Christmas Specials?

No good Christmas specials or episodes this year. The new Sound of Music was panned by critics but it was as boring and terrible as the original so I do not see the big deal.

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.

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.

MMM Candy Corn

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

Hopefully I'll get some haunted house tickets soon.

Marathon Man

Not the kind where you actually train for, compete with others, and run around until you puke.

New Years Eve and New Year's Day are good for watching a long marathon of stuff you've already seen or stuff you would never watch if it weren't in marathon form.

Twilight Zone is the typical choice but I'm over that. I started ( no judgments please) on Lifetime with their Top 8 of 2008 marathon, only one (?) other was doing the same. Then moved to the Planet of the Apes movies, and finally Bones.


Wisegal
Alyssa Milano plays some mobs guys girl who betrays him then wreaks havoc on some nice mob family. The story is told through the nerdy son's point of view which by his tone is some sort of criminal in the future. Granted I may have got the intent of the story wrong but that's the fun with Lifetime. Their story is rarely the whole story.

Queen Sized
Some fat chick, don't worry she gave us permission to call her that, gets to be prom queen.
The problem with this movie becomes clear when she talks to the only other fat person in school. Is it that she's alone? Nope. It's that she is as selfish as the skinny chicks. Still there is another problem that 60% of all American teens are overweight so in a school of 200, like hers, about 120 of these kids should be fat. Only two fatties in school today is ridiculous. A scene with her running with ten other girls should have 6 big girls and 4 thin ones.
She does nothing to change, uses excuses like it's hard to exercise, and tries to equate her discrimination with that of African-Americans struggles in the U.S.


Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal
The story of mean girls or the story of the wimpiest town in America.
Girls make fun of others, get teachers fired, and beat up other cheerleaders. I'd like to point out the theme of laziness runs through all these movies. If anyone in the entire town would just knock one of these girls teeth out the story would have ended quickly. Based on several true stories.

7 Things to Do Before I'm 30
A depressed Lori Madison, played by Amber Benson, is a lucky girl who blames the world for being...um...I'm not sure why she was so depressed. She is funny, pretty, has a few men who want her, a great family, and lacks confidence. Before I have a chance to cry a river over her sad state she realizes what she has and gets married. Of course a woman's life is not complete without the marriage.

Encore 5 had all of the Planet of the Apes minus the Mark Wahlberg tragedy.
Lets sum them up.
Plant of the Apes: A future where apes rule because people got too lazy and let the apes take over. (Ignore the obvious undertones)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes: Crazy mutant men battle apes and then Moses blows the world up.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes: Three apes travel back in time to complete a time loop that will cause the future tragedy.
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes: Slave apes revolt.
Battle for the Planet of the Apes: I recorded this because I got sleepy, but I doubt anything profound will jump out.

Bones on TNT
I tend to watch the new episodes while eating at night and gets truely disgusted. Seeing this on a calm afternoon you can focus on the funny and continuing storylines. Unlike most detective shows this one has more personal stuff that recurs throughout the season.

Back in the day before seasonal DVDs this would be the only way to watch a whole bunch of shows in a row. It's good if you need to clean or organize to have it on in the background especially since radio today is crap.


One last thing was a photo I took of one subway stop. Soon we may have to pay $3.00 a fare for sub-par service, trust me it's not worth it. I appreciate the MTA's effort since I'm almost never late but the infrastucture is getting bad. Nearly every platform has dripping and leaking and wood covered temprary barriers as well as those annoy new bumpy yellow edges.

State of Television 2008

Ok I'm partially back, last day of class is the 29th so If I don't type here again until 2009 let me say to all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Shows I watched just in December(Not year round) I may have forgotten a few but this is a quick round up.

