Episode 8, Too Little Blogging & Too Much TV?

The answer to the title question of this blog is "no." While you may be disappointed that I'm not blogging daily during premier week, I do have a valid excuse: I'm watching TV. And while there are a few things that rank above TV, blogging is not on my list. Here's a few snippets of what I've been checking out the past couple days:

Family Guy, Fox: Actually I only saw part of the episode...it was the King who watched the whole thing (on the secondary tivo, of course.) I'm not a big fan of Star Wars and while I like the raw, insensitive humor of the Family Guy, the 10 minutes I watched of the hour long season premier contained two jokes that went on for an eternity. First was the awkwardly long & silent scene joke: played in the Death Star elevator. Second was the annoyingly long fitting-a-large-sofa-through-a-small-door joke: have you ever had a sofa you couldn't maneuver through a door? It’s really not that funny.

Dancing with the Stars, ABC: I only watched the women dance so far (I'll try to watch the men before I turn-in tonight and play the elimination show before work tomorrow so I don't get spoiled!)...and wow, was I impressed by the Cheetah Girl, what-ever-her-name-is. That was a better Cha Cha Cha than I saw from some folks on So You Think You Can Dance this past summer! Other observations (partial credit to a co-worker who watched the premier Monday night sans-tivo): Jennie Garth-from 90210-impressed with the flexibility in that split and Marie Osmond covered up her lack of dancing talent with acting and charisma not seen since John Ratzenberger danced!

Beauty and the Geek, CW: In week one, this season's twist was introduced...one couple has a geeky girl and a beauty guy. This week the guy proved he had enough brains to support his nerdy lady when he won a debate over lowering the legal drinking age to 18 with "I've partied with a lot of cool 18 year-olds, dude." Nice. If you wonder if you can learn anything from watching a show like Beauty and the Geek, I can tell you I learned what a LARPer is. If you already know, you probably have a good chance of making it on the show.

Reaper, CW: Series premier was this week and while I love the premise, the pilot was a bit drawn out being that it was 60 minutes long. But it turns out having your soul sold to the devil by your parents isn't such a bad thing, and the devil isn't such a bad guy. Our hero, Sam, gets to catch souls that escaped from hell with a vacuum cleaner and return them to a drop point-at hell on earth-the DMV (of course!) And the devil helped Sam out for no reason at all (or maybe to gain his trust? Does the devil really need to gain trust?) by buying a bunch of stuff at the WorkBench where Sam is a floor salesman so he could win the spiral sliced ham...nice guy that devil, right?!

Journeyman, NBC: Series premier quickly took us viewers into the mystery our main character is experiencing in his life...he's traveling through time-but so far only his own adult lifetime. In his first flashback he runs into his old lover who is dead in present time...and then (if I understood it right) runs into her again on the next journey back, but its the future her, who should be dead, and who knows that he is traveling through time on some sort of mission. It seems to be set up with a complex puzzle to solve and I think I'll enjoy it. The bad news is I don't remember the main character’s name and the dead-potentially time traveling-lover's name is either Lydia or Olivia. The second set of bad news comes in the form of what's-his-name's Blackberry. It’s too reminiscent of the little hand-held Ziggy computer-thing that Dean Stockwell carried around in Quantum Leap.

Cane, CBS: Wow! First off, I didn't really pay attention to the cast. Not only do we have Jimmy Smits, but we also have Hector Elizondo and Nestor Carbonell in prominent roles! Before the first 5 minutes were over I was totally hooked! The entire cast (including the younger members) deliver convincing performances far exceeding any other show I've watched this fall. In case you missed the first episode: Hector gives controlling interest of the family's sugar/rum business to his adopted son, Jimmy, much to the dismay of Nestor-who's literally been sleeping with the enemy. Oh yes, this show will be good and it will be here for the long haul!

Law & Order: SVU, NBC: Here's an oldie, but a goodie. And Olivia is definitely the name of a character! I love the pacing of each episode...really an hour of SVU (much less without commercials) just flies by before you know it! Oh yeah, and Stabler's wife is pregnant...I guess they'll be staying together after all.

