'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
The New TV Season 2007
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater podcasts
Shorter review columns
I just started a new job, and will be cutting back on the length of these essays/CD recommendations for Bartcop-E. Of course, I've said that before and the political essays got longer. I'll still be doing columns, but might miss a week now and again if I have nothing to say. We'll see.
The New Television Season: Recommendations
Easily the best new show, of the ones I've seen, is Pushing Daisies. Two shows into a season, it's funny and poignant. Very close to Amalie in tone, with a distant third person narrator and an off-kilter set up. Ned can make the dead live again, but with restrictions. If he touches a dead person (or dead anything), they come back to life. However, if he touches them again they die permanently. If he lets them live longer than a minute, someone else dies. Why this is so is never explained, at least not so far, but has set up the main story arc: As a child, Ned brought his dead mother back to life, and she was around long enough that their neighbor's father died. Not knowing his restriction, Ned's mom kissed him and died anyway. The neighbor in question is his first love, Chuck (a double diminutive of Charlotte Charles). She died and was brought back by Ned. They are in love, but can never touch. She doesn't know that Ned is responsible for her father's death
Ned became a pie maker to escape having to use his powers, except to make strawberries fresh again. Unfortunately, a private detective found out and is using Ned to go to morgues and wake up the newly dead for a one minute conversation to help solve the murder. Okay, you're up to speed.
Pushing Daisies may have too specialized a premise to last, but the writing is sharp, the situations are both sad and funny, and the acting is good. It's not your standard show, and that's a major plus.
Carpoolers is an unexpected treat. I hadn't heard anything about it (not all that surprising since I scrupulously ignored all hype) but it was on after Cavemen (see below). It's the story of four friends who carpool, and begins and ends with them in a car. The stories (two so far) have been odder than the premise, with some good comedic acting and some interesting situations. It's made me laugh, which is more than I can say about most tv these days. We'll see if the zaniness can keep at a high level, but it's the kind of premise that can work for a long time.
The Big Bang Theory, the adventures of four nerds, has been fun. Not great, but the characters are developing and the writing gets what it's like to be a smart but socially inept sf geek.
Special Mention: Dr. Who, "Blink" episode. Dr. Who has been around for more than 40 years, but generally as a cheap sci-fi (as opposed to science fiction) show. Fun, if you're into the characters, which I am not. However, the recent incarnation of the series has been better than the previous run, and this show is excellent. "Blink" is the only Dr. Who episode that I've liked a lot: Good science fiction, interesting plot, good acting and some Dr. Who-specific weirdness that works. The part that doesn't work is the "blink" part, about monsters that move when you don't look at them so you can't even blink. For one of the few times in Dr. Who history (at least of the ones I've seen), the strangeness of time travel is explored exceptionally well. I've seen most of the three seasons that have been broadcast here in the states, and this is the best one of the better series.
Not so hot
I would love to love Chuck, but it just doesn't work. It's a combination of Freakazoid and Alias, with computer nerd Chuck having absorbed all the information in the CIA's secret files (via an e-mail from his former college roommate) and the CIA has sent top operatives to cover for him. Some humor, but poor acting and dumb plots haven't taken advantage of the potentially interesting premise. I'll wait until Freakazoid comes out on DVD.
Cavemen, apparently based on insurance commercials, doesn't suck as bad as it might, but isn't very good, either. So far, it seems to be an update to The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, or something. It has unrealized potential, as yet unrealized.
Life, about a cop who was wrongly imprisoned and still wants to be a cop now that he's out, hasn't risen above the premise.
Moonlight bends the vampire mythos even further, which is fine, but this detective series doesn't seem to want to go anywhere.
Three episodes of Bionic Woman have set the tone, and it's not worth it. A horribly miscast show that wants to reimagine a show that wasn't worth it the first time around. It wants to be as dark as Battlestar Gallactica but mostly comes off as a poor version of Crossing Jordan.
Speaking of horribly miscast updating of old shows, Flash Gordon tries really hard to avoid the racist cliches of the 30s serial and in doing so manages to make everyone puerile and unthreatening. Okay, so Ming doesn't have to be oriental, but he should at least be oily and scary. Flash doesn't have to be Nordic, but he should at least be confident and muscular. Zarkov doesn't have to be... well, you get the idea. I've watched all the episodes and they're getting better so it hasn't fallen off yet, but it's on the bubble.
