CSI: Miami

Have I mentioned that I think this maybe the funniest show on television ? Last week's episode may have been the best yet.
It has become so absolutely ridiculous that I can barely even explain it. I don't think they even attempt plausibility anymore.

Warning: Spoiler Alert!

For instance, WHY would two CSI's be transporting a witness to testify ? And WHY would a witness whose life is in danger be "safe housed" in an apartment that is ALL WINDOWS ? I guess so that someone could kill him with a runaway construction crane.
It was awesome !! I thought that my eyes were going to bug out of my head like has happened in so many cartoons.
And then, of course, it turns out that it was the witness' son who killed him, by accident, of course. He just wanted to scare his Dad, so he wouldn't testify, but then the crane got out of control!!
I'm telling you, it was priceless, my friends. Priceless.

Chuck !!!!!

Chuck returns tonight. And I am cautiously excited. I really loved the first Season, and I hope that it can sustain itself.
The Second season of Heroes has me a bit gunshy, I think(and the two hour season premiere of Heroes 3rd season did not do much to ease my concern about the show from Season 2), and I know that they very different shows and all...But still...Heroes was a show that I absolutely loved the first season, and pretty much DESPISED the 2nd, and I never would have guessed that was possible. I certainly don't foresee that happening with Chuck, but I'm still a bit cautious, that's all.
I hope that it's good.

Heroes- Season 3 Premiere(aka Any Excuse To Show A Picture Of Kristen Bell)

SPOILER ALERT!!!!
I will discuss plot details, etc. below.


I thought this was better than last year, but I still thought parts of it were pretty bad.

First of all- Why did they bring Maya back ? She was awful last season, and she picked up right where she left off.
I just needed to get that out of the way.

I do believe that I know why this show does frustrate me so much, at least why last night's episodes did...I would have to go back and check to see if it tracks to the first two seasons...But last night's episodes annoyed me because so much of the narrative seems to depend on people being DUMB.
Examples: Hiro with the formula. Why open the safe ? After you open the safe-why open the envelope with the formula ? After you open the envelope with the formula, why hold it up in the air ? Oh, so someone could steal it, of course !! And the "trap" for the speedster was just idiotic.

Shuresh: Why would he inject himself with that serum ? he's supposed to be a SCIENTIST, isn't he ? They should have had Maya being threatened, THEN I might have believed him just jabbing it in his arm, but otherwise, why would he do that without any real research ? DUMB !!!
They just need to kill him and Maya off together. NOW!!!

Parkman just keeps getting more and more useless. that storyline looks, to quote Mrs. Krabapple- "Pretty lame, Milhouse."

I did like some of it. I was very very happy to see the lovely Kristen Bell back as Elle, and I am hoping that her being fired does not remove her from the show. That will make me very unhappy.

I liked the villains being evil just to be evil. that has potential, I think. Though I do wonder why they keep mentioning a dozen escaped, and they only show us the same 4.

I am a bit curious as to exactly who Ali Larter's character is...Is she related to Niki/Jessica/Gina ? My initial guess is that she is who Niki became in the fire to survive.

Is Linderman a figment of Nathan's imagination ? Or is there something else going on there ?

I kinda like the Claire storyline, and the larger arc of what Peter changed, and the revelation that Angela is Sylar's mother(but is he a Petrelli ?) but I do wonder if I will make it through the season. We shall see, I guess.

100 New Classic Tee Vee Shows

This one is kinda like the Movie list idea that I did on Sandwich Flats, and stole from Avitable. Entertainment weekly also had a list of 100 New Classic Tee Vee Shows. I bolded the shows that I watched at least semi-regularly, and asterisked the ones that I really, really liked. But I have seen a lot of the shows I didn't bold, I just never watched them even semi-regularly, so I did not bold them. It was harder to do than the movie one in that way- a movie, you have seen it or not, but a tee vee show, sometimes someone you know watches it so you see it a few times, things like that.



