puck you, miss!

ok, okay, oh kay--i've been a bit slow at updating lately. but you try doing this grad school thing. and the other bloggers haven't shown their faces in years. so there will be more coming. including a mini-essay on malcom in the middle. and by "mini-essay" i more mean "missive." but something. not yet, but soon.

for now, let me just tackle californicatin's finalie, which really was more like a season 3 finalie, with season 2's finalie being the second to last episode. seriously--they skipped an entire season of plot and just gave us the wrap up, but it would have been a kind of boring season, so i'm glad they did. still--quite a long progression. it'll be interesting to see where they go with this, because right now it seems extremely predictable (meaning going anywhere else that's sensible and good will be very impressive and welcomed).

in other news, henry jenkis is coming to usc. BOI!

what what whaaaaa?!?!!

obviously last week's south park must be discussed. and that odd but amusing it's always sunny should be mentioned (and now has been). but first--

summer heights high. worst advertising campaign of all time, but a rare free half hour on sunday led me to watching, and i was blown away. the best mocumentary style show yet, perfectly capturing these personalities. possibly the best pilot i've ever seen. start watching if you aren't.

and 'park. less than 24 hour turn around? how'd they do that? my guess: they assumed obama was going to win (and figured if he didn't they'd just do the episode anyways and bite the bullet?), made the episode's shell, and fought like hell to get the details in in time. whatever the case, a great episode.

and entourage continues like it's been all season. awesome.

my apologies that this blog has become only about two or three shows. more to come as soon as there's time.

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod...

lots to update.

first: WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT COME JANUARY AND IT'S THE RIGHT ONE.

a few years ago, when time/newsweek/otherfakeishnewsmagazine came out with a barak cover and the question: is he our next president, i remember being ecstatic that the question could even be asked. never could i have dreamed that the answer would be yes. thank god, america. faith is restored.

now, on to the show.

the last two episodes of the office have been unreal good. so, so awkward, yet so perfect. they've gotten back to their roots by moving on--if that makes sense.

entourage: another two great ones. ari handled the offer semi-perfectly (i'd have liked to have seen him take the job, but this works, too), and smokejumpers has the makings of a great arc. and all of the characters have for the first time in the show's history REALLY hit their strides. let's see how this all plays out.

south park. two weeks ago: abysmal. confusing as all hell. as a huge pan flute comedy fan (check my track record), i found this to be a terrible use of a potentially brilliant set piece. and stan's dad? but it was all just a setup for one of the most brilliant episodes of the past few years. bravo. all i couldn't understand--why send the kids to peru? why not just send them somewhere else? or kill them? if you know craig's the key, why even put him in the same country as the lock? amazing, though.

it's always sunny. rob thomas and sinbad's episode was just kind of confusing--the least sensible one yet (which is saying a lot), but still hysterical. last week's, however, with the mail room jobs and dee's heart attack, is among the best ever. it was politically poignant ("we don't have government provided health care in this country?! what is this, socialism?") and hysterical (charlie, as per usual, was unreal).

24's on its way back, as is breaking bad. --or breaking bad might already be back, actually. i really should be more on top of all this.

entourage...

and entourage? oh BOY entourage. he's not going to take the offer, but he should...

snl

i haven't enjoyed an snl episode in years, but living with ben kramer you can't help but catch an episode or two every so often. the season premiere was perhaps the worst of all time, but this past week's actually made me laugh. raging liberal alec baldwin had a chance to say all he wanted to sarah palin's face (whose appearance should barely even be considered an appearance, although seeing her attempt to dance during weekend update was priceless), mcgruber was a hysterical allegory, and a pierre escargot-inspired kenan pseudo frenchman made an appearance. i was a bit shocked, however, how frequently they referenced the terrible economy--an attempt to influence palin fans who were watching? or just rubbing it in the face of americans saving money by staying home this saturday with their families?

reDOMption, south park e2, it's always sunny kidnapping

the unwelcome return of dom to entourage--even if it was a sendoff--comes in the middle of the most formulaic episode of this otherwise stellar season. back to the e/vince turtle/drama mode, which they thankfully (like with dom) cut the ties with before it got too far. i'll mark this one up to doug ellen doing a friend from home a favor (at the wga he said dom, who basically plays himself, was getting heckled on the street because of his "character." the title says it all...), and we'll move on...

south park's second of the season (breast cancer) is among the best of all time. they returned to the bare bone of their strength and made an episode about the innerworkings of eric cartman. it felt...real. for the first time in a long time.

