One of the things I wanted to do with the blog when I started it back up is to post more music...so, since I'm obviously not posting anything else right now (busy!), this is as good a start as any.
This one alternates with "Outfit" as my favorite Drive By Truckers song...just depends on which day you ask me.
"Decoration Day"
It's Decoration Day.
And I've a mind to roll a stone on his grave.
But what would he say.
"Keeping me down, boy, won't keep me away."
It's Decoration Day.
And I knew the Hill Boys would put him away,
but my Daddy wasn't afraid.
He said "We'll fight till the last Lawson's last living day"
I never knew how it all got started
a problem with Holland before we were born
and I don't know the name of that boy we tied down
and beat till he just couldn't walk anymore.
But I know the caliber in Daddy's chest
and I know what Holland Hill drives.
The state let him go, but I guess it was best
cause nobody needs all us Lawsons alive.
Daddy said one of the boys had come by
the Lumber Man's favorite son.
He said, "Beat him real good but don't dare let him die
and if you see Holland Hill run.
Now I said, "they ain't give us trouble before
that we ain't brought down on ourselves"
But a chain on my back and my ear to the floor
and I'll send all the Hill Boys to hell.
It's Decoration Day
and I've got a family in Mobile Bay
and they've never seen my Daddy's grave.
But that don't bother me, it ain't marked anyway.
Cause I got dead brothers in Lauderdale south
and I got dead brothers in east Tennessee.
My Daddy got shot right in front of his house
he had noone to fall on but me.
It's Decoration Day
and I've got a mind to go spit on his grave.
If I was a Hill, I'd have put him away
and I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.
I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.
I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.
Showing posts with label you-toobs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label you-toobs. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Thursday night TV report, other stuff
Last night's big winner? Parks and Rec, of course. But I'll be honest...I don't think I laughed harder at anything than I did at Amy Farrah Fowler's reaction to receiving her tiara on Big Bang Theory.
But a close second was the entrance of the Leslie Knope campaign team: GET ON YOUR FEET!
(you're not going crazy...yes, it's backwards. Copyright infringement, and all that. On second thought, who am I to say whether you're crazy...you could be. But not because that video looks backwards to you. )
Adam Scott is brilliant, and extremely underrated....his excitement over both "Low-Cal Calzone Zone" and his foray into the world of claymation, followed by his awareness that he was slowly going insane was hilarious. "That can't be all there is!"
- Also watched last night...Wednesday's episode of Top Chef. I LOVE the Restaurant Wars episodes, and this was another fun one.
Grayson is my favorite, and I can't stand Lindsey or Sarah (The Mean Girls). I mean, Beverly is annoying, but I would have already gone Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon on those girls if I was her. I'm looking forward to the season finale, when Beverly hits Lindsey over the head with a mixing bowl and when Sarah tries to come to her rescue, Grayson steps in front of her and throws boiling water in her face, while Jim Ross screams in the background, "MY GAWD!!! THAT'S GRAYSON'S MUSIC!! WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE??"
- As for tonight...it's the return of Fringe! And here is a great video to catch you up on what is going on in Season 4 so far...
And, apparently, we need to enjoy Fringe while we can. Kevin Reilly (Fox president) was, at best, non-committal regarding the future of the show at press tour. The show is very expensive, and loses money every single week. It's not realistic to expect the network to continue to do that. They gave us four seasons of the show, which is likely four more than they would have gotten on ANY other network.
- I've also finished my Justified season 2 rewatch...I had forgotten just how intense those last two episodes were. Can't wait for Tuesday...I'll likely talk more about it then.
- More good news for the Dawgs today...another big running back commitment from Todd Gurley (let's see how fast Crowell grows up with both Gurley and Marshall pushing him), and then the announcement that Orson Charles is in fact the only junior that is jumping to the NFL. It's gonna be a LONG offseason...
But a close second was the entrance of the Leslie Knope campaign team: GET ON YOUR FEET!
(you're not going crazy...yes, it's backwards. Copyright infringement, and all that. On second thought, who am I to say whether you're crazy...you could be. But not because that video looks backwards to you. )
Adam Scott is brilliant, and extremely underrated....his excitement over both "Low-Cal Calzone Zone" and his foray into the world of claymation, followed by his awareness that he was slowly going insane was hilarious. "That can't be all there is!"
- Also watched last night...Wednesday's episode of Top Chef. I LOVE the Restaurant Wars episodes, and this was another fun one.
Grayson is my favorite, and I can't stand Lindsey or Sarah (The Mean Girls). I mean, Beverly is annoying, but I would have already gone Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon on those girls if I was her. I'm looking forward to the season finale, when Beverly hits Lindsey over the head with a mixing bowl and when Sarah tries to come to her rescue, Grayson steps in front of her and throws boiling water in her face, while Jim Ross screams in the background, "MY GAWD!!! THAT'S GRAYSON'S MUSIC!! WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE??"
- As for tonight...it's the return of Fringe! And here is a great video to catch you up on what is going on in Season 4 so far...
And, apparently, we need to enjoy Fringe while we can. Kevin Reilly (Fox president) was, at best, non-committal regarding the future of the show at press tour. The show is very expensive, and loses money every single week. It's not realistic to expect the network to continue to do that. They gave us four seasons of the show, which is likely four more than they would have gotten on ANY other network.
- I've also finished my Justified season 2 rewatch...I had forgotten just how intense those last two episodes were. Can't wait for Tuesday...I'll likely talk more about it then.
- More good news for the Dawgs today...another big running back commitment from Todd Gurley (let's see how fast Crowell grows up with both Gurley and Marshall pushing him), and then the announcement that Orson Charles is in fact the only junior that is jumping to the NFL. It's gonna be a LONG offseason...
Friday, May 20, 2011
RIP, Macho Man..a list in your honor
Sad news today about the death of Macho Man Randy Savage...and the fact that he died in a car accident somehow makes it even more sad. Most of the time when we hear of a wrestler passing before his time, it is due to some repercussion of their lifestyle...drugs, steroid use, etc. Not that it makes their deaths any less tragic...but, yeah, it kind of does.
So, anyway...in honor of the Macho Man, here is a list of the Top 20 wrestlers from the time that I actually was regularly watching (roughly 1984-2001). This is not necessarily a list of my "favorite" wrestlers...it's the ones I considered the best, based on in-ring work, mic skills, total body of work (including longevity and style adaptability) and the iconic nature of the "character" they created.
Yes, I put WAY too much thought into this. And one thing I learned...apparently wrestling fans LOVE both Creed and Staind. That was disappointing, but not surprising.
First off, honorable mention to a few who JUST missed the list: Scott Hall, Owen Hart, Magnum T.A., and Vader.
20. Curt Hennig. Mr. Perfect was just a great character, and at his peak he really knew how to work a match. I'll never forget his 360 degree selling of clotheslines.
19. Edge. Would probably be higher on the list based on his work after the time period I'm looking at...but even by 2001, he was already established as one of the greatest workers in the world, and was often hilarious on the mic.
18. Jake The Snake Roberts. Inventor of the DDT, and creator of one of the most iconic and memorable characters of all time. Dude scared me to death when I was a kid...but I still wanted to be him every time we would imitate wrestlers on our trampoline.
17. Arn Anderson. The enforcer. One of the legitimate tough guys in the sport, and almost nobody was better on the mic.
16. Eddie Guerrero. CHEAT TO WIN, BABY!!!
15. Triple H. Not the most consistent in ring worker, but for a time in the early 00's he could make a claim at being one of the to 2-3 in North America. Nobody since Hulk Hogan has had as much power behind the scenes.
14. Sting. One of the great babyfaces of all time, and a very consistent in-ring worker who put on some classics in the late 80's and into the 90's against Flair, Vader, and others. Was never the same after the stupid "Evil Sting" storyline in 96-97.
13. Chris Jericho. I probably have him too high, but he was always one of my personal favorites. A bit sloppy in the ring, but few were better on the mic, and his intro to WWF was one of my favorite mark-out moments as a wrestling fan.
12. Undertaker. Had some of the worst matches I have ever sat through...but also created maybe the greatest persona in pro wrestling history, and managed to stay relevant through many iterations of the sport and several different wrestling styles.
11. Ricky Steamboat. Generally regarded as the greatest pure babyface of all time, and one of this generation's greatest workers as well. When compiling a list of the greatest matches of the 1980's, he probably has at least three or four of the top five (at least two out of the trilogy against Flair, and his epic match with the Macho Man at WrestleMania III).
10. Mick Foley. A true hardcore wrestling icon, and consistently one of the best in the sport on the mic, no wonder which of his personas he was using.
9. Randy Savage. This is a guy whose in-ring skill gets overlooked due to his persona, I think. But he was a great worker as well as one of the most insane promo guys of all time.
8. Dynamite Kid. Before the back injury, he may have been the best worker in the world. If you are a fan of pure, old school wrestling, do yourself a favor and look up some of his matches in Japan against Tiger Mask.
7. Chris Benoit. Fitting that he makes the list just ahead of Dynamite, who was his hero. If this was based solely on in-ring ability, he may be number one. But the guy couldn't cut a promo to save his life. (poor choice of words?)
6. Kurt Angle. One of the most athletically gifted and innovative performers I have ever seen, and could work a crowd as well as anybody in history.
5. Bret Hart. The Excellence in Execution. One of the top 2-3 pure workers I ever saw, but only so-so on the mic.
4. The Rock. THE most ELECTRIFYING man in SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT. Probably the 2nd greatest ever on the mic, and overcame a pretty rough start to become a better than average in-ring worker. Could definitely tell a story in the ring, and had some true classics in the 99-01 era. A huge part of the most successful time in history for pro wrestling, and one of its most recognizable figures.
♠
3. Stone Cold Steve Austin. All he did was singlehandedly bring the WWF into the "Attitude Era" and basically destroy WCW, along with the Rock.
And...here is where it gets controversial...
2. Ric Flair. The best promo guy of all time. Could carry a broomstick to a 3 star match. World Champion dozens of times over. And my #2 of all time by a razor thin margin.
1. Shawn Michaels. I know I'm going to take some crap for this one. In my opinion, my top two are interchangeable...the only thing that puts Shawn Michaels ahead of Flair is that he wrestled so many different styles...as awesome as some of Flair's matches were, they had a tendency to follow the same patterns every time. Michaels has wrestled more styles, told a greater variety of stories with his matches, and that puts him over the top for me.
OK, now it's your turn...where am I wrong? Who are your favorites? What are some of your favorite wrestling memories?
So, anyway...in honor of the Macho Man, here is a list of the Top 20 wrestlers from the time that I actually was regularly watching (roughly 1984-2001). This is not necessarily a list of my "favorite" wrestlers...it's the ones I considered the best, based on in-ring work, mic skills, total body of work (including longevity and style adaptability) and the iconic nature of the "character" they created.
Yes, I put WAY too much thought into this. And one thing I learned...apparently wrestling fans LOVE both Creed and Staind. That was disappointing, but not surprising.
First off, honorable mention to a few who JUST missed the list: Scott Hall, Owen Hart, Magnum T.A., and Vader.
20. Curt Hennig. Mr. Perfect was just a great character, and at his peak he really knew how to work a match. I'll never forget his 360 degree selling of clotheslines.
19. Edge. Would probably be higher on the list based on his work after the time period I'm looking at...but even by 2001, he was already established as one of the greatest workers in the world, and was often hilarious on the mic.
18. Jake The Snake Roberts. Inventor of the DDT, and creator of one of the most iconic and memorable characters of all time. Dude scared me to death when I was a kid...but I still wanted to be him every time we would imitate wrestlers on our trampoline.
