TV watch

So I read a good story today about the trend in sitcoms built on the mockumentary format, and the observation that we never see the camera crews in any of the shows …

"... who is on the other end of the camera when Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, Jim and Pam Halpert, and the other employees of Dunder Mifflin confess their innermost thoughts on "The Office"? And what sort of fictional camera crew, making what sort of film, would find itself limitlessly interested in one Leslie Knope of the Pawnee, Ind., "Parks and Recreation" department?"

Interestingly, I had a brainstorm this morning about exactly that and what the finale of “The Office” -- when that day comes -- might look like … Don’t ask me why I thought of it. The thought just entered my brain. Probably from doing a catch-up marathon of “Modern Family” episodes late last night.

For “The Office” finale, why not show the camera crews wrapping up and leaving Scranton? … Although that would alter the dynamic of the show if we’re suddenly seeing a bunch of cameramen around the office. And then we’d probably be asking ourselves, Who’s filming the cameramen?

Or … Or! The finale could be the finished product. The complete fictional documentary that the film crew would produce after spending the last four, five, six -- however long it’s been -- years filming in Scranton. Dunder Mifflin's culture from beginning to end. … Although that would require NBC to dedicate something like a two-hour movie timeslot for the finale, which would seem unlikely.

The whole brainstorm appeared better in my head.

* * *

Speaking of “The Office,” there’s been some rumblings lately that Steve Carell could be leaving the show.

I’m not sure yet how I feel about that.

But EW recently made a good case for a reboot of “The Office” if Carell does leave ... My vote is for Ricky Gervais to move into the Scranton branch.

* * *

“Heroes” got canceled this week.

And I got reaffirmation that I right to stop watching the show when I did. It's about time.

The first season was so, so glorious (Take a look at that post. Geez, how wrong was I about "30 Rock"!?) ... The rest of the "Heroes" lifespan -- um, not so much.

Heroes good-bye

Dear “Heroes” --

I’m writing to inform you that you have been terminated from my DVR effective immediately.

I want you to know I appreciate the joy you have brought me during the last three years. Like millions of TV viewers I initially was dazzled by your colorful scenery, gripping story lines and the everyday people with extraordinary abilities. Earlier this season, I also believed in you when your critics were getting more sour.

But after watching the last two weeks’ episodes, I have come to the realization that it’s no longer worth my time to watch you. The most recent episodes were so dull and full of cheesy dialogue that I found myself asking repeatedly: If this were a new show, would I keep up with it? Unfortunately, the answer is a solid no.

I made this tough decision in the interests of making some serious cuts to my TV-watching time, spending more time with my family and freeing up some of my hours to pursue other interests.

Again, thank you for your time during these last three years.

Sincerely,
M.H.

Heroes & villains

... So I watched last night's "Heroes" during my lunch break today ...

Man, what a bloodbath that was! ... If you've read anything about this fall's TV, you know "Heroes" has been limping along -- and the show killed off a whole lotta dead weight in last night's episode.

Knox, Flint, Doyle, Meredith, and supposedly Sylar -- gone. And yet it seems like I'm forgetting others ...

Then, in the final moments, the show basically pulled a "Desperate Housewives" totally dumping the storyline we've gotten used to over the last 2 1/2 seasons and turned the heroes into fugitives being hunted by the government -- at the request of Sen. Nathan Petrelli, who, it seems to me, is setting out to do what his father couldn't ...

Intriguing, indeed.

But for now, I'm glad to take a breather from "Heroes" until after the Super Bowl.

Sunday reading

Here's two weeks of reads I found to be interesting ...

Baseball ...
a 'Good citizen's' spot in Cubs' lore secure ... When the Cubs got rid of Kerry Wood last week, I was a little susprised given the strong season he'd had. Then again, the Cubs should've gotten rid of him years ago. But even through all of the injuries, he was a good personality to have around.

