Clash of the talk show hosts

There are a lot of subtle details to the late night TV debacle at NBC. This video sorts it all out.

Sure it's in Chinese. And it depicts Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jeff Zucker as costumed superheroes battling each other. And it features David Letterman wacking Zucker with a folding chair.

But otherwise, it really tells the story well.

Mashup mania

Here's another from the Too Much Free Time Department.

I don't know what the point of this video is. I just know that it's AWESOME!

40 years of manipulative Muppets

We all grew up with "Sesame Street." Share your favorite socialist brainwashing tactic of theirs in comments below...

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'I'm Batman...or am I?'

I'm a couple of weeks behind on one of my favorite new shows, "Community."

I just watched the Halloween episode tonight and LOVED the impersonation Danny Pudi, as the wonderfully wacky Abed, did of Christian Bale's version of Batman...

'Sorry, dude, it's on the calendar'

I just watched the new ABC show "Modern Family." It's kind of an updated version of the 1989 movie "Parenthood" (which, ironically enough, is getting its own update later this season for NBC).

The show wasn't perfect, but it had its moments that made me laugh. I particularly got a kick out of this scene dealing with crazy parental disciplinary policies and busy family schedules...

Mad Me

I've only caught AMC's "Mad Men" a couple of times, but it seems like a show I'd like to get into. With the new season set to begin on Aug. 16 maybe this is a good time to start.

Anyway, to promote the upcoming season, AMC has launched MadMenYourself.com, where you can create a 1960s-style cartoon version of yourself that may look like it would fit in with the cast of the show.

After seeing it put to use on Sweetpea's Garden and Little Lost Robot, I decided to give it a try myself. Here's what I came up with. I'm not sure if I'm quite this portly, but the next option down looked a little too well built to pass for me (maybe I'm selling myself short). What do you think?

Run, Conan! Run!

In case you missed it, here's how Conan O'Brien opened his first "Tonight Show." I thought it was pretty funny...

'Lost' & found

I'm getting pretty psyched for the long-awaited return of "Lost." Here's a sneak peek of the season premiere...

'Destiny Calls'

Ok, "Lost" fans, what's this all about?

'You will stay dead this time!'

Here's a sneak peek at season 7 of the most action-packed show on television, "24."

The new season begins in January. This trailer will air at the end of the "24: Redemption" TV movie on Nov. 23.

This is a different version of the trailer than the one released by Fox about a year ago -- before the writers strike forced the network to postone the entire season. Personally, I like the new trailer better.

Bring on the Bauer Power Hour!



(Note: you find a larger resolution version of the trailer here.)

Here's what a Fox news release said about "Day 7" last year...

24 is back, unlike ever before. Set in Washington, DC, “Day 7” opens with CTU dismantled and JACK BAUER (Kiefer Sutherland) on trial. Bauer’s day takes an unexpected turn when former colleague TONY ALMEIDA (Carlos Bernard) returns. Meanwhile, President ALLISON TAYLOR (Cherry Jones) leads the country alongside White House Chief of Staff ETHAN KANIN (Bob Gunton) and First Gentleman HENRY TAYLOR (Colm Feore).

A national security crisis prompts an investigation by a team of FBI agents including Agent JANIS GOLD (Janeane Garofalo), Agent RENEE WALKER (Annie Wersching), Agent LARRY MOSS (Jeffrey Nordling), Agent SEAN HILLINGER (Rhys Coiro) and security specialist MICHAEL LATHAM (John Billingsley). Although CTU is no longer, CHLOE O’BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison) are back for another momentous day of shocking events.

'Heroes': Burning questions

I’m still enjoying “Heroes,” but it’s clearly not the show it was in its first season. I fear the series, now in its third year, is growing too convoluted for its own good.

Here are a couple of observations I made after watching this week’s episode (you might want skip the rest of this post if you haven’t watched it yet – or check out the embedded copy below).

• I don’t get how Peter’s power works – and I suspect the writers don’t either since his character is a frequent source of contradictions. If he absorbs the power of any super powered person he comes into contact with, then wouldn’t he already have Sylar’s power? In fact, wouldn’t he have had it for a while now?
  
  
• While speaking of Peter, if he has Claire’s healing power, then how was Future Peter killed by a gunshot? We’ve seen Claire recover from worse. Likewise, why does Future Peter have that nasty scar on his face? Wouldn’t that have healed?
  