17. Arn Anderson. The enforcer. One of the legitimate tough guys in the sport, and almost nobody was better on the mic.
16. Eddie Guerrero. CHEAT TO WIN, BABY!!!
15. Triple H. Not the most consistent in ring worker, but for a time in the early 00's he could make a claim at being one of the to 2-3 in North America. Nobody since Hulk Hogan has had as much power behind the scenes.
14. Sting. One of the great babyfaces of all time, and a very consistent in-ring worker who put on some classics in the late 80's and into the 90's against Flair, Vader, and others. Was never the same after the stupid "Evil Sting" storyline in 96-97.
13. Chris Jericho. I probably have him too high, but he was always one of my personal favorites. A bit sloppy in the ring, but few were better on the mic, and his intro to WWF was one of my favorite mark-out moments as a wrestling fan.
12. Undertaker. Had some of the worst matches I have ever sat through...but also created maybe the greatest persona in pro wrestling history, and managed to stay relevant through many iterations of the sport and several different wrestling styles.
11. Ricky Steamboat. Generally regarded as the greatest pure babyface of all time, and one of this generation's greatest workers as well. When compiling a list of the greatest matches of the 1980's, he probably has at least three or four of the top five (at least two out of the trilogy against Flair, and his epic match with the Macho Man at WrestleMania III).
10. Mick Foley. A true hardcore wrestling icon, and consistently one of the best in the sport on the mic, no wonder which of his personas he was using.
9. Randy Savage. This is a guy whose in-ring skill gets overlooked due to his persona, I think. But he was a great worker as well as one of the most insane promo guys of all time.
8. Dynamite Kid. Before the back injury, he may have been the best worker in the world. If you are a fan of pure, old school wrestling, do yourself a favor and look up some of his matches in Japan against Tiger Mask.
7. Chris Benoit. Fitting that he makes the list just ahead of Dynamite, who was his hero. If this was based solely on in-ring ability, he may be number one. But the guy couldn't cut a promo to save his life. (poor choice of words?)
6. Kurt Angle. One of the most athletically gifted and innovative performers I have ever seen, and could work a crowd as well as anybody in history.
5. Bret Hart. The Excellence in Execution. One of the top 2-3 pure workers I ever saw, but only so-so on the mic.
4. The Rock. THE most ELECTRIFYING man in SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT. Probably the 2nd greatest ever on the mic, and overcame a pretty rough start to become a better than average in-ring worker. Could definitely tell a story in the ring, and had some true classics in the 99-01 era. A huge part of the most successful time in history for pro wrestling, and one of its most recognizable figures.
♠
3. Stone Cold Steve Austin. All he did was singlehandedly bring the WWF into the "Attitude Era" and basically destroy WCW, along with the Rock.
And...here is where it gets controversial...
2. Ric Flair. The best promo guy of all time. Could carry a broomstick to a 3 star match. World Champion dozens of times over. And my #2 of all time by a razor thin margin.
1. Shawn Michaels. I know I'm going to take some crap for this one. In my opinion, my top two are interchangeable...the only thing that puts Shawn Michaels ahead of Flair is that he wrestled so many different styles...as awesome as some of Flair's matches were, they had a tendency to follow the same patterns every time. Michaels has wrestled more styles, told a greater variety of stories with his matches, and that puts him over the top for me.
OK, now it's your turn...where am I wrong? Who are your favorites? What are some of your favorite wrestling memories?
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Don't call it a comeback...
...I've been here for YEARS!!
That's right...this is actual new material on the old Stuff of Legend blog today. The last few months have been very....well..."interesting" doesn't really seem to cover it, but I guess it will have to do. Not going to get into it, other than to say that I don't have to be nearly as careful about voicing my appreciation of my favorite television hotties anymore...no strings attached, baby!
So, I have TONS of stuff to get to, obviously. Lots of stuff happened while I was away that I started to blog about, but just couldn't work up the energy or motivation. Let's just pretend that I made my usual really cool and witty remarks about everything that has happened in the sports and pop culture worlds over the last three months or so and MOVE FORWARD.
Let's get the sports stuff out of the way first, so that my sports-only "audience" (yeah, right...as if I still have an audience at this point) can check out once we get to what is really going to be the bulk of this post...
- The Braves pitching staff has been absolutely ridiculous to this point...in a good way.
Second in the majors with a team ERA of 2.94. First in the majors in strikeouts. First in batting average against (a paltry .218). First in WHIP at 1.09.
Those are numbers that even the Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz pitching staffs would be proud of. Top to bottom, this is the best staff in baseball. Philly probably has better starters, but their bullpen can't even touch ours.
But, much like some of those '90s teams, the offense has been inconsistent, and really needs to get rolling if we want to stay in contention for the division. As good as our pitching staff is, it is unrealistic to expect the kind of dominance we are seeing right now to last all season...they will have rough patches when they need the offense to carry them.
To me, the key is three guys:
Dan Uggla: .202 avg, .664 OPS,
Jason Heyward: .219 avg, .749 OPS
Freddie Freeman: .226 avg, .678 OPS
We need to get at least two of these guys going on a consistent basis if we want the offense to stay on track. I don't worry so much about Uggla...he's a proven performer who has a long history of starting slow and then heating up as the weather does. Heyward and Freeman, however, concern me, only because they don't have a proven track record. Heyward can't seem to stay healthy, and his numbers since his hot start last year are Francoueresque. Freeman is obviously going through the majors for the first time, so we have no idea what to really expect.
And, of course, those two guys were also the SI cover boys. Coincidence? (yeah, probably)
- I loved the Falcons move to get Julio Jones. Yes, we gave up a lot. Yes, I would have rather drafted A.J. But to me, this move says that our front office thinks we are ready to win NOW. The guys we would have gotten with the picks we traded away might have been nice for the future (although it could be the case that Dimitroff et. al. saw this draft as extremely top-heavy), but when you have a window to compete for a Super Bowl, you better take advantage of it.
Two more thoughts: 1) the future picks should all be even lower than our pick this year, if the move pays off. Yes, that's an IF...this was a gamble, and all gambles have risks. 2) Who's to say we don't make other deals that get some of those future picks back?
As for A.J....I would love to have him. But I can pretty confidently guarantee that we called Cincy with the same offer we made the Browns. It takes two to make a trade.
My one qualm with the pick...Julio, as good as I think he will be (and I thought he was the second best WR in this draft, but would have been the best in the draft in most years), is still going to start next season as your #2 WR behind Roddy White. And we are paying him #6 pick money. That's a lot of money to pay your 2nd WR, no matter what the new CBA ends up doing to rookie salaries.
- The Hawks. Whatever. I knew after the offseason that we had before the year started that this organization is not aiming for anything other than an occasional appearance in the second round. Larry Drew and Joe Johnson are not the foundation on which championships are built.
We got lucky in the first round that we drew an opponent that was actually more dysfunctional than us. In the second round, it came down to the fact that Chicago has a superstar, and the Hawks only have someone who makes superstar money.
Next year, we likely lose Crawford, and we don't have money to go get a difference maker because we gave it all to Joe Johnson.
Whee.
- I guess the biggest news to come out of Dawg Nation in the last couple of months is the apparent shakeup in the backfield.
I wish Washaun Ealey well, and will always remember him for the night that he and Caleb RAN THIS STATE. But I will also remember him for wasted potential and an apparent bad attitude that was even more apparent to those who followed him on social media. I think he was given multiple chances to get his act together and chose not to...at which point, it's best for the team that he move on, no matter how much it hurts to lose your top rusher.
Now we anxiously await news on Caleb King's eligibility. Yes, I think Isaiah Crowell is a real talent, maybe a game-changing talent...but I thought the same thing about some other highly recruited guys who never panned out, as well. Plus I just don't like the idea of going into the season with two guys who have never carried the ball in an actual game as your top two tailbacks, with the number three guy being an undersized back that Coach Bobo is apparently trying to murder (stop running him up the middle!!).
As usual at this time of the year, I am really excited about the upcoming season. The defense should almost certainly improve, both because of experience in the system and some upgraded personnel along the d-line. Aaron Murray should be one of the top QBs in the SEC, as long as he gets time to throw and his receivers don't let him down.
Should be more to come as we get closer to fall practice...which is only a few (well, a dozen or so) weeks away!
OK...that concludes the sports-related portion of our programming. From here on out, it's a mishmash of pop culture stuff and other random observations, so if you aren't interested in that, no hard feelings...come on back next time (promise it won't be three months).
- This week is Upfronts Week for the networks, which is when they all announce their fall schedules, introducing their new shows and confirming the demise of others. This is also the week that my phone dies around lunchtime, due to the fact that all of the TV critics and bloggers that I follow on Twitter are all tweeting the same news at the same time. I received 25 Twitter messages just while typing that last sentence.
This is also the week when I wish I could go back and be a television writer. One that could actually get paid for the mountain of words that are about to spill out all over this page.
I am legitimately fascinated by things like network strategy...what new shows get greenlit, what gets cancelled and why, putting together a nightly primetime schedule and things like lead-ins, synergies between shows, etc. I'm a geek for several things, but this type of stuff is probably where I geek out the hardest.
I am especially intrigued to see how the networks are adjusting their strategies to deal with the brand new paradigms that they are now facing. It hasn't been too long ago that a "hit" TV show drew 20-30 million viewers a week. Now, with cable stations providing TONS more original programming, some of which is considered to be much higher quality than the typical network show, plus the rapid increase of either "timeslot shifting" (people DVR a show and then watch it whenever they want) or alternative means of watching television (OnDemand, DVD/Netflix, Hulu, etc) networks can't DREAM of hitting those types of numbers, with extremely rare exception (Super Bowl, etc). In my opinion, where this has hurt the most is in the development of new shows. Quick, tell me what the big break out network hits have been in the last two years....and by "hits" I'm talking about shows that actually draw numbers that win time slots.
GO!
OK, time's up...I came up with Glee, Dancing With the Stars, The Biggest Loser, Celebrity Apprentice, and what seems like a dozen CSI, NCIS, L&O type spinoffs. MAYBE The Mentalist? It's almost all reality show drivel or boring procedurals (all opinions in this blog are mine, obviously...if you enjoy those shows, more power to you, and congratulations...you have LOTS of choices).
Now let's look at the world of cable...for a cable channel, a "hit" doesn't necessarily mean "ratings", especially for the pay cable channels. It's all about brand prestige, reputation, and (for the pay channels) subscriptions. Mad Men. Breaking Bad. Boardwalk Empire. True Blood. Walking Dead. Justified. Dexter. I could go on, but you get my point...and that's without even mentioning shows like Sons of Anarchy, or Damages, or Weeds, or Nurse Jackie, or United States of Tara....all shows that, while they may not draw big numbers, all enhance the reputation and brand recognition of their networks.
So...what's the difference? First of all, the obvious...cable networks can get away with things content-wise that broadcast networks can't. That is a definite advantage.
But that can't be all of it. Seriously...what does Mad Men and Breaking Bad show or do that you can't get away with on network television? It's not anything that would really be missed, and it's not why the show works.
I think a big part of it is that cable networks go into it knowing that they are never going to pull the ratings that would typically be expected of a network show, which relieves some of the pressure to yank shows off the air if they aren't pulling huge numbers. True Blood is a great example...when it premiered on HBO, it got less-than -respectable ratings, and in a network environment (assuming that it was a show that had network type content), probably would have been pulled from the schedule almost immediately. Instead, it was left on the air, the buzz ramped up (even if the quality didn't), and it is now HBO's biggest hit.
