Baron Dave Romm
Hot In Cleveland & Futurama
By Baron Dave Romm
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Hot In Cleveland
Summer has turned into a busy time. I probably won't have a column next week. I'll be at Convergence. Among other things, I'm moderating a panel with Chuck McCann and Wally Wingert. I plan to say very little, and let these two voice artists go wild. I will, alas, say very little here.
Pilots are not necessarily representative of what a show will do. The second outing of Hot In Cleveland would be a good indicator of the direction of the show.
Fortunately, it worked. The four gals from image-obsessed LA continued to be impressed by blue-collar Cleveland. Several plot threads intertwined, allowing the characters to interact and intertwine. The most important plotline involved Joy (Jane Leeves) who finds herself dating someone younger than herself. So much younger that when she finds out his birthday, he might be her son. Meanwhile, Elka (Betty White) is hesitant to get back into the dating game in her 80s, Victoria (Wendie Malick) is finding cheap prices and fame at the local store and Melanie (Valerie Bertinelli) is settling into her place as ex-wife and homeowner.
Betty White still gets the best lines; or at least she has the best delivery. All of the actresses are veterans who can chew the scenery with the best of them, and experienced enough to know when to let their co-stars get the laughs. Perhaps even more than the first episode, the character-driven situations provided chuckles and zingers.
Okay, so it's only been two shows. Still, I'm moving Hot In Cleveland into the recommended category.
Futurama
Futurama enters its third life. From 1999-2003 it was a prime-time cartoon show on Fox. Cartoon Network reran the show until 2007. It was revived in 2008 as four straight-to-DVD films, which were cut up and became 16 tv episodes on the show's new home, Comedy Central. Last year, Comedy Central ordered new (but cheaper) episodes made. The first two of the Comedy Central shows aired last week.
While it was very nice to see the show back, neither of the episodes were great. Both were filled with gags and character taglines without the fulfilling episode-long story arc of the best of the shows. It's like we needed to be reminded of who was who, and why.
Roughly the same thing happened to The Simpsons. After a few years of brilliant animated comedy, the show settled into a Homer is really really dumb set of tics. The show remained funny, and there were always great lines and situations, but the polish was off the pomegranate. The Simpsons Movie was basically a rehash of older plots with a higher budget and didn't work all that well. Still, the show plugged on and popped some brilliant episodes. More recently, The Simpsons has come back, and remains one of my favorite shows of all time.
Comedy Central was clever, and showed the last 2003 broadcast episode right before the first new broadcast episode; it's a direct sequel, sort of. The second episode of the new seaon, in the hour-long block, was marginally better as the story arc took the whole episode and we got to see various stages of animated dishabille.
So I have hopes for Futurama. Okay, let them get a few years of rust out of their system. The production values are down a bit; no live orchestra. Nonetheless, the acting is still great. The year 3000 (or so) is still a weird place to be, and needs exploring by idiots. The head of Richard Nixon is still president.
I'll continue to watch, and maybe flix the DVDs for commentary and extras. I'm willing to put up with the inanities of Bender and Zapp Brannigan to see Fry and Leela's love develop. And Amy is still one of the sexiest women on tv (along with Kim Possible). Well, okay, Valerie Bertinelli is still up there, but I live more in the future than in Cleveland.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog maintains a Facebook Page, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. A nascent collection of videos are on Baron Dave's YouTube channel. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Blaise Nutter: With Public Schools a Mess, We Can't Wait for Superman (huffingtonpost.com)
Davis Guggenheim's new film, 'Waiting For Superman,' is both a searing indictment of our education system and a desperate call-to-action to save our struggling schools.
Jim Randel: Diversification Is for Old People (huffingtonpost.com)
Buying equities, bonds, CD's, and real estate should not begin until you are at least thirty years of age. Prior to that, every dollar you have should go into making you as productive and valuable as possible.
Jim Hightower: CHEVROLET CRASHES CHEVY (jimhightower.com)
Good news, people. General Motors has turned a profit! However, there's bad news, too: GM's top executives are insane. By which I mean bonkers, loopy, bull-goose crazy.