Politics ... from the day after the election ...
a A new morning in America
a America turns the page
a Shift in tone will bring a watershed for nation
a Nation crosses hopeful bridge
a Now, Promises to Keep, and Divides to Be Bridged
a Obama and America
a No Time for Laurels; Now the Hard Part
a For Many Abroad, an Ideal Renewed

More politics ...
a Light in November ... I became a fan of Kathleen Parker a couple years ago, but her stuff during this election cycle has been wonderfully entertaining.
a A Moment for the Ages, Many Years in the Making
a Finally, a Thin President
a Sitting on top of the world
a Thinking of Good Vibrations
a 'Renegade' joins 'Twinkle,' 'Rawhide,' 'Lancer' on list of Secret Service code names
a Obamas just like us except ...
a 10 most viral videos of the campaign
a What's up with Obama's Sox hat?
a For Obama and Family, a Personal Transition
a The Election Lives! ... This is a good one about the yet-to-be-decided Senate election in Minnesota.
a Tolerance fails T-shirt test ... Astonishing is one word to describe this one.

The Internet & media ...
a Google at 10: Searching Its Own Soul
a Election’s Over, So What’s Next for the Cable News Channels?
a Freaky hologram on CNN recalls 'Star Wars' ... Who wasn't saying this after the election?!
a In Era of Blog Sniping, Companies Shoot First
a Remember Me? The One With the 'O' Button?
a The Monitor embraces its future - a digital one
a Rejected Tribune Front Pages ... My friend Liz tipped me off to this one. My favorite is definitely the WHOOPS. page.
a We are not bemused. Or are we? A word's dueling meanings

Music ...
a Elvis mystery solved! ... and how the Tribune solved it.
a Shawn Colvin: Wild Child, Now 52, Finds Fun In Her Music
a Van Morrison discusses 'Astral Weeks,' which he'll perform at the Hollywood Bowl

TV ...
a Flagging ‘Heroes’ Attempts Self-Rescue
a In Its Final Season, 'ER' Is Embracing Its Roots
a 'How I Met Your Mother' fans await big reveal day
a Talking Obamas, Huxtables with Bill Cosby

Entertainment ...
a Fanning is a big girl and a big star now

Life & other stuff ...
a Toy Hall of Fame points to new addition: the stick
a Massive waves a mystery at Maine harbor ... This is fascinating.

Sunday reading

A collection of good reads that caught my eyes during the last week ...

Baseball ...
a Cubs against Rays: The Series to die for ... A fantasy of what could have been. Great stuff that had me laughing out loud.
a Building the Rays
a Moyer a pitcher for the ages
a An Energetic Presence on Hand for Every Phillies Pennant
a Demolition Takes Shea Stadium Piece by Piece
a If Brenly leaves Cubs' booth, intrigue will follow ... I'll really miss Bob if he leaves the Cubs' booth, but if the Brewers hire him I'll stand up and clap. After the reports that came out of New York, I'll take anyone over Willie Randolph to manage the Brewers.
a After his grating escape to Los Angeles, Ramirez will strike it rich again

TV ...
a Pamela Fryman is the set mom on 'How I Met Your Mother'
a How 'SNL' Got Sarah Palin
a After playin' Palin, Tina Fey returns in '30 Rock'
a Fall season fails to capture viewers so far ... Kates and I didn't have any interest in watching any of the new shows this season -- except for "Worst Week," which was getting high praise coming in. But after watching Sam fumble beyond belief each week, it got unbearable after a couple weeks.
a 'Heroes': Five Ways to Fix a Series In Crisis ... I don't think "Heroes" is as bad this season as some of the critics have been saying. But I could get on board with several of these suggestions ...

