I got a chance to review a “screener” of a show that I have never seen before. It’s a new show that airs on a channel that I don’t get it. In fact, many people may not get this channel since it is usually not part of a basic cable lineup. You usually have to pay extra for this channel. That channel is STARZ Comedy and the show is ‘Stand Up or Shut Up’. Anyone see the show yet? It premiered two weeks ago on July 21. It runs for seven more weeks and I will have a full review of the show later in this column.
New shows that I watched this week included ‘One Ocean View’ on ABC, a new season of ’30 Days’, ‘Who Wants to be a Superhero?’ on SCI-FI, ‘Dallas SWAT’ and ‘The First 48’ on A&E, and a pair of shows on the FOOD NETWORK called ‘Throwdown with Bobby Flay’ and ‘Road Tasted’. I liked ‘Dallas SWAT’ a lot and it will probably be a regular part of my A&E watching lineup. However, ‘The First 48’ was not all that interesting to me. I don’t know..I really just don’t like those kinds of shows. It’s still a good show, though. Just not for me. As far as ‘Throwdown with Bobby Flay’ and ‘Road Tasted’, both are good and fun shows on the FOOD NETWORK. I like Bobby’s personality better than Paula Dean’s two sons, but it was watchable. Now then, ‘Who Wants to be a Superhero’ was so ridiculous, that it became funny and interesting to watch. I almost turned off the show in the first five minutes, but I stuck with it and it was entertaining. Not a must-see show or anything, but it’s good enough to watch. The first episode of the new season of ’30 Days’ picked up where the first season left off. It’s a show everyone can learn from. Finally, ‘One Ocean View’. I saw this show and immediately said this was ‘The Real World’ for older people. And there is a reason for that. Both shows have the same executive producer, Jonathan Murray. Murray said that ‘One Ocean View’ wouldn’t be like ‘The Real World’ with kids throwing up all the time and partying. However, there were three or four parties in the first episode of ‘One Ocean View’. Yes..it’s true “college” kids like to party. But don’t think that the late 20’s/early 30’s age group don’t know how to party. They can party just as BIG as college kids. If you like ‘The Real World’, you probably will like this show. Too bad the ratings weren’t that great for this show, though. It may not last too long.
What did I think of ‘Big Brother’ this week? Well..glad you asked. Janelle became the “HOH” this week and she fell in “love” with Will. She put up Mike and Erika for eviction with the intention of sending Erika home. Smart enough move to me. However, she takes it too far on Tuesday. Mike wins the “Power of Veto” and takes himself off the block. Janelle decides to put Diane up there. Now I like that as either Diane or Erika will be going home. However, this didn’t make any of her other “BB6″ alliance members happy at all. Kaysar likes Erika. James likes Diane. Howie likes Janelle, but Janelle told Howie one thing and then lied and said she didn’t say it when they talked to James and Kaysar later. I thought it was funny when Howie was like..”what have you been drinking?!” She told Howie that she didn’t want Erika or Diane to win “POV”. But when asked by James, Janelle said she didn’t want Will or Mike to win. So there you go, James is done with Janelle and the rest of the “BB6”. I say that Will pretty much screwed up Janelle’s mind! Big mistake! The last thing she wanted to do was tell one person one thing and another person the opposite thing. Not good at all. I hope she is happy being in “Chill Town II”. I want her to stick around until the end, of course. But she will have a target on her back now. I just want to know what Kaysar thinks about all of this. So who is going home this week? Diane or Erika? Eh..another flip of the coin. I will lean towards Diane, but I could be wrong. Doesn’t really matter, though, as a “floater” goes home. And by the count of 7-1..Diane is going home! No surprise there really. Will was the only one to vote for Diane to stay and that’s because he doesn’t care how other people vote. So that means that Season 5 is now out of the game! They were a secret alliance no matter what they say and I think everyone inside the house knew about it. That’s why they are gone now. But bring back Jase please!
Now lets start up our engines and get ready to roll through another week that was..here at IPTV!
