Random Quotes about TV and Movies

"90210" was all about teens behaving like adults. "Melrose" was the opposite. It started with a group of adults--doctors, advertising executives, fashion designers--and dared to have them behave as foolishly and as naively as adolescents. - Malcolm Gladwell

I have observed before that giant corporations have replaced Nazis as dependable movie villains. - Roger Ebert in the review of Robots

It's fun even as it's tense, and it's smart all the time. So smart that some reviewers have no clue what they're seeing. - Hat Rack talking about Firefly

Couch Potato (2)

Here are some additions to this post, basically a list of any show I have watched regularly.

2006
The Loop
My Boys

2007
Andy Barker, P.I.
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
The Big Bang Theory
Carpoolers
Cavemen
Chuck
Don't Forget the Lyrics
I Hate My 30's
Kid Nation
The Sarah Silverman Program
Thank God You're Here

Couch Potato

Here are all the TV shows I have ever watched with any regularity. None of these should be viewed as an endorsement. It was actually painful to admit watching some of these.

Epguides.com was a big help for me in compiling this list, especially their list of shows by year. They have a current grid of primetime lineups and it includes shows currently on hiatus, with an expected return to air date. They even have some RSS feeds for newly added shows and cancellations.

1959 - Twilight Zone
1960 - Flintstones
1962 - Beverly Hillbillies
1964 - Addams Family (73?)
Bewitched
Gilligan's Island
Munsters
1965 - I Dream of Jeannie
1966 - Batman
1972 - M*A*S*H
1974 - Happy Days
Little House on the Prarie
1975 - Jeffersons
One Day at a Time
Saturday Night Live
Wonder Woman
1976 - Alice
Laverne and Shirley
Quincy, M.E.
1977 - Fantasy Island
Incredible Hulk
Love Boat
Three's Company
1978 - Dallas
Different Strokes
Mork and Mindy
WKRP in Cincinnatti
1979 - Dukes of Hazzard
Facts of Life
Hart to Hart
Knot's Landing
1980 - Bosom Buddies
1981 - Falcon Crest

1982 - Cheers
Family Ties
Knight Rider
Newhart
Remington Steele

1983 - GI Joe
He-Man
Mama's Family
Scarecrow and Mrs. King

1984 - Cosby Show
Double Trouble
Night Court
Transformers
Who's the Boss

1985 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Amazing Stories
Golden Girls
Growing Pains
Jem
Moonlighting
Mr. Belvedere

1986 - Designing Women
Head of the Class
It's Gary Shandling's Show
LA Law
My Sister Sam
Perfect Strangers

1987 - Beauty and the Beast
Degrassi Junior High
A Different World
Full House
My Two Dads
Out of This World
Star Trek TNG
thirtysomething

1988 - China Beach
C.O.P.S
Dear John
Empty Nest
Just the Ten of Us
Roseanne
Whose Line is it Anyway (UK)
Wonder Years

1989 - Coach
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Life Goes On
Saved by the Bell
Seinfeld
Simpsons
Young Riders

1990 - Beverly Hills 90210
Blossom
Bobby's World
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Law and Order
Northern Exposure
Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Wings

1991- Civil Wars
Dinosaurs
Homefront
Home Improvement
The Ren and Stimpy Show
Rugrats
Sisters
The Torkelsons

1992 - Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Mad About You
Melrose Place
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

1993 - Class of '96
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Frasier
Grace Under Fire
Living Single
Lois & Clark
The Nanny (US)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

1994 - Chicago Hope
The Critic
Duckman
These Friends of Mine / Ellen
ER
Friends
Inside the Actors Studio
Models Inc.
My So-Called Life (entire series)
Party of Five
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
The Tick (1994)

1995 - The Bonnie Hunt Show
Caroline in the City
Central Park West
Dexter's Laboratory
The Drew Carey Show
Earthworm Jim
Freakazoid!
Hope & Gloria
Ned and Stacey
NewsRadio
Pinky and the Brain
The Single Guy
Star Trek: Voyager

1996 - Boston Common
Early Edition
Everybody Loves Raymond
Hey Arnold!
Kenan & Kel
Men Behaving Badly (US)
Suddenly Susan
3rd Rock From the Sun

