Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Jim Carrey Top 10
The great Jim Carrey has been performing on television and in the movies since he was 18 years old. His acting has spanned almost three decades now...three distinct decades. In the 80s he was still young, doing either small movies or small parts including a vampire movie. It's basically a forgotten or never realized time in his career for most of us. Then comes the 90s, or the golden years, for Mr. Carrey. Four years on In Living Color in addition to all of his best movies, in my opinion. He did both Ace Venturas, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Cable Guy, Liar Liar, Truman Show and Me, Myself and Irene (released in 2000, but made in 1999). Then came the 2000s where he put out such hits as Bruce Almighty, Lemony Snicket, Number 23, The Grinch and Fun With Dick and Jane. I am hoping that 2009 releases of Yes Man, I Love You Phillip Morris and Ripley's turn things around at the tail end of this decade.
Anyway here are my top 10 Jim Carrey movies...(note: I have not seen Eternal Sunshine)
1. Dumb and Dumber
2. The Cable Guy
3. Ace Ventura:
When Nature Calls
4. The Truman Show
5. Liar Liar
6. The Mask
7. The Majestic
8. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
9. Me, Myself and Irene
10. Bruce Almighty
Monday, September 29, 2008
Fantasy Survivor Weeks 1 & 2
The season premier of Survivor was two hours so there were two eliminations and therefore two weeks of play in our Bro Out Fantasy Survivor League. Here's how things stack up...
Freecell Makes Me Wanna
Marcus: 41 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 44
Matty: 3 (Eliminations) = 3
Charlie: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Sugar: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Total = 103
The Renegades
GC: 16 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 19
Bob: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations)
+ 10 (Man Shit) = 38
Kelly: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Crystal: 3 (Eliminations) = 3
Total = 88
Renaissance O & F Surgery
Ace: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Corrine: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Jacquie: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Michelle (W1): -20 (Eliminations) = -20
Susie (W2): 2 (Eliminations) = 2
Total = 66
Rangers Stars Cowboys Mavericks
Dan: 3 (Eliminations) = 3
Ken: -1 (Eliminations) = -1
Randy: 3 (Eliminations)
+ 10 (Man Shit) = 13
Paloma: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Total = 43
Freecell Makes Me Wanna
Marcus: 41 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 44
Matty: 3 (Eliminations) = 3
Charlie: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Sugar: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Total = 103
The Renegades
GC: 16 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 19
Bob: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations)
+ 10 (Man Shit) = 38
Kelly: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Crystal: 3 (Eliminations) = 3
Total = 88
Renaissance O & F Surgery
Ace: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Corrine: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Jacquie: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Michelle (W1): -20 (Eliminations) = -20
Susie (W2): 2 (Eliminations) = 2
Total = 66
Rangers Stars Cowboys Mavericks
Dan: 3 (Eliminations) = 3
Ken: -1 (Eliminations) = -1
Randy: 3 (Eliminations)
+ 10 (Man Shit) = 13
Paloma: 25 (Challenges)
+ 3 (Eliminations) = 28
Total = 43
Saturday, September 27, 2008
South Park
So I've never been a South Park guy, but have enjoyed the bits and pieces that I've seen. Lochness told me he could never watch family guy after seeing the South Park ep when they destroyed Fam Guy. I finally got around to watching the two Cartoon Wars episodes and here's what I think. The point they were trying to make is that Family Guy is all about random jokes that don't have to do with the running plot of the ep. Who cares? Do I need to have every joke relate to the overall plot of an episode of a cartoon comedy? The answer is definitely no! Each ep of Fam Guy has a story line and the fact that they are completely random doesn't take away from the ep for me. Sure there are a lot of flashes to 'times Peter did something in the past,' but I feel that is part of its charm. After finishing with these eps I watched a bunch more and came to terms with the fact that South Park is definitely not close to Family Guy in comedy. It sure does have all of their jokes involved with the plot of the ep, so they got that goin' for them.
On a side note, I watched one of Lar's favorite South Park eps. The South Park kids are playing Little League baseball but want to lose in the playoffs because they are tired of playing baseball because it's boring. They try as hard as they can to lose and finally end up losing by disqualification in the state championship, and boy are they happy. This episode always came up at the end of our basketball seasons when we were tired of playing ball and wanted to have more time to watch tv and bro out.
TV Tops 9/27
Week of 9/21-9/27
Top Shows
1. Heroes
2. The Office
3. Entourage
4. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
5. Fringe
6. Survivor
7. Gossip Girl
8. Grey's Anatomy
9. 90210
10. Greek
Top Characters
1. Michael Scott- The Office
2. Gabriel Sylar- Heroes
3. Major Hunt- Grey's Anatomy
4. Randy Hickey- My Name Is Earl
5. Cappie- Greek
6. Peter Bishop- Fringe
7. Dwight Schrute- The Office
8. Megan Smith- Privileged
9. Sam Briggs- Worst Week
10. Cameron Phillips- Terminator
Top Quotes
Gossip Girl
Serena- "Dan's not a big sports guy."
Greek
Beav- "They just mooned us!"
Cappie- "Yeah everyone except for Rusty, he just showed his underpants."
Casey- "I need to borrow your phone so I can deal with this hot frannie mess."
Fringe
Agent Dunham- "I pretty much knew this was what I wanted to do by the time I was nine."