Seinfeld Quote of the Week
“You know what a good mechanic is worth? You can’t compare that to sex!” – Jerry from Season Sixe’s “The Fusilli Jerry”!
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…
Columns a.k.a. Is It Hot In Here?!!!
Mathan Erhardt offers to refund your time if you watch ‘The Wire’ and don’t like it. Hmm..that’s interesting as I have been watching the third season DVD set this past week. However, I won’t make Mathan refund my time, since I enjoyed the show. So there you go. Besides that, he comments on ‘Lucky Louie’, ‘Entourage’, ‘Brotherhood’, ‘Deadwood’, ‘Rescue Me’, ‘Psych’, ‘Monk’, ‘Hustle’, and ‘City of Men’! Another 3 for 9 week, which is .333. Not that bad really. And I would rather hang out with the ‘Desperate Housewives’. But ‘Sex in the City’ comes in a close second. Eva trumps all!
Matt Basilo talks a little bit about ‘Lost’ and comments on the newest episodes of ‘Windfall’, ‘The 4400’, and ‘The Dead Zone’. He’s off on vacation next week, so enjoy this column for two weeks!
Farah Syed was channel surfing the other day and landed in a new and weird place. Sometimes you need to watch things other than reruns in the summer. I agree as I have had tremendous fun watching shows I have never watched before this summer. Go see what she found!
Kevin Wong previews ‘The Ultimate Fighter 4’ on SPIKE TV. There is some differences in this season than previous ones. Find out about them, along with a breakdown of all the new fighters hoping to win an UFC title shot! He also comments on random shows he watched this week as well.
Recaps a.k.a. You Know How We Roll!!!
Trevor MacKay recaps last Thursday’s episode of ‘Big Brother 7: All-Stars’!
I go inside the house again on Sunday night to recap ‘Big Brother 7: All-Stars’. The next night I recap another episode of the ‘Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat’ !
Kevin Wong does his usual, which includes two shows on Monday, another on Tuesday, and another on Wednesday. The first show is ‘Canadian Idol’! Next, is ‘Treasure Hunters’. And he finishes with ‘Rock Star: Supernova’ covering both the performance show and the results show!
Ed Hampton comments on the results show from this week’s ‘Canadian Idol’!
Richard Mauntah is there for another Tuesday with the gang from ‘Big Brother 7: All-Stars’!
This week we had 9 TV on DVD reviews! DOUBLE WOW! None by me! We did some catching up!
John Cavanagh gets his laughs from Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Fifth Season!
Mike Noyes has something for Clint Eastwood fans. It’s called Rawhide: Season 1!
Scott Keith rants on Roseanne – The Complete Fourth Season!
Robert Sutton has two reviews this week. First, he continues his ‘Masters of Horror’ series with Masters of Horror: Joe Dante – Homecoming! Next, he finishes off Pierce Brosnan with Remington Steele: Seasons 4 and 5!
Travis Leamons visits everyone’s favorite “Crypt Keeper” when he reviews Tales from the Crypt: The Complete Fourth Season!
Steve Murray watches Dennis Miller: All In and wonders if it will be as funny as it should coming from Dennis Miller!
Michaelangelo follows Bill Maher to his HBO show and reviews Bill Maher: New Rules!
Kevin Wong checks out the third season of ‘Chappelle’s Show’ with Chappelle’s Show – The Lost Episodes [Uncensored]!
Celebrities a.k.a. Just Jessica!!
Former ‘Rock Star’, Jessica talks about Week 4 of ‘Rock Star: Supernova’!!
The Weekly Pulse Weekly Poll
Last week..I asked the question…”which cable channel has the best original programming lineup?” And here are the results:
USA NETWORK – 1
FX – 5
TNT – 0
A&E – 1
MTV – 1
VH1 – 0
COMEDY CENTRAL – 4
Other (Name it!) – 1
This was a close race, but FX pulls out the win to agree with me. So I’m back on track! I was surprised that COMEDY CENTRAL came in second. Their shows are funny, though. One person said it was a three-way tie with FX, COMEDY CENTRAL, and the USA NETWORK. They all bring something different to the table and I would agree with that statement. You just have to figure out which you like the most. And I also agree with Widro, who said that “FX has become HBO for people who can’t afford HBO.”
