Thursday, February 04, 2010

Lost - Oceanic Flight 815, the original and the alternate time line, side by side. Loved the start of the new season. Although alternate universes have been hinted at - like with Desmond - this is the first full-fledged one we've been presented with. I'm not sure they should have introduced another mystery to the Lost story, but hope springs eternal - or at least seasonally - that they know where they're going.

Labels: sci-fi, TV, youtube goodness

23:32 bone daddy

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Following up on c-dog's post about UConn's beatdown of Notre Dame, I'd say this UConn team reminds me most of the 2002 version. That team had the best starting five in women's history - Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Swin Cash, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones - but not a lot of depth. Everyone kept wondering what would happen if they got in foul trouble or had an off game. That talk continued right up to the championship game, which they won.

C-dog, you should see this team if you get the chance. I took Ivy and a friend to Gampel for the North Carolina game and even though it was a blowout, I could tell we were witnessing something special. You need to see Maya Moore in person before she graduates. Sooner or later you're going to wear some UConn colors to Duke. Might as well warm up with the women's game.

Labels: anti-Duke, local flavor, TV, uconn

00:07 bone daddy

Saturday, January 02, 2010

BoneDaddy's Top Ten Shows of the Decade I'm king of the late lists.

10) Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. No one talks about this anymore, but for a while it was as funny as anything on TV. Laughing at it or laughing with it? Either way, you're laughing.

9) 24. Yes, it's a stupid show. Anyone who uses it as an excuse for Bush-era torture is simply an idiot. I got sick of the torture before most. Before it went off the rails, this show was fun, comic book entertainment. TV needs more action, bad accents and wives with amnesia.

8) World Series of Poker. Like everything else on this list, ESPN's heavily edited broadcast of the WSOP Main Event entertained, amused and informed. Nothing else on this list, however, made me money. Respect must be paid. Also, somewhere along the line I started liking Norman Chad. As former Bear Stearns exec Steve Beglieter made a raise - "That's a big bet! Especially in this economy!"

7) Freaks & Geeks. Has an Outsiders-esque cast of future stars. There's a lot of regret in TV geek circles that this show did not last beyond one season, but I'm not sure it needed to do more than it already had. (Technically, this show started in 1999, but most of the shows aired in 2000 and I suspect more people have seen it on DVD in the past decade than saw it broadcast so here it is.)

6) The Office. When I heard they were remaking the brilliant British show I thought, that's stupid. When I heard they cast Steve Carrell I thought, that's brilliant. And it is.

5) Friday Night Lights. Up and down seasons two and three keep this show from landing higher on the list. The first season was pitch perfect. Mr and Mrs Coach get the well deserved acting kudos and Taylor Kitsch sets the hearts a-swooning. For me, Zach Gilford as QB2 Matt Saracen is the heart and soul of the show.

4) Mad Men. The show has such great depth it takes me three pages to say anything about it. Sometimes commentary over at Pandagon, or from Mrs. BoneDaddy, or from Tony Kornheiser on the BS Report will make me re-think scenes in completely different ways because there are many valid ways to read this show. Also, it's one of those shows that just hit on a great cast top to bottom.

3) Lost. This could flip with #2 if it sticks the landing. It's also possible that it could plummet completely off the list if it squanders and sputters to a meandering nonsense ending. Scares me to type that, but it's true. Lost could finish as the longest Twilight Zone episode ever. That could be a great compliment. On the other hand, some of those Twilight Zone episodes aren't actually as good as we remember. (Please stick the landing ...)

2) Arrested Development. One of the best comedy casts of all time combined with the best comedy writing on TV. How good was this show? The jokes you only catch the second time around are better than the jokes other shows labor to set up and announce with a laugh track.

1) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I believe you could study modern U.S. presidents through the comedians who best lampooned them. Nixon through Herblock, Reagan through Doonesbury. Clinton through This Modern World. The best comedy about the W tragedy, and often the best commentary and even the best reporting of the time, came from The Daily Show. One thing the top 7 shows here have in common is great supporting casts. The Daily Show correspondents - going back to the time Ed Helms, Steve Carrell and Steven Colbert worked together and without missing a beat to today's Aasif Mandvi, John Oliver and Larry Wilmore - created some of the best moments on the show. I would buy a "This Week In God" DVD in a second and a "Daily Show news of the 2000s" even faster.

Honorable Mention/Haven't Seen Enough Yet/Cop Out Section: 30 Rock, Dexter (only on season 2), Sportscenter, The Wire (I'm guaranteed to love this show so I haven't watched any until I can devote the time to devouring the whole series, odd as that sounds), Battlestar Galactica (someone should pass a law separating new religions, mythologies and prophecies from TV science fiction. Just stop it.) and The Colbert Report.

Labels: Bush, Lists, poker, sci-fi, TV

09:57 bone daddy

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Mal-feasance: A Little Fun on the Firefly Set

Labels: sci-fi, TV, youtube goodness

17:00 cdogzilla

It's the Holiday Season

Don't forget to get your aluminum pole up for December 23rd!

Labels: TV

00:00 cdogzilla

Sunday, December 13, 2009

'Family Ties' Actor Bonsall Facing Assault Charge - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver: Alexander Rozhenko, son of Worf of the House of Mortak, is either letting his Klingon instincts get the better of him or is a meth addict. The real-world money, if you click through to see the mug shot, is on "meth-head".

Labels: crime, TV

18:56 cdogzilla

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Never Saw Or Even Heard Of It But Liking:


Not breaking into the Top Ten or anything.  Still, irritating me that there was a sci-fi show I never even heard of, with Ron Livingston, that was totally off my radar.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

11:06 cdogzilla

How Dollhouse Got in the Top Ten



It's on hulu.com.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

07:46 cdogzilla

Friday, December 11, 2009

Best of the Aughts: TV
A top ten for the first nine years of this decade and the last year of the last decade/century/millennium.

1. Firefly - It goes without saying.  This is one where we'll have to agree to disagree, if you disagree. But, can you, really?  I mean, we saw the same show, right?  
2. Deadwood - OMCFG this show rocked my world.  
3. The West Wing - I hoped Obama would be Bartlett.  He's not.  But he's probably the closest we'll see in our lifetime.
4. Veronica Mars - Really, for season one only.  I really grooved on season one.
5. Arrested Development - I'm teaching my kids the chicken dance, that's how much I love this show.
6. Curb Your Enthusiasm - The man in the cape makes me laugh out very loud.  
7. 30 Rock - I want to go to there. 
8. The Office - I like Jim.  The Office would be higher on this list if he didn't keep pulling that same face every time he looks at the camera.  It's funny nearly every time ... but there's a one-trick-pony effect holding the show back, in my mind.  Sometimes it feels a little like Frasier, I don't know if I can put the feeling into words, but sometimes you're just so embarrassed for a character it's not fun any more.
9. The Daily Show/The Colbert Report/Countdown/Rachel Maddow - It was either a four way tie or exclude comedy/news shows all together.  Couldn't have one without the others but didn't want to fill the list up with progressive news over scripted dramas and comedies.
10. Dollhouse - Yes, Dollhouse. Despite it's flaws, it's ahead of Gilmore Girls, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, & Chuck. So why does Dollhouse make it?  Alpha, mainly.  And Olivia Williams is pitch perfect as Adele.  Dushku as Echo didn't work for me until very near the end.  I can't say the series was particularly well structured but when it was brilliant, it was Whedonesquely brilliant.  I mentioned BSG even though I thought it was wildly overrated, not half the sci-fi epic Babylon 5 was. 

