Some other stuffs

I am very excited to see Paul Reubens on TV again. He is guesting on "30 Rock"(Thursday NBC 8:30) this Thursday.

Lately I have been very impressed with how the networks are actually trying to change with the times, you can now watch most shows in another format besides the regular broadcast(or on DVR). The networks have come to realize that letting viewers catch up on a missed episode allows the shows to keep viewers and higher ratings plus the networks actually make more money.

Many of the new shows this year have every episode available online(and many of those are free). This gives everyone the chance to can catch up if they missed the start of a show that they now think they may like. Several shows have the most recent episode available for free, but give no way to watch all episodes from the current season(which I think is a huge mistake). It is pretty much standard for the previous season of a show to come out on DVD shortly before the new season starts, this lets us catch up on a show easily if you are a full season or more behind. I understand that the networks still want to make some money when they let us watch their show online, but until the downloads are HD quality(and easily viewable on my TV instead of just the computer or iPod) the prices need to adjust.
I would like to see the price of tv episodes on iTunes to come down soon, right now it just doesn't make sense to pay $2 to watch an episode which is of a far inferior quality level to DVD and even regular broadcast. To buy the entire 5th season of "24" on iTunes would cost $43, instead, you could buy the DVD set for $40 and have a better quality copy with special features (and you get to keep it) or you could rent the entire season from Netflix in just a few weeks. The way iTunes is set up now is not efficient for catching up on past seasons of shows(and how many people are actually paying these prices?). Realistically, an entire season should cost around $15 and each episode should be $.50. With this pricing you could watch an entire season(including episodes from the current season) for a reasonable price, and it would almost be an automatic choice if you have a DVR failure or memory loss and miss an episode.

This whole little rant started because "Lost"(Wednesday ABC 9) returns next week. The first of 16 straight episodes to close out the 3rd season, airs on Feb 7th. If you missed the first 6 episodes of this season, you can watch them all, plus a hour long recap of the show from the first 2 seasons (it helps to keep all of the stories straight), for free here.

"Jericho"(Wednesday CBS 8) returns on the 21st, and I wanted to give you plenty of time to give this show a chance. This show could very easily be taking place in the same world as this season of "24", except in Jericho, they have no communication with anyone outside their town. The first 11 episodes are available for free here, and I think its the sort of show that if you can watch from the beginning, you can easily get hooked.

Aqua Teen is coming to the big screen, check out the trailer here.

What do you mean "Where have I been"?

Possible reasons for my absence:
#1 I have had a week long celebration for the BEARS return to the Super Bowl, and I am just now realizing that it isn't still Monday. And now I have to admit that it wasn't just a long strange dream.
#2 I have been abducted "Heroes"-style and had my memory wiped clean. (I have always thought that I have super powers, and now I have to check if I am on that damn list)
#3 I have been very busy and my computer is having some serious issues, sorry.

I have too many updates, but here are some important and timely ones before my computer dies again.

Tonight we have the second episode of the second half of Season 3 of "Battlestar Galactica"(Sunday Sci Fi 9). According to the website "Be sure to stick around until the very end of this Sunday's Episode, 'Taking a Break from All Your Worries,' to see a special bonus scene!"

Tomorrow "How I Met Your Mother"(Monday CBS 7) will be are reairing one of their best episodes "Ted Mosby, Architect".

On "Heroes"(Monday NBC 8) we get to meet Hiro's father, George Takei. Don't forget, NBC has made every episode of Heroes, "Studio 60"(Monday NBC 9) and "Friday Night Lights"(Wednesday NBC 7) available online, so you can easily catch up on all of these great new shows.

Super Bowl Bound

Bears!









This is going to be a great Super Bowl. I already kind of feel bad for Peyton, poor guy.

How Do You Choose?

Tonight we have possible classic episodes of "Smallville"(Thursday The CW 7PM) and "Scrubs"(Thursday NBC 8PM) that I need to highly recommend, in addition to the march to the end of "The O.C"(Thursday FOX 8PM).
Add to that new episodes of "Ugly Betty" and "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC, "CSI" on CBS, "Earl", "Office" and "30 Rock" on NBC and "Supernatural" on The CW and it will be one busy night(I can't believe this is the week I'm going to give "Betty" another chance).