The Biggest Loser, NBC: Spoiler alert...they kicked off Jerry from the blue team...the oldest contestant ever and the one who lost more than 30 pounds in the first week. Since leaving the show he's lost about 90 pounds and looks great. Good for him!

Top Chef, Bravo: They sent the final four to Aspen and as a welcome gave them a hot air balloon ride. Here's my question: I've seen a few hot air balloon accidents on the news...would you like to float around in a wicker basket below a blasting jet of fire on a cold morning in the mountains? Me? Not so much.

On Thursday The Office, NBC, returns...set your tivos!!! (As if they aren't already...)

The Queen has spoken!

Episode 7, Its Finally Here!

No, not Christmas...Premier Week! Of course a few shows tried to get a head start last week in hopes they'd set the hook deep so you don't switch to the meatier shows this week. Here's what I've been watching over the past few days:

Back to You, Fox, was not so hot in the series premier last week. In the first episode the writers left no stone unturned when it came to looking up old, stale jokes. If that's not enough to disappoint you, they also left nothing to the imagination when it comes to character development (Kelsey left town 10 years ago after a night of steamy sex with Patricia-she now has a 10 year old daughter-in the last minute of the show they actually told us that Kelsey's the dad-just in case we were too stupefied by the lame jokes to have figured it out.) I'm not sure how much longer this show will last on my season pass, or on the air.

Kid Nation, CBS, took the top spot away from Back to You when it came to settling the quadruple conflict dilemma. I love kids when I can fast forward through their most annoying moments (I think even most parents would agree with me on that one) and watch only the truly amazing accomplishments (namely 8 years old making biscuits without a recipe-how'd they do it?!) This show isn't getting promoted on my season pass list, but isn't getting deleted either.

Heroes, NBC, is back! How I missed the characters and after tonight's season premier i can't wait until next week to get my fix! Spoiler Alert (for the rest of the paragraph): George Takei is (dare I say was?) wonderful for Heroes, but who was it that killed him? Sylar? One of the best scenes was the "Butler" family having a nice, normal dinner around the table-full of spirited conversation-just like the rest of America! See how boring our lives are?! Makes you want some super powers even more now, doesn't it?! Huh? You know you want them...yes, I'm talking about you! (subject for an upcoming blog will be what super-powers you want and why, so give it careful consideration starting now) Question for the more diligent viewers out there: Is Nathan Petrelli really Sylar? Is that what his burned reflection in the mirror at the bar was supposed to be revealing?

Prison Break, Fox, had its second episode of the season tonight and *spoiler alert* after the exploding plastic bag of moonshine with a 20 foot long wick made of bed sheets all I can say is: I called it! Scofield is MacGuyver in a Panamanian prison!

I'll be checking out Journeyman's premier on NBC later in the week (or over the weekend.) After a bit of Monday Night Football, I just didn't have the time to fit it in tonight. And speaking (briefly) of sports-Go Carl Edwards! If you've never given NASCAR a try, I urge you to do so now. There are less than 20 points separating 1st place from 6th with only 8 races left! I'm rooting for Edwards to have minimal penalties for the failed post race inspection (which doesn't appear to be intentionally caused at all) and to win both the Busch and Nextel Cup Championships!

The Queen has spoken!

Episode 6, I've Been Watching!

Phew! Watching TV can be hard work! Here's what I've been watching tonight:

Prison Break, Fox, Season Premier was great! Gory, nasty, inmate run SONA prison in Panama will be the stage for Scofield's next breakout...and this time he doesn't have the way out tattooed across his back. Its like MacGuyver in Oz (the HBO kind, not Dorothy)

Survivor, CBS, Season Premier was and always is a bit lack-luster. The one question I have is if you know you are in China to go on the show Survivor and traveling around in the back of a monster pickup truck, wouldn't you change out of the dress and 3-inch heels? Just in case? Maybe?

My Name is Earl, NBC, Damn-it...my tivo fooled me! This was an encore of the season finale from last year where Earl goes to jail instead of Joy. (I did get a bit choked up when Joy told her boys "and pray for old-daddy too.") I was fooled because there was a painful (even to my tone deaf ears) "Free Earl" music video at the end. That was enough to warrant a tivo original air date of Sept 20th, 2007. Like the Who, I won't be fooled again. No, No, No!

