Monday... Gossip Girl... Season 2 Episode 1

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Last Comic Standing Finale

Finally watched a 2-minute replay of Last Comic Standing. Iliza deserved to win, and it's the first time on that show that the winner turned out to be the one I was rooting for. It's too bad Jeff Dye came in third and not second. I liked his "3 things to a deserted island" answer.

Bottled salt water
Coconuts
Sand

Thursday... Last Comic Standing... Final 5 Revealed

These guys confused me from the start.

Tonight was the "Final Performance show" where all 8 comedians would perform "for your vote," though only five of them would advance to the finals, where they would... compete for our vote?

I'm so lost. Ok, so last week, America voted and eliminated three out of the eight. I get that. Tonight, all eight performed and five were left. And, numbers were given. We were told we'd be voting for the Last Comic Standing.

After voting for Iliza, I get this message:

Thank you for voting! Remember that you can vote up to TEN times for your favorite! Make sure to tune into Last Comic Standing next Thursday to see if your favorite comics advance.

Advance? I thought tonight's performance was the last performance and that I'd be voting for the winner. From eight to five to one seems a little drastic. So, I don't know what the hell is going on. Anyway, on to the show.

The problem with elimination results shows is predictability. They announced that Marcus won the challenge last week and would be one of the top five. The first performer was Ron G, who was eliminated. The second performer is not going to be, obviously. That performer was Jim Tavare. I was a bit surprised, because I don't think he's funny. Especially tonight. I mean, he's better than Ron G, but that isn't saying much. Next up was Louis Ramey. This is basically the only spot that could have gone either way. I'm not even talking performances, just the order. Louis was "safe."

Now, what have we got? Three in the top five. Three to go, and two spots left. Now, there is zero percent chance that the next performer will be eliminated, because two comedians left with two open spots would not be dramatic at all. So, Jeff Dye performed, probably without any feelings of pressure whatsoever. Which left two: Iliza, who dominated both of her showdowns, and Sean, who I don't believe even got many votes to be sent to a showdown.

This stunk for me, because I wanted one of the two to win, and obviously there was only one spot left. I pretty much knew Iliza would get in, which is fine. I honestly liked Sean's aggresive insulting humor more as a personality trait than a written comedy set. Didn't work as well on stage.

So, next week, there will be five. Will they perform? I still don't know. Next week IS the season finale, but like American Idol, they have to fill at least a half hour with something. all the other shows have been two hours, at least. Clip show, perhaps?

I'm predicting Iliza, simply because we've seen more of her. I didn't love her set tonight, but I think familiarity is going to help her out. Jeff Dye is my runner up, with Louis being the long shot dark horse. Jim has no chance. Marcus is good, and I guess he could win, but I just think you need more than doing impressions to be considered a real comic.

Bill Bellamy needs to join the Shawn Wayans School of Not Being Funny Anymore.

Cheers! ... is not on this list.

First of all, I'd like to thank everybody involved in making this blog. This is my 58th post: and you know what that means! A list of 58 of my favorite television shows! In no particular order, I give you my totally random list!

24

30 Rock

Alias

Ally McBeal

American Idol

Angel

Big Bang Theory, The

Boomtown

Boston Legal

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Clerks.

Coupling (UK)

Cupid

Dead Like Me

Entourage

Everybody Hates Chris

Family Fued

Firefly

Friday Night Lights

Friends

Gilligan's Island

Gilmore Girls

Grounded For Life

Heroes

House

How I Met Your Mother

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Just Shoot Me

Lost

Lost

Monk

Mr. Bean (UK)

My Name Is Earl

Mystery Science Theatre 3000

News Radio

Office, The (UK)

Office, The (US)

Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Perfect Strangers

Popular

Psych

Saved By The Bell

Scrubs

Simpsons, The

Smallville

Spin City

Standoff

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)

The Drew Carey Show

The Joe Schmo Show

Titus

Tru Calling

Two Guys and a Girl ... Pizza Place

Undeclared

Veronica Mars

What I Like About You

Wonderfalls

Friday... Psych

Rachael Leigh Cook is guest starring on Psych.