Here is the description for Smallville, "The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg return to Smallville to help the Green Arrow take down LuthorCorp's secret lab." Watch the minute long trailer (includes some events from the last 2 episodes) or the preview for this episode. You will see the newly formed justice league(I'm very excited for this and I'm not even a comic book fan) take on Lex Luthor and try to save the world.

Then there is the Scrubs musical, after seeing a clip of Turk and JD singing "Guy Love" I can't wait to see the rest of the episode.

Choose wisely

Now movies too?

The Golden Globes really got me excited about starting my annual Oscar movie push.
There are always several potential nominated films that I haven't seen yet and January is usually a good time to catch some great movies I have missed.

When I first saw a trailer for "Dreamgirls", I immediately knew that I didn't want to see it.
Once the movie won best comedy/musical and both Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy won supporting actor awards I decided that I needed to check it out.
I originally thought this was going to be a Beyonce movie about how hard it was for her to be a great singer, but it really isn't even Beyonce's movie("Musician Beyonce" annoys the hell out of me, but she did a good job as "Actress Beyonce").
The movie takes place in the 60's and 70's and follows a girl singing group during their rise in the music business. The film, which was adapted from a 1981 musical, is loosely based on The Supremes and includes the start-up of a Motown-like record label. I am a big fan of Soul music(I usually only listen to Soul Street on XM radio in my car or at work. Shout out to BB and Leigh) so I was pleasantly surprised that this was the time and place that the movie took place. I was immediately drawn into the world they created, and I was constantly trying to figure out who each character was really supposed to be. The movie was very well done, although I thought it did try to make too many real world parallels which distracted from the story(Little Michael Jackson had no need to be in this movie other than to allude to Motown even further).
Jennifer Hudson really is the star of the movie(I'm not sure why she is up for supporting actress) and does some impressive channeling of Aretha. Eddie Murphy comes up with a James Brown/Marvin Gaye character that truly earned him best supporting actor, even if just for his performances alone.

Right now "Babel", "Bobby" and "Letters from Iwo Jima" are on the top of my list, I will let you know if there are any other movies that I feel the need to tell you about.

American Idol thoughts

The producers of "American Idol"(FOX) really know how to make an entertaining program.
Even with as much as I typically hate reality shows, this show has officially been given a pass for all to watch and enjoy(yes that means you are not supposed to be watching other reality shows anymore).

At this point the producers mostly reuse what has worked in previous seasons, but with each new season they find great ways to highlight the auditions with segments that give us instant favorites, mediocre singers that we can really root for and of course the people that completely embarrass themselves. Idol knows exactly what the public wants and we get plenty of people to laugh at, but we also get some stories that are interesting and sometimes, actually touching.
For me the best parts of the auditions are when people think they're good singers but actually suck and then they are completely shocked to find out they aren't going to Hollywood. Yes, it is okay to laugh at these people and you can go ahead and call them crazy(they just might be). Anyone who has ever seen the show knows that they are opening themselves to ridicule, and most of them say they are fans of the show. I'm sure sometimes its fake, although the show seems to do a good job of getting enough information from the "characters" to screen most of the fakes out. I especially love when the family outside gets mad because they think the judges made a big mistake, these are the people that should have told their children, siblings or friends that they aren't good. Unfortunately, most of the contestants have been convinced that they are good, when they should have been told long ago that singing isn't their thing or that they need lessons.

There is another 2 hour episode tonight at 7, this episode is from Seattle which is supposed to have some of the worst auditions ever, so I am very excited.

So far this season, Randy seems like he is going to be the brutal one, Simon has been pretty nice(seriously, how can you not like Simon, all he does is tell the truth), and(is this politically correct?)I think Paula may have a serious undiagnosed disease. Combine Paula's little incident on TV with all of the random crap that she does, and she really seems like she has some big issues.

My Monday

I know there are many people who aren't quite up to date yet with "24"(Monday Fox 8PM), so I won't talk about the episodes here, yet. What I will tell you is that you need to do everything in your power to get caught up because I can't hold this back forever.
The 4 hour season 6 premiere is on DVD and is available today. It should be available everywhere, but I know for sure that you can buy it at Best Buy for $9.99 and it is on Netflix. You have until next Tuesday to accomplish your mission.

