April 7, 2006
"Ultimate Fighter 3" Starts Off With A Bang
As I've stated in the past, I don't watch Reality TV. The only exceptions are "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss" (of course, since I like it, they pulled it after 4 episodes) and "The Ultimate Fighter". Well, last night started the 3rd season of Ultimate Fighter and this year promises to be pretty exciting.
For those of you who follow UFC (this is real fighting, not staged wrestling), you know that this years coaches: Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz hate each other's guts, so there promises to be lots of tension. I won't give you any details in case you haven't watched it yet, but be sure to catch the series with the best fighters yet.
At UltimateFighter.TV
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March 22, 2006
For the Love of Mike! Start your Freakin' Shows on Time
**Rant Alert**
So last night I watched the "Shield" Finale. Basically the season ended the way I expected, lot's of trauma and sadness. Anyway here's the deal. FX was cool enough to put the "Shield" on twice in a row at 9PM and 10:30PM (seems to be the fad now to put premieres on multiple times in a row), which was pretty cool. While I almost never watch shows live (have I ever mentioned I'm a DVR junkie), I decided to catch the 10:30 episode.
So, Imagine my surprise when I flip to FX at 10:30 exactly and the last 2 minutes of the episode is playing out. I'm not going to give details in case you haven't seen it yet, but that last 2 minutes show all of the dead and alive participants (yeah, we knew somebody was going to die) in the same scene.
Stupid Freakin' FX!! Luckily I did one of the "Popeye" eyewinks so I could blur my vision and hit the mute button all at the same time, and being in as great as shape as I'm in, I pulled every muscle in my body. The problem was I couldn't change the channel because I was recording the show, so I had to glance at the screen every few seconds with my eyes almost closed to find out when the show was over.
Yep, I looked like a complete moron and have massive injuries just to avoid spoiling the end of a show. Thanks a lot FX! You'll be hearing from my attorney!
No more live TV for me. I'm going back to the DVR and I'll even get to skip all of the commercials, woohoo! What was I even thinking by watching live TV?
Rant done! Carry on.
Image Copyright FOX
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March 21, 2006
Don't Miss "The Shield" Season 5 Finale Tonight!
Tonight's the season finale of the best show you've never watched (bet you never watched "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr" either - still not on DVD by the way!). We're talking about "The Shield" of course. If you thought NYPD Blue was intense, you can't imagine how intense "The Commish" with a shaved head can be. In fact, my wife won't watch the shield because she doesn't want to see "The Commish" killing people and stealing money. Yep, Michael Chiklis is a bad cop, or is he?
So even if you've never seen "The Shield" before, go ahead and watch the 90 minute finale tonight. It'll definitely be a roller coaster!
If you need to catch up, Wikipedia has a great overview of "The Shield":
The Shield is about an experimental police precinct set up in the fictional Farmington neighborhood ("the Farm") of Los Angeles, using a converted church ("the Barn") as their police station. Although Michael Chiklis has top billing with his portrayal of Detective Vic Mackey, the show has an ensemble cast that will normally run a number of separate story lines through each episode.
Detective Mackey is the leader of the Strike Team, a four-man anti-gang unit based on the LAPD's real-life Rampart Division CRASH unit. The Strike Team uses a variety of violent and extortive methods to maintain peace on the streets, while maintaining their own profits through drug protection schemes and robbery. Much like its inspiration, the Strike Team isn't above planting drugs on and coercing confessions out of gang members. Attempts to give the team a fifth member have frequently led to near-catastrophe for the group.
More at Wikipedia.org
Image Copyright FOX
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March 15, 2006
Season 6 of the Sopranos Starts Out with a Bang.
Hey, just wanted to mention I finally got to watch the Sopranos season 6 opener. Wow, that episode has to be one of the most dramatic season openers yet. I won't give you any details in case you haven't had a chance to watch it yet.
And yes, the episode is now HBO's "On Demand" which is super cool, so you got no excuse not to watch it.
At HBO
Image Copyright HBO
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March 13, 2006
My Fun and Soprano-less Night
Last night became Tornadoville here in the Midwest, so because I was stuck in a hallway with my wife, 4 kids, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 3 hamsters, I didn't get to watch the "Sopranos" last night. So I don't know if anybody on our poll got "whacked" yet. It looks like most people think Paulie will be the first to go, but I doubt it happened last night.
So no matter what you do, please no hints on what happened last night. No I mean it! LaLaLaLaLa, I'm not listening to you.
Image Copyright HBO
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March 11, 2006
Who's Gonna Get Whacked First on Season Six of The Sopranos?
