So this past week a bunch of my friends from High School were back in town, and this was the first time in seemingly forever that we were all together. And man, did my body, not to mention my wallet, really pay for it. Literally every night this week we went out in some form or fashion, which is not easy for a working man. Hell, Tuesday night we end up going to the city, getting really drunk, and doing some karaoke until about 3 in the morning. A lot of fun, but it definitely took its toll.
Anyway, this week I ended up missing Windfall again (as previously mentioned, I was out), and I didn’t catch the Dead Zone yet because I watched the William Shatner Roast (more on that later). So, I really don’t have many shows to discuss.
However, I did check out the SummerSlam results, and I am pleased, for the most part, about what happened. I’m glad both Edge and Booker have an opportunity to run with their belts a little longer, however I was a bit surprised that all three World Champions retained. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, though.
By the way, I finished reading the ECW book a couple weeks ago, and I have a question for all those fanboys out there who incessantly complain about every little thing that happens in the WWE-run ECW: Tommy Dreamer spends virtually his entire ECW career losing to Raven, and that’s brilliant booking….yet for a few weeks Test gets the best of Dreamer, and WWE is burying him because of it? I’m not so blind that I don’t recognize that WWE is screwing a lot of things up, but I’m also not so jaded that I don’t see that some people will always look at the former ECW as brilliant, and this as crap.
Speaking of ECW, I definitely thought that Jeff Hardy would debut on that show, or at the very least Smackdown. For him to be on RAW, it doesn’t make much sense if he doesn’t go after Edge…and I don’t think Hardy is really at that level yet. I could easily see him on Smackdown teaming (or even feuding) with Matt, or on ECW, where his style and personality would fit in great.
Before getting to TV….page 40 of the latest issue of In Touch magazine had a dual picture of Rachel Bilson and Elisha Cuthbert. Dream. Come. True. All I need is a picture of them together, and that’d be just grand.
THE 4400:
I am legitimately upset that this season is going to be over next week. I mean, this show REALLY needs to go at least 20 episodes, there is simply so much story to tell.
Regarding this week, having Jordan back really catapulted this show. At first I expected him to trim the beard and cut the hair, but I remembered what he said to Isabelle last week: He had to die to lose his vanity. Sure he still wears nice clothes and drives around in a limousine, but he’s truly not the image-absorbed man he used to be.
That said, I am a bit skeptical of his behavior. Is he manipulating everybody? Sure, the Jesus Christ imagery is laid on pretty thick (which I don’t mind), but the idea of sacrificing people’s lives, even for the greater good, doesn’t seem very Christ-like. It’s possible that his motives are pure, but he did lie to Shawn and NTAC about his involvement in the Nova group’s escape.
The battle lines thing is very intriguing. On one side you have Ryland and Isabelle, the supposed villains. On another side you have Collier and the 4400. Then on yet another side, you have Tom, Diana, and NTAC. Who sides with who? Who’s “good” and who’s “bad”? I also like how Jordan is banding together the 4400 and Dr. Burkoff. I really love Collier’s character, so I hope it doesn’t turn out that he’s evil.
Continuing the Christ imagery, there was definitely some allusions to Judas with Shawn’s reluctant betrayal of Jordan. However, I can’t help but see some inconsistencies with Richard’s behavior. Just earlier this season, Matthew asked Richard if, under any circumstances, he could see himself funding a terrorist group, to which Richard said no. Now here he is fully supporting them, for doing essentially the same thing Shawn had funded them for (namely, a defense if the government ever tried to attack them again). It seemed very….off.
Part of me expects the major twist at the end of the season to be revealed that Isabelle destroying the 4400 will actually save the future, and that our entire perspective of the show was wrong. In other words, we watch the show with the belief that the 4400 were sent from the future by those who want to save the future, and that Isabelle was sent by evil forces to stop them. But what if we have that mixed up? What if the evil forces sent back the 4400, and Isabelle was the salvation, or savior, to prevent their deeds which will ultimately create the catastrophe of the future?
The stuff with Kyle was actually surprisingly touching. Part of me expects him to get killed in the finale, fighting on the side of the 4400. If that doesn’t happen, I see his character getting written out for his world tour work. Either way, don’t think we’ll be seeing Kyle next year, which is a bit disappointing because he’s a well developed character.
I’m definitely stoked for next week’s finale.
WILLIAM SHATNER ROAST:
Just want to understand the rules here….we’re not allowed to say “asshole” but we are allowed to say “pussy” on television? Okay, great. And is there a reason why Comedy Central can’t put on an unedited version at 10:00 at night, when FX regularly does so? The constant bleeping really took away from it.
First off, Betty White arguably stole the show. Her delivery of dirty and raunchy jokes really is dead-on. She has a very underrated charisma. I mean, an old lady telling a dirty joke is funny as is, but she really nailed it with the delivery. Bravo to her.
It must’ve been girls night, because Lisa Lampenelli stole the show as well, which was more or less expected. Actually, it couldn’t have been a lady’s night, because Farah Fawcett was downright embarrassing. Wow.
George Takei was actually quite humorous as well, especially his advice for Andy Dick to “tone it down.” Oh, and he definitely tried to slip Jeffrey Ross the tongue.
Speaking of Jeffrey Ross, to me, the biggest difference between the Comedy Central Roasts and the Friar’s Club Roasts are the participants. It seems like now, you have like two or three people who actually know the Roastee, and everybody else are just the usuals who don’t even know the person. Yes, all those usuals are very funny, but it gets a bit awkward watching somebody rip another person apart, as they sit right there, when the person doesn’t even know them.
It was good to see Shatner so evidently light hearted about it all, and I thought his response at the end was very humorous. Overall a highly suggested Roast that was significantly better than that Pamela Anderson one.
Anyway, I’m cutting things off there. Until next week, Case Closed!