Labels: 2009, Lists, TV

23:09 cdogzilla

Monday, December 07, 2009

Above The Law

Labels: TV

23:15 cdogzilla

Monday, November 16, 2009

The Daily Show | November 12, 2009 - Jane Goodall | Comedy Central
There's a good reason to link to Jon Stewart every day. Jane Goodall may not be the bestest reason of all; but, she's a favorite of mine. Of course, if Goodall isn't your thing, there's the usual pointed quips at the expense of GOP buffoons -- Stupak and Pence, for instance.

Labels: chimps, TV

20:31 cdogzilla

Sunday, November 08, 2009

David Tennant to Star in American TV Pilot | Gallifreyan Embassy: It's got a horrible name (Rex Is Not Your Lawyer) but a mildly interesting premise -- in that I'm not sure I'd be interested if Tennant weren't involved but, since he is, it's one that has lots of potential.

Labels: doctor who, TV

00:38 cdogzilla

Saturday, October 31, 2009

BBC Confirm Steven Moffat/Mark Gatiss Sherlock Holmes Drama | Bleeding Cool Comic News & Rumors: Whoa, how did I miss this?

Labels: TV

09:31 cdogzilla

Friday, October 16, 2009

Monty Python Meets the Roots - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com

Labels: music, TV

10:00 cdogzilla

Thursday, October 15, 2009

TV Vampire (s)Takedown | The Paley Center for Media: I voted for Angel.

Labels: TV

22:51 cdogzilla

Monday, October 12, 2009

Captain Mal Reynolds Returns to Television! | FIREFLYFANS.NET: Well, it's not *really* Mal but I'll be watching for it.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

18:08 cdogzilla

Friday, October 09, 2009

Jawbox to reunite for one-off performance on Jimmy Fallon | Music | A.V. Club: I'm not going to watch Fallon to see it ... just hoping I can catch it on Hulu or YouTube afterward.

Labels: music, TV

15:34 cdogzilla

Thursday, October 08, 2009

The Office: Why Jim and Pam's wedding is good for TV comedy | New Jersey Entertainment - TV & Film - - NJ.com: "But because of The 'Moonlighting' Fallacy, far too many TV writers and executives have come to believe that resolution=doom. 'NewsRadio' creator Paul Simms more or less destroyed his relationship with NBC by having Dave and Lisa sleep together in the show's second episode - they wanted him to tease it out forever, so they'd have an angle to promote - even though he wound up getting several seasons of material out of their affair."
Speaking of 'Moonlighting,' why -- with all the cable channels -- is it easier to find a reality show about people taking dumps on the stairs than it is to find a 'Moonlighting' or 'Northern Exposure'?

Labels: TV

19:58 cdogzilla

Jimmy Kimmel Live - Obama On Auto-Tune: Fine for what it is. But the Auto-Tune the News crew should get royalties.

Labels: auto-tuning, TV

08:45 cdogzilla

Friday, August 21, 2009

"Meet The Press" Draws Most Viewers Since April On Maddow's Debut Appearance

Labels: progressivism, TV

22:32 cdogzilla

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Ads in Brazil promote peeing in the shower as water conservation method.

Finally, an environmental technique that requires less effort than the non-environmental way of doing things.

Labels: science, shadowboner, TV

14:41 bone daddy

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Rachel Rules: It's shameful the way most "journalists" on shows like Meet the Press let goons like Armey spout off without challenging them in any meaningful way. It would never occur to me to make MtP appointment TV but, if Rachel is going to be on again, I will.

Labels: Conservative Goons, progressivism, TV

21:33 cdogzilla

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Blogtor Who: That's an intensely blue new Tardis exterior. Not sure the Prof. Jones looks totally suits Mr. Smith, but I'm not put off by any of the pix linked here. Just feeling really, really old. It's one thing when almost all the baseball players on your favorite team are younger than you but when Doctor Who is not only younger than you, he looks like he could be your offspring, that's a kick in the head.

Labels: doctor who, sci-fi, TV

18:52 cdogzilla

Friday, June 26, 2009

'Doctor Who: The Next Doctor' review - Sepinwall on TV - NJ.com:

"'I'm The Doctor,' goes a familiar refrain from David Tennant early in 'Doctor Who: The Next Doctor,' the latest installment of the British sci-fi institution.
'Doctor who?' his new friend Rosita asks.

'Just The Doctor,' he explains patiently, having been through several hundred similar gags about the difference between the title of the series and of its main character.

'Well, there can't be two of you!' she objects, before introducing him to the man that she knows as 'The Doctor.'"

Labels: doctor who, TV

22:09 cdogzilla

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Top Ten Gypsy Curses in Film and Television « Cinematropolis: Seeing the trailer for Drag Me to Hell got me thinking, "it's been a while since we've seen the gypsy curse in action." I started wracking my brain trying to think of other examples, but the only other ones I could remember were Angel, the gypsy fortune teller machine in Big, and Lon Chaney's Wolfman. Yet, the gypsy curse seems like such a famous device it must be more common. That's when I went searching and found the Cinematropolis link, which arose from the same prompting. Aside from King's Thinner, which I'd forgotten, I don't think I'd even so much as heard of the other references. (I'm not convinced the X-Files one is accurate and am years removed from having watched and episode of The Simpsons.) There must be other notable gypsy curses, perhaps in comic books, that I'm forgetting? For some reason Abbott & Costello keeps coming to mind, but dang if I can recall why. Maybe there was a gypsy in A&C Meet Frankenstein?

Labels: comics, Lists, movies, TV

14:19 cdogzilla

Saturday, June 13, 2009

FF X-Post Take 2

Labels: music, TV

23:32 cdogzilla

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

30 Rock is a rip-off of The Muppet Show. Very convincing.

Labels: TV

09:12 bone daddy

Friday, May 08, 2009

Dollhouse season finale in about 10 minutes. This is the left bookend of "awesome sci-fi weekend". Right bookend is going to be Star Trek at the IMAX on Monday.

Labels: movies, sci-fi, TV

20:54 cdogzilla

Saturday, May 02, 2009

'Dollhouse' exclusive: Alpha breaks his silence! | Dollhouse | Ausiello Files | EW.com: Dollhouse was excellent again last night. Although, the whole Echo subplot felt a little forced (don't think too hard about the why and how of it) but thematically it tied in nicely.
Big Spoiler Alert -- stop here if you DVR'd and - like me - didn't already know the casting surprise. Tudyk (Wash!) was outstanding as undercover Alpha. I'm not really a fan of Dushku and frankly wish Tudyk were the series lead. I don't suppose there's any chance the series finale could kill off Echo or free Caroline and we could have a new lead if/when renewal happens?