  
• Sticking with the future storyline, Future Molly should have been about 13 or 14 years old. So how come she looked like she hadn't aged more? (I know the answer to this one. They weren’t jumping far enough into the future that they could get away with casting an older actress. But I think it was far enough that the little girl who plays Molly couldn’t pull off a believable teenager.)
  
  
• What happened to “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World?” In season one, it was imperative they rescued Claire from the evil Sylar. This year Sylar gets a hold of her in the season opener and – nothing happens. What’s up with that?
  
  
• I’m all for thinning out the cast, but wasn’t there a whole storyline with Nikki, Micah, his photographic memory cousin and Aunt Uhura that just got dropped?
  
  
• I hope season three doesn’t end with Nathan apparently getting killed again. Twice was more than enough.

There are other nitpicks, but this is what comes to mind right now.

This and that

My blogging mojo has really been out of whack lately. Here’s a sample of the things I could’ve/should’ve been blogging about recently:

• An update from the Free Stuff Files: I recently scored a free necktie from Christopher's Men's Store. They're running a promotion with the local station that carries Yankee games. They randomly pick an inning before the game and if the score is tied during that inning you can go to the TV station's website to print out a coupon for a free tie. Sure enough, the first time they ran this promotion they wound up giving away dozens and dozens of ties. The deal was good for any tie in the store. I had a $90 tie in my hands at one point, but passed on it because it was kind of ugly. I settled on one worth about $40.
  
  
• I can’t believe Thomas is done with preschool. He’s still such a little pipsqueak. It’s going to be really weird when he gets on that bus for Kindergarten in the fall.
  
  
• Nolan has been playing really good baseball lately. His whole team has come a long way this year. Hard to believe we only have one game left.
  
  
• We’ve really been getting our use out of our Great Escape season passes. We’ve already been up to the park twice with the whole family plus Kris went up one more time with Thomas and his friend Leo. I finally have someone to ride rollercoasters with since Nolan is now big enough. We’re now planning a trip to Six Flags New England (formerly Riverside Amusement Park) since our passes will work there too. Thanks mom and dad Chase!
  
  
• We’ve gotten into the habit of riding our bikes to church every Sunday morning. I really enjoy that.
  
  
• We recently downgraded to regular old basic cable. So far we’re surviving. We’re watching more PBS. Plus the kids are getting by on a steady diet of DVDs from the library and I’ve found Hulu to be a lifesaver. We’re also reading more.
  
  
• Speaking of DVDs for the kids, I continue to educate them in the classics. We recently picked up a 4-DVD set of Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons at the library. Nolan is now well versed in “moose and squirrel,” as well as “Mr. Peabody and Sherman,” “Fractured Fairy Tales,” “Aesop and Son,” and of course “Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties.”
  
  
• My two little geeks-in-training are also getting hooked on “Doctor Who.” One of the most asked questions when I get home from work is “Dad, can we watch ‘Doctor Who’ tonight?” Thomas has taken to walking around the house pretending to be a Dalek and Nolan has moved beyond the current 10th Doctor and asked to watch some of the classic episodes from the 1970s and 80s that I have on DVD.
  
  
• I’m steadily getting more addicted to Facebook. Several more friends from high school and college have signed on recently. It’s been a great way to keep in touch with people.
  
  
• I’ll leave you with this question – when can we stop referring to years as “two-thousand” and start saying “twenty?” For example, when I see 2010, I want to say “twenty-ten,” but it bugs me to hear people still say “two-thousand ten.” Just a little pet peeve I guess.

Say what?

The season finale of "Lost' was great.

One of my burning questions was, what was the backwards voice saying to Kate on the phone in her "dream?" As with so many of life's mysteries, the answer you seek can be found on YouTube...



By the way, did you catch the ad for Octagon Global Recruiting? Their website says they're looking for volunteers on behalf of the Dharma Initiative for "an important new research project." The ad said they'd be in San Diego July 24-27.

Those are the same dates as Comic-Con 2008 in San Diego. Coincidence? I think not!

MILF Island: the T-shirt!

The must-have T-shirt of the summer of 2008 is now on sale at the NBC store.

Show how much you love the newest (un)reality TV sensation: "MILF Island: 25 super-hot moms, 50 eighth grade boys and no rules..."

'Won't you be my neighbor?'

Believe it or not, March 20 would have been the late great Fred Rogers' 80th birthday.

The day is being promoted as "Sweater Day." Neighbors everywhere are being asked celebrate Mr. Rogers by wearing their favorite sweater.

Here's Mr. McFeely (not the best name for a children's show character in today's world) with more details...



