Yankees won the World Series giving them a 27th title. This has to be a sign of the Apocalypse.
Penn State takes on Ohio State at Beaver Stadium in State College, PA. The Nittany Lions are 3.5 point favorites, I like them to win a tough game 17-14.
The New England Patriots play the Dolphins in Foxboro this Sunday, they are 10.5 point favorites, I like them to win 35-3.
Some general thoughts about the current TV season.
1. CBS has killed its dead zone on Tuesday 10 pm with the Good Wife. It helps that Jay Leno replaced Law & Order: SVU which had ruled that time slot. Also helps that NCIS and NCIS: LA are doing very well in the ratings. The Good Wife is not a bad show, but at a different time preceded by different shows, I could see this hit get killed. Look at Shark, good ratings Thursday night 10 pm, moved to Sunday it became DOA.
2. I think that Three Rivers and Cold Case will be axed by CBS after their run is over. Three Rivers not pulling in the ratings and the shows as of late a bit too generic. Cold Case is still a good show but bad time slot is going to kill the show.
3. Eastwick is going to fall prey to the ABC dead zone of Wednesday night 10 pm. Again like Three Rivers, this show is not living up to the promise of its pilot.
4. Fox is going to burn up the remaining episodes of Dollhouse by telecasting episodes back to back in Dec. So no renewal and a quick and sure death for Craphouse. Too bad ABC does not put Private Practice out of its misery.
Oh well.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Thoughts: 03-November-2009
Penn State continued its winning ways by beating Northwestern on the road 34-13. This weekend in State College, Ohio State arrives to play the Nittany Lions in one of the biggest games of the year for them. My sister, who lives there and works for Penn State, calls it Hell Week. Lots of logistical problems for the EMTs and Staff of Beaver Stadium.
Not much to say about shows, pretty much going the same. House (Fox) and NCIS (CBS) continue to have very good seasons and have become must see TV for me. TV.com had one of its bloggers complain about Dexter (Showtime), citing boring subplots. Guess the blogger has not seen Dollhouse (Fox) or Private Practice (ABC) for really boring and crappy TV viewing.
I saw somewhere, on the Internet, that NBC is telling the producers of Heroes to tie up the plot lines as renewal looks doubtful. Not too surprised there giving how boring Heroes has been this season. TV.com blogger, check out that show for boring content and subplots, Dexter indeed.
TNT has picked up Southland for a 13 episode run according to TV.com. Good news, as that show did not deserve to get axed so quickly. I think that TNT will be a good home given the edgy shows that already appear on that network.
Oh well.
Not much to say about shows, pretty much going the same. House (Fox) and NCIS (CBS) continue to have very good seasons and have become must see TV for me. TV.com had one of its bloggers complain about Dexter (Showtime), citing boring subplots. Guess the blogger has not seen Dollhouse (Fox) or Private Practice (ABC) for really boring and crappy TV viewing.
I saw somewhere, on the Internet, that NBC is telling the producers of Heroes to tie up the plot lines as renewal looks doubtful. Not too surprised there giving how boring Heroes has been this season. TV.com blogger, check out that show for boring content and subplots, Dexter indeed.
TNT has picked up Southland for a 13 episode run according to TV.com. Good news, as that show did not deserve to get axed so quickly. I think that TNT will be a good home given the edgy shows that already appear on that network.
Oh well.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thoughts: 31-October-2009
Happy Halloween everyone! I will be spending this night at home catching up on 12 hours of TV shows. I almost wish that the networks would cancel a few shows.
Last night, I went to the Garde Theater in New London, CT to see the Broadway touring show of Avenue Q. This has been a favorite of mine ever since I saw the original cast on Broadway several years ago. I listen the to the cast recording all the time, and know all the words to the songs, just a problem with being tone deaf prevents me from singing out loud.
The show was great, the cast did a very nice job and I have to say it was an impressive set and fit the venue quite well. No bad seats in the Garde Theater at all. Trekkie Monster is my hero.
