TV check

When it comes to American Idol, I’ve been telling people this for weeks, and I’ll say it once more -- For the girls, I’ll take Lakisha, Melinda and Gina all the way to the end, and I’ll take Blake Lewis and Chris Sligh for the boys. And even if they aren’t finalists, all three of those girls should have recording contracts wrapped up …

And before this week, I would have been begging voters to get Sanjaya off the stage (How he’s still in it, I’ll never understand), but his Kinks performance wasn’t have bad …(Seriously. Who the heck was that crying girl!?!?) … Sanjaya finally brought the umph that made him seem like a true contender during his original audition …

As for the rest of the contenders, Haley’s “Tell Him” was good, but she didn’t sell it … Chris Richardson singing “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” was smooth, but the fact he doesn’t enunciate his words drives Kates and I crazy … Phil’s “Tobacco Road” rocked, but I seriously doubt he’s the next American Idol …

The dark horse of the night was Jordin Sparks singing “I (Who Have Nothing).” She just sang, which is all you need to do in this competition. She played herself. She didn’t overdo it. Her pacing was perfect. She hit the notes. She performed beautifully.

And that leaves Stephanie Edwards who was voted off and deservedly so. She sang “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me,” a beautiful song … and then she had to go and Beyonce-fy it. Yuck. She ruined the song’s perfect melodies with all her runs.

A good read: ‘American Idol’ has begun its decline

* * *

Tell you what -- You promise to start watching The Class, and I'll try watching that other so-called endangered show titled Friday Night Lights. Deal?

Seriously people. It's the most underrated, under-appreciated sitcom on TV right now. Which is too bad because it has all the makings of a Friends-esque blockbuster. After all, James Burrows (Hello! -- Cheers, Friends, Will & Grace, Frasier) and David Crane (Hello! -- Friends) are behind it. What more cred do you need!?

The lowdown? The Class is a cast of characters who went through the second grade together, lost touch and were reunited as a bunch of twenty-somethings when Ethan Haas, played by Jason Ritter, invited all of them to a surprise birthday party for his longtime girlfriend, who actually dumped him at the party. Now Ethan is left scratching his way back into dating along with newfound pals like twin sisters Kat and Lina Warbler, Richie, Duncan and Nicole ...

Ritter, whose comedic abilities so closely resemble his father's chops, and Lizzy Caplan, who plays the sassy and sarcastic Kat, are a match made in sitcom heaven, and they're both on their way to becoming breakout stars. And Jesse Tyler Ferguson, as the clutzy, dopey, puppy-like Richie, isn't far behind. Often, his hard luck and deadpanned punchlines are the icing on the show ...

The sweet dynamic is rounded out by the storylines of gay school teacher Kyle (Sean Maguire), the budding romance between Duncan (Jon Bernthal) and Nicole (Andrea Anders, who deserves to work on a good show after the train wreck that was Joey), Nicole's hollow-headed husband and football legend Yonk Allen (David Keith), and Lina (Heather Goldenhersh) who is relentlessly optimistic while falling for Richie ...

It's a darn good show full of smart comedy, lovable and relatable characters, and some sweet, sweet moments. The big wigs at CBS would be fools to expel The Class ...

* * *

I think my fascination and lust for Amazing Race has come to an end. I couldn't care less about any of these so-called All-Stars traveling the globe right now and I've been beyond bored ...

And this season's Survivor cast is nowhere near as cool as the last season's. Then again, I'm doubting any future Survivor cast will top last year's group...

I'll stick with Survivor, but I'm officially done watching Amazing Race ...

* * *

So NBC's little stunt allowing America to pick the leads of a Broadway musical ended last night ...

Somehow, I stuck with it for every episode. I think I was the last one watching tonight ...

I couldn't have been happier seeing Laura win the part of Sandy. Yeah, yeah, so I said at the beginning that Ashley Spencer was my girl. But when it came down to it, Ashley had the look but she couldn't equal the talent Laura brought. As the weeks went by Ashley seemed to be only going through the motions; the last couple weeks she seemed robotic. Laura took her place the night she belted out "Jesus Christ Superstar" and never looked back ...