Music ...
a Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' experiment pays off with 3 million sales ... It's a great album.
a Music site to sell songs for a dime

Politics ...
a Barack Obama for President ... From The New York Times.
a Many reasons still for Obama to worry, and McCain to hope ... It's not over until it's over.
a It's Time to Retire the Shuttle
a Perfect role for Palin: Good sport ... A reaction that pretty well sums it up about Palin's appearance on last weekend's SNL.
a $150,000 Wardrobe for Palin May Alter Tailor-Made Image
a Look Is the Same; the Labels Have Changed
a Campaign curtains closing, and I don't want to leave
a The aura of Mr. Smooth
a Obama, McCain cried when...
a Confessions of a Phone Solicitor ... This is a great read on multiple levels. It's amusing -- and quite funny to me -- the lengths the McCain campaign and its supporters are going to try tarnishing Obama. ... And few things test my patience more than telemarketers.
a I needed to know: can Obama pick a fantasy team? So I asked him ... This is a fun read from my friend Tom.
a The vast left-wing fantasy ... An editorial setting the record straight on ACORN.

Media & the Internet ...
a Safety in Numbers? Poll-Driven Press Goes Out on a Limb
a How the board came to endorse Obama
a Popularity or Income? Two Sites Fight It Out
a Campbell Brown's CNN Role: A Matter Of Opinion
a YouTube tosses 10-minute limit to show full TV episodes
a Facebook in a Crowd ... An excellent perspective about the fake-ness lurking on Facebook.

Life & other stuff ...
a As Yard Sales Boom, Sentiment First Thing to Go
a The incredible, flexible, movable house

Tuesday

... I watched last night's Heroes during my lunch break today ... Something that's quickly becoming a Tuesday ritual ...

Last night's episode -- not to mention much of this season -- had some of the best moments and twists we haven't seen since the show's glorious first season.

Claire got shot by her mother -- and of course, came back to save the day. Peter met his once-dead father and then watched Dad steal his powers. Hiro didn't exactly kill Ando. And the whole Daphne-Parkman relationship that we saw in the flash-forward a couple weeks ago has sprouted its roots ...

And Suresh. Man I'm sick of him. Stacy needs to freeze him useless real fast.

* * *

I thought I was coming down with something this weekend ...

I knew it when I awoke Sunday morning. My nose was stuffed so full I could barely breathe and I felt that lump in my throat. The kind that feels like a golf ball is blocking your airway.

Within hours, I was at our medicine cabinet, launching a war on whatever bad cells I acquired ... I was downing cold syrup as fast as the instructions allowed. I was filling myself with fluids ...

By Monday, whetever I had progressed, and I was on the brink of misery. It was evident something was going around our office because others complained of the symptoms too ... But I kept after it. More cold syrup. More fluids. And I was in bed unusually early Monday night ...

And today it's all gone. Ah, what a feeling.

* * *

I'm on a Mates of State kick again -- That adorably talented pair of musicians from one of my old stomping grounds in Kansas ...

I picked up "Re-Arrange Us" a few weeks ago -- finally! -- but didn't get much time with it other than a short drive home ...

But over the weekend, I was gathering another batch of music to give my friend Raechel for our latest CD exchange; we started this exchange thing several months ago to help each other discover new and different music, and I promised this month to introduce her to Mates of State ...

I'll admit, I told her, sometimes you have to be in just the right mood to listen to them. Kori can play a mean organ, but some of their stuff sounds like a couple of kids just yelling into microphones and making racket ...

Still, that's part of their charm -- along with the lush harmonies, and the beats and melodies that can be oh so fun to sing and dance and rock out with.

So I slipped in "Re-Arrange Us," and now I can barely get myself to press the stop button.

Unlike their older stuff, I can't find a song on this disc I don't like. The harmonies and melodies are as sweet as ever. Their chemistry blares through the speakers, and each song is packed with an emotional punch. I love it.

Here's a couple cool interviews I found of the Mates while bobbing around YouTube and trying to quench my latest kick ...




And here's a pretty sweet live edition of "The Re-Arranger." If I'm not mistaken that's the Headlights joining them on stage for the finale ...

Glory days

... So I finally got around to watching last week's Heroes today.

Awesome.

I'm really liking evil Sylar as good guy Gabriel ... It also occurred to me that I don't miss Micah and Niki at all, but somehow the writers managed to keep Ali Larter around by inventing Niki's twin Tracy. ... And speaking of Micah, whatever happened to that girl he hung out with last season who could learn stuff by watching it on TV? Did she get whacked and I've just forgotten it? ... Stupid strike messing everything up.