This is a most pleasant surprise!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

While not really a TV show, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (heretoforthwence known as Horrible) is approximately an hour long musical film from the mind of Joss Whedon. Whedon already had a bit of a musical hit with "Once More With Feeling," a sixth season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Wikipedia notes that Feeling was ranked the 13th best musical all-time by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.

Horrible was produced during the writer's strike for "a low six figures" and Act I appeared online on July 15, with Act II going "live" on the 16th, and Act III the 18th with the intention of all the videos going offline at the end of the night on July 20. All three acts were available for purchase on iTunes.

Horrible stars Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. Fillion and Day both worked with Whedon on Buffy, and Fillion also starred in the TV series Firefly and the film spin-off Serenity. Harris stars in How I Met Your Mother, which also stars former Buffy cast member Allyson Hannigan and has seen guest appearances by Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker (Angel).

Dr. Horrible (Harris) is attempting to get into the Evil League of Evil, but he must prove his worth to the League and it's leader, Bad Horse. While the first phase of his plan is mildly successful, he accidentally introduces his love interest Penny (Day) to the "hero," Captain Hammer (Fillion). The two connect, and Dr. Horrible must keep going. He lets his plan be known publicly through his video blog, and gets caught and beaten (literally) by the LAPD and Captain Hammer. All the while, his alter-ego Billy continues to try and talk to Penny while doing laundry. The two finally do connect, but not until after she starts to date Captain Hammer.

Thursday... Last Comic Standing

So, Iliza Shlesinger won again. Handily. I was shocked that Papa CJ started with jokes I hadn't heard, but he pulled out the "sucking your wife's tits" for the 3rd or 4th straight week... I'm glad he's gone. Paul Foot was just awkward, and it took him about 90 seconds to deliver one average joke to begin his set. He sucked during the prop comedy challenge, too.

I don't remember how much I liked Sean Cullen during the auditions, but he's pretty funny. I like Jeff Dye too, I remember liking him from the beginning. I think once Ron G goes home, it'll be more fun to watch. The guy just pisses me off.

It's too bad Esther Ku went out last week, she wasn't funny but at least she was cute. And it would have been interesting to see two girls last a long time since there were only two to begin with in the top 10. I'm a little surprised there isn't a gay finalist - or at least ... colorful. Maybe one of them is gay, I don't know. Iliza could be for all I know. But TV has become so gay-friendly. Aaanyway, rant aside. Iliza shouldn't be challenged again next week, and I think the home viewers get to vote, so she should be safe.

Chips Ahoy!

I watched a game show called Duel tonight. I've played something similar online before, but I'm not sure what the name of the game I played was.

It's an interesting spin on a trivia game. You have 10 chips. For each multiple choice question, you can cover as many answers as you have chips to play it safe. If you use four chips, you'll get it right and lose three of them. Once your chips are gone, you lose. Or something like that.

So if you know the answer, you can use one chip while your opponent might not know it and play four, losing three of them. After beating a person and given an opportunity to double your money with only one chip and one choice for a question, you can quit or take on another opponent.

I don't think it's going to take off like some of these prime time game shows have been lately (I really wish they'd get Jeff Foxworthy off the air), but it's another one that's funt o play along with at home.

I was going to play a game at ABC.com but I don't want to register.

Tuesday... Celebrity Family Feud

So, the first thing that bugs me a little bit about this is that these "families" aren't always families. Kathy Lee Gifford brought her family, as did that Dog guy. That's what I thought it was going to be all the time. But tonight's episode featured The Office, American Gladiators, and My Name Is Earl cast members. I get the idea, both playing for charity and promoting NBC shows at the same time.