Labels: sci-fi, TV

18:23 cdogzilla

Friday, May 01, 2009

Blogger says it's easier now to post by email so I'm testing that claim by sending in this important alert to tune in to Rachel Maddow to catch the next installment of fun with auto-tuning.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Labels: auto-tuning, TV, youtube goodness

23:56 cdogzilla

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Will Ferrell goes wild for 'Man' - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety: Some interesting tidbits in this article, including Ferrell drinking his own urine and, by his own admission, "get[ting] urine-drunk ..."

Aside from the Land of the Lost promotion, there's also mention of an upcoming six-hour special on Discovery called Out of Egypt. Like fellow cryptonaut HD, I'm a bit of a sucker for the ancient Egypt stuff.

Labels: movies, TV

10:24 cdogzilla

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The 411? Fourth Doctor rumored to be appearing with the Eleventh: Daily Express | Will Tom return? I'd love to see it. Tom's previously expressed an interest in the playing the Master, but I don't think that will fly. It'd have to be something like a splintered timeline Doctor -- there are any number of ways it could be sci-fied up, really. In any event, it would be awesome.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

12:53 cdogzilla

Monday, February 23, 2009

"Fun fact: Jeri Ryan [Seven of Nine] dumped her husband [Jack Ryan] to be with [Trek Producer Brannon] Braga, which led to the divorce filing that destroyed her husband's Illinois senate candidacy -- paving the way for Obama to become a senator [by easily defeating Alan Keyes], and then president. Thanks, Brannon Braga!" Star Trek Voyager saved the country.

Labels: Obama, sci-fi, TV

18:39 HD

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Robert Mugabe hoards long-lost Dr. Who episodes thought to be in Zimbabwe. The man's evil knows no bounds.

Labels: crime, doctor who, TV

14:13 HD

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Upon Further Review

Springsteen clearly didn't lip synch at the Super Bowl. He certainly brought the party, and muffed a few lines along the way. I say good. Something's missing when the halftime show and especially the national anthem come out of a can.

Jennifer Hudson sang a perfectly nice anthem. I've never heard her before and she certainly can sing, but what she (and others) do at the Super Bowl is perform while a recording of their voice from some studio is played. At a giant event like this, you no longer get the singer caught up in the emotion of the moment. I'd rather get some hesitation or shake in the voice that might be there in front of millions but not in front of some producer.

I bring this up because tape and instant review have also changed the way I watch football. Two Super Bowls in a row I've watched a spectacular game-changing catch by the team I didn't want to win and had no reaction beyond, "Oh, that didn't happen. They're going to overturn it." (Wrong both times, for the record.) We no longer really celebrate the moment as it happens. We have to wait to see if it's official, if it holds up on tape.

And the reviews don't always get it right anyway. As Bill Simmons points out, that Harrison run back at the end of the first half featured a glaring block in the back. I noticed on the fourth replay, and gave up hope that the announcers might refer to it by the fifteenth. Simmons also argues, and I agree, that Warner's fumble at the end was pretty clearly a forward pass. But they already overturned a "fumble" earlier. Did they not want to overturn the same call twice? (Same thing on the Harrison TD, actually. Big Ben had a TD called back earlier.) Did they now want the game to just happen? If they're still going to make mistakes, they might as well ditch review and at least let the game happen live.

Labels: music, sports, TV

11:18 bone daddy

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

While I'm linking to racy videos for the first and probably last time, here's the video NBC refused to air for PETA. I doubt PETA actually had the money to put it on the air during the Superbowl. They probably got it banned on purpose for the much cheaper web views.

Of course, PETA has a long, weird and often ugly history of using sex to get attention.

Finally, lingerie models rubbing pumpkins makes both the women and the vegetables kind of unappealing. (And I say this as a strict vegetarian.)

Labels: shadowboner, sports, TV, youtube goodness

11:54 bone daddy

Um ... you probably don't need to see this, but here's a trailer for the porn parody of The Office. Not sure if there's an actual movie behind this or not. Also, don't want to know. I don't think The Office lends itself to this sort of thing as easily as Friends or The XXX Files.

Labels: movies, TV, youtube goodness

10:13 bone daddy

Monday, January 19, 2009

Big Game Coming
The UConn Women, ranked #1, face off against North Carolina tonight at 7 on ESPN2 in the annual MLK day game. A good chance to see the Huskies if you haven't yet.

Unfortunately for UConn, which had been cruising all season, they have lost freshman starter Caroline Doty for the season to the dreaded ACL tear. Not too long ago, UConn had arguably the greatest freshman class. Elena Delle Donne, perhaps the most touted recruit in women's basketball history, lost her passion for the game and is currently playing volleyball. Heather Buck caught mono and has redshirted the season and now Doty's injury leaves Tiffany Hayes as the lone representative of the class.

Deep, UConn is not. But they do have the best guard in Renee Montgomery, the best center in Tina Charles and the best player in Maya Moore.

UConn dismantled its last real challenges in Oklahoma and LSU, but North Carolina is far better than them. They're a deep and fast team playing at home. That said, UConn has more experiece to draw on and the one player in Moore who can single-handedly win a game for you. If you're not in NC, it should be fun to watch on TV, especially if you're sick in bed like yours truly.

Labels: sports, TV, uconn

15:24 bone daddy

Friday, December 19, 2008

Rattle Off Another Meme: 20 Fave Actresses
via Tom the Dog

• Helen Mirren -- Prime Suspect
• Jewel Staite -- Firefly
• Kim Dickens -- Zero Effect
• Robin Weigert -- Deadwood
• Michelle Yeoh -- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Hilary Swank -- Boys Don't Cry
• Minnie Driver -- Grosse Pointe Blank
• Mary Astor -- The Maltese Falcon
  
• Jodie Foster -- The Silence of the Lambs
  
• Gillian Anderson -- X-Files
• Elisabeth Sladen -- Doctor Who
• Freema Agyeman -- Doctor Who
• Billie Piper -- Doctor Who
• Myrna Loy -- The Thin Man
• Angela Bassett -- Strange Days
• Julianne Moore -- The Big Lebowski
• Allison Janney -- The West Wing
• Sigourney Weaver -- Alien
• Emma Thompson -- Howard's End
• Kate Winslet -- Sense & Sensibility
  

Labels: doctor who, Lists, movies, TV

19:44 cdogzilla

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Have you gotten used to alt, indie or punk songs showing up in commercials? Completely used to it?

Okay, then you must - must - check out this commercial.

How could they have missed using "Holiday in the Bun" as a tag line?

And I think playing Mr. Weasley in the Harry Potter movies should have kept Mr. Rotten in the euros.

Labels: movies, music, TV

12:40 bone daddy

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Whoo-Hoo!
Anyone notice how McCain has claimed, several times now, that if Obama had accepted his offer for ten townhall style debates, he would not have been forced to go as negative as he has? (And even with this, McCain doesn't get his facts straight.)

Republicans really are thin-skinned these days, aren't they? A few weeks ago we were all told that House GOP'ers rejected the urgent bailout that would have saved our country because Nancy Pelosi was a big meanie. Now, because Obama didn't want to debate precisely the way McCain wanted, McCain had to question his patriotism and call him a big pervert.