What's more interesting is my old acting mate Adam Craig popped up on last week's episode of Heroes as an assistant who delivered some information to Nathan. I told him it was good to see him showing his Kansas City roots with a Sprint cell phone ...

As for this week's episode, I think Maya needs to go the way of Niki ... and Vortex guy?! And the big reveal that Parkman's father is out and playing mind tricks on the heroes!? Whoah.

( ... By the way, this week I wrote a preview about a local theater group producing "Little Shop of Horrors." It gave me an urge to listen to a musical soundtrack and I pulled out "Wicked." ... Now I can't bring myself to turn it off. Good stuff...)

Sunday reading

Some of the reads that caught my eyes during the last week ...

Baseball ...
a Don Zimmer the ultimate common denominator
a Upstart Rays aim to keep surprises coming in playoffs
a Francona sets standard for managers
a Cardinal O'Malley is no Fenway regular. But he keeps tabs on Boston's secular faith
a Architect of Phillies, Gillick Will Listen to Anyone’s Plans
a When Philadelphia Was a Winner
a Series of changes in last 40 years
a Manny In La La Land
a Financial crisis will slow Cubs sale
a A look back on a Chicago baseball season gone bad

Football ...
a The Brett Favre Backup Club

Media & the internet ...
a Tina Brown jumps off page and onto the Web
a Couric Rebounds With Web and Palin ... I'm not yet a fan of her newscast, but her YouTube stuff has been catching my eyes.
a Katie Couric In The News For All The Right Reasons: Her Work
a Turn and Face the Change -- With Newspaper Industry in Crisis, 'Everything's on the Table'
a Social networking sites help companies boost productivity
a Seeking Broader Reach for Social Web Sites
a Check out my Twitter ... I'm telling you, forget newsprint -- it's all in social networking, blogs and newsfeeds, people.
a Newspapers’ Web Revenue Is Stalling ... Ugh.

TV ...
a Brea Grant gets off and running as latest 'Heroes' villain

Politics ...
a The destructive policies of President Bush
a In Wisconsin, a tilt toward Obama
a Historians ponder Lincoln's legacy, lessons we can learn
a He Told Us to Go Shopping. Now the Bill Is Due.
a Postponing the election: It's a joke, or is it?
a A frustrated Esquire endorses Obama
a Obama vs. McCain: Scripted and improv
a Worst of times
a When the gloves and lipstick are on

Life & other stuff ...
a What makes Boston in a league of its own

Ready or not, here it comes

Here it is, that time of year when the new TV season rushes over us like a wave ... We get drenched whether we're ready or not.

Monday night … I skipped out on the two-hour “Heroes” premiere so Kates and I could get our laughs with the CBS shows. Monday night’s comedy lineup: Highly recommended! “The Big Bang Theory,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “Two and a Half Men” each returned strong. And “Worst Week,” the only new show that garnered any interest from me, had Kates and I laughing non-stop. We loved it!

… It was Thursday evening before I finally got around to watching “Heroes” …

Not bad. I’ve resigned to the fact it’s never going to be as fresh and gripping as its first season, but I remain a huge fan of the show. And like “Lost,” I’m sticking with it in hopes all the questions will be answered in the end …Now, it looks like we’ve got a whole new set of villains to watch. But Sylar could be, arguably, one of the creepiest characters on television; I’m not sure he’s done.

As for the premiere … I never guessed Peter being Nathan’s assassin at the press conference (Did they reveal that at the end of last season? If they did, I missed it.) … I didn’t like the way Claire allowed herself to be so vulnerable against Sylar in her house -- really, what was she doing hiding in the closet!? … And I really didn’t like suddenly-stoked-up-on-steroids-man Dr. Suresh. And the steamy scene with Maya? C’mon.

On the bright side, I’m gonna love that new speed demon chick.