The cast of Earl, on both sides, stayed in character. Randy (Ethan Suplee) played dumb, saying licorice sticks make more noise as they get older. Catalina said her "go-go boots" did the same thing (????) Camden's group seemed to play characters, but still give relatively smart answers. That is, until the final round when Tim Stack (who supposedly plays himself on the show, although I'm sure he isn't really a drunk) ignored his teammates to give ridiculous answers to the question that would have stolen the point bank.

The Office cast members did not play their characters, and even used their real names. Which of course made The Office win easily over The Camdens (though who knows if they would have won if Tim actually played the game).

I had to think it was planned. But I bet the charities of the "Earl" gang were pissed.

Fighter of the Night Man

So, I finished both Gossip Girl and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia tonight. One has become a new favorite - the other is okay, but missable for next season.

"Day Man" is stuck in my head.

Miscellaneous Musings, Summertime

After the last season finale (I believe it was Lost, I'm not positive), I of course watched my Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup.

After hockey, TV kind of ends. There's Tigers baseball, but I don't really watch the road games that much. I'm at the ballpark watching the games at Comerica Park, but I kinda have to. When they are on the road, (why is Firefox telling me "are" is spelled wrong?) I turn the TV on sometimes but don't really pay much attention.

Monk and Psych return on July 18 on USA, so that's good. Those are pretty much the only Friday shows I've watched since TGIF, but I did get into Friday Night Lights on DVD, so there will be that too. (Season debut still not listed on TV.com...) Still, during the summer it's a good time to catch up on missed shows or find new ones.

SHOWS I'VE BEEN WATCHING LATELY:

Gossip Girl. I'm a bit of a completist, if I start watching a show and it doesn't kill me, I gotta keep going. And since there's usually a way to find episodes online now (thank you TV.com, hulu.com and surfthechannel), I do keep going. So, this is one of them. I love Kristen Bell, if even only for her voice, and Leighton Meester reminds me of someone, which always kind of attracts one to another person. (Ed: Rose McGowan and/or Friday Night Lights' Minka Kelly) I'll finish up the first season and see if I want to bother. If it remains on Monday, I'll have to wait until it's online because Monday seems to be the new Thursday with all the good shows.

Boston Legal. I used to watch this when it aired, but I missed a few episodes and decided to just wait for reruns. I've found it on Surfthechannel so I've been trying to catch up before Season 5 starts. No airdate for that either, but I hear they are changing the cast once again. It has an early nod for a Drama Emmy, so I doubt they'd can the fifth season. And I hear it's moving to Monday, which again confirms my theory about it being the best TV night.

(SERIOUSLY. SHOWS ON MONDAY NIGHT INCLUDE: The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Bones, House, Gossip Girl, Boston Legal, Heroes and Chuck. Plus shows I don't watch including Two and a Half Men, Prison Break, Terminator... did I forget any? Oh yeah, 24 -- whenever it comes back.)

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
Another show like How I Met Your Mother that I found way too late. The good thing about that is plenty of episodes to watch at my leisure. Philadelphia has short seasons, so there were only 17 episodes to watch on the DVD set. I'm currently catching up with Season 3 on TV.com so I'll be all set. I knew after an episode and a half that this would be one that I'd make sure to catch up with.

Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Penn's just funny. It's like MythBusters on crack, with total bias.

Daybreak. This one only last a season. I caught it on DVD through Netflix.

Speaking of Netflix, I've also begun watching Bones and Criminal Minds. They're not high on my priority list, but probably ones that I'll eventually look for more of.

I did watch the sneak preview of Life on Mars. I didn't care for it. This whole Quantum Leap > Early Edition > Journeyman time travel/crime fighting idea is wearing a bit thin. And with the loss of David E. Kelley, it may get worse!

Monday... News

According to Tv.com and TVGuide.com, Jezebel James has been canceled.

Looks like everyone else did what I did, downloaded the first one or two, decided not to bother with the third.