RICHARD GREENWALD: Working on a (Temp) Dream (inthesetimes.com)
Welcome to the freelance economy, where workers are atomized, badly compensated and strangely optimistic.
Meghan Daum: A colorful death by tobacco (latimes.com)
I once knew a man who would order multiple meals and a diet soda. He was morbidly obese, a man of robust appetites and grand gestures (he often simply said, "I'll have the left-hand side of the menu") who died around his 50th birthday.
Michele Hanson: It's the young who are foolish and deaf, not the old (guardian.co.uk)
I haven't battered crap out of my eardrums, so I still have efficient and sensitive hearing. Sadly, it's a torment rather than a blessing.
Ruth Graham: Are You There, God? (slate.com)
How Christian YA novels are offering a surprisingly empowering guide to adolescence.
"Beautiful Maria of My Soul: Or the True Story of Maria Garcia y Cifuentes, the Lady Behind a Famous Song" by Oscar Hijuelos: A review by Chitra Divakaruni
When Oscar Hijuelos' landmark novel 'The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love,' about two musician brothers -- Cesar and Nestor Castillo who move from Cuba to New York -- came out in 1990, it amazed many and raised the hackles of not a few. (But then, which ambitious work that aims to break new ground doesn't?)
Kevin Thomas: "Book review: 'I Know Where I'm Going: Katharine Hepburn, A Personal Biography' by Charlotte Chandler" (latimes.com)
Over a long career, biographer Charlotte Chandler has persuaded Groucho Marx, Billy Wilder, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Ingrid Bergman, Mae West, Federico Fellini and Alfred Hitchcock to speak revealingly and at length about themselves for her tape recorder. Chandler also befriended such illustrious directors as Fritz Lang, Michelangelo Antonioni and George Cukor.
Will Harris: A Chat with Timothy Hutton, Star of "Leverage" (bullz-eye.com)
Everyone (on 'Leverage') feels great so far, we're filming the ninth show right now, and we all feel that it's amongst the best that we've done. The team is fiercer than ever, and Nate Ford is a man on a mission.
Will Harris: A Chat with Nate Torrence, Co-star of "She's Out of My League" (bullz-eye.com)
it's really cool when you can watch a studio and a production company and a director say, "Oh, this is working, so let's do more of that." So it was kind of cool to be in that situation, where they just kept writing more bits for me.
James Sullivan: Remembering America's Philosopher-Com (huffingtonpost.com)
If he was still around, what would Carlin make of the BP oil spill? How about the papal cover-up or the "Tonight Show" debacle? Or the high school principal who banned the nonsense word "meep"?
The Weekly Poll
Summer Sabbatical
I've decided to take a short 'sabbatical' from the Poll thing for some R&R (fishing, easy hiking, campfires... that sort of thing) and spend some time contemplating the errors of my ways, haha... You might see, from time to time, trivia responses and the odd article or picture from me. I have a laptop and an 'air-card' so if I can get a cell signal, I can access the web. Do not despair though (yeah, right!)... I'm like a bad penny. I'll turn up again...
As always, Yer the Best!
BadToTheBoneBob
wrote:
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and on the mild side.
Closes Glastonbury
Stevie Wonder
Motown legend Stevie Wonder closed the Glastonbury music festival on Sunday with a set that spanned his long and successful career, delighting a huge crowd of some 100,000 cheering revelers.
The 60-year-old dedicated his performance to Michael Jackson, who died almost exactly a year ago, and Wonder performed a moving harmonica version of the late King of Pop's "Human Nature."
The artist invited Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis up on to the stage and sang his famous track "Happy Birthday" to celebrate the festival's 40th year.
Eavis, who founded the event in 1970 when 1,500 punters paid a pound each to attend what was then known as the Pilton Pop Festival, said he had had the best birthday ever.
Stevie Wonder
Sells Dress
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue proved that in the name of charity, she's capable of selling the shirt off her back.
The petite Australian pop star auctioned off her black halter dress at a swanky AIDS benefit Friday night on the margins of Paris' menswear week. The Jean Paul Gaultier number, which bristled with little plissed spikes, fetched (EURO)20,000 ($24,770).
Other lots included a lambskin vest by California-born designer Rick Owens and a 1980 photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe titled "Leather Crotch."