I would like to thank Senator Obama for rejecting the ten debate proposal. One, it brought out Mr. Crankypants and that's just great. Two, it spared me from having to watch seven more of these awful things. Debates have become horrid events. The moderators are tepid. The questions, when they aren't dodged entirely, are predictable. It's an excercise in returning to your talking points. The contemporary debates matter for two reasons - the big gaffe and style. Now that they are concluded I can fully appreciate how smart Obama's approach was. Obviously, I wanted every McCain lie smacked down hard. I wanted Bush mocked. I wanted sharp facts and sharper sarcasm.

But these debates aren't for me. I'm voting for Obama even if he sighs too much or claims communist-occupied Poland is Freedomland. (Gee, which one of those gaffes was more important?) The general population doesn't want much in the way of attacks and finger-pointing. Obama simply needed to remain gaffe-free (yep) and appear presidential (big-time).

McCain has shown a surprising tin ear of late. The hard right wants him to get nasty and go all smear all the time and he doesn't recognize that this advice is turning a squeaker into a bloodbath. (And Senator, if you think the hard right will take the blame for your loss, you don't know them like I do.) The most telling moment of last night's debate came when they talked about the negativity. McCain brought up Ayers, after saying he didn't care about him. Then McCain complained about Representative John Lewis' comments. He accused Obama of "not repudiating" the comparison between himself and George Wallace.

What did McCain think would happen next?

First of all, you've pointed out that a civil rights hero has criticized you. Then, you hand Obama an opportunity to point out that you're wrong again, Obama did repudiate the comparison. And who didn't know that the next step in this conversation is the hateful, violent crap shouted at McCain/Palin rallies? Obama talked about hearing "Kill him" and "terrorist" shouted about him. Who looked calm and reasonable during this exchange? Who looked thin-skinned and, well, erratic?

McCain spent time in an earlier debate complaining that Obama would go after bin Laden in Pakistan. Did he think that would score points with the American people? Obama is going to be too aggressive pursuing bin Laden? "I'll follow bin Laden to the gates of Hell ... unless, you know, we have to cross some sort of border to get there." Tin ear.

Time to close the deal.

Labels: 2008, Conservative Goons, Obama, TV

16:20 bone daddy

Saturday, October 04, 2008

What makes me return from blogging hiatus? I wish I could tell you it was something insightful or highbrow but it's justthe possibility of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars coming to TV. As a movie it seemed like it would be desperately cramped so I like the idea of a TV series and since I'm (yeah, just now) getting into Mad Men I don't have a problem with AMC either.

Labels: Books, sci-fi, TV

16:45 bone daddy

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

I'm rooting for Stephanie, interviewed here, and I can't see how anyone would do otherwise. If Lisa wins, there will be riots in the streets, or at least on message boards. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you have healthier habits than me.

Labels: TV

14:54 bone daddy

Monday, May 12, 2008

Left Lost?
Uh oh. So the producers of Lost have added an hour to each of the next two seasons, which will be the final seasons of the show. I'm glad about this. It suggests they know exactly the story they are telling. Lost can end as one of the greatest shows of all time if they stick the landing.

But in that same article, Damon Lindelof says, ""David Chase set a great example when he went off to Paris after 'The Sopranos' ending, which is great because all these people are going to be asking, 'What does it mean? What is it?' ... The fact that there's no one really around to answer that question, it forces people to come up with what they think it means. We can guarantee our show will not end with a cut to black, it will be more clear than that."

Better be. If Lost ends and I have to supply the answers, I may not watch a serialized drama ever again. Don't hold the Sopranos ending up as any kind of a positive model. Geez.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

10:10 bone daddy

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Obama read Letterman's Top Ten list. Is there nothing he can't do? (Except bowl.)

Labels: 2008, Obama, TV

23:22 bone daddy

How Loathsome
The headline, "White House Admits Fault on 'Mission Accomplished' Banner," struck me as faulty right away. Admits fault? The Bush White House? It can't be.

It wasn't. Read the article.

"President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific and said 'mission accomplished' for these sailors who are on this ship on their mission," White House press secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday. "And we have certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner. And I recognize that the media is going to play this up again tomorrow, as they do every single year."

Don't you love how the White House pretends Bush is the victim here? Me too. Of course, the reason they weren't more specific and said mission accomplished for these sailors is that they didn't invent that excuse until months after the fact.

What a crummy article. The only fault I can see is that we all misinterpreted a perfectly clear banner and beat up a poor defenseless president. It also continues the myth that Bush flew the plane. I wonder what percentage of Americans believe that Bush was the pilot. I bet above 90.

If you'll forgive me for patting myself on the back, but that day five years ago I told anyone who would listen - not many - that Democrats were going to wind up using that image in political ads.

Labels: Bush, Conservative Goons, history, Iraq, TV

11:26 bone daddy

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Big Game Coming
UConn plays Rutgers tonight (9 pm, ESPN) in a game that makes sense for TV ratings if not for balanced brackets. UConn-Rutgers hasn't quite eclipsed the UConn-Tennessee rivalry, but it's close.

The most important thing I want to see right out the gate is Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery healthy. They both left the floor injured during UConn's sweet sixteen win over ODU. UConn has been saying they're fine, but that's probably what they'd say if they were banged up. They "practiced," but did they practice with other players or a stationary bike? Having already lost two starters during the season, UConn can't afford this.

The other storyline for UConn fans is the end of Brittany Hunter and Charde Houston's careers. Hunter, troubled by a chronic sore knee, turns in amazing stat lines - 9 pts/6 rbs/2 blk 11 min - and won't be able to play basketball after this. Houston has been alternately electrifying and horrible. She's been great for the last handful of games, even got the MVP of the Big East tournament. Hunter can leave everything out there and Houston can erase all those "what if" stories.

Rutgers isn't that deep either, and they play a shovey, grind it out, aggressive (trash-talky) sort of defense so officiating will also be key.

The biggest story seems to be "Just how good can Maya Moore be?" At this point, the only comparisons that make sense are Taurasi (best ever) or Lobo (taking a program to another level - and UConn already is at the top tier). Believe the hype. And since she's come through every time I've typed it, I'll type it again - if you haven't watched Moore play, here's your chance.

(Update: Did I mention Ketia Swanier? On a night when absolutely nothing went right, the Huskies come back from 14 down to win. Rutgers is not a team I'd like to spot 14. As an optimist, I'm going to regard this as a get-it-out-of-your-system game. Too bad for ESPN both this and Tennessee's game were fairly ugly. Tennessee should thank the NCAA. No way they'd be in the Final Four if they were facing Rutgers last night. I thought UConn was the top seed overall.)

Labels: sports, TV, uconn

16:31 bone daddy

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Lots of side-by-side comparisons of Simpsons scenes and the movies that inspired them. (Via Ultimate Insult.)

Labels: cartoons, Lists, movies, TV

08:52 bone daddy

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Saint returns.

Labels: TV

16:15 bone daddy

Lost Time
I've never become a part of the giant Lost community online. I don't want to know spoilers and couldn't care less who fan nation thinks is cuter. I've also been avoiding most theories since I hope the show itself will be the best prestige. Yet, I couldn't resist peeking at this theory and this similarly time-centric theory.

Yeah, probably something like that. But what about the four toes? (Links via PopCandy.)