IronChef America, Food Network-I like food. A lot. And I love cooking shows. And Mark Tarbell is from Phoenix, does frequent appearances on 3 TV's morning show, has a yummy restaurant-that uses OpenTable for reservations- aaaaand *spoiler alert* Kicked Cat Cora's ass on "Battle Apple."

...And I've been organizing my season passes to manage through the triple and quadruple conflicts. I've got almost of all the worth-wild (aka: mentioned on my blog) series premiers loaded and only ran into 1 quadruple conflict. Why care about a quadruple conflict? Between my 2 tivo's I can tivo 3 shows on different channels at the same time-but to do 4 I'd have to drop another line into the bedroom TV. So if there are 4 shows I want, I must make a choice :( It really is a troubling experience: Do I pick Kid Nation or Back to You over Top Chef and Dancing with the Stars? What if Kid Nation really turns out like SONA on Prison Break-I want to see some 7 year-old throw the chicken foot down! What if Back to You has an unpredictable joke-I wouldn't want to miss that! Do you comprehend the dilemma!?! Since there is an encore presentation of Kid Nation Saturday night I'll be OK and will be able to make an educated choice when it comes to this season's first quadruple conflict. Don't worry, please.

I'm off to watch an episode of Forensic Files, Court TV, while I fall asleep!

The Queen has spoken!

Episode 5, Summer Reality Finales

Sorry for the delay, readers, I've been in Austin Texas for ACL successfully enjoying music, avoiding sunburn and staying hydrated (yes, ASG, I drank about a liter of water a day--CRAZY!) Sadly, I've been away from TV since last Wednesday and was starting to show severe signs of withdrawal (which are not at all similar to the signs of dehydration.) But don't worry, I got caught up on my tivo today and am quite ready for the season premiers...but before we have premiers we must have FINALES!!!

So, the season finale is upon us for some of my favorite summer programs and while I will miss Psych and The 4400, this blog is dedicated to my favorite summer reality shows.

First is a relatively new find: Solitary 2.0 (Saturdays, Fox Reality Network.) I actually only came upon this 2 weekends ago and found myself instantly hooked (thank goodness there was a marathon last Saturday so I could find out what happened in the 4 episodes I missed!) This is an elimination- every-episode-winner-take-all type reality show with elimination "treatments" instead of challenges. Nine contestants started out in solitary spaces (about the size of your average work cube), referred to only by numbers (of the room they are in) and with sleep and food deprivation. They are eliminated by being the first to quit a treatment (standing on a platform of nails, drinking down an increasingly nasty blended concoction of favorite foods, etc) and the "gotcha" is that they don't know when anyone else has quit (ponder: is keeping a ball gag in your mouth for 7 hours long enough or did someone quit after 30 minutes?!?) They are down to the final 3 so tune in to see who will win the $50K (yes, they are humiliating themselves on cable TV for $50K). And I'm sure there is a marathon next week for those who haven't caught an episode this season.

Second up is Top Chef (Wednesdays, Bravo.) Pretty simple concept: chefs competing for a prize of $100k (or is it $250k?), a trip to Italy (or is it Spain?) and "the title of Top Chef" (host & judge Padma Laskshmi says that at least once an episode.) If you like food and you like TV, this is a must see. Every episode I'm amazed at what the chefs pull together in their themed and time-limited challenges called Quickfires as well as their elimination challenges. There are five contestants left (spoiler alert: CJ was my favorite, but he was eliminated last week) and I'm not sure who I want to win: Casey, woman with solid performance throughout the season or Dale who is a quirky and inventive dude, yet knows how to make food people will like. The remaining contestants are: Brian, don't-know-why-he's-still-there-since-he-has-no-TV-personality-and-this-is-a-TV-show; Sara, is there because she's a woman; and Hung, is there because he's a good chef, dangerous in the kitchen (running with knives, dropping glass bottles of oil on the floor) and good for ratings. Bravo shows lots of repeats, so you can catch up on this season (and last) before the finale in a few weeks.