Later Thursday night, Kates and I managed to split time between “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Office” -- which seemed to take a little of the hilarity out of “The Office,” on top of the sketchy signal for our NBC affiliate. Ahh! ... We caught the first half of “Grey’s” on our DVR, then went back to watch “Office,” before catching the second half of “Grey’s.”

But, “Grey’s Anatomy?” I totally called the whole dream thing with Meredith watching Derek die on the surgical table. Blah, blah, blah. … And why the heck was it snowing?!

Aside from those developments, I thought the first 45 minutes or so of the episode were uncharacteristically low-key for “Grey’s,” especially for one of their two-hour escapades … Then Christina went and got stabbed by a falling icicle. Ah yes, that’s the over-the-top “Grey’s” we’re used to. Meredith whines about her love life until tragedy strikes in front of them, they spend an eternity watching the icicle fall without making any attempt to avoid it and then waste the next 10 minutes figuring out what to do about it …

About the second half of the episode? Christina and Big Tough Soldier Guy are so hooking up. Not digging the whole Izzie-Karev vibe. Lexie and George are going to end up just being cute friends … Callie and Hahn, on the other hand, are so hooking up. I think that’s cool ... Bernadette Peters, Mariette Hartley and Kathy Baker were welcome guests to the episode, too. (Read EW's best and worst of Season Four)

On “The Office,” the whole weight-loss contest was pretty funny. Kelly nearly starving herself to death was hilarious … Jim’s proposal to Pam in the rain was pretty sweet … But perhaps the best kick I got out of the premiere was watching Angela dial Dwight every time Andy tried to pitch to her a wedding idea … (Read EW's Season Four recap)

Coming up, we'll be all over the premieres of "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters" on Sunday night. And we're looking forward to the long-awaited return of "Pushing Daisies" on Wednesday.

Sunday reading

I'm watching the final game at Yankee Stadium tonight. What else could I possibly watch? Tonight's Emmys or the Packers-Cowboys game couldn't possibly be this good ...

OK, maybe I'll flip over to catch a little of the Packers game.

... I've had ESPN's coverage on for most of the day, and the pre-game ceremonies are underway as I type this ...

It's pretty awesome to see the greats together on one field. We may love to hate 'em, but this is truly their night.

If there were any blemishes, think the whole idea of having actors trot onto the field as the starting lineup for the 1923 was a little ill-conceived. Every fan and player the cameras showed seemed to be thinking the same thing: "Uh, this is kind of lame, I hope the whole ceremony isn't like this."

That, and I got a kick out of the AIG billboard in center field that reads: "The strength to be there." ... Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

On a night when everybody's sharing their favorite Yankee Syadium memories, mine has to be the 2001 World Series -- the aftermath of 9/11, the late-inning home runs, playing in November, Derek Jeter ... Aaron "Bleepin' " Boone's home run to win the 2003 pennant would have to be a distant second...

Here's the collection of good reads that caught my interests during the last week ...

Baseball & sports ...
a Last rites for the Cathedral
a Melancholy in Bronx, but Not Because of Stadium
a Yankees Don’t Want Fans to Be Doing the Demolition ... The guy mentioned in the lede must be a piece of work.
a Cubs warm to idea of new park ... I'm thinking Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs were just drunk on adrenaline from Carlos's no-hitter. You can't tear down Wrigley.
a 104-year-old Cubs fan won't get to toss first pitch
a Finally, this could be Santo's year
a Could Sabathia and Ramirez win in new league? ... If they did, I would love it.
a Rodgers on right track ... This one come from my friend Raechel. Indeed, Aaron Rodgers has been impressive.
a Rodgers slips farther out of Favre's shadow

TV ...
a Series get a new post-strike lease on life
a With Tina Fey's impersonation of Gov. Sarah Palin a smash, will she make an 'SNL' encore? ... the question of the week.
a NBC's 'Heroes' delves into villains
a 'Heroes' tries to recover from truncated sophomore season
a Michael Emerson's 'Lost' world

Music ...
a A Jukebox on MySpace That Takes Aim at Apple
a A Total End To an Era In Pop Videos
a Richard Wright dies at 65; founding member of Pink Floyd

Media & the Internet ...
a Are 'Real' Journalists Jealous of Jon Stewart? ... Especially now during this presidential campaign, I look forward to watching The Daily Show more than ever ...