I don't know what the answer is for the broadcast networks...they somehow have to find a way to sell advertising and make money, and for now their only real way of doing that is using a ridiculously antiquated Nielsen system. I foresee a future where ALL television is web based..NBC won't be a "channel", it will be a website. All of their content will be on the website, and you go and choose whatever you want to watch and it comes straight to your television. That is not something that we are years away from, at least not from a technology standpoint. We HAVE the TECHNOLOGY. What we don't have is a way of monetizing it that works for everybody...the networks, the consumer, the advertisers, the production staffs and writers, etc.
I just hope they figure it out soon...I'm tired of every new network show I start to get into being yanked off the air before it has time to find its feet, with The Chicago Code being the latest example (and Lord, Shawn Ryan deserved better after Terriers). Broadcast networks, in my opinion, have to come up with a new definition of what a "successful" show is...we can't keep using the same parameters in a completely new environment.
This isn't to say that there isn't quality programming currently on network television...but a lot of what I consider quality (Parks and Rec, Community, Chuck, Fringe, Cougar Town, etc) aren't ratings hits by any stretch of the imagination, and seem to live on the cancellation bubble, while stuff like The Voice, Biggest Loser, The Apprentice, etc. always seems to do huge numbers.
So I am very thankful that some of my favorite shows have been granted a reprieve. Looking at the numbers, it's really hard to fathom why the networks have chosen so save some, while others have gone by the wayside...but I'm glad for it anyway.
OK, I promise the rest of the bullet points will be shorter.
- Speaking of upfronts, this is the trailer from the new show that I am most excited about...believe it or not, it's from NBC (I KNOW, RIGHT?!?)
Looks pretty awesome, right? Which means that it will probably be cancelled by the time this post is actually published.
- Is there a way to tell a new girl at work that you find her REALLY attractive? I mean, without coming off like a total creep?
- Guess I should say something about American Idol. Basically, I give up. I said months ago that Scotty McReery was going to win the whole thing...based on my master thesis on American Idol Demographics (I should TOTALLY HAVE WRITTEN THAT), he has the Country Vote, the Teenybopper Vote, and the Grandmother Vote. Those are probably the three most powerful voting blocs in the American Idol Universe, so he is systematically destroying everybody in his path. I would be willing to bet that if they actually released the voting totals, he would be winning every single week. By TONS. Even before he broke out the "Vote for me or the terrorists win!!" strategy last week.
And, gah...he makes me want to punch him in the neck every time he performs.
The show has really missed both Simon and the different genre nights...without those two factors forcing contestants out of their comfort zones, everybody just does the same exact thing every....single...week. And the judges have been atrocious...the problem with praising EVERYTHING that everybody does is that it causes your praise to mean nothing. That was why it was always such a big deal when Simon gave positive feedback...you knew that if he was praising it, that praise was earned.
Anyway...I'm definitely watching out of habit (maybe even obligation) at this point. And no matter what I say, I will probably be right back there every single season until it gets cancelled and puts both me and the show out of our misery.
- Best five comedies currently on TV (either airing or just finished their season), in order: Parks and Recreation, Community, Cougar Town, Raising Hope, Bob's Burgers.
Just missed the cut: Modern Family (too inconsistent, but when it's on its game there are few better), The Office (WAY too up and down this season, and the Will Ferrell thing was a disaster), Archer (been off the air too long to qualify, but no show delivers more laughs per second).
What do you think? Let me know in the comments....next time out I will do dramas.
- So I have one question about the Fringe season finale...if it was 15 years in the future, how come everybody looked the same as they do now? I'm not counting the 4 gray hairs that Peter had. Take it from someone who knows...15 years does a LOT more damage to a head of hair than that.
Yep, that was the one question...everything else made perfect sense.
- Right now, the album I am most likely to be listening to on repeat is Manchester Orchestra's "Mean Everything to Nothing." Nothing but quality, start to finish.
And trust me, I love everything on Adele's "21", but I can't listen to it on repeat unless I want to throw myself off a cliff, only to have Superman swoop down and catch me, and then drop me from HIGHER. (tm Louie C.K.).
- I think I am officially done with How I Met Your Mother after last night. This whole season has been borderline awful (hated everything about the Zoey storyline), but I stuck with it, in large part because I felt like we were promised in the season premiere that by the time we got to that wedding, we would be getting ANSWERS. Instead, all we got was more mysteries...who is Barney marrying, and (most of all), why is this wedding so important to Ted? It was strongly hinted in the premiere that this is when he meets the mother, and maybe it is...but we are certainly no closer to knowing now than we were 22 episodes ago.
Look, I understand how hypocritical this is of someone who to this day will defend LOST with my dying breath...but the time for mysteries is over. They need to move the story FORWARD. In what way has the story moved forward this season? Marshall and Lily are pregnant (a storyline that you knew had to happen eventually), and Barney is marrying...somebody. And we still have no clue who the mother is.
It's time. And, no, I disagree with those who say that once you meet the mother the show is over. The story of a relationship doesn't end when you meet...there could still be LOTS of story to tell after that, with the mother just being another character on the show, that would HAVE to be more interesting than the water-treading that is going on now.
- I am now two thirds of the way through the Hunger Games trilogy...it's very interesting, gripping, exciting stuff. Definitely written for a younger audience, but the plot is tight enough that we older teenagers can still enjoy it. I would certainly recommend it to any parents with young adult readers...I bought my 13 year old a copy this weekend and can't wait to talk about it with her.
- I apologize to all two of you out there who were looking forward to detailed recaps of Game of Thrones. First of all, I never really could decide on a format...do I write it with readers in mind, or non-readers? There is no way I have time to do both...it would be really hard to recap it from a non-reader perspective, having read the entire series multiple times, but I know that out of what little audience I have, the majority would be non-readers.
And then...well, life got in the way and rendered the whole decision moot.
The series has been fantastic...the look is amazing, the acting is superb (and, yes, I would still want to adopt Maisie Williams if it wasn't so obvious that she must have parents far more superb and amazing than I could ever hope to be). My only real issue with the show to this point is the editing...we seem to move REALLY quickly between scenes, which I think hinders the viewer's ability to fully consume what he's just seen. This is probably due to having SO MUCH to fit in to each episode...which then makes me nervous about next season, when they will supposedly have the same number of episodes to tell tons more story.
But that's a worry for next season...for now, I am really enjoying the show. And what's better, several friends of mine who aren't fans of the book are loving it as well, which means that the writers and producers really are doing a fantastic job.
There have been several scenes, especially in the last episode, that never actually happened in the book. Since I am trying to view the show as a separate entity from the books as much as I can, I can safely say that I have really loved every single one of them, and feel like they have added even more depth to even some of the main characters than they might have had without these additional scenes.
Bravo all around, really...and for those of you who are watching and have not read the books, buckle your seatbelts. You ain't seen nothing yet.
By the way, if you're going to comment on Game of Thrones at all, please...no spoilers for non-readers. Thanks.
OK...I think that's enough for now. Even though I haven't even mentioned The Killing (liking it until last week...at which point I loved it), Chuck (perfect finale, and leads up to what I think can be a really cool final season), Firefly (watching it for the first time as it's being re-run on the Science Channel - is it too late to start a campaign to get it renewed?), or Deadwood (the one season I haven't seen, S3, just popped up OnDemand - all I can say, in the spirit of the show, is $%!@, &$*@, and %&!@#!).
Ahhh...it's good to be back.
That's right...this is actual new material on the old Stuff of Legend blog today. The last few months have been very....well..."interesting" doesn't really seem to cover it, but I guess it will have to do. Not going to get into it, other than to say that I don't have to be nearly as careful about voicing my appreciation of my favorite television hotties anymore...no strings attached, baby!
So, I have TONS of stuff to get to, obviously. Lots of stuff happened while I was away that I started to blog about, but just couldn't work up the energy or motivation. Let's just pretend that I made my usual really cool and witty remarks about everything that has happened in the sports and pop culture worlds over the last three months or so and MOVE FORWARD.
Let's get the sports stuff out of the way first, so that my sports-only "audience" (yeah, right...as if I still have an audience at this point) can check out once we get to what is really going to be the bulk of this post...
- The Braves pitching staff has been absolutely ridiculous to this point...in a good way.
Second in the majors with a team ERA of 2.94. First in the majors in strikeouts. First in batting average against (a paltry .218). First in WHIP at 1.09.
Those are numbers that even the Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz pitching staffs would be proud of. Top to bottom, this is the best staff in baseball. Philly probably has better starters, but their bullpen can't even touch ours.
But, much like some of those '90s teams, the offense has been inconsistent, and really needs to get rolling if we want to stay in contention for the division. As good as our pitching staff is, it is unrealistic to expect the kind of dominance we are seeing right now to last all season...they will have rough patches when they need the offense to carry them.
To me, the key is three guys:
Dan Uggla: .202 avg, .664 OPS,
Jason Heyward: .219 avg, .749 OPS
Freddie Freeman: .226 avg, .678 OPS
We need to get at least two of these guys going on a consistent basis if we want the offense to stay on track. I don't worry so much about Uggla...he's a proven performer who has a long history of starting slow and then heating up as the weather does. Heyward and Freeman, however, concern me, only because they don't have a proven track record. Heyward can't seem to stay healthy, and his numbers since his hot start last year are Francoueresque. Freeman is obviously going through the majors for the first time, so we have no idea what to really expect.
And, of course, those two guys were also the SI cover boys. Coincidence? (yeah, probably)
- I loved the Falcons move to get Julio Jones. Yes, we gave up a lot. Yes, I would have rather drafted A.J. But to me, this move says that our front office thinks we are ready to win NOW. The guys we would have gotten with the picks we traded away might have been nice for the future (although it could be the case that Dimitroff et. al. saw this draft as extremely top-heavy), but when you have a window to compete for a Super Bowl, you better take advantage of it.
Two more thoughts: 1) the future picks should all be even lower than our pick this year, if the move pays off. Yes, that's an IF...this was a gamble, and all gambles have risks. 2) Who's to say we don't make other deals that get some of those future picks back?
As for A.J....I would love to have him. But I can pretty confidently guarantee that we called Cincy with the same offer we made the Browns. It takes two to make a trade.
My one qualm with the pick...Julio, as good as I think he will be (and I thought he was the second best WR in this draft, but would have been the best in the draft in most years), is still going to start next season as your #2 WR behind Roddy White. And we are paying him #6 pick money. That's a lot of money to pay your 2nd WR, no matter what the new CBA ends up doing to rookie salaries.
- The Hawks. Whatever. I knew after the offseason that we had before the year started that this organization is not aiming for anything other than an occasional appearance in the second round. Larry Drew and Joe Johnson are not the foundation on which championships are built.
We got lucky in the first round that we drew an opponent that was actually more dysfunctional than us. In the second round, it came down to the fact that Chicago has a superstar, and the Hawks only have someone who makes superstar money.
Next year, we likely lose Crawford, and we don't have money to go get a difference maker because we gave it all to Joe Johnson.
Whee.
- I guess the biggest news to come out of Dawg Nation in the last couple of months is the apparent shakeup in the backfield.
I wish Washaun Ealey well, and will always remember him for the night that he and Caleb RAN THIS STATE. But I will also remember him for wasted potential and an apparent bad attitude that was even more apparent to those who followed him on social media. I think he was given multiple chances to get his act together and chose not to...at which point, it's best for the team that he move on, no matter how much it hurts to lose your top rusher.