Peter Bishop- "When I was nine years old, I think I wanted to be a brontosaurus."
The Office
Michael- "I want us all to live forever. How are we gonna do that?"
Jim- "Cryogenics, beer me five."
My Name Is Earl
Joy- "I only do tounge kisses if it's Brad Pitt or Eric Roberts."
Buddy- "Have you seen a movie without Burt Reynolds in it?"
Earl- "Not all the way through, no."
Top Shows
1. Heroes
2. The Office
3. Entourage
4. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
5. Fringe
6. Survivor
7. Gossip Girl
8. Grey's Anatomy
9. 90210
10. Greek
Top Characters
1. Michael Scott- The Office
2. Gabriel Sylar- Heroes
3. Major Hunt- Grey's Anatomy
4. Randy Hickey- My Name Is Earl
5. Cappie- Greek
6. Peter Bishop- Fringe
7. Dwight Schrute- The Office
8. Megan Smith- Privileged
9. Sam Briggs- Worst Week
10. Cameron Phillips- Terminator
Top Quotes
Gossip Girl
Serena- "Dan's not a big sports guy."
Greek
Beav- "They just mooned us!"
Cappie- "Yeah everyone except for Rusty, he just showed his underpants."
Casey- "I need to borrow your phone so I can deal with this hot frannie mess."
Fringe
Agent Dunham- "I pretty much knew this was what I wanted to do by the time I was nine."
Peter Bishop- "When I was nine years old, I think I wanted to be a brontosaurus."
The Office
Michael- "I want us all to live forever. How are we gonna do that?"
Jim- "Cryogenics, beer me five."
My Name Is Earl
Joy- "I only do tounge kisses if it's Brad Pitt or Eric Roberts."
Buddy- "Have you seen a movie without Burt Reynolds in it?"
Earl- "Not all the way through, no."
Friday, September 26, 2008
America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent has been going on all summer long and next Wednesday is the finale where the winner will be crowned. The champion of AGT receives $1 million and one performance at the MGM Grande in Las Vegas. There is absolutely no one on this year's show that comes close to how good Terry Fator was last season. But of the five people left, I'd say that I would pay $50 to go watch Nuttin' But Stringz perform in the Vegas. Eli Mattson (Mike Downing of Gorham track fame) has a great sound and I would definitely download his tracks, but would not spend money on going to one of his concerts at this point. Donald Braswell and Neil E. Boyd both have terrific voices and should get jobs on Broadway and in the Oprah, respectively. Queen Emily is God awful at singing, but very good at yelling and screaming. Since their first audition I said Nuttin' But Stringz, two black kids from inner city New York, would be my favorite and have a great chance of winning. They attend Juliard and compose all of their own material that they perform on the show with their violins.
Here is my favorite performance by Nuttin' But Stringz...
And here is my favorite from Mike Downing...
Here is my favorite performance by Nuttin' But Stringz...
And here is my favorite from Mike Downing...
Posted by
Dan Forcella
at
10:07 AM
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Fantasy Survivor Rules and Teams
This idea basically developed from the kid Lenny Holt, who's family drafts players in Big Brother and the winner gets something. I decided to take things a step further and make Survivor into a full on fantasy league. Although I came up with the points for each round, Larry, Mags and Jaydon came up with the other rules of the league since they are more familiar with the show than me. Larry wrote up the rules of the game below...
The Inaugural Bro Out Survivor Fantasy League
Rosters: 4 survivors per team. That leaves 2 out. Since its a waste to not use these two, it will go as follows.
- Whoever has the survivor eliminated in week one will get the chance to pick up one of the unused players. However, the other three teams have the opportunity to pick up one of the unused first according to waiver priority. Same goes for week two and then there will be no extra players.
Surviving an elimination each week gets you points (obv each week you last is more points): 1,2,3,4,6,8,10,13,16,19,23,27,31,36,41,46,52,58
Team Challenges: Reward = 5pts, Immunity = 10pts
Individual Challenges: Reward = 8pts, Immunity = 16 points
Backstabbing: 20 pts. One of the most fundamental parts of a reality competition is forming alliances, making deals etc. In this regard, it is also just as important to go back on your word and stab a (paraphrasing) "dude in the back". That requires strategy and good gameplay, and that should be rewarded.
Man Shit: 10 points. Survivor is all about man shit. Killing pigs, spear fishing, all that shit should be worth something. If there is something that is not clearly recognizable man shit, we could talk about it, majority rules.
Votes at Tribal Council: -4pts/vote. If your dude gets a vote cast against him, he is sucking at the game, and your team sucks because he/she sucks. Negative points for each one your sucky player gets.
Leader: 10pts. According to mangus, there is sometimes an unofficial leader of the tribe. If it is made known that one of your dudes wears the crown, kudos to you and also 10 pts.
