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TV Time Again

23 Sep

Last year when the TV season began, I gave Brothers & Sisters a chance, and when it didn’t grab me, I stopped watching. But late in the season I came back to it and found myself enjoying the show. Now I’m eagerly trying to catch up on the entire first season before next Sunday’s season two premiere. Over the weekend I got the DVD set and I spent Sunday evening watching the first four episodes. Last time I did something like that was last November, when I visited Andrew and Rachel and we watched five episodes of Grey’s Anatomy. Anyway, my point is, what a great show B&S is. I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the family, and found the first few episodes really fun (well, maybe not the first couple, but once the show settled in during the third episode, it got a lot lighter in tone and more fun). I probably would have watched the fifth and sixth episodes if I didn’t have to get to sleep. This has to be one of the best acting ensembles on television, and I look forward to ending my weekends with them every Sunday night from now until May.

Of course, the week has seven days and you may be wondering what else I’ll be watching this season. Here’s my week at a glance, until I get bored or unless the new shows suck:

Monday: Chuck (8-9, NBC)
Tuesday: Reaper (9-10, The CW)
Wednesday: Kid Nation (8-9, CBS), Private Practice (9-10, ABC), Gossip Girl (9-10, The CW, recorded on the DVR), Dirty Sexy Money (10-11, ABC)
Thursday: 30 Rock (8:30-9, NBC), Grey’s Anatomy (9-10, ABC), The Office (9-9:30, NBC, recorded on the DVR), Big Shots (10-11, ABC)
Friday: nothing
Saturday: Saturday Night Live (11:30-1, NBC)
Sunday: Brothers & Sisters (10-11, ABC)

What will you be watching this season?

Is Summer Over Already?

19 Aug

Everyone has their favorite way of marking when seasons change. For example, does summer end on Labor Day? On September 1? On September 21? On Rosh Hashannah? When baseball season ends? When the Red Sox’ season ends? When football season begins? When the new TV season begins? Well, if you look around, you may see signs that summer is coming to a close are all around.

One of the biggest is that the gate to the parking lot at the Allston Shaw’s on Comm Ave. is now closed and you need to get a ticket before entering. When the college kids leave town, Shaw’s opens the gate permanently and laxes the restrictions on parking in the lot. But the gate going down means the students are returning. And sure enough, there were plenty of them all over Shaw’s Sunday night. Ugh. It means do your grocery shopping earlier (by all means, before 4pm on Sundays). It means the streets and the T are going to get more crowded. It means … summer is ending soon.

Another is my annual excursion with Dave and Scott (and their families) to Rye Playland and T.G.I. Friday’s. We started doing it back in 1992 before we (and five other friends) left for college, and we’ve made it a tradition to go sometime in August every year. This past Saturday we rode the Dragon Coaster and all the other rides for the 16th straight year. (Sixteen!) Amazing, I thought, that we’ve been going there that long and the park is basically exactly the same as it was when we first started going. It means people still enjoy an old-fashioned good time. It means Dave, Scott, and I are all still in touch. And it also means … summer is ending soon.

And then there’s the whole moving thing. My apartment building is emptying out. It’s largely because of the excessive increase in rent, and I’ve heard that come September 1, the place will only be about half full. That’s crazy. My across-the-hall neighbor is gone (bummer). My next-door neighbor (the loud one I don’t like) is gone (woo hoo!). Who knows who’s moving in (or when I’ll be moving out as well), but it means the place is going to be quieter for a little while. It means I have a better chance of doing my laundry whenever I want (for at least a couple weeks). It means soon there may be new people moving in — here and in other buildings all across the city. It means … summer is ending soon.

But living in Boston, I choose to go with the Head of the Charles as my marker for the end of summer. After all, the season starts late so it should end late too, and while the temperatures do get cooler in late September and early October, there’s always at least one weekend where we get a last gasp of warm weather. It means there’s still plenty to look forward to. It means there’s no need to worry. It means … summer isn’t ending just yet.

Bah Humbug

17 Aug

Jeez … someone forgot to put sugar in Virginia Heffernan’s coffee this morning — or rather, whenever it was that she watched High School Musical 2 and wrote her review for The New York Times.

Of the movie, she writes that there’s “so much to hate. Just search the bottom of your shriveled little sunless heart. You’ll figure it out. The widespread pressure to embrace the experience as kitsch only twists the knife. This is supposed to be the time of your life, and yet — oh brother. Just like high school. Just like a musical.”

She criticizes the bad lip-synching, the tanned skin (mind you, the movie takes place in the summer), the dancing … she just really didn’t like it. And yet, she ends her review this way: “The movie is mediocre, and should be skipped. But I can’t wait to buy the soundtrack and do the karaoke.”

So at least she doesn’t have a heart completely full of coal. Continue reading →

Brokeback Entourage?

12 Aug

If you’re as big a fan of the TV show Entourage as I am, you know this video is complete fiction and totally ironic. It’s also really good and very funny. It’s perfectly edited, and uses the Brokeback music so well that you might think this is actually what the show is about. And it’s better than this version, about two different characters on the show. Have a watch.

Le Camembert! Jacques Cousteau! Baguette!