The soiree raised $180,000 for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), a nonprofit organization that supports HIV/AIDS research.
Kylie Minogue
Visits Bagram
Jeremy Renner
Better known for defusing bombs in Iraq in the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker," actor Jeremy Renner braved a live minefield in Afghanistan on Sunday to draw attention to the tireless work of clearing mines that kill and maim years after being buried.
Despite years of effort to dig up mines planted during decades of civil war and Soviet occupation, more than 650 square kilometers (250 sq mile) of Afghan territory are still considered active minefields.
To emphasize the scale of the problem, 39-year-old Renner teamed up with the United Nations in Afghanistan this week, visiting an Afghan de-mining team north of the capital Kabul.
While a lot of progress has been made, the U.N. mine clearance center (UNMACCA) which oversees all mine clearance programmes in Afghanistan says there are more than 2,000 communities still affected by landmines.
Jeremy Renner
Wedding News
Suvari - Sestito
The 'American Beauty' actress Mena Suvari tied the knot with music promoter Simone Sestito yesterday (26.05.10) in a private church ceremony in Vatican City, Italy, which was followed by an intimate reception nearby.
Mena recently revealed how finding love with Simone gave her hope after ending her six-year marriage to cinematographer Robert Brinkmann in 2006.
She also revealed she was desperate to find a wedding dress which will cover her tattoos as she wanted to respect her fiance's religious family.
She said: "I think it would be considerate to Simone's family to have my tattoos covered, since there are two Catholic nuns on his mother's side of the family."
Suvari - Sestito
Reality TV
Malaysia
The 10 young men have washed corpses according to Islamic rites, cried while counseling unmarried pregnant women and joined a police crackdown on teenage motorcycle racers - all before judges on national TV.
A Malaysian cable station has given a reality show makeover to its Islamic programming, and it's taking this moderate Muslim-majority country by storm.
The show, called "Imam Muda" or "Young Leader," is halfway through a 10-week run. With its blend of doctrine and drama, it is a natural fit for Malaysia, a Southeast Asian nation that has tried to defend its Islamic traditions while also welcoming high-tech industry and Western culture. It's these parallel strains in society that the program taps so successfully.
The producers say they want to find a leader for these times, a pious but progressive Muslim who can prove that religion remains relevant to Malaysian youths despite the influence of Western pop culture.
Even the prizes combine both worlds: An all-expenses-paid pilgrimage to Mecca and a car.
Malaysia
YouTube Feud
Turkey
Furious over Internet insults of the country's beloved founder, Turkey has gone on the offensive against Google, tightening a ban on YouTube and cutting public access to a host of Google-owned sites.
Turkey's communications minister has accused the Internet giant of waging a battle against Turkey and dodging taxes. But the government faces widespread public anger and attacks from the political opposition for restricting freedoms.
Even the president has spoken out against banning internet sites - using his Twitter account - after Turkey restricted access to some Google pages earlier this month.
The controversy is a setback for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, which won plaudits for carrying out democratic reforms but now stands accused of placing Turkey in the same class as countries already notorious for tight Internet controls.
Turkey
Still Doesn't Get It
Benny the Rat
Pope Benedict XVI lashed out Sunday at what he called the "deplorable" raids carried out by Belgian police who detained bishops, confiscated computers, opened a crypt and took church documents as part of an investigation into priestly sex abuse.
Benedict made a rare personal entry into the escalating diplomatic dispute with Belgium, issuing a message of solidarity to the head of the Belgian bishops' conference and other bishops who were detained in the June 24 raid.
He said justice must take its course, but also asserted the right of the Catholic Church to investigate clerical abuse alongside civil law enforcement authorities.
It was first time the pope himself had commented on the raids, and his message to Monsignor Andre Joseph Leonard capped a daily ratcheting up of the Vatican's criticism. On Saturday, the No. 2 Vatican official said the raids were unprecedented even under communism.
Benny the Rat
Disease Risk Higher Than Prostitutes
Swingers
Scientists studying swingers -- straight couples who regularly swap sexual partners and indulge in group sex at organized meeting -- say they have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) than prostitutes.