December 2005	December 2006	December 2007	December 2008
Invasion
Lost
Freddie
That 70's Show
Gauntlet II
Las Vegas
Kitchen Confidential
Arrested Development
Law & Order: SVU	Law & Order: SVU	Law & Order: SVU	Law & Order: SVU
My Name Is Earl	My Name Is Earl	My Name Is Earl	My Name Is Earl
Fear Factor
Drawn Together
South Park
Veronica Mars
ER	ER	ER	ER
Joey
Smallville	Smallville	Smallville	Smallville
Masters of Horror
Ghost Whisperer	Ghost Whisperer	Ghost Whisperer	Ghost Whisperer
Monk	Monk	Monk	Monk
The Dead Zone
Grey's Anatomy	Grey's Anatomy	Grey's Anatomy	Grey's Anatomy
The Simpsons	The Simpsons	The Simpsons	The Simpsons
House	House	House	House
Bones	Bones	Bones	Bones
Alias
Two and a Half Men	Two and a Half Men	Two and a Half Men	Two and a Half Men
How I Met You Mother	How I Met You Mother	How I Met You Mother	How I Met You Mother
American Dad	American Dad	American Dad	American Dad
Family Guy	Family Guy	Family Guy	Family Guy
The Closer
	Big Day
	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes
		Dexter	Dexter
		Journeyman
		Extras
		Pusing Daisies	Pusing Daisies
			Californication
			Chuck
		The New Adventures of Old Christine	The New Adventures of Old Christine
			Gary Unmarried
		The Big Bang Theory	The Big Bang Theory
		Prison Break	Prison Break
			Kath & Kim
Stargate Atlantis	Stargate Atlantis	Stargate Atlantis	Stargate Atlantis
Saturday Night Live	Saturday Night Live		Saturday Night Live
Mad TV	Mad TV	Mad TV
			Sarah Conner Chronicles
The Daily Show	The Daily Show	The Daily Show	The Daily Show
The Colbert Report	The Colbert Report	The Colbert Report	The Colbert Report
			Jimmy Kimmel Live
36	21	26	28

While I'm off from my highs of years past it is slowly coming back, but that means nothing of quality.

For instance Prison Break their Silly Scylla storyline is ridiculous.
While Chuck a show I never watched before caught my eye now I'm hooked.

The election wasted most of the time which despite dire warnings will effect nothing, except morale.

Then there's shows like Doctor Who and Lost which spend more time teasing about what is coming then actually being on the air.

While I like talking Doctor Who I'd rather watch new episodes.

The there's canceled shows which have been running at a extremely high rate to do what, replace them with reality TV. THERE IS ONLY ONE AMERICAN IDOL....KELLY CLARKSON. Cancel this staged crap already.

Post-Halloween Observations

I recall only two shows with a Halloween theme, My Name is Earl and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Maybe a few more that I don't watch had something but TV-wise it was really weak this year. While on the streets in NYC half the people were dressed up mostly in homemade costumes.


I saw alternative energy, one girl was corn, another was solar-panels, and the guy held a fan and was wind energy.

I saw only one political costume and it was a guy holding a plunger with a name tag that said Joe the Plumber.

On NY1 the sea of hundreds of thousands only produced 2 Sarah Palins, yet a few dozens storm-troopers.
My favorite was the two Wookies and the Original Ming the Merciless.

P.S. Jeremy S. thanks for link but this blog is about TV not Movies and about shows not celebrities. Also my last tribute was to Bernie Mac please google him to see a picture of what he looks like.

Fireworks Just Missed My Eye

I use to have window view to the Macy's Fourth of July Celebration for years without a camera then I got one. This year I finally perfected my night time photo shooting and then...Kaboom.

They moved the fireworks closer to the Brooklyn Bridge and I lost my view. Since my neighborhood has new condos this building I'm in is no longer the tallest and going to the roof will not help.

Either way Happy 4th y'all.

Here are some of pictures that aren't mine.

Halloween

Nice to see Bones and Big Bang Theory and full Halloween episodes.

Lots of the shows had Halloween episodes and lots of ads and parties were around so great.

Happy Halloween to all.

New Year New Problems

My TiVo is dying. It is sticking, freezing, and not recording. It is only 3 years old but from what I understand that is when the hard drive starts to fail. Replacing the drive cost $119 getting a new TiVo is $90, my choice is simple.

It recorded 7 hours of shows a day for over 1000 days, more during sweeps. The software is running fine and I guess maybe one day I'll try a self-installation to see if I have any computer skills.

Apparently TiVos have a 5 year time limit. If I buy a new one I'll let y'all know which one I chose. So 80-hours or 180-hours?

Back to TV I've been watching the Friday Night Lights marathon on Bravo it's a good show well made, well acted. No other shows are on this week so might as well start something new.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas...Eve

Surprisingly few Christmas shows to talk about. Although they will have the Yule Log this year in HD, it's a NYC tradition.