It's interesting to see how ratings are viewed when everything can be downloaded, and tested that way. I think a majority of the new shows now are probably going to get less ratings, especially early.

Monday... How I Met Your Mother... Ep. 3-13... "Ten Sessions"

So, unfortunately, I wasn't thrilled with Britney Spears or Sarah Chalke in their roles. So the whole episode for me kind of... not bombed, but wasn't up to HIMYM standards.

Stella (Chalke) mentioned a St. Patrick's Day party, so the writers seem to be dropping a lot more clues and/or red herrings about the mother's identity. I really don't think she is the mother because the character already has a daughter and I think the writers would have cast an actress not committed to another network series to play a larger role.

Britney was hyped up, and decent, but really didn't add anything or make much of an impact. I'm not really sure why Alicia Silverstone's reps didn't want her doing the episode. It's not like Alicia gets publicity these days, so she wouldn't have really been overshadowed by comparison.

So, the show is called How I Met Your Mother, not While I Dated Your Mother. So, once Ted meets her, and it has to be a big deal because "Future Ted" is telling such a long story, that's kinda it. Obviously they could go on and discover the relationship, but I don't know. I'm thinking we may meet the mother in the season finale in case it doesn't get renewed. It looks like there are seven episodes left in the season, Wikipedia has 5 "TBA"s from April 21 though May 19.

Friday... Amnesia

So, I watched Amnesia. Not a bad show. Dennis Miller is a lot funnier and more likable when he isn't trying to show off his intelligence. "What, like I've had so much experience feeding men?" is a lot funnier to me than all his analogies that I don't get. He still gets to do his thing at the beginning of the show a little bit, so everybody wins. It was a fun watch, and nothing much else is on Fridays, so I may watch again. I sure as hell would rather watch that than Jezebel James (See below...).

Monday... How I Met Your Mother... Ep. 3-12... "No Tomorrow"

I was worried after three months, I would find How I Met Your Mother less funny. I did not. Tonight's episode, unplanned or not, was a St. Patrick's Day episode.

I honestly think with lesser actors, the show would not be as funny. I think some of the jokes are kind of bad, but not that bad. It's like, they're bad enough to be original. When Barney comes into the apartment with a green suit, he gets called Gumby, Riddler and Robin Hood. But Ted walks in and, without hesitation:

"Hey, NBA player sidelined by a knee injury."

To me, Josh Radnor is one the best at delivery on network television right now. Had it been another actor, or had the line been "You look like an NBA player sidelined with a knee injury," I don't think it would have worked as well. One of the most used words on the show is "awesome," and his delivery works every time.

But the big news - we may be very close to meeting Mother. We've seen the yellow umbrella before, and we see it again in this episode, especially at the end, when Ted himself picks it up. This obviously leads to a story where his future wife looks for it.

I have a small feeling we might have seen her. At the bar, Ted bumps into a girl and says sorry, she replies that it's ok, then they both away. I feel like this would normally be something that would be cut out of the episode, but it might come back in future episodes. That would be too easy, right?

Speaking of the bar, this episode uses a format previously seen in "Ted Mosby, Architect," where we see Ted acting one way, then later we find out it wasn't exactly how it went down. In that episode, Robin thinks Ted is going around town using his job to get women, when in fact Barney is using Ted's name. In this episode, we see a very drunk Ted who has unknowingly been leaving Marshal voicemail. We're left at the end worrying a little about his well-being, as he is extremely bothered by how he acted.

Coincidentally, "Ted Mosby, Architect" and this episode both feature another running joke. In tonight's ep, Ted asks Barney if they have to build a baseball field. The gang often makes references to Field of Dreams, a movie Robin fell asleep halfway through. There is another joke about ghosts in "Architect" as well... maybe the writers saw that episode before writing this one.