Now for this week’s question. It is…“where do you like to get your comedy from?”. Do you like to watch traditional sitcoms to laugh or comedy reality shows? Maybe documentaries about comedy or comedians? Or how about regular stand up acts on TV from various comedians? Which type of show do you like to get your comedy from the most? Let me know what you think by clicking on the link and VOTING! Remember..VOTE OR DIE!
What Did My TiVo Record This Week?
Friday
– ‘Who Wants to Be a Superhero?’
– ‘Throwdown With Bobby Flay’
– ‘Road Tasted’
– ‘The First 48’
– ‘Dallas SWAT’
– ‘King of the Hill’
– ‘Monk’
– ‘Psych’
– ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’
– ‘Late Show with David Letterman
Saturday
– ‘Inked’
– ‘Criss Angel Mindfreak’
Sunday
– ‘King of the Hill’
– ‘The 4400’
– ‘Big Brother 7: All-Stars’
– ’30 Days’ (New season!)
– ‘Hi-Jinks’
– ‘The Dead Zone’
– ‘Mind of Mencia’
Monday
– ‘King of the Hill’
– ‘Made’
– ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’
– ‘Hell’s Kitchen’
– ‘Driving Force’
– ‘Treasure Hunters’
– ‘WWE Monday Night RAW’
– ‘Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat’
– ‘MTV Cribs’
– ‘Late Show with David Letterman’
Tuesday
– ‘The Secret Life Of…’ (Comfort Foods!)
– ‘The Secret Life Of…’ (Garlic!)
– ‘Why Can’t I Be You’
– ‘King of the Hill’
– ‘Big Brother 7: All-Stars’
– ‘Fear Factor’
– ‘Last Comic Standing’
– ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’
– ‘Rock Star: Supernova’
– ‘The Contender’
– ‘The Real World: Key West’
– ‘ECW Wrestling’
– ‘Rescue Me’
– ‘Late Show with David Letterman’
Wednesday
– ‘King of Cars’
– ‘King of the Hill’
– ‘Blue Collar TV’
– ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’
– ‘America’s Got Talent’ (Still annoying!)
– ‘One Tree Hill’
– ‘Dog Bites Man’
– ‘The Hills’
– ‘Inked’
– ‘Saved’
– ‘Criss Angel Mindfreak’
– ‘Late Show with David Letterman’
Thursday
– ‘World Series of Pop Culture’
– ‘King of the Hill’
– ‘Big Brother 7: All-Stars’
– ‘My Name is Earl’
– ‘The Office’
– ‘Making the Band 3’
– ‘Run’s House’
– ‘Windfall’
– ‘Pimp My Ride’
– ‘TNA Impact!’
– ‘Late Show with David Letterman’
Time to Talk a.k.a. I Review an Unique Comedy Show!!!
A show called ‘Stand Up or Shut Up’ premiered on the STARZ COMEDY channel two weeks ago on Friday, July 21. It will air every Friday night at 7:50 p.m. for the next seven weeks. This is not a “scripted” TV show or even a “reality” show like ‘Last Comic Standing’. It is a “reality” show, but this show has no eliminations and no competitions. It’s a rather unique look at what it takes to be a comedian today.
The show is hosted by Michael Somerville. He’s a New Jersey native, who tried stand up comedy in college. He liked it so much that he continued it after he graduated from college. He has been performing at local clubs in New York City for the past seven years and was recently voted as one of New York’s “Ten Hot Local Comics” by The Improper magazine.
The show follows six “up-and-coming” comedians as they go through orientation and workshop classes at the American Comedy Institute (ACI) in New York City. It all ends with their graduation, which is on stage performances at various comedy clubs in New York City. As they say, “if you’re funny there..you’re funny everywhere!” Michael introduces the students on stage and visits with them off stage as well as they go through their “normal” lives.