• I saw the Doctor Who season finale with the departure of Rose and it was very sad.
• Tivo has been recording The Shield and now I'm addicted.
• King of Queens is getting canceled.
• The Jets are doing better then the Giants.
  

Quote of the week: "I'm mean a full on Sydney Bristow kick." said a very pregnant Nicole Varzi on What About Brian when describing her baby's kick. (For those of you unaware JJ Abrams who made Alias also does this show.)

The 4th of July

Damn straight better recognize fool!

I'll see what I will do but most likely I'll do something the 5th of July. I have a slightly off-center view of the Empire State Building and the Macy's Firework display from my firescape and windows.
Yeah I'll also watch it on TV maybe I'll drag the TV to the firescape.

To quote Britney Spears, "Happy Fourth of July Y'all"

Happy Freakin' New Years

Ok I'm back Happy New Year.

I left TiVo recording two different New Years specials.

Dick Clark's New Year Rockin' Eve 2006
Bad singers, Ryan Seascrest and a very healthy Mariah Carey was no distraction for a sad Dick Clark. After a stroke that nearly killed Clark he had to relearn speech, walking and basically everything we take for granted.
Clark was there for on and a half hours. He slurred his L words and moved one side of his body easier them the other yet still sounded better then Hillary Duff.

NY1's Times Square Coverage
NY1 is a 24 hour news cable station famous in New York. They cover the Times Square ball drop live with only a few interviews and the crowd speaking to the camera. It is nicer and more genuine then the other specials.
What was truly funny is that a group of Mexicans, one in a wheel chair, were yelling Happy New Years to the camera and let out a happy "Shit Yeah".

NBC had Wanda Sykes and Carson Daly being tools on TV.

CBS had nothing but a repeat of CSI.

NYC You Just Been Punk'D

After a three day transit strike the union decided to go back to work even without a contract.

Now my birthday/Christmas celebrations are all messed up and I won't go shopping until after Christmas.
TV is boring, I've been catching up with Everybody Hates Chris and that is a damn funny show but they exaggerate the poverty and under-play the violence here in Brooklyn especailly in the 1980's.
Even though I believe Chris Rock was a kid in the 1970's.

Another thing that bugs me about this show is that the products( soda cans, shoe boxes, money) are all modern, they don't have a good research department.


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY FRIENDLY VISITORS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS LOREN.
MERRY CHRISTMAS LUISA.
MERRY CHRISTMAS JUNIPER_TREE.
MERRY CHRISTMAS DANI.

I wish you get all the gifts, love and joy you can handle....and then get a little more.

The Poster for the NYC Strike

TV is almost dead and I can't travel more then two blocks so I'm photoshopping some of the crappy strike stuff.
The New York City strike will probably end on Saturday.

I could post my Christmas want list but it only has one thing.
A Samsung DLP TV at least 50" no more than 66".

This Is Not Christmas Cheer

I take some time away from my precious-TV and all this shocking news comes down the pipeline.

First after suffering from Multiple Sclerosis Richard Pryor died on December 10^th at the age of 65 nine days after celebrating his birthday.
He was the first real comedian I saw on cable. Also he was the first celeb I knew was on drugs. It cut his life short at the end he was nothing more then a pile of mush.

Second was Lillo Brancato Jr. who was in a A Bronx Tale and The Sopranos went and broke into some house then his accomplice shot and killed a police officer, Daniel Enchautegui, 28. This happened in New York and was the second time a cop got killed in the last two weeks. Brancato Jr. has been battling a drug problem for years I'd say he'll sober up now but that won't happen in prison.

Third while researching these two guys at TV Squad they had this story about former ALF star Max Wright.
Apparently Wright is a crack head years after getting busted for drunk driving .
This is old news from August but it's the first I've heard of it.

The real shocker is that he is doing gay-porn for the crack money. I knew he was gay but I thought he had a stable relationship but I guess this is the third story that I must say drugs messed up another life.

Okay so lessons from these X-mas tales:

1. Stay away from drugs.
2. Your famous everyone is going to know.
3. The actors I grew up with will continue to disappoint.
   