...which is the exact pattern i've been expressing fear it's always sunny was falling into, but tonight's--the first without devito since he started--dispelled that notion. the indian neighbor's arch was perfect.

a good week for television on the whole.

true bood, entourage

almost a week late, but here's an update on those HBO showz:

true blood is getting good. and good--because it looked from the beginning like it was squandering all of the potential in the world. crazy, redefining ending to last episode, though. let's keep a close eye on this one.

entourage--tripping in j-tree. amazing. i'd heard about this episode a while ago when i saw doug ellen speak at the wga, and it followed through on expectations. fantastic. truly.

new seasons: south park, degrassi

while last night's south park season premiere was great--doing right by the cartman butters formula it so recently did wrong by--, i'm afraid it's suffering from the same syndrome as described for it's always sunny below: it doesn't seem novel anymore (and it did for a long, long time). still, it wasn't nearly as terrible feeling as last season, and the episode itself was funny enough for this to be mostly overlooked. it's just ominous--that's all.

degrassi continues to go there, despite an almost entirely unrecognizable cast. it's as though they're slowly transitioning into generation 3 (or 4?) instead of taking a long gap. goodbye everyone we know and love, hello gifted class. i see the potential for great things here, though.

it's always sunny in philadelpiha

the new season is doing well, but it may be in danger of acknowledging its own goodness soon and getting too full of itself. the hour-long episode (as opposed to the almost-normal back-to-back) last week was weak, although charlie's butt eating monologue was amazing, and this week's poop-search was fantastic, but for the third time this season it relied too much on itself (green man; repeated, more often than usual visits by the waitress; etc). i'm still loving it, but i hope the end of that isn't as in sight as it may appear...

up in 'dem california GUTS

californication premiere sucked. but it may just be a setup for a season, so we won't judge it yet as a legit episode.

entourage continues its streak.

GUTS is back--in some form. so far, positive reviews, although i haven't seen it.

and how have we forgotten to mention man bites dog? best missed show on TV since stella. check it out on itunes.

it's always sunny in the bigoted south...and heroes. OH! and skinamax!

the second it's always sunny double-header of the season featured two episodes that helped ease the fear of shark-jumping, but brought forth a fear of formulaic writing. nonetheless, two episodes that started off slowly and finished amazingly does bode well--it's the antithesis of what south park's been doing lately, and that's a good thing.

true blood kind of reinvented itself this week. kind of. it's still hard to fully judge where it's going, but i know that it's treading dangerous waters: it's going to be hard to keep up an interesting supernatural allegory without feeling hammy (it already kind of does).

heroes: i can't believe it's taken me this long to realize that i don't like these characters or actors. writing in the two hour premiere was HORRIBLE, but the plot lines are somewhat interesting. as dan points out, though, adding time travel elements to a show like this just makes it too unnecessarily complicated. it adds in a diagetic rule that nullifies all other diagetic rules. tough.

and finally, co-ed confidential. those of you who are fans of brian belot's work (see: claremonttelevision.com) will love this currently on-demand softcore semi-porn show about four college freshmen and they're craaaaazy overseers. highly recommended. in depth analysis of each episode coming soon.

ps. congrats to the marlins for pooping on the mets' parade this afternoon. HUZZAH!

entourage

thank god, entourage. thank god. you're actually very good--really for the first time in your run.

that car chase scene? beautifully choreographed, an actual part of the plot and not just a gimmick, and it didn't end the way everyone thought it would, yet it was still satisfying. wow.