Labels: sci-fi, science, TV

08:24 bone daddy

Monday, March 03, 2008

The UConn women get a chance to avenge their only loss tonight against Rutgers - 7, ESPN2. Also, the Big East regular season title is on the line.

Of course, UConn is lucky to be in this position after being down 17 versus DePaul and winning on Maya Moore's steal with 7 seconds left and Ketia Swanier's bucket with 2. I wrote this game off as lost about six times. I happened to be at a party and had to turn so I couldn't see the TV. I only started watching when I noticed people intensity level picking up near the TVs. She's come through every time I've said it so once again - if you haven't seen Maya Moore yet, check out tonight's game.

Labels: sports, TV, uconn

17:18 bone daddy

Monday, February 25, 2008

Big Game Coming
UConn Women play #6 LSU tonight at 7 on ESPN2. UConn's one loss came in their last big game, versus Rutgers, but I'm looking to the Patriots and saying it's better to have a regular season loss. (UConn regained the number one ranking after Tennessee had two losses - although one counts as a clock-assisted win.)

LSU's a great team, making four of the last Final Fours. They knocked UConn out last year - Tina Charles has been keeping a picture of LSU's Sylvia Fowles in her locker since then. If you haven't caught Maya Moore yet this season, check out tonight's game. She's poised to break Svetlana Abrosimova's record for freshman scoring, Diana Taurasi's record for consecutive games in double figures and Rebecca Lobo's record for "Freshman of the Week" honors. That's the company she's in already. Update: Well, that was quite a game. Not to overlook Moore's 29 pts. or Charles' 18, but McLaren's 11pts/12reb combined with solid defense was crucial and Swanier was clutch. If they can bring this game for Rutgers, and the tourneys, they'll be fine.

Labels: sports, TV, uconn

10:49 bone daddy

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

I agree with the central point of this article on what went wrong with Friday Night Lights this season.

"But the big failing of this season was simple: the first season’s tight-knit ensemble, adults and teenagers tied somehow to the Dillon Panthers football team, was blown into its constituent parts, and never really reassembled."

The murder subplot got all the negative attention, but just as bad were the decisions to remove nearly all football and ramp up the O.C.-esque music montages. What happened to all the great Landry-Saracen talks? Both of them wound up with hot girlfriends and never got around to telling the other? Last season the show was so tightly knit it was about a community. This season it's about characters and sometimes it's still great, but not nearly as good.

Labels: TV

13:34 bone daddy

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Who wants a trunk monkey?

Labels: monkeys, TV

15:48 bone daddy

Monday, February 04, 2008

Bleech
I have to say, as Patriots fan, I was worried right from the start. Brady seemed off with his passes and unable to slide away from the rush like he often does. And the rush was relentless. Standing for so long, 7-3 seemed to tempt an upset. Stupidly, I wasn't worried during the Eli scramble and bomb/helmet catch by Tyree. I saw the ball touch the ground and thought, "It's under two minutes. You can't demonstrate control of the ball with your helmet. That's getting overturned." Also stupidly, I wasn't worried earlier during the same drive when Eli fumbled and somehow recovered it with his legs and we didn't get the call. "That's okay," I thought. "They're not moving it downfield and we'll get the next call." No and no.

I was worried when I should have been happy and happy when I should have been worried. Also sober when I should have been drunk.

Making matters worse, many people are thrilled with the Patriots' defeat because of how jerky Red Sox fans have been. Makes it hard for us Yankees/Patriots fans.

Can't complain too much considered up until last night I've been following two perfect seasons. Go Huskies.

Labels: sports, TV, uconn

14:10 bone daddy

Sunday, February 03, 2008

New England, Where We're Slow to Accept New England
The Land of Steady Habits took a long time to embrace the Patriots over the New York Giants. I like that the article also points out that Connecticut's location breeds combo fans that seem strange to outsiders. Many Giants fans who are also Red Sox fans. And those like me, who root for the Yankees and the Patriots. I was nine or so when I picked the Patriots as my favorite team. There were so few Patriots fans around (none) I had no idea they were also the "local" team. I hadn't quite figured out that I lived in the same New England. They happened to win the game I was watching when it was time to pick a favorite team and - more importantly - they wore red. It all worked out.

Labels: local flavor, sports, TV

10:55 bone daddy

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Someone figured out that exactly halfway between Foxborough and the Meadowlands lies my town of Durham, CT. (Go Google Earth.) HBO came to town yesterday to film a Patriots/Giants rally on the town green. When they air this, you can expect to hear the phrase "sleepy little town" at the beginning, middle and somewhere towards the end. I do take issue with the woman in the video who says this is the biggest thing to happen in Durham in a decade. I mean, that crowd wouldn't even make a decent morning line at the Durham Fair giant donut stand.

I remember way back in the day, I just about never saw another Patriots fan. Just as well, considering how ugly the old logo was. The fan base grew in the 90s. Toss in the bandwagon of the last few years with the sagging fortune of the Giants over the last few years and it is pretty much an even split around here.

Labels: local flavor, sports, TV

21:33 bone daddy

Another Test
After passing their gut check game against North Carolina - trailing 11 at the half in their first big game without Mel Thomas, coming back to win by 11 - the Huskies play No. 16 Notre Dame tonight on ESPN2. Be nice for another big UConn win in Indiana.

Labels: games, TV, uconn

11:17 bone daddy

Friday, January 18, 2008

Another Hurt Husky
Mel Thomas' torn ACL means the end of her UConn career. Sad and bad. Knicknamed "Baby Shea" early in her career for her tendency to hit the floor after loose balls, Mel was fun to watch and a great contributor. She finishes fourth in UConn history for three pointers and over 1,000 points for her career. The floor leadership, assists and hustle will also be missed.

A month ago it was like a sportswriting mandate that the phrase "national championship" had to appear in any article about UConn. They were blowing out quality teams by 40. Now, without Kalana Greene and Thomas and with Hunter's knee acting up more than usual, they get to be a #1 ranked underdog. First big test will be the annual Martin Luther King Day game. This year it's North Carolina. Catch it if you can. Thomas will be getting a ball for going over 1,000 points. Expect about a five minute (and well-deserved) standing O.

Labels: sports, TV, uconn

10:38 bone daddy

Thursday, January 17, 2008

The Sarah Conner Chronicles has been good enough to keep me watching for a few more shows, certainly helped by the fact that there's nothing else on right about now. I still think the whole thing went downhill when someone decided they should have good terminators to fight the bad terminators. And Summer Glau may be miscast. Her out of place waif who kicks ass reminds me of her Firefly character. (I know, someone who doesn't like Firefly or T2. Unleash the fanboys!)

