The Movies

Cover via Amazon

Getting movie recommendations has always been tricky since I like a wide variety of films and most are not popular. This year The Hangover was widely popular unfortunately it was not funny.

Let me just list them and you can decide for yourself:

The Hangover (Unrated Two-Disc Special Edition)  - not funny but clever, I kept waiting for the killer punchline but it was just too light on the jokes heavy on the visual aids.

Gran Turino - Great film although very depressing. Although the old man and young boy are the main focus the brilliance comes from the young sister.

Marley & Me - While I'm never fully convinced of the love between the main characters the love for the dog was undeniable.

Revolutionary Road - Hard to watch life behind the curtains of a seemingly perfect family. Well acted and again depressing.

Orz Boys - A Taiwanese film about boys growing up without caring parents. It is cut between cartoons and real life. It is a story told in an odd way and does not translate well so it may give some people a headache.

Die Hard - A freakin' Christmas classic. Wholly uplifting.

Oh come on!

Alaina Reed Hall

Dead at 63.

Best known as the Olivia from Sesame Street and my old favorite Rose on 227. She was a great kind actor who also married Kevin Peter Hall, the original Predator, who died of AIDS at I time where people were more ignorant.

This year is not going quietly is it?

Brittany Murphy

Damn shame.

I've been watching her on TV since she was a little kid on Almost Home, The Torkelsons revamped.
She was a great actress and singer, full of personality and a sense of humor.

She died at the age of 32 of a "cardiac arrest". Anyone with any medical knowledge will know that is not the whole story.

2009 has been tough for Hollywood.

No TV for You!

Image via Wikipedia

I wnet for a new camera instead of a new HDTV.

The reason is simple most movies are awful and most TV shows are barely watchable. Now with the cancellation of soaps and the lack of 10 pm dramas their is less reason to huddle in my cave.

Plus a camera, theoretically, will make me more social. I shutter the thought.

But the 3 shows that are still on had great endings.

Glee was perfect with all their wrapping up of story lines.
Californication was great with emotional bombs going off left and right.
Dexter should sweep the award show, especially with John Lithgow as Trinity.

The Day World Stood Still

Image via Wikipedia

September 17, 2010 will be the last episode of As The World Turns a 54 year old soap opera that spawned more great actors than every reality show put together.


I enjoy stories, well written or otherwise.

I hate reality shows but apparently I'm the only one. These aren't stories they are narcissistic trips into damaged peoples live. Plus they are poser since they are aware of the camera yet they claim to not notice them.

Slowly I'm getting away from TV but not because of me, it is them. I know when I'm being pushed towards cell phone/social network/internet lifestyle and the TV producers are moving their money to that scheme and want us to follow.

I will enjoy good shows wherever I get them, hell I still listen to radio dramas on WBAI 99.5 in NYC.

Monk Finally Ended

Image via Wikipedia

Monk: Monk and the End Part II
Wow that was bad.

Monk often had a problem with consistency he often broke his own OCD rules. Then the final episodes brought back actors playing different characters. Then Trudy was discovered to be a lying tramp who solved her own murder before it happened.

Oh well at least the last two-minute montage was fun.

Nothing New to See

No new TV for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Turkey-Sandwich Tuesday.

All shows mentioned last post are still on my nice list.

Monk is about to finish and they are disappointing in every final step.

Happy New Years

Seriously!

Grey's Anatomy just went from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years Day just to advance a storyline in one episode.

Granted the Ghost Whisperer did the same in the season premiere by moving the storyline forward by 5 years.

Best shows on TV:
Glee - has kept the characters well grounded and the singing has been excellent.
Dexter - Great and complicated.
Californication - They brought in Rick Springfield, need I say more.

James Franco is doing a soap?

V is for Victory

YANKEES!!!

Photos from AP.

V : Pilot
They went really fast from nice aliens to evil aliens.
The CGI was good for the most part.

V before V

In 1983 the V mini-series debuted to a huge response. It spawned a sequel then it's own TV series ending in a 2 hour finale.


Sci-Fi channel repeated most of it this Sunday in anticipation of the big remake on ABC this Tuesday.

To recap aliens come to Earth they claim to need chemicals for their world. Soon scientist begin to disappear and other scientists are brainwashed to tell lies because science would reveal the truth. The truth becomes clear that the human-like aliens are just lizards in disguise, they are lying about their mission, and they are using Republican Nazi tactics.