where it's at--two turn tables and a microphone.

it is indeed always sunny.

this thursday marked the first time since pre-strike where television really felt normal again. the return of it's always sunny double features made me feel...whole.

the first two episodes were both fantastic, but i'm afraid the show might be suffering from the 24 fallacy, which is to say that they think their strength comes from raising the bar for what they see as a core element of the show, muting the show's real strength (24 seasons progress by making jack save more people, in effect dehumanizing his adventures). in it's always sunny's case, these two episodes brought controversy to its highest levels, through cannibalism and water boarding respectively, and while the show maintained it's humor, i'm afraid it can't keep up this pattern for long. ...we shall see...

question.

if you superman more than one hoe, did you supermen those hoes or superman them?

weeds finale, entourage continues, true blood--ech!, etc

the weeds reboot worked. the best season yet, by far. the last two episodes were indicative of a season marked by an unbelievably crisp balance of seriousness and absurdity.
--again, the same place entourage is at now, which is at an equally amazing point in its run, after an equally low point.

true blood's first episode sucked. cool world, terrible episode. episode two was great...until it wasn't. in an instant you could see the series get canceled; it really is a cool idea, so that--like--totally blows and stuff.

in other rockin' news, malcolm reruns are back to the pilot, which is amazing because the show gets progressively worse from day one out. getting to the beginning after suffering through the end is like peeing at a rest-stop.

in yet more news, because i don't know what else to say, this somehow feels appropriate, albeit morbid: isn't it perfect that dave wallace committed suicide in the method most frequently discussed through the use of incorrect grammar? (and isn't the forced construction of the sentence it takes to express that idea even more perfect? any students of his that may be reading this [barnet in particular, but he wouldn't be reading this], please correct away.)

david foster wallace

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/books/15wallace.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

it took me a few days to decide if i had anything worth writing about this. ultimately, i decided: sort of. i never knew the man. i used to make up reasons to go visit the english building so i could pass the open door to his office and casually glance in, giving a head-nod if eye contact was made, but i never had a real conversation with him. i made a comment about tennis in passing once, but that's it. that's all.

i take a lot of pride in knowing he read a story of mine once, though. i wrote it about him. i'm not sure if he knew that or not, but i did. it was in application for his advanced fiction class; i wrote about how if you have large breasts no one will ever see you for anything different. that in any public place, once those breasts are noticed, that's what you'll be seen for/as. it's not to be taken seriously.
for someone who's work i'm not all that familiar with (i've read many individual stories and essays, and the first 300 pages of ij at least 4 times, but no more), i do a lot of writing about him. i think it's because a great deal of the fiction i've been writing recently has come immediately after reading something of his. he inspires. saunders, feig, delillo, and he are the only four writers i can say that of of late.

i don't know where i'm going with all of this; i'm really just getting thoughts out. the newsweek memorial talks about reading his work in retrospect, looking for clues. that upsets me. that shouldn't happen.

i rarely get upset about a death, even that of someone close to me. i think evan put it best, although i'm paraphrasing and somewhat re-interpreting here: his suicide was presumably quite logically thought out. this gives too much validity to depressing thoughts. it doesn't bode well for the world.

it's also possible that this is not the case. it's possible that his decision had nothing to do with the world outside of him, and that it says nothing about the way someone with his propensity for logic and clear thought would see the world through my eyes. it's very possible that it is that very same logic and clear thought that made this world unbearable, and not the other way around. it's possible his problems were internal, not external. or maybe my stupidity--or my unwillingness--is my salvation (i have a feeling this is the case.)

rip, dave wallace. you will be missed.

http://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html

cold-blooded old times.

when did televisions become almost-living things? we're at a point now where the television is no longer a durable room centerpiece, but instead a fragile shrine to luminosity. the monitor is no longer a glass bubble; it's a seemingly-permeable protective membrane, barely separating us from the plasma within.