Now we anxiously await news on Caleb King's eligibility. Yes, I think Isaiah Crowell is a real talent, maybe a game-changing talent...but I thought the same thing about some other highly recruited guys who never panned out, as well. Plus I just don't like the idea of going into the season with two guys who have never carried the ball in an actual game as your top two tailbacks, with the number three guy being an undersized back that Coach Bobo is apparently trying to murder (stop running him up the middle!!).
As usual at this time of the year, I am really excited about the upcoming season. The defense should almost certainly improve, both because of experience in the system and some upgraded personnel along the d-line. Aaron Murray should be one of the top QBs in the SEC, as long as he gets time to throw and his receivers don't let him down.
Should be more to come as we get closer to fall practice...which is only a few (well, a dozen or so) weeks away!
OK...that concludes the sports-related portion of our programming. From here on out, it's a mishmash of pop culture stuff and other random observations, so if you aren't interested in that, no hard feelings...come on back next time (promise it won't be three months).
- This week is Upfronts Week for the networks, which is when they all announce their fall schedules, introducing their new shows and confirming the demise of others. This is also the week that my phone dies around lunchtime, due to the fact that all of the TV critics and bloggers that I follow on Twitter are all tweeting the same news at the same time. I received 25 Twitter messages just while typing that last sentence.
This is also the week when I wish I could go back and be a television writer. One that could actually get paid for the mountain of words that are about to spill out all over this page.
I am legitimately fascinated by things like network strategy...what new shows get greenlit, what gets cancelled and why, putting together a nightly primetime schedule and things like lead-ins, synergies between shows, etc. I'm a geek for several things, but this type of stuff is probably where I geek out the hardest.
I am especially intrigued to see how the networks are adjusting their strategies to deal with the brand new paradigms that they are now facing. It hasn't been too long ago that a "hit" TV show drew 20-30 million viewers a week. Now, with cable stations providing TONS more original programming, some of which is considered to be much higher quality than the typical network show, plus the rapid increase of either "timeslot shifting" (people DVR a show and then watch it whenever they want) or alternative means of watching television (OnDemand, DVD/Netflix, Hulu, etc) networks can't DREAM of hitting those types of numbers, with extremely rare exception (Super Bowl, etc). In my opinion, where this has hurt the most is in the development of new shows. Quick, tell me what the big break out network hits have been in the last two years....and by "hits" I'm talking about shows that actually draw numbers that win time slots.
GO!
OK, time's up...I came up with Glee, Dancing With the Stars, The Biggest Loser, Celebrity Apprentice, and what seems like a dozen CSI, NCIS, L&O type spinoffs. MAYBE The Mentalist? It's almost all reality show drivel or boring procedurals (all opinions in this blog are mine, obviously...if you enjoy those shows, more power to you, and congratulations...you have LOTS of choices).
Now let's look at the world of cable...for a cable channel, a "hit" doesn't necessarily mean "ratings", especially for the pay cable channels. It's all about brand prestige, reputation, and (for the pay channels) subscriptions. Mad Men. Breaking Bad. Boardwalk Empire. True Blood. Walking Dead. Justified. Dexter. I could go on, but you get my point...and that's without even mentioning shows like Sons of Anarchy, or Damages, or Weeds, or Nurse Jackie, or United States of Tara....all shows that, while they may not draw big numbers, all enhance the reputation and brand recognition of their networks.
So...what's the difference? First of all, the obvious...cable networks can get away with things content-wise that broadcast networks can't. That is a definite advantage.
But that can't be all of it. Seriously...what does Mad Men and Breaking Bad show or do that you can't get away with on network television? It's not anything that would really be missed, and it's not why the show works.
I think a big part of it is that cable networks go into it knowing that they are never going to pull the ratings that would typically be expected of a network show, which relieves some of the pressure to yank shows off the air if they aren't pulling huge numbers. True Blood is a great example...when it premiered on HBO, it got less-than -respectable ratings, and in a network environment (assuming that it was a show that had network type content), probably would have been pulled from the schedule almost immediately. Instead, it was left on the air, the buzz ramped up (even if the quality didn't), and it is now HBO's biggest hit.
I don't know what the answer is for the broadcast networks...they somehow have to find a way to sell advertising and make money, and for now their only real way of doing that is using a ridiculously antiquated Nielsen system. I foresee a future where ALL television is web based..NBC won't be a "channel", it will be a website. All of their content will be on the website, and you go and choose whatever you want to watch and it comes straight to your television. That is not something that we are years away from, at least not from a technology standpoint. We HAVE the TECHNOLOGY. What we don't have is a way of monetizing it that works for everybody...the networks, the consumer, the advertisers, the production staffs and writers, etc.
I just hope they figure it out soon...I'm tired of every new network show I start to get into being yanked off the air before it has time to find its feet, with The Chicago Code being the latest example (and Lord, Shawn Ryan deserved better after Terriers). Broadcast networks, in my opinion, have to come up with a new definition of what a "successful" show is...we can't keep using the same parameters in a completely new environment.
This isn't to say that there isn't quality programming currently on network television...but a lot of what I consider quality (Parks and Rec, Community, Chuck, Fringe, Cougar Town, etc) aren't ratings hits by any stretch of the imagination, and seem to live on the cancellation bubble, while stuff like The Voice, Biggest Loser, The Apprentice, etc. always seems to do huge numbers.
So I am very thankful that some of my favorite shows have been granted a reprieve. Looking at the numbers, it's really hard to fathom why the networks have chosen so save some, while others have gone by the wayside...but I'm glad for it anyway.
OK, I promise the rest of the bullet points will be shorter.
- Speaking of upfronts, this is the trailer from the new show that I am most excited about...believe it or not, it's from NBC (I KNOW, RIGHT?!?)
Looks pretty awesome, right? Which means that it will probably be cancelled by the time this post is actually published.
- Is there a way to tell a new girl at work that you find her REALLY attractive? I mean, without coming off like a total creep?
- Guess I should say something about American Idol. Basically, I give up. I said months ago that Scotty McReery was going to win the whole thing...based on my master thesis on American Idol Demographics (I should TOTALLY HAVE WRITTEN THAT), he has the Country Vote, the Teenybopper Vote, and the Grandmother Vote. Those are probably the three most powerful voting blocs in the American Idol Universe, so he is systematically destroying everybody in his path. I would be willing to bet that if they actually released the voting totals, he would be winning every single week. By TONS. Even before he broke out the "Vote for me or the terrorists win!!" strategy last week.
And, gah...he makes me want to punch him in the neck every time he performs.
The show has really missed both Simon and the different genre nights...without those two factors forcing contestants out of their comfort zones, everybody just does the same exact thing every....single...week. And the judges have been atrocious...the problem with praising EVERYTHING that everybody does is that it causes your praise to mean nothing. That was why it was always such a big deal when Simon gave positive feedback...you knew that if he was praising it, that praise was earned.
Anyway...I'm definitely watching out of habit (maybe even obligation) at this point. And no matter what I say, I will probably be right back there every single season until it gets cancelled and puts both me and the show out of our misery.
- Best five comedies currently on TV (either airing or just finished their season), in order: Parks and Recreation, Community, Cougar Town, Raising Hope, Bob's Burgers.
Just missed the cut: Modern Family (too inconsistent, but when it's on its game there are few better), The Office (WAY too up and down this season, and the Will Ferrell thing was a disaster), Archer (been off the air too long to qualify, but no show delivers more laughs per second).
What do you think? Let me know in the comments....next time out I will do dramas.
- So I have one question about the Fringe season finale...if it was 15 years in the future, how come everybody looked the same as they do now? I'm not counting the 4 gray hairs that Peter had. Take it from someone who knows...15 years does a LOT more damage to a head of hair than that.
Yep, that was the one question...everything else made perfect sense.
- Right now, the album I am most likely to be listening to on repeat is Manchester Orchestra's "Mean Everything to Nothing." Nothing but quality, start to finish.
And trust me, I love everything on Adele's "21", but I can't listen to it on repeat unless I want to throw myself off a cliff, only to have Superman swoop down and catch me, and then drop me from HIGHER. (tm Louie C.K.).
- I think I am officially done with How I Met Your Mother after last night. This whole season has been borderline awful (hated everything about the Zoey storyline), but I stuck with it, in large part because I felt like we were promised in the season premiere that by the time we got to that wedding, we would be getting ANSWERS. Instead, all we got was more mysteries...who is Barney marrying, and (most of all), why is this wedding so important to Ted? It was strongly hinted in the premiere that this is when he meets the mother, and maybe it is...but we are certainly no closer to knowing now than we were 22 episodes ago.
Look, I understand how hypocritical this is of someone who to this day will defend LOST with my dying breath...but the time for mysteries is over. They need to move the story FORWARD. In what way has the story moved forward this season? Marshall and Lily are pregnant (a storyline that you knew had to happen eventually), and Barney is marrying...somebody. And we still have no clue who the mother is.
It's time. And, no, I disagree with those who say that once you meet the mother the show is over. The story of a relationship doesn't end when you meet...there could still be LOTS of story to tell after that, with the mother just being another character on the show, that would HAVE to be more interesting than the water-treading that is going on now.
- I am now two thirds of the way through the Hunger Games trilogy...it's very interesting, gripping, exciting stuff. Definitely written for a younger audience, but the plot is tight enough that we older teenagers can still enjoy it. I would certainly recommend it to any parents with young adult readers...I bought my 13 year old a copy this weekend and can't wait to talk about it with her.
- I apologize to all two of you out there who were looking forward to detailed recaps of Game of Thrones. First of all, I never really could decide on a format...do I write it with readers in mind, or non-readers? There is no way I have time to do both...it would be really hard to recap it from a non-reader perspective, having read the entire series multiple times, but I know that out of what little audience I have, the majority would be non-readers.
And then...well, life got in the way and rendered the whole decision moot.
The series has been fantastic...the look is amazing, the acting is superb (and, yes, I would still want to adopt Maisie Williams if it wasn't so obvious that she must have parents far more superb and amazing than I could ever hope to be). My only real issue with the show to this point is the editing...we seem to move REALLY quickly between scenes, which I think hinders the viewer's ability to fully consume what he's just seen. This is probably due to having SO MUCH to fit in to each episode...which then makes me nervous about next season, when they will supposedly have the same number of episodes to tell tons more story.
But that's a worry for next season...for now, I am really enjoying the show. And what's better, several friends of mine who aren't fans of the book are loving it as well, which means that the writers and producers really are doing a fantastic job.
There have been several scenes, especially in the last episode, that never actually happened in the book. Since I am trying to view the show as a separate entity from the books as much as I can, I can safely say that I have really loved every single one of them, and feel like they have added even more depth to even some of the main characters than they might have had without these additional scenes.
Bravo all around, really...and for those of you who are watching and have not read the books, buckle your seatbelts. You ain't seen nothing yet.
By the way, if you're going to comment on Game of Thrones at all, please...no spoilers for non-readers. Thanks.
OK...I think that's enough for now. Even though I haven't even mentioned The Killing (liking it until last week...at which point I loved it), Chuck (perfect finale, and leads up to what I think can be a really cool final season), Firefly (watching it for the first time as it's being re-run on the Science Channel - is it too late to start a campaign to get it renewed?), or Deadwood (the one season I haven't seen, S3, just popped up OnDemand - all I can say, in the spirit of the show, is $%!@, &$*@, and %&!@#!).
Ahhh...it's good to be back.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
TON of new Game of Thrones videos
Don't have time to link to all of them here, so just go to these posts on Winter Is Coming to get the full list of the YouTube versions.
- Post 1
- Post 2
My favorite line of all of the videos: "All Dany knows of her history is the stories that her brother has told her...and Viserys Targaryen is not a reliable narrator."
