Some of the good reads that piqued my interest during the last week ...
Sports ...
a Small fish tries big pond: Undersized TE aims to beat odds ... This one came from my friend Chris, who knows my allegiance to the Northwest Bearcats. Mike Peterson's a darn good football player, and I'd love to see the Packers keep him.
TV ...
a 'Back to You' is solidly anchored in comedy
Politics ...
a Networks Dismiss Hillary Landslide
a Why the Press Turned on Obama
a Hillary Clinton gets her own Letterman Top 10 list
The Internet & media
a In the Internet Age, AM Radio Needs Fine-Tuning
Life & other (cool) stuff
a At 107, Livermore centennial lightbulb is still a real live wire ... Kates and I saw this story on the news the other night. So cool!
a Putting Words and Music to Her Life
a Couple's cozy car turns heads, saves them money
a One-man concert against high gas prices draws a crowd, and the police
Showing posts with label Back To You. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Back To You. Show all posts
5.11.2008
12.03.2007
Talking TV
So I haven’t been much for talking about TV this fall. Sorry.
I blame it partly on getting so wrapped up in the postseason baseball. Then, I was racing to catch up with so many shows on the DVR that I hardly had time to soak up a lot of them. And now Hollywood is in a writer’s strike that’s halting our favorite shows and there's no signs of them resuming.
I also blame it on the fact I haven’t exactly been blown away by anything I’ve been watching this fall -- at least not the way I was always blown away by the hilarity of Friends, Fraiser, Raymond or Will & Grace. Or the soaring drama, action and charm of West Wing, or the early episodes of Lost and Heroes… Which is sort of surprising because it’s a rarity I don’t really like at least a handful of the new shows ...
This year has been a rarity … I was turned off by Caveman and Carpoolers in just five minutes. We stayed with Samantha Who for two episodes before cutting that one loose. And Reaper hung around on our DVR for about three or four episodes before we dismissed that one too …
Oh, and Private Practice? Yeah. Still boycotting it.
We’ve kept up with Big Bang Theory (I do really enjoy Sheldon …) and Back To You, but those are starting to wear too … Even How I Met Your Mother and The Office seem to have lost their edge (Although I must admit the first couple episodes of this season's Office, despite being an hour long, were pretty stellar -- Angela to Dwight, referring to her cats: “I don‘t want Garbage! I want Sprinkles!” And later during their breakup: “I will leave your toothbrush on your tire.”) ... That said, 30 Rock may be the sitcom I've most enjoyed watching this fall -- and that's something I never thought I'd be saying last fall ...
If a show has any premise remotely about crime and cops, or even smells of sleaze, I'm not getting near it. I don’t care how well it’s written or produced -- I get enough of that in my every day work …
There have been some signs of TV life lately, though … mostly in Daisies, a tornado and a favorite from last season that couldn’t have returned at more appropriate time.
Yeah. So how about that tornado on Wisteria Lane last night!? Captivating at times (Lynette's scream at the end), funny at others (Edie vs Gabby; Victor vs Carlos -- I saw Victor getting pinned with that fence post a mile away), and sometimes just dumb -- No one predicts a tornado hours before it's going to hit and then prepares for it. McClusky driving up in her car and yelling to the neighbors (who were standing under a sunny sky) at 9 in the morning that a tornado had hit Mt. Pleasant and they'd better get under cover for the 4 o'clock tornado was the worst. And c'mon, aside from the Scavo clan, why was nobody worried about Julie and the rest of the kiddos!? ... If you ask me, the Halloween episode was the best so far of a season that's almost reached First Season levels. Danielle playing Bree might have been the funniest thing I've ever seen on Housewives… Still, more recent Sundays have been like watching “a very special episode” of Desperate Housewives. Between Lynette’s cancer battle, Mike’s drug user/abusive husband persona and now Andrew moving out ... Seriously.
Keeping with the Sunday night lineup, Brothers & Sisters quietly endures as the new age thirtysomething … Sally Field. Rob Lowe. Calista Flockhart. A large, beautiful California family. Wonderful plots. A good wedding. I love the dynamic Rebecca adds to the family ... If B&S lost any points with me this season, it happened when they brought in that creepy Leena to sleep with idiot Tommy ...