like i told my grandmother a few weeks ago when she was playing with my iphone:
we're in the future. we've made it.

and we're back!

it's that time of year again. football's in the air, life's just getting stressful with a new round of school staring up, new series and seasons of television burst forth from the womb, and the aggrocrag staff reunites in an epic ceremony of the first simultaneous comatose sunday of the TV year.

first, a moment of silence for tom brady.




just a note--i'm predicting the pats finish 11-5, plus or minus two.

weeds is back; the show continues to reinvent itself--this time with a full-blown reboot. it's got good stuff going on, though. it's regressed into the same shell that entourage is in when it's at its best: serious, engaging overarching plots, silly side stories, and characters you care about on occasion.
interestingly enough, after a year-plus of horrendous consecutive episodes, entourage put out one of its best as last season's finale.
this season's premiere outdid it.
entourage and weeds are two shows that are easy to equate with one another if you've never seen them, but up until now they've been vastly different shows on the intangible paradigm of structure (think: mise en scene, but for plot instead of visual structure. and then think of all of the two-dimensional spectra that go into that. and then think of those making up a multi-dimensional graph). it's just now, in their fith and fourth seasons respectively, that they've met somewhere at a really similar middle.
does the fact that they've both arrived at the almost exact same arbitrary point on a large, incomprehensible, strictly-metaphorical graph say something about where we are as an audience in 2008? or just something about what happens when a not-serious show which deals with serious fascets of life reaches this level in its maturity? are they each others' inverses?--is weeds entourage's benjamin button (jay kay, j/k, jk...lololololol). ...or do i just miss media studies?

updatez

so...it's been a while. the last post was late april and--as you can tell from the punctuation--was by one of our other bloggers. it's not that i've gotten lazy (although i have...), just that other bloggs demanded attention. h2brOs.com, EachCastleHasATroll.com, HibachiReview.com, and soon to be VeganLeatherDaddy.com and EarthFireWindWaterHeart.com. ...so get off my back.

anyways...

i've been in NYC, so i haven't been watching much (no tv feed and an internet connection that's firewalled up the wazoo [no freakin' vpn!!!!]), but i'll catch you up on what i have seen.

BTW--all movie related posts are now located at EachCastleHasATroll.com

since the last time i updated i've done the sopranos from beginning to end. now that it's more contextualized for me (i originally watched seasons 1 and 6 when they aired, but nothing in between), i must say i'm madly in love with the last episode, but not the ending. obviously, chase wanted to either make a splash or leave things open. if he really wanted to do something cool and (i guess?)pseudo artistic, which he implies, his last shot should have been from tony's POV. but that is what it is. the cut to phil leotardo's last scene could possibly be my favorite of all time in any medium. ...a fantastic show.

weeds season 4 is alive and kicking. glad to see they eliminated the intro, as it wouldn't have been applicable anymore. and i'm shocked at how well they managed to pull all of these ends together. episode one was lacking, but two and three were each exponentially better than the last, with four (and beyond) looking promising.

celebrity family feud? it's horrid--and i'm in love.

and that's what i've got for you. more to come more frequently--i promise--, but don't expect a noticeable spike in posting until the summer ends.

...i love you all.

BSG is stinky

On top of the disappointing 1/2 season of South Park (which Stu amply covers below), the best drama on television is completely lacking 20% of the way into the season. Battlestar Galactica is completely underwhelming. Can't believe I'm typing it but it's true.

I'm not a Star Wars fan but I have a few friends who are (sidenote: all but one of them get laid consistently), and I've heard them complain that the new trilogy feels like the plot volume of one movie stretched out over three. I feel the same about Battlestar season 4. I have no doubt that Ronald Moore knows exactly how BSG is going to end and I'm even more sure it's going to be brilliant. I'm just don't know if he needs 20 episodes to get there. What we've seen in the first four held enough story for one mediocre season premiere. A minor character dies. Blah. Starbuck returns and no one bats an eyelash? Please. Even Baltar is beginning to lose his charm; he's become a babbling, pathetic schmuck as opposed to the glib, egomaniacal schmuck we loved to hate over the last three seasons. The most interesting story in the new season thus far has been the Cylon dispute/possible civil war. And more so than WHO the final cylon is (they've played this card 8 times and it lost its shock value after Boomer) I feel the more interesting mystery is WHY the final five are different.