As for the Dannys, I was never very high on any of them. In fact, pretty boy Austin was in the basement of my list. For me, he was the Sanjaya of the Grease try-outs -- week after week, I didn't understand how he was surviving. Thank goodness, scrawny Max grew as a performer and came on strong to win the thing ... Sure, he doesn't have the Danny physique, but I'm pretty sure Kathleen Marshall can get him in on a weight training program to help him bulk up ...

* * *

I think I'm with a good majority of Lost and Grey's Anatomy fans when I say: Thank god they've got their mojo back ...

Finally, Lost has been consistently good -- the way it was during its first season -- since it got off its whole let's-treat-Kate-Sawyer-and-Jack-like-zoo-animals storyline and the show returned from its mid-season hiatus a couple weeks ago ...

And Grey's is moving on from its latest cheese-fest that was Meredith's drowning ...

Just keep it real people.

Crazy TV

Yeah! for the Hippies! ... from beginning to end, no one deserved to win the Amazing Race more than they did ...

* * *

As for Lost ...

Michael is crazy. CRA-zy ... first Izzy. Now Michael ... CRA-zy.

And who the heck is Miss Clue!? What the heck are those tribal Others doing with Walt!?! ... and what's up with the boat!?!

Next week's finale should be stellar.

But the really good news of the day? No repeats next season ...

Entertainment Weekly has some good stuff about the cast and their theories. Also here's an interesting story about Evangeline Lilly dealing with her Lost fame ...

* * *

... and Invasion? (see Dave's blog) ... Wouldn't it have been great if Sheriff Tom and Russell killed off Zura, saved the world and everyone lived happily ever after? I mean, how cool was the opening sequence with Tom and Russell pulling up on the crowd and taking over, and then Dave pulling up in his beater car, and the real Army arriving. The show's not coming back next season, so it would've been the perfect ending to a captivating little mini-series, right!? ...

Nope ...

Instead, after Tom and Russell killed off the alien army, we still had 40 minutes to go. Forty minutes that included Murial trying to help the pregnant women, Tom and Russell chasing after Zura, and Larkin, Dave, Lewis and the kids playing cat and mouse with those two crazies in the sheriff's house ... and then in the ultimate cliffhanger, Tom arrives, scuffles with the crazies and takes 'em down just as one of them fires his gun -- in Larkin's direction ...

Aaaaaaaaaand the last scene we see is Tom apparently dumping Larkin's pregnant body into 'the water,' obviously trying to save her, despite probably infecting her and the baby with the alien disease in the process, while Murial and Russell run up on the beach and see Tom's tortured look ...

That's it!?!?!?!?!

Great. See ya, Invasion. Been nice knowin' ya. Thanks for the memories. It was fun while it lasted.

Doing it again

... another thing I missed last night, thanks to my falling asleep during the Cubs game. Gosh, it would have been good to catch Dave laughing it up with Britney while she announces her pregnancy ... instead I had to read about it in this morning's Post ...

* * *
Our 'Corporate Cup' points were posted today for Week 2 ... all of the teams' scores dropped quite a bit over last week for a variety of reasons (mostly because they say the 389 the 'Four' posted last week and realized they have no chance ...). In fact, my team's points fell to 272 in Week 2, for various reasons, but we still caked the rest of the teams, keeping our comfortable lead for Week 3 ...

* * *
... another baseball practice tonight, and boy does it feel good ... It's just too bad I won't be available for our first game this weekend ...

... nonethless, we spent the entire 90-minute practice tonight on fielding. Coach asked us at the beginning of the practice where each of us played. 'You can put me whevere you want, except for catcher,' I told him, and added that my preferences are second base, shortstop or outfield ...

... so I spent the night trading plays with another guy at second base and shortstop. ... we practiced turning double plays, we practiced hitting the cutoff man. We took grounders, line drives, fly balls. Coach worked us hard and wouldn't let up until we did something right ... it was great work, and great fun. And at one point, I got just enough time to take a step back, look around at my newfound teammates across the field and think to myself how lucky I was to be playing baseball again, and to be doing with such a great group of guys who know their stuff like I do, love the game as I do and want to be there just as badly ...