My favorite part was a bit of unintentional comedy in the first hour when Sarah shields herself from the terminator's hail of bullets with a reclining chair! It gave off the little squib explosions and everything. They recognized how goofy this was because in the next scene there's a throwaway line - obviously added later - about Kevlar in the chair. See? It all makes sense. You think if the chair were absorbing the force of the bullets it might have, you know, rocked or something. Still I won't write it off just yet.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

12:19 bone daddy

Monday, December 24, 2007

All I Want for Christmas ...
Here's a great gift idea that can't be beat, but can't be given because it doesn't exist. I want a remote control more special than the one I have. Mine has approximately a hundred and fifty buttons. I use maybe nine. But if there were a button that you could point at the screen and get a pop-up window telling you who an actor is, what he's been in, and where you know you know him from, I'd use it all the time. The mental energy saved by this button would be enormous, and you could return your concentration to the show instead of going, "Was he that patient on E.R. that time?" Also, I have a button that skips a recording or paused TV ahead thirty seconds at a time. I use it a lot to skip commercials. I also use it during football to skip ahead from one play to the next. If I hit the button just as the tackle is being made I usually land right on the snap of the ball. (Thirty second play clock.) However, I often miss and land two or three seconds into the next play. How cool would it be if you had a twenty second skip? Or if you could adjust the time of your skip button? There are probably other set intervals for other sports that viewers are dying to skip. Forget Marv Albert and Phil Simms, I want a button.

(I should add the idea for the "That Guy" button was Mrs. BoneDaddy's, the play clock button was mine.)

Labels: sports, TV

10:56 bone daddy

Friday, December 14, 2007

Labels: 2007, Books, Lists, movies, music, TV

09:32 cdogzilla

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Fiery Phoenix Forming Again?
So there's going to be a G-Force movie, but no Mark, Jason, Princess, Tiny, or Keyop?! And what's with the Mole, Hamster, and Guinea Pig? Is this a Battle of the Planets/G-Force/Gatchaman remake or The Wonder Pets ("This is sewious!")?

Speaking of kids' TV, we watch the Backyardigans now. My babies love to dance, so it's a whirly, twirly, circly 20 minutes when they're dancing around. Mrs. C-Dog seems to think we watch it because I like it, but just because I often find myself humming the decidedly Morphine-ish "Riding the Range" song doesn't mean it's my show. It's for the kids.

Labels: baby boy dance, baby girl dance, cryptozoology, movies, TV

08:32 cdogzilla

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Davison and Tennant
Brilliant short from the annual Children in Need Special last night. Check it out before Youtube realizes it's there.

Labels: doctor who, sci-fi, TV, youtube goodness

09:23 cdogzilla

Friday, September 21, 2007

Fanboy Gushing
Just finished watching Doctor Who's finest hour. I thought the same thing last week, and the week before, and the week before that. But this week, oh man. Spoilers are everywhere and nearly unavoidable, but skip the next paragraph if you don't already know what made this week special.

Derek Jacobi was brilliant, absolutely perfect ... what a genius way to bring the Master back. (And the new guy looks like he'll do just fine.) The drums, the voices from the past, they really did this right. Wow. And we get the dope on Capt. Jack, and the hand in the jar (of course!), and it all ties back to the end of Season 1 and Torchwood (sort of)and the classic series, while managing to stand alone as a great episode. More wow.

HD, if you haven't seen this yet, when the Series 3 DVD comes out, I'd actually consider asking the missus if I could fly up to NYC, or fly you down to NC (yeah, I'll be down there Oct 1st) for, if nothing else, a mini-marathon of the last 4 episodes and next week's conclusion to this one.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

22:30 cdogzilla

Monday, August 20, 2007

Outpost Gallifrey: Doctor Who RSS News Feed: "McCoy claimed that Fifth Doctor Peter Davison is due to return for Series 4 in a Multi-Doctor episode."

While I'm surprised they'd go all the way back to the Fifth Doctor when McGann (8), and probably McCoy (7), wouldn't be so obviously older than when they played the Doctor, and in their cases because McGann was a one-0ff and Sly got to walk off the role, their older appearance could be explained, where with Davison we saw his Doctor from beginning to end and there's no getting around the fact that he's aged. That said, I hope the rumor is true.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

11:03 cdogzilla

Saturday, August 18, 2007

In case you don't watch Sportscenter ... So Walpole, Massachusetts (representing New England) takes over the lead in the top of the 6th during a Little League World Series game over Ohio. Ohio's coming back in the bottom of the 6th (the last inning). They've brought the score to 3-2, knocked out the starting pitcher and have a guy on 3rd. The winning run is at the plate with two outs, setting up this. Watch the video that goes with the article. (Unfortunately the title gives away what happened. A better video or clip hasn't shown up on YouTube.) I happened to be watching this last inning live. It was one of those sports moments that made me - even with zero connection to either team or the league - jump out of my seat.

Labels: baseball, sports, TV

23:40 bone daddy

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Popeye
For no good reason, a couple of Popeye YouTubes: Popeye vs. Anime | Popeye on Family Guy.

Labels: cartoons, TV, youtube goodness

16:07 cdogzilla

Friday, July 20, 2007

I Feel Like I Ought to be Appalled ...
But I really like the amped up version of Squeeze's "Goodbye Girl" in the Under Armour commercial. According to the website, Squeeze actually rerecorded the song. I'd like to hear the full version, not just the 30 second snippet.

Labels: music, TV

20:42 cdogzilla

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Christian Metal Band or Star Trek episode? A quiz.

Labels: music, sci-fi, TV

10:40 bone daddy

Sunday, July 08, 2007

The Doctor Is In
The House Next Door: Doctor Who, Season Three, Eps. 0 and 1: "The Runaway Bride" and "Smith and Jones"

Labels: sci-fi, TV

15:52 cdogzilla

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Family Guy Does Star Wars
"Only one thing to do ... you still got that bag I gave you?" And the Leslie Nielsen cameo is brilliant.
via MeFi

Labels: sci-fi, TV, youtube goodness

16:10 cdogzilla

Saturday, May 26, 2007

One More Poll

Labels: poll, TV

16:37 cdogzilla

Monday, May 07, 2007

I've finally gotten around to reading H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights, partially because I loved the show and partially because I was kind of sick of reading on the back of every book that follows something for a year "It's the Friday Night Lights of chess/scrabble/day trading/porn." Just like they always say about the show, it's so much more than football. The portrait of the boom and bust town of Odessa, Texas which has no constant except a love of Mojo Panther football is mesmerizing. It's also very much about race. Bissinger does not flinch or cover up for this town that finally integrated its schools in 1982. And when they had to, they grabbed as many blacks as they could (sending the Hispanics elsewhere) because, you know, who do you want as a running back, a black or a Hispanic? The chapter on the use of the word "nigger" in Odessa is pretty much essential reading on race in America. (It's like household cleaner, you can use it anywhere.)

I've never seen the movie and I have to believe it - like the show - kind of whitewashes some of Bissinger's book. I root for the Panthers on the show. The kids and the town in this book is frequently so ugly, conservative, racist and vain I often felt that losing would be good for them. Then you realize that the other team is often just as ugly and maybe nobody should win or maybe nobody should pour too much into this game.

The chapter on the Midland-Odessa rivalry becomes fascinating in light of the failed W administration. W grew up in Midland and wrecked his first businesses there. Friday Night Lights was published in 1990 and doesn't mention W at all - Bush the Greater gets a few pages - but the descriptions of Midland business culture are appalling when you consider this was W's environment.

"Greed, delusional visions of grandeur, the mercenary mercilessness that made every relationship expendable - Midland perfected all these long before they became the standard of the eighties around the rest of the country."