Most cable shows are serial/episodic hybrids, which gives them an edge: If the story doesn't go anywhere, you can still have a great individual episode. And if the episodic story sucks, the show can still be saved by moving the overall plot forwards. Aye, there's the rub: Thus far, BSG hasn't delivered on either end.

Note: You know how slumping athletes (outside of NY) get a pass from the fans because of all they've done for the team in years past? Well, BSG has earned my trust. No matter how many episodes continue to disappoint me, I have no doubt in my mind that the next one will blow me away.

...and it gets even worse

this season of south park just got 100x less clever...



so much for originality

south park season 12 pt 1 subsector 8 form 26b microfieche

with the conclusion of season 12 part 1, aggrocrag readers will soon finally be treated to a post about something other than south park. ...soon. for now, more 'park it is.

last night's journey to days of field trips yore brought with it the first predictable cartman/butters episode of the series. the formerly novel and always brilliant recipe instantly became formulaic, and some may even say it had echoes of shark jumping (...say it ain't so!). besides that, i was irked by one specific, tiny line that hopefully is not a sign of something bigger to come: the police officer commenting on how annoying the people at the 1800s village are for never breaking character. it was a non-sensible diagetic oversight that played down to a dumb audience--something south park is fantastic at rarely doing. add this to a season without a single real bright spot (besides the 30 seconds of butters singing "what what in your butt," which loses replayability quickly and illuminated their struggles to pick up on potentially brilliant plot lines) (and perhaps the kenny/cheesing episode, which was by far and away the best of the first half of the season but still terrible compared to the classics) and it looks like we may be in for a bumpy ride to the finish.
we should note that it's still the best show on tv.

in other news, matt groening (sp?) interviewing david chase at the writer's guild this past week was exactly as fulfilling as most wga events: i left saying "it was worth the 10 bucks and howevermany hours of my life...but just barely." if you're around in late april and may, though, james l. brooks and judd apatow are coming 'round the bend...

internet money!

this week's south park was a bit disappointing (although the inflection with which them darn canada folk said "more internet money" was hi-larious). we knew they would take on the strike, but not this way. they made it seem like a fruitless battle, while in reality it was a much needed winning effort for the WGA. yes--it may have been a bit early; yes--we may not be fully aware yet of exactly how the internet is going to be profitable, but given that the contracts were up, timing the strike differently was not really an option, and provisions to adapt to change are there.

also, they couldn't have done more with butters status as an internet star? this is what the episode should have been about, and frankly i'll be a bit disappointed if next week is not about butters's jaunt around the talk show circuit.

welps, back to richard rodriguez's days of obligation...

24 season 7 preview...

...got me extremely excited.

another new south park

now it just seems like south park is asking itself "which topical moral/issue should we address/teach (about) this week?"

the first new 'park of the season

the first new south park didn't provide any unbelievable laughs, but it did a great job showcasing what the show is best at: taking on extremely offensive topics and tackling them without being uselessly vulgar. they have this weapon called "cartman" that allows them to say or do anything given that everyone knows he lacks any semblance of morals, and once again they used this weapon effectively--and some might even say responsibly. am i sure? i'm hiv positive.

House Part 4 makes House Party 3 look like House Party 2

I just recently had a conversation with someone who thought Season 6 of 24 was, in her words, "like 100x better than Season 5". Is this statement punishable by death, or just torture from Jack Boward?

new season

the new season of reno could be the best pure season yet...meaning the best featuring the reno players and not just repeated terry/patton oswalt jokes. this past episode, featuring trudy on the bus dressed as a schoolgirl and others building a fence on the mexico border, could be the funniest in the past few years. bravo.

the countdown...

less than a week until new south parks. life has meaning again...

cheers

earlier today, i finished the last episode of the greatest television show of all time. needless to say, it did not disappoint. here's to the wire.