Bonus: 8pts. Make it to the merger (where there is one tribe and all challenges turn individual)
Teams
The Renegades (Owned by Danny)
1. GC
2. Bob
3. Kelly
4. Crystal
Renaissance O & F Surgery
(Owned by Jaydon)
1. Ace
2. Corrine
3. Jacquie
4. Michelle
Ranger's Star Cowboy Mavericks (Owned by Larry)
1. Dan
2. Ken
3. Randy
4. Paloma
Freecell Makes Me Wanna
(Owned by Mags)
1. Marcus
2. Matty
3. Charlie
4. Jessica
Check back for weekly updates
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday Thoughts
So watching tv with my pops has given me a greater appreciation for the non-serialized shows. Although still nowhere near the love I have for the continuous plot line of a serialized drama, sitting down to watch an ep of SVU or Without a Trace is like a succinct movie. They're much more driven, there's no dragging like you would get in many 2 hour plus movies, which I like. As long as Big Tom is home watching tv with me, I'm going to watch a lot more Law and Order and CSI. And if SVU keeps having fantastic guest stars like last night's Dylan McKay, Happy Gilmore's girlfriend, and Riggins' little friend from Friday Night Lights, I'll enjoy it.
Before the start of 90210, critics were mentioning their thankfulness that they had a couple of credible actors. The brother sister combo of Dixon (Tristan Wilds) and Annie (Shenae Grimes) had pasts in "The Wire" and "Degrassi," respectively. So far this season, I would definitely say that Tristan Wilds is the worst actor on the show and Shenae Grimes is probably a distant second. That's not to put down the rest of the actors...Jennie Garth is performing wonderfully and I think Ryan Eggold is also a great actor. Adam Gregory, playing Matt Ginn, oh I mean Ty Collins fills his role perfectly. It's still nowhere near the original, but for a guilty pleasure, it's almost on par with Gossip Girl for me.
Check out Wilds' acting here, and how cute Jessica Stroup is...
Before the start of 90210, critics were mentioning their thankfulness that they had a couple of credible actors. The brother sister combo of Dixon (Tristan Wilds) and Annie (Shenae Grimes) had pasts in "The Wire" and "Degrassi," respectively. So far this season, I would definitely say that Tristan Wilds is the worst actor on the show and Shenae Grimes is probably a distant second. That's not to put down the rest of the actors...Jennie Garth is performing wonderfully and I think Ryan Eggold is also a great actor. Adam Gregory, playing Matt Ginn, oh I mean Ty Collins fills his role perfectly. It's still nowhere near the original, but for a guilty pleasure, it's almost on par with Gossip Girl for me.
Check out Wilds' acting here, and how cute Jessica Stroup is...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Heroes Is Back
This dude who commented on imbd basically says it all...what a fantastic return!
Heroes: The Second Coming
I swear I never jumped on the bandwagon for season 2. Right from the first episode, I felt it was lame. No Tim Kring, the problem was not the pace or the romance, it was the laughable story. The stilted dialogue. The abundance of plot holes.
This was the best episode since "Company Man".
The season premiere just started explosively and never let up. No questions got answered, and a whole lot more were brought up, but what made this opening exciting was the shear unpredictable factor. It was just solid, surprising and engaging storytelling. It felt fresh and inspired, like the first season.
A phenomenal beginning, and definitely a return to form. 10/10
comment by username: Topher-Liam
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Preseason TV Power Rankings
Since tomorrow marks the real opening of the 2008 fall tv season, I will do my first power rankings of the year. This season I'm going to do it a little differently. I will only do power rankings every three or four weeks, but be doing top shows and characters each week in order to highlight the shows that are currently being aired. With that being said, here are my power rankings of returning shows and top new shows.
Preseason Power Rankings
1. Lost- We won't get to see where the island moved to until January.
2. Heroes- Tomorrow is the big premier event, hopefully Claire is already a villain within the first two hours.
3. 30 Rock- Let's hope Dennis Duffy or the Floydster come back for Lemon.
4. The Office- Dunder Mifflin this is Dan.
5. 24- Well it's been a long time since 24 has been on the air, and it seems the longer I wait the more I forget about how the last two seasons weren't that great.
6. Friday Night Lights- Rumor has it that Jake Porter is no longer a castmate (Thank You!)
7. Curb Your Enthusiasm- When is LD coming back with his new gf, Vivica A. Fox?
8. Chuck- Captain Awesome is, shall I say, really awesome.
9. Entourage- First two eps have me wanting more, strange for recent Entourage.
10. Big Brother- This summer's edition was fantastic. Dan sweeping the final vote was like when the Colts won the Super Bowl.
11. One Tree Hill
12. Family Guy
13. House, MD
14. Grey's Anatomy
15. Gossip Girl
16. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
17. My Name Is Earl
18. American Idol
19. Brothers and Sisters
20. Greek
Top Ten New Shows
Preseason Power Rankings
1. Lost- We won't get to see where the island moved to until January.
2. Heroes- Tomorrow is the big premier event, hopefully Claire is already a villain within the first two hours.
3. 30 Rock- Let's hope Dennis Duffy or the Floydster come back for Lemon.
4. The Office- Dunder Mifflin this is Dan.
5. 24- Well it's been a long time since 24 has been on the air, and it seems the longer I wait the more I forget about how the last two seasons weren't that great.
6. Friday Night Lights- Rumor has it that Jake Porter is no longer a castmate (Thank You!)
7. Curb Your Enthusiasm- When is LD coming back with his new gf, Vivica A. Fox?
8. Chuck- Captain Awesome is, shall I say, really awesome.
9. Entourage- First two eps have me wanting more, strange for recent Entourage.
10. Big Brother- This summer's edition was fantastic. Dan sweeping the final vote was like when the Colts won the Super Bowl.