Politics ...
a Pointing fingers on the economy ... This is a good one outlining the truths and fibs of both campaigns in the light of last week's banking mess.
a Lipstick Bungle ... EX-cellent read.

"In a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted this week 77 percent of Republicans said that they had a favorable opinion of Palin. But when asked what specifically they liked about her, their top five reasons were that she was honest, tough, caring, outspoken and fresh-faced. Sounds like a talk-show host, not a vice president. (By the way,
her intelligence was in a three-way tie for eighth place, right behind “I just like her.”)

a McCain’s Radical Agenda ... This one's about health insurance.
a McCain Camp Calls Fey’s Palin Impersonation ‘Sexist’ ... oh, c'mon!
a Sarah Palin installed a tanning bed at the governor's mansion
a What kind of accent is that, anyway?
a Hillary fans aren't bonding with Palin
a A Letter About Sarah Palin ... my friend Matt tipped me off to this one. Very insightful.
a Gibson and the 'Good-Looking' Governor
a Hackers break into Palin's e-mail account
a The Big 'What If'
a Here's a dilemma: smitten by both Obama and Palin ... Kathleen Parker makes some good points.

Life & other stuff ...
a The Joneses and the Joads
a Tooth fairy gives less during credit crunch ... This also is a good one from my friend Matt about how the economy is affecting one profession.
a Wax Hitler returns to museum after beheading ... Another from my friend Raechel.
a 50 years later, Rockwell's 'Runaway' is still an arresting image ... Cool story. This is the second one in three weeks I've found about a Rockwell painting. Thinking about it, Norman Rockwell might very well be my favorite artist of all time.

The Onion ...
a Hey, Where Did All My Stuff Go?

Sunday reading

Some of the reads that piqued my interest this last week ...

Sports ...
a University of Wisconsin, Washburn wrangling in court over ‘W’ logos ... Ah yes. The good 'ol Washburn 'W'. See Washburn is a rival of Northwest, and it struck me every time we played them how similar Washburn's 'W' looked to Wisconsin's 'W.' ... Not that I think the school needs to get sued over it, but it is interesting ...
a BCS got it right this time ... Whatever. Yes, it was a loony college football season, but it didn't make me any more hip to the BCS.
a Why clean up college football's lovely mess? ... Ditto.
a No favoritism toward Pats, or is there?
a Cuban's 'passion project': Buying Cubs
a A new boss in the Bronx
a Barry Bonds Pleads Not Guilty to Perjury
a Bonds' team has tough road ahead
a Baseball waits, wonders as Mitchell report on steroid use in the sport looms
a Gagne deal is for one year ... I think he's a has-been. But I'm willing to believe.

Internet & media ...
a Japan's Bloggers: Humble Giants of the Web
a Readers' online postings enliven site, merit caution
a The Decline Of The Critic

TV ...
a Zachary Quinto: Highly logical, for a human ... All I know is I detest is character in "Heroes."
a Pulling Their Punch Lines

Music ...
a No academy CDs? Play live!
a It's a holiday tune full of pure joy ... I remember the first time I heard this song too. December 1994. I was a sophomore in high school, getting ready to head to my job as a grocery clerk at the local Price Chopper. I was listening to my stereo in my room -- as usual. I started bouncing around my room, and I thought then that it was one of the greatest song's I'd ever heard ... Yeah. Here's the video.
a James Taylor returns to his roots
a Jordin Sparks maintains innocent charm in pop CD debut
a Blake Lewis, 'American Idol' runner-up, looks to move beyond the show with release of new CD
a Led Zeppelin's glorious excess ... I'm becoming a fan too. And here's one thing I won't soon forget: How cool it was a couple weeks ago to be glancing at the Billboard charts and seeing both Led Zeppelin and the Eagles with albums in the Top 10 ... whoah.
a The Song Still Remains The Same for Led Zeppelin
a The McCartney interview: 'I'm trying to create an antidote' for difficult times

Politics ...
a The Love Song of Dennis J. Kucinich
a Bush in Psych 101: 'Feeling... pretty good about life'

Life & other stuff ...
a Easy on the eggnog, Cinderella
a AT&T saying good-bye to its last pay phones
a D.C. leads metro areas in walkability

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 ...