As the aliens slowly takeover and suppress humans a resistance begins to form. Using mostly bombs as a tool the aliens are shaken up but hardly defeated, seriously bullets versus spaceships. Some moderate aliens help the resistance and reveal the full plan. They are on a dying planet and are stealing our water and people to eat.

A side thought that never gets developed after the first series is other aliens. The (V)isitors have another enemy so dangerous that they defeated the V in battle. They Other aliens are also to dangerous for the good V to approach for help against the bad V. Some humans will be turned into soldiers to fight the enemy. Humans send a signal into space to find the Other aliens but it would take years.

Throughout the series humans keep fighting and drive the aliens off the Earth but as V reinforcements come a half-human half-alien super-girl becomes the liaison to both races and takes off to broker peace.

Problems:

• Aliens also have magic powers (mind control, telekinesis, etc.)
• Water is heavy in gravity. Especially since the Oort Cloud around our solar system has thousands of moon size balls of ice-comets free to take.
• Why not cows? Or pigs? Even if humans have some special chemical just modify livestock DNA to produce a viable alternative.
• How much do they need? The V talk of visiting at least a dozen planets and doing the same.

Halloween Results

The Simpsons Halloween episode was dull.

Castle was funny with references to Firefly and Buffy.

And that's all, very weak showing.

Ok a few talk shows got dressed up and some soaps but those really don't count.

I'm Jaded

Went to the STEAMPUNK HAUNTED HOUSE and was truly bored. I won 8 tickets and split them among family and friends. My group was less than thrilled to have actors pop out of every corner yelling and banging pipes on the floor. Granted the other group reported to me it was amusing, not scary, but fun.

Oh well, one to many slasher films when I was three left me expecting more. Either that or the cheesy special effects. Remember the Dr. Who episode The Empty Child, well they tried to do that but on a $2.00 budget.

For those not into the hip new trends Steampunk is a style of mechanizing the present and the past using steam power and gears. Kind of a what-if scenario where electricity never emerged but steam/gears become sophisticated. Sounds cool but these haunted house players left a lot to be desired.

World Series Week

Because of the World Series, GO YANKEES, most shows this week will either be repeated or not on at all.

Still no great loss as most shows have been less than entertaining. So far Glee and Dexter are the only shows to hold my interest.

V is coming on November 3 and it looks crappy. I enjoyed the original but unless they are hiding the best scenes the show looks like another overly written sci-fi mess.

I leave you with a cool image from http://shirt.woot.com/ that I saw a few days ago.

Remember eat all your candy corn before they go bad...real bad.

MMM Candy Corn

Few shows are showing Halloween episodes but lots more commercials about Halloween.

Hopefully I'll get some haunted house tickets soon.

While I Was Out

Apparently the non-NYC part of America was fascinated by a boy thought to be on a balloon floating to Narina? Oz? Boulder, CO? or some other mythical place.

Now while a was in class studying aerodynamics my TiVo recorded many shows in the afternoon, none of which carried that story.

Here is why I'm dumbfounded by the dumbness. A helium balloon of about 20'x5'x3' (the tapered edge and sewn sections does not allow for a cylindrical volume formula) could never hold a boy of about 50 lbs. Simple math available online could have solved this.

20'x5'x3' = 300 cubic feet very low

You need 15.87 cubic feet of helium to lift 1 pound.

50 pound needs at least 793.67 cubic feet to lift, and at least 900 cubic feet very high to really fly freely.


Oh yeah plus MYLAR rips with ease and could never hold a moving child!

Please people a little more science will not hurt you.

What's New(ish)?

Still have not bought a TV but a friend let me have their old 15 inch pre-digital TV. This leaves me more time to buy a proper HDTV with huge discount, maybe on one of those Black Friday sales.

A new an even more useless channel has been rolled out. A high school sports channel.

The scroll on the bottom was to inform the viewer that the guide has moved from 14 to 88.

Watched some movies worth noting.
Role Models - Funny but not for the easily offended.
Blindness - Great movie based on the novel of the same name. People go blind and their true nature comes out. Julianne Moore plays the one person who can see and must witness the nature of men.

Flash Forward is a new show about fate and if it can be changed. Starting to get dull.
Accidentally on Purpose is a new sitcom about a woman who gets knocked up and likes it.
Stargate Universe is Star Trek Voyager meets the most boring parts of Battlestar Galactica.

Giants undefeated, Jets doing well, Yankees are incredible.