11. One Tree Hill
12. Family Guy
13. House, MD
14. Grey's Anatomy
15. Gossip Girl
16. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
17. My Name Is Earl
18. American Idol
19. Brothers and Sisters
20. Greek
Top Ten New Shows
- Fringe- JJ Abrams's latest goldmine.
- 90210- Worth it for the nostalgia.
- Worst Week- T-Mobile commercial guy should bring it strong.
- Crusoe- Pirates of the Caribbean meets MacGuyver.
- My Own Worst Enemy- Christian Slater is very sassy.
- Privileged- Palm Beach is so beautiful.
- Knight Rider- We all wish Mr. Feeney was doing the voice of the car again.
- Gary Unmarried- "Running low on beers."
- The Mentalist- Simon Baker seems kind of sweet from the commercials.
- Do Not Disturb- Not so great so far, but Jerry O'Connell makes me think of Jerry McGuire.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Danny's Fantasy Football Smokeshow
If anyone knows how Chris Cooley did this, I would greatly appreciate the info. I've been trying to get my fantasy matchup to show up on this page but so far have been unsuccessful. I utterly destroyed Jon the Bon this week in our fantasy league. I know all of you are jealous of how well my team did the week.
Here is my recreation...
Valerie's Vikings 36
- Drew Brees 7
- Randy Moss 1
- Braylon Edwards 2
- Jerricho Cotchery 1
- Laurence Maroney 1
- Fred Taylor 3
- LJ Smith 0
- Nick Folk 14
- Vikings Def. 7
- Tony Romo 21
- Terrell Owens 17
- Anquan Boldin 27
- Brandon Marshall 17
- Frank Gore 10
- Clinton Portis 18
- Anthony Fasano 0
- Jeff Reed 5
- Giants Def. 18
Thursday, September 18, 2008
90210 Throwbacks
Now this is what I was really looking for when I started watching the new 90210. This week's episode had some great shout outs to the original. My personal favorite was when Dixon was applying for a job at the Peach Pit and Nat, in all his glory, told his war story about a time when he hired a kid from West Beverly back in the day and that kid was "a really good egg." That really got to me. I also got a great chuckle out of the convo between Kelly and Brenda in the cafeteria about how Brenda can still hear the people chanting "Donna Martin graduates." The other, most important shout out was when Brenda and Kelly got into a heated conversation about the father of Kelly's son. And although we all knew it was going to be Dylan, when his name was actually said on air, I could actually feel the millions of goosebumps on many viewers all over the world. The rumor now is that they will be actively pressuring Luke Perry to guest star on the series. That would be amazing. There were also references to Donna having a kid and a great call to the back of the Peach Pit for Willie.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Comedy Night Done Right
Now that NBC dropped Scrubs, they are down to three regulars in the 8-10 spot...Office, Earl and 30 Rock. These are without a doubt the three best comedies on tv. I don't know why other networks can't compete with NBC in sitcoms, but they definitely cannot. ABC likes now take its scraps, as they are picking up Scrubs for midseason.
My Name Is Earl is now coming into its 4th season and it kind of dragged along for me last season. Jason Lee is good, Ethan Suplee was great, and Jaime Presly is always great as Joy. I have two big things on this show. The guest stars are really hit or miss with me. There have been some great ones (Norm MacDonald, Craig T. Nelson, Beau Bridges) but there have been a lot of hated (Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Rapaport, Jon Heder). The part of Earl that I feel is always good is the music. They seem to always have great classic rock songs at the perfect moments in each episode.
Kath & Kim is the new comedy replacing Scrubs. It stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as mother and daughter.
From Wikipedia--Kath & Kim details the chronicles and misadventures about the family matters and relationships of the title characters, a dysfunctional mother and daughter, living in a suburban community in Florida. Their family bonding, like in the Australian version, is different as night and day.
Kathleen "Kath" Day is the mom, a foxy, 40-something divorcée who finally has time for herself and her valiant search for love. Her daughter, Kimberly "Kim" Day-Fattibene, is in her mid 20’s but dresses like a child, constantly eating as a way to console herself, and is obsessed with celebrities. When Kim decides to move back home after separating from her husband, Craig, who works at a Best Buy, Kath reluctantly agrees -- but to Kim's chagrin, Kath is not about to cater to her every whim as she has in the past.
The Office comes into, wow, its fifth season. The Office is really the first show I started watching religiously, five years ago. I have come to find that Steve Carrell really should live as Michael Scott because everything else I've seen him in I haven't enjoyed him. Michael is hilarious, but most of the time it is Dwight or Creed that are cracking me up the most. The very end of season 4 showed great promise with the addition of Amy Ryan as Holly. She was awesome in the final episode and I hope her greatness continues this fall.
30 Rock beat out The Office on a couple of my power rankings at the end of last year. It is definitely more laugh out loud funny than the office for me. Tracy Jordan is my favorite comedic character on television. As you know, I don't think females are funny, but Tina Fey pulls it off. As opposed to My Name Is Earl, I think the guest stars on 30 Rock are always great. From David Schwimmer to Will Arnett, Jerry Seinfeld to Chris Parnell and my personal favorite Dean Winters as Dennis Duffy...