(Lost? ... here's my March post referencing how my whole summer of baseball got started ...)

* * *
Speaking of 'Lost' ... another mind-blowing episode, filled with even more clues and questions ... but as usual, I'll leave it up to the other writers and 'Lost' bloggers to fill you in ...

... but jeez, how freaky was that 'new' hatch, yet another video and that whole surveillence thing!?!?!

...and 'Amazing Race' -- see ya, Mojo!! ... I don't think I've ever laughed as hard during a 'Race' episode as I did tonight watching Mo freaking out, sobbing and spilling all those pots she was trying to balance on that board ... 'Joseph, I can't do this!' ... (crash!!) ... 'This is so hard!' ... (crash!!) ... 'I can't handle this anymore!' ... (crash!!) ...

HA-larious!!!

Wednesday night TV

'Amazing Race'... so sorry to see ya go, Dave & Lori. It was a lot of fun while it lasted, my fellow Kansans ... Let's go hippies! (They're the only team left that's more than half-likable ...)

'Lost' ... whoah. Another episode to blow your mind. And if you didn't see it ... I'm not gonna explain it . So go here ... (Although, this Dave guy apparently didn't like it as much as I did ...)

... and then a thrilling Brewers win to cap it off and a sweep to start the season.

... I think we should start calling Derrick Turnbow 'the new big bird' ...



The old big bird ...



... The new big bird

Wednesday TV & Beyond

With 'Annie' last night, Kates and I spent tonight catching up on Tuesday TV ...

... 'Amazing Race' : Glad to see the pinkies are gone, they were a waste of the audience's time and the frat boys' time ... and so glad to see lovable Lori & Dave still in it. How great -- and lovable -- are they!?!

... 'Teachers' : Good stuff. Not great -- it's midseason throw-em-in-the-trash TV -- but it gives those of us who enjoy a good sitcom and abhor the overload of cops and court dramas some breathing room. So kudos to the networks for airing stuff like 'Teachers,' 'Sons & Daughters' and 'Courting Alex' before killing them off for good, never to be seen again ... but back to the show -- the premise of focusing more on the teachers' lives in the lounge and outside of school rather than the classroom is clever. And the flirtacious storyline between English teacher Jeff and his female teacher interests was comical. ..And yes, Deon Richmond, aka Kenny from 'The Cosby Show,' was instantly recognizable ...

... 'Lost' : ... whoah again. Another episode that delivered on the action and the drama -- and a climax that left us begging for more. (oh! Henry!) ... Locke's flashback didn't seem to present a lot to me at first, although my buddy Sean theorizes that his Locke's father has something to do wiSawyer and his conning. I, as always, was more interested in the present state of things on the island. As if the whole doors shutting on Locke wasn't wild enough, jaws across the country dropped, I'm sure, at the sight of that glow-in-the-dark map on the ceiling of the hatch ...

... 'According to Jim' : ... taking another one off the ol' DVR to end the night. It was a repeat, but HA-larious nonetheless ... it's simple, good, clean family-fun, and more and more I'm thinking it's one of the most underrated sitcoms on TV ... After all, it took me five years to find it.

Sunday reads

Study: Fewer News Stories Offer Any Depth ... yeah.

Conan O’Brien to devote show to Finland trip ... Kates and I had this show on our DVR and watched it earlier tonight ... HA-larious!

Found by ‘Lost’ ... To hear Evangeline Lilly talk, her path to stardom on the hit series 'Lost' was almost beyond her control.

‘Amazing Race’ host enjoys globe-trotting role ... 'Amazing Race,' and Phil, of course, -- Rocks!

It’s Not Just Popular, It’s Infectious ... uh, ya think!? ... I've been saying this since the new 'Grey's' season began last fall -- it's the new 'Friends.' The cast and the chemistry among the cast is arguably the best on TV right now ...

TV in review

Quick thoughts on my favorite shows (because few were actually new episodes) this week ...