1997 - Ally McBeal
Angry Beavers
Cow and Chicken
Daria
Dharma & Greg
E! True Hollywood Story
Fired Up
Just Shoot Me
King of the Hill
The Practice
South Park
Veronica's Closet
The Visitor
Working

1998 - Bob and Margaret
Conrad Bloom
Dawson's Creek
Felicity
The King of Queens
Lateline
Powerpuff Girls
Sex and the City
Sports Night (entire series)
That '70s Show
True Life
Whose Line Is It Anyway? (US)
The Wild Thornberrys
Will & Grace

1999 - Dilbert
Family Guy
Freaks and Geeks (entire series)
Futurama (entire series)
Home Movies
It's Like, You Know...
Jack & Jill
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
The League of Gentlemen
Popular
Providence
SpongeBob SquarePants
Stark Raving Mad
Strangers with Candy
Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane

2000 - Big Brother
Boston Public
Clerks
Coupling
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dark Angel
Queer as Folk (US)
Survivor
TV Funhouse

2001 - The Amazing Race
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Dinner for Five
Fairly OddParents
Grounded for Life
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
The Oblongs
Primetime Glick
Scrubs
Six Feet Under
The Tick (2001)
24
Undeclared

2002 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Firefly (entire series)
George Lopez
Good Morning Miami
Less Than Perfect
Life with Bonnie
The Osbournes
Still Standing

2003 - Arrested Development
Coupling (US)
Last Comic Standing
Miss Match
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
Reno 911!
Star Wars: Clone Wars

2004 - The Apprentice (first 1.5 seasons)
Blow Out
Entourage
Joey
life as we know it
Lost
Quintuplets
Significant Others (2004)
Wonderfalls (entire series)

2005 - Grey's Anatomy
How I Met Your Mother
The Office (US)
True Life

2006
The Class
Heroes
How to Get the Guy
Lovespring International
The New Adventures of Old Christine
The Nine
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
10 Items or Less
30 Rock
Three Moons Over Milford

2007
The Sarah Silverman Program

248 so far

Fall Tv - Studio 60 and HIMYM

Tv Squad reviews this week's episodes of Studio 60 and How I Met Your Mother, two of my can't-miss shows. I thought this week's Wrap Party episode of Studio 60 was the best one yet. This show has reminded me of how much I miss Sports Night and need to watch more West Wing. Aaron Sorkin's writing hits such a chord with me, sometimes it's scary.

But, this week was not such a good one for How I Met Your Mother. I think the Brunch and Ted's Parents episodes were much better. I've been watching LOST, Heroes and The Nine as well. The last two are following a LOST type of story with a large group of people, some evil, where each one of them has different pieces to the puzzle. In fact, the cop on Heroes was the Pilot on LOST and two main characters from The Nine have been in 24. But, the connection I missed most was Sarah Paulson and Amanda Peet both being on Studio 60, when they both starred in Jack & Jill. The third girl on that show, Jamie Pressly is now hilarious on My Name is Earl.

One last thing, that commercial where Alec Baldwin asks Tina Fey when he gets to "meet" Aaron Sorkin bothers me. They worked together on Malice, so I'm pretty sure they've met.

True Commercial Genius

"Because you can't over love your underwear" - Fruit of the Loom

NewsRadio

NewsRadio is coming to Nick at Nite, so you really should read the show's quotes page on IMDB. The first one, about the complaint box had me crying with laughter this morning.

Dave: I don't think I get this one, it says, "I try to be good hard-worker-man, but refrigemater so messy, so so messy."
Lisa: I think that one's probably from Milos, the janitor.

101 things in 1001 days

My list of 101 things to do in 1001 days
Which I stole from Triplux and many others.