My Name Is Earl is now coming into its 4th season and it kind of dragged along for me last season. Jason Lee is good, Ethan Suplee was great, and Jaime Presly is always great as Joy. I have two big things on this show. The guest stars are really hit or miss with me. There have been some great ones (Norm MacDonald, Craig T. Nelson, Beau Bridges) but there have been a lot of hated (Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Rapaport, Jon Heder). The part of Earl that I feel is always good is the music. They seem to always have great classic rock songs at the perfect moments in each episode.
Kath & Kim is the new comedy replacing Scrubs. It stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as mother and daughter.
From Wikipedia--Kath & Kim details the chronicles and misadventures about the family matters and relationships of the title characters, a dysfunctional mother and daughter, living in a suburban community in Florida. Their family bonding, like in the Australian version, is different as night and day.
Kathleen "Kath" Day is the mom, a foxy, 40-something divorcée who finally has time for herself and her valiant search for love. Her daughter, Kimberly "Kim" Day-Fattibene, is in her mid 20’s but dresses like a child, constantly eating as a way to console herself, and is obsessed with celebrities. When Kim decides to move back home after separating from her husband, Craig, who works at a Best Buy, Kath reluctantly agrees -- but to Kim's chagrin, Kath is not about to cater to her every whim as she has in the past.
The Office comes into, wow, its fifth season. The Office is really the first show I started watching religiously, five years ago. I have come to find that Steve Carrell really should live as Michael Scott because everything else I've seen him in I haven't enjoyed him. Michael is hilarious, but most of the time it is Dwight or Creed that are cracking me up the most. The very end of season 4 showed great promise with the addition of Amy Ryan as Holly. She was awesome in the final episode and I hope her greatness continues this fall.
30 Rock beat out The Office on a couple of my power rankings at the end of last year. It is definitely more laugh out loud funny than the office for me. Tracy Jordan is my favorite comedic character on television. As you know, I don't think females are funny, but Tina Fey pulls it off. As opposed to My Name Is Earl, I think the guest stars on 30 Rock are always great. From David Schwimmer to Will Arnett, Jerry Seinfeld to Chris Parnell and my personal favorite Dean Winters as Dennis Duffy...
Posted by
Dan Forcella
at
5:06 PM
Labels:
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Sunday, September 14, 2008
Phelps on SNL
Michael Phelps hosted Saturday Night Live last night and perpetuated the stereotype that Peyton Manning was the funniest athlete on SNL by far. Oh wait, that wasn't a stereotype...Peyton was seriously the only athlete I've seen that made skits funny because he was performing. There have been other skits which athletes were in that were funny but it was mostly because of the writing or other actors.
Last night Michael Phelps was just awful. You might think Wayne Gretzky was terrible back in the 90s but it didn't compare to how hard it was to watch Phelps messing up lines and saying things that were meant to be funny but weren't. Having him on the show did have one positive. It allowed the digital short guys to put together a hilarious Space Olympics skit.
Peyton Manning should definitely become an actor when he stops playing football. And I mean like a real comedic actor, not just being in movies because he's a star.
Last night Michael Phelps was just awful. You might think Wayne Gretzky was terrible back in the 90s but it didn't compare to how hard it was to watch Phelps messing up lines and saying things that were meant to be funny but weren't. Having him on the show did have one positive. It allowed the digital short guys to put together a hilarious Space Olympics skit.
Peyton Manning should definitely become an actor when he stops playing football. And I mean like a real comedic actor, not just being in movies because he's a star.
Posted by
Dan Forcella
at
11:18 AM
Labels:
Michael Phelps,
Peyton Manning,
SNL,
television
Saturday, September 13, 2008
NBC Mondays
Chuck comes into its second season as my favorite new show of 2007. The Josh Schwartz action comedy made it all the way to number seven in my power rankings by the end of last year. What makes this show great is that there are completely serious issues of murder and national security and Schwartz turns it comedic. As opposed to other shows that try to make every situation totally dramatic when we could care less about what is actually going on. The LA atmosphere and indie music are staples of Schwartz that come from The O.C. but it really is Zachary Levi as Chuck that brings the show to the forefront. Don't get me wrong, my favorite character is Captain Awesome and I love Chuck's sister Ellie, but Levi is fantastic. A ton of guest stars are set to appear in season two, including Michael Clarke Duncan, John Larroquette, Melinda Clarke and Nicole Richie.
I can't disagree with Jaydon more about his feelings on Heroes. It was a solid number two in my power rankings all year long, although season two was not nearly as good as the premier season. The Mexicans story was a bore and I could've done without the mimic girl, but it was still way better than the first two seasons of two of Jaydon's favorites, Sopranos and Wire. Villains sounds very exciting for the name of the third season and I enjoy seeing an evil Claire in the promos for this season.
My Own Worst Enemy is a new show about Christian Slater, who has two personalities. A regular guy, and some sort of spy. It has potential to be good, mostly because it's on NBC and also because Will Scarlett is the man.
Posted by
Dan Forcella
at
6:31 PM
Labels:
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my own worst enemy,
nbc,
television
Thursday, September 11, 2008
NBC Fall Preview
NBC is definitely my favorite network. And of the big four, it always seems to get the worst ratings. There must be something about good shows that the average tv watcher doesn't like. Every year the Peacock puts out good new shows and then they get canceled because no one was watching them (case in point Studio 60 and Journeyman). This fall they're bringing in new shows, My Own Worst Enemy, Knight Rider, Kath and Kim, and Crusoe. Last year's best night of television was Monday's Chuck, Heroes, Journeyman so lets see if Christian Slater can step up to the plate and keep it that with with Own Enemy.
