The recent landscape of American television has been dominated by shows about motorcycle dudes, tattoo shops, vampires, pawn shops, and swamps. It’s like America is suddenly obsessed with the state of Florida (zing!) I am not really into any of those shows, but the Soap Opera Network has afforded me the opportunity to take a not always pleasant trip down memory lane by showing reruns of Beverly Hills, 90210. It’s always refreshing to revisit my pimply high school years via a show about good looking rich kids who looked, acted, and lived like they were ten years older than they really were. [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, television by Marty O'Connor
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If, say, Descartes were to come back from the grave and host a talk show, I would watch it, daily. I would also occasionally watch an episode of Jerry Springer, but I would never watch Oprah, may her show rest in peace.

I have nothing against Oprah as a person. I have plenty against Jerry Springer as a person and, aside from the annoyingly mathematical miseries he caused for me in my younger days, I have no opinion whatever about Descartes as a dude.  But here’s my problem: If I watch TV, I want either brilliance or absolute melt-into-the-couch drivel — Cops, or World’s Dumbest, for instance. I can’t be bothered with middle-of-the-road quality in a TV show. Oprah is arguably a genius, in a lot of ways, but her show is pretty run-of-the-mill, on the intellectual scale. Not delightfully bad, not intellectually stimulating . . . just . . . there. [Read more →]

Tags: artistic unknowns by Chris Matarazzo, television by Chris Matarazzo
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10. Your play about General Schwarzkopf is called The Book of Norman

9. At least twice a week, another Spidey stuntman is maimed or killed

8. Trying to cash in on jukebox musicals like Mamma Mia and Movin’ Out, your new musical is called Ice Ice Baby

7. The marquee reads “Pauly Shore Is Jean Valjean”

6. Your Feydeau farce features Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dominique Strauss-Kahn chasing the French maid

5. No matter how good it is, your fifth-grade production of Death of a Salesman is not eligible

4. Instead of “Author! Author!” audience shouts “Boo! Kill!”

3. All the dialogue has been translated into Portuguese, because it loses something in the original

2. Your choreographer is straight

1. Your one-man show dealt mainly with your tiger’s blood, Adonis DNA, and fire-breathing fists

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: art & entertainment, Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, television by Bob Sullivan
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On Sunday, TLC ran two Christmas-themed episodes of the program “Sister Wives,” which follows the polygamist Brown family. The episodes were filmed four months after the Browns “came out,” and were being investigated by the Lehigh County sheriff’s department. It was this investigation that led to the Browns leaving Utah for Nevada, which is presumably less intolerant of polygamy, at least reality television polygamy.

Intercut with a montage of the numerous Brown children dressing their Christmas tree (at a treacherously placed cabin the middle of a forbidding area of snow-covered Utah), father Kody Brown tearfully explains that families convicted of committing the “crime” of polygamy are broken up. Third wife Christine tells us that her grandparents were jailed for polygamy, with the wives separated and children sent off to various foster families, with all contact broken off.

It was about as moving a scene as you can expect from a reality show, but imagine if the Browns lived in Broward County? [Read more →]

Tags: on the law, television by Ricky Sprague
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Entertainment Weekly has a photo of the costume to be featured in the new Wonder Woman television pilot, written by David E. Kelley.

For a tightly-controlled character with a lot of licensing on the line, it actually doesn’t look that bad — although, it doesn’t top this fan designed outfit:

Tags: books & writing, television by Ricky Sprague
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I’ve always thought that King of the Hill – an animated television series that followed the lives of a family, their neighbors, friends and co-workers in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas – should be required viewing for people, such as myself, coming from ‘someplace else’ to make their home in the Lone Star State.  And there’s nothing like Texas Independence Day to stress that point … and to strengthen my bond with family man, propane man and quintessential Texan, Hank Hill.
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Tags: television by Jeff McDonald
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10. “I hope Inception wins for Best Brain Cramp.”

9. “Only three hours to go?! Man, this show is just zippin’ by!”

8. “Best Picture? – Hah! My favorite is Best Sound Mixing!”

7. “What about Sex & the City 2? Or are they just giving prizes for good stuff?”

6. “I never realized that the Oscar is just chocolate wrapped in tinfoil.”

5. “I hope Jeff Bridges wins Best John Wayne Impression.”

4. “Crap! Justin Bieber: Never Say Never won’t be eligible until next year!”

3. “If 127 Hours wins, how’s that guy gonna clap?”

2. “Isn’t Lindsay Lohan up for Best Special Defects?”

1. “I thought The King’s Speech was about that whole ‘I have a dream’ thing.”
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: art & entertainment, Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, movies, television by Bob Sullivan
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10. “Oprahsourced”

9. “Gayle King and I”

8. “Saturday Night Oprah”

7. “America’s Got Oprah”

6. “Extreme Makeoprah: Home Edition”

5. “Dr. Phil’s Crap-a-Thon”

4. “$#*! Oprah Says”

3. “The Bold and the Oprah”

2. “The Stedman from Atlantis”

1. “The Story of O”
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: art & entertainment, Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, television by Bob Sullivan
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New Year’s Day is an underrated holiday without a solid identity. Christmas has presents, Thanksgiving has food and football, Easter has brunch and church, and 4th of July has fireworks and hot-dog eating contests. But what does New Year’s Day have? [Read more →]

Tags: race & culture, television by Robert O'Hara
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Recently while trying to sign in to my yahoo mail account I was greeted by this image:

That is an advertisement for a television program called “Southland,” which is apparently about Los Angeles police officers, and the difficulties they face in their jobs (actually, its official website bills it as a raw and authentic look at a police unit in Los Angeles. From the beaches of Malibu to the streets of East Los Angeles, “Southland” is a fast-moving drama that will take viewers inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims and their families). Just look at those statistics: 11.9 crimes per officer! That’s a lot of crimes. Los Angeles must be full of, well, criminals.