Back To You is a poor show from some of my favorite people. First off, writer Christopher Lloyd (Mary Tyler Moore, Cheers, among many others) has almost forgotten how to write a joke. Kelsey Grammar has chucked his Fraser psychiatrist for a News Radio anchorman. Fred Willard can be brilliant, but isn't here. And so on and so forth. A decent story arc (the returning anchor is the father of his co-anchor's child, and now they're reunited on the air) is used as an excuse for unfunny bickering.
I fell asleep both times I tried to watch Cane; not entirely the show's fault, but still just an hispanic soap opera. Not my cup of tea.
New seasons of old shows
The season finale of Heroes last year was really bad, and the new season just isn't working. With limited time for viewing, and a Netflix account, I've given up (or are about to give up) on Without A Trace, Criminal Minds, CSI: Miami and maybe others. We'll see.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes ina Live Journal demi-blog, 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. 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.
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Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Vivian Manning-Schaffel: Straight people rule (advocate.com)
With their new initiative, "Straight For Equality," PFLAG harnesses hetero power for homo rights
Connie Tuttle: ... there's hope for humankind after all (tucsonweekly.com)
If Jean-Paul Sartre--a French philosopher and atheist who lived through World War II in Europe, died in 1980 and whose name is virtually synonymous with existentialism--and Fethullah Gülen--a contemporary Turkish thinker whose worldview embraces all religions--can share common ground in their essential humanism, then surely there is more hope for peace in the world than headlines and political rhetoric would have us believe.
Tully Satre: Religion Is Our Friend (advocate.com)
Being gay and religious are not not mutually exclusive, argues a young writer who should know.
James Hillis: A Look Back at Bravo's "Queer Eye" (afterelton.com)
It was that title: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. So in-your-face it even made some of us blush. And the premise: a makeover show where five, super-out gay men - with expertise in fashion, grooming, food, décor, and culture - whip a straight man into metrosexual shape.
Michael Diamond: Queer Eye by Canadian Guys (advocate.com)
Canada's OUT TV is about to launch two new style gurus with Chris & John to the Rescue.
Tony Plana Helps Make "Ugly Betty" Beautiful (afterelton.com)
The actor who plays Ignacio discusses his gay-friendly character.
Trish Bendix: Interview With Hannah Blilie (afterellen.com)
The Gossip's out drummer talks about nonstop touring and dealing with tabloids.
The Boiling Point (mikhaela.net)
Aka Mikhaela's Political Cartoons.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
MATTHEW CHRISTOPHER WHITLEY AND THE LOST TREASURE
WHAT WAS IT?
Reader Comment
Re: Alaska
Hi Marty,
You wrote:
And when Alaska's too small, you know Texas will be too big. ; )
When I first worked for Boeing there was a Texas guy there with all the
swagger of GW.
One day I overheard him bragging and one of our supervisors said to him
"did you hear they plan to cut Alaska in half and then Texas will be the
third largest state?"
The swagger went down several notches from then on.
Paul
Thanks, Paul!
Back in the Pipeline days in Anchorage, the locals were especially fond of this joke:
How do you make an Alaskan happy?
See a Texan leaving - with an Okie under each arm.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny, but cool.
Cal ran in the Long Beach Marathon and finished in 4 hours, 0 minutes, 12 seconds.
Not bad for an old guy. ; )
Called Off In Israel
Peace Concert
A peace concert promoting a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict was called off Sunday after threats were made to Palestinians supporting the event.
The New York-based One Voice organization had planned to hold simultaneous concerts in Tel Aviv and the West Bank town of Jericho, with Canadian rock star Bryan Adams in lead billing.
The Jericho concert was called off last week due to security concerns, including threats to blow up the West Bank office of One Voice, said group founder Daniel Lubetzky. On Sunday, the Tel Aviv concert was canceled in solidarity.
Peace Concert
2 Shows On 2 Coasts
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel is going bicoastal. The host of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will fill in for a vacationing Regis Philbin on "Live with Regis and Kelly" in New York while still hosting his namesake show from Los Angeles.
During the week of Oct. 22, Kimmel will fly back and forth across the country daily, co-hosting with Kelly Ripa in New York each morning and taping his own show in Los Angeles each night. That's two cross-country flights a day for five days.
"I am a little bit insane," Kimmel told The Associated Press. "It will be difficult, but that's how committed I am to entertaining America. And parts of Canada."
Jimmy Kimmel
Looking Forward
Sir Ian McKellen
British actor Sir Ian McKellen is wrapping up the American leg of his world-wide tour as King Lear and says he won't mind returning to the Shire to reprise his role as the wizard Gandalf for a film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" if and when that happens.
