TV Wasteland

The summer time is or has been the TV Wasteland.  Basically, reruns or bad horrible television, but now, a lot of stations use the summer to show short/split seasoned shows.  Burn Notice, Leverage and White Collar fall into these type of shows and have been quite successful.  Plus, these are shows that I enjoy very much.


These are new shows are new or new to me.  I just started watching The Glades from A&E about a week ago.  The entire past season is On Demand through whatever cable/satellite provider you have.  The second season premieres on Sunday June 5th.  Jim Longworth is a homicide detective from Chicago and he thought he'd have an easier life if he moved to Florida.  Not so much.  It reminds me of a light and funnier, Magnum P.I. 

June 1st had two shows debut that I was also interested in.  Deception with Keith Barry and Franklin & Bash.


Keith Barry is an Irish closeup magician/mentalist.  He's basically a real life Patrick Jane.  He does some mind reading and show various other mentalist abilities, but then tells you what the real techniques he's using are.  I've been a big fan of magic and mentalism since I was a child.  The fact that he tells you what he's doing is just a bonus.  My wife and I were watching and trying to figure out his methods.  It's on Wednesday nights on the Discovery Channel.

Franklin & Bash stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer.  It also stars Malcom McDowell (Hollywood Legend) and Reed Diamond (Homicide).  The cast is really strong.  I didn't get a chance to watch the entire debut, because truth be told, I was watching the Boston Bruins in the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals.  It's been 21 years since they've been there and almost 40 years since they have won it all.  The show is on TNT and they have had a pretty good track record of producing good television.  Leverage and The Closer are both proof of that.  I hope it becomes a hit.  It'll fill the void of the Defenders (Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Donnell) which was cancelled earlier this year.  I'm also a big fan of Breckin Meyer, he's one of those "good guys" that has never really gotten a huge break.  I hope this will be it for him.

I'll be watching these shows and others when they come back (the aforementioned ones at the top).

Nine By Design 30

Alright folks, I'm still sick and I can't hear out of my left ear.  This will be a quick, down and dirty list today.  I'm feeling all sorts of miserable.  I've had trouble with my ears/hearing my entire life, so when one gets clogged, it freaks me out.  The topic for today is: Underrated TV Shows or shows canceled before their time.



Underrated TV Shows:

Freaks and Geeks: A show ahead of its time.  It was pretty much ahead of everyone involved.  Judd Apatow had yet to hit his stride and the cast, most of whom you'd recognize now, we're completely unknown.  You could throw in Undeclared with this show as well.  All the regular Apatow actors are in one or both of the shows.  We just weren't ready yet.

Arrested Development: Another show that was too smart for its own good?  Perhaps.  Just a really good cast and the voice over by Ron Howard is perfect.  I guess they are making a movie now...let's cancel the show, but make a movie.  I don't get it.

Action: The show that should have made Jay Mohr a star.  It may have been too inside.  He plays a Hollywood producer and is just great at it.  If this show was on HBO or FX it would have been on for years.  It was a little too edgy and before cable started making better shows than network TV.

The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.: Take the old west and mix it with some sci-fi.  Cowboys with laser pistols.  Bruce Campbell is the second master of smarm.  The only person that can out smarm him; is David Spade.  Think about it.  Again, if this show was on cable, especially Sy Fy, it would be a top show.  Campbell is still showing off his smarmy brilliance on Burn Notice.

Bands Reunited: This was a show on VH1.  It was either on for one long season or two short ones.  The concept was to try to reunite a band from the 80's.  They did bands like; Berlin, Flock of Seagulls and Vixen.  If they expanded their horizons, it probably could have lasted longer.  Had some bands from the 70's and now 90's.  I liked it, it had to do with music, of course I did.

Firefly: Just look at the cast that Joss Whedon assembled.  They should have been given another season to find their footing.  I'm not the biggest sci-fi fan, but I did like to watch this show.

Greg The Bunny: Seth Green, Sarah Silverman and puppets.  In very wrong situations...brilliant.

Dead Like Me: A young girl dies, but is now a grim reaper.  The original cast was quite good, it had Mandy Patinkin, but it never got settled in.  I liked the concept, it just didn't have a lot of direction.