On to Monday nights ... Heroes didn’t start out so hot, and I was beginning to doubt my draw to the show I fell so deeply in love with last year … Ah, but the last few weeks have turned almost as stellar as the high points of last season’s fight to save the world … With every new episode, new character and new power revealed -- it’s like one giant game of rock, paper, scissors! Seriously. It's like regeneration beats electricity, which beats flight and -- you get the idea … I'm comfortably on board again. Except, now it's over for a few weeks. (Who assassinated Nathan!?!)
As for Greys Anatomy, however, I've resigned to the notion it's never going to be as good as the pre-Super-Bowl bomb-era Grey's. … Our fearless, gonna-save-the-world interns are growing up; they're not so innocent anymore. They're more cynical and mean now. And these days they appear to be more concerned with who can have the most closet sex than they are with being chummy at the cafeteria table. I miss those days ... At least Bailey finally got to be a chief.
And that leaves me with the colorful and dazzling Pushing Daisies ... Why the buzz on this show is so subdued baffles me. (Kates was slow to warm to it too, but I finally got her hooked after a couple episodes) Did I mention how colorful it is? I love the straight-on camera angles of the characters during their conversations. I love the narration. I love the idea that Ned and Chuck are so deep into each other but it's impossible for them to touch, and the way your heart sinks for them every time they get close. And I love that each episode is a 40-minute fantasa-magical who-dun-it adventure with four people I'd love to spend my days with ...
Oh, and that show that couldn't have returned at a more appropriate time? I'm talking about Notes From the Underbelly, baby! The critics can and will say what they want about it. Yeah, so it's not the greatest premise ever, but it's darn fun and cute for a young couple that's sharing the same experiences -- and I'll watch anything with Rachael Harris ...
I blame it partly on getting so wrapped up in the postseason baseball. Then, I was racing to catch up with so many shows on the DVR that I hardly had time to soak up a lot of them. And now Hollywood is in a writer’s strike that’s halting our favorite shows and there's no signs of them resuming.
I also blame it on the fact I haven’t exactly been blown away by anything I’ve been watching this fall -- at least not the way I was always blown away by the hilarity of Friends, Fraiser, Raymond or Will & Grace. Or the soaring drama, action and charm of West Wing, or the early episodes of Lost and Heroes… Which is sort of surprising because it’s a rarity I don’t really like at least a handful of the new shows ...
This year has been a rarity … I was turned off by Caveman and Carpoolers in just five minutes. We stayed with Samantha Who for two episodes before cutting that one loose. And Reaper hung around on our DVR for about three or four episodes before we dismissed that one too …
Oh, and Private Practice? Yeah. Still boycotting it.
We’ve kept up with Big Bang Theory (I do really enjoy Sheldon …) and Back To You, but those are starting to wear too … Even How I Met Your Mother and The Office seem to have lost their edge (Although I must admit the first couple episodes of this season's Office, despite being an hour long, were pretty stellar -- Angela to Dwight, referring to her cats: “I don‘t want Garbage! I want Sprinkles!” And later during their breakup: “I will leave your toothbrush on your tire.”) ... That said, 30 Rock may be the sitcom I've most enjoyed watching this fall -- and that's something I never thought I'd be saying last fall ...
If a show has any premise remotely about crime and cops, or even smells of sleaze, I'm not getting near it. I don’t care how well it’s written or produced -- I get enough of that in my every day work …
There have been some signs of TV life lately, though … mostly in Daisies, a tornado and a favorite from last season that couldn’t have returned at more appropriate time.
Yeah. So how about that tornado on Wisteria Lane last night!? Captivating at times (Lynette's scream at the end), funny at others (Edie vs Gabby; Victor vs Carlos -- I saw Victor getting pinned with that fence post a mile away), and sometimes just dumb -- No one predicts a tornado hours before it's going to hit and then prepares for it. McClusky driving up in her car and yelling to the neighbors (who were standing under a sunny sky) at 9 in the morning that a tornado had hit Mt. Pleasant and they'd better get under cover for the 4 o'clock tornado was the worst. And c'mon, aside from the Scavo clan, why was nobody worried about Julie and the rest of the kiddos!? ... If you ask me, the Halloween episode was the best so far of a season that's almost reached First Season levels. Danielle playing Bree might have been the funniest thing I've ever seen on Housewives… Still, more recent Sundays have been like watching “a very special episode” of Desperate Housewives. Between Lynette’s cancer battle, Mike’s drug user/abusive husband persona and now Andrew moving out ... Seriously.
