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1. I don’t watch The Sopranos. Maybe if in the two years since the last season, HBO had decided to rerun the entire series in it’s entirety, I could have caught up and been a fan of the show. But since HBO decided not to do that, I’ve boycotting the show. There’s no possible way it would live up to the hype.

2. FX is going to be showing the complete first season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Saturday starting at 11pm. I suggest you check it out, as I was a huge fan as the season aired. It’s a hilarious show that does sitcoms proud.

3. Lost and Smallville need to stop showing reruns. I don’t even remember the last time Smallville was new, and Lost should change it’s name to Lost Momentum. Seriously, take a page from Prison Break and 24.

What I Watched Last Week

Hustle – This show has some amazing writers. They pulled off the “con within a con.” The fact that the crux of the episode centered on Danny being the rookie and naïve was very well crafted. It was like the writers had conned the viewers. Do yourself a favor and check this show out.

In fact I’m going to give you a link to a schedule of when the show airs. It’s really one of the best shows out.

Real Time With Bill Maher – Comedy! “Nothing wrong with coming in number two” is the funniest line of the week. Hands down.

Scrubs – Good news; my roommate found the episode that she lost two last week. Bad news; I haven’t watched it yet. But I did catch this week’s episode. One of the things that I dig about the show is the relationship between JD and Turk. It really does remind me of my relationship with my best friend (which is either touching or disturbing depending on your perspective.)

Anyway, I also love how the show gives you a lesson, without getting all preachy about it. And “wacky funny” is always better than “really funny.” Man, I’ve got to invest in this show on DVD.

The Loop – So I decided to give this show a shot and I wasn’t disappointed. It was damn ass funny. It wasn’t “good enough to replace Arrested Development funny, but it was “a million times better than Sons & Daughters” funny.

Again, I can sort of relate to this show, to a degree. When I graduated college, I was still living with my roommates while I was working at a bank (which was way grown up.) So I can completely feel the tug between being responsible and having fun. I do hope this show catches on.

My Name is Earl – Remember how I said that I appreciated how Scrubs wasn’t preachy? Well Earl is teetering on that line. It’s a bit too “touchy feely” for my taste. Earl spending quality time with his pop struck me wrong.

But that could just be because I hate my dad.

Still the episode was kind of funny. But not more funny than it was “feel good” which is a bad sign.

The Office – This show followed it’s lead in…by being disappointing. The premise of “kids @ work” day was solid, but the execution felt off. The “bad” kid was just cliché. I don’t know what it was, but the episode just wasn’t as funny as usual. I was pretty disappointed.

Big Love – I’m a sucker for HBO dramas. But for some reason I thought this show was going to be a half hour affair. I did find myself rather entrenched in the situation established. The idea of having three wives is a heady one, and it’s dealt in a realistic way. I also dig how each wife is a distinct character with personality and issues.

The relationships between the many characters are fascination to watch, and the writers did a great job of establishing them right off the bat. I hope that this show find a following, because I’m really curious about the journey these characters are about to go on.

24 – How many more people can die? I ask you! I knew Henderson wasn’t really comatose, but I didn’t know Tony was going to die. How could you kill Tony?

And Lynn going out like a hero was a nice way to get rid of the character. He had a bit of redemption in the end. For an episode that spent the majority of the time in a conference room it was a pretty riveting hour. I find it hard to believe that Kim and C. Thomas Howell are really done, because why would you bring in C. Thomas Howell for a two episode stint? And what was up with Edgar getting the silent tick out, but the clock if blaring for Tony? What’s up with that?

Greatest Show Ever…this week ; Black. White.

Man, this show never disappoints. It is without a doubt the funniest show in the world. Like, this show seems as thought it’s written by the writers of The Office because the stuff that Carmen and Bruno do seem like exactly the type of things that the fictional Michael would do.

What’s really funny is how this show, which I’m sure was intended to “bridge the racial divide” is actually setting race relations back, oh let’s say 37 years. I’ve got to believe that the people behind the show expected everyone to tune in and then discuss the program around the water cooler, and then begin to bond has human beings. However that’s not case the show really only reinforces racial stereotypes.

Don’t believe me? Here are a few examples from the second episode.

First we have Rose the uber sensitive which chick. Rose who wants to “understand” and “feel” so much that she bursts into tears throughout the episode. She cries because she wants to tell her poetry classmates that she’s really white. She cries when she tells her poetry classmates that she’s really white. She cries when her poetry classmates write on white paper. (Ok I made that last one up, but she really does cry a lot.)

Next we have Renee, the Black mom who, if this week’s episode is any indication, is still bitter about slavery, because she harps on Carmen (the white mom) carelessly tossing around the “B” word. Clearly Renee is the type of woman who will never let you forget the one time you forgot to put the toilet seat down or pick up the kids from soccer practice.

Nick, the Black son, comes next, with his nearly stereotypical indifference to the entire affair. Nick has logged a sum total of two minutes screen time in the first two episodes. We barely see him as Black or white. I’m sure somewhere some white person (or Bill Cosby) is chastising Nick for his play along and be white.