1. The Simpsons, Fox, 1989-present*******-Greatest show ever.
2 The Sopranos, HBO (1999-2007) ******- I liked the ending. I thought it was perfect.
3 Seinfeld, NBC (1989-98) *****- I liked the last episode of this, too-I thought it was perfectly in tune with the show.
4 The X-Files, Fox (1993-2002)****** -Until David Duchovny left, one of the best.
5 Sex and the City, HBO (1998-2004) -Got tired of this show FAST.
6 Survivor, CBS (2000-present)
7 The Cosby Show, NBC (1984-92)
8 Lost, ABC (2004-present)********-FANTASTIC!!
9 Friends, NBC (1994-2004) - First season was hilarious, then- meh.
10 Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The WB (1997-2001); UPN (2001-03)******* -One of the best shows on television, ever.
11 The Wire, HBO (2002-08)
12 South Park, Comedy Central (1997-present)*****-Genius.
13 Freaks and Geeks, NBC (1999-2000)********-Gone too soon.
14 The Daily Show, Comedy Central (1996-present)****
15 The Oprah Winfrey Show, Syndicated (1986-present)
16 Arrested Development, Fox (2003-06) ******************-Genius.
17 The Office (U.K. version), BBC2 (2001-03)*****-Near perfect.
18 American Idol, Fox (2002-present)
19 ER, NBC (1994-present) -Meh.
20 Beverly Hills, 90210, Fox (1990-2000) ****-This show, I don't know what to say, it was like a virus, and I was hooked. I still watch reruns.
21 Roseanne, ABC (1988-97)
22 The Real World, MTV (1992-present) -They keep finding worse and worse people, it's astounding.
23 The West Wing, NBC (1999-2006)-Thought waaay too highly of itself.
24 Star Trek: The Next Generation, Syndication (1987-94)
25 Miami Vice, NBC (1984-89)
26 Chappelle's Show, Comedy Central (2003-06)*******-Brilliant comic.
27 Law & Order, NBC (1990-present) ****-Tried and true-but I do miss Lenny.
28 The Larry Sanders Show, HBO (1992-98)***** -MORE ON DVD!!!!
29 The Shield, FX (2002-present)
30 Late Show With David Letterman, CBS (1993-present)********** -Dave, is, was and forever will be-The Man.
31 The Civil War, PBS (1990)
32 Gilmore Girls, The WB (2000-06), The CW (2006-07) ****- I loved this show, at least until the last season.
33 My So-Called Life, ABC (1994-95)
34 24, Fox (2001-present) **
35 CSI, CBS (2000-present) *****
36 thirtysomething, ABC (1987-91)
38 Beavis and Butt-head, MTV (1993-97)**
39 Six Feet Under, HBO (2001-05)- About half of the first season was good, but once they started phasing out the ghost of the Dad, they lost me.
40 Mr. Show, (HBO, 1995-98) ******- Bob and David- 'nuff said.
41 Frasier, NBC (1993-2004)
42 L.A. Law, NBC (1986-94)
43 Late Night With Conan O'Brien, NBC (1993-present)**
44 Jeopardy!, Syndicated (1984-present) ***
45 Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO (2000-present) ******-Cringeworthy brilliance AND Richard Lewis.
46 Homicide: Life on the Street, NBC (1993-99)****
47 30 Rock, NBC (2006-present) ******
48 Ally McBeal, Fox (1997-2002)
49 Twin Peaks, ABC (1990-91) *******-Should be in the top 5.
50 Baywatch, NBC (1989-90), Syndicated (1991-2001)
51. Melrose Place, Fox (1992-99)
52. Felicity, The WB (1998-2002)
53. Will & Grace, NBC (1998-2006)
54. Moonlighting, ABC (1985-89)******-Great while it lasted.
55. Pee-wee's Playhouse, CBS (1986-90)*******
56. Desperate Housewives, ABC (2004-present)-Again, the first season was good, then-meh.
57. The Amazing Race, CBS (2001-present)
58. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, NBC (1992-present)-Awful and UNFUNNY!!
59. Battlestar Galactica, Sci Fi (2003-2008)
60. Xena: Warrior Princess, Syndicated (1995-2001)
61. The Office (U.S.), NBC (2005-present)
62. House, Fox (2004-present)
63. Mystery Science Theater 3000, Comedy Central (1989-96), Sci Fi (1997-99)**
64. The Osbournes, MTV (2002-05)
65. Family Guy, Fox (1999-2002, 2005-present)- Never liked it, never laughed at it.
66. Grey’s Anatomy, ABC (2005-present)
67. Planet Earth, Discovery Channel (2007)
68. Jackass, MTV (2000-02)
69. The Colbert Report, Comedy Central (2005-present)**
70. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS (1996-2005)
71. Friday Night Lights, NBC (2006-present)***
72. NewsRadio, NBC (1995-99)************-Underrated, never could watch the episodes after Phil Hartman died.
73. Oz, HBO (1997-2003)***-Crazy ass brilliant show.
74. Wiseguy, CBS (1987-90)
75. Project Runway, Bravo (2004-present)
76. In Living Color, Fox (1990-94)- Early episodes were hilarious.
77. The Golden Girls, NBC (1985-92)
78. I'll Fly Away, NBC (1991-93)
79. The Comeback, HBO (2005)
80. King of the Hill, Fox (1997-present)- Bobby always killed me.
81. Murphy Brown, CBS (1988-98)
82. The Hills, MTV (2006-present)
83. Absolutely Fabulous, BBC2 (1992), BBC1 (1994-2004)
84. Northern Exposure, CBS (1990-95)
85. The Kids in the Hall, HBO (1989-92), CBS (1992-95)*******-Again-comic gold.
86. Prime Suspect, ITV (1991-2006)***
87. Deadwood, HBO (2004-06)***
88. Malcolm in the Middle, Fox (2000-06)-First season-great-downhill from there.
89. SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon (1999-present)***
90. Dawson's Creek, The WB (1998-2003)
91. Mad Men, AMC (2007-present)******- I can't wait for season 2.
92. The Ben Stiller Show, Fox (1992-93)********
93. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Bravo (2003-07)
94. Married...With Children, Fox (1987-97)
95. Designing Women, CBS (1986-93)
96. The Arsenio Hall Show, Syndicated (1989-94)
97. Party of Five, Fox (1994-2000)
98. MacGyver, ABC (1985-92)
99. The Bachelor, ABC (2002-present)
100. Saved by the Bell, NBC (1989-93)