"Over at the country club, or in enormous corner offices with picture windows that seemed to deserve something more than wide-angle views of scrub brush and mesquite, [Midland oil executives] confused luck with business acumen. Instead of understanding that they were the beneficiaries of history, they began to believe they were the creators of it."

This is so much more than football. It's the Friday Night Lights of football.

Labels: Books, Bush, movies, sports, TV

23:33 bone daddy

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

I missed Heroes over the long break. When the promos started up again a few weeks ago, I had some genuine anticipation. They could still kill off about half the characters and I wouldn't really mind. And you do have to overlook somethings here and there. For example, if you're Mohinder the scientist guy and you've just knocked out the superpowerful, crazy evil guy who killed your father do you (a) kill him or (b) pick up Peter's corpse and take it to an address you found in his wallet, leaving the crazy evil guy to wake up. Also, if you're Peter, why do you carry your mother's address in your wallet? Don't you have it memorized?

But mostly, it is a well-plotted show and it has some seriously enjoyable characters. How many people watch the telepathic cop trying to figure out if he's more like a Gutenberg or more like that doofus from Road Rules? I like the villian and in Hiro they have someone who perfectly embodies the silly/serious, dorky/cool vibe of the show. I like the show enough that I avoided all those spoiler-ific rumors about ripping off The Watchmen. After last night's episode, I can see that as a valid complaint. A massive disaster in NYC makes Americans put their faith in an unworthy leader. Seems to me like they're riffing on 9/11 as well.

Labels: Bush, TV

23:37 bone daddy

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Is everyone watching planet earth on the Discovery channel? I've been consistently stunned by these things. Even when it's a subject like "Great Plains" and I think I won't be interested I see something amazing. Not only are they showing things that I've never seen before - and I'm a veteran nature documentary watcher - they're filming them exquisitely. The action shots are spot on. Other shots are so mesmerizing I'm convinced this show is a massive hit among stoners. They've turned nature into a special effect, and I don't mean that to sound cheap because, let's face it, special effects are cool.

Let me put it this way. A couple of weeks ago I saw a completely serviceable documentary on PBS' Nature series about scientists searching for a giant (20+ feet) crocidile. They didn't find any and the show was mostly about the people and the not finding. People don't appear in planet earth and they seem to find everything weird and beautiful that you want to see. For an hour, nature is powerful and dominant and lush and in focus.

If you can, try to catch the one with the Gelada monkeys that play and tackle each other while on near-vertical cliffs.

Labels: monkeys, non-monkey animals, sharks, TV

22:52 bone daddy

Monday, April 16, 2007

How many vampires are there in the Buffyverse?

Labels: TV

11:40 HD

Saturday, April 07, 2007

If you happen to be a TV poker viewer, you'll have to figure out where the Game Show Network is on your TV since that's where the World Poker Tour will be. I never really figured out why it was on the Travel Channel anyway. They never particularly toured the casinos, which are hermetically sealed from their communities anyway.

Labels: games, sports, TV

12:13 bone daddy

Monday, March 26, 2007

This past weekend's TV Funhouse on Saturday Night Live was a funny parody of Dora the Explorer.

Labels: TV

13:15 HD

Big Game Coming UConn Women face LSU tonight in an Elite Eight matchup. If you haven't been watching the Huskies, at this point it's only a matter of where in the pantheon of UConn greats Tina Charles ends up. The N.C. State game was marred mainly by the announcers, who turned Kay Yow's inspirational story into something to something to link to each bounce of the ball. At one point they even compared UConn to the cancer Yow is fighting. Basketball announcers must be spread pretty thin now. During last night's Georgia-Purdue game, I heard one talk about the "exiler" of life, which probably won't help you as much as an elixer elixir will. Anyway, tonight's game should be good. Can't make any promises about the announcers though. (Update: Bleech. And it wasn't even a good game. And the announcers were terrible. The next time I hear "big, soft paws" no matter when I hear it will be too soon.)

Labels: sports, TV

10:31 bone daddy

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Is 24 liberal or conservative?

The politics of the man behind 24.

Labels: TV

22:05 HD

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Ken Burns does The Office. (Update: fixed link.)

Labels: TV

23:09 bone daddy

The (Oval) Office.

Labels: TV

22:53 bone daddy

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

But "Fair and Balanced" is our Motto! Funny, sad, un-doctored screen shots of Fox "News." (via This Modern World.)

Labels: Conservative Goons, TV

08:27 bone daddy

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Scorpion and the Frog
Has anybody documented the number of times the Scorpion and the Frog parable has been used in movies and TV since The Crying Game? I can't remember hearing it prior to that, but I'm starting to think it gets into every TV series at some point. The Dresden Files made reference to it in the last episode and I heard Chakotay tell it in a Voyager rerun last week, which is what got me thinking about how many times I've thought "not the Scorpion and the Frog again" since Forest Whitaker told it to Stephen Rea.

And, by the way, KSR's Sixty Days and Counting came out today. Finally. It's been a long wait, especially since I've been bogged down in The Historian for weeks now ... I doubt you were tempted, but I can tell you if you were, don't bother. It's crap. Kostova's bloodless prose is uniquely unsuited for telling vampire stories. Bulgarian travel guides, maybe, but not vampires.

Labels: Books, movies, TV

19:25 cdogzilla

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Now I wouldn't run around saying conservatives have no sense of humor. That's just not right. Political humor, though? Well, I'm sure there are a few examples around but you have to dig and scrape for them. They do fear and anger real well. Not so much with the laughs. Anyway, Fox "News" plans to start airing a comedy show in response to their faltering ratings and The Daily Show, which they misperceive as liberal. You can watch a couple of clips, here and here. (Be warned, the second one contains Rush Limbaugh pretending to be president, making jokes about Cindy Sheehan. Maybe don't watch while eating.) They are astonishingly bad. Could the show actually be this bad? I'd say it couldn't be, but this is the stuff they want us to see. Imagine the stuff they're hiding. The funniest part is the laugh-track, needed because actual people wouldn't laugh at that stuff.

We have a local example of conservative humor here in Connecticut. Central Connecticut State University opinion editor John Petroski wrote an ugly essay called "Rape Only Hurts If You Fight It" and then claimed it was satire of media sensationalism when he had to apologize for it. I'm not sure where the satire part comes in. It reads to me like he thought it would be fun to piss some women off. There's nothing in his essay about the media ... ? Anyway, maybe the viewers (both of them!) of Fox's comedy got it.

Labels: Conservative Goons, TV

11:26 bone daddy

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

More, whiny, sissified complaining about all the torture in 24. Oh, wait, this time it's the U.S. Military that has asked the producers to tone it down, which is a little like asking Seinfeld to do their show without all that dating or Monday Night Football to get rid of all that tackling. "The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do." Jack Bauer might as well be Spider-Man and the villians might as well twirl their handlebar moustaches for all the realism on this show. It's chilling to think that anyone in the military might us it as some sort of instruction manual.