Strange Luck: Another show's concept that I loved.  I'm fascinated by "luck."  I always have been.  The highly underrated D.B. Sweeney played a guy that had bizarre luck.  If something good happened to him, something equally bad would then happen.  Basically, he was in always in the wrong place at the right time.  This is still not on DVD.  It's one of the shows that couldn't follow the X-Files.  All of those shows didn't survive.

There's the weekly list.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Cheers, Happy Weekend!

The Substitute Blogger 2: Electric Boogaloo

I Love Television by Brian Smith

I love television.  More than any person should, I suppose.  Why is it that when someone says “I sat all night under a blanket and read a book by the fire.”  Everyone else thinks it’s great?   Yet, if the same person says “I sat last night and watched television all night,” it is either assumed they are lazy or wasted their night?  Having said that, this post is about the some television shows of my youth.  Normally, it’s not nice to write about negativity, but in this instance it’s needed.  Blame cable television.  They keep showing old reruns on weird stations now. 

This posting should be titled "Why Growing Pains Stinks."  Most people I know that are my age THINK they like the show.  I watched it recently for quite a few episodes.  If you haven’t watched it recently go ahead.  But until then let me recap every episode.  Twenty minutes of fat jokes and parents making fun of how dumb Mike is.  Another one of those shows that pulled “The cousin Oliver” and added a new character to help save a dying show.  This show does not hold up.

Another would be Miami Vice.  Every show/movie that needs a “flashback to the 80’s” (stop it Adam Sandler. Just stop it) scene has someone dressed like Don Johnson.  That was such a small part of the decade.  Let it go.

Charles in Charge: I was so excited to see this on Netflix.  I remember loving it, almost unwatchable now.  Nicole Eggert almost saves it.  But Buddy Lembeck was not funny.  Can’t believe we used to think the show was.

As a kid, I could never escape The Jeffersons.  I thought it would be like M*A*S*H and get better once I got older and understood it.  Nope. Just some moron yelling all the time, it’s even worse than it used to be.  I almost added Different Strokes here.  Any show with “catch phrases” (Whatchu Talkin’ Bout Willis) is doomed to fail in my eyes.  BUT, it spun off Facts of Life, which holds up remarkably well.  And it has some of my favorite episodes of any show.  Ever.  Kimberly and Arnold getting kidnapped?  The episode at Mr Horton’s bike shop with Dudley?  Any episode with a reference to “The Gooch”? 

Three’s Company was a show I was worried about.  Two smoking hot girls and a goofy guy?  How can it not work?  John Ritter looking back is criminally underrated.  His physical comedy was genius on that show.  He had absolutely no props except for a swinging door in the kitchen.  And he somehow managed to make bumping into it funny every time.  He left us too soon.  Also this show had my second favorite “Larry” of all time (Larry Mondello, the apple eating friend of Leave it to Beaver still floors me, and thirdly Larry Fine of the Three Stooges is very underrated).

Now I will move on to my favorite surprise.  A show that I thought would be the worst of the lot is still really really good: Family Ties.  Alex Keaton is still funny.  Mallory, even though I remember how pretty she was, has some of the best zingers on the show.  The friend Skippy was one of the better friends featured in these shows.  Sadly his acting career didn’t move much after this (except for his Guilty Pleasure Hall of Fame movie Trick Or Treat).

Thanks for reading this.  There are so many more hours of shows to sort through.  Please be sure to send along your thoughts on a show or two.  The owner of this blog loves getting comments. 

Nine By Design 17

Earlier this week I was flipping channels on the TV.  You know 1,000 channels and nothings on.  I came across an Our Gang/Little Rascals marathon on TCM (Turner Classic Movies).  I was very excited.  I used to watch them when I was a kid and will always watch them, because I think they are still funny.  Hal Roach, the creator of these comedy shorts back in the 1920's.  They started as silent shorts in 1922.  This show was also the first of it's kind for many reasons.  It featured kids as the main cast and it was also integrated.  Black and White children playing and having adventures together.  They figured this out nearly 90 years ago and we still can't get it right.  This week's list will focus on 9 of the many Rascals that a lot of us enjoyed as kids and kids at heart.

Little Rascals/Our Gang:

Wheezer

He was in some of the earliest Our Gang shorts, going back to the silent ones.  He would later become one of the main characters as he got older.

