This Week in Whoops

I posted about Under The Dome and the I completely forgot to watch Monday's episode. Then I decide to wait until Friday to watch it on CBS.com when suddenly they pulled it off and now it is being sold on Amazon, Under The Dome Online.

Honestly the lack of free repeats in this day and age is annoying.

On the Fourth of July I went to a backyard barbecue and recorded the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks on NBC. Unfortunately it is 2 hours long and I am already out of the celebration mood. As long as I can remember I never missed one but should I spend the time watching it. Even in fast-forward it is a bit long.

Then I checked my TiVo and was upset that none of my weekly show like Burn Notice were not recorded and then I spent some time searching for them. Well it turns out since it is the holidays that all shows took a week off.

Stephen King's Under The Dome

Tonight at 10PM on CBS is the premiere of Under The Dome a short series by Stephen King and Steven Spielberg, and probably a bunch of other people.

The people of a small town suddenly find themselves trapped in a bubble. How they react to this dilemma is the main part of the story while trying to figure out why is it happening is a secondary concern. This was one of Stephen King's most massive books. He also felt the story needs to be stretched out on TV and should span several seasons.

For those fans of The Simpsons Movie you may remember a similar plot but everyone involved agrees it was just a coincident. Another trapped in a fish bowl movie that I enjoyed was Dark City and may be a bit of spoiler to the book.

The book is guaranteed to be different than the series as King himself said that the book ending and reasoning would not work well on TV. Still I would wait to read the book if you have not yet. I find it better to read the book later as people tend to be disappointed with the TV/Movie versions.

The Chew

Recently stayed home on a weekday and left ABC on after the news was over. Back in the day that meant hours of soap operas but I forgot those days are over. Recently ABC replaced the soaps with The Revolution and The Chew, months later only one show survived.

The Revolution was almost immediately canceled since it had to do with exercise and a healthy lifestyle change.  The Chew on the other hands celebrates foods and crafts which everyone loves. Another plus for The Chew are the hosts.

Daphne Oz, ‎Carla Hall, ‎Mario Batali, ‎Clinton Kelly and Michael Symon make up the co-hosts. Michael and Mario are like feuding brothers. Carla is the cool kid. Daphne is a sweetie pie. Clinton is the main host and is like the older brother who occasionally gets no respect. The cast works well together and they seem to be having fun.

That is the good but the bad is they play to many games with the audience, that is a new thing among talk show. Even Katie Couric plays games in her show. They also make a lot of comfort foods. They try to balance the cooking with healthier alternatives and remind people this should not be everyday food. Still all that food make me full. I am not a foodie but I see why many enjoy this show.

Granted I prefer soaps when I am sick at home but watching a show with fun people is always good.

P.S. I have no plans to make any of their recipes but I may order out.

Remembering James Gandolfini

James Gandolfini, American actor. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In Italy James Gandolfini died of an apparent heart attack. The great actor leaves behind a young family. It always makes me upset when I hear these stories not only because the guy was so young but he died in Europe.

European countries tend to treat first and then take the victim to the hospital. In America they take you to the hospital first then treat the patient. In cases of heart attacks or strokes or internal damage it means almost certain death in Europe.

I must have seen Gandolfini in a dozen small time roles before the world discovered him in The Sopranos. He was a great character actor and that is not a knock. Character actors are so difficult to do well and Gandolfini often stole the scene.

After Sopranos he became leading man material and while he never reached the same heights each role was better and more believable.At this moment I hope everyone remembers him and his family quietly like James would have wanted.

Nurse Jackie

The season finale of Nurse Jackie just passed and it was great. The show about a drug addicted constantly lying nurse changed last season. This past season she was sober and starting her life anew. The final moments of the season finale ended with hope that the old Jackie is finally back.

The acting and writing for this season was great but I still wanted the old less apologetic Jackie. While I normal cannot stand drug users I think the drugged up Jackie is better. For new fans a marathon of all the seasons will be a good investment.

Game of Thrones

I came late to The Game of Thrones on HBO but all the talk about Peter Dinklage's performance made me check it out. Turns out he was not the only great thing. As the season just finished on Sunday let me summarize what happened.

Oh, aah, eww, aha, OMG!, ooh okay.