I usually complain about the History Channel quite a bit in the way they do such a bad job with shows like MonsterQuest or paranormal themes. Not enough skeptical insight. I recently watched The Real Wolfman about the Beast of Gevaudan, a true story about a beast in France in the 1760s who killed a number of people over a three year period. There was a film called the Brotherhood of the Wolf which presented a fictional account of this story. In this show, a former homicide detective and a cryptozoologist team up and investigate the case. They come up with a well reasoned and well researched theory. All in all it was very good and quite a good example of what the History Channel can do when they take the time to do things right. A
Oh well.
Last night, I went to the Garde Theater in New London, CT to see the Broadway touring show of Avenue Q. This has been a favorite of mine ever since I saw the original cast on Broadway several years ago. I listen the to the cast recording all the time, and know all the words to the songs, just a problem with being tone deaf prevents me from singing out loud.
The show was great, the cast did a very nice job and I have to say it was an impressive set and fit the venue quite well. No bad seats in the Garde Theater at all. Trekkie Monster is my hero.
I usually complain about the History Channel quite a bit in the way they do such a bad job with shows like MonsterQuest or paranormal themes. Not enough skeptical insight. I recently watched The Real Wolfman about the Beast of Gevaudan, a true story about a beast in France in the 1760s who killed a number of people over a three year period. There was a film called the Brotherhood of the Wolf which presented a fictional account of this story. In this show, a former homicide detective and a cryptozoologist team up and investigate the case. They come up with a well reasoned and well researched theory. All in all it was very good and quite a good example of what the History Channel can do when they take the time to do things right. A
Oh well.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Thoughts: 28-October-2009
Sports Update.
The Patriots defeated Tampa Bay, 35-7 and have a bye week. I really think that this team could have beaten the Jets and the Broncos in the two games they lost. But I think Brady and company are getting better and better with each game and I look forward to them making the playoffs.
Penn State takes on Northwestern in an easy road game, I like them to win 38-3. If they can win the rest of the games this season, they should get a pretty nice bowl bid. Iowa would have to lose two games in order for the Nittany Lions to get the conference title.
Yankees take on the Phillies, and I hope that the Phillies beat the hell out of them and end my suffering and agony.
TV Update.
I am not interesting in watching the remake of V on ABC which premieres next week. I watched the two mini series on DVD a few years back and thought that it was pretty much a one note show. The ongoing TV show that they tried to do, really did not work at all. I see the same fate for this remake.
Someone asked me at work why I am not watching FastForward (ABC) as they thought it was a show that I would like. Too much other stuff to watch and quite frankly after committing myself for Lost, I am not interested in getting involved with another show like that. Just do not see anything new or creative about FastForward.
Three Rivers (CBS) is a show that I have been catching on Comcast ON Demand. While I like the show, the last episode was very busy and very little character driven. And what is up with these patients getting on the transplant list and then getting donors right away? And aren't transplants a tad more complicated to do, just seems like they just speed right through them. Ratings are not very good and most likely will be cancelled by CBS. C
Eastwick (ABC) is kind of in the same boat as Three Rivers. Okay enough show, but it is starting to get into a rut. When are the wannabe witches going to figure out who Van Horne really is? The concept worked as a movie, just might be a little too one note in order to make it as an ongoing series. The ABC WED 10PM Death Zone strikes again as ratings are not good. C
MonsterQuest (History Channel) had the worst episode yet, a two hour snooze fest on the Yeti or Abominable Snowman. I fell asleep for 20 min and did not miss a thing. No new evidence. Old evidence was debunked quite easily. And at the end one of the group says, something is out there and we should spend more money looking for it. Yeah, right. D
Oh well.
The Patriots defeated Tampa Bay, 35-7 and have a bye week. I really think that this team could have beaten the Jets and the Broncos in the two games they lost. But I think Brady and company are getting better and better with each game and I look forward to them making the playoffs.