Speaking of Netflix, they are about to roll out a Video On Demand program which is ingeniously available at no extra charge. The free version does come with a restricted number of hours per month(18 hours w/ 3-at-a-time) and there is no word on future pricing. Go to the "Your Account" page on Netflix and click the question "How can I watch movies instantly on my PC?" to mark your interest.

While I'm talking Netflix with you , they also have a great "Heroes"(Monday NBC 8PM-yes the same time as "24") season summary disc, the recap is basically a 20 minute commercial for the show but it is very well done and should immediately tell you if you could like the show. The recap gives you a good intro to the show as well as to all of the characters for this large ensemble cast, and catches you up to date on most major plot lines.
In addition to Heroes, NBC has also included the excellent pilot episode of "The Black Donnellys"(starting March 5th at 9PM). The show is created by Paul Haggis, has a "Once Upon A Time In America" feel and it looks like(and thinks) it's on HBO. The show takes place in Hell's Kitchen and centers around four Irish brothers as they try to stay out of trouble but end up involved in the organized crime world. The show starts with a neighborhood friend of the brothers, Joey "Ice Cream", being questioned in jail about the Donnellys. Joey is the narrator in the pilot and tries to explain what caused the Donnelly brothers to end up the way they did. Through his interrogation we get to see their story, or at least as much as Joey wants to tell the cops(so far he isn't holding us back from the good stuff). The Black Donnellys was originally scheduled for a fall premiere, but has already been given a 13 episode commitment.

The Golden Globes were what I should have remembered them to be, a foreign opinion on my beloved American TV. The Hollywood Foreign Press voters love their stars(Alec Baldwin is a star, Steve Carrell isn't yet), "foreigners who sound just like yanks"(Hugh Laurie is not deserving of best actor for 2 years, I'll give him one), camp(Desperate Housewives has had 1 great episode in 2 years) and they definitely love the newcomer. I think I'm going to give "Ugly Betty"(Thursday ABC 7PM) another shot, maybe I didn't really "get it" before, but I thought the show was pretty ugly after only 10 minutes. The Globes have been ahead of the game in the past with picks like "Ally McBeal", Claire Danes and "Party of Five", so I am willing to give the show another try. I can only hope the HFP have a good reason for giving it both best comedy and actress, though they may just be crazy.

It's going to be a busy week

• Today is the Battlestar marathon on SciFi, so hopefully everyone will be caught up with season 3 soon. The show returns on a new night and time this weekend, Sunday at 9PM.

• Tonight is the 3rd and 4th hour of "24"(Mondays on FOX at 8PM), and tonight we find out if Jack does remember "how to do this".

• We also get the Golden Globes tonight at 7PM on NBC. Although I haven't seen nearly enough of the movie nominees to really know who should win those awards(especially this early in awards season) I am pulling for Borat all the way.

1. For the TV awards, I am pulling for "24" for best Drama, but "Big Love" or "Grey's Anatomy" will probably win and last years winner "Lost" didn't quite do enough to earn a repeat performance and "Heroes" would be one surprise upset that I would like to see happen.
2. Best dramatic actress is usually a disappointment but Kyra Sedgwick deserves it the most.
3. Dramatic actor must be Keifer Sutherland, no others should be able to come close.
4. I'm not sure how "Desperate Housewives" snuck in again for best comedy, "The Office" should be a lock, but if "Ugly Betty" somehow wins then the Foreign press really need me as a new member.
5. I really don't care who wins best comedic actress, I doubt they will let Mary-Louise Parker repeat as winner so I'm slightly pulling for Felicity Huffman.
6. The best comedic actor category includes the lead actor from each of the NBC must see comedies(Jason Lee, Steve Carell, Zach Braff and Alec Baldwin) and I would be happy with each of the first 3, Alec Baldwin needs to be a bigger part of the show to justify him beating out the others. Steve Carell earned the award and I am looking forward to his acceptance speech.

