thinking up there behind that grin? Wasted air time for a second-rate skit about becoming a dirty defense attorney.

Jonah Hill is probably not all that talented, so overall he was fine. I get why the Benihana skit was funny, but again - strong start, sloppy and boring finish.

Digital Short gets an A for creativity and shock value.
Weekend Update gets an A for its first biting 'wall-to-wall' outing of the year. And guess what, it worked because they didn't bring in any fake characters - only Tracy Morgan who delivered the line of the year back at Tina Fey and her support of Clinton...
"If bitch is the new black, then black is the new president, bitch" A++

Mariah Carey should look into longer shorts.

The McGruber stuff is so bad it almost made me change the channel 3 minutes in. SO BAD.

In other news...
HIMYM is back tonight and color me excited. There will also be a new 'Big Bang Theory' which I will watch out of desperation, and a new Christine which was most improved last week.
Tomorrow I will finally get back into 'Beauty and the Geek'...yeah.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

LOST BREAKDOWN: Week 7

A Tale of Two Losts...

I have no problem admitting that I don't care much for Sun and Jin - their backstory or their current story. But I am now a little intrigued about their future story.

Over the past five years the DVR has inexplicably FF'd through many Sun and Jin moments. I am no xenophobe, and I don't even mind subtitles, and I love Daniel Dae Kim who kicked some awesome ass on 'Angel' back in the day. I just don't like Sun and Jin. Remember how much everyone hated the Jack backstory about the tattoo that was a total waste of time? Yeah, thats how I get when the flashback/forward crescendo kicks in and the next thing I see is Sun or Jin.

Anywho, on with the show.

Let's take this one piece at a time:

1. Sun and Jin (presumably) are the last two members of the Oceanic 6.
[WAIT...this is a late edit here...It just dawned on my about 10 hours later than Sun had a flashforward and Jin had a flashback. Oh God. What the hell was that?]
2. Because Sun and Jin got off the island, the magnetic 'Desmond-Farrady theory' or magnetism takes on a whole new meaning now...right? See previous post if I lost you on this one....[EDIT: Well, at least Sun got off...theory lives on.]
3. Jin is dead, or at least to Sun who seems pretty convinced of it. So he is either dead for real, or dead because he is still on the island or died on the island. Either way, Sun is very sad for real.
4. Well I was wrong, the big surprise was that Michael was on the boat. I was about as surprised as I was this morning to learn that Spitzer's 22-year-old whore had a MySpace page. Wow, breaking news.
I am kind of annoyed its Michael only because they built it up so much, and we kind of knew all along. Anyway -- now that we know, I look forward to finding out his new backstory and where the hell old man Walt is. [EDIT: Do you think Michael will be the sixth survivor of the crash? It very well could be him...but then what about Walt? Just a thought]
5. We are on day 3 of the freighter and rescue team on the island -- still no one really asks any questions...and then when they do...no one EVER FOLLOWS UP.
6. Good information on Charles Widmore having the fake black box and supposedly Ben being behind the staging on a fake crash with 300+ dead people. We have a very compelling conspiracy on our hands, and I for one AM LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT (as long as it doesn't involve Sun and Jin's backstory).
8. HURLEY IN A SUIT!

What else did I miss, if you have something interesting, post a comment.

Quick Hits

1. Excited for 'Lost' tonight. We should find out the remaining Oceanic 6 tonight. I assume its Sun and Jin, but that's just me. They were both on the boat with Sayid and nowhere near the beach or hatch when it exploded at the end of season 2.
So if you subscribe to the 'Desmond-Farrady Theory' that anyone exposed to magnetic radiation (or whatever) can't really leave the island because their pasts and presents collide and then they die, then tonight's episode might seal it.
Remember --
Jack, Kate, and Hurley -- other side of the island as Ben's prisoner when the hatch blew. Sayid on boat looking for them with Sun and Jin. Everyone else from the crash was in the hatch or exposed on the beach. Of course we must then wonder why Aaron could go -- but whatever, its a good theory for now.