It is. But mainly because Los Angeles has so many laws to break. And they’re about to get a whole lot more. 725 of them. Or, more than 730 of them. Depends on the source. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, television by Ricky Sprague
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A couple of months ago a musical theater holy grail became available on DVD. Evening Primrose was made for television and broadcast at the end of 1966. It is based on a short story by John Collier with a teleplay by James Goldman, but most lovers of Broadway will be interested in the music and lyrics of a post-Do I Hear a Waltz?/pre-Company Stephen Sondheim. All Sondheim fans will want to see this fascinating DVD.

[Read more →]

Tags: Broadway Fred, television by Fred Siegel
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10. The Generic Holiday Special

9. Gift Wrapping With the Stars

8. A Charlie Brownstein Hanukkah

7. Egg Nog at the Jersey Shore

6. Justin Bieber Away in a Manger

5. Frosty the Puddle: The Global Warming Show

4. How the Grinch Stole Our Retirement Funds

3. When Reindeer Attack

2. I Saw Ricky Martin Kissing Santa Claus

1. Sarah Palin’s It’s A Marvelful Life
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, television by Bob Sullivan
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Hoarding. It’s all anyone can talk about anymore. Have you seen the show “Hoarders?” Oh my gosh. That’s what people talk about. Everyone. All people. I’m not attempting to be a Negative Nancy (Nathan) here, but I have one fundamental problem with the entire Hoarding trend: It’s just no fun. [Read more →]

Tags: mostly kidding by Matt Scottoline, television by Matt Scottoline
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With Veterans Day rapidly approaching, I expect to see A LOT more than the usual amount of war movies on television. Earlier today, on AMC, it was The Horse Soldiers (1959), in which a Union cavalry regiment is sent behind Confederate lines to disrupt and destroy rebel resources, communications and supply centers. The film was directed by John Ford, who has always earned high marks with me when it comes to the attention paid to authentic details in his films.
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Tags: movies, television by Jeff McDonald
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TMZ is reporting that GQ magazine’s recent “racy” photographs of some of the performers from the television show “Glee” has drawn the ire of a group called the Parents Television Council. They have made the provocative claim that the images border on pedophilia:

The Parents Television Council has released a statement thrashing producers for allowing Dianna Agron, Cory Monteith and Lea Michele to participate in a “hyper-sexualized” photo shoot for the November issue of GQ — despite the fact that both actresses are 24 years old and Corey is 28.

The PTC declares, “It is disturbing that GQ, which is explicitly written for adult men, is sexualizing the actresses who play high school-aged characters on ‘Glee’ in this way. It borders on pedophilia.”

Here is one of the images:

[Read more →]

Tags: on the law, television by Ricky Sprague
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This week, as October is flying by us, and Phillies playoff baseball has me in a tizzy, and yesterday’s Eagles game tailgate has me almost in a coma, I am digging Phineas and Ferb and the last day of the month Halloween.

[Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, television by Marty O'Connor
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TLC, the network that has brought us reality shows about little people, families with multiple children, and polygamists, has finally created what must be its ultimate television show, entitled “The Three Little Plygs.” Its first episode premiered last night and let me tell you it was exactly as thought-provoking, humorous, and exciting as real life.

The show tells the story of the Popinjay family. They’re just like you and me, except for a few superficial differences. First of all, they’re a family of little people. Second of all, they’re polygamists. Third of all, every one of the “sister wives” has given birth to multiples.

As the husband, John, is fond of saying (he seems to say this or some variant to the camera every five minutes), “Love should multiply, even a little.”

[Read more →]

Tags: ends & odd, television by Ricky Sprague
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Mad Men ended its fourth season tonight with a typically spellbinding episode, an Old Fashioned-drenched and smoke-shrouded punch to the gut that left no doubt as to the best show currently on television.

[Read more →]

Tags: television by Dooley Womack
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So I was walking down the street on Saturday, leaving a voice message on my friend’s cell phone when something I saw stopped me in my tracks, mid-sentence: The advertisement for A&E’s new show “Teach: Tony Danza.” Apparently, it’s his toughest role yet. If you’ve seen this ad you might have assumed, as I did, that this is some lame prime time drama series starring Tony Danza as a teacher but no! You’re wrong. You’re so wrong! It’s – guys, I’m so excited to share this with you that I can barely type – a reality show about Tony Danza actually teaching! Yes! Teaching people’s children! If you didn’t see the first episode, I’ll sum up what you need to know: Tony Danza has a degree in history and always wanted to be a teacher. And since we Americans give celebrities anything they want, the administrators of Northeast High School in Philadelphia said “Sure, what’s the worst that could happen?” Allow me to stop writing while I finish laughing.

Ok, I’m back. Now, I could spend my time with you this week commenting on how unfair it is that while Philly is struggling to find the funds necessary to keep their best educators from being laid off, someone who lists “tap dancing” in the skills section of his resume is just handed a job teaching tenth grade English. But I remember well the baptism-by-fire that is your first year as an educator so Tony, I’m going to take pity on you and give you ten golden nuggets of advice, from one former teacher to a future former teacher. [Read more →]

Tags: Meg gives advice to famous people, television by Meg Boyle
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Sometimes when I sit down to blog about a certain album I am enjoying, I have to really catch myself. Does my opinion count?  I mean, how hip can a 5’7 pudgy white guy be? I spent the past Friday night getting Chili’s Chips and Salsa take out and watching Die Hard 2. But I do try to keep my finger on the energy drink fueled pulse of our nation’s youth.  [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, music, television by Marty O'Connor
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