• "American Idol"(FOX) returns on both Tuesday and Wednesday with 2-hour episodes. Every year I watch the beginning to see the hilarious auditions and I somehow always end up picking a couple of favorites and I end up watching the whole season. The auditions have become a way for many talentless people to try and get on TV, but there still are a couple people out there who genuinely believe they are fantastic singers even though they are horrible. Now that's good TV.

• Okay so there is one more week until the first new "Heroes"(Mondays on NBC at 8PM) in almost 2 months. NBC has the first 11 full episodes available here, if you missed any episodes you have plenty of time to catch up before the 22nd.

• Prison Break also returns on the 22nd, and while season 2 hasn't been able to recreate the excitement of the 1st season,(the show actually started a decline after the first 13 episodes last year) the setup for the remainder of the season could be worth checking out. Watch a 22 minute recap of the entire series to get you easily up to date here.

• "The Unit"(Tuesday on CBS at 8PM) and "One Tree Hill"(Wednesday on The CW at 8PM) both return with new episodes this week.

F#@K Joe Buck!

I say this at least 10 times during every game that Joe Buck commentates.
He is by far the worst sports commentator for any sport on any network(I'm actually starting to miss Brian Baldinger). But somehow Fox has packaged him into a super promotional tool, when he is actually just a big tool. My problem with him? For starters, I really think he just likes to hear himself talk, he doesn't care if what he says is actually correct(even after watching a definitive replay) and he obviously hates the Bears and White Sox more than any team in either sport. F#@K Joe Buck. It just makes me feel better.

The fact that he has been able to trick people into thinking he is actually talented has baffled me for years. And now he does Budweiser commercials, which as far as I can tell are only made so that he can try to convince the public that anyone actually likes him.

Fox, I may be able to forgive you for pissing me off during every playoff game I watch if you do the following:
1 Pay to get JB back in the studio or find another suitable host for the pregame.
2 Give Howie and Terry a chance in the booth-They were prepared, gave us info that actually related to the game and overall they were very good in the bowl they did. Although Fox was obviously playing up to the Notre Dame crowd they weren't overly biased as commentators.
3 Fire Joe Buck, Kenny Albert and Brian Baldinger, and instead find either smart people outside of football that don't sound part mongoloid or intelligent football players that can actually articulate what they are thinking.
Bears

Which was your favorite My Name Is...?

If you don't know what show I'm talking about, let me catch you up.
"My Name Is Earl"(Thursday at 7 on NBC) just had its best episode yet(I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately). But Earl has been consistently getting better this season, I felt it was somewhat hit or miss last year. So far this year all of the episodes have been very good but recently the show really seems to be hitting its stride. In my opinion Earl has just aired its 2 best episodes ever, in back to back weeks. I think that Earl is easily the second best comedy on TV right now.

Last Week's episode was titled "Our 'Cops' Is On" and it was as funny as it sounds. "Cops" the TV show came to Camden county in 2003 and several locals had run-ins with the camera crews and Kathy Kinney(The Drew Carey Show) as a police officer. The episode takes place during an average Sunday afternoon, and even though there is no beer left, the whole neighborhood is hanging out at the bar drinking foam when their "Cops" comes on. This was a great way for us to go back in time and see Earl, Randy and Joy as criminals for most of the episode instead of just short flashbacks. Plus, we got new classic lines like "you had me at balls" and "I skinned my pecker" from a pre-karma Earl. One thing I really liked about this episode is that the stars shared the spotlight a little more than usual and we got to see many of the neighborhood characters featured in the same episode.

Last night's episode "Buried Treasure" is available here and should really be watched before you read any further.
I had not heard much about about the episode beforehand, and I knew nothing about the setup of the episode. I couldn't stop laughing each time one of the main characters took a segment of the show(the intros were perfect and even included a "My Name Is..." title screen). I love how each story filled in little details that were left out of the previous version of the story.
Back to my original question, here is the order for my favorite segments
Joy
Crabman
Randy
Earl

Jaime Pressly should be awarded the Emmy right now. Watching her belt out that rendition of Shania Twain's "Breathe" was amazing, it's classic Joy, only amped up. Crabman's "that bitch is crazy" was a perfect ending to a story that starts with his apology to a gold fish for feeding him pepper. I think that Randy is possibly even dumber than he has appeared before.

Go watch some Earl.