Keeping with the Sunday night lineup, Brothers & Sisters quietly endures as the new age thirtysomething … Sally Field. Rob Lowe. Calista Flockhart. A large, beautiful California family. Wonderful plots. A good wedding. I love the dynamic Rebecca adds to the family ... If B&S lost any points with me this season, it happened when they brought in that creepy Leena to sleep with idiot Tommy ...
On to Monday nights ... Heroes didn’t start out so hot, and I was beginning to doubt my draw to the show I fell so deeply in love with last year … Ah, but the last few weeks have turned almost as stellar as the high points of last season’s fight to save the world … With every new episode, new character and new power revealed -- it’s like one giant game of rock, paper, scissors! Seriously. It's like regeneration beats electricity, which beats flight and -- you get the idea … I'm comfortably on board again. Except, now it's over for a few weeks. (Who assassinated Nathan!?!)
As for Greys Anatomy, however, I've resigned to the notion it's never going to be as good as the pre-Super-Bowl bomb-era Grey's. … Our fearless, gonna-save-the-world interns are growing up; they're not so innocent anymore. They're more cynical and mean now. And these days they appear to be more concerned with who can have the most closet sex than they are with being chummy at the cafeteria table. I miss those days ... At least Bailey finally got to be a chief.
And that leaves me with the colorful and dazzling Pushing Daisies ... Why the buzz on this show is so subdued baffles me. (Kates was slow to warm to it too, but I finally got her hooked after a couple episodes) Did I mention how colorful it is? I love the straight-on camera angles of the characters during their conversations. I love the narration. I love the idea that Ned and Chuck are so deep into each other but it's impossible for them to touch, and the way your heart sinks for them every time they get close. And I love that each episode is a 40-minute fantasa-magical who-dun-it adventure with four people I'd love to spend my days with ...
Oh, and that show that couldn't have returned at a more appropriate time? I'm talking about Notes From the Underbelly, baby! The critics can and will say what they want about it. Yeah, so it's not the greatest premise ever, but it's darn fun and cute for a young couple that's sharing the same experiences -- and I'll watch anything with Rachael Harris ...
9.23.2007
Not ready for primetime
It can’t start. I’m not ready yet.
For the fall TV season that is.
There’s still too much good baseball left, dang it.
( … and it’s not looking good for the Brewers right now, folks. Stayed up and watched ‘em blow an extra innings affair against the Astros on Wednesday night. Then Kates and I hooped and hollered watching the come-from-behind thriller on Friday night. And we endured the heartbreaker yesterday during which they came from behind once again and went up in the top of the 10th on a Corey Hart home run, only to see the Braves tie it up again in the bottom of the 10th on a Scott Thorman home run, and then we watched the Brewers lose it in the bottom of the 11th …All the while, the Cubs have kept on winning, and as of this evening, the Cubs are 3.5 games up with six left to play … Ah well. The Red Sox are in. The Angels are in. And at least all is well in Packer country … )
On Wednesday night, Kates and I caught the premiere of “Back to You.” ... Not bad. It is a change from Fox’s usual style of programming, and Patricia Heaton's and Kelsey Grammer's and Fred Willard's comedic chops will be enough to keep me watching for awhile … Though I’m not betting on this one. Frankly, it reminds me too much of “Good Morning, Miami.” And we all know how long that one lasted ... On the other hand (and I'm disagreeing on this one with my cohorts who also watched the show) there could be some strong possibilities with Kelly Carr's daughter Gracie and the idea that Chuck Darling is her father. It could be fun to watch how Darling adapts to the news, which Carr broke to him at the end of the premiere, and then how the parents raise her while serving as co-anchors of the Pittsburgh news station.