My dates are 06/12/2006 to 03/8/2009

1. Go to Europe (DONE May 2007)
   
2. Turn thirty (DONE 6/22/07)
   
3. Buy a condo or house
   
4. Take a Papermaking or other art class (DONE Dec 13, 2006)
   
5. Declare a major
   
6. See Los Angeles (DONE June 22, 2006)
   
7. See Seattle
   
8. Own all of my Top Ten movies of the year
   
9. Either ride Ripchord or Bungee Jump or Skydive
   
10. Compile a list of my 100 favorite songs
    
11. See some petroglyphs
    
12. Take an official tour of a city, even if it just Minneapolis (not LA, which was done 6/22/06)
    
13. Organize my CDs, both music and computer (DONE July 20, 2006)
    
14. Whiten my teeth (DONE June 07)
    
15. Go to The Science Museum
    
16. Finish a short story - one that is started or a brand new one
    
17. Take Writing 2 (DONE Dec 07)
    
18. Make an informative opening page for soelo.com
    
19. Update all of my other websites
    
20. Get on a schedule - more than just "work school sleep work tv sleep"
    
21. Set aside an arts and crafts area in home
    
22. Get a dishwasher and washing machine in apartment/condo (DONE July 3, 2006)
    
23. Read at least 33 books (one per month) (23 down, 10 to go)
    
24. See a live play
    
25. Host at least one Geekfest
    
26. Go to a live KOL meeting
    
27. Attend a convention or show at a convention center
    
28. Put something on soelo.com in addition to my blog
    
29. See a Panda Bear (in captivity, most likely) (planned for March 25,2008)
    
30. Keep a daily journal - about boring stuff that only I care about
    
31. Buy more wine and learn which wineries I like
    
32. Learn to make a wine spritzer that I like (DONE Nov 06)
    
33. Attempt to improve my handwriting
    
34. Drive along the west coast (DONE June 18-21, 2006)
    
35. Compile my own "pantry list" and have it complete in my kitchen at least once (list done)
    
36. Go to a local festival that is not in Minneapolis or St. Cloud
    
37. Take a trip somewhere using only public non-airplane transportation (i.e. bus, train, helicopter, taxi)
    
38. Make and use a Christmas Card List (has to be08)
    
39. Knit, crochet or sew something nice enough to wear in public - and wear it.
    
40. Make one birthday or Christmas gift
    
41. Go Snow Tubing somewhere official, with tube rental and lift
    
42. Post to my blog on 87% of the days in a month. (27/31) (Done Dec 08)
    
43. Have at least one book made from my photos
    
44. Take multi-vitamins regularly
    
45. Organize a real scavenger hunt
    
46. Volunteer
    
47. Fill the tank with gas - drive till it’s half gone, take pictures, and then come back
    
48. Make a scrapbook of all my travels
    
49. Learn to make homemade chai (DONE Oct 06)
    
50. Read a book on Arthurian Legend
    
51. Memorize 'If' by Rudyard Kipling (DONE July 31, 2006)
    
52. Journalize my time from age 18 to 28
    
53. Finish my Interests inventory
    
54. Learn something about everything
    
55. Learn everything about something
    
56. Make a nice long blogroll
    
57. Get my car's rear axle fixed (DONE June 12, 2006)
    
58. Try ordering groceries online (DONE Jan 08)
    
59. Take 3 additional classes (not writing or papermaking)
    
60. Update my immunizations
    
61. Go on a blind date (Done Sept 07)
    
62. Go on a real date (with someone I know or meet, not a fix-up) (Done July 07)
    
63. Get email archives down to below 100
    
64. Get rss archives down to below 100
    
65. Set up bill-paying plan or auto-pay
    
66. Have either the bio-hazard symbol or my name in Hebrew tattooed on my arm
    
67. Attend a yoga class
    
68. Draw one comic strip, and post it. (Dialogue and background done for 2)
    
69. Move all stuff in storage into apartment.
    
70. Set up scanner (DONE Nov 30, 06)
    
71. Finish scanning pictures
    
72. Organize those pictures
    
73. Print out / archive my blog (archiving started June 06)
    
74. Tag most of my blog entries (DONE Dec 27, 2006)
    
75. Ponder a change of blog format/host
    
76. Reduce paper clutter / handle paper monster
    
77. Organize my books and list the ones I own but haven't read (DONE 07/02/07)
    
78. Go to the Como Zoo (DONE May 07)
    
79. Travel the Grand Rounds
    
80. Buy and use a Tetsubin (DONE June 22, 2006)
    
81. Check out and read 3 books from the Minneapolis Public Library
    