Interest Level (6=really want to start this show...1=will never watch this show)
Monday
8:00 Chuck- Season 2: Currently watching (Starts Sept. 29)
9:00 Heroes- Season 3: Currently watching (Starts Sept. 22)
10:00 My Own Worst Enemy- (New): Starting to watch (Starts Oct. 13)
Tuesday
8:00 Biggest Loser- Season 6: Interest level= 2 (Starts Sept. 16)
10:00 Law and Order SVU- Season 10: Interest level= 2
(Starts Sept. 23)
Wednesday
8:00 Knight Rider- (New): Starting to watch (Starts Sept. 24)
9:00 Deal of No Deal- Season 4: Have watched (Started)
10:00 Lipstick Jungle- Season 2: Interest level= 4 (Starts Sept. 24)
Thursday
8:00 My Name Is Earl- Season 4: Currently watching (Starts Sept. 25)
8:30 Kath and Kim- (New): Starting to watch (Starts Oct. 9)
9:00 The Office- Season 5: Currently watching (Starts Sept. 25)
9:30 30 Rock- Season 3: Currently watching (Starts Oct. 30)
10:00 ER- Season 15: Interest level= 3 (Starts Sept. 25)
Friday
8:00 Crusoe- (New): Starting to watch (Starts Oct. 17)
9:00 America's Toughest Jobs- (New): Started and stopped
(Already started)
10:00 Life- Season 2: Interest level= 2 (Starts Oct. 3)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
ABC Big Guns
Private Practice will be in its second season this fall. It comes from the creator of Grey's Anatomy and has an ex-character from Grey's in Addison Montgomery-Shephard. Although she was my favorite female character on Grey's, she has definitely lost her likability by becoming the main character. Private practice doesn't compare to Grey's in drama aspect (a little doctors office isn't really a place for huge catastrophes like a full scale hospital is). Tim Daly (not the ex Scarborough/Northern Stars basketball player, but the guy from Wings) is the main bright point of the show. He's fantastic as the hippie doctor that likes Addison.
Dirty, Sexy, Money also survived its first season through the writer's strike. It's about a very wealthy and dysfunctional family living in NYC and the trouble they get their family attorney into. It definitely has an all-star cast: Jack Bauer's dad, the guy from Sports Night, one of the Baldwin brothers, Anna from O.C. and Matt from 90210. I feel like the plot from season one was all over the place and if season two is more concentrated in something I think this show could be great. Luci Liu joins the gang in season two after her Cashmere Mafia got axed.
Grey's Anatomy always seems to get lovers and haters. Here's my thing with Grey's...I don't understand how I enjoy it so much when I absolutely hate so many of the characters. I can not stand any of the following and want to strangle all of them when they do anything: George, Izzie, Yang, Meredith, Callie, Hahn and Lexie. That being said, the McDreamy/McSteamy interaction more than makes up for the wanting to kill myself from listening to Izzie's rants. Seriously (i had to do it) though, McDreamy, McSteamy, Chief and Karev (sometimes) are a combination I would go to bat with as the best guy characters on tv. Add to the mix Kevin McKidd from Rome and Journeyman and season 5 should be one of the best.
Desperate Housewives is now in season 5 as well and they are skipping ahead five years this fall. I never really know how I feel about things like that. It's a pretty bold move on their part and hopefully it pays off. I've really been down on DH since season 1. It has lost its mysterious side that it had at the beginning and is dealing too much with stupid little problems. They definitely need to bring some better guy characters on this show, because the chicks aren't cutting it.
Brothers and Sisters doesn't really have anything that makes it stand out, but except for maybe Grey's this is my favorite show out of these five. It's again about a really rich family, but this time in California. The father of the fam dies in the first episode and leaves everyone else picking up little pieces of his life along the way. Many secrets about his past come out, ep by ep. Rob Lowe as Ally McBeal's politician of a husband is great and Emily VanCamp as the father's fake love child is ridiculously cute and should get many more jobs in the future. Balthazar Getty's antics this summer with Sienna Miller might help bring more viewers to Bros and Sis but I will be sad to see Stephen Weber leave the show.
Posted by
Dan Forcella
at
4:32 PM
Monday, September 8, 2008
ABC Fall Preview
ABC came into their own four years ago when they started Lost, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. Here's the thing about ABC, do they have no sitcoms right now? I'm not sure if Samantha Who is a sitcom or not. If it is, then they have one. One! How do you survive on that? I like that ABC dramas do well in ratings without being of the noncontinuous CBS variety. There isn't much new programing this fall because there weren't that many cancellations. Those that were (carpoolers, cavemen) were replaced by midseason shows (eli stone).