Post Turkey Catch-Up

I just learned Pat Morita of Happy Days and Karate Kid fame died at the age of 73 of natural causes. He was so cool and funny.
Morita was one of first Asian actors I can recall playing in comedies and dramas with out being a stereotype he did about 100 movies and just about the same amount ofTV appearances . I liked his character on The Hughleys he played a racist neighbor.

On to the shows I’ve caught up with this past Thanksgiving.

Bones: A Man on Death Row
Bones applies for a concealed gun permit and gets denied. The agents tries to save a man on death row but only find out he’s really, really guilty and he now will stay alive just to answer for more crimes.

My Name Is Earl: Cost My Dad the Election
Nice use of a bunch of amputees. Earl’s dad once ran for mayor and Earl ruined it. Now Earl is trying to make it up but ends up costing him the election again. But the dad, Beau Bridges, sees he is trying to do good and bails him out again.

House: Hunting
House stole his ex-wife’s therapy records with a cool file cabinet opening trick and finds out she’s sexless. He tries to use this to prove she still loves him and starts moving close to her. She finds out and tells him to go to hell because now she really hates him.
At the hospital an irresponsible gay guy has AIDS and coughs up some blood on the young female doctor’s eyes and mouth. She freaks out takes some drugs and sleeps with her Australian colleague.
There was also a sick rat that becomes House’s new pet. Odd but great episode.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Rockabye
Just like a recent case in the headlines a pair of religious home schooled kids run away and does the wrong thing. These two kids try to legally get an abortion but with so many religious freaks around the country the get blocked and manipulated at every turn. Eventually the girl decides to knock the baby out of her body with her boyfriends help.
Another all-star cast with great performances.

NightLine
The last one with Ted Koppel featured a piece about the Tuesday with Morrie guys. But the best part was at the end when Koppel tells the audience to support the new Nightline people because if they don’t then ABC “will just replace this show with some comedy” that was such a great dis to Jimmy Kimmel, rightfully so but still funny.

I only saw parts of the parade on TV, I got live balloon picture the day before so no big deal. Saw enough to see the accident. And both football games sucked. I will not shop on black Friday.

Thanksgiving Day Balloon Blow-up Tour

One of the best things about living in New York City is that when your not lazy you can take pictures of events before they are on TV. The back of American Museum of Natural History is where they blow up the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons.

This is the front.

Big Bird

Barney

Doggie sniffing Barney's butt.

Pink hippo.

Chicken Little

Macy's stars.

Some slain girl.

Garfield

Mr. Potoato Head.

And crowd favorite Pikachu.

Voting Is Good But TV Is More Fun

Remember Vote today, Bloomberg for Mayor, No on Prop.1 & Yes on Prop.2. For all other seats vote for a good mixture of Democrats and Republican just to balance everything out maybe a Green party member but not Independent.
Election Day 2005.
Back to TV.

Surface: Episode 7
Great episode it began with a plane in trouble about to crash because of massive power failure. As we see the plane plunging towards the ocean the clouds open up and a herd of giant see monster are swimming along causing green lightning to shoot around them. It was an incredible shot.
We also learn that the government has known of these creatures for 4 years. They are trying to assess the threat but a secret group has derailed the government plan and are responible for the Docs murder.
Miles sets his sea monster free after a police chase.
The plant found along with the monster was found to be feeding off electricity, could this be a weapon against the monster who generate electricity. Remember it was found with the dead monster, could that be what killed it.
Best written show this season, someone please raise the production budget.

Prison Break: Sleight of Hand
Scofield puts a plan in motion to take back control of a prison section and help an innocent man.
Now these parts are a bit stupid...first he has to have a woman's phone number tattoed on his arm because he can't remember one phone number.
Second he puts three mafia guys in prison and isn't dead the next day.
Third the Vice-President notice her sweepers aren't doing good so she hires another sweeper to fix everything and he is good at his job but doesn't kill everyone fast enough.

Grey's Anatomy: Something to Talk About
Brilliant and funny episode.
A pregnant man, a woman whose heart bursted into flames during surgery and lives, the doctors relationships are defined and Dr. Grey whines some more before getting half a backbone.

I have to watch Rome, Arrested Development, Charmed, Family Guy and American Dad but that's going to have to wait.

I've more or less given up on Desperate Housewives, That 70's Show, King of Queens, How I Met Your Mother and some others.