82. See all 128 episodes of Dawson's Creek in order. (started on June 25th, 2006, stopped after Mitch died)
    
83. Rent a game console and games for a week (Done sort of, got a PS2 and played Katamari)
    
84. Hold the water taste test for my friends
    
85. Finish the small painting and hang it somewhere
    
86. Get a passport (DONE May 16th, 2007)
    
87. Make a significant contribution to a Wikipedia article (Done on Eragon Live in summer 07)
    
88. Get one KOL character to 50 ascensions (soelo is at 20)
    
89. Make cookies from scratch
    
90. Make another dessert from scratch
    
91. Make an entire meal (entree, two sides and a beverage) myself
    
92. Purge the clothes I no longer wear
    
93. Make an asian noodle dish in my wok
    
94. Play board games with my friends
    
95. Build a Sandcastle
    
96. Retake Calculus 2
    
97. Flirt with a stranger
    
98. Use craigslist for something (Done January 07 - my apartment)
    
99. Get some more videos for my ipod (dl'd one and tried to convert some existing ones)
    
100. Get contact lenses and wear them
     
101. Purge my videotapes
     

Futurama

is coming back! They announced it on my birthday, and the new episodes will begin airing in 2008.

Season Finales - (the ones that matter)

May 11th - My Name is Earl and The Office
May 14th - Survivor, L&O:CI, Grey's Anatomy (Part 1)
May 15th - How I Met Your Mother, Gery's Anatomy (Part 2)
May16th - Scrubs
May17th - The Amazing Race
May 18th - That 70's Show and Will & Grace both air their Series Finales
May19th - Numb3rs
May 21st - Simpsons, Family Guy
May 22nd - King of Queens, 24
May 24th - Lost

TV

24 starts next Sunday, January 15th and Monday, January 16th from 7-9pm Central time.

Since I got my DVR, I've been watching more of the following shows:
Daria
Grounded for Life
Home Movies
Futurama
MadTV/SNL
Grey's Anatomy
Arrested Development
How I Met your Mother
Entourage
Blow Out
Queer Eye

And AOL provides a midseason schedule for new and returning shows.

Random

Now this is a Funny Picture.

I got cable installed yesterday, along with a DVR and 6 months of HBO and Showtime. I hope to catch Love Actually this month, since it's a holiday movie.

My last Drawing class was on Monday, and I think I did pretty well. Next up is Environmental History and Modernism (a literature class). Maybe I should decide on a major soon. I will only have 2 generals left after those two classes.

I am trying to get 'organized' while I have some time off of school and a small amount of time off of work. What that means, I am not really sure... some weird combination of FlyLady, GTD and my own systems, I guess.

Office, Earl move to Thursdays and Scrubs returns!

TV Squad alerted me to this release from NBC that tells us that, starting in January, My Name is Earl and The Office are moving to Thursday and that Scrubs will now be on from 8-9 Central on Thursdays. Hmm, where have I heard that idea before? I am surprised that Joey won't be back until after the Olympics and that NBC still only has 3 hours of prime time comedy programming per week.
Um, weren't the Olympics just on like 15 months ago? Oh that's right, now we get this "joy" every two years instead of four. I thought we had special sports channels on cable so that people who wanted to watch sports could tune to those and that network tv could continue it's normal schedule.

NBC's new mid-season schedule, which begins January 2, follows (all times
ET); new series are in upper case (except "ER"):

• Mondays 8-9 p.m. "Surface" 9-10 p.m. "Las Vegas" 10-11 p.m. "Medium"
• Tuesdays 8-9 p.m. "Fear Factor" 9-9:30 p.m. "Scrubs" 9:30-10 p.m. "Scrubs"
  10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
• Wednesdays 8-9 p.m. "E-Ring" 9-10 p.m. "The Biggest Loser: Special Edition"
  (new title) 10-11 p.m. "Law & Order"
• Thursdays 8-8:30 p.m. "Will & Grace" 8:30-9 p.m. "FOUR KINGS" 9-9:30
  p.m. "My Name Is Earl" 9:30-10 p.m. "The Office" 10-11 p.m. "ER"
• Fridays 8-9 p.m. "MOST OUTRAGEOUS TV MOMENTS" 9-10 p.m. "Dateline NBC" 10-11 p.m. "THE BOOK OF DANIEL"
• Saturdays Movies and variable programming
• Sundays 7-8 p.m. "Dateline NBC" 8-9 p.m. "The West Wing" 9-10 p.m. "Law
  & Order: Criminal Intent" 10-11 p.m. "Crossing Jordan"
  

Save Arrested Development

at SaveArrestedDevelopment.com because it's anything but your typical sitcom.