Interest Level (6=really want to start this show...1=will never watch this show)
Monday
8:00 Dancing With the Stars- Season 7: Interest Level= 4
(Starts Sept. 22)
9:30 Samantha Who?- Season 2: Interest Level= 5 (Starts Oct. 6)
10:00 Boston Legal- Season 5: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 22)
Tuesday
8:00 Opportunity Knocks- (New): Starting to watch (Starts Sept. 23)
9:00 Dancing With the Results- Season 7: Interest Level= 4
(Starts Sept. 23)
10:00 Eli Stone- Season 2: Started and stopped (Starts Oct. 14)
Wednesday
8:00 Pushing Daisies- Season 2: Interest Level= 3 (Starts Oct. 1)
9:00 Private Practice- Season 2: Currently watching (Starts Oct. 1)
10:00 Dirty, Sexy, Money- Season 2: Currently watching
(Starts Oct. 1)
Thursday
8:00 Ugly Betty- Season 3: Interest Level= 3 (Starts Sept. 25)
9:00 Grey's Anatomy- Season 5: Currently watching (Starts Sept. 25)
10:00 Life On Mars- Season 2: Interest Level= 3 (Starts Oct. 9)
Friday
8:00 Wife Swap- Season 5: Interest Level= 1 (Starts Oct. 3)
9:00 Supernanny- Season 5: Interest Level= 1 (Starts Oct. 3)
Sunday
8:00 Extreme Makeover Home Edition- Season 6: Watch sporadically (Starts Sept. 28)
9:00 Desperate Housewives- Season 5: Currently watching
(Starts Sept. 28)
10:00 Brothers and Sisters- Season 3: Currently watching
(Starts Sept. 28)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Newbies on CBS
Last year when I first saw this commercial, I cracked up immediately. I continued to laugh every time I saw this guy act completely awkward on the phone. I literally turned to the person next to me after seeing it for the 30th time and said, 'now why doesn't this guy have his own sitcom?' Well I guess the television Gods were listening because now Kevin Bornheimer has his own comedy on CBS called Worst Week. Bornheimer stars as Sam Briggs who continually has a terrible week with his girlfriend and her parents. I think this show definitely has some promise.
Gary Unmarried is another new sitcom on CBS. It stars Jay Mohr (not the ex Wells High Basketball Coach) as a divorced guy with a kid. It seems like it will be kind of the generic sitcom that fails. It really doesn't have a niche to build on. I enjoy Jay Mohr but I don't think he'll be able to carry the show on his own. I'm gonna give it a shot this fall, mostly for the love of Christmas Do-Over.
Friday, September 5, 2008
CBS Fall Preview
CBS is the king of the non continuous dramas that kill on ratings but are never any good. Any dude can step in every other week and watch an episode of NCIS or CSI and not miss any important plot points from the week before. That is something that I really hate. These shows are not anywhere close to the losts and heroes of the world, but beat them in viewers week in and week out. The fantastic sitcom lineup from CBS is also one of the worst. To be fair, I have never seen How I Met Your Mother, but 2 and 1/2 Men is not funny and Big Bang Theory is God awful. The little I've seen of Old Christine I liked so I'm hoping the new comedies, Worst Week and Gary Unmarried, are more similar to that. CBS kills it on reality though. I'm about to finish Big Brother and Survivor and Amazing Race get enough compliments that I will be checking them out this fall.
Interest Level (6=really want to start this show...1=will never watch this show)
Monday
8:00 Big Bang Theory- Season 2: Interest Level= 1 (Starts Sept. 22)
8:30 How I Met Your Mother- Season 4: Interest Level= 2
(Starts Sept. 22)
9:00 Two and a Half Men- Season 6: Interest Level= 2
(Starts Sept. 22)
9:30 Worst Week- (New): Starting to watch (Starts Sept. 22)
10:00 CSI Miami- Season 7: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 22)
Tuesday
8:00 NCIS- Season 6: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 23)
9:00 The Mentalist- (New): Interest Level= 3 (Starts Sept. 23)
10:00 Without a Trace- Season 7: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 23)
Wednesday
8:00 New Adventures of Old Christine- Season 4: Interest Level= 5 (Starts Sept. 24)
8:30 Gary Unmarried- (New): Starting to watch (Starts Sept. 24)
9:00 Criminal Minds- Season 4: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 24)
10:00 CSI NY- Season 5: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 24)
Thursday
8:00 Survivor- Season 17: Starting to watch (Starts Sept. 18)
9:00 CSI- Season 9: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Oct. 9)
10:00 The 11th Hour- (New): Interest Level= 2 (Starts Oct. 9)
Friday
8:00 Ghost Whisperer- Season 4: Interest Level= 3 (Starts Oct. 3)
9:00 The Ex List- (New): Interest Level= 1 (Starts Oct. 3)
10:00 Numb3rs- Season 5: Interest Level= 3 (Starts Oct. 3)
Sunday
8:00 Amazing Race- Season 13: Starting to watch (Starts Sept. 28)
9:00 Cold Case- Season 6: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 28)
10:00 The Unit- Season 4: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 28)
Thursday, September 4, 2008
New Fox Shows
Fringe is the fourth show created by JJ Abrams (Felicity, Alias, Lost). Like all of Abrams' shows, Fringe will have an overarching mythology. The plot centers around a research scientist, his son and a female FBI agent. Abrams said his inspiration came from a range of sources including X-Files and the Twilight Zone. Notable cast involved are Joshua Jackson and the bald black dude from The Wire and Lost (Lance Reddick).