Penn State takes on Northwestern in an easy road game, I like them to win 38-3. If they can win the rest of the games this season, they should get a pretty nice bowl bid. Iowa would have to lose two games in order for the Nittany Lions to get the conference title.
Yankees take on the Phillies, and I hope that the Phillies beat the hell out of them and end my suffering and agony.
TV Update.
I am not interesting in watching the remake of V on ABC which premieres next week. I watched the two mini series on DVD a few years back and thought that it was pretty much a one note show. The ongoing TV show that they tried to do, really did not work at all. I see the same fate for this remake.
Someone asked me at work why I am not watching FastForward (ABC) as they thought it was a show that I would like. Too much other stuff to watch and quite frankly after committing myself for Lost, I am not interested in getting involved with another show like that. Just do not see anything new or creative about FastForward.
Three Rivers (CBS) is a show that I have been catching on Comcast ON Demand. While I like the show, the last episode was very busy and very little character driven. And what is up with these patients getting on the transplant list and then getting donors right away? And aren't transplants a tad more complicated to do, just seems like they just speed right through them. Ratings are not very good and most likely will be cancelled by CBS. C
Eastwick (ABC) is kind of in the same boat as Three Rivers. Okay enough show, but it is starting to get into a rut. When are the wannabe witches going to figure out who Van Horne really is? The concept worked as a movie, just might be a little too one note in order to make it as an ongoing series. The ABC WED 10PM Death Zone strikes again as ratings are not good. C
MonsterQuest (History Channel) had the worst episode yet, a two hour snooze fest on the Yeti or Abominable Snowman. I fell asleep for 20 min and did not miss a thing. No new evidence. Old evidence was debunked quite easily. And at the end one of the group says, something is out there and we should spend more money looking for it. Yeah, right. D
Oh well.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Thoughts: October 25, 2009
Penn State had a big win over Michigan yesterday, defeating them 35-10. I thought that the game would be much closer and have to say that I am happy that I was wrong. Kent State, my graduate school Alta mater, won yesterday beating Ohio and giving them a 4-4 record.
Game 6 between the Angels and the Yankees was put off until day due to heavy rains which I experienced here in CT. The day is looking to be much better and this game should get under away. I like the Angels to win today and force a Game 7. It would really make my day for them to eliminate the Yankees.
The Naked News did a review of the remake of The Stepfather. From what I can see, it is a virtual remake of the original film that starred Terry O' Quinn. That film had at least two sequels so I wonder why the remake. At least when Rob Zombie did the remake of Halloween, he tried to do something a bit more original and focus on Michael Myer's back story. And given that we can watch the originals on DVD, I just do not see the point in these remakes.
Zombies originally were the dead reanimated by voodoo priests to serve as slave labor. They only kill folks on command of their masters and never ate brains. Marvel had an interesting comic book series about Simon Garth, a rich man turned into a zombie and forced to serve at the whims of a master. Now they are just a mob of creatures killing folks and eating their brains. And we get movie and movie made about them. Some are creative and original, most are repetitive and stupid. I predict the next trend will be to go back to the original Zombie myth and make a movie about that.
American Chopper (TLC) returned to the airwaves this week with both Jr. and Mikey off the OCC team. Sr. had a big fight with Mikey when he tried to have a sit down with him and understand why he is not being used by the company any more. I watched Sr. do the public presentation of their latest bike and he sucked. Jr. and Mikey did much better with that PR role. We also find out Danny, another son of Sr., is estranged from his father. Jason Poole impressed the folks at that seat building company and could leave OCC for another job. Sr is going to lose the talent that made his company bit by bit and once TLC pulls the plug on this show that will happen. Sad to see an interesting show self destruct. D
Oh well.
Game 6 between the Angels and the Yankees was put off until day due to heavy rains which I experienced here in CT. The day is looking to be much better and this game should get under away. I like the Angels to win today and force a Game 7. It would really make my day for them to eliminate the Yankees.
