MADtv - Best of

The past couple of weeks have been "Best of" episodes (it's about time) before the new season starts in a couple of weeks. I have been watching with much gusto, hoping to see some of my favorites from the past 12 Seasons which has not happened much. While I understand it must be hard picking the all time best moments, I was more than surprised last night (during the Pop Culture Best of.. hosted by the completely vapid Perez Hilton) that I did not see anything from Mo Collins, Debra Wilson or even Nicole Sullivan. Seriously MADtv... how could you not use some of the funniest musical spoofs ever with choices of Britney Spears, Shakira, Madonna and even Destiny's Child or Whitney Houston?

sigh.... maybe someday some marketing genius at Fox will realize they have some very, very funny stuff that they need to get out there ( SNL does tons of stuff like that ) and they could put out some music video compilations of Best of whatever comedian...

BUT I still love the show and can't wait to see what they do this year, it's almost always way funnier than SNL.

Numb3rs

This has been a Friday night staple since the show started, and after last year's shocking turn of Colby being a double agent and sent off to prison I was eager to see what direction the show was going this year.

Turns out Colby is a triple agent, nice plot device that gets him back in with the rest of the team and it was an interesting story, big guest star (Val Kilmner) but the flow seemed different this year. Maybe it was to represent how much out of sync all the characters were due to last year's betrayal, but something seemed off and I am hoping it was just for that particular episode and things will get back to normal.

I was happy to see all of the regular cast back in action, but miss Kathy Najimy (her Millie character was a great addition) and hope they bring her back for a few episodes.

Stargate Atlantis Season Premiere

Following up on the big cliffhanger from earlier this year, Atlantis is in space, lost, damaged and in danger of becoming a big old piece of space junk.

Unfortunately SG1 has recently finished it's run on TV and Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter) needs a new job and it looks like she is stepping in to replace Dr.Elizabeth Weir who has been injured and possible repaired by Replicator Technology. whew!

I really enjoyed the Dr. Weir character, and hope there is a decent resolution to her storyline and not another pointless death to get rid of a character. The episode is well paced, and the developing storyline is slight reminiscent of Star Trek:Voyager and their need to repair to survive. All the fun essentials are there, and love the humorous undertones to parts of the story to lighten things up (if possible) and McKay is still one of my favorites on the show (and as always, managed to throw in some Canadiana with his comment on " Cole's notes ", our version of Cliff's notes). Friday nights are fun again!

Moonlight Premiere

Sigh..... maybe I am jaded from watching all of those seasons of Buffy and Angel, but I have problems seeing vampires depicted on the tube when they don't seem to follow the same conventions as what I am used to... there are probably lots of other people feeling the same way today.

Sure, the main character is a broody kinda guy, I did like how vampires were part of society (yuppy vampires?) and infilitrated everywhere from corporations to the morgue.... but the story SUCKED and I hated the way the action scenes were filmed/animated ... whatever....

Not sold on the storyline or characters, but will be generous and give it one more try before deciding completely... just in case it seems more interesting the second time around.

Survivor - China

What a smack down episode, tons of fun in the mud ( I don't think that I have seen that much pixelation on TV in ages), lots of fighting and bitching, and our resident Wrester girl ( implants and all) got the boot.... maybe Ashley should have played better with her team but they seem to be pretty dysfunctional...

On the other team, my favorite player (sneaky Todd) got wind of the hidden immunity idol from fellow player Leslie and his response?
"I can’t believe she told me! I would never tell anybody! What was she thinking?"
This guy knows how to play-- hope he sticks around for awhile.

God I love this show and it's ability to show the inherent nature of people... too funny... and scary !

Big Shots

How you can not like a show that seems like the male version of Sex and the City? I guess this is Sex and the Golf Course?

Dylan McDermott is Duncan Collinsworth, CEO at Reveal Cosmetics; Michael Vartan is James Walker, on the fastrack (or not) to become the chairman of AmeriMart Industries ; Joshua Malina is Karl Mixworthy, CEO of Fidelity Pharmaceuticals and Christopher Titus plays Brody Johns, founder of Alpha Crisis Management. The Men ( or as they like to say, "Men? We're the new women.") have lots going on: Mistresses, dangerous liaisons with Tranny Prostitutes, pharmaceutical mix ups, the best shrimp ever and a hilarious death to start things off... what more can you ask for?