Sunday reading

Some of the headlines and stories that caught my eyes last week ...

Baseball ...
a Turbulent Heir: Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder may look like a chunk off the old block, but he's determined to prove that any resemblance to his father, Cecil, ends with his prodigious home runs
a Milwaukee's Other Masher: After an injury-shortened 2006, a healthy J.J. Hardy is the surprise NL leader in home runs
a Something's Brewin': Fast-starting Milwaukee has history on its side
a The man with the details: Ex-clubhouse attendant may 'blow lid off' steroid saga
a Bud's big dilemma: Watch Barry or not

TV ...
a Jack Coleman shows the power to survive on 'Heroes'
a Salvation through changing the past
a In 'Flashpoint,' CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier recounts the aftermath of the Baghdad bombing that injured her and killed 4 others
a American Idol: A night full of good feelings, but for Jordin, this is her now
a For 'Brothers & Sisters,' politics isn't off limits
a 'Bionic Woman' gets a makeover

Life & other stuff ...
a Coming back from a big loss: Eight years after a deadly attack, former Gardena football star clings to the memory of a fallen friend and understands that satisfaction in life often comes from the simple things.
a High-tech TV upgrades will create low-tech trash
a Hollywood's problem with addiction
a On the Hill, a Heap of Trouble
a Wild Generalization X: In Details, a Hilarious Screed on Turning 40 and Not Loving It

Sunday reading

Some of the good reads I found from the past couple weeks ...

Sports ...
a MLB wants balls kept in temperature control ... 'bout time.
a Owner explains Bonds' new contract to fans
a Hank Bauer dead at 84
a Bears fan prepares to become Peyton Manning
a Brett Favre says he will play in 2007
a 30,000 and counting: ESPN's SportsCenter still going strong

Music & TV ...
a LPs? Hold that swan song -- Several innovative bands may be demonstrating how the rock-album concept can retain its relevancy in an ever-evolving digital world.
a Network patience (yes, it exists) pays off -- Four sophomore series -- 'Close to Home,' 'Supernatural,' 'Bones' and 'How I Met Your Mother' -- benefit from careful nurturing.
a 'Heroes' saving NBC
a The hot button of a casual embrace -- Interracial relationships abound on TV now, but they're often colorblind. How real is that?
a Josh Holloway on his bad-boy 'Lost' persona
a The 10 worst Super Bowl ads of all time
a General Motors to edit robot ad ... Seriously?
a Where a lack of talent is its own reward
a 'American Idol': Point/Counterpoint
a Web site builds links to music connection
a Music Preview: Symphony celebrates Gibson, Robinson, Aaron
a Apple Revs Up Ad Attacks on PCs, Vista

Politics ...
a Putting 9/11 into perspective
a Many young Bostonians think city overreacted
a Obama's kickoff is steeped in symbolism

Everything else ...
a Intrepid armchair explorers -- Paper maps are a cartographer's view of the world, whereas digital versions in Google Earth, Google Maps and Microsoft's Live Search Maps are sophisticated collages -- moments captured by satellite and airplane cameras and blended to create a digital world that's irresistible to armchair explorers ...
a What Drew Us to Anna Nicole?
a How Smith's death hit Page 1

Sunday reading

Some of the interesting reads I caught this past week ...