Third is Big Brother 8 (Finale Tuesday on CBS.) If you haven't been watching, it really is too late to catch up...but get your tivo ready for season 9 next summer! I (initially) didn't think it'd be fun to watch a bunch of spoiled reality-star-wanna-bes live in a sound stage all summer, but with 3 episodes a week (and the fast forward button on my tivo) I've been a fan since season 3. Although I didn't really care for any of the contestants this summer, it did come down to two deserving game-players. Spoiler alert: Dick and Danielle played a great game all summer, I just wish they both showed a bit more decorum when they became the final 2.

The Queen has spoken!

Episode 4, Loser: Thy Name is Amber

Well folks, here we have it: the real premier of the fall season! Being one of the first shows to air this year, The Biggest Loser (Tuesdays on NBC) has found itself subject of a blog. I’ll cover three topics briefly: why you should watch this show, who I think will win (and lose) and what I like about the format.

Why you should watch The Biggest Loser: When I first heard of this show several seasons ago, I thought it was a horrible excuse for a show to exploit and humiliate fat people across America—but I was wrong and that is precisely why you should be watching. I find The Biggest Loser to be one of the most inspirational, emotional, compelling and motivational shows on TV today. For the most part, the contestants are there to actually change their lives (and life expectancy) for the better. For some it is an unbelievable emotional struggle (Lezlie, the Katrina hurricane survivor who sometimes wishes the storm took her “along with the house”), for some the inspiration they provide is unfathomable (Wylie, from last year, sharing his new-found passion for fitness with mentally challenged children) and the motivation this gives to us all to make an attainable change in our lifestyles for the better (did you know cutting out one soda a day saves 8 pounds of calories a year!) Watch a few episodes and you’ll be amazed at how much you believe in yourself and your ability to make an impact on your health as well as others! OK, I’m not a motivational speaker, so enough of the sappiness and onto the good stuff…

Who do I think will win (and lose): These are the picks I made as I watched the first episode and got to know a bit about each of our contestants…I reserve the right to update my picks throughout the season!

Potential winners:

1) Bryan (Red Team): he appears to be a high school music teacher and thinks he’s a handsome man if he loses the weight. I have to get behind someone with self-confidence and reassurance like that!

2) Amy (Red Team): ok, maybe she won’t win, but this first grade teacher has beautiful eyes that should be complimented by a beautiful and fit figure!

3) Kae (Blue Team): former Army private…I hope she does us all proud and is able to keep the weight off long term!

4) Neil (Blue Team): He got below 400 pounds after the first week (started at 422)…dig inside you, chemical engineer you, and figure out how to make the calories work for you!

5) Jerry (Blue Team): I honestly though his metabolism was against him from the start, but this 62 year-old has proved otherwise! Spoiler alert! He came in first in the initial race across to the desert to become captain of the blue team AND lost 31 pounds in the first week…more than any other contestant lost in any one week in any other season! Way to go Gramps!

Won’t keep the weight off:

1) Hollie (Black Team): cheerleading coach, just seems like a quitter who finds it easy to justify her weight since she works in an athletic environment

2) Patty (Blue Team): spoiler alert! this chick lost 13 pounds in the first week…great progress, but I question her ability to maintain

3) Amber (Red Team): don’t finish the first task dead last, then not complete the workout, then say you want to quit. Spoiler alert! She was voted off the first episode…but did lose 65 pounds after leaving the show!

4) David (Red Team): this poor guys has 4 boobs (that is not a good thing, in case you are wondering)…he lost a lot of weight week 1 (20 pounds I think), but will need significant changes to keep it off…I hope he does!!!

Best part of the format:
In The Biggest Loser, even the elimination is inspirational. The other contestants say nice things like “I think this person is a beautiful person and will achieve great things” and then the producers show us how the loser has progressed since they left the show. As I mentioned before, this week’s loser, Amber, lost 65 pounds since coming on the show, down 10 sizes to an 18…and she hopes to be down to a size 10 for the finale!

The Queen has spoken!

Episode 3, What I'm watching now

Before I begin, I want to thank you for all the comments and suggestions of additional shows to watch. I’ll take some into consideration (Rescue Me), some I already tivo (Scrubs) and some are past their prime (they will remain nameless-if you enjoy them, keep enjoying them!) It appears to me we’ll have plenty to debate once the fall season is underway!