Seriously - how many sitcoms fit into one of these molds?

A two-parent household with 2 or 3 kids (Oh the trials of raising a family! Hey, my husband hates his job and we have ungrateful kids, too! I love this show!)

A gaggle of friends who work together, live together, then finally end up sleeping together. (You'll never make a copy that is better than the original, so stop trying)

An office where people spend 95% of their time socializing and throwing witty banter around in meetings and 5% of their time working.

Honda Galang

MIA's 'Galang' is the song playing in the background of that cool Honda commercial with the red car flying around the city.

4 8 15 16 23 42 Execute

I almost missed last night's third episode of Lost since my TV was not getting ABC over the air. Luckily, I went to a friend's house who has a DVR and saw it.

Check out this Lost Timeline, which is obviously very spoilery if you haven't seen a particular episode. One thing I learned from it was that both Hurley and Locke's mom were institutionalized in the same place.

Which Serenity character are you?

You scored as Zoe Alleyne Washburne. The Soldier. You are the second in command, and that is fine. You like a chain of command, but only when the one in charge has earned your respect. Those who earn your love or loyalty will find no one better to guard their back.

Which Serenity character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

*I was busy this weeked so I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard great things*

Puttin' on the Hits

Do you still have nightmares about a man with an orangutan puppet around his neck when you hear the song 'Guitarzan'? If you have any clue what I am talking about, you remember the lip synch game show from the early 80's, Puttin' on the Hits, with your fabulous host Allen Fawcett:



He now has that typical former star look (slightly bigger head, still too-large hair and pain-hiding smile) and held a show at the Palace Station in Vegas.


But seriously, I loved this show and can still hear him saying, "... a perfect score of 30!"

Sean Astin on 24

Scooter's comment is right on:

This must have you in an absolute frenzy:

Astin making '24' debut in 4-hour opener Reuters -

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Sean Astin, who starred in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is joining the cast of Fox's real-time drama "24," which will again kick off its season with four episodes screening on two consecutive nights.

I really can't take a Monday class in January, since there is no way I can miss that.

Why on Earth are you watching that show?

Reunion premieres September 8 - Mathew St. Patrick may be the only reason I am tuning in to this murder mystery chronicling the last 20 years. I also wonder how they are going to handle aging these people from 18 to 38.

Simpsons premieres September 11 - I read an article between one and two years ago that said some of the old writers were coming back, and the series was expected to improve again, since most consider its quality to have waned. Using data from IMDB, it looks as though the only person to have returned to directing after a hiatus is David Silverman, who directed 19 episodes in seasons 1-7, and then one each in 14 and 16. As far as the writers, it looks like the only people with significant spaces between credited episodes are George Meyer and (1-5 and 10-13) and Jon Vitti (1-5, 7, 13, 15-16). So where is this resurgence of talent from the old days?

Survivor: Guatemala premieres September 15 - Rumors abound that Steph and Bobby John from the last season are going to reappear this season, since the original number was said to be 18, and there are only 16 contestants on the official site. Jamie looks like the cute one this season, but I'll reserve judgment until I hear him speak.

Arrested Development premieres September 19 - Fox's site acts like the network has always championed the show and never treated it like a red-headed step-child. This year it gets a time slot that is less prone to being delayed by NFL overtime.

Kitchen Confidential premieres September 19 - the poor actors in this picture have been airbrushed so badly they look like wax figures! Seriously, the guy on the left Nicholas Brendan, a.k.a. Xander, does not have eyelids covered in hair, but the picture makes it look that way. It's also nice to see John Francis Daley (from Freaks & Geeks) in another show.

King of Queens premieres September 19 - a.k.a. Fat Guy, Skinny Wife #1, but Patton Oswald and Jerry Stiller make this one worth watching.

How I Met your Mother premieres September 19 - again, it might just be Jason Segel that makes me want to give this one a chance.

The Office premieres September 20 - I tried watching the BBC version, but it couldn't hold my interest. This American version does an excellent job with Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson providing some of the best cringe-worthy moments.

My Name is Earl premieres September 20 - Jason Lee playing Banky/Brodie about ten years older and after a spate of bad luck. Well, Mallrats was ten years ago, so it fits.

