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!