Amazing Race: ... a ha! So the frat boys thought they were all done when they saw ol' Phil standing at the end of that Moscow square. Then Phil just stared at them and said, 'I'm sorry to tell you...' ... with a long pause during which I was waiting foir him to say ' ... you've been eliminated from the race for flirting too much.' ... but he just told the boys the race wasn't over and made them go on their way. ...Otherwise, no real surprises here. The old folks some how are staying in it, it's not looking like the forgetful pinkies will be hurt too much by their mishap at the pool.

... In the meantime, I've quietly begun establishing affections for BJ & Tyler (The Hippies), David & Lori (The cute 'geek' couple from Manhattan, Kan. ... Woo hoo!) and Wanda & Desiree (the sweet mother-daughter combo).

* * *
Sons & Daughters: ... Love it!

For the record, I haven't seen an episode of the comparable 'Arrested Development' (but that doesn't mean I'm not extremely curious about 'A.D.' or think about renting it every time I stop in a Blockbuster to see what all the buzz is about ...) Still, no matter how much funnier its fans think 'A.D.' is than 'S&D' ... I think the raw and quirky little S&D is pretty darn good and you've got to take it for what it's worth -- a nice little breath of fresh air that, judging the way TV execs think these days, probably won't see the light of primetime next fall.

... through the first four episodes, there's been plenty of laugh-out-loud moments for me and there's not an unlikable character on the family tree -- although Cameron's sister Sharon and her daughter Carrie seem to be the scene-stealers thus far... My favorite moment so far came in the second episode when sex-deprived Sharon and her husband Don got 'that feeling' and, while Don headed to the bedroom, Sharon exhuberantly dialed up brother Cameron and screamed into the phone 'Cameron! We're having sex!' ...

* * *
Invasion ... I was barely hanging on through the fall, but lately, it's been getting better and better every week.

Mariel's one smart gal, surviving creepy Christine's wrath and pulling off that slick trick with the carbon copy board and alerting a doctor that Sheriff Underlay needed to be called ...

... and throughout the episode I couldn't help from longing that somebody would just knock off Christine and put her out of her misery ... Then! Thank you Zura for popping her right in the forehead ...

... But as my buddy Brian pointed out today: is she really dead? ... One can only hope.

... and that whole scene in the gym with the basketball players blindly passing the ball around!! How freaky was that!?!?!

Old and new

DVR is an awesome -- and interesting -- piece of technology.

Kates and I now have the ability to watch all of our favorite TV shows and all the shows we've been hearing about from other people for years but never had enough VCRs in the house or enough time to catch ... On the other side, Kates and I rarely watch TV shows live any more, instead waiting until we some free time to sit down and watch a whole bunch of things in a row ...

A la Friday night. I came home early from work and caught up on the last two weeks worth of 'Scrubs.' .... then Kates and I came home after a night on the town (watching Kates' elementary students perform 'Oklahoma' ...) and watched the two-hour premiere of 'Amazing Race.' ...What? It's two weeks old? Bah!! We don't care. With DVR we can watch it on our time -- and without commercials! ... I went to bed longing for the 'The Frosties' to be eliminated (I was annoyed with them from the start). This morning, Kates and I ate breakfast and started up the DVR to catch up on the second 'Amazing Race' episode. ... and I could breathe a sigh of relief. 'The Frosties' had been eliminated, and we are caught up on the latest from 'Amazing Race.'

* * *
A couple months ago, I took my parents stereo system off their hands -- a stereo system they bought themselves after marrying in 1975. Yep, turntable, speakers, amplifier, the works ...

They hadn't used the system in years, and there was even some question whether it still worked. No matter, I was willing to give it a try. I wanted it, not only for it's durable cassette player (I have a buttload of cassette tapes I'd listen to a lot more if it wasn't for the squeaky cassette player in my newer stereo...), but also with a huge, nostalgic desire to listen to music in a way I hadn't in a long, long time, and a way that is quickly becoming, in this age of iPods and downloadable music at your fingertips, a lost artform ...