Lost premieres September 21 - Undoubtedly last year's best new show, I didn't get to see it as often (or as clearly) as I would have hoped, even though I did see the finale. Thankfully, Season 1 comes out on DVD September 6th. My favorite characters are Hurley and Sayid.

Still Standing premieres September 21 - a.k.a. Fat Guy, Skinny Wife #2, but this time it's their kids that make it worth watching.

Joey premieres September 22 - Another one I didn't see as often as I wanted to last year, but I don't think I missed much. It helped with the Friends withdrawals I was suffering.

Numb3rs premieres September 23 - I saw only two episodes of this last season, but my sister and mother have both insisted I will like it. Sabrina Lloyd from SportsNight is a bonus.

Grey's Anatomy premieres September 25 - I have never seen a second of this show, but I have read so much about it that I must start watching. I've always liked Sandra Oh and Patrick Dempsey.

L&O CI premieres September 25 - Chris Noth comes back as Mike Logan and partners with Annabella Sciorra in the fifth season.

Amazing Race premieres September 27 - Teams are now made up of four family members and travel fewer distances this season. The challenges are supposed to be more family friendly, the Yields more effective, and I wonder if we will see less inter-team bickering?

Will & Grace premieres September 29 - I find myself hoping that the eighth season will be the last one. Still a good show, but the reruns are often better than the new episodes.

That 70's Show premieres November 2 - This is the first season without Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher, since they are 'big' movie stars now. The other four, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama haven't really hit it big with any movies, which doesn't seem fair. I know they'd make much better stuff than "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton" and "A Lot Like Love". It's not that Grace and Kutcher didn't make great movies ("Traffic" and "The Butterfly Effect"), but I think the other four would do well in starring roles. Kunis does great as Meg on Family Guy.

This Fall in Network Primetime

Starting at 7pm Central / 8pm Eastern

Monday:
ABC - Wife Swap - Monday Night Football (new lineup in January)
CBS - King of Queens(Sept19) / How I Met your Mother(Sept19) - Two and a Half Men / Out of Practice - CSI: Miami
FOX - Arrested Development(Sept19) / Kitchen Confidential(Sept19) - Prison Break
NBC - Surface - Las Vegas - Medium

Tuesday:
ABC - According to Jim / Rodney - Commander-in-Chief - Boston Legal
CBS - NCIS - Amazing Race(Sept27) - Close to Home
FOX - Bones - House M.D.
NBC - The Biggest Loser - My Name is Earl(Sept20) / The Office(Sept20) - L&O SVU

Wednesday:
ABC - George Lopez / Freddie - Lost(Sept21) - Invasion
CBS - Still Standing(Sept21) / Yes, Dear - Criminal Minds - CSI: New York
FOX - That 70's Show(Nov2) / Stacked - Head Cases
NBC - Apprentice: Martha Stewart - E-Ring - L&O

Thursday:
ABC - Alias - The Night Stalker - Primetime Live
CBS - Survivor: Guatemala(Sept15) - CSI - Without a Trace
FOX - The O.C. - Reunion(Sept8)
NBC - Joey(Sept22) / Will & Grace(Sept29) - Apprentice - ER

Friday:
ABC - Supernanny - Hope & Faith / Hot Properties - 20/20
CBS - Ghost Whisperer - Threshold - Numb3rs(Sept23)
FOX - Bernie Mac / Malcolm in the Middle - Killer Instinct
NBC - Three Wishes - Dateline NBC - Inconceivable

Saturday:
ABC - Movie
CBS - Crimetime Saturday - 48 Hour Mysteries
FOX - Cops - America's Most Wanted
NBC - Movie

Sunday:
ABC - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Desperate Housewives - Grey's Anatomy(Sept25)
CBS - Cold Case - Movie
FOX - Simpsons(Sept11) / The War at Home - Family Guy / American Dad
NBC - The West Wing - L&O CI(Sept25) - Crossing Jordan


*The purple shows are what I watch, plan to watch, or will admit to watching.
*It seems the networks' official sites understand they need to tell us what time and day these shows are on, but neglect to give us the dates they premiere. Epguides did that for me.
*No WB or UPN listings, they have nothing I watch from 7-10.
*Returning in 2006: 24 and Less Than Perfect

Office Marathon tomorrow

On Wednesday, NBC is having a marathon of The Office where they will show four episodes: Pilot, Diversity Day, Health Care and Hot Girl. There were two more, The Alliance and Basketball, which the really should show instead of a L&O rerun. Odd thing is, I have seen those two episodes, and not much of the other four, so I will have seen all six by the time the new season starts.