Bring Back the Pete and Pete DVDs

Beginning the open petition to Paramount Home Video to re-solicit and finally release Pete and Pete season 3, along with a Complete Series boxed set that includes a Petunia temporary tattoo, Little Pete's hat, and a business card/coupon to Big Pete's barber.

Mrs. West, please forgive your son

A suggestion for next year's Grammys: Abolish the "Album of the Year" award. "Bullshit!" you say? Watch your mouth. And hear me out. The last decade has proved the complete worthlessness of the award and the misnomer in its title, capped off by Herbie Hancock's win for RIVER: THE JONI LETTERS.

Now don't get me wrong...I love Herbie Hancock. I've probably heard more Herbie Hancock than most people of my generation. I thought Herbie Hancock had been dead since the early 1980s. No disrespect...once I saw his win, I downloaded (legally, mind you...Gandalf, where are you when I need you?) RIVER and I really liked it...a whole lot more than I liked GRADUATION by Kanye or the three songs I heard off Amy Winehouse's album. But is it really the BEST album of the year? Is Kanye? Is Amy Winehouse?

Problem #1: The "Best Album" category faces a similar problem to the "Best Director" category of the Oscars. Rather than earning the award for whatever work they produced in the current year, recipients often receive it for a work they produced years, even decades earlier. Marty won the Best Director nod because Kevin Costner stole it in 1990; Steely Dan won Best Album in 2002 because they didn't win for AJA or ROYAL SCAM; Bob Dylan won for TIME OUT OF MIND because he never won for any of his pre-religious zealot-era music. And Herbie Hancock won in 2008 because Miles Davis didn't win for KIND OF BLUE, because John Coltrane didn't win for BLUE TRAIN and because Herbie Hancock didn't win for MAIDEN VOYAGE or HEAD HUNTERS. And again, I want to point out: I loved DEPARTED, I loved TWO AGAINST NATURE, I loved TIME OUT OF MIND. But each of these was a shadow of the respective artists' prior works and, while all these things are great in their own right, they're more famous for evoking fond memories of past work. And if they're really the best that that year has to offer, then the arts are heading in a serious downward spiral (but that's another post...).

This phenomenon would be similar to a professor giving me a C on an A+ paper, only to realize the mistake a few semesters later. And instead of going back and correcting the grade, it would be like him saying "even though you're doing C-work in my class this semester, I'll give you an A+ to make up for the last one". It's this warped sense of justice that is completely unfair to everyone else who's producing even better stuff THIS year (and does this mean that in 20 years, Kanye will win for MOMMA--STILL MILKIN' YO DEATH or Amy Winehouse for REHAB--YES, YES YES YES?).

Problem #2 (it's shorter, I promise): And on to Kanye and Amy, who were expected to duke it out for the award....Rename it. It's offensive to people who enjoy music. Take "Album of the Year" and stick a "Most Popular" on the front of it. Give more lifetime acheivement awards. Hell, create a whole new category called "OOPS--WHAT WE MEANT TO SAY WAS..." for all the Herbs out there. Sure, artists who are making great music still won't be recognized, but at least the awards will be honest.

And while we're on the subject...how about one of those OOPS awards to Morris Day and the Time for ICE CREAM CASTLES? Anyone...?

breaking bad

we're three episodes in, and i can't figure out if i like breaking bad or not. as expected, bryan cranston is phenomenal, but the rest of the show i'm not quite sold on. is the plot too cliche? not cliche enough? is it about to go in an interesting direction? has it already gone there? there's something about it that just doesn't resonate with me despite it being oddly relatable given the plot. the characters are extremely engaging in theory, yet somehow i'm not really getting into any of them. i keep wanting the show to be funny but it's never going to be. i guess i'm just expecting too much malcolm.

your shows, post strike (poached)

24
Expected to return this fall or January '09.

30 Rock
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

Back to You
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future TBD*.