Dutch researchers publishing their work in the British Medical Journal showed that older swingers -- those over the age of 45 -- are particularly vulnerable and yet are a group largely ignored by healthcare services.
With estimates that the swinger population could be many millions across the world, the scientists said there was a risk this untreated group could act as an STI "transmission bridge to the entire population."
The Dutch study analyzed the numbers of patients seeking treatment in 2007 and 2008 at three sexual health clinics in South Limburg in the Netherlands.
Swingers
Anger Counselor Pulled Gun
Jose Luis Avila
A former priest and anger-management counselor who pulled a gun in a traffic dispute on two men who happened to be U.S. Marshals has been sentenced to a year in prison. Fifty-seven-year-old Jose Luis Avila of Annandale pleaded guilty earlier this year in U.S. District Court to assaulting a federal officer.
In January, Avila was driving by the marshals near his home. He honked his horn because he believed they were standing in the road. When he thought one of the marshals made an obscene gesture at him, he pulled out a loaded handgun.
The 12-month sentence was in line with what prosecutors had sought. Defense lawyers wanted probation or time served; Avila has been jailed since January.
Avila has also been ordered to undergo anger management.
Jose Luis Avila
Raccoon Blamed For 5-Hour Outage
Memphis
A raccoon described as acrobatic and mean-spirited knocked out power to a section of downtown Memphis that included two hospitals and the newspaper for more than five hours.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division president Jerry Collins told The Commercial Appeal said the raccoon climbed more than 30 feet, over barriers intended to keep animals out, and short-circuited a switch on a substation.
Overall, about 8,000 customers were without city power late Thursday and early Friday.
Emergency generators restored power to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis and Le Bonheur Children's Hospital within seconds, but the outage delayed production of Friday's newspaper at The Commercial Appeal and disrupted other businesses.
Memphis
Takes Title
Princess Abby Francis
A Chihuahua's oddly curved back and legs and closed-up left eye earned the 4-year-old rescue dog top honors at the World's Ugliest Dog contest at a Northern California fair on Friday.
Sporting a gray, brown and black coat, Princess Abby Francis beat a rough-looking slate of candidates for the prize, including Pabst, a teeth-bearing boxer mix who won last year.
Princess Abby shivered in the cool breeze after her win Friday night while nestled in the arms of her owner, Kathleen Francis, who received a $1,000 check at the 22nd annual contest held at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma.
"I don't think she's ugly at all," she said. "I think she's the most beautiful dog."
Princess Abby Francis
Weekend Box Office
'Toy Story 3'
The "Toy Story 3" gang and Adam Sandler are finding plenty of playmates at movie theaters. Tom Cruise is not so popular, though.
The Disney-Pixar Animation smash "Toy Story 3" remained the No. 1 film with $59 million in its second weekend, raising its domestic total to $226.6 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Sandler's "Grown Ups" debuted at No. 2 with a healthy $41 million. Released by Sony, the comedy costarring Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider did well despite a thrashing from critics.
Cruise's thriller "Knight and Day" fizzled at No. 3 with $20.5 million. It was the worst result for a Cruise action flick in 20 years and a sign that audiences still have not forgiven him for erratic behavior a few years back, which included his couch-jumping incident on Oprah Winfrey's show.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Toy Story 3," $59 million.
2. "Grown Ups," $41 million.
3. "Knight and Day," $20.5 million.
4. "The Karate Kid," $15.4 million.
5. "The A-Team," $6 million.
6. "Get Him to the Greek," $3 million.
7. "Shrek Forever After," $2.9 million.
8. "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," $2.8 million.
9. "Killers," $2 million.
10. "Jonah Hex," $1.6 million.
'Toy Story 3'
In Memory
Martin Ginsburg
Martin Ginsburg, the husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a prominent lawyer in his own right, has died. He was 78.
The Supreme Court says in a statement that Ginsburg died at home Sunday from complications of metastatic cancer.
The Ginsburgs celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary last week. They met on a blind date as undergraduates at Cornell University.
Martin Ginsburg was an expert in tax law and taught at New York University, Columbia University and Georgetown University over the course of his career.
Survivors also include two children, Jane and James.
Martin Ginsburg
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