Secondly, I don’t want you to think I don’t enjoy the NFL and am blogging during the season opener without regret. At this point, the game is a run-away, the King’s fantasy team is up 29-3 and I’m getting live updates on the internet. So, no regrets for blogging now.

I wanted to pay homage to one of the shows I’m watching now and I highly recommend to mystery, sci-fi and drama show fanatics: The 4400 (Sundays on USA.) For those of you unfamiliar with this show, now in its 4^th season, I’ll provide a quick synopsis. 4,400 people were abducted over the past 80 years (or so) by the future human race and returned to the present time all at once somewhere outside of Seattle. While they were gone they were each given some sort of special power (seeing the future, telekinesis, purifying polluted environments: just to name a few) that was intended to help them save the world. Over the course of the past seasons the regular humans have seen/see the 4400 as a threat and put government agencies in place to monitor them, the 4400s have divided into factions with different ideals/purposes and the government has both taken action against and exploited the 4400.

We are now nearing the end of season 4 and regular humans have also been given the opportunity to gain special powers by taking a shot of Promicin (with a ~50% mortality rate), one of the 4400s is running for Seattle public office, another has founded Promise City where 4400s live in some sort of US government-free but militia-cult-like section of Seattle and a top ranked member of the government monitoring agency (called NTAC) is possessed by a member of the future human race with unclear scruples. It is clear things will come to a head as this season closes out and we start to figure out who is good (the 4400s who want to spread special powers across the world at any cost of human life, those that want to give powers to those most likely to survive or the government) and who isn’t.

The 4400 is a successful summer drama (keyword being summer) because it has a creative storyline, competent actors, and believable special effects, but struggles a bit with the script. Check it out: the first 3 seasons are available on DVD.

Episode 2, The Fall Lineup

This is the inspiration for it all: this is the TV you should be watching this fall (and why you should be watching it!) I've also included a few shows I think we'll all be disappointed in.

Top Dramatic Shows:
* Heroes-NBC, Mondays, season premier Sept 24th: Genetic mutations a secret organization has known about for years yield superpowers and we're just learning about it now?! Seriously, this show has it all: a compelling (enough) story line, action, cheerleaders and an evil-doer named Sylar. Now to figure out how I get myself some super-powers!
*Criminal Minds-CBS, Wednesday, season premier Sept 26th: Every episode it always strikes me as odd how emotionally involved the guys and gals from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit become with the case. Regardless, its one of the best cop-dramas out there and frequently gives me the heeby-jeebies!
*Cane-CBS, Tuesdays, series premier Sept 25th: I don't really know what to expect, but with Jimmy Smits and the story of how he runs a sugar and rum empire, I'm envisioning a Latino Soprano's. The only thing that could make it sound better is bacon, maybe.
*Big Shots-ABC, Thursdays, series premier Sept 27th: 4 CEOs dishing about their power, privilege and sex lives at their exclusive country club may not sound like good TV, but with 4 veteran actors of Alias, The West Wing, Titus and The Practice I'm willing to give it a shot!
*Grey's Anatomy-ABC, Thursdays, season premier Sept 27th: Forget the "Mc"crap; its the dynamics between Izzy, George and Callie that make the show interesting!
*CSI-CBS, Thursdays, season premier Sept 27th: The original and still the best (well, actually the only CSI worth watching.) Last season they figured out how to make the miniature killer cover several episodes...and she's still at it! Will they be able to find Sarah in time to save her life? In time to save her hand? Tune in to find out!
*Friday Night Lights-NBC, Fridays, season premier Oct 5th: Ouch, FNL got moved to the dreaded Friday night slot! Even though its been likened to "Laguna Beach in Texas" in my house, I still find it compelling-come on, who doesn't like a good underdog story?
*Journeyman-NBC, Mondays, series premier Sept 24th: The upside is its got a great actor from HBO's Rome. The potential downside is with too many writer-producer-director people from The West Wing it could end up like Studio 60-canceled.
*New Amsterdam-FOX, Tuesdays, series premier ???: I think this is to compete with Journeyman and generally one shows wins (sometimes neither like with last year's Six Degrees and The Nine). Anyway its a cop-drama so I'll give it a shot.
*Prison Break-FOX, Mondays, season premier Sept 17th: With all the brain power Michael Schofield has, no one expected him to get caught and sent to a creepy-trippy-prison WAY south of the border. But he did, and we have season 3. I'm hoping the writers will boost the believability of the characters a bit and continue with more MacGuyver-like tricks.