The Big Bang Theory
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Big Love
Expected to go into production on Season 3 in March. Airdate info is TBD.

Big Shots
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Bones
Four pre-strike episodes left. Unclear whether additional episodes will be produced for this season.

Boston Legal
Expected to shoot 4 or 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Brothers & Sisters
Expected to shoot 4 or 5 new episodes to air in April/May.

Burn Notice
Production on Season 2 expected to get underway in late April. New episodes could start airing as early as July.

Chuck
No new episodes until fall.

The Closer
Expected to kick off its fourth season this summer.

Cold Case
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Criminal Minds
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI: Miami
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI: NY
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Desperate Housewives
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Dirty Sexy Money
No new episodes planned until fall; three remaining pre-strike episodes will undergo some tweaking and kick off fall run.

ER
TBD.

Everybody Hates Chris
Twelve pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Friday Night Lights
No new episodes expected for this season. Future TBD.

Gossip Girl
Expected to shoot up to 9 new episodes to air in April/May/June.

Greek
Kicks off second half of Season 1 on March 24. Still awaiting Season 2 pickup.

Grey's Anatomy
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May

Heroes
TBD.

House
Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.

How I Met Your Mother
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Jericho
Seven episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Las Vegas
Two pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Law & Order: SVU
TBD.

Life
No new episodes expected until fall.

Life Is Wild
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Lost
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Six additional episodes could air this season.

Medium
Six pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Men in Trees
Eleven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Moonlight
No new episodes expected until fall.

My Name Is Earl
Expected to shoot 8 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

NCIS
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes, only three of which may air this season.

The New Adventures of Old Christine
Seven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Nip/Tuck
Season 5 concludes Feb. 19. Production on the show's eight-episode sixth season expected to start up this summer. Airdate TBD.

Numbers
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes, only three of which may air this season.

October Road
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

The Office
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

One Tree Hill
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Prison Break
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Private Practice
Slim chance it could return with 4 or 5 new episodes this season. Either way, it'll be back in the fall.

Pushing Daisies
No new episodes until fall.

Reaper
Three pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Samantha Who?
Three remaining pre-strike episodes could possibly surface this season, or be held until fall (see Dirty Sexy Money).

Saturday Night Live
Could be back on the air as early as Feb. 16.

Smallville
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 3 to 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Supernatural
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 3 to 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Two and a Half Men
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Ugly Betty
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Without a Trace
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Women's Murder Club
Shocking development: A deal to bring the show back this season is being hammered out as I write this.

hannah montana--IN 3D!!#@!@#!@#

while i could not stop focusing on the backup dancers or marveling at the incredible business model that is disney entertainment (or stop noticing the obvious reshot-for-3d inserts--and maybe i just missed it in the credits, but after a scene explaining how miley wrote a song for her dead grandfather i didn't see her credited after the film...), hannah montana's answer to U2 was an amazing experience. while the technology may have seemed less hokey in beowulf (obviously zemekis is the right man to bring 3d into the mainstream...), disney did a good job of using but not abusing digital 3d. and if you haven't had the experience yet, i recommend you go out of your way to before journey to the center of the earth sucks you in (and just generally sucks...). overall, i give it seven unicorns, two chocolate dipped dunken doughnuts, and a smiley emotocon with a hat.

best season ever?

when it was all said and done, the nfl season played out like the shawshank redemption: slow and painful at times, sad at times, but in the end...damn--what a payoff.

i'll take 1-15 if it comes with 18-1.

looorrrdydydydyy!!!!

oh. my. gawd. that was the greatest superbowl i have ever seen. the greatest end to any season. possibly the greatest game (not in a self-contained way, but in all that it was and embodied) ever. but this blog ain't 'bout sports. it's 'bout the tele. the vision. so i've got a conundrum of sorts--avoid committing the cardinal sin of being a sports fan--a MALE (YX, o->, 8===D) sports fan--who talks about superbowl commercials and usurp the duties that come with sworn oath of this blog, or...

so here's the deal. one commercial and one only. the best of the night. i shan't discuss, i shall simply say that i'm pissed of espn.com gave this guy no love.