I love the pacing of the show, the bizarre events, the characters and can't help but feel it reminds me of Desperate Housewives in it's first season.

Best line of last night: " You got a hummer from a tranny? "

This show is so on my watch list.

CSI Season Premiere

CBS really pulled one over me this time, I was convinced that Sara was to die as I heard about contract negotiations and that no agreement had been met. As the episode ran its course I was very impressed with how it was extremely well written and had great flow, and thought at the least it was a very nice send off to a character that had been around for awhile.

Since it was a very Sara-centric episode, we didn't get to see a lot of the rest of the cast, but it was a great season opener. Of course there was a couple of things that bugged me, the main one being that I couldn't believe that Sara couldn't take out the miniature killer in the car... just wondering how the writer figured that one out. It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next few weeks before Sara really does leave unless there is some miracle contract negotion... isn't this a little deja vu from last year?

Smallville Season Premiere Interuptus

I probably would have enjoyed this episode more if the fricking CW wasn't interupting it every 10 minutes with another batch of commercials. Seriously, I never had time to actually get into the story (with all of it's gaping plot holes )because it was non stop ads... sigh.....

Decent story, stupid ending and could not believe that Lana would not even cut her hair to really disguise herself... just stupid stupid stupid. Too bad they can't kill off her character but that would ruin all that continuity.

Martian Manhunter was wasted in the story, the first glimpses of Supergirl looked okay... is the mini everything really necessary?

But.. still on the watch list ... god I am such a geek.

Dirty Sexy Money

Not too shabby as far as first episodes go, I really wanted to check this out as it has been quite awhile since there has been a night time soap that says it is the same caliber as Dynasty.

Yes it has the requisite rich family ( The Darlings) who have plenty of skeletons in the closet, a completely dysfunctional family of alcoholics, womanizers, manizers and completely cut off from the real world... fun stuff....

Add your good guy (Peter Krause) with a long history with the family (even "deflowering" one of the girls) who gets bribed into being their lawyer, thus continuing a long running relationship between the two families. The show has potential, and I'll give it a few more weeks to see how it all develops and if it really is a guilty pleasure.

Kid Nation - Life Lessons

To kill or not to kill? It ain't a quote from Shakespeare ( sorry Jared) but it was completely and utterly fascinating to watch a group of children decide if the chickens were food or pets.

This show impresses me... and yes if I had children I would definately watch it with them as I am sure it would be a great way to discuss different issues with them.

The dynamics between the different classes and how the kids interact is an amazing social experiment, but if I hear that snotty Pageant girl (Taylor) spout out more comments about how doing dishes or working is below her I think it might be time to either open the Jail or maybe even a good old fashion stockade?
Last night the Gold Star was awarded to Michael, who is probably one of the most mature and hard working kids there and he more than deserved it. Of course, this has opened a whole can of worms with Greg who seemed to be working hard ( for the prize of course) and will probably show more of his nasty side now that he has been passed over. Welcome to the real world kids.

Bionic Woman Pilot

I am probably one of the biggest geeks out there, and have been itching to see this show since I heard about the remake ..... and I am not a very happy camper today.

The pilot was SLOW and plodding and ... you get the picture ....
It's a shame when the most interesting character is the villain (the First Bionic Woman, played by Katee Sackoff ) who completely stole the show and had the personality which the lead character never seemed to develop....

ARGHHHH! I'll give it a couple more episodes to see if it can get its bionic mojo on.

Dancing with the Stars- Catch Up part 2

Night 2 was the Boy's night out... and the guys did a pretty good job with one stand out performance by Albert Reed. Having Bruno tell you that “The crotch action was in warp drive” has got be good....noting that Carrie Anne was literally speechless and that Len was probably more than a little distracted by surfer boy's stripper moves.

Personally I think Wayne Newton has to go, but he'll probably stick around for a few weeks while they continue thinning the herd.

As for the rest of the guys, Cameron Mathison did a nice job, Floyd Mayweather Jr was passable, Helio Castroneves was a pleasant surprise and Mark Cuban obviously worked his rich ass off. Luckily none of the guys got voted off this week, but watch out..things are definately going to get heated.