2. The new Lewis Black show on Comedy Central was terrible last night. I love Lewis Black, and for that matter think Paul Tompkins and Greg Geraldo are pretty funny. This show however was not, and the laughter seemed very, very canned and was almost off-putting. Why don't you just let them sit around, talk, and be funny. This putting Oprah vs. the Church on trial bit was dumb. This show stunk.

3. Rumors are swirling around Cyberspace that 90210 is coming back as a new spinoff. No word on casting or anything else, only that the CW wants to do it. Do you think a bunch of new kids will attend West Beverly and spend a lot of quality time with their favorite teachers - Mr. Brandon Walsh and his lovely wife guidance counseler Kelly Taylor-Walsh? See, I just wrote the pilot -- sold. Start filming. And this time, when you are casting the Steve Sanders role, look for someone who isn't already 35 with a receding hairline.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

HIMYM News

Another post with some interesting news:

'How I Met Your Mother' is back next week, and it still has not been renewed for next season which is beyond silly. The show does well, has a very nice following, and helps to keep CBS's audience under the median age of 65.

So here is the scoop. Alicia Silverstone was cast in a multi-arc to play Ted's dentist -- the rumors started flying that she would become the future Mrs. Ted Mosbey. THEN, the producers cast Britney Spears (brutal ratings stunt) to play the hygenist. Well...Silverstone dropped out and was replaced by Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) who is only available for one episode -- so the whole dentist is Ted's wife thing is now out the door. So pretty much a Spears stunt-cast has potentially thrown off the whole trajectory of the show. Interesting at best.

Tuesday Night Smackdown

Having nothing to watch on TV is nothing new -- this dry spell is incredible considering its mid-March already. I am finally feeling the strike. The only new shows I am getting right now is 'Old Christine' which is finally kind of funny again after a few bad weeks, 'Lost' which doesn't come fast enough, and....well...that is pretty much it. I wanted to get into 'The Wire', but then I dropped HBO because it sucks so much and was draining my Comcast bill.
I was going to maybe try 'Canterbury's Law' but the reviews were awful. I was going to try 'New Amsterdam' but something about it was less than appealing.
I was all excited for the return of 'Beauty and the Geek' tonight, but then I remembered (once it was over) that when the DVR died last month, so died the series recording of Geek. So episode 1 is a lost cause. Oh well.
Today I choose to blog about two things - Comcast and a new website called Fancast.com

COMCAST
My last bill was over $200, and porn-free at that. I gave them a little phone call to see what's up and why the bill keeps growing. I spoke with Natasha and she was super understanding and extremely helpful. Basically she was able to get me down to $135/month with a couple of bundling promotions and the dropping of HBO and the stupid sports tier I never watched. Then she dropped a bomb on me -- it would be cheaper to have a third DVR then it was to just have a plain-old HD box based on the way they bill. What fu**ers. Seriously. When I set up this whole deal it would have been nice for someone to point out that when you have more than one DVR, then having all DVRs is cheaper than having regular boxes. Anywho -- I opted for the third DVR box and then went to Comcast to swap out the boxes on Saturday -- I saved $30 by not having them bring it over and installing it. BREAKING NEWS: It is Tuesday night and I still cannot get it to work for some reason. I would pay $50 at this point to just have it done. Lesson learned, if you want something done, don't do it yourself. Also this, if Big Ten Network is not on Comcast by August, I am switching to DirecTV - I am spending way too much on beer and food at Sensors and Buffalo Wild Wings just to sit and watch the Badgers.

FANCAST.COM
As cousin.realtor.tom says, "www.fancast.com, you'll thank me later" -- plenty of free TV and movies available for free, and legally, online.

Friday, March 7, 2008

LOST BREAKDOWN: Week 6

They really fooled me at the start, I thought Juliet had made it off the island until Tom showed up. Kudos to you 'Lost' and your ever changing flashbacks, flashforwards, and time-travel flashbackforwardthingees.