Then on Friday, I ventured into a new music store opened down the street a few weeks ago. My jaw hit the floor. Vintage records from wall-to-wall. And we're not talking your Grandma's old Kenny Rogers albums you can find for a dollar now in any corner antique store. Nope, classic albums, in good condition, all sorted and stacked alphabetically -- just the way our parents saw them. From Chicago to Zeppelin they were all there. One aisle display started with a pristine copy of The Beatles: White Album -- for $75, of course.

... I could've spent all day in the place. But alas, I had things to do -- and not a lot of money to spend. After thumbing through a few racks, I went to the counter with copies of two Beach Boys albums -- 'Today' and 'In Concert' -- and The Carpenters: 'Now & Then,' paying about $4 for each of them ... and I fell further in love with the store and the whole dying-record concept when the clerk -- a skinny, gray-haired man in his late 50s or early 60s, sporting a tie-dyed T-shirt -- saw the records I was purchasing and struck up a conversation with me about how great The Beach Boys and The Carpenters were in their day, and how the only classic rock music people seem to care about or know about these days is The Beatles.

... So when Saturday arrived, I awoke with one thing on my mind: Setting up that old stereo. For weeks I had been sort of intimidated by the maze of wire and cords that came with the system, but wasn't going to let it stop me on this day ... Like I was MacGyver or on some sort of Mission Impossible assignment, my heart raced as I nervously connected all the wires. Then, when all appeared to be set, I grabbed the closest cassette tape I could find: Petula Clark's Greatest Hits.

Pressed play on the cassette deck. ... and 'Downtown' never sounded so good.

Then the records ... I carefully removed The Beach Boys' 'In Concert' album from its sleeve and set it on the turntable. At first, it wouldn't spin. Then slowly, it started turning. It was warming up now. Then I carefully lowered the needle. Static. ... And then "... From Hawthorn, California, to entertain you tonight, live in a recording session, the fabulous Beach Boys!! ..." ...loud screams and the opening guitar riff of 'Fun, Fun, Fun' ... Just the way I remembered hearing it probably 20 years ago now ...

It was a beautiful sound. Tears of glee and wonder filled my eyes, knowing my father had played this same record on this same system decades ago, sometimes with my brother and I dancing in front of the fireplace trying to be like The Beach Boys ...

This afternoon, I went out and got a shelf for the system and set it up. Re-connecting all the wires, and adding my iPod to it.

Tonight, Imogen Heap and Van Morrison never sounded so good on this old stereo.

Catching up ...

There’s nothing like a relaxing weekend surrounded by good friends …

On Friday night, Kates and I ventured into Chicagoland for a rendezvous with our friends Steve and Emily, and then Tad and Jen met us at O’Hare fresh off their flights into town for a weekend wedding. We went to a pizza joint, sharing in good conversation and pitchers of beer and, of course, pizza with baseball playoff games on a big screen TV in the background … On Sunday morning, we got a random call from Ray and Leah wanting to come up and watch the Packer game because our fair stations to the south only show a lesser team. We shared in good conversation over chips, salsa, Diet Cokes and chilli with the Packers finally giving us a good, old-fashioned Green Bay win …

But here we are, the more we get together, no matter how fast the last decade of knowing each other has passed, and yet how short of a time it seems, as full-fledged adults. No matter how much we still feel like kids.

Back then, we were driving across town to pick up the other friend, amid conversations about the hottest girl in school or the homework assignment that was frustrating us. This weekend, we were driving to the airport to pick up the friend who was flying cross country to meet us, amid talks about the journey of marriage, the plights of finances and mortgages …

And we looked through yearbooks, reminiscing about friends that still seem so close, although change has sent them so far away …

* * *
The Packer win was fun and all, but, darn, was I sorry I missed the Astros-Braves game. 18 innings!

18 INNINGS!

Ah, well. Braves fans stink anyway …

* * *
OK. Seriously now. I think I’m all caught up on the TV and ready to settle in for the fall. … and it’s kind of sad. Of all the new shows that I had such high hopes for, it seems like ‘Commander in Chief’ might be the only one I’ll stick with. …I’m not quite sold on ‘Invasion’ yet. And while I really do like ‘War At Home,’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ I won’t be canceling my plans on Sunday and Monday nights to watch them.