Making "The Hobbit" has not been an easy task since "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson got into a legal battle with studio New Line Cinema over royalties -- a fight that may be close to being settled after a lot of name calling.
In an interview with Reuters on Friday, McKellen said he was rooting for Jackson to direct "The Hobbit" but said he had the Oscar-winning director's blessing to play Gandalf one way or the other.
"When Peter announced he had withdrawn from 'The Hobbit,' he sent me an e-mail saying 'Because I am not going to do it, it doesn't mean you have to do the same. Of course, you must play Gandalf whether I direct or not'," he said.
Sir Ian McKellen
Musicians' Muse
Pattie Boyd
Pattie Boyd is the A-list musicians' muse. A convent schoolgirl turned swinging London fashion model, Boyd was married to Beatle George Harrison, then to guitar god Eric Clapton - and the relationships live on in song.
For Boyd, Harrison wrote "Something," one of the Fab Four's most-covered tunes. Clapton's passion for his friend's wife inspired the scorching "Layla." Later, when Boyd had left Harrison and married Clapton, he serenaded her with "Wonderful Tonight."
The songs made Boyd an icon through the words of others. She tells her own side of the story in the newly released memoir "Wonderful Tonight," written with royal biographer Penny Junor.
Pattie Boyd
Rapper Arrested Before Awards Show
T.I.
Grammy-winning rapper T.I. was arrested Saturday - just hours before he was to perform at the BET Hip-Hop Awards - in a parking lot where federal officials said he planned to pick up machine guns and silencers his bodyguard bought for him.
T.I., born Clifford Harris, is charged with possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers, as well as possession of firearms by a convicted felon. Harris was in federal custody, said U.S. attorney's office spokesman Patrick Crosby, who would not disclose his location.
The arrest resulted from an investigation that began this month. A federal firearms dealer told the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that a man was inquiring about buying a machine gun without registering the weapon as required, according to a criminal complaint filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
After trying to buy several machine guns from an undercover ATF agent, the unnamed person began cooperating with the government and said he was buying the machine guns and silencers for Harris, the complaint said. The bodyguard said that he had bought about nine firearms for Harris, and that the rapper had given him cash to buy guns four times, the complaint said.
T.I.
"Most Stolen Book" Gauge
Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair has an indicator to help publishers gauge public interest in the new offerings presented at the annual exhibition -- the unofficial "most stolen book" index.
Bild am Sonntag and Germany's ZDF television have come up with lists of titles most stolen from 15 leading German publishers' stands set up in the Frankfurt trade fair grounds.
"The most-stolen books are usually the most-sold later on," Claudia Hanssen of the Goldmann Verlag publishing house told Bild am Sonntag newspaper, which published a list of the 10 most stolen German-language books this year.
The German translation of Nobel Peace prize-winner Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", outlining the dangers of global warming, featured among the mainly German titles on the list.
Frankfurt Book Fair
Ditches Thanksgiving Date
Doo Dah Parade
First there was a controversy over too many tossed tortillas. Now, the annual Doo Dah Parade through Old Town Pasadena is shaking things up by postponing the 2007 parade -- until 2008.
The unusual and wacky parade will forgo its traditional Thanksgiving weekend date and instead hit the Pasadena streets on Jan. 20, organizers told the Pasadena Star-News.
The satirical answer to Pasadena's grand Tournament of Roses Parade has delighted and offended people since the seventies with amusing and silly entrants such as the Men of Leisure Synchronized Nap team and a marching group called the Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin.
Already sign-up for next year's parade are groups called "Rulers of the Underwear World," "Chia People," and "Junior Miss Supersize," the Star-News reported.
Doo Dah Parade
Weekend Box Office
'Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?'
Academy Awards heavyweights such as George Clooney and Cate Blanchett were no match for another of Tyler Perry's populist tales.
The Lionsgate release "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?", a marital yarn whose ensemble cast includes Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba, Jill Scott and writer-director Perry, debuted as the No. 1 weekend movie with $21.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?", $21.5 million.
2. "The Game Plan," $11.5 million.
3. "Michael Clayton," $11.01 million.
4. "We Own the Night," $11 million.
5. "The Heartbreak Kid," $7.4 million.
6. "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," $6.2 million.
7. "The Kingdom," $4.6 million.
8. "Across the Universe," $4 million.
9. "Resident Evil: Extinction," $2.65 million.
10. "The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising," $2.15 million.
'Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?'
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