Lily and Marshall's new apartment is crooked, and this leads to more could-be-bad jokes about finding the "right angle" and it being an "uphill battle," but again, Cobie Smulders has the charm that prevents me from rolling my eyes. It also works when she goes along with Marshal's ghost story, saying very dryly "It passed through me and suddenly I felt cold, very cold."

And of course there is Barney, whose elaborate jokes would never come from anyone else. "End of the world - Nostradamus - Notre Dame - Fighting Irish - Irish - St. Patrick's Day!" And the extremely long-winded joke about girls living in different area codes, ending wit him calling himself Wyoming.

Friday... The Return of Jezebel James... Episodes 1, 2

I was going to quote a line from this show, but I can't remember it. The mother, played by Dianne Wiest, mentions something about a friend having cancer, not being able to talk about it, and THEY PLAY A LAUGH TRACK.

Oh, this laugh track was as overused as text messaging by teenagers. (Hahaha!) Many have looked forward to this show only because of Amy Sherman-Palladino, who had success with Gilmore Girls. They thought another show with quick, witty banter between two female characters would obviously be just as good. To put a laugh track into that banter is insane. (Hahaha!) Even The Big Bang Theory does a better job of smart writing in a sitcom. This show does not have it. The second episode was worse than the pilot, which did an okay job of establishing the story. However, the lead up to this show and the delay from the strike led to many commercials giving away most of the jokes.

The main character (Sarah, not Jezebel. Jezebel is fake) is in a sex-only relationship with a guy, and I would not be surprised if this show falls into yet another sitcom trap and has her fall for this guy, who doesn't know of her plan to have a baby.

I'm saying ten episodes. I'm not sure how many have been produced, but I don't like it's chances. It can't even be as good as Cavemen. (Hahaha!)

Thursday... Smallville... Ep. 7-13

Pete Ross! Hey, you're back, that's cool. How long's it been, three years? Well, we're just gonna act like it's three weeks and just say hey. No big deal. What's that, you have powers now? Oh, look at that. Good thing we live in a fantasy world where nobody but DC characters exist, because your "powers" look amazingly like Mr. Fantastic's. Oddly enough, we will however make a reference to Inspector Gadget, since he's imaginary. So, you wanna tell everyone about your powers and be a hero? But Pete, you're in Smallville again. You know what that means - danger. More specifically, you're going to be in danger by episode's end.

They usually reserve guest appearances by old cast members for very special episodes, where at least something big happens. The B story here was Kara deciding who she trusts more, "Clana" or Lex. She chooses Lex, because she's a moron. But he might not be back as a series regular next season, anyway. The C story: Jimmy Olsen decides to stop taking advantage of Kara's memory loss, and go after Chloe again.

Return to Blogdom

It's been awhile. It's almost as if I was a writer... on strike!

Some shows have returned or will be returning soon. There's drama surrounding dramas, too. The plans for Lost to have three final 16-episode seasons (or 117 total episodes) were hit a bit by the strike, but just to put it on hiatus for about the ninth time in it's run. This headline comes from TV.com:

Island drama moving time slots after minihiatus, previous cliffhanger will now serve as semipremiere.

That's too many prefixes! But the good news is that episode eight won't be a season finale. Since the strike was resolved in time, episode eight will instead be the first second-half episode.

Man, every show now seems to be forced into following USA's Monk and Psych, which are split into fall and summer half-seasons.

This week sees the return of Smallville, which is one show that seemingly interrupts hiatuses (hiatii?) with episodes once a month. However, three episodes will air in the next three weeks before a brief catch-up period, and new episodes will begin airing on April 17.

New shows premiering this month include Unhitched (March 2), The Return of Jezebel James (March 14), Canterbury's Law (March 17) and Miss Guided (March 18) .

American Idol is down to it's final 12, and I have no predictions for you this year. Sorry.

We've heard of shows like Family Guy and Jericho coming back after cancellation, but now The WB may come back too, as a web site dedicated to news and full episodes of shows that were produced on the network like Gilmore Girls and Everwood.