… I still say ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is the best show on TV right now, on a Sunday night that is loaded with ‘West Wing’ on NBC, ‘War at Home’ on Fox and ‘Desperate Housewives’ on ABC all showing before ‘Grey’s’…

It looks like I’m still sticking to CBS on Monday nights (but turning it off when CSI comes on -- don’t get me started on why I hate cops shows …), ABC on Wednesday nights and NBC on Thursday nights.

…And on the other nights, you can pretty much take your pick from whatever you’re in the mood for. On Tuesdays ABC has ‘According to Jim’ and ‘Commander in Chief,’ but NBC has ‘The Office’ and CBS has ’Amazing Race,’ even though the whole family thing is going to deter me from watching that for a few weeks (here's why) …Then on Friday nights, I’m usually so exhausted from the week, I’ll take just about anything that will make me laugh -- that means anything on the WB (‘Reba’ might be one of the most underrated comedies on TV), ABC (‘Hope & Faith ’ and ‘Hot Properties’) or a good marathon of ‘Friday Night Stand-Up’ on ‘Comedy Central.’

Tubin'

I’m ALMOST caught up on my TV watching. I finally got through one of my video tapes yesterday afternoon (thanks to the Angels/Yankees playoff game being rained out) -- but I think I have like two more 6-hour tapes left. It’s been so long since I recorded the shows I’m beginning to forget what’s on them.

We really need to call about that DVR …

I got off work early Friday afternoon, so that gave me a little down time to catch up on a couple shows, including the season premiere of ‘According to Jim’ -- one of those shows that I always feel guilty for not watching enough. The one-hour premiere -- albeit like two weeks old now -- was HA-larious. In a fit of jealousy for Dana’s (played by the beautiful Kimberly Williams) new hubby, Jim steals 118 roses that Dana’s husband had planned to give her. Jim gives the flowers to Cheryl instead … Cheryl, of course, figures out what Jim did and the plot evolves into the two exchanging memories and lies about the involvement of a mix tape in their relationship … and, eventually, they settle their differences and live happily ever after …

Perhaps the best scene of the show, and the one that set the tone, was the opening scene that features the entire cast at the dinner table. When the last bite is swallowed and Cheryl gets up to begin the chore of washing dishes, Dana’s husband says ‘Cheryl, do you need any help in the kitchen.’ … There’s the sounds of clanging silverware on dishes, dropped jaws, blanks stares and dead silence all around the table … It was a great moment.

That premiere -- two weeks ago -- was followed by the premiere of ‘Commander in Chief.’ Amazing for all the people I’ve heard talk about the show (and say they really liked it), and for all the stories I’ve read about it, I knew very little about how the premiere played out, other than the fact the fictitious President Teddy Roosevelt Bridges dies of a stroke. Keeping in mind the fact this premiere is, yes, two weeks old, I’ll save all of us some time and not retell the whole story. … I will say, though, watching the whole premise of the show unfold was pretty cool. The notion of having, let alone, a woman vice president, who then defies the president’s dying request for her to resign, and THEN goes on and delivers the ‘charge’ speech she gives to the congress (with the teleprompter failing) was pretty awesome and invigorating …

… And then I watched the ‘Boston Legal’ premiere -- from two weeks ago. Not that I’m a big fan of the show. Julie Bowen’s just fun to look at, too. (… I’m still having trouble getting over NBC canceling ‘Ed.’)

… I think watching ‘Reunion’ is a lost cause. Kates and I watched the premiere and were only lukewarm on it. We taped the second episode, which was already delayed a week because of Bush‘s post-hurricane speech, but we haven’t watched it. And then we completely missed the third episode …

…‘Amazing Race.’ I only caught the last 20 minutes of the premiere, and lost interest pretty quickly. The family concept is an interesting idea, but it won’t stand to be nearly as competitive, the kids are just annoying and they’re only traveling cross-country. No fun with different languages, foreign cars or exhaustive landscapes. BOR-ing. Aside from ‘The Office,’ my television will likely be off on most Tuesday nights …

…Maybe I’ll get around to watching the rest of our videotapes by Thanksgiving …