I pretty much enjoyed everything with Ben and Locke - those two are fabulous together. We got a lot of answers tonight and we got some good answers and backstory to the Tailies and Goodwin. Michael Emerson is fantastic and his delivery is flawless.
But I am not so sure about the show going in the direction of Ben's infatuation with Juliet drives his motives. Are we to believe everything he's been doing is out of love for a woman who is not interested in him? Come on. It seems like Ben would be above that. But again, its 'Lost' so you can't look at one episode and make a judgment, you need to see the whole picture.

I am calling this episode a 'mcguffin episode' -- this is the same in '24' when Bauer can't fight every week, sometimes you just need to advance the plot a little in order to get things moving again. And we had some plot devices uncovered this week:

-The Freighter folk aren't really 'bad', like 'killer bad'. But they do think Ben is that way (and that evil) and knew of the gas on the island. How? Maybe Ben's inside man who was captured?

-As stated before, Ben has a deep thing for Juliet which does explain his motives and actions sometimes and might give us a glimpse of why Jack is so distraught in the future? Maybe Juliet sacrificed for Jack by becoming Ben's love slave? Its possible if this show was on Cinemax.

-Chuck Widmore is behind the freighter and is looking for the island. Desmond related? Blackrock related? I assume the latter is the the reason, he probably has no idea his daughter is looking for the island as well...but wait, now I remember that Nessa from Las Vegas was holding the picture of Penny and Des...so I take that back. Here is what we do know -- Widmore bought the painting of the Blackrock and the ships diary at auction -- owned previously by the Hanso family (explains how Dharma found the island). That could have begun his fascination, years before Desmond crashed there. Everything on this show is one big coincidence that most likely will just be dismissed as 'thats life'.
So we got some answers here and now will learn more about what Widmore wants with the island and what his problem is with Ben Linus. It might be Dharma payback, if Widmore was an investor. Good times.

-Ben is going to tell Locke who his man on the boat is. I assume its not Michael. Too Easy. Because you know what, that is too obvious and Locke would not need to sit down for that one. So personally, I cannot wait for the shocker next week. It won't be Michael, I promise you that. Eko? Boone? Hmm...they were buried. I give up guessing, I am just excited to be surprised.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

What Do 5 Year Olds Watch?

I promise this won't be one of those cute 'look, my kid pooped in the potty and then said the cutest thing' posts. I'm not that blogger. What I will write about is my observation regarding changing television habits of a growing male child.
Now granted, this is specific only to the young man living under my roof and claimed on my tax return, I would never project this behavior across an entire generation. Like I said, just some localized contextual inquiry.

Life started with Baby Einstein, evolved into Noggin, moved to the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, and has since evolved to Jetix (a.k.a Toon Disney, a.k.a TDIS on Comcast).

Seriously, one day he was fine to watch Dora, Diego, Max&Ruby and Maggie -- his favorite show for a long time was 'Higglytown Heroes'. It's all very cute and innocent. But all of a sudden like 8 weeks ago he demanded Super Hero programming. Maybe I introduced it a little so that I could secretly enjoy the show as well - since most viewing involved me as well (which of course I highly recommend to provide context and to fast forward the commercials). Quick aside on that one...now that Max found commercials, I have a Hanukkah and birthday list longer than the Ken Starr report. Is that a way outdated reference? Sorry, longer than the 9/11 Commission. Some of his wish-list items contain yummy breakfast cereals and Barbies for Tessa too. And since Mommy (and for a little while Daddy) studied and worked in the 'ad game', we encourage his new-found love for the creative 30 second spot. OK, not really. But since he now knows how to fast forward and even quickly back up if he overruns the show, this is no longer an issue.

Also this -- I am not saying he is watching 8 hours a day. No way. Not going to happen. He can start doing that when he graduates college like his proud father. For now, its pretty much one to wake up with (so parents can sleep for 23 more minutes) and one to go to bed too (since his motor runs at 100 MPH and something needs to bring him down to end the day). Don't judge me. Just kidding.