Top Sitcoms:
* The Office-NBC, Thursdays, season premier Sept 27th: One Shrute Buck will be awarded for each episode you watch! Seriously, if you haven't been watching the antics of The Office, welcome back to planet earth. We all wish our lives at work were as exciting as they are for the folks at Dunder Mifflin (sales calls and make-overs with Phyllis, reading Creed's blog, and calculating how many quarters it'll take to get Dwight's office supplies out of the vending machine.) Kinda makes me want to move to Scranton.
*My Name is Earl-NBC, Thursdays, season premier Sept 27th: Awwh Snap! I can't move to Scranton because I'd miss all my friends from the trailer park. This show delivers good, simple laugh-out-loud humor and shouldn't be missed.
*30 Rock-NBC, Thursdays, season premier Oct 4th: Along with The Office & Earl, this makes up the best hour and a half of TV on the air. Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey carry this smart comedy (yes, sometimes you might not hear a joke if you don't have your thinking cap on) about the people who work at a sketch comedy show. Plus they have an episode about Cleveland!
*Carpoolers-ABC, Tuesdays, series premier Oct 2nd: I thought this show looked lame at first, but after seeing a clip with Jerry O'Donnell spouting off rules of the carpool ("Don't show me pictures of your kids because then I'll have to memorize their names"), back seat driving (reaching over the driver to honk the horn) and making the new guy save a parking spot ("I promise, the 'fancy car' guys won't run you over; well I didn't think they would") I decided this is my kind of show.
*Reaper-The CW, Tuesdays, series premier Sept 25th: It has the brother from Invasion as side-kick to the star Sam (who played Sam from Fox's The Loop) whose parents sold his soul to the devil when he was born. Sounds like a great concept with some funny actors so I'll be giving it a shot.
*Big Bang Theory-CBS, Mondays, series premier Sept 24th: I honestly don't give this show much of a chance of lasting through the season, but it has Darlene's boyfriend (from Rosanne) playing one of the main nerdy characters and I believe he plays creepy-nerdy quite well.

Top Reality Shows:
*Survivor: China-CBS, Thursdays, series premier Sept 20th: Please don't fool yourself into thinking you are tired of watching survivor. At the very least watch a few episodes and then read Bob-Dawgster's posts on CBS's website where past competitors comment on each episode.
*Beauty & The Geek-The CW, Tuesdays, series premier Sept 18th: Pretty girls make over geeky boys and everyone learns something about themselves...well almost everyone.
*The Biggest Loser-NBC, Tuesdays, series premier Sept 11th: New (thinner) host Allison Sweeney from Days of Our Lives and 3 teams competing! This is a feel good reality show, that actually makes a positive impact...and sometimes makes me cry happy tears.
*Dancing With The Stars-ABC, Monday & Tuesday, series premier Sept 24th: Men, you can watch this show and enjoy it. First, you have Josie Maran (swimsuit model). Second because you have manly-men competing like Helio Castroneves and Floyd Mayweather.
*Kid Nation-CBS, Wednesdays, series premier Sept 19th: As many of you know, I really don't care for children, particularly when they interfere with my ability to have a nice quiet dinner at a restaurant. Each child that intrudes on my dinner should be sent to Kid Nation to live in a ghost-town where they have to take care of themselves. In that capacity they might actually be entertaining to me (unlike when the ill-behaved little ones choose to throw a tantrum at a restaurant because they don't have Kraft mac-n-cheese on the menu-That is not entertaining!)

Shows you shouldn't bother with:
*Private Practice-ABC: Spin-off of Grey's is a bad idea. Red-headed doctor will be back in Seattle before Christmas.
*Cavemen-ABC: Even their website can't accurately describe the setting (is it set in San Diego or Atlanta?)...I seriously doubt the script is any more well thought out.
*Chuck-NBC: All computer jobs are boring, the government will not accidentally send you the biggest secrets in our nation so you can act as a secret agent and save the world, all computer jobs will remain boring.

The Queen has spoken!