Do Not Disturb is a new sitcom dealing with a hotel in New York City that used to be popular...sounds strangely like 'Welcome to the Captain.' Jerry O'Connell will take his second stab in two years at starring in a sitcom. His Carpoolers of ABC tanked last season, but it did not have the bonus feature of co-starring #2, aka Robert Wagner.
Hole In the Wall is an adaptation on the Japanese game Brain Wall. Basically the contestants have to arrange themselves in different ways in order to fit themselves into a hole in the wall. It sounds interesting for two episodes and then will be done.
Posted by
Dan Forcella
at
5:07 PM
Labels:
do not disturb,
fall preview,
fox,
fringe,
hole in the wall,
television
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Fox Returners
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles returns for its second season on Fox. I really enjoyed the first season and this show is probably in my top five awaited returns. The addition of Brian Austin Green mid-season was a great decision. Seeing young David Silver as an action star is like a dream come true. Also, Clare's friend from the first season of Heroes is John Connor so that's an extra tv plus. If you are excited for the new Christian Bale infested Terminator 4, you really should catch up on Sarah Connor Chronicles to fill the time.
Best Character:
Derek Reese (below left)
Worst Character: (only thinking of the five main characters)
John Connor (above right), which is sad because I like him.
House starts their fifth season this fall and it's starting to drag a little for me. Sure I love House's quirks and Wilson's everything, but the episodes are getting too repetitive for me. Give me some more relationship stuff, like with the House, Wilson, Cut-throat B*tch love triangle. It's like they only have one or two of these situations a season. Also if House could watch more soaps and play more gameboy I would get a bunch more laughs out of it.
Best Character:
Greg House (below left)
Worst Character:
Eric Foreman (above right)
Family Guy is now in its seventh season although there was that break in between because it got cancelled. what?!? This is by far the best animated show of all time, and they come up with the most subtle but ridiculous ways to make you laugh. One of the great things about this show is that there are three tremendous characters that I can absolutely see being someone's favorite character. Although I am a Peter man, Stewie or Brian would be absolutely the best character on any other animated show on television.
Best Character:
Peter Griffon (below)
Worst Character:
Herbert (creepy old guy)
Best Character:
Derek Reese (below left)
Worst Character: (only thinking of the five main characters)
John Connor (above right), which is sad because I like him.
House starts their fifth season this fall and it's starting to drag a little for me. Sure I love House's quirks and Wilson's everything, but the episodes are getting too repetitive for me. Give me some more relationship stuff, like with the House, Wilson, Cut-throat B*tch love triangle. It's like they only have one or two of these situations a season. Also if House could watch more soaps and play more gameboy I would get a bunch more laughs out of it.
Best Character:
Greg House (below left)
Worst Character:
Eric Foreman (above right)
Family Guy is now in its seventh season although there was that break in between because it got cancelled. what?!? This is by far the best animated show of all time, and they come up with the most subtle but ridiculous ways to make you laugh. One of the great things about this show is that there are three tremendous characters that I can absolutely see being someone's favorite character. Although I am a Peter man, Stewie or Brian would be absolutely the best character on any other animated show on television.
Best Character:
Peter Griffon (below)
Worst Character:
Herbert (creepy old guy)
Posted by
Dan Forcella
at
12:50 PM
Labels:
fall preview,
family guy,
fox,
house,
television,
terminator
Monday, September 1, 2008
Fox Fall Preview
Fox relies heavily on its January incorporation of American Idol and 24. Fox has this strange preference for playing their news at 10:00 and therefore they have many less openings for prime time shows. If there was one show currently on television that I wish I was caught up on it would be Fox's Prison Break. Thankfully Fox has the animated comedies covered with Family Guy, The Simpsons and the new Family Guy spin-off coming mid-season, because they are hurting on the regular comedies. Last year I enjoyed Back to You with Kelsey Grammar and Fred Willard but sadly it was cancelled. This year they bring back Til Death and add Do Not Disturb with Jerry O'Connell.
Interest Level (6=really want to start this show...1=will never watch this show)
Monday
8:00 Terminator: Sarah Connor- Season 2: Currently watching
(Starts Sept. 8)
9:00 Prison Break- Season 4: Interest Level= 6
(Starts tonight, Sept. 1)
Tuesday
8:00 House, MD- Season 5: Currently watching (Starts Sept. 16)
9:00 Fringe- New: Starting to watch (Starts Sept. 9)
Wednesday
8:00 Bones- Season 4: Interest Level= 3 (Starts Sept. 3)
9:00 'Til Death- Season 3: Started watching and stopped
(Starts Sept. 10)
9:30 Do Not Disturb- New: Starting to watch (Starts Sept. 10)
Thursday
8:00 Hole In the Wall- New: Interest Level= 3 (Starts Sept. 11)
9:00 Kitchen Nightmares- Season 2: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 4)
Friday
8:00 Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?- Season 3:
Interest Level= 1 (Starts Sept. 5)
9:00 Don't Forget the Lyrics- Season 3: Have watched sporadically (Starts Sept. 12)
Sunday
8:00 The Simpsons- Season 20: Watched repeats (Starts Sept. 28)
8:30 King of the HIll- Season 13: Interest Level= 2 (Starts Sept. 28)
9:00 Family Guy- Season 7: Currently watching (Starts Sept. 28)
9:30 American Dad- Season 4: Interest Level= 3 (Starts Sept. 28)
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