Now, what's missing ? I guess Newhart and St. Elsewhere started a year before their cutoff, or they would both belong. Murder, She Wrote (I have a real soft spot for it)? Top Chef ? Monk ?
The State ? Reno 911 ? Strangers With Candy ? COPS ? DeGrassi Junior High/High and DeGrassi The Next Generation ? It's Garry Shandling's Show ? Police Squad ! ? Quantum Leap?
The Wonder Years ? Robot Chicken ? Aqua Teen Hunger Force ? Dr. Katz ? Futurama ?

What else ? What am I forgetting that they forgot ?

Summer Tee Vee- Burn Notice

Have you seen Burn Notice ? You should.

It begins it's second season on the USA Network on July 10th. The first season was just released on DVD.
It's a bout a guy who used to be a spy(okay, that rhyme was unintentional, and I will try to not do that again) and wakes up one morning in Miami and finds out that he has been "burned" which is kinda like being fired, spy-wise. You know what, here's the main character's(Michael Weston-played by Jeffrey Donovan) bio from the USA Network site:

After 10 years of serving his country working in Eastern Europe and the OPEC countries as a covert operative, Michael is living every spy's worst nightmare. While in the middle of a dangerous mission in Nigeria, Michael's "contact" informs him that he has been burned. When a spy gets fired, he doesn't get a call from human resources and a gold watch. In Michael's case, they jeopardize his life, freeze his bank accounts, dump him in Miami, and flag him on every government list known to man. They can't take away his skills or what's in his head, so they take away his assets and his resources to make sure he can never work again. They burn him.