Reaper Pilot

Deals with the Devil, mystical Dustbusters and funny sidekicks... oh my!

This show has potential.... and I think it will grow on me as the concept is too wicked and the cast has some great potential.

Get this, your parents sell your soul before you are born, the devil (played by the very "evil" Ray Wise) comes to collect and you have to collect souls that have escaped from Hell... all with some quirky sidekicks and quite a few fun moments. Will definately check this out more.

Bones Season Premiere

TV's best couple returned last night, and it was joy to see Brennan and Booth continue their awkward mating rituals. Bones has to be one of the most intriguing characters on TV, and last night's story line "The Widow's Son in the Windshield" was another kickass weird and wonderful story involving everything from cannabilism and voyeurism to secret societies and Fijian Shark Gods. This show is made even better with a great supporting cast, and the storyline with Angela looking for her mystery husband (some sailor who is a titan man) is way funny. The best treat of the night was the return of Zack in all of his nerdy glory and the appearance of the Asst. US Attorney Caroline Julian, awesome character.
This show has chemistry to spare and a total joy to watch.

Dancing with the Stars- Catch up

There is way too much playing on Monday night and last night caught up with the first episode of this season's Dancing with the Stars. Night one was all about the women and it was quite the night.

The contestants performed well, but the absolute break out performance of the evening was Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan with her funky hip hop influenced Cha Cha. The girl rocked the house!

Other contestants did well, notably Mel B and Jane Seymour. Marie Osmond and Jennie Garth managed to hold their own but unfortunately the very funny and klutzy Josie Maran will probably be leaving the dance floor. All in all it was a great opener, and looking forward to seeing the guys dance!

Journeyman- This trip has been cancelled

Well....

Checked out the first episode last night and yawn....... 7 Days was a way better time travel series and this seems too much of a chick film/series of personal discovery kinda crap that I really don't like.... so thanks for wasting an hour of my time and don't let the door hit ya on the way out.

I give it 6 episodes before it tanks.

UPDATE DECEMBER 12

from the Programming Insider:

NBC Passes on Journeyman Pick-Up:NBC has let the option to renew freshman drama Journeyman for the full season pass, and will end the struggling Monday night series after 13 telecasts. The network recently announced it will fill the Monday 10 p.m. hour with former occupant Medium.

For some reason, people keep hitting this page to find out if the series has been cancelled yet, NBC had already put it on notice that if ratings don't improve it will end next week, so although I didn't like the pilot episode, I understand your pain if you risk losing a show that you love. I am however, not impressed with anonymous who has left several comments calling me an ass because I didn't like the show and all comments will now have to be approved before posted.

Heroes - Season 2

4 months later.....

Damn it one hour per week is not enough for this show..... there was not even enough time to show all of the characters ( no Niki?? ) but we were treated to more of Hiro's adventure in time, Claire and family adapting to a " new life ", Mohinder playing spy, the evil mother, the great George Takei and the surprise that both the Petrelli brothers are alive after that huge explosion last year. Floppy hair boy even got his hair buzzed! (and lost his memory...hmmmm)

Needless to say, still completely hooked and looking forward to seeing more....

Chuck - Nerds rule!

I love this show! I had seen the pilot that was floating around the internet this summer, and was happy to see that it was still the same fun story and that the chemisty between the actors was as brilliant as I remembered.
Things I love about Chuck:

1- Nerd Herd! can it get better than this?

2- Hot spys that are there to protect you

3- Jane! I mean Adam Baldwin

4- Goofy sidekicks

5- Captain Awesome

and of course this show is definately taking a prime spot on the watch list- take that Prison Break!

Family Guy Season Premiere

Gotta love this show for the some-times witty popular culture references that seem to come out of left field most of the time. Peter's rendition of "Star Wars" (episode 4) had all of the requisite storyline, and the writers managed to cleverly put all of the characters into the roles that seemed to suit each personality. Perverted old man as Obi Wan Kenobi was ridiculously funny and poor Meg, delegated to playing the monster that lived in the sewer system... too funny!There were tons of LOL moments, and absolutely loved the parody of the Grey Poupon commercial.

Season Premiere of the Simpsons

Last night was the season premiere of the Simpsons, and if you saw the film this summer there was a great hommage to the film including everyone's favorite new character, Spiderpig ! Bart's message on the blackboard was very tongue in cheek " I will not wait another 20 years to make a film" and I hope there will be another one around the corner as it was one of the hits of this summer.