Then on Thursday night, only because we couldn’t find anything else to watch for the time, Kates and I ran through the DVR and watched the “Grey’s Anatomy” Addison Montgomery lovefest that originally aired on Wednesday night … Seriously. That thing featured everyone on the People Magazine staff, including the janitor, (and probably paid them handsomely) gushing about how strong and smart and vulnerable and dignified Addison is …. And blah, blah blah … bleh!
Whatever. I’m boycotting “Private Practice.” (see why here.) I wish I could predict that it will barely last a season, but the reality is that Grey's has such a strong fan base and PP has such a cast of TV stars that it will probably stick around. And before we know it Grey's is going to be ABC's version of "CSI" ... bleh!
Still, the premiere of "Survivor" remains on our DVR, unwatched. And tonight “Desperate Housewives” and “Brothers & Sisters” come back.
I’m not ready yet.
But here’s what I do plan to watch during what looks like an otherwise disappointing year for new shows …
a Pushing Daisies ... This reviewer, and the fact it has Kristin Chenoweth was enough to pique my interest ...
a Cavemen ... which I'll bet doesn't make it past a third or fourth week. But, hey, the commercials make me laugh ...
Good TV reads ...
a CBS aims to be the talk of the Web
a The joke's on sitcoms as dramas get the laughs
For the fall TV season that is.
There’s still too much good baseball left, dang it.
( … and it’s not looking good for the Brewers right now, folks. Stayed up and watched ‘em blow an extra innings affair against the Astros on Wednesday night. Then Kates and I hooped and hollered watching the come-from-behind thriller on Friday night. And we endured the heartbreaker yesterday during which they came from behind once again and went up in the top of the 10th on a Corey Hart home run, only to see the Braves tie it up again in the bottom of the 10th on a Scott Thorman home run, and then we watched the Brewers lose it in the bottom of the 11th …All the while, the Cubs have kept on winning, and as of this evening, the Cubs are 3.5 games up with six left to play … Ah well. The Red Sox are in. The Angels are in. And at least all is well in Packer country … )
On Wednesday night, Kates and I caught the premiere of “Back to You.” ... Not bad. It is a change from Fox’s usual style of programming, and Patricia Heaton's and Kelsey Grammer's and Fred Willard's comedic chops will be enough to keep me watching for awhile … Though I’m not betting on this one. Frankly, it reminds me too much of “Good Morning, Miami.” And we all know how long that one lasted ... On the other hand (and I'm disagreeing on this one with my cohorts who also watched the show) there could be some strong possibilities with Kelly Carr's daughter Gracie and the idea that Chuck Darling is her father. It could be fun to watch how Darling adapts to the news, which Carr broke to him at the end of the premiere, and then how the parents raise her while serving as co-anchors of the Pittsburgh news station.
Then on Thursday night, only because we couldn’t find anything else to watch for the time, Kates and I ran through the DVR and watched the “Grey’s Anatomy” Addison Montgomery lovefest that originally aired on Wednesday night … Seriously. That thing featured everyone on the People Magazine staff, including the janitor, (and probably paid them handsomely) gushing about how strong and smart and vulnerable and dignified Addison is …. And blah, blah blah … bleh!
Whatever. I’m boycotting “Private Practice.” (see why here.) I wish I could predict that it will barely last a season, but the reality is that Grey's has such a strong fan base and PP has such a cast of TV stars that it will probably stick around. And before we know it Grey's is going to be ABC's version of "CSI" ... bleh!
Still, the premiere of "Survivor" remains on our DVR, unwatched. And tonight “Desperate Housewives” and “Brothers & Sisters” come back.
I’m not ready yet.
But here’s what I do plan to watch during what looks like an otherwise disappointing year for new shows …
a Pushing Daisies ... This reviewer, and the fact it has Kristin Chenoweth was enough to pique my interest ...
"... Chenoweth calls this show "fantasmagorical," and when you see it, you’ll know precisely what she means. Pushing Daisies is bizarre and strange and wonderful and vivid and has all the makings of a great new TV love affair."a Samantha Who? ... Same reviewer.
a Cavemen ... which I'll bet doesn't make it past a third or fourth week. But, hey, the commercials make me laugh ...
Good TV reads ...
a CBS aims to be the talk of the Web
a The joke's on sitcoms as dramas get the laughs
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