Entertainment ...
a New year, new slogan for 'Heroes' ... Woo Hoo!
a Hero of the nigh: Unexpected hit lifts NBC to ratings tie
a Fey turns random into laughs on ‘30 Rock’ ... if you told me a couple months Kates and I would still be watching '30 Rock,' I'd have laughed you right out of our house. Well, here it is January, and we're still watching. Its looniness really is darn funny ...
a 'Idol' viewership goes up, up, up for Fox
a Madison teen advances to American Idol semifinals
a 'Lost' to conclude sooner than later ... Good thinkin!
a Spirit of '68, Animated & Kicking Off Sundance
a Reaching For the Moon At Sundance
a What I've Learned: Katie Couric ... Interesting. (... and while reading about Katie Couric, I discovered this one about ESPN ...)
a NFL TV makeover looks good now ... This whole thing with NFL games on the league's exclusive network is one of the worst decisions the NFL could make. They're alienating fans from coast to coast ...

Travel ...
a Cruise industry's dark waters
a Breathing life into a faded desert landmark

Politics ...
a What Would Jeb Do?
a On the Electronic Campaign Trail: Politicians Realize the Potential of Web Video

Miscellaneous ...
a What Shawn Went Through
a Who wants a deep-dish Olympics? ... We do! We do!! Kates and I are crossing our fingers harder than ever that Chicago can land the games! Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ... the other night we were talking about it and figured out we'll be 37 ... Whoah.
a Notice the Plus Signs at the New GM
a Hold Off On Net Neutrality

Sunday reading

... I finished putting up the Christmas lights today, and managed again to do it without falling off the roof and breaking any bones ...

... My Christmas shopping is done ...


... And my beloved Bearcats are heading back to the D-II National Championship game ...

Life is good.

...Thanks to Internet radio, I listened to the 'Cats bowl over Bloomsburg. Once again, "Sweet Home Alabama" blared on the stadium PA, and the goal posts came down and went into Colden Pond ... Sitting here hundreds of miles away, I'm picturing every moment as it unfolds and reminiscing about my days following the team during the 'Florence or Bust' run of '98 and the miracle ride of '99. And my heart is yearning to be there again tonight to experience it once more ...

Let the countdown to next week's big game begin ...

Some other good Bearcat reads ...
aBearcats step into national spotlight in Division II semifinal
aNorthwest Missouri State has no problem getting big-city talent
a Northwest Missouri State has plenty of pass catchers

* * *

Some interesting reads from the last couple weeks ...

Starting with this one: Things a Man Should Know: About Fatherhood, a fun, comical read for any father ...

New media...
a Morgan Freeman releases new film `10 Items or Less’ by digital download
a ’80s music videos pop up to rock YouTube
a TV, Internet melding
a Star of blogosphere segues easily into ‘old’ media
a Chronicle of the Newspaper Death Foretold

TV ...
a The silent transition: Meredith Vieira moves smoothly into new role at 'Today' ... Interesting. I was just talking the other day about how funny it is that Katie Couric and Rosie are having so much trouble in their new seats and Meredith is sailing ...
a 'The Office' opens doors for Rainn Wilson
a Writers as actors and vice versa ... one of the things that makes The Office so good ...
a 1st ‘Office’ managers write script for States ... if it hand't been for this story, I never would've known watching the episode ...
a Actor aims to leap from 'Heroes' to 'Star Trek'
a 'Heroes' star Masi Oka living the dream

Music ...
a Stefani stumbles during 'Escape' ... Hollaback Girl was 'bananas' enough. Stefani has really gone off the deep end now. Whether it's the AMAs, SNL or VH1, I've been reaching for the remote every time her mindless yodeling song comes on. She ripped off 'Fiddler on the Roof' with 'Rich Girl' (...something I had to inform my brother of at one point last year when the song came on the radio, you would've thought he'd never heard of 'Fiddler'...) and now she's ruining 'Sound of Music' songs .... ugh.

Baseball ...
a Ripken dodges steroid talk as Hall of Fame election nears
a McGwire won't get my Hall vote this year ...I hate to think about it, but these guys have a point ...
a Not all smiling over Soriano deal ... including me.
a Cubs must say 'No' to Soriano for his good and the team's ... more reasons not to smile about Soriano ...
a Piniella learns drought, doubt go together
a A baseball player answers his fan mail 15 years later

And in politics ...