An expanded summary is more about how people are battling for leadership of an entire world. This world has many kingdoms, magic, the walking dead, and even a few dragons. While all the people are killing each other a powerful evil is coming from the far north.

After the first few episodes you should refer to the cast guide as you may need it. 

Now that you got the faces straight now try and get the houses and orders sorted out.

If there is ever a show to watch in marathon form it is this one. I do admit the first season is slow and mostly uneventful until the end. They hint at magic but it is not confirmed until the last episode. After that the show picks up with the Red Wedding being the cherry on an awful sundae.

Channel 157: The Blaze

Where do bigots and the narrow minded have the backward ideas confirmed? At The Blaze a new channel by Glenn Beck.

Everything about the channel including the commercials are targeted those who fear those and who want a Christian theocracy. The Blaze is in direct response to Muslim extremist. The Christian extremist have matched one evil with their own brand of evil that comes in the form of far-right values.

Just like Islamic extremist and their TV this channel confirms fears and tries to urge violence without ever saying it directly. They are like the kid next to a bullying yelling to fight and hit him and escalting things only to runaway when the troubles start.

While you have the right to say what you want that does not mean you are correct. Even bad people can be heard but should be ignored. If I can erase this channel I would but blocking is also good. Lies have no place in the media.

Oh brother!

Soap operas were always filled with drama but that is on screen for General Hospital it has also been behind the scenes. When One Life to Live was canceled some characters went to General Hospital.

Then came the lawsuit.

Apparently One Life to Live (OLTL) and All My Children found a home online at Hulu. This meant the characters were still in rotation on their original shows. So on General Hospital all the characters from OLTL were literally recalled. Yet the actors are still under contract. What to do?

Make them brothers! Of course some have become long lost family members while the girl has just been recast as a new girl that no has noticed looks just like the old girl. Oh and she was sleeping tih one brother and is doing the other brother.

The world of soaps is collapsing but the crossovers are getting ridiculous, this time I do not blame the writers since they had no other options.

So much for our Happy Endings...

While most of those canceled were justified the saddest was Happy Endings (ABC). The constantly changing time slot doomed any chance this show had for gaining a mainstream audience.

Another great comedy is gone but I have no doubt we will be seeing this cast around fr years. There is still a small chance TBS will pick it like they did with the awsome show Cougar Town.

Also the Kiefer Sutherland show Touch was also canceled. While a bit silly with the whole numbers hold secret magic plot it was still a good project to see Sutherland at his best.

Jodi Guilty...of What?

Again another alleged high profile trial interrupting regularly scheduled TV. Just like the others they are West Coast based and not much talk over in the East especially NYC. Apparently the woman, Jodi Arias, on trial is camera friendly so they made a national case out of this non-story. The only people who should have cared was the victim's family.

As with car chases, celebrity troubles, and hot chick murder trials the west coast has been exporting nothing but time wasters. Since cameras are allowed in courts they change the course of the trial from evidentiary to overly dramatic. NYC has generally barred cameras so we have never been fascinated with the trial just the verdict.

I did not even know about this until a month ago when Dr. Drew kept mentioning it on Loveline. He said people out there were on the edge of their seats about Jodi Arias mostly because there were sexy photos involved. Of course I and most East Coaster could care less since we having constant threats of bombings, Hurricane Sandy, and the Sandy Hook massacre. Things like a domestic murder was low on the list of things to pay attention to at the moment. I watch news every day and it was mentioned maybe a few times over the last couple months and always as the 10th or later story.

So she was found guilty and that changes my life how? The large soda ban will affect me more than any west coast trial.

Wanted: America's Most Wanted

Looking at the news coverage of the three kidnapped women that included Amanda Berry. Thinking about all the years the women were missing and even the fact that no officials cared that Michelle Knight was missing is sad.

There is a glut of TV channels and reality shows with "celebrity" judges yet none of these guys lend a voice to find the millions missing in America and throughout the world.What we need is an all-star version of America's Most Wanted.

Whoops it was canceled on March 28, 2013 yet there are 4 Kardashian shows on. If the power of people can find two bombers in the middle of Boston then imagine what a TV show with an online component can do. Having famous people pleading for information on the missing would help. People forget the power of TV and it still can do better things than the internet. Since it was fools on the web that kept finding false leads in the Boston bombing case.