Lack of “Jack”
Ok, so I was completely incapacitated by a migraine this week. I was literally crippled (hence my lack of a musical contribution this week). Thus I didn’t manage to watch all of the TV that I wanted to. For some reason, while I taped 24 and Lost (arguably the two most addictive of the single word shows) I’ve yet to watch them.
Rest assured next week I’ll have more clamoring and hatred for characters named Jack.
What I Watched This Week
Hustle – I’m going to keep praising this program. It’s one of the best cable programs out. I really enjoyed this how far they stretched the con this week. It was also a pretty poignant show, and one of the few times that I actually cared about the mark. Y’all really need to get up on this show.
Gilmore Girls – For some reason I had this show on in the background this week. I paid enough attention to it to get the gist. The only reason I paid any attention is because I recalled Matthew Michaels clamoring about the show in a bygone forum post. I was completely lost, but the show was entertaining. I did enjoy the Hollaback Girl cover.
The Closer – This is another show that I had on in the background while I was doing something else. It was an interesting show, but I don’t think that it deserves all the hype it gets in promos. It does have a pretty solid cast.
Real Time With Bill Maher – Funny as always. Bill’s satellite guest was particularly well spoken. But the “token” Muslim chick was way annoying. She was trying too hard to be clever and elicit laughter. Danny Glover did do a fine job of holding his own. The current events has never been more entertaining.
Grey’s Anatomy – I dug the George-centric episode. It was a great break from the whining of Meredith. I also completely loved how the handled the entire George/Meredith situation. I didn’t mind that they dragged it out until the end, and it absolutely lived up to the build up. I really felt so bad for poor George.
I’m tired of Christina and Burke. Wait, “tired” would imply that I actually appreciated it at some point, which isn’t the case. To me, this is the one part of the show that I care nothing about. Everything else I’m invested in to some degree or another. But that coupling is just stagnating.
Izzy and Alex on the other hand it pretty entertaining. Alex getting jealous and acting on his jealous was great, as was the swerve that it actually hurt him in the long run. I am curious how this will play out.
The Bailey/Addison story was just great. I love Addison. Like I said last week, I want her to be happy. Thus watching her in agony this week was painful. I’m kind of glad that she and McDreamy appear to be making headways in terms of their marriage. However that final scene between McDreamy and Meredith, call me a chick, but that’s cheating.
Free Ride – For some reason I decided to give this show a shot. It wasn’t the greatest show I’ve seen, but it was mildly entertaining. I can’t say that I’m going to keep it on my viewing schedule, but I may give it another shot. Possibly.
Scrubs – I’m not going to lie, I was very tempted to make this my pick of the week. I’m loving the full hour of Scrubs. That second episode was way too touching. I was so hoping that germs wouldn’t spread, and when they did, it killed me. I too, grew to dig Mrs. Wilk. This show really is way too good.
Boston Legal – This was a really great Denny episode. And we also learned a nice little nugget about Alan’s past. But Denny was the start. I am going to miss Margaret Chenowith though. I’d grown to appreciate her so much on this show.
Out of Order – As I’m typing this column I’ve come across this Showtime program. Now I really enjoyed this program when it aired originally, due greatly to it’s pretty remarkable cast (including Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy and Eric Stoltz) I’m glad that Showtime has decided to show the first (and only) season again, as disappointed as I am that it only had one season.
I think that one of the reasons why I enjoyed this show so much was because I think of my life as a television show. Seriously. Anyway, if you happen to be up at 4am flipping though the channels, give the Showtime family a run though and you may be able to catch it.
The Greatest Show Ever…this week The Shield
Oh. My. God. This was probably the best hours on television this week. First off, kudos to the writers and director for keeping the focus of the episode on Kavanaugh for basically the entire episode. They did a remarkable job of placing John in a sympathetic light. They managed to accomplish at least the fleshing out his character and at most causing viewers to alter their allegiance from Vic to John. Up to this point of the season Vic was the protagonist and John was the antagonist, this episode completely switched the roles.