Jack is Back

I have just finished watching the first 4 hours of the new season of "24"(Mondays at 8PM on Fox) and I think I may still be in shock.
Considering that the show had its best season yet, just last year, I really was expecting a bit of a let down this year(not of Season 4 proportions, but at least a mountain lion or two).

Season 6 picks up about 20 months after season 5, and instead of starting off with an assassination or a group of terrorists trying to get their hands on a weapon, we start in the middle of a nationwide terrorist attack. It is actually quite a realistic and very scary look at how this country would react to a series of bombings taking place over 11 weeks in 10 U.S. cities. I don't know about you, but there is only one person that I would count on to put an end to these attacks, and that's one Mr. Jack Bauer!

I really like that Jack is still in custody of the Chinese government at the start of the day, and wasn't here to help stop the initial attacks. The President has negotiated Jack's release in order to help find the head terrorist and hopefully stop future and more devastating attacks. Since the day starts after almost 3 months of terrorist strikes, the fear and desperation of the government and its people add a new layer of intensity that should help avoid some of the filler necessary to flesh out the real-time format. You still have to suspend some of your real world beliefs such as healing time, driving time and the need to use the bathroom, but if you can commit to the "24 world" this is easily one of the best shows on TV.
It's possible that 4 months from now Season 6 could make last year look like a warm up to what is starting out to be an unbelievable 24 hours.

There are some great new additions to the cast including Peter MacNicol('Ally McBeal' and 'Numbers'), Regina King('227' and 'Ray') and Kal Penn(from the fantastic 'Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle') to name a few that you may recognize in the premiere plus be on the lookout for a couple more great actors that will be appearing later in the season.
We of course have several returning favorites to catch up with at the beginning of the day. But we all know that you can't get too attached to any character in this show after watching Tony, Michelle and Edgar all die last season. To be honest with you, after seeing what Jack goes through in just the first hour(not to mention what happened to him in China), I am kind of hoping that the show is going to let him go out with a bang this year. Unfortunately, Fox won't let one of their biggest stars and one of their few hit shows go, so Jack is destined to endure even more pain and trauma for a couple more years.
Do not miss the 2 night 4 hour premiere Sunday the 14th and Monday the 15th.

So much has happened

First of all Happy New Year to everyone (or more realistically, to both of you).
And I hope your "winter holiday season" was super fun, culturally enriching and restful.

So far this has been an action packed first week of 007.

• "Friday Night Lights" switched from Tuesday to Wednesday at 7PM and had its first episode of the year. Even though I was reluctant to recommend this show earlier in the season, it has proven to be much more than a one dimensional football show. The cast is great and there is a good balance between the kids and the adults. I feel that they also have a somewhat realistic idea of what high school kids should look like and more importantly how they should act. This isn't a world where at 17 years old everyone looks and acts the same, much like the real world. I now highly recommend this show and you will actually be able catch up before it comes out on DVD. NBC has very smartly made every episode of the show available at their website, scroll down and click on the 'All episodes now online' link. Trust me, it isn't just a high school drama or a football show, it is a extremely well done drama that happens to take place around a high school football team.
• Must see TV came back with a fury yesterday.
• "The O.C." is back but it's soon to be done. The final episode will air February 22nd. As much as it pains me, I think it's for the best. Although the show is finally good again, the writers will actually be able to focus on making the ending great instead of cooking up another silly story arc.
• Courtney Cox returns to TV(well basic cable) in "Dirt"(Tuesday at 9 on FX)
• BET will start airing "The Wire" on January 10th at 8PM(repeats at midnight).
• Lots of "Battlestar Galactica" news. The show is moving from Friday to Sundays at 9PM. And there will be a Season 3 marathon January 15th so that you can get caught up for the first new episode of the year Sunday the 21st.
• Samuel L. Jackson gets animated, but remains a bad mother fucker in "Afro Samurai"(Thursday at 10 on Spike). Watch the first of only 5 episodes here.
  
• "Beauty and the Geek" is back(Wednesday 8PM on The CW). This show amazes me every season, the geeks they find are somehow each dorkier than the next and at least half of them haven't kissed a girl yet.

For those of you, like me, who still miss JB. You can hear a full James Brown concert from 12/28/05 on NPR here.