The Naked News did a review of the remake of The Stepfather. From what I can see, it is a virtual remake of the original film that starred Terry O' Quinn. That film had at least two sequels so I wonder why the remake. At least when Rob Zombie did the remake of Halloween, he tried to do something a bit more original and focus on Michael Myer's back story. And given that we can watch the originals on DVD, I just do not see the point in these remakes.
Zombies originally were the dead reanimated by voodoo priests to serve as slave labor. They only kill folks on command of their masters and never ate brains. Marvel had an interesting comic book series about Simon Garth, a rich man turned into a zombie and forced to serve at the whims of a master. Now they are just a mob of creatures killing folks and eating their brains. And we get movie and movie made about them. Some are creative and original, most are repetitive and stupid. I predict the next trend will be to go back to the original Zombie myth and make a movie about that.
American Chopper (TLC) returned to the airwaves this week with both Jr. and Mikey off the OCC team. Sr. had a big fight with Mikey when he tried to have a sit down with him and understand why he is not being used by the company any more. I watched Sr. do the public presentation of their latest bike and he sucked. Jr. and Mikey did much better with that PR role. We also find out Danny, another son of Sr., is estranged from his father. Jason Poole impressed the folks at that seat building company and could leave OCC for another job. Sr is going to lose the talent that made his company bit by bit and once TLC pulls the plug on this show that will happen. Sad to see an interesting show self destruct. D
Oh well.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Thoughts: 24-October-2009
I am back from the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago and needed a couple of day to recuperate. That meeting is getting way to big and unfortunately the quality of research is not increasing. Too many presentations where small significant effects are blown out of proportion, correct control groups were not run, and no real direction or purpose in doing the study other than to get a notch on the old resume.
Lots of great restaurants to eat at. We went to Berghoffs, an old haunt from graduate student days, and it was as good as ever. Also had two meals at a old time Chicago restaurant called Exchequer where we ate deep dish Chicago style pizza and I had a monster burger for lunch. We finished our trip by having a great meal at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse which was wonderful.
I have not caught up on my TV shows yet. Private Practice (ABC) was as dopey as ever, gets a D. Smallville (CW) had a great episode where Chloe pulls a game on Oliver to get him back as a hero, A. Robin Hood (BBC America) also was very good, we had an insane Prince John and Gisborne bests the Sheriff in a contest where we think he is dead but in the last frame, we see that he is still alive, A.
According to USA Today, Eastwick (ABC, Wednesday 10 pm Death Zone) and Three Rivers (CBS) are not doing well in the ratings and a call for a full season does not look good. Lie to Me (Fox) also has not had a full season pickup yet either. I like all three shows, and would miss Three Rivers and Lie to Me. Eastwick has not grown on me as a must watch show.
Penn State travels to Michigan this afternoon and I like Penn State to win a close game, 17-14.
New England goes to England to take on Tampa Bay, after the blowout against the Titans, I like them to win big there also, 35-0.
Oh well.
Lots of great restaurants to eat at. We went to Berghoffs, an old haunt from graduate student days, and it was as good as ever. Also had two meals at a old time Chicago restaurant called Exchequer where we ate deep dish Chicago style pizza and I had a monster burger for lunch. We finished our trip by having a great meal at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse which was wonderful.
I have not caught up on my TV shows yet. Private Practice (ABC) was as dopey as ever, gets a D. Smallville (CW) had a great episode where Chloe pulls a game on Oliver to get him back as a hero, A. Robin Hood (BBC America) also was very good, we had an insane Prince John and Gisborne bests the Sheriff in a contest where we think he is dead but in the last frame, we see that he is still alive, A.
According to USA Today, Eastwick (ABC, Wednesday 10 pm Death Zone) and Three Rivers (CBS) are not doing well in the ratings and a call for a full season does not look good. Lie to Me (Fox) also has not had a full season pickup yet either. I like all three shows, and would miss Three Rivers and Lie to Me. Eastwick has not grown on me as a must watch show.