Now Michael has a much different mission: he must find out who issued his burn notice and why he was blacklisted so that he can put his life back together. Meanwhile, he has to fend off a suddenly hostile world of old foes gunning for him. In order to survive in Miami and fund his own personal investigation, Michael enlists the help of the only two "friends" he has: Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) an ex-IRA operative who also happens to be an ex-girlfriend and Sam (Bruce Campbell) a washed-out military intelligence contact whom the feds have keeping an eye on Michael. He's also forced to deal with the family he went halfway around the world to get away from - particularly his mother, Madeline (Sharon Gless), who couldn't be happier to have her son back in town.

Michael, on the other hand, is happiest when he is in a different hemisphere from the rest of his family. He was 17 when he left home to join the military and he never turned back. Now stuck in Miami, the one place he vowed never to return to, he must confront the bad memories of his childhood and repair the broken relationships he left behind.

As he gets closer to the truth, Michael scrapes by helping out whoever needs his services -- mostly desperate people who can't go to the police. Using his Special Ops training, some duct tape and his sardonic humor, Michael becomes a reluctant hero. It's a dangerous gig, but it's the best he can do ... for now.

That says it much better than I could. it's a great show. It's funny, Gabrielle Anwar is sexy. It's action packed. AND, it has Bruce Campbell in it. What else do you need, man ? It's just a helluva lot of fun to watch.

We Have A Top Chef !!!!!

SPOILER ALERT !!! I discuss the finale, including the Winner below !!!
You Have Been Warned !!!














Thank God it wasn't Lisa !!!!


It was....Stephanie !!!

Hooray for Stephanie !!!
She was one of the people we(My Special Lady and I) thought would make it to the end. We thought Richard would, as well. Lisa, she was an unpleasant surprise.
And I gotta admit, for a few minutes last night, I thought that Padme

And the other judges

Were going to give it to Lisa. And that would have sucked. And it would have sucked for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it would have sucked for me because I just didn't like her. She had a sour face all the time. She whined about everything, nothing was ever her fault.

But I also think it would have been unfair from another standpoint: I cannot remember a moment when she finished highly in the challenges.She was a bottom feeder for most(if not all of the show), She was just fortunate that someone was always deemed(incorrectly, at least once) to be a lesser Chef than her. And in some ways, I don't think it would have been fair for her to win the Final Challenge unless every single thing she did was perfect and near revolutionary, or unless Richard and Stephanie screwed up monumentally.

How you do in the final challenge should be important, but what is the pint of the whole competition, if someone can hang around near the bottom of the pack, sneak into the Finale ,and then win because she did things on a par with the other Chefs ? Doesn't there have to be some cumulative effect of the competition ? Richard and Stephanie were consistently among the Top Chefs every week. If that's going to be the case, they why not just pick three chefs and have them prepare a 4 course meal ? Why bother with all the eliminations along the way ?

It's a bit of a moot point because Stephanie won, but I think there would have been some serious questioning if Lisa had won. I know I would have been up in arms.

I thought it was interesting that Richard said the he choked, and I was completely unsurprised that Tom agreed with him.

Though I must admit, I had the feeling going in that they wanted Richard to win. Not in any unfair way, but I got this vibe that Tom, in particular, really appreciated how Richard goes about things. But in the end, he just did not have his best night when he needed to have it. I also felt like he had counted on the sous chef being there the most on the second day.

Well, I think that's my two cents about this one.

Congrats again, Stephanie !!!

Lost- Season 4 Finale

Warning: I'm discussing details of the finale below:If you have not seen it, don't look !!!


Okay, it has been a week now. I must admit, I have not watched the season finale again yet. I -plant to, it just has not happened yet.
My first reaction to the episode: Wow.
Second reaction: Wow.
Third reaction-(said to My Special Lady)- "Didn't I say that it was Locke in the coffin at the end of LAST year's season finale ?" She finally admitted that I did say that, But she may just have been agreeing because she wanted to go to bed.

There is a lot to process.