Winter is Coming, folks! Only four weeks from Sunday!
- Post 1
- Post 2
My favorite line of all of the videos: "All Dany knows of her history is the stories that her brother has told her...and Viserys Targaryen is not a reliable narrator."
Winter is Coming, folks! Only four weeks from Sunday!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The Game of Thrones previews continue..
Another update coming later, as soon as the other one that was premiered tonight shows up on YouTube.
Winter is Coming...only 5 weeks from tonight!
~~~~UPDATED~~~~~~
Second video added!!! (HBO only clip now...will add YouTube video as soon as there is a decent version posted)
Monday, March 7, 2011
Some more Game of Thrones goodness...
...to tide you over until the blog is up and running again.
The awesome new trailer from HBO...
And some very interesting images in this one, including a very brief view of The Red Keep.
The awesome new trailer from HBO...
And some very interesting images in this one, including a very brief view of The Red Keep.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
My favorite things I watched this week
- Ray Drew. Of all the things I watched this week, I don't think I enjoyed any of them more than I enjoyed this....
(courtesy of UGASports)
I think we have a great one, folks...not only his play on the field, but he seems to be a guy who is going to be a real leader both in the locker room and in the field. He has already been identified as a guy who the rest of the Dream Team looks to as "the guy". Can't wait to see him on the field!
- Southland. I meant to say something about this show last week, but I forgot...it works out, though, because this week's episode was much stronger, and was truly one of the best things I watched this week. The ending, especially, was extremely effective.
I am not usually a big fan of "procedural" type shows, and though this isn't exactly that, there are very few if any serialized components to the show. But every week, I feel like the show tells compelling stories, it has a tremendous cast, and also has a great cinematic look and feel to it. This was one of those shows that struggled to find an audience on the network side for some reason, and I for one am thankful that it was saved by TNT. Not to mention some of the coolest opening credits on television:
- Parks and Recreation. This will likely be on this list for as long as it is on the air. Another fantastic episode from the best comedy on television, highlighted by Rob Lowe as health freak Chris dealing with some of the worst, um, byproducts of the Pawnee Flu:
- The return of Archer. In all of its politically incorrect, raunchy glory. What is Germany, the Alabama of Europe?
- Casey and Morgan sing Happy Birthday on Chuck. In an episode made most notable by a new look on Sarah (short verdict: not a big fan of the hair, HUGE fan of the outfit), there wasn't much that made me happier this week than Casey and Morgan singing Happy Birthday to the unsuspecting security guard.
- John Noble and Joshua Jackson on Fringe. Again, not one of my favorite Fringe episodes...I thought some of the writing was downright painful, although I did like where the show took Peter in his quest to find out what is going on with him and the Doomsday Device. But both of the Bishop boys brought their A game, including some of Joshua Jackson's best work so far in my opinion.
And good news again on the ratings front, as the show was solid enough again to boost Fox to a win in the coveted 18-49 demographic.
- 30 Rock. I don't always love this show, but when they are on their game there are few funnier. This was a particularly strong week.
What about you? What were your favorite things you watched this week?
I think we have a great one, folks...not only his play on the field, but he seems to be a guy who is going to be a real leader both in the locker room and in the field. He has already been identified as a guy who the rest of the Dream Team looks to as "the guy". Can't wait to see him on the field!
- Southland. I meant to say something about this show last week, but I forgot...it works out, though, because this week's episode was much stronger, and was truly one of the best things I watched this week. The ending, especially, was extremely effective.
I am not usually a big fan of "procedural" type shows, and though this isn't exactly that, there are very few if any serialized components to the show. But every week, I feel like the show tells compelling stories, it has a tremendous cast, and also has a great cinematic look and feel to it. This was one of those shows that struggled to find an audience on the network side for some reason, and I for one am thankful that it was saved by TNT. Not to mention some of the coolest opening credits on television:
- Parks and Recreation. This will likely be on this list for as long as it is on the air. Another fantastic episode from the best comedy on television, highlighted by Rob Lowe as health freak Chris dealing with some of the worst, um, byproducts of the Pawnee Flu:
- The return of Archer. In all of its politically incorrect, raunchy glory. What is Germany, the Alabama of Europe?
- Casey and Morgan sing Happy Birthday on Chuck. In an episode made most notable by a new look on Sarah (short verdict: not a big fan of the hair, HUGE fan of the outfit), there wasn't much that made me happier this week than Casey and Morgan singing Happy Birthday to the unsuspecting security guard.
- John Noble and Joshua Jackson on Fringe. Again, not one of my favorite Fringe episodes...I thought some of the writing was downright painful, although I did like where the show took Peter in his quest to find out what is going on with him and the Doomsday Device. But both of the Bishop boys brought their A game, including some of Joshua Jackson's best work so far in my opinion.
And good news again on the ratings front, as the show was solid enough again to boost Fox to a win in the coveted 18-49 demographic.
- 30 Rock. I don't always love this show, but when they are on their game there are few funnier. This was a particularly strong week.
What about you? What were your favorite things you watched this week?
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Fringe will not go quietly into that good Friday night..
Fans of sci-fi series know it well...The Friday Night Death Slot. It's where Firefly, Terminator: TSCC, Dollhouse, Farscape, Wonderfalls, and countless other shows have been sent to die.
So, the news that Fringe (my fall TV season MVP) will be returning at 9 pM on Fridays has caused many fans some....consternation, shall we say.
Well, the Fringe Team has heard the news...and here's their reaction:
Love it.
I also don't think the timeslot issue necessarily means the death of the show.
Couple of reasons for that:
1) The DVR factor. Fringe is one of the shows that gains the most in terms of DVR and online viewing. Those numbers are obviously unaffected by what night the show airs.
2) Friday night is an easier time slot. Fringe was up against Grey's Anatomy, The Office, and CSI at 9 PM on Thursdays. On Fridays, it will be up against a couple of newsmag shows (ABC Primetime and Dateline NBC) and a much lesser version of CSI (CSI: NY). If Fringe can maintain the ratings they are getting now, it will be a success.
3) The timeslot may not have been the issue in the first place. Dollhouse and Terminator were dying anyway. Firefly had NUMEROUS issues (mostly network related), with time slot being way down the list, in my opinion. We could go on and on, but the point is that these shows were probably doomed no matter where they were on the schedule, and the timeslot problem has been overstated.
Also, let's keep in mind that the sci-fi show that I think Fringe is MOST similar to did quite well on Friday nights for (I think) its entire run...The X-Files.
I want to believe.
So, the news that Fringe (my fall TV season MVP) will be returning at 9 pM on Fridays has caused many fans some....consternation, shall we say.
Well, the Fringe Team has heard the news...and here's their reaction:
Love it.
I also don't think the timeslot issue necessarily means the death of the show.
Couple of reasons for that:
1) The DVR factor. Fringe is one of the shows that gains the most in terms of DVR and online viewing. Those numbers are obviously unaffected by what night the show airs.
2) Friday night is an easier time slot. Fringe was up against Grey's Anatomy, The Office, and CSI at 9 PM on Thursdays. On Fridays, it will be up against a couple of newsmag shows (ABC Primetime and Dateline NBC) and a much lesser version of CSI (CSI: NY). If Fringe can maintain the ratings they are getting now, it will be a success.
3) The timeslot may not have been the issue in the first place. Dollhouse and Terminator were dying anyway. Firefly had NUMEROUS issues (mostly network related), with time slot being way down the list, in my opinion. We could go on and on, but the point is that these shows were probably doomed no matter where they were on the schedule, and the timeslot problem has been overstated.
Also, let's keep in mind that the sci-fi show that I think Fringe is MOST similar to did quite well on Friday nights for (I think) its entire run...The X-Files.
I want to believe.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Mid-season television report (now complete)
OK...time for the much anticipated (mostly by me) mid-season television wrap-up extravaganza!!
I have been very up-front about how burnt out on sports in general I have been this season, and the various reasons for that. But all it really means is that I have been even MORE invested in the television shows I watch, and have subjected my friends and co-workers to HOURS upon HOURS of my blatherings about what I watched on TV last night (Hi, Amanda!).
So, what I'm saying is...pack a lunch. This could be a long one.
A few disclaimers....first of all, SPOILER ALERT OMG SPOILER ALERT. I will be spoiling plot, character development, themes, etc. for all of these shows. If you come to one that you are wanting to stay unspoiled for, just skip to the next one.
Also, I am incorporating a bunch of clips for some of these. I was somewhat limited by A) trying to keep the blog family friendly, and B) Hulu. A lot of the clips came from Hulu, so I apologize in advance for the lead time and advertisements. Hulu is getting awfully handsy.
OK, on with the show!
SUNDAY:
Amazing Race - Oof. What a frustrating season this was, capped off by the most boring finale I can ever remember.
Question - why is it that almost every young single "dating" couple on this show consists of a douchey, arrogant, borderline abusive guy and his slightly ditzy, attractive girlfriend? Are those the only personality types who try out for this show? The only couple I can remember who didn't fit this pattern was the hippies who won a few years ago...I loved those people whose names I can't remember. I wonder what they are doing now...
The finale this season was terrible...usually there is at least some sort of demanding task that will enable some "bunching" for a more dramatic finish (and the finale, by the way, is the one episode of the season where I don't mind the "bunching" technique of the producers, since all 3 of the teams conceivably have earned a chance to win at this point). Not this time...everybody bungee jump to this raft, now go paste some flowers on to a Rose Bowl float, now go take an open book version of the memory quiz that anybody who has ever seen a finale before knows is coming, and...you're done. Nat and Kat basically won this leg, and therefore the million dollars, by being the first to their cab at the LA airport. Yes, Thomas and Jill had the cabby from hell (and should have bailed on that cab as soon as they realized they were going to have a language barrier while IN LOS ANGELES), but Nat and Kat got the first cab at the airport and never really faced anything that was likely to trip them up.
Oh, well...next season is an "All Stars" cast (or something like it...they are calling it "Unfinished Business", and I don't think the casting is meant to be the "best" players as much as "players the audience seemed to like"), and also the first season to be filmed in HD, which should be gorgeous.
At least this season gave us THIS:
And, really....shouldn't that be enough?
Boardwalk Empire - The internet reaction to this show has been sort of strange...most of the critics who I trust (Sepinwall, Mo Ryan, A.V. Club, etc) seem to be big fans of the show, but a lot of the commentary on more "fan based" sites or the comments to the critics sites seem to be either more lukewarm or downright disappointed.
I think it has to do with people's expectations of what this show was going to be...people saw Terence Winter (one of the head writers on The Sopranos), Martin Scorsese, characters such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and Prohibition-era Atlantic City and thought we were going to get a mix of Sopanos, Goodfellas, and The Untouchables. Which, granted, would have been pretty awesome...but it's not what this show is. This is not a "gangster" show, at least not at this point. It is a story about times of massive upheaval and how people deal with it. It's about, as Nucky said in the season finale, how much sin people are willing to live with.
President-elect Harding called for a "Return to Normalcy" in the victory speech we heard in the last episode, and that's the point...what is the new definition of "normal"? We are just coming out of a World War, and many of the men who came back have had their eyes opened in ways that had never happened before. Prohibition has produced an extremely lucrative and dangerous black market. The Sufferage movement has given American women the right to vote, and with it more influence and power than had ever been possible before. We are almost squarely between the abolishment of slavery and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's, and that dynamic is fluid at best. A huge influx of immigrants have filled the east coast, especially the Northeast, and brought new ideas, dreams, and methods to achieve those dreams with them. Organized crime is finding strong footholds in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, and power struggles are ongoing to see who is going to be the "boss".