6 Aug

I’m not going to apologize for a second Flight of the Conchords post in a row because last night’s episode had to be the second funniest episode of the season (episode one still reigns supreme). Here are two clips from the show I wanted to share. All I’m going to say is, “Just because you’ve been exploring my mouth, it doesn’t mean you get to take an expedition further South…. Just because we’ve been playing tonsil hockey, it doesn’t mean you get to score the goal that’s in my jockey.” It’s tres magnifique! Enjoy.

I’m Into It. Are You?

4 Aug

I’ve been a fan of the HBO show Flight of the Conchords since it first debuted (here’s an earlier post about it). While the show hasn’t always been as uproarious as that first episode, the music’s been pretty consistently funny. And, I’m a big fan of Jemaine Clement; the guy just looks funny. For your weekend viewing pleasure, thought I’d share this clip from a recent episode. It’s a little ditty called “If You’re Into It.” This is what the show considers a romantic song. (And, it features a guest appearance by Sutton Foster, who I interviewed for Continental a couple years ago.) Enjoy. If you want an MP3 of the song, click here. (It’s courtesy of My Old Kentucky Blog.) More video from the show can be found here. And of course, the show itself is on Sunday nights at 10:30, right after Entourage. It could be a dream come true … if that’s what you’re into.

Colortinis for Everyone

31 Jul

I feel like the news of Tom Snyder’s passing has been given the shaft this week, relative to the news of other deaths (Ingmar Bergman, Bill Walsh, Michelangelo Antonioni, etc.). I can’t pay as effective tribute to Snyder as, say, The New York Times did today, but I wanted to use my blog to share, briefly, that we’ve lost a really great television personality here.

I got to “know” Tom and became a fan in 1995 when he was named host of the first incarnation of The Late, Late Show, the program that comes on right after David Letterman’s show (now hosted by Craig Ferguson). And if I didn’t stay up for the whole show, I at least made it to the first commercial break, which was introduced by Tom’s catchphrase, “Fire up a colortini and watch the pictures as they fly through the air.” Tom’s cool, minimalist broadcasting style was always a soothing presence at 12:30, and it’s meant as no insult to say that I enjoyed falling asleep watching his show. He wasn’t perfect, and he had his old fashioned opinions that often clashed with some of the more modern, current guests. But he also had an engaging, folksy charm, plenty of stories to share, infectious laughter, and a self-depreciating wit that served him well.

In short, Tom made for great TV that I really enjoyed watching. I wish there were more examples on YouTube to share, but I found a brief one that seems to sum up why I liked Tom. It’s from an interview with Barbara Walters, during which Tom discusses smoking pot at a party. And then he goes and makes a mistake previewing the next guest and, well, it’s pretty fun. Fire up a colortini and see for yourself.

Back to the Drawing Board

29 Jul

Truth be told, I can’t remember the last time I watched an episode of The Simpsons TV show. And yet, The Simpsons Movie I just had to see. It’s funny enough, but I feel like it was just another episode of the show, unlike, say, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, which was so much more than an expanded bit. Still, I don’t want to discount the movie too much, because I did laugh from start to finish (and by finish I mean midway through the end credits when the Simpsons get up out of their seats — there’s no need to stay all the way until the very end). And it’s pretty clever at points. But yeah, I can’t say the movie made me want to go home and catch up on all the reruns and start watching again when the new season starts in the Fall. I guess that’s a shame. It’s exciting that the Simpsons have made a movie, but something about it still feels like a missed opportunity. I think I may have enjoyed making my Simpsons avatar a little more (and the version that’s in my profile came from SimpsonizeMe.com.) Oh well. I’m giving The Simpsons Movie a B.

Harry Potter and the Raging Hormones

19 Jul

Like so many others, I’ve been eager to see how the Harry Potter series would end. And now that I’ve finished my advance copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, I have to say I’m shocked. Shocked! I can’t believe J.K. Rowling had the nerve to have Hagrid admit his love for Hermione on page 72, when the story had barely begun. But who knew they’d make such a perfect pair? I loved the scene when they go on their first date to Tinkerdoo. Harry being overcome with jealous rage seemed the obvious reaction to it all, and when he overdosed on Butter Beer and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, I knew that couldn’t be good. Voldemort didn’t stand a chance. Anyway, the book’s awesome, just like the other six were. I just sort of wish J.K. Rowling hadn’t done that whole thing with Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Kids shouldn’t be exposed to fringe art like that. At least not until they’re twelve years old.

But seriously, happy Harry Potter Day. I have no idea how the series will end — in fact, the only book in the series that I’ve actually read is the first one (I tried to read the second but couldn’t get into it). In fact, I’ve only seen the first and third movies too. I just don’t have much interest in the series. That said, I do love the Saturday Night Live skit from a few years back where Lindsay Lohan played Hermione. So in honor of the release of the final book, I thought I’d post it here for your weekend viewing enjoyment.

D’Oh!

29 Jun

If I was a character on The Simpsons (and didn’t wear glasses), this is what I’d look like. At least that’s what the web site for the upcoming Simpsons movie thinks. Try it for yourself: go to SimpsonsMovie.com and click on “Create Your Simpsons Avatar.”

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