24: the unaired pilot

...while we're on the subject, this just deserves viewing...

in honor of the end being in sight...

for those of you who haven't heard yet, it appears the strike may be dead by monday morning. and that the giants will be superbowl champions by that time too. perchance to dream...

i've been meaning to post on this for a while now, so i will use this potential end to end our...erm...um...strike as well and get while the gettin's good.

24 last season. what. the. hell. here's the thing: while in theory it's cool to see jack stop a bomb from blowing up all of los angeles or the usa or the world or whatever, i really have no concept of what that means in my head, and i also really don't care in reality. jack fighting a drone or killing large numbers of people in non-hand-to-hand combat just doesn't do it for me. it's not jack's act of saving people that gets me excited, it's jack kicking ass. period. the show has gotten too far from that. with that in mind, and with the idea that keifer is signed up through season 8, here's my plan of what should have happened after season 5. keep in mind that season 5 ends with jack in a chinese prison.

season 6: ep 1-8 jack single handedly breaks out of a chinese prison with no help from anyone but himself. hand to hand combat, jack fighting for the life we viewers care about most (his own), and kicking ass and taking names. at the end of ep 8 jack makes contact with CTU, and by ep 10 he's lost it. ep 12 he gets caught by the chinese and we think that CTU must have sold him out. it turns out, however, that in reality country X (arab, eastern eurpean--pick your poison) has threatened both china and the USA, and they've brokered a deal to let jack go as long as he works along side china to stop this thing. meanwhile, in america, a bright young whippersnapper with an appetite for destruction is fighting the terrorists from CTU's base. curtis, perhaps? jack this time gets notoriety for his help and is interviewed by the news at the end of the season.

season 7: someone had picked up on jack's story and done research. jack has basically become a USA-saving celebrity, and all of america acknowledges how much he's done. he hates the attention, but in honor of david he runs for political office. think of it as a modified season 1, but a) it's not just an attempt on jack's life but also an international terrorist attack, and b) the candidate running for office kicks. major. ass.

season 8: jack is in office--the new palmer--and working with the new jack to save the world. at the end, jack gives his life to save millions. this is where it's ok to use a bomb or a mass destruction device--we don't want to see jack die a weak death, after all.

season 9 and beyond: curtis--or whoever the new jack has been in training since season 6--takes over. and the show lives on...




in other news, i saw rambo last night. it was unbelievable. it completely owned up to what it was and it did not hold back at all. not for a single second. ...so this is what happens when you give a camera to someone with 'roid rage...? the only thing cooler would have been if it were in 3D and/or if it even owned it more and self-referentially decided not to use any english dialog or sub titles throughout the entire movie. and john rambo's dad's first initial is R? i would LOVE it if it turns out his dad's name is Rambo Rambo.

that's is all. GO GIANTSSSSSS.

things i've learned during--and, in one way or another, as a result of--the strike

-jon stewart is even funnier a person than i had given him credit for.

-it's always sunny in philadelphia is hysterical. charlie is one of the greatest characters ever.

-robot chicken is what happens when family guy has no allegiance to main characters.

-as hard as this is to admit to myself, i actually get lonely without my favorite shows having new episodes. i hated the last season of 24, and i was not particularly looking forward to this one, but jack bower's absence in my life is certainly felt.

-the simpsons can still actually be funny. that 90's show, season 19 ep 11, was one of the best i have ever seen. the BTTF reference...incredible.

-the wire is hands down the most brilliant television show ever made.

-nick gas really is dead. i love the n, but i was fine having it a few hours a day on noggin. the world is a sadder place without gas.

RIP Nick GAS

:'(