Thomas has a Mr. Rogers DVD, which actually came zipped up in a little sweater. But you can tell the episodes on it are pretty old. In one of them, Mr. Rogers goes to a restaurant and orders a nice looking sandwich, but he only pays about $2.

Now we know what can stop Jack Bauer

It's official -- Jack Bauer won't be killing anyone in 2008.

Despite the end of the writers strike, "24" will not return to TV until January 2009.

Everyone wants to stick to the plan of running the show continuously without any interuptions or repeats. But if they started now (eight episodes are already in the can) the season finale would air over the summer, when TV viewership is low. If they start in the fall, they'll have to take a break for the World Series.

They could start the season in November. But then it would probably end in March. They probably want the finale in May for sweeps.

So if you can't make it through the next 12 months without a does of Bauer Power, you can always watch the Day 7 trailer over and over or the hilarious 1990s version.

Woohoo for Hulu

I've been enjoying my Hulu account since I got it about a month ago. If you don't have one yet, you should sign up.

Hulu is the joint online video site from NBC Universal and 20th Century Fox.

Besides having a ton of great TV shows at your disposal to watch in pretty good quality with limited commercials, you can also embed entire shows on your own site or create your own custom clips.

After watching last week's "30 Rock," I had "Midnight Train to Georgia" stuck in my head for a few days. So here's a clip of the Gladys Knight classic, "30 Rock"-style...

'The Office' is closed (and other strike news)

Watching this week's episode of "The Office," I was thrilled to hear there is a Dunder Mifflin branch right here in Albany (not to mention the office in nearby Utica seen last week). Now I know where to go for all of my paper product needs!

Unfortunately, the folks from Dunder Mifflin won't be around much longer. Production on the show has shut down due to the Writers Guild of America strike. I believe next week's episode will be the last original episode and then the show will go back into reruns until the strike is settled.

In this video, some of the show's writing staff -- many of whom are also cast members -- outline their case. I first saw this a couple of days ago and wanted to post it then. Alas, it's been a busy week and now this clip has spread everywhere. You've probably seen it by now. If not, here it is...



In the meantime, we've finally learned what it takes to stop Jack Bauer -- a WGA strike. Remember that "24" trailer I posted? Enjoy that, because it's all the "24" we'll get for a while. Fox has pulled the planned January season premiere from their schedule -- delaying the show indefinitely. They want to wait until they're sure they can run all 24 episodes in Day 7 consecutively.

I fear the strike is also going to doom the new "Star Trek" movie, which began shooting this week. Director/producer/writer J.J. Abrams agreed to start production on schedule, but is refusing to take part in any rewrites along the way. So if a scene isn't working out as well as it seemed on paper, they're stuck with it. Actually, I'm sure someone will do the script tinkering, but it probably won't be any of the original writers who worked on the script, but rather some studio hack.

And on the 7th day...

Behold, the return of the Soul Patch! Here's the trailer for the seventh season of "24."

If you prefer, there is a better quality version here.



Here's a brief description of the plotline...

24 is back, unlike ever before. Set in Washington, DC, “Day 7” opens with CTU dismantled and JACK BAUER (Kiefer Sutherland) on trial. Bauer’s day takes an unexpected turn when former colleague TONY ALMEIDA (Carlos Bernard) returns. Meanwhile, President ALLISON TAYLOR (Cherry Jones) leads the country alongside White House Chief of Staff ETHAN KANIN (Bob Gunton) and First Gentleman HENRY TAYLOR (Colm Feore).

A national security crisis prompts an investigation by a team of FBI agents including Agent JANIS GOLD (Janeane Garofalo), Agent RENEE WALKER (Annie Wersching), Agent LARRY MOSS (Jeffrey Nordling), Agent SEAN HILLINGER (Rhys Coiro) and security specialist MICHAEL LATHAM (John Billingsley). Although CTU is no longer, CHLOE O’BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison) are back for another momentous day of shocking events.

Sick day

I was out sick from work yesterday with some sort of dreaded intestinal bug (you don’t want to know). I spent most of the day in bed feeling useless – and watching a lot of TV.

I caught Drew Carey as the new host of “The Price is Right” for the first time. He seemed pretty rusty. The highlight was when a contestant called him “Bob.”

I also got to watch “Psycho” in the middle of the afternoon. I always enjoy that movie. I love Hitchcock’s less is more approach compared to most modern slasher flicks. It’s what you don’t see that’s most scary!