Trying to ride this wave and find a place to stand on this rapidly changing foundation, is Nucky Thompson, city treasurer for Atlantic City. Steve Buscemi has been sort of a polarizing figure among those debating the show's merits, in large part because he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would be powerful enough to be running the show. I think that's the point...as Jimmy told Nucky in the pilot, he can't be "half a gangster" anymore. Nucky is a guy who has been very successful under the old rules, and he's now having to adapt to a world that he doesn't know if he's suited for, or if he even wants to be suited for. Buscemi, as always, knocks it out of the park.
Other stuff I love about this show:
- Richard Harrow: It was when this character was introduced that I really started loving the show. Here are a couple of scenes that capture the quiet menace of the character (keeping in mind that the family-friendly nature of the blog limits the clips I can use):
- Arnold Rothstein: I sure hope that his truce with Nucky doesn't mean that we'll be seeing less of him. Michael Stuhlbarg's portrayal was perfect as the educated businessman whose business just happens to be somewhat less than legal.
- Chalky White. Wish we could have seen more of him, because I miss Omar.
The Mentalist: Perfectly acceptable television, and the only true "procedural" that I watch. This is one that the wife and I usually let build up and then blow through 4-5 episodes of on a Saturday like this last one when neither of us feel like doing anything productive. Nothing special, but consistently entertaining, and a very solid cast.
Fringe: Last but certainly not least...my personal MVP of this season so far. I said back in my original Fall TV preview that this could be my new LOST, or at least as close as any show could come to that. And, as high as my expectations were, the show has exceeded them.
Smart storytelling: The alternate universe storyline was perfectly executed, and ran for what seemed like the exactly right amount of time, which is not easy to do. Catching the little differences between the two worlds (like Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future and Springsteen Station in New Jersey) was fun, but the storytelling was so much more rich than that...we actually got to know the doppelgangers of our familiar Fringe team, and get a clear understanding of why they hate us so much. Truly great stuff.
Creepily awesome cases of the week: Nobody does it better. I don't know how these guys minds work that they are able to come up with this stuff, and maybe I don't want to...but I sure do love it.
Last week, they gave me one of my very favorite scenes of television this year...a clinically depressed scientist has been harvesting the donated organs of a woman whom he met in group therapy (who committed suicide), with hopes of regenerating her so that she can dance again. Creepy, right? But, somehow, this scene turns it into something almost...sweet. And certainly gorgeous. See for yourself:
Quality acting: Of course, John Noble and Lance Reddick are tremendous, and Joshua Jackson is playing Pacey all growns up, so that's good. But Anna Torv, who was criticized by many in the first season (including myself) has shown that if you give her great material, she can definitely rise to the occasion:
Put it all together, and you have my Fall Season MVP. Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are.
OK...all done!! I think that once the new year rolls around, I will be posting more often (maybe weekly?) going through the highlights of these shows, as well as some others I'm looking forward to (Parks and Rec, V, Justified, etc). Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions/requests!
Thanks for reading!
I have been very up-front about how burnt out on sports in general I have been this season, and the various reasons for that. But all it really means is that I have been even MORE invested in the television shows I watch, and have subjected my friends and co-workers to HOURS upon HOURS of my blatherings about what I watched on TV last night (Hi, Amanda!).
So, what I'm saying is...pack a lunch. This could be a long one.
A few disclaimers....first of all, SPOILER ALERT OMG SPOILER ALERT. I will be spoiling plot, character development, themes, etc. for all of these shows. If you come to one that you are wanting to stay unspoiled for, just skip to the next one.
Also, I am incorporating a bunch of clips for some of these. I was somewhat limited by A) trying to keep the blog family friendly, and B) Hulu. A lot of the clips came from Hulu, so I apologize in advance for the lead time and advertisements. Hulu is getting awfully handsy.
OK, on with the show!
SUNDAY:
Amazing Race - Oof. What a frustrating season this was, capped off by the most boring finale I can ever remember.
Question - why is it that almost every young single "dating" couple on this show consists of a douchey, arrogant, borderline abusive guy and his slightly ditzy, attractive girlfriend? Are those the only personality types who try out for this show? The only couple I can remember who didn't fit this pattern was the hippies who won a few years ago...I loved those people whose names I can't remember. I wonder what they are doing now...
The finale this season was terrible...usually there is at least some sort of demanding task that will enable some "bunching" for a more dramatic finish (and the finale, by the way, is the one episode of the season where I don't mind the "bunching" technique of the producers, since all 3 of the teams conceivably have earned a chance to win at this point). Not this time...everybody bungee jump to this raft, now go paste some flowers on to a Rose Bowl float, now go take an open book version of the memory quiz that anybody who has ever seen a finale before knows is coming, and...you're done. Nat and Kat basically won this leg, and therefore the million dollars, by being the first to their cab at the LA airport. Yes, Thomas and Jill had the cabby from hell (and should have bailed on that cab as soon as they realized they were going to have a language barrier while IN LOS ANGELES), but Nat and Kat got the first cab at the airport and never really faced anything that was likely to trip them up.
Oh, well...next season is an "All Stars" cast (or something like it...they are calling it "Unfinished Business", and I don't think the casting is meant to be the "best" players as much as "players the audience seemed to like"), and also the first season to be filmed in HD, which should be gorgeous.
At least this season gave us THIS:
And, really....shouldn't that be enough?
Boardwalk Empire - The internet reaction to this show has been sort of strange...most of the critics who I trust (Sepinwall, Mo Ryan, A.V. Club, etc) seem to be big fans of the show, but a lot of the commentary on more "fan based" sites or the comments to the critics sites seem to be either more lukewarm or downright disappointed.
I think it has to do with people's expectations of what this show was going to be...people saw Terence Winter (one of the head writers on The Sopranos), Martin Scorsese, characters such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and Prohibition-era Atlantic City and thought we were going to get a mix of Sopanos, Goodfellas, and The Untouchables. Which, granted, would have been pretty awesome...but it's not what this show is. This is not a "gangster" show, at least not at this point. It is a story about times of massive upheaval and how people deal with it. It's about, as Nucky said in the season finale, how much sin people are willing to live with.
President-elect Harding called for a "Return to Normalcy" in the victory speech we heard in the last episode, and that's the point...what is the new definition of "normal"? We are just coming out of a World War, and many of the men who came back have had their eyes opened in ways that had never happened before. Prohibition has produced an extremely lucrative and dangerous black market. The Sufferage movement has given American women the right to vote, and with it more influence and power than had ever been possible before. We are almost squarely between the abolishment of slavery and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's, and that dynamic is fluid at best. A huge influx of immigrants have filled the east coast, especially the Northeast, and brought new ideas, dreams, and methods to achieve those dreams with them. Organized crime is finding strong footholds in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, and power struggles are ongoing to see who is going to be the "boss".
Trying to ride this wave and find a place to stand on this rapidly changing foundation, is Nucky Thompson, city treasurer for Atlantic City. Steve Buscemi has been sort of a polarizing figure among those debating the show's merits, in large part because he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would be powerful enough to be running the show. I think that's the point...as Jimmy told Nucky in the pilot, he can't be "half a gangster" anymore. Nucky is a guy who has been very successful under the old rules, and he's now having to adapt to a world that he doesn't know if he's suited for, or if he even wants to be suited for. Buscemi, as always, knocks it out of the park.
Other stuff I love about this show:
- Richard Harrow: It was when this character was introduced that I really started loving the show. Here are a couple of scenes that capture the quiet menace of the character (keeping in mind that the family-friendly nature of the blog limits the clips I can use):
- Arnold Rothstein: I sure hope that his truce with Nucky doesn't mean that we'll be seeing less of him. Michael Stuhlbarg's portrayal was perfect as the educated businessman whose business just happens to be somewhat less than legal.
- Chalky White. Wish we could have seen more of him, because I miss Omar.
- "Real tough guy, you gonna shoot me for mouthin' off?" "Well, I wasn't gonna...but you sort of talked me into it." BLAM. The moment I stopped worrying about Michael Pitt's portrayal of Jimmy Darmody.
Obviously, I could go on and on about this show...I am starting to wish I had done a weekly recap of some sort. Maybe next season.
One last clip before I move on...loved this scene for so many reasons, including the obvious homage to the "settling all family business" scene from The Godfather. It includes some very brief profanity, and some pretty intense violence, so if that's not your thing you can move on to the next show.
Walking Dead - My reaction to this show is kind of...mixed? I guess? I distinctly remember thoroughly enjoying every single episode (with the slight exception of the finale), and yet when I think about the season as a whole I feel a bit...disappointed? Unfulfilled? In other words, each individual episode worked for me on some level, but the overall arc seemed to be lacking and missing the thread that tied it all together.
I guess most of my issues can be explained by the fact that it was only a six episode season, and even those six episodes were slightly rushed due to AMC wanting to get the pilot on Halloween night. So, the whole season ended up feeling sort of like prologue, in retrospect. In particular, the characters never became "full" enough for me...I didn't find myself really caring that much about any of them.
The whole thing with the CDC in the last two episodes ended up being totally useless, as it blowed up real good but only took the lives of two characters: the one we just met last week, and a character who we knew next to nothing about. My guess is that the storyline was inserted (and it's not part of the comic book series, apparently) to let the audience know that A)we are not going to get an "origin story" as to how this zombie apocalypse happened, and B) don't get your hopes up about a possible cure at some point. Which is good...in my mind, that's not what the story is about anyway. It's about starting over, figuring out the new paradigms, how we as humans react and adjust when everything we find familiar is taken away. The fact that you have to be constantly worried about zombies popping up and attacking just adds drama. Sort of like Battlestar Galactica, but replace "Cylons" with "Zombies" and "Space" with "Metro Atlanta".
Here's why I'm still on board: First, like I said, I really did enjoy the individual episodes. They were really well shot and directed, and I stayed on the edge of my seat at almost all times. Second, even given such a short period of time to flesh out the characters, they were still able to give us scenes as powerful as this one, which affected me as much as anything else on TV this season. This scene is the day after a zombie attack on the camp, and Amy (younger sister) was bitten by a zombie and is now dead. Andrea (older sister) sits next to her, keeping vigil and not letting the other survivors put a bullet or pickaxe through her head (the usual way of disposing of zombie-bitten bodies so that they won't reanimate) so that she can get some sort of closure:
If they can continue to find a way to include those kind of character moments along with the ZOMG ZOMBIES scenes, I think this has the potential to be a great show. It's just not quite there yet, and we won't know if it will ever be until we can see at least one full season. Which we now have to wait ten more months for. {sad clown}
MONDAY:
Chuck: There may not be a current show that I have more FUN watching than this one. The writing creates a great mix of a sci-fi show, buddy movie, comedy, and a really well-done love story between two leads with great chemistry. The cast, led by Zachary Levi, is absolutely perfect, having completely inhabited their characters now that we are in the fourth season. And if you follow me on Twitter, you know how I feel about Yvonne Strahovski (hint: I like her. A lot).
The show hit a bit of a lull last season, as they seemed to be throwing obstacles at the Chuck/Sarah pairing for no reason other than to keep the "will they or won't they" tension going, but this season has been back to the show we all love and buy foot long subs for.
What makes the show fun, besides the fact that it seems to be written for people my age and with my interests, is the supporting cast that seems to be having an absolute blast. One pairing that has been spending a lot more time together this season, with hilarious results, is Morgan and Casey:
And now, just because I love this cast so much and this reel just makes me want to hang out with them:
How I met Your Mother: This is one that I just picked up last year when I dropped House, and it's one that I can really take or leave. In fact, I have come thisclose to dropping the show from the rotation, only to have an episode like this week's that reminds me of how good the show can be sometimes. So, if they keep throwing in the occasional winner of an episode, then that fact plus Jason Segel and NPH will be enough to keep me around.
