April 8th 2008
According to this WSJ article, being smart is a special mental ability on par with telepathy, accelerated healing, or the ability to fly.
And — perhaps in an effort to emulate the success of NBC Universal’s “Heroes” and “Psych” — several planned new shows feature do-gooder characters with special mental abilities.
Maybe the reporter should have asked someone if the lead character in “Psych” was actually portrayed as a psychic. Nah, that’d be no fun.
February 14th 2008
Since it’s pretty darn cold here in Chicagoland, and since I’m in the middle of the Sports TV Doldrums*, I want to ask just one thing of anyone producing televised golf this year: don’t, for love of delicious beer, show more than 30 seconds of Tiger Walking. I wish that you’d not show it at all, or limit yourselves to 30 seconds for the entire year, but I know that’s pretty much impossible. Y’all, for some reason that escapes me, like people’s enjoyment of “Umbrella” escapes me, seem to find nothing more fascinating than watching Tiger walk on the golf course.
Just.Stop.It. Please, try and limit yourselves to 30 seconds a day (2 whole minutes a tournament) of taping and airing Tiger’s strides down the fairway. I’m begging you. You do this for me and I’ll keep my thoughts about McCord to myself. Pinky swear.
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* The NFL’s done until September. The Cubs aren’t in a position to do anything really interesting until then either. Tennis is effectively over until the second round of the French, and probably more truthfully until Wimbledon. The Masters isn’t until April. If I were a heavy bar goer, the NCAA Tournament might hold some interest, but no. The NBA has marginal potential to be relevant in the conference finals and beyond, provided the Suns are still a running team and the Celtics are healthy.
February 4th 2008
Because I should be doing other things, and because I should have done other things all weekend long, I find myself in a position to take the following screenshot.
That’s Comcastic! (Note, I am not commending Comcast on a job well done, any reasonably competent cable company should be able to provide speeds like that on occasion. Also, that speed, not so much for the duration.)
January 30th 2008
Last night’s House, which I just saw, might be the best episode of House that’s aired. Only “Three Stories” has a similar level of deftness in the interweaving of the disparate plot threads, and since this episode comes almost halfway through the fourth season of a show that’s as inherently formulaic as House is, that’s an impressive achievement.
Hopefully I’ll be able to be coherent about precisely why this was such a wonderful episode (for reasons other than this episode’s snarky, playful Wilson is exactly how I enjoy seeing him played, it makes his character a much better, much more able foil to House) at some future point, but, well, wow.
There were a couple minor issues I had: Janel Maloney is Donna Moss (or if you’re as much a Sports Night fan as I am, she’s a one-shot character who tells Casey off and prompts him to have some Christmas spirit. And Donna Moss), not Jane Random Patient. Secondly, the wordless scene with House walking by his staff, past and present, lingered too long. I’d've appreciated a bit more “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” from Hugh Laurie, but that’s just me. Maybe I should try and find some Bit of Fry and Laurie somewhere.
October 25th 2007
You need to watch this show if:
The only thing that bugs me about the show has been the recurrent use of homeopathic mood-stabilizers, of which my particular virulence against that usage stems from reading Orac (something I deem good). The tight plotting, varied levels of humor, and the general grace and deft touch with which the show is handled make my one quibble quite easy to overlook.
Seriously, Wednesdays, 7pm central time on ABC. Give it a try.
October 13th 2007
My fall TV schedule has been in full swing for two weeks, and I’ve figured out what shows I’ll be watching when possible: Chuck, Heroes, House, Pushing Daisies, and Grey’s Anatomy. Sorry Journeyman and Dirty Sexy Money, you just weren’t good enough for me to feel much of anything when I missed you.
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