Penn State travels to Michigan this afternoon and I like Penn State to win a close game, 17-14.
New England goes to England to take on Tampa Bay, after the blowout against the Titans, I like them to win big there also, 35-0.
Oh well.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thoughts: 16-October-2009
I am off to Chicago tomorrow for the Society for Neuroscience meeting. So I will be off line until Oct 23.
Penn State takes on Minnesota this weekend. I like the Nittany Lions to win, 21-7.
Patriots are at home against the Titans, should be an easy win for them and a chance to come back after the loss to the Broncos. I like them to win, 35-3.
Heroes (NBC) has just been a so-so average show so far this season. After the exciting and creative Season 1, I have not really seen anything special about this show. Just average, which makes me think that all the creative juices were used up for Season 1. C
The Good Wife (CBS) is starting to fall into the same trap. After an interesting pilot episode, it has just become an average show. Chris Noth is making fewer and fewer appearances and once he is gone, I do not know where this show will lead to. C
NCIS (CBS) after a great season last year, is continuing putting out really good hows in its 7th season. Why can this show be so good after 6 years, but other shows after a couple of years feel really tired and boring. A
Grey's Anatomy (ABC) took some of the stupid pills that the Private Practice writers use and came up with a very bad show. The Mercy West doctors showed up, all wearing orange scrubs, and all competing with the Blue clad Seattle Grace staff. Izzie screws up another patient, costing her a kidney transplant, and finally gets fired. She has to be one of the worst TV doctors since Larry Linville's Frank Burns on MASH. She has left the show for now, but will be coming back.
D
Private Practice (ABC) had Bailey guest star from Grey's Anatomy, she brings the kidney transplant patient down to where Private Practice is based on, to get a kidney from her sister. Not a good match but close enough. Then we find out the sister is HIV Positive and they still go a head and put that kidney into our patient. Oh brother. We also find out the Peter is the biological father, Brian Benben, who plays Sheldon, leaves the room and one can see the happiness on his face as he races out of this show. Hopefully, he can get on a better show next time. D
Oh well.
Penn State takes on Minnesota this weekend. I like the Nittany Lions to win, 21-7.
Patriots are at home against the Titans, should be an easy win for them and a chance to come back after the loss to the Broncos. I like them to win, 35-3.
Heroes (NBC) has just been a so-so average show so far this season. After the exciting and creative Season 1, I have not really seen anything special about this show. Just average, which makes me think that all the creative juices were used up for Season 1. C
The Good Wife (CBS) is starting to fall into the same trap. After an interesting pilot episode, it has just become an average show. Chris Noth is making fewer and fewer appearances and once he is gone, I do not know where this show will lead to. C
NCIS (CBS) after a great season last year, is continuing putting out really good hows in its 7th season. Why can this show be so good after 6 years, but other shows after a couple of years feel really tired and boring. A
Grey's Anatomy (ABC) took some of the stupid pills that the Private Practice writers use and came up with a very bad show. The Mercy West doctors showed up, all wearing orange scrubs, and all competing with the Blue clad Seattle Grace staff. Izzie screws up another patient, costing her a kidney transplant, and finally gets fired. She has to be one of the worst TV doctors since Larry Linville's Frank Burns on MASH. She has left the show for now, but will be coming back.
D
Private Practice (ABC) had Bailey guest star from Grey's Anatomy, she brings the kidney transplant patient down to where Private Practice is based on, to get a kidney from her sister. Not a good match but close enough. Then we find out the sister is HIV Positive and they still go a head and put that kidney into our patient. Oh brother. We also find out the Peter is the biological father, Brian Benben, who plays Sheldon, leaves the room and one can see the happiness on his face as he races out of this show. Hopefully, he can get on a better show next time. D
Oh well.
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