They also did a great job of showing Lem’s conflict. From his saving Kavanaugh to his becoming a scapegoat by the end of the episode it was very powerful. What sucked was how Lem had begun to see Vic for his true character, when he took the fall. It really does suck that Lem is essentially a pawn in the play between John and Vic. Seeing Lem in the cuffs and then in the cage was just brutal.
I’m not the first to say it but Forest Whitaker deserves to take home an Emmy for his work on this show. The scenes between Kavanaugh and his ex were almost difficult to sit through and it was worse to know that Vic and Lem were eavesdropping. But Whitaker is really doing some fine acting on this show. To me, he’s really the star of the program.
Mathan’s Misguided Pilot Showcase
Ok, so the movie Goodfellas holds a very special place in my heart. First off, it’s a great movie. But secondly, it was one of the movies that my college roommates (and best friends) bonded over. Goodfellas was a movie that we watched for like two weeks straight. It became part of our lexicon. We’d quote entire scenes and adopted dialogue as our slang. I love this movie.
So when I was watching Mr. Show and I saw the skit Pallies it prompted me to imagine Goodfellas set in Junior High and translated into a cartoon for kids. Thus I came up with Palzies.
Now maybe it’s just my Goodfellas addled mind, but I really think this would work and I know it would translate well.
I mean is the dynamic between Jimmy, Henry and Tommy that much different between the relationship between Slater, Zach and Screech on Saved by the Bell? It’s really not. Both sets of characters get involved in wacky capers that involve avoiding authority figures.
So the way that I see it, it would be very easy to place those characters (that I love so much) into a different, yet similar setting. Instead of worrying about jail, they’re worrying about detention. Instead of whacking people, it’s spitball fights.
I don’t know, maybe it just because I’m longing for the “good ol’ days” but I’d love to see Palzies take some type of form.
Multimedia Corporation vs Multimedia Corporation
Last week I posed the following scenario;
Good News; you’re going on a trip. Bad News; it’s a trip to a cartoon universe. Good News; you’re still going to be you. Bad News; you’ll be a cartoon version of yourself. Good News; you get to pick where you go. Bad News; you only get two choices.
So, would you rather end up in the Warner Bros Cartoon Universe (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig) or in the Disney Cartoon Universe (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto)?
Colin provided me with my solitary answer;
Warner vs. Disney?!?!?!?!?!?
Not even close. Bar none, I’d live in the Warner universe. It seems a helluva lot more fun than Disney’s. Anvils, explosives, Daffy, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Yosemite Sam, Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. If only it had Woody Woodpecker and Screwy Squirrel.
Y’know Colin makes strong case for the WB with anvils. However I think I’m going to go with Disney. Y’see I’ve got big screen aspirations, and I can’t recall the last time I wanted to see WB flick on the screen. Disney on the other hand have loads of classics.
There’s also the female factor. Now matter how you slice it Disney gets the nod when it comes to the females. It’s got more female characters for companionship, and in the real world I’m also going to get cool points for by Disney affiliation. So as much as I dig the Warner Brothers tooniverse, I’m siding with Disney fam.
Of course this logically brings us to…
Good News/Bad News/Question of the Week
Good News; aren’t dead. Bad News; you’re going to need some medical attention in order to stay alive. Good News; your chances of living are pretty good. Bad News; it is going to require going under the knife. Maybe it’s benign tumor. Maybe it’s an aggressive form of cancer. Maybe it’s your gall bladder. Who knows, the point is you’ve got surgery in your future. Good News; you’ve got insurance. Bad News; you’re premiums are probably going to go up.
So, would you rather be admitted to Seattle Grace Hospital (Grey’s Anatomy) or Sacred Heart Hospital (Scrubs)?
Links
Josh is full of links and apparently jumped on the Grey’s Anatomy bandwagon.
Matt critiques Entertainment Weekly’s Lost theory.
Kevin also watches a lot of TV. He’s also got some unkind words for an animated show.
Me & Mrs. Mr. Joe (Reid)
On his Blog Joe brags about his American Idol predicting skills.
Over at The Film Experience Joe finally decides to call an end to 2005. I just want to point out how much Joe’s disdain for Crash has grown over the past few months. Still, he knows more about film than I do, so I defer to him.
I’ll probably be here next week.