Here's a new poll for you. "Who's gonna get whacked?":
March 10, 2006
The Sopranos Season 6 Starts Sunday on HBO
Tony and the gang is back for season 6 of "The Sopranos" on Sunday. I'm guessing this will probably be the most dramatic season yet, especially since we still don't know for sure if "The Sopranos" will be back next year (indications look like it'll be back though).
I know that the Sopranos will be available "On Demand" 24 hours after it first airs in Canada. I don't know if that will happen on HBO in the US, but I suspect it will. How cool to be able to watch or rewatch the Sopranos without having to record it?
So who do you think will get "whacked" first? We'll put up a poll tomorrow to see what everybody thinks.
At HBO.com
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Image Copyright HBO
February 5, 2006
Pine Barrens + "The Sopranos" = Hilarious
For those of you who've never seen "The Sopranos" before and you want to see what the buzz is about, be sure to check out the "Pine Barrens" episode (episode 37, season 3). The episode was directed by Steve Buscemi and won a WGA Award for outstanding achievement in television writing. The episode is both funny and brilliant and you can currently catch it on "HBO On Demand". Here's a synopsis of one of the funniest scenes from TelevisionWithoutPity.com:
Cut back to the Pine Barrens, with Paulie answering his cell phone once again. Tony explains that he's going to talk fast, and relates that Drunk Guy once killed sixteen Chechens with his bare hands. He was some sort of Russian "Green Beret" commando with the Interior Ministry (read: KGB, or FSB, or whatever they're calling it these days). Tony is emphatic: "This guy cannot come back to tell his story, okay?" That much Paulie did hear.
The connection gets broken, and just like in every game of telephone you ever played as a child, the story gets a little twisted when Paulie passes it along to Christopher. "You’re not going to believe this. The guy killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. He was an interior decorator." Chris is more than a little confused by this, saying, "His house looked like shit." Yeah, but I so want that universal remote. I have to hit like seventeen buttons just to turn on the damn VCR.
So if you only watch one episode of "The Sopranos" in your life, make sure it's this one.
Image Copyright Home Box Office, Inc.
February 3, 2006
Does Continuous "Sopranos" Watching Cause Brain Damage?
So in just over 2 months time, I've watched 3 seasons of "The Sopranos" (39 episodes) on HBO's On Demand service. Yep, my brain's still a little sore but it'll heal. I figure I'll just watch a bunch of "A-Team" and "Knight Rider" on the Sleuth Channel to soften my brain up for "The Sopranos - Season 4".
If I haven't mentioned it before, I really dig "On Demand" service and I really hope it's the future of cable and Satellite TV. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, be sure to read:
Are you Watching "On Demand" TV?
January 27, 2006
Why I Don't Trust Reality TV
Last night I decided to watch "The First 48" on A&E. If you've not seen the real life crime drama, A&E describes it this way:
For homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking the moment they are called. Their chance of solving a case is cut in half if they don't get a lead in The First 48. Each passing hour gives suspects more time to flee, witnesses more time to forget what they saw, and crucial evidence more time to be lost forever.
The First 48 follows detectives from around the country during these first critical hours as they race against time to find the suspect. Gritty and fast-paced, it takes viewers behind the scenes of real-life investigations with unprecedented access to crime scenes, autopsies, forensic processing, and interrogations.
Overall, it's a pretty interesting and a somewhat uncomfortable show at times. Here's the description of the episode I watched last night:
Soon after discovering a bullet-ridden body in Overtown section of Miami, Sgt. Joe Schillaci learns the murder may spark a bloody turf war between rival heroin dealers in the neighborhood. Schillaci realizes, to prevent further bloodshed, he must infiltrate the world of heroin dealers and get them to reveal the killer's identity. But going undercover means Schillaci must confront his own traumatic past as a street narcotics cop--when he gunned down a man during a buy-and-bust operation gone wrong.
I really enjoyed this show until the last 15 minutes. Let me tell you way I don't trust any type of reality show. During the episode, you got to hear some of Sgt. Schillaci war stories of his many years in undercover narcotics. Obviously Schillaci has quite a few demons left from his experience. Towards the end of the show, Sgt. Joe Schillaci feels the only way to interrogate a drug dealer who might have been a witness, is to go undercover and make a drug buy so they can arrest the dealer.
Here's my question, with all of the narcotics officers in Miami, why did a homicide officer go undercover to do a routine drug buy? Why did we have to hear about Schillaci's demons while he carried out the buy? Why did we have to see him getting Hollywood-style makeup and then trying to fool his fellow officers with his disguise? Hollywood, that's why! I guess the producers felt it was a great way to "enhance" the story. If I'm wrong and no one from the production team had anything to do with it, you seriously have to worry about the judgment of the Miami Police Department.
We've always known that reality television had a tendency to steer away from reality, but when Hollywood controls the Miami police department, it makes you wonder how far it'll go?
At A&E.com
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