Brian the Black dad, really isn’t that bad, but in fairness he didn’t really have that much to do this week. He had to stand by his woman and bite his tongue during church. But I suppose the fact that he tolerates his situation as opposed to actually speaking up about it is kind of stereotypical in a “wait things out they’ll get better” sort of way.

Bruno, the white dad, has the couth of two year old and the finesse of an epileptic. He phrases questions about race, not as though he were cutting a diamond, but rather as though he operating a wrecking ball. He actually asked a white woman, who had dated Black men not only “if the myth was true” but also if she was worried about Black men being “notorious” for not sticking around. He’s jawdroppingly appalling.

Where to start with Carmen, the aforementioned white mom? Is it her complete ignorance to Black culture? Or maybe the fact that she is brought to tears in the ensuing discussion about how someone might take offence at being called a “B?” Maybe we should start with her actually thinking that Black people wear dashikis. No, lets begin at the end with her paying someone a compliment by calling them a “Black creature” (actual quote) questioning someone’s sexuality – to their face, and praising a group of Black youths by calling them “articulate.” Y’know if someone wrote a character that behaved like Carmen, we’d call it absurd and say “no white person is that foolishly ignorant” yet here she is.

And for providing more entertainment (and racial stereotypes) than your average UPN sitcom, Black. White. deserves the honor of being the greatest show.

Lucky

Why the hell isn’t this show on DVD? There are plenty more obscure shows that are out on DVD, but this short-lived FX show isn’t? What’s up with that? Basically Lucky aired on FX and was a show about a guy who won the big poker tournament for a million dollars and blew all his cash. We find him a year later trying to put his life back together after the death of his wife.

It was such a great show. When it was funny it was hilarious. And when it was touching it was damn poignant. I’ll never forget when Lucky was remembering his wife as Badly Drawn Boy (I forget what song it was) played in the background. It was a powerful moment.

Anyway, to find out more about the show go here. And while you’re in a giving mood, how about you FX Networks a piece of your mind and ask them to put Lucky out on DVD.

Nixing Networks

Last week I posed the following scenario;

Good News; You’ve got a TV show. Bad News; it’s not on one of the Big Four. Maybe you’re an actor. Maybe you’re a writer. Maybe you’re a producer. The point is you’ve got a show, that’s earning you money, on a network. Good News; your show is pretty successful. Bad News; your network is getting canceled. Good News; new network is being formed. Bad News; your show isn’t guaranteed to be on it.

So, for the sake of survival for your show, would you rather have a show on UPN or WB with hope of it ending up on the CW?

Colin gave me an answer, sort of;

UPN, WB, CW ?!?!??!?!?

Sorry if it sounds like a cop-out, but I truly don’t care which one my show ends up on. I’m Canadian, which means I don’t even care about the network. We up here live and die by cable. I don’t think we get either WB or UPN though, unless you get one of those too expensive super packages, and I couldn’t even tell you what CW is.

sorry,

Bink came with a more standard answer;

This one took a little bit of consideration for me. The WB most likely has the best ratings of the two. The problem, however, that’s probably because of the “whitening” of their lineup. Being black, any show I’d make would probably not fit in. The WB had more color at first, but back then they also had that dumb singing frog too. I do not miss that frog, score one point for the WB. I like Smallville, that gives the WB 2 points. Random black players on some shows minus 1. On the flip side of this crazy coin, UPN has the (dis)honor of shows like Cutz. Big minus on the UPN side. Thankfully, Everybody Hates Chris satiates my wrath for that. UPN has more color and another show I like, Girlfriends. That makes it UPN 2 to 1. So, I’d be hoping for a slot next to Chris or Girlfriends on UPN.

Y’know usually I’m not really swayed by what y’all say, but Bink, you make a solid argument. I do love Everybody Hates Chris and I really kind of dig Girlfriends. While I’ve got ideas for some shows that WB might find enticing, I think that UPN would probably be the safer bet for pitching a show.

However I’m pretty sure that WB has better ratings, and is going to get the edge when the networks merge. So, if my show is on the WB is stands a better chance of surviving the end of the network. Thus I’ve got to throw my lot in with the WB, even though I’d rather be on UPN. Did that make any sense?

Naturally this brings us to…

Good News/Bad News/Question of the Week

Bad News; I’m tired. Good News; loyal reader George M actually submitted a few “Good News/Bad News” scenarios so I’ll use on of his this week. Equally Good News; if you want to send me some of yours I’ll use them too, eventually.

Here’s George;

Good news: you help people in need, bad news: people constantly pick fights with you. Good news: you can kick their a$$ buttocks with ease, bad news: you walk alone at the end of the day.

So who are you Dr. David Banner, or Caine from Kung-Fu?

Josh slays me. But our links are always a week off because both of our columns drop on Friday. For instance last week he references a headache I had two weeks ago, which is odd because I had another headache this week. Read his newest which should be up now.

Kevin Wong reads comic books. He also covers modern game shows. Read him, love him.

Joe Reid Pulled a Pistol on Santa

Joe must be damn busy because he hasn’t contributed to The Film Experience in a minute, which sucks for me because he’s where I get all my Movie info from.

On his Blog Joe continues on his American Idol standings.

I’m going to bed. Laters.