Also, Thursday brings two Scrubs reruns in the 8E/7C time slot. That would be a great Thursday line up (Joey, W&G, Scrubs and The Office), 4 shows that can hold their own instead of two heavy hitters with two losers at the :30 time slots.

You know those infomercials are lying to you, and here are some sites that prove it:

Kevin Trudeau is under an order by the FTC where he's only allowed to promote books, newletters, publications or non-branded products.

Don LaPre, has declared bankruptcy twice and has had many brushes with the law in regards to his "businesses".

Carleton Sheets seems to be selling bad advice, and has many people upset with billing problems.

Wonderfalls

Jaye is near the breaking point and furiously asks the brass monkey in her shrink's office, "Why do you talk to me?" and his reply is a simple, "Because you listen."

Yes, there are talking animals in this show. Don't let that scare you away. Don't let the stiff, pinched-faced women who play her mother and sister scare you away either, or the Horrid Haircut who plays her brother. (I can tell you're almost convinced!)

There are runaway macaws, nuns, class reunions, liars, cheaters, fat guys named Pat, a sad delivery guy, an inept security guard, lesbians, a hostage-taker, a mail-order bride, a whole tribe of Seneca Indians, a fake documentarian, an injured father, a Canadian housekeeper, and a mouth-breathing manager. And then there is Jaye and her friends Mahandra and Eric, the really good parts of the show.

The closest thing I can come up with as a comparison would have to be Northern Exposure, with it's cast of eclectic townspeople and offbeat sense of humor. While not all episodes are exactly even, there are so many shows on right now that are so much worse than Wonderfalls. It succumbed to that all too familiar fate of many FOX shows and was cancelled after only 4 aired episodes. All 13 are on the DVD release, and complete the story arc quite nicely.

I am 32 Flavors and then some

Ooh, a month without a post, my apologies. Much has happened. I moved and I finished Summer Semester. I got an A in both Writing and Trigonometry - yay! I still have to finish my 2 independent studies, though, and I start Acting and Calculus this week.

I went to Wild Mountain yesterday with two of my friends and we had a lot of fun on the alpine slide and go-karts. We certainly have a new summer tradition. We also went tubing down the Apple River in Wisconsin a few weeks ago. We've been doing that since 1999. I got to see my aunt and uncle from Vancouver, Wa last weekend. They were here to bring their daughter to college and look at houses, but they've decided not to move back :-(

Some of my stuff is still in storage, either in a storage unit or my friend's basement. It's like shopping every time I go to pick things up. I need to get the rest of my furniture out soon.

I don't have cable right now, so my hatred for the Olympics has increased since it is one of only 4 things I can watch. I don't even have internet, since the order for my phone service was put in wrong, and will hopefully be fixed by Thursday. So, although I do hate the Olympics, I have seen a lot of it because I watch the Today show in the morning. They're in Athens the whole time and it is cool to see so much of Greece. I really want to visit there, and now the infrastructure has been drastically improved. I think I should start going to every Olympic venue a year later.

TV

I must have heard someone talk about "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica" on MTV at least 5 times in the past 2 weeks. I hope it turns out to be a flash in the pan a la Anna Nicole. The most recent time was on Will & Grace this week.

On a seperate note, I have a theory that Don Johnson was the first metrosexual. I don't want to credit him with too much, but his Miami Vice character was the first straight guy that I remember worrying about being pretty.

TV

On Sunday there was a great episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I just love Vincent D'Onofrio. The show has gotten a little formulaic, but it's still good. I used to watch the regular L&O, but since Benjamin Bratt left, it's just not the same. I was annoyed to find that NBC ran reruns on Thursday so they wouldn't lose to the baseball playoffs in the ratings. I understand when it's a playoff game, but when they preempt regular shows for plain old games, whether baseball, football or anything, I get so annoyed. Why do we have 85 sports channels if the networks are still airing the regular games? There were entire fall seasons in which Futurama was always joined "already in progress". That was mostly Fox's fault, in that 6pm Central on Sunday is a suckie time slot no matter what. Futurama should have been at 7:30 Central, right after the Simpsons. Instead they put crap like Malcolm in the Middle and Oliver Beene in that slot. At least Cartoon Network was smart enough to pick it up, even if they aren't airing anything new. Wake up, Simpsons can't and shouldn't go on forever. And you expect a live action sitcom to take it's place? Ain't gonna happen. King of the Hill is funny, but it's not an anchor to an entire night like The Simpsons is. Find some good and funny animation and make a night of it!