Enjoyable as ever, can you believe this show has been on for 18 years?? Thanks to Stephen Colbert and Lionel Richie for being guest voices this week.

Burn Notice - Season Finale

This was one of my favorite shows of the summer and last night was the 2 hour season finale, and what a finale it was! Tons of action, great storyline and one of the best ensemble action/comedy/drama teams that I have seen in ages.

One of the best things about the show is the dry narration by the star Jeffrey Donovan ( as agent Michael Westen ) and the great chemisty between him and his "trigger happy ex-girlfriend" Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar). Seriously, I saw the sexiest "make a sticky bomb" sequence between them that had the house rocking.Keeping with the understated sexy vibe we were all treated to some nice shots of Michael shirtless and a great running sequence in the finale... and of course lots of great action and the requisite explosions (slow moving truck!) and inventive spy technology.With Bruce Campbell as Sam and the great Sharon Gless as Michael's mother rounding out the main characters you could not ask for a better team of actors. It will be a long time until new episodes (next summer) but atleast there is that to look forward to next year. Thanks for the great season!

Survivor - China

So last night was the season premiere of the new season of Survivor, and as usual I am completely hooked. Great cast of characters, stunning location and it took no time before the knives came out and the players were out to get each other. It was a nice change up that it was not on some island in the middle of the tropics, and am really looking forward to seeing more of China and how the game will play out for this round.

Just a few comments on the game so far:
~ pretty tacky that the Christian radio woman wouldn't participate in the welcoming ceremony ( so much for tolerance)
~ great names for the teams, Fighting Tiger (Zhan Hu) & Flying Dragon ( Fei Long)
~ any game that gives you "The Art of War" as a reference book usually means things will get fun
~ being nicknamed for any kind of beast is usually going to get you ousted pretty quick (bye bye Chicken - being snitty will get you no where)
~digging graves gets you in damn hot shape
~ gay mormon flight attendants are pretty devious


I am really looking forward to seeing how the game plays out, but I would have liked to have seen what/how they ate for the first few days with no shelter or water...

Back to You

After seeing all the the ads for the show I had to check it out, hoping to find something to fill the void that has left my life since Murphy Brown ended all those years ago.

Damn you Fox ! Not only did you show all the best parts of the first episode in the plethora of ads that have been assaulting us for the past couple of months, but you turned out a pretty mediocre first episode that has left me on the fence....

...atleast the Weathergirl (sorry, Meteorologist) and the roaming Reporter had good chemistry and will probably have the best bitchy lines between them... as usual the supporting characters try to save the show (Fred Willard is hilarious, but can do less with the sweaty guy) and I'll give it a couple of more weeks before making a decision.

Kid Nation or How I spent my summer vacation

After all the hoopla surrounding this show I really wanted to check it and see what all of the fuss was about. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a great social experiment (in the way that I love watching Survivor and seeing the interaction between the participants) and a great way for the new generation to learn some lessons and grow.

I think that taking today's " Generation Y " and making them work and run their town will make for some great moments and I love the idea that no one is voted off, but the kids can opt to quit and leave if they don't feel they can make it. The Gold Star reward (valued at 20,000 $ !) will be huge incentive for the kids to hang around and I can only see this getting more and more interesting to watch. My favorite kid to watch so far is Jared from Georgia and he pretty much had me in hysterics from when he first appeared on screen. This year is turning out to be a great one for geeks & nerds !

Prison Break (R.I.P.)

Well it's official boys & girls:

-- I will NOT be watching this season of Prison Break after seeing the first episode on Monday night.

Nope, nope, nope ain't gonna happen 'cause it's all the same crap as last year and enough gapping plot holes to sink the Titanic.

'Nuff said on that one and am looking forward to seeing Chuck ( Nerd Herd? seriously I am so hooked already), Dancing with the Stars (guilty pleasure) and to check out Big Bang Theory (again with the nerds!).

It was nice knowing you Wentworth... sniff sniff ....

Fall Season on it's way

The fall season is just around the corner and I will be back with comments about the new and returning shows. Let's just hope that there is more fun rants than bitchy ones.
See you all soon!