Stymie

Stymie was the bridge from Farina, who appeared in most of the silent shorts to Buckwheat, who would appear in the later ones.  He's one of my favorite Rascals just for the lines he got.

Jackie

Jackie Cooper was one the first Hal Roach Rascals to go onto stardom.  He had a 60 year career in the movies and television.  His best remembered role might be as Perry White in the original Superman movie series.

Dickie

Dickie Moore is another that would go on to have success after his run in the Little Rascals.  I just wish I could find more footage of these great child actors. 

Dorothy

I always liked Dorothy better than Darla.  I thought Dorothy was cuter, funnier and a better fit.  Darla was just annoying.  Dorothy actually just passed away in June of 2010.

Porky

Porky played Spanky's little brother, which was Spanky's role early on.  I think they were going to try to move Porky into the main spot after Spanky got too old.  He was also the first one to say "O-Tay."

Buckwheat

Buckwheat was often Porky's partner in mischief.  He was the last remaining Rascal from the Hal Roach era.  All the others had either gotten to old or left for other roles/careers.

Alfalfa

I was actually not much of a fan of Alfalfa.  Probably because, he was always love struck and singing...horribly.  He was kind of a one trick pony.  Wow, I really guess I don't like him...geez.

Spanky

Spanky was the full package.  He started acting in the shorts at age three.  What were you doing at age three?  I don't know what I was doing, but it wasn't acting.  He was a supreme scene stealer and destined to be the star.  He appeared in something like 95 Our Gang/Little Rascal shorts.

I hope I covered enough with the videos.  A lot of this footage is at least 75 years old.  Hard to find.  If you ever get a chance to watch the shorts, do so.  I'm sure you wouldn't be disappointed.  See you next week.  Happy Weekend!

The Extra-Medium Sized Review: Conan

The average sized review, with just a little more...something.

I've been watching Conan O'Brien's new show on TBS, pretty much every night.  Late night television talk shows need one of two things to get me to watch.  Either, a good guest or a good band.  Sometimes, you get both, but it's pretty rare.  The only show I watch religiously is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and I generally watch it the next day.  

Most of us by now know the story of Conan, Leno and NBC.  So, I'm not going to rehash it.  I do feel like Conan got a raw deal and Leno cried to get his show back.  I also feel that Conan is back where he is the best, in an underdog role.  His comedy is generally geared toward the younger crowd, kinda what David Letterman had in his formative years during Late Night.  Johnny Carson was the pro and Letterman was the student.  Letterman had his own run-in with Leno about the Tonight Show in the past.  So, after Dave left NBC for CBS, his comedy became a little more generalized.  Since he and Jay were targeting the same audience.

I know Conan's new show has only been on about a month, but he has no competition at that time slot.  The news is on 24 hours a day somewhere.  You can watch The Daily Show, Colbert Report and Sportscenter anytime you want.  Conan is re-energized now that he's back on television.  You can tell he's having fun again.  It seemed like he was under a little too much pressure during the Tonight Show days, until he was getting fired and then he didn't care.  That's when he went back to being himself.

His partner in crime Andy Richter is back.  He should never leave.  They work flawlessly together.  Richter is a very talented comedian and writer that wants to do his own things.  I get this, but it seems like his humor is only appreciated on Conan's shows.

I'll miss Max Weinberg, but I understand him not wanting to leave the East Coast.  He's been on the road for most of his professional life with Bruce Springsteen.  He also filled in as the sidekick after Andy left in 2000.  Andy's back, Max doesn't want to move permanently to the West Coast and the band is the same, just without Weinberg.  Everything worked out nicely.  Jimmy Vivino is the quiet, but very capable band leader.  He would lead the band when Max would leave on tour with Springsteen, so it's not new to him.  I love that Conan didn't bring in a bigger name to lead the band or get a new band altogether.  Instead, remaining loyal to the guys in the band, who have been with him for 17 years.  Shows you what kind of guy Conan is.

It's a little quick to judge, but I think Conan can only succeed.  He's the face of TBS, works as a great lead in to George Lopez, who is bloody awful, by the way.  Here's something for that time slot that might be a little nutty or outside the box.  Give it to Kevin Pollak, yes, I'm serious.  He hosts a chat show/podcast on You Tube/iTunes, that is really great.  Good guests, fun questions and not boring.  I think it could work.  Check it out.