Is Jin dead ?
I don't know. Part of me says he's not. We did not actually see him die. We don't know whether he may have jumped into the water before the freighter exploded. I think I want him to be alive. But I think some people on the show are gonna be sorry that Sun thinks he's dead. She's gonna make some people PAY. But who ? Ben ? I would assume so. Jack ? Maybe. Widmore ? Could be. Her Dad ? Oh, I think so.

Kate's dream- Doc Arzt has a clip of the phone call Kate got here. It was apparently someone speaking backwards, but he plays it forwards,and it seems to say "The island needs you, You have to go back before it's too late." then, of course, she sees Claire in Aaron's room, and Claire warns her to not bring Aaron back to the island. This would seem to be in contrast to the sort of evil looking Claire that was in the cabin, wouldn't it ? didn't the Claire sitting in the cabin seem to be a little creepy ? Was that maybe not her ? was that just a manifestation to make John feel better ? Or was that not really a manifestation of Claire in kaye's dream, but just Kate's subconscious ? I think it was Claire in Kate's dream. I think she has always been about protecting Aaron, but I don't know what to think about the Claire that was in the cabin.

Locke's alias- I have read some questioning of why Locke would be using the name Jeremy Bentham, and was it just a cheap ploy by the writers? Over at Nik At Nite, Nikki lays out who the real Jeremy Bentham is, and that is quite interesting. But i think the use of any pseudonym by Locke would be for protection. He's supposed to be dead(in the crash), presumably he's hiding from Widmore and perhaps Ben. I think it makes perfect sense to me, that he would use a fake name.

Christian- He seems to be a major player in this thing now doesn't he ? At first, it seemed like he was haunting Jack because he was Jack's father and blah, blah,blah. But now he appears to Locke in the cabin. He tells Michael that "He can go."(very cool moment,by the way). Very interesting.
Dads Theme- There seems to be a definite running Father theme through the show: Jack and Christian, Claire and Christian, Locke and his birth Dad(the kidney stealing, paralyzing dick), Penny Widmore and Charles, Ben and Alex, Kate and her step dad, Sun and her Dad, Ben and his Dad..I know I'm leaving some out, but there's some major Daddy issues on that island.

Do you think Sayid is rounding people up for Ben at the end ? I think I do.

Moving the Island ? I mean, What the Fuck ? what happened ? Did they move it in time ? In space ? Both ? has it been moved before ? How Often / are we supposed to assume that Widmore moved it once, and that's why he's not on the island anymore ?

Speaking of Widmore: Is anyone else excited for the scene when he sees Desmond again ? you know it's gonna happen.
And speaking of Desmond- Can I just say that the romantic sucker in me almost jumped up and cheered when Penny was on that boat ? I was so damned happy for them. Isn't that demented ?

What else ?

The scene with Ben and Locke in the Orchid was priceless. "Do you mean time traveling bunnies ? Then yes."

I am starting to gain a weird appreciation for Ben, I must say. I know he's mostly evil, but there's just something I really like about him. Perhaps I'm evil too.

i wish we had seem Hurley playing chess with Mr. Ecko. I miss Mr. Ecko.

Oh, and the what the fuck about Charlotte ? She's been on the island before ? Huh ? Who is she ?
And how cool is Miles, by the way ? He's only been on the show for a short time, but I really like him.
And what happened to Farraday and the people on the little boat ? Did they move with the island ? Are they just adrift ? There weren't any other known characters on the boat with Farraday( I called them all Star Trek red shirters- You remember on Star Trek, they would go down to a planet, and it would be Kirk, Spock, Bones and some guy in a red shirt, and you knew the guy in the red shirt was not getting back on the Enterprise), so if they were adrift, I guess Farraday could eat them to survive.

Okay, my brain hurts. I'm sure I'll write more later, but that's all for now.

I almost forgot, my friend Tracy told me about the alternate endings they shot, in case there was a leak, and they showed them on Good Morning America Friday morning. Here they are:




And here's a deciphering of what Sawyer said to Kate on the helicopter.



Okay, that's it for now. And this time, I mean it.