So where was I? Oh yeah, so here is what we...I mean Max...likes and recommends to the bloggesphere:

-Batman the Animated Series: Saturday mornings on KidsWB. Its very innocent and cute and Robin is like a 12 year old kid and the villians like Joker and Penguin are very funny and not too scary or threatening. Green Lantern, Hawk Man, and other heroes have showed up as well.

-Spiderman the Animated Series: Can't tell you much about it, it starts this Saturday morning ahead of Batman. But hopefully it will be just as innocent.

-The Batman: This show is on Jetix about 5 times per day and is way more adult. I have to vet these first. Seriously, one day Batman is fighting Joker from robbing a bank, the next day Robin is avenging his parents murder...you catch my point. I would say about 75% of these shows are more than acceptable and kind of fun.

-Superman the Animated Series: Also on Jetix about 5 times per day and also pretty harmless. Sometimes it crosses over with Batman which is even cooler and he has guest visits from the The Flash. In one episode, Bruce Wayne started dating Lois Lane and Max thought that was very funny. Either way, the only violence in this show is Superman being thrown around once in a while (except one episode where a policeman got zapped into oblivion and there was a Jewish funeral for him complete with the mourners kaddish which to me was more hilarious than depressing).

But I will say this, it is still very refreshing every once in a while when he still asks for 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' or 'Handy Manny' -- they grow up too fast. Would you like to hear a story about the darndest thing he said?

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Saturday Night Live Sucks

It sucks so bad.

You should read some of my recent SNL Sucks Rants....just click to the Op-Ed Homepage and boy will you find some rants, and not this old one about an Ellen Page episode from a year ago. It sucked back then and its even worse now (02/01/09)

I tune in or TIVO SNL every week hoping, just hoping, for a break-through performance. Now don't get me wrong, there is an occasional diamond in the ruff, and no one is happier to see them than this guy -- but overall, they just don't seem to get it. I never, ever thought I would miss Tina Fey this much.

Let's break down this weekend shall we?
-Opening skit is a re-run basically of last week's 'the media loves Obama'. Great, how creative....this of course leads into a guest appearance by Hilary Clinton pretending to be in on the joke when clearly she is crying inside. You have to have some very, very thick skin to watch Amy Poehler, acting as you, telling America that a vote for Hilary is a vote for a woman whose annoying/grating personality alone will wear down foreign leaders.
I am glad Hilary appeared - it means that SNL continues to stay culturally relevant - at least for now. Overall, the opening bit goes from an F to a C+ once Clinton shows up to open the show. It should be noted that an odd cameo from Vincent D'Nofrio during the opening bit was just plain odd and somewhat uncomfortable.

Ellen Page comes out and does her monologue and is interrupted by Andy Samberg as Diablo Cody. It was a hillarious impression. Too bad it was stolen almost directly from an internet video of a Diablo impersonator that has been circling for a few weeks now.

First sketch out of the break? 'The Dakota Fanning Show' Wha Wha Wha? What is this? Studio 60? Seriously - I guess the joke is that Dakota is really smart and wise beyond her years. Who gives a shit and who was in on the joke? 8 people in Hollywood? It was a disaster.

Next I believe was a Bob Smigel 'TV Funhouse' cartoon of Obama trying to rid himself of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. It wasn't too bad, Smigel is great.

The digital short was so odd and confusing that I stopped paying attention. There was a sketch about going to school to learn how to say funny office lingo, but again they blew it. They went safe and simple instead of throwing out hardcore 'buzzword bingo' which could have been clever, biting, and outstanding. Maybe there is a demographic of SNL viewers who think its a gas to see people say "I will take that file".

Weekend Update please save me.....no. Not this week. Nothing too good and Rudy Gulianni got off the only good line when he said what everyone has been thinking..."My campaign was like an SNL sketch. Starts strong and then has no ending"

Hopefully the writers were listening to what they wrote for him.

CELEBRITY APPRENTICE
We're still watching believe it or not. I think I will actually post a few words about this season when we are down to the final three.