Just for fun, even though it's not from this season:
TUESDAY:
Glee: Look, there's nothing I can tell you that is going to sway your opinion either way about this show. You either love it, and can therefore forgive its many, MANY faults, or you hate it and can see nothing BUT its many, MANY faults.
I am obviously in the former camp, but that doesn't mean I can't at least acknowledge the faults. The most egregious are:
1) Overall lack of consistency. In EVERY facet of the show. There are wide swings in quality from week to week, plot lines are dropped and picked up seemingly at random (though that hasn't been quite as bad this season), and characters (especially Will) are written and portrayed in whatever way fits the plot that week, often leading to completely contradictory situations, like the Glee club members repeatedly telling us and other characters what an awesome teacher Mr. Schue is when we have seen....no such thing.
2) Especially this season, the deification and martyrdom of Kurt. In the first season Kurt was a snarky, self confident (although mostly still in the closet) guy who reminded me of a couple of my show choir friends back in high school. This season he's a whiny, self absorbed, selfish, insecure little waif who is constantly telling us how unfair his life is, even while people are bending over backwards to try and make things better for him. I wouldn't want to be friends with that person...in fact, I would want to stay as far away from that person as possible.
Having said all that, I still love this show. Even though the main characters sometimes seem to have different motivations and personalities from week to week, the supporting cast seems to be written much more consistently. I have loved seeing more of Santana this season, and Heather Morris as Brittany is probably the most solidly funny performance on the whole cast, doubly impressive since this is her first acting job.
I have been tougher on the show this season...when it first hit the air, I loved having an almost painfully realistic portrayal of a high school show choir, and I was blown away by the musical performances to the point that I was more likely to overlook the less consistent parts of the show. Now, I'm spoiled by the musical performances, which causes me to look more critically at the other stuff...but as long as they break out something like this every once in a while, I'm going to continue to be hooked:
Raising Hope: If you had told me before the season started that of the two new Fox comedies on Tuesday night, this one would have become must see TV for me, while Running Wilde would have been out of my rotation after two weeks I would have said you were nuts. But that is what's happened.
Raising Hope has done a great job of re-creating what was the strength of another Greg Garcia show (My Name is Earl), which is building a world of really off the wall characters that still somehow manage to be likable and bring a lot of heart and emotional connection as well.
Garret Dillahunt and Martha Plimpton (along with the cutest baby on television) are giving performances that are reason enough by themselves to give this show a shot if you haven't already:
Sons of Anarchy: This was my first season watching this show, and more than anything else it made me want to go back and watch Season 2. That is a compliment...sort of. I really enjoyed the world that Kurt Sutter has created, and the characters are well written and acted (besides some occasional accent issues, JAX)...but even I feel like the plot was a bit meandering, and I don't have the supposedly vastly superior season 2 to compare it against.
The SAMCRO-goes-to-Belfast plot seemed pretty pointless while it was going on, and it seems even moreso in retrospect...I feel like this whole season was just to set us up for next season, which seems didactic at best, and insulting to the viewer at worst, as if Sutter didn't think I had anything better to do than watch a 13 episode prologue. And while I did enjoy the season finale, I had some of the same issues that Mo Ryan did...namely, what did SAMCRO know with regard to the game Jax was playing with Stahl, and when did they know it? I have no problem with Jax tricking Stahl, obviously...but if Jax was never really in danger with SAMCRO, then the tension the audience was supposed to feel about how the club was going to react to Jax turning rat was false, and that bugs me.
Having said all that...I'll be back for season 4, hopefully after going back and watching season 2 so that I'll have a better idea as to what all the fuss is about.
WEDNESDAY:
Modern Family: On Todd VanDerWerff's podcast this week, I think he nailed my feelings about this show...this show is good, but it is as good as it is ever going to be. It arrived fully formed, which is impressive, but it also means that the show doesn't really show any interest in growing or developing. Instead, they are just going to try to produce the funniest episode that they can every week...and there's certainly nothing wrong with that approach, especially when you can be as funny as this show can be when the writers and cast are hitting on all cylinders.
Survivor: First season I've watched from start to finish, and probably the last. I'm mainly watching so that I can read the recaps from people I like to read...and that's no reason to watch a TV show.
I don't know if it is that I haven't been watching long enough to pick up on things, or just really poor editing, but I have gone through this whole season not really being able to tell what anybody's strategy is. I think I'm a pretty smart guy...so I'm blaming it on the editors.
Cougar Town: SO much better than its name (every review is federally obligated to mention that at this point). There is absolutely nothing deep about this show...it's just a funny bunch of people sitting around doing and saying funny things, with copious amounts of red wine available. And it is maybe my favorite comedy currently on television (with the possible exception of Community).
Psych: Consistently funny, and laughs are coming so fast you have to have the pause and rewind button ready. Much like Chuck, I feel almost like this one is written specifically for me.
For instance...note how the victim is positioned in this clip:
Look familiar? For any avid players of EA Sports NHL '94, it should:
THAT'S the kind of stuff that keeps me coming back...and the fact that they chose to just trust that those who the joke was meant for would get it, rather than explain it, made me love it even more.
Terriers: Sigh. This show was SOOOOO good. I'm not even going to try and analyze why it couldn't find an audience...instead, I'm going to STRONGLY urge you to find some way (Netflix, Hulu, DVD, whatever) to go watch a truly fantastic 13 episode movie/miniseries.
There is no way to really do this show justice in a review, which I think was part of its problem...when you describe it, it sounds like a very generic premise. It's about a couple of scruffy, witty PI's...one is a washed out cop, one is a (mostly) reformed criminal. There is no way to convey the feel of the show, which was just...I don't know, "comfortable" doesn't sound right, but it's the best I can come up with right now. I just felt like I knew these guys as soon as they showed up on the screen in the pilot, and their world felt so lived in and familiar that it was just easy to immerse myself in the show every week, no matter what was going on in the actual plot.
Again, Hulu is a nemesis when it comes to finding just the right clips, and this show doesn't lend itself to that kind of thing anyway, but this is a good one from the finale.. (and don't worry about spoilers. I could tell you every single plot point of the overarching story and I don't feel like it would diminish the show one iota, and I'm HUGELY anti-spoiler)
RIP, Terriers. Thanks for a tremendous run.
THURSDAY:
Big Bang Theory: Ummm...I don't know. It is what it is. It's funny, most of the time...the jokes just seem to be mostly the same every week. Last week, I never watched the episode, and I didn't feel like I was missing anything. That can't be a good sign, especially in a time slot as crowded as this one.
Community: Like most of the comedies I like, this one is written for a very specific audience that I happen to be a member of. There are plenty of laughs, but the genius of the show is both the meta commentary (of which there is wisely less of this season...don't want it to become a crutch) and the fact that there is a gooey center to it as well. This is a group of people who really NEED each other...separately, they would be impossibly lonely, but together they have created a surrogate family for each other. That doesn't sound funny, I know...but again, that's part of the genius.
The Christmas episode from last week became an instant Christmas classic to be rewatched every year, as far as I'm concerned. Sheer awesomeness, both in concept and execution.
And, of course, there is Troy and Abed:
The Office: Continues to be wildly inconsistent as it careens towards what I believe to be either the end of the show or a complete reboot once Steve Carrell leaves at the end of this season.
I do think this is a better season than the last one, when I really started to question whether I actually liked any of these people, especially Jim and Pam. This season's lows haven't been as low as last season, and every once in a while they can still come up with an episode like "China", which felt to me like the show did when it was in its prime.
The Mentalist: Perfectly acceptable television, and the only true "procedural" that I watch. This is one that the wife and I usually let build up and then blow through 4-5 episodes of on a Saturday like this last one when neither of us feel like doing anything productive. Nothing special, but consistently entertaining, and a very solid cast.
Fringe: Last but certainly not least...my personal MVP of this season so far. I said back in my original Fall TV preview that this could be my new LOST, or at least as close as any show could come to that. And, as high as my expectations were, the show has exceeded them.
Smart storytelling: The alternate universe storyline was perfectly executed, and ran for what seemed like the exactly right amount of time, which is not easy to do. Catching the little differences between the two worlds (like Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future and Springsteen Station in New Jersey) was fun, but the storytelling was so much more rich than that...we actually got to know the doppelgangers of our familiar Fringe team, and get a clear understanding of why they hate us so much. Truly great stuff.
Creepily awesome cases of the week: Nobody does it better. I don't know how these guys minds work that they are able to come up with this stuff, and maybe I don't want to...but I sure do love it.
Last week, they gave me one of my very favorite scenes of television this year...a clinically depressed scientist has been harvesting the donated organs of a woman whom he met in group therapy (who committed suicide), with hopes of regenerating her so that she can dance again. Creepy, right? But, somehow, this scene turns it into something almost...sweet. And certainly gorgeous. See for yourself:
Quality acting: Of course, John Noble and Lance Reddick are tremendous, and Joshua Jackson is playing Pacey all growns up, so that's good. But Anna Torv, who was criticized by many in the first season (including myself) has shown that if you give her great material, she can definitely rise to the occasion:
Put it all together, and you have my Fall Season MVP. Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are.
OK...all done!! I think that once the new year rolls around, I will be posting more often (maybe weekly?) going through the highlights of these shows, as well as some others I'm looking forward to (Parks and Rec, V, Justified, etc). Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions/requests!
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
I'm ready
I have two people that I talk to on the phone almost every day (my brother and Brent). Even in the dead periods like March or early June, those conversations inevitably turn to UGA football at some point.
Lately, my part of the conversation consists primarily of two words: I'm ready.
I'm ready to put the window flags up.
I'm ready to wear the same shirt to work every Friday for the next three months.
I'm ready to get little to no work done on Fridays and Mondays, as office conversation invariably centers on what's gonna happen this weekend, or what just happened over the weekend.
I'm ready for the tailgate.
I'm ready to be at the Dawgwalk a week from Saturday, letting these young men know how much we love, appreciate, and support them.
I'm ready to take my daughter to see Russ during the pregame festivities.
I'm ready to hear the Redcoats live, not just on the CD that I've started listening to every day.
I'm ready to hear the opening solo of "Glory, Glory" from the South end zone, with my Georgia hat upraised and tears in my eyes...every single time.
I'm ready to see if Coach Grantham can coach football as well as he can talk it.
I'm ready to appreciate the last season Between the Hedges of the best wide receiver in the country, and the best one the Dawgs have ever had.
I'm ready for Justin Houston to become a household name.
I'm ready to watch the quarterback that all of Dawg Nation was beside ourselves with excitement over when he committed to the Dawgs over his hometown gators.
I'm ready to stop reading message board posts about how Aaron Murray is apparently a dwarf who can't throw the ball more than five yards downfield.
I'm ready to hear Scott Howard, and I'm ready to imagine I can still hear Munson telling me to "Get the picture".
I'm ready, believe it or not, to get irrationally angry at ESPN and their idiot "analysts".
I'm ready, believe it or not, to have weekly heated discussions over whether SEC refs are crooked or too stupid to be crooked.
I'm ready to tell Paul Finebaum where he can stick his hot seat.
I'm ready to watch an offense with more weapons than I can ever remember the Dawgs having at one time.
I'm ready to watch Marlon Brown blossom into the player we all know he can be.