The six students are Judith Currin, Steven Henley, Katy Olsen, Robert Paris a.k.a. “Big Louie”, R.K. Smith, and Josh Zepps. Currin did stand up from 1991 to 1997, but took a break after little success. Shw works at a New York City advertising agency. Hanley is the author of the political satire The Legend of Bushistotle: History’s Greatest Philosopher-Warrior-King. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is a translator for various magazines and companies around the world. Olsen lived in a trailer park in Florida for most of her life. She moved to New York City six years to pursue her comedy career. She has a job at Mail Boxes, Etc.. Paris is a personal trainer, who got into comedy after he got out of jail. Smith is a Bronx bus driver, who is known as the “Black Ralph Kramden”. He’s a big guy who makes all of his passengers laugh. Finally, Zepps is from Australia and has his own radio show down there. Actually, he lives in Manhattan but sends down his material to his home country.
I got a chance to see the upcoming episode called “Political Humor”. This episode was all about using political humor in your stand up routines. Here is a quick clip of Josh Zepps (on the right) and host, Michael Somerville (on the left), with a bit about George W. Bush. It’s a difficult balancing act as it can be quite funny, but it can go too far in the wake of the “9/11 attacks”. I found this episode to be very interesting. Each episode of this show takes a look at a different aspect of what it takes to be a comedian. Political humor is just one aspect of it. Others included during the run of this show range from perfoming in comedy clubs to using “dirty” material in acts to dealing with hecklers to telling stories instead of jokes.
Some may be quick to compare this show to ‘Last Comic Standing’. But this show is very different. These comedians don’t compete against each other for an ultimate prize at the end. These comedians have little to no experience in front of an audience doing stand up comedy. They are here to learn “how” to be comedians. It’s more of a “behind-the-scenes” thing than any other comedy show out there. If you want to become a comedian, this is a good place to start as you could actually learn a few things from the show.
The big negative of this show is that it’s a “micro-series”. That means that the episodes only last 10 minutes. That is hardly enough time to accomplish a whole lot, in my opinion. The episode I saw did have a lot of information in it, but I could have watched at least 15 more minutes of it. I’m not sure why this show was made into a “micro-series”. I think it could have easily been expanded into at least a half-hour show. But maybe not. Maybe the show works better this way. Maybe it didn’t want to give away all of the secrets. Maybe the show wanted you to go to the American Comedy Institute (ACI) yourself and learn for yourself. Who knows, but I wanted to see more of it.
As far as the actual comedians on the show go, it’s a mixed bag. Some comedians like Josh Zepps and R.K. Smith need little work to become good comedians. I found them to be very funny already. Others like Judith Currin need more work as I didn’t find her as funny as the others. The others are somewhere in the middle, but the point is that they ALL need to learn a few more things to become great comedians. That’s why they are on this show and who better to teach them than the ACI. ‘Stand Up or Shut Up’ is just along for part of the ride. And despite the fact that Michael Somerville is probably unknown to anyone outside of New York City, I found him to be a funny and entertaining host.
‘Stand Up or Shut Up’ is hard to find, which is another negative. You usually have to pay extra to get any of the STARZ channels. So I’m pretty sure not a whole lot of people have heard of this show or have even heard of this channel before. If you do have the channel and you like comedy at all, I think the show is well worth your time. It’s only 10 minutes each week, so if you don’t like the show, you won’t lose that much of your time. It’s an interesting look inside the world of comedy. If you can find a way to watch it, I recommend you do because you may learn a thing or two about comedy. And if you have watched it, I would LOVE to hear your comments on the show. The address is below.
That’s all I got this week! Any questions, comments, or suggestions are always welcome, of course! Whether that be telling me what you think of ‘Stand Up or Shut Up’ or anything else!
Remember..“Life Ain’t Always Beautiful, but It’s a Beautiful Ride!”
And as always…“You Can’t Fight Fate!”. See you next week!