Random TV thoughts

Best character name: Beverly Leslie on 'Will & Grace'
Show I don't need to watch as long as I see the previews: ER (time to end this one already!)
Funniest joke this week: On Coupling, the 4 people shoved in the back seat on the way to the funeral.
Quote of the week: "The only thing she hates more than sobriety is kindness." about Karen on Will & Grace

TV

I think I watch the most television of anyone I know. I recently got a DVR from my cable company, and that has actually cut down on the amount a little. (For those who don't know, a DVR is a Digital Video Recorder - Tivo, Replay TV, etc. Basically, a digital VCR) I have wanted one for a long time. You can set things to be taped just once or every time the episode is on. I swear sometimes scheduled things just go away, though. A little annoying. Anyway, I always get the fall preview edition of TV Guide. It lays out a basic weekly schedule of all the new shows, as well as the returning ones. I plan my TV watching with this for the first few months. Right now, my week goes something like this:

Sunday - Futurama, Simpsons, Law and Order
Monday - Still Standing, Raymond
Tuesday - 70s Show, 24, Frasier, Good Morning Miami
Wednesday - Bachelor, King of Queens, South Park
Thursday - Friends, Scrubs, Will & Grace, Coupling, Survivor/Amazing Race
Friday - Miss Match, Grounded for Life, George Lopez
Saturday - SNL, Mad TV

Plus, during the day I tape several reruns of Friends, the Simpsons and Jeopardy. I also watch a lot of mid-level cable, like Travel Channel, Comedy Central, Game Show Network, Tech TV, DIY and HGTV. I wish the Travel Channel would stop being a 24 hour commercial for Vegas, that Comedy Central would have more stand-up and cancel The Man Show, and that GSN would put a Chuck Woolery limit on their daily broadcasts. All of these things would be fine in moderation (except maybe the Man Show, I was so disappointed with that. Don't they know you need a straight man and a foil, and that 2 foils just make for bad TV?) but they get to be too much.

Another thing that bothers me about TV is that the seasons tend to get shorter and shorter. I mean, there are regular shows, not mid-season replacements, that don't start until the end of October. Then there are shows that have their season finale in March! I always thought the TV season should line up with the school year, essentially starting in September and ending in June. Well, I heard that part of the reason there are fewer shows per season is that they're getting more expensive to produce. While that may be true, I don't think they should just shorten the season, or worse, start running reruns in October. I don't know how the Sweeps months got set up, but I think it's time for a change in TV scheduling. I propose a two season per year schedule. Each season would last about six months, maybe an Oct-March Season and an April-Sept. That way, CBS for example, could run Survivor for one of the seasons and The Amazing Race for the other, both in the Thursday 7pmCST "Midas Touch" time slot. The summer season could be used to test out shows that the networks aren't sure about, and if they are wildly successful, a la Friends, they can be moved to the fall season. You could still have a midseason replacement roster, and more turnover in shows would results in the networks being able to respond to trends faster and profit from all the kids that are home from school in the summer. These are some of my more general thoughts on TV. I will continue my TV ranting later, with more specific criticisms and raves.

My Taste

Within a few months of getting to know me, most people tell me I have strange taste. Sometimes they say its bad taste, but usually it's more like "You like the oddest combinations of men." or "That's a rather eclectic music collection you've got there." When I say taste, I mean mostly music, movies, men, TV, books and the like, but also other things like food, home decor, video games and clothes. I would describe my tastes thusly: My taste in movies is decidedly girly, while I think my TV watching is pretty ungirly (with the exception of Felicity and Dawson's Creek - they are really good shows!). Music is probably the area where I like widest selection of things. Books are harder to pin down. And men, this is probably what people think is the strangest thing about me. So, the next few messages will be me pontificating on various taste related subjects.