I'm ready for Brown to join AJ, King, Durham, Wootentheballcarrier, Charles, and White to form the best group of receivers and tight ends in the SEC.
I'm ready for Caleb King and Washaun Ealy to RUN THE SEC the way we RUN THIS STATE.
I'm ready to watch a big and nasty offensive line be big and nasty.
I'm ready to watch the Dawgs go to Columbia and put the "sleeper team in the SEC East" to sleep.
I'm ready to send Bobby Petrino scurrying out of the state of Georgia with his little rat tail stuck between his legs...again.
I'm ready for the Dawgs to avenge their embarassing loss to the Evil Hillbillies from Knoxville, and I'm ready for the staff to show no mercy while doing so.
I'm ready to hear the Chapel Bell ringing.
I'm ready to watch the deepest and most athletic group of safeties ever compiled on one team unleash their collective fury. Rambo. Williams. Ogletree. Hamilton. I'm ready to hear those names a LOT.
I'm ready to celebrate a win in Jacksonville (Please, Lord, make it so).
I'm ready to get one for the thumb against the War Tiger Eagle Plainsmen.
I'm ready to show the gnats from North Avenue that they are still the little sister, and always will be.
I'm ready for an epic showdown in the Dome between the Dawgs and the Sabanites.
I. AM. READY.
GO DAWGS!!
Lately, my part of the conversation consists primarily of two words: I'm ready.
I'm ready to put the window flags up.
I'm ready to wear the same shirt to work every Friday for the next three months.
I'm ready to get little to no work done on Fridays and Mondays, as office conversation invariably centers on what's gonna happen this weekend, or what just happened over the weekend.
I'm ready for the tailgate.
I'm ready to be at the Dawgwalk a week from Saturday, letting these young men know how much we love, appreciate, and support them.
I'm ready to take my daughter to see Russ during the pregame festivities.
I'm ready to hear the Redcoats live, not just on the CD that I've started listening to every day.
I'm ready to hear the opening solo of "Glory, Glory" from the South end zone, with my Georgia hat upraised and tears in my eyes...every single time.
I'm ready to see if Coach Grantham can coach football as well as he can talk it.
I'm ready to appreciate the last season Between the Hedges of the best wide receiver in the country, and the best one the Dawgs have ever had.
I'm ready for Justin Houston to become a household name.
I'm ready to watch the quarterback that all of Dawg Nation was beside ourselves with excitement over when he committed to the Dawgs over his hometown gators.
I'm ready to stop reading message board posts about how Aaron Murray is apparently a dwarf who can't throw the ball more than five yards downfield.
I'm ready to hear Scott Howard, and I'm ready to imagine I can still hear Munson telling me to "Get the picture".
I'm ready, believe it or not, to get irrationally angry at ESPN and their idiot "analysts".
I'm ready, believe it or not, to have weekly heated discussions over whether SEC refs are crooked or too stupid to be crooked.
I'm ready to tell Paul Finebaum where he can stick his hot seat.
I'm ready to watch an offense with more weapons than I can ever remember the Dawgs having at one time.
I'm ready to watch Marlon Brown blossom into the player we all know he can be.
I'm ready for Brown to join AJ, King, Durham, Wootentheballcarrier, Charles, and White to form the best group of receivers and tight ends in the SEC.
I'm ready for Caleb King and Washaun Ealy to RUN THE SEC the way we RUN THIS STATE.
I'm ready to watch a big and nasty offensive line be big and nasty.
I'm ready to watch the Dawgs go to Columbia and put the "sleeper team in the SEC East" to sleep.
I'm ready to send Bobby Petrino scurrying out of the state of Georgia with his little rat tail stuck between his legs...again.
I'm ready for the Dawgs to avenge their embarassing loss to the Evil Hillbillies from Knoxville, and I'm ready for the staff to show no mercy while doing so.
I'm ready to go through a season without having to use fancy uniform tricks to fire the team up for a rivalry game (fingers crossed for this one).
I'm ready to hear the Chapel Bell ringing.
I'm ready to watch the deepest and most athletic group of safeties ever compiled on one team unleash their collective fury. Rambo. Williams. Ogletree. Hamilton. I'm ready to hear those names a LOT.
I'm ready to celebrate a win in Jacksonville (Please, Lord, make it so).
I'm ready to get one for the thumb against the War Tiger Eagle Plainsmen.
I'm ready to show the gnats from North Avenue that they are still the little sister, and always will be.
I'm ready for an epic showdown in the Dome between the Dawgs and the Sabanites.
I. AM. READY.
GO DAWGS!!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
I am taking requests now....
Thanks to a Twitter conversation I had earlier with Thinking Bulldog (and be sure to follow him for his entertaining and EXTREMELY difficult Munson of the Day contests)....a little Damien Gary to celebrate EIGHTEEN DAYS TO KICKOFF!
My favorite Munson quote related to this play isn't on this clip...later in the game, when he's talking about the earlier touchdown by Gary, Munson said something like, "I think I said something dumb, like 'HEY!'"
Classic Munson.
And, just because I promised....some WAYNE JOHNSON love!
GO DAWGS!!!
My favorite Munson quote related to this play isn't on this clip...later in the game, when he's talking about the earlier touchdown by Gary, Munson said something like, "I think I said something dumb, like 'HEY!'"
Classic Munson.
And, just because I promised....some WAYNE JOHNSON love!
GO DAWGS!!!
Monday, August 16, 2010
19 days to kickoff...Happy Hines Ward Day!
Been suffering a little blogger's block lately, but there's no way I'm letting today pass without acknowledging my very favorite Dawg of all time.
One of the greatest pure football players I have ever seen....Hines Ward.
Hines is heavily involved in this one, one of my favorite Dawg memories and Munson calls: "Our HEART that was TORN OUT and BLEEDING...we picked it up and WE STUCK IT BACK INSIDE!!!"
And a couple from his career as a Steeler:
Herschel is the greatest college football player ever...but my FAVORITE Dawg ever is Hines Ward, without question.
GO DAWGS!!
One of the greatest pure football players I have ever seen....Hines Ward.
Hines is heavily involved in this one, one of my favorite Dawg memories and Munson calls: "Our HEART that was TORN OUT and BLEEDING...we picked it up and WE STUCK IT BACK INSIDE!!!"
And a couple from his career as a Steeler:
Herschel is the greatest college football player ever...but my FAVORITE Dawg ever is Hines Ward, without question.
GO DAWGS!!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
I'm trying, really I am...
I'm just trying to make it through the next thirty days. I mean, seriously...I have work to do. I have a family to take care of. My daughters start school next week. I'm trying to stay focused...really, I am.
I'm trying not to project David Greene circa 2001 stats on Aaron Murray, even though that was the last time a RFr QB started the season for us after spending two full offseasons with the team, and Aaron Murray is coming in with a much better pedigree and grasp of the offense than Greene had (remember - Aaron has spent two seasons learning Bobo's offense, while Greene's first year was also Richt's).
I'm trying to remember that TJ Stripling is a true freshman, and therefore not a realistic candidate for the All-American team...even though if Coach Grantham was tasked with creating the perfect OLB for his system, he would probably create something exactly like TJ Stripling.
I'm trying to temper expectations for the offense, since we have a first-time starter at QB...but I keep looking at the depth chart and seeing weapons everywhere I look. A.J. Green, Orson Charles, Aron White, Rantavious Wootentheballcarrier, Tavarres King...
I keep trying not to think about the potential that our running game has with two elite running backs and a veteran and extremely talented offensive line, but...I keep remembering WE RUN THIS STATE. And that Ealy was just a true freshman last year who didn't really know what he was doing until around late October.
I'm trying to keep in mind that we're running a brand new defense, and some growing pains are expected....but I keep thinking about how bad we would have to be for it to be an actual downgrade over the last couple of seasons, and how much more confidence I already have in this defensive coaching staff. And how much it sounds like our players on defense are embracing and quickly picking up the new scheme, and how when they talk about the new defense they sound like a man who has been starving to death describing the first few bites of a perfectly aged filet.
I'm trying not to think about all of the coaches who have reminded us that special teams is just as important as offense/defense...and how our special teams has the opportunity to be the best in the country, now that we are no longer hampered by the Czar of Directional Kicking. Groza Award finalist Blair Walsh. Ray Guy Award winner Drew Butler. Brandon Boykin. Branden Smith. Seriously...I'm trying.
I'm trying to pace myself, knowing that there are still 30 days to kickoff and if I don't calm down I'm going to be a wreck by the time kickoff actually arrives.
I'm trying.
And failing.
Miserably.
GO DAWGS!!!
I'm trying not to project David Greene circa 2001 stats on Aaron Murray, even though that was the last time a RFr QB started the season for us after spending two full offseasons with the team, and Aaron Murray is coming in with a much better pedigree and grasp of the offense than Greene had (remember - Aaron has spent two seasons learning Bobo's offense, while Greene's first year was also Richt's).
I'm trying to remember that TJ Stripling is a true freshman, and therefore not a realistic candidate for the All-American team...even though if Coach Grantham was tasked with creating the perfect OLB for his system, he would probably create something exactly like TJ Stripling.
I'm trying to temper expectations for the offense, since we have a first-time starter at QB...but I keep looking at the depth chart and seeing weapons everywhere I look. A.J. Green, Orson Charles, Aron White, Rantavious Wootentheballcarrier, Tavarres King...
I keep trying not to think about the potential that our running game has with two elite running backs and a veteran and extremely talented offensive line, but...I keep remembering WE RUN THIS STATE. And that Ealy was just a true freshman last year who didn't really know what he was doing until around late October.
I'm trying to keep in mind that we're running a brand new defense, and some growing pains are expected....but I keep thinking about how bad we would have to be for it to be an actual downgrade over the last couple of seasons, and how much more confidence I already have in this defensive coaching staff. And how much it sounds like our players on defense are embracing and quickly picking up the new scheme, and how when they talk about the new defense they sound like a man who has been starving to death describing the first few bites of a perfectly aged filet.
I'm trying not to think about all of the coaches who have reminded us that special teams is just as important as offense/defense...and how our special teams has the opportunity to be the best in the country, now that we are no longer hampered by the Czar of Directional Kicking. Groza Award finalist Blair Walsh. Ray Guy Award winner Drew Butler. Brandon Boykin. Branden Smith. Seriously...I'm trying.
I'm trying to pace myself, knowing that there are still 30 days to kickoff and if I don't calm down I'm going to be a wreck by the time kickoff actually arrives.
I'm trying.
And failing.
Miserably.
GO DAWGS!!!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
34 days to kickoff....Happy Herschel Walker Day!
.jpg)
34 Days to go, and we commemorate with the greatest college football player of all time: Herschel Walker, the Goal Line Stalker:
GO DAWGS!!!
(Yep, another repeat from last year's countdown...but he IS the greatest college football player of all time. This day should be a holiday, at least in the Dawg Nation. Do we stop singing "Silent Night" just because we sang it last year?)
Friday, July 30, 2010
The return of an old Legend feature...
The title of the last post reminded me...it's been a while since I put up an Old School Rasslin' Post of the Week/Month/Quarter/Year.
Today's combines both old school rasslin' (although calling this era old-school makes me feel, well....OLD) and the Dawgs:
Hear that? The crowd is chanting already...
GOOOOOOOLD-BERG.......GOOOOOOOLD-BERG....
Who's NEXT?
Today's combines both old school rasslin' (although calling this era old-school makes me feel, well....OLD) and the Dawgs:
Hear that? The crowd is chanting already...
GOOOOOOOLD-BERG.......GOOOOOOOLD-BERG....
Who's NEXT?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)