Now that's a TV show I wouldn't mind watching...

Looking back at my posts lately, I'm realizing that I've fallen into a rut of endless YouTube videos rather than any meaningful written content. It seems my ability to write anything remotely insightful or clever has suffered as I get more busy and tired with work. So does that mean I'm going to write something insightful or clever right now? Heck no. I'm beat!

Anywho, I've seen this mashup on a couple of sites and thought it was amusing enough to share. See the second video to see how it compares to the original. I guess this shows there's only so many ways a director can frame a shot:

There must be a medical term for this...

As you all probably know, Battlestar Galactica ended two weeks ago.  I've probably written enough on this blog for you to figure out that I was quite fond of this show. I watch a lot of TV, but few shows really leave such a lasting impression