Final Thoughts:  I was thinking of someway to grade this/these review(s) for my own (thumbs up/down, high fives or A to F, etc.), but I'm not that clever or lame (you choose).  So, I'll say this...it's the only late night talk show that I try to watch every night.  I like Conan, I always have.  Having Andy with him can only make it better.  I think he's right where he should be.

New Discoveries

When I'm asked what I watch on television, I know most people mean "what do you watch at night on network TV?"  So, I generally answer "the cop shows."  I'm not lying, it's what I watch.  From Tuesday to Thursday, barring a couple shows...it's all I watch, at night.  Granted, they are all pretty much the same show.  On Tuesday, you have NCIS which is the navy cop show, NCIS: Los Angeles is the same show, but takes place in L.A. (I had no clue), with better technology.  Wednesday you get Criminal Minds, which profiles serial killers and the new show, The Defenders with the (now former) fat kid, Vern, from Stand By Me and John Belushi's brother.  They play lawyers, which I know isn't really a cop show, but there are often cops in it...so it's a variation on the theme.  Then on Thursday, you get the cop show where they pick up trash (CSI) and the one where the carny con-artist wears the same suit every week (The Mentalist).  I do watch and enjoy (for the most part) these shows.

It's also far easier to speak generally about network shows.  There's not much substance to them, they are trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator to get high ratings.  I get it.  I also watch a lot of television for educational purposes.  With the advent of cable and channels like Discovery, Science and History channels, you can learn quite a bit in an hour or 44 minutes, with commercials.  A lot of these shows are made like short documentaries.  They serve as a good starting point on the subject covered.  You're not going to learn everything about it, but you'll learn something.  Maybe, it'll be interesting enough to get you to investigate more about the covered subject(s).  This is what I try to do with my music blog entries.

A show that does this very well, in my opinion, is called Iconoclasts, which is on the Sundance Channel.  My guess is you've probably never heard of it, but if you have, I bet you know where I'm going with this.  It's been on for 5 seasons, but only does 6 episodes per season.  The show takes two "creative visionaries" (the words of the show, not mine) and puts them together.  Sometimes they know one another (Redford and Newman) and other times they don't (Jon Favreau and Tony Hawk), but it works. 

The most recent episode I saw (on demand, the new season just started), which happened to be the last one for this current season, featured magician David Blaine and artist Chuck Close.  Ok, say what you want about Blaine the stunt man, he's still one of the best: street/up close/sleight of hand magicians around.  


I've seen Blaine a bunch of times.  I love magic and sleight of hand.  So, it's what initially interested me about the episode, but then I saw Chuck Close's art.  Amazing, for anyone, but hearing his story, makes it that much more remarkable.  Seeing how Close creates with his handicap is beyond words.  Me describing, how he paints, would not do it justice. 


I definitely recommend the show, because there is really something for everyone.  Michael Stipe is paired with Mario Batali, Samuel L. Jackson with Bill Russell and Chalize Theron with Jane Goodall, to name a couple of episodes over the years.  I will admit, the one with Mike Myers and Deepak Chopra is a pretty odd match.  Check it out.  I bet you'll learn something.

Nine By Design 7

Do you remember when Saturday Night Live was funny?  Me either...well that's not exactly true.  They do have their moments, but they are less and less these days.  Today's list of nine will be skits from SNL.  Just to remember when the show was funny.

Saturday Night Live Skits:

The Chippendale Dancers is an all-time favorite of mine.  Just the contrast between Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley is enough, but then you get Chris really going for it.  Classic.

Celebrity Jeopardy is brilliant.  I don't know how Will Ferrell kept a straight face.

The Festrunk Brothers is another classic skit.  Steve Martin wasn't a part of the cast, but was on enough that it seemed like he was.

Super Hero Party is great.  It shows how good a skit can be with the entire cast involved.

Single Ladies proves that the show is always better when Timberlake is on it.

Peyton Manning United Way is one of the funniest fake commercials they've ever done.

These restaurant sketches are two of my favorites.  Both the Hub's Gyro and Italian Restaurant.

And to finish off our nine for the week.  We have the Gap Girls.  Great stuff.

I'll be back next week with another list.  Happy Weekend.