Spoilers: And for those who caught last night's episode, the torture continued. Having been lead to believe that he killed his brother through excessive torture - that's right, Jack went outside the amount of torture-drug allowed by their Protocol of Legal and Ethical Torture - Jack fears he can't do the job anymore. Meanwhile, Morris is tortured until he agrees to make a nuclear trigger. Both men are wrecks because they failed at what - on 24 - makes you a good soldier: withstanding or inflicting torture. My essay on 24 from two years ago has stood the test of time. "On 24, the good guys embrace torture without losing their morality. In fact, sometimes it is their willingness to embrace torture that makes 24's good guys good. How much do you want to bet that Attorney General Gonzales Tivos this show?"

Labels: TV

13:24 bone daddy

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Jack's Slack After the first two hours of 24 I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed. Possibly the hype killed it a little for me, maybe for the writers and producers as well. It's almost like they felt the need to net new viewers. It looked like they were filming first takes of uncomfortable exposition. Everyone in the Oval Office looked like they were learning lines as they spoke them. Maybe with one of them ear pieces Bush uses.

The bad guy switch from Assad to Fayed was okay, but not particularly surprising. The scenes with the toussle-haired all-American boy and his Arab neighbor were unintentionally hilarious. Ahmed's revelation as a bad guy was no surprise. Somebody had to be bad in the family, otherwise they wouldn't be on screen. So when he points the gun at the Norman Rockwell kid and says, "You're not my friend. You can't even pronounce my name," I waited for him to add, "Plus, just look at us. I'm like ten years older than you! Stop hanging around me! It's getting creepy." (The actor who plays high schooler Ahmed is 29.)

24 has always been funny. I'm not sure why anyone would take it too seriously. It's like watching a Bond movie and seriously thinking we should have one cool guy with a lot of gadgets solve our problems. And as I've mentioned in the past, 24 likes to use torture to define its characters. Jack Bauer is off his game because he couldn't torture as well as Assad. Jack Bauer not get information from someone using torture! Now I know how Packers fans feel watching Favre unable to complete a pass.

The first two hours did give us one great surprising and funny 24 moment. Jack, realizing he's about to die for no reason, escapes his chains by pulling his captor over and biting through his jugular. That led to the best line of the night, delivered not on screen but by Mrs BoneDaddy. "Hey, it's just like Lost Boys." (Update: Okay, hours three and four seem more in the groove. I don't think it was all that shocking, at least not to veteran 24 watchers. We've seen all this before - presidential pardons flying like frisbees, bad guys choosing suicide over capture, we've even had a nuke go off before. And do I have to remind everyone how often Jack attacks his co-workers? George Mason, Ryan Chappelle, Tony, Chase, Nina (both pre- and post- evil)? If you work with the guy, sooner or later he will at minimum taser you. It's the way they put these things together that matter and I like the way it went together in hours three and four.

Labels: TV

13:59 bone daddy

Saturday, January 06, 2007

New Tenant in the Tardis?
There are an awful lot of articles saying rumors that Tennant is leaving Doctor Who after Season 3/29 aren't true but until today I hadn't seen any mention of new casting. Rumors are what they are so I take it cum grano salis that Jason Statham (imdb) is next up as the Doctor.

Probably not worth commenting on a rumor so unlikely, Statham's film career may not have been boosted by Crank but I find it hard to believe he's looking for series tv work, yet I can't help but wonder what he'd do with the role. He was brilliant in Lock, Stock , Snatch, and proved he is a legit action star in The Transporter. But, while the Doctor is supposed to be a master of Venusian karate, action is hardly the show's calling card. I'd imagine he'd have to play the role more Turkish than Frank Martin, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

Still, I hope Tennant sticks around a few more seasons. The Doctor doesn't have enough regenerations for the role to be revolving door.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

16:14 cdogzilla

Big Game Coming The annual UConn Tennessee game starts today at 4. I've been impressed with UConn so far this year. A lot of solid role-players, a lot of chemistry for a young team and players, like Green, Hunter and Thomas, doing much better than expected. I've got them in the Final Four already. It might be a little early for them to face Pat Summit and crew, especially hobbled by some injuries. Of course, if it were easy it wouldn't be as much fun to watch.

Labels: TV

13:29 bone daddy

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Doctor Hero?

Casting rumor has Christopher Eccleston joining Heroes next year. It's hard to see him taking what would have to be small supporting role in an already crowded cast though.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

09:31 cdogzilla

Monday, October 02, 2006

Some day the phrase "jump the shark" may be "gone cage fighting."

Labels: TV

10:43 bone daddy

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Disturbing On So Many Levels
Daily Kos: ESPN FAKED STADIUM CHEERS FOR BUSH SR.

Labels: Conservative Goons, TV

20:01 cdogzilla

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Check Your Local Listings
Fox is carrying the new cgi-enhanced ST:OS in my area, starting this Sunday at 6pm. ~hangs head geekily~

Labels: TV

10:27 cdogzilla

Friday, September 15, 2006

The Pluckiest Companion
Sarah Jane Smith to get her own Who spin-off. Too much of a good thing, what with Torchwood and the K-9 shows also coming soon? Nah. I guess it's to Sladen's benefit the Rose spin-off didn't come together.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

20:25 cdogzilla

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Trek Again
I posted to the proof of concept earlier, now it looks like the full on digital enhancement of the original Star Trek series is coming back, as soon as September 16th, to broadcast syndication.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

13:39 cdogzilla

Friday, August 25, 2006

Recently Watching: Animal Planet's Meerkat Manor and FitTv's Deadly Arts. The meerkats are fascinating to watch, like dogcatmonkeyroos, they scamper around and whatnot. I'd love to see a show like this (or The Monkey Prince) about the chimps in Gombe. Animal reality tv so much more interesting than human reality tv.

Deadly Arts follows Josette, a 40 something French (or French Canadian?) with a bad knee around the world as she studies a variety of martial arts with masters in their discipline. From karate to capoeira to kalaripayattu, no method of punching or kicking another person is left unexplored. Good stuff. But, for crying out loud, if she's just going to complain every week about how much her knee hurts, can't we get someone able to actually train to do the show? Where the meerkats are at home on Animal Planet, I think someone at ESPN's original entertainment wing should be taking note and trying to get a Donnie Yen or Mark Dacascos signed on to redo this one.

Trying to find a site for Deadly Arts, I found this bit about an upcoming special on the National Geographic channel:
Martial Artists' Moves Revealed in "Fight Science" Lab

Labels: TV

20:53 cdogzilla

Monday, August 14, 2006

Caliendo on Letterman
A couple impressions -- I could do without the Lazy Comedian's Template #3 "Anything Jack Nicholson Says is Funny" bit (in this case it's "Al Pacino Says Something Childish") -- but the Madden and W takes are chuckleworthy. [via Digg]

Labels: TV

13:14 cdogzilla

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Memo to TV Writers ...
"Electrocution" doesn't mean what you think it does. If someone is electrocuted they're dead. Characters who receive an electric shock shouldn't say, "I got electrocuted," unless you are trying to make the point they don't know what "electrocuted" means. It's especially irritating when you have doctors say "the electrocution put a strain on his heart, but he'll be OK in a few days."

Labels: TV

22:14 cdogzilla

Monday, July 17, 2006

Where'd You Go? How is it I'm just now finding out that Dicky Barrett is the announcer for the Jimmie Kimmel Show? Next somebody's going to tell me King Django is a guest host on The View or something.

Labels: TV

15:55 cdogzilla