Emmys Anyone

8:07pm Neil Patrick Harris sung something funny and did some nice jokes about theme songs. Nice to see him hosting since after Doogie Howser I thought he was a goner.

I may switch to the Giants game so I'll keep that in blue.

8:12pm Kristin Chenoweth won for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for Pushing Daisies
Damn good she was the best and that show was the best.

8:26pm Jon Cryer won for Best Supporting Actor for Two & Half Men not a bad decision.

Jordin Sparks sung the national anthem, she was very okay. Former Pres George Bush flipped the coin and no surprise the Cowboys won.

8:33pm Toni Collette outstanding actress in a comedy for United States of Tara which is blah at best.

Just in case you think I can't split again I'm also doing an engineering report in another window.

Giants settle for 3 points, by the the way the Jets did win this afternoon.

8:42pm Best directing went to some The Office episode which I don't watch, not funny.

A great shot of Bush and Madden as newly retired. No Jessica Simpson mentions yet.

8:50pm Alec Baldwin outstanding lead actor in a comedy for 30 Rock, blah.

Dang the cowboys scored 6 +1.

9:00pm Jeff Probst won for best hosting, no surprise.

Giants score 7 on an interception, they show the Cowboys owner picking his nose then the Giants recover a fumble.

9:09pm Amazing Race won for best reality-competition, no surprise.

9:12pm TV Movie actors but I don't watch them so back to football, crud commercials, back to the report then.

Giants up by 13 to 7.

9:21pm More Mini-Series/Movies that I never watched.

Dang the cowboys scored 14 to 13 now.

9:30pm Dr. Horrible bit was funny.

9:54pm Writers for variety shows are always funny and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart won so good for him.

My word there are a lot of British and Australian actors portraying Americans on our TV shows.

Juggling catch by the Giants puts on top 20 to 14, a 3 pointer now has it at 20 - 17. They keep showing the stadium's 160 feet 4 sided TV, it looks so dangerous.

10:08pm Ricky Gervais just insulted everyone in the room and at home. The Daily Show won again and Stewart wants to go back stage and watch the Giants game.

10:20pm Micheal Emerson from Lost won for best supporting actor. Greatest choice possible. His wife works on True Blood.
Cherry Jones from 24 as the President won for best supporting actress.

In Memoriam with live singing by Sarah Mclachlan.
99% were true stars, so many.

Cute putting the two guys who played vampires together, Stephen Moyer and David Boreanz.

10:40pm Glenn Close won for Damages as lead actress in a drama series. Blah.

10:49pm Bryan Cranston won for Breaking Bad lead actor in a drama series, very good the man is great in everything he does.

10:53pm 30 Rock outstanding comedy series, Weeds should of won or even Family Guy.

Dang gummit Dallas is winning.

11:01pm Mad Men outstanding drama series, ehhh I would have gone with Breaking Bad.

3 minutes over time, Emmys were OK overall.

And with 4 seconds left on the clock the Giants win 33-31.

Happy and Sad

Glee: Acafellas
Slight improvement with the musical track but not as funny as previous episodes. Apparently everyone in that school can sing and dance as the teacher forms an a capella group with other teachers and they're great.

Special appearance by Josh Grobin as a pro-drunken-chubby chaser was cool.

Now the sad,
Henry Gibson of Laugh-In fame also did 4 seasons of King of the Hill and Boston Legal, at the same time, died of cancer at the age of 73.

With over 135 shows and movies under his name he could be funny or creepy.


Well the year is more than half over so hopefully everyone else can stay healthy and alive.

Swayze

Red Dawn
Ghost
Dirty Dancing
and so many more.

King of the Hill Series Finale

Image via Wikipedia

King of the Hill: To Sirloin with Love

Bobby learns he's a beef savant and his father realizes he final can bond with his son.

For 13 years King of the Hill struggled with realism versus the absurd. The Simpsons of course went to the unreal but the people over at Hill kept bringing back the show to a guy who loves his family and his very small world.

Good job and I can't wait for the next Mike Judge project ( I will ignore the awful The Goode Family that premiered last season).


Off topic: Kanye West and Charlie Sheen seem to be vying for the moron of the year award.

8 Years or 1 Day

It is still a fresh wound and the threat is still out there.

Once again on September 11, 2001 nineteen Muslims under the banner of Al-Qaeda hijacked four planes and crash most of them in American buildings. The loss of life was large. Right-wing-Islamic religious hate is what sparked the attack as none of the hijackers were poor or oppressed.

Never forget.

Update: I would add the all NYC stations carry the reading of names and the memorial at ground zero uninterrupted, while the 24 hours cable station do nothing but fear and speculate.

Glee

Glee: Showmance

Still funny but they have changed the musical audio track by overlaying the singing instead of live on stage and pumping up the music. So the show is a bit over-the-top with surreal jokes but now with the pumped up music it is losing some of its small school charm.

Best of class 2009

Thieves

I always despised the internet for the rampant stealing (also political lies and conspiracy theories). Music, movies, book, software, and original writing all free to trade if lack morals.

Now my stuff has been stolen a time or two but mostly copy and paste stuff. This is going a bit far:

This loser (girl my as.),From this site,Posted this and twisted some words around,

From my original,

cinemax, Channel #85

Lots of popular movies but they have a deserving reputation for peddling softcore p0rn. At this moment they are having Busty Cops: Protect and Serve! the plot makes no sense and they are not effective cops but then again I maybe missing the point(s).

No need to link to thief but now I know how the original authors of Harry Potter and The Lion King must have felt.

The Mist

Image via Wikipedia

Finally I saw Stephen King's The Mist on its Showtime premiere tonight and it was good.

Not to ruin it for anyone but it is a movie about the problem with too much and too little faith, plus monsters.

Marcia Gay Harden plays Sarah Palin perfectly as everyone makes bad decisions in times of crisis.


The book ends differently.

She Learnt Something

Via Gothamist by way of The NYPost article by Jen Chung on August 25, 2009 3:09 PM

It's a story that Dick Wolf would approve of: A receptionist helped the cops catch a career criminal by setting aside a paper cup he used—all thanks to the armchair detective knowledge she acquired from watching crime dramas like Law & Order: SVU! Of course, the cops initially declined to take evidence—Detective Eliot Stabler would totally rage out about that.

According to the NY Post, Justine Faeth, 24, "was in the company's lobby at 6 E. 39th St. on June 15 when smooth-talking ex-con Kevin Moore, 50, walked in at around 1:30 p.m." He then "distracted Faeth by asking for a glass of water, and after drinking half of it, blew his nose in a tissue, put the rag in the paper cup and left it on the front desk, she said." The old "can I have some water and blow my nose out" scam! Before she knew it, Moore had left with an iPod, cellphone and wallet! But that's when life-imitates-art inspiration struck:

"When they are trying to get DNA from a suspect on 'SVU' and that person is unwilling to give them a sample, they trick them into drinking water and then use that as evidence," Faeth told The Post yesterday.

"I knew to save the cup at least for fingerprints -- the show taught me that," she said. "It's amazing what you can learn on a TV show."

So the worker said she made sure the cup remained set aside until the cops came.

The only thing is that the cops said the DNA evidence wasn't necessary, because it wasn't a rape or murder—so she threw away the evidence... only for detectives to come back and ask for it! Luckily, the garbage crew hadn't taken her trash and the police traced the DNA to Moore, who is believed to be behind at least similar robberies (including ones where he pretended to ask about lessons at Alvin Ailey Dance Studios and took a tour of a gym, where he robbed a back office).

As for the initial cop's claim that they didn't need the cup, police spokesman Paul Browne said, "We do not know that the officer said that."

I'm 50/50 on this. Yeah! for her quick thinking but it was after the fact so she should've known the scam.

What is she?

Apparently not watching regular TV gives me little to talk about.

Windows Media Center

One Dell 15" laptop
One Angel USB TV Tuner
One set of Dell 2.1 speakers
+ Windows Media Center
Fuzzy TV with a 10 second delay

There are rumors that a person can get a full TV experience with Hulu, broadcast network sites, and other sites. Add to that the illegal ways of downloading, storing, and praying that you don't get a virus.

These rumors are false. Online TV is not equivalent to on-air television.

I'm very passive and so is TV and radio. If you can't push ONE button to get all your entertainment then what's the point. Searching, downloading, converting, watching then deleting all for a show you may not like, no thanks.

Here I go watching overpriced Coin Collectors on HSN while listening to Loveline Livestream and blogging & screen capturing.

So while not completely sans TV I have to adjust my habits, for now.

It's a Start

So with both TVs out of commission and a new semester worth of books and supplies on the way I choose to win a TV.

I've had decent luck with contest and tried to get something good with this Subway Scrabble game.

Well who would of thought I won on my second try.
No money.
No TV.
Nope. Not even a sandwich.

Winner of:
A 3 month membership to Club Pogo estimated value $8.99. Really, on that site you have to play almost everyday to possibly qualify to win more prizes. Now that I'm busy and with no free time.

My contest luck has always been off.

From TV Guide I entered to win 240 DVDs of the best shows. Instead I got the "Black Oil" edition of the X-Files. I got through 3 episodes and shelved it. No Black Oil either, very disappointing.

I entered a TV Squad contest to win an iPod, instead got $100 cash. Not bad but I really wanted the iPod since I don't buy music this would give me a reason to.

I won a radio contest the gave a special edition Star Trek DVD but it was never sent and instead I got tickets to some movie that I couldn't attend since I had classes.

This is sort of a pity post but feel free to rant on your contest-near-win in the comments.

Auxiliary Down Too

2nd dramatic recreation.

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Dramatic Recreation

On Hiatus

Due to irony and technical difficulties we at My Box Is Warm are currently on hiatus.


Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The Blackout

Back on August 14, 2003 there was a major east coast blackout. The power was out in my area for a little over a day. Some places were without power for 10+ days.

I was working in Lower Manhattan close to the World Trade Center when the lights went dark. The boss announced that the whole neighborhood was out and to go home by walking past the World Trade Center zone. By the time I reached the subway I walked halfway down the steps when I noticed it was the blackest black I ever saw.

If the subway was dark I thought so is the entire city. Walking to Union Square people with cars blasted their stereos with news that most of the east coast was out. Every payphone was working but full of anxious callers. Nearly every cell phone was non-functional.

I decided to walk back home over the bridge to my section of Brooklyn, it was about 8 miles (13 km). It was also in the high 90s and high humidity. All I had was half a bottle of warm water and about $50.

The only criminal activity I saw was frozen water being sold at five times normal value.

By the time I got home a few hours later I went to a local pizzeria ordered some slices and soda. They used two ovens one a wood burner the other a gas burner both worked well. My apartment uses natural gas stoves so it also was unaffected and I didn't open he fridge so nothing spoiled.

I spent the night listening to my Sony Walkman and staring at the star filled sky. The day brought electricity and TV. It was a good time New Yorkers acted like they always do with calm and logic.

food

Food Network, Channel #97

Food, gluttonous food!

I'm not a foodie although I do appreciate a fancy meal and every blue moon I think I'm a chef or bakery and will try to make something grand.

What I most often want is a pill you take on January 1st and for the rest of the year you don't need to eat.

Back in my youth I would watch hours of PBS cooking shows including Julia Childs and would be fixated. Now I can go months skipping cooking segments or shows.

For research purposes I saw...
Behind the Bash - Some lady goes to the kitchen to watch very fancy food get prepared.
Giada's Weekend Getawayys - I think that same lady eats local Rhode Island food.
Chefography - Rachel Ray is profiled. She intrigues me, just not enough to watch her talk show.
Chef vs. City - Teams of two run around Vegas in reality-show food stunts.
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives - Burgers, pizza and chili that raises your cholesterol just by watching them being cooked.

They do have a candy show that is great or maybe since I watch it at 3am when I have the munchies.

HBO2

Home Box Office 2, Channel #96

Just everything from HBO plus one or two more movies.

Currently worth watching on HBO2:
Held Up - Nia Long and Jamie Foxx in this underrated comedy about mistaken identity.
August Rush - Keri Russell in a wonderfully magic modern day fairy tale.
Fool's Gold - It's cute and funny enough.
The Ruins - Killer plants from the Mayan empire, I actually want to read the book after watching this film.

PPV, PPV2, PLAYBOY, XCESS

Pay-Per-View, Pay-Per-View 2, Playboy TV, Spice Xcess, Channels #92, #93, #94, #95

These are the channels blocked by cable unless you pay to watch the individual programs. Most of the programming is smut but they also show boxing, soccer, and wrestling (fake). Bars and restaurants are they main customers but occasional house parties where the host ask $2-$5 per guest for the PPV bill.

The only time I ever ordered PPV was for American Pie Uncut, it was just when the local video rental store closed and I was bored (pre-internet for me).

Those cage girls will catch a cold if continue on that path.

Girls Gone Wild classic.

Clever pun.

Oh those n00bs.

SHO2, Flix

Showtime 2, Flix, Channel #90, #91

Both are part of the Showtime family.

Showtime 2
Mostly movies and reruns from Showtime. Unfortunately they also show reality. Big Brother After Dark shows us the uncensored stuff the networks can't air. Before you get too excited it is mostly 3 hours of talking and cursing.

Currently worth watching:
Valmont (1989) - Anything with Colin Firth and Fairuza Balk is always worth watching.
Hostel 2 (2007) - Gore films can be enjoyable, to a point.

Flix
Older movies but that doesn't necessarily mean quality.

Currently worth watching:
The Perez Family (1995) - Great movie about an informal Cuban family. Plus Marisa Tomei is at her best here.
The Gate (1987) - Claymation demons terrorize children. Actually scarier than it sounds.
From Dusk til Dawn (1996) -Great action vampire movie.


Part 3
Bolllywood Hero concluded on typical happy ending note, I think. The timing was off and TiVo did not record the last 5 minutes and I don't know when they rerun it.

YES

Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, Channel #89

All Yankees all the time, except when they are showing infomercials.

Yankees baseball is unique among all baseball and they are simply the greatest. How they win so much is quite simple. They never give up. A typical baseball game last 3 hours, the typical Yankees game is 4 hours + and they often comeback during the 8th and 9th innings.

Sure the lack of consistent pitching may be a problem but they focus on getting hits and they are equally prepared during the 15th inning as they are in the 1st.

Sidenote: I'm a Yankees fan.

Update: Forgot the also show NJ Nets basketball games but no one watches.

MSG, MSG Plus

Madison Square Garden Network, Madison Square Garden Plus, Channel #87, #88

MSG plays a lot of old games and other sport events from Madison Square Garden.

MSG Plus plays more modern games including soccer and other lesser sports. They use to show arena football but as of last week the league has been disbanded. Now we must watch Candian Football for all our off season football fix.

Both MSGs have sports talk but again MSG Plus is more current sports talk.



Part 2
Bollywood Hero has Kattan becoming more likable as he tries to make up for kissing a women in India. They barely touch on the hypocritical state of India as pioneers but not leaders in women's rights. Just as you start to like Kattan, the character, he messes up his new relationship by talking too much.

TMC

The Movie Channel, Channel #86

Once independent now part of the Showtime family. Get ready for a shock. This station shows nothing but movies! Cue dramatic music... ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

Themes:
Yesterday's theme was Splatterdays on Saturdays featuring movies like the new Halloween, Scream, and other slasher-comedies and horrors of recent years.

Other themes can include That Guy You Know by Face, Blondes, Heroes Who Die, etc.

MAX

cinemax, Channel #85

Lots of popular movies but they have a deserving reputation for peddling softcore p0rn. At this moment they are having Busty Cops: Protect and Serve! the plot makes no sense and they are not effective cops but then again I maybe missing the point(s).

Part 1:
Back to yesterday's premiere of Bollywood Hero on IFC it was ok but Chris Kattan could have done it a bit more serious or at least less physical comedy. Everyone else is playing it straight and comfortable then you have Kattan being so uncomfortable that it is distracting. I get he is in a strange land trying something new but it doesn't come off as a sincere effort. Plus one hour long is too short.

SHO

Showtime, Channel #84

A lesser HBO but it has some goodness its own rights. While the other premium cable channels battle over the crappy-blockbusters Showtime goes for better quality.

Recently they have hit hard with original programming.

Currently watching:
Dexter - A serial killer with a heart of gold. Season premiere September 27.
Californication - A sex addict with a heart of gold. Season premiere in winter?
Nurse Jackie - Just another bad drug addict.
Weeds - Funny show about a family of drug dealers.

Gave up watching:
Secret Diary of a Call Girl - Hooker with a heart of gold that made prostitution look like a day at Disneyland and not the drug filled abusive black hole it really is in life.
United States of Tara - A psycho with a heart of gold. Again the candy coated psychotic behavior to the point were no one can relate to the main character.

Heart of Gold Theme
While HBO goes for the ensemble cast Showtime puts a lead for each show and surrounds them with great supporting casts. To make sure you won't hate the lead when eventually they do something out of character or just plain dumb they give them a heart of gold.


Pop-ups from hell.

During Weeds a fully loud and annoying video pop-up announcing some webisodes featuring the Andy character. So at a critcal moment of the show on this commercial free channel they blast a huge pop-up for no good reason. I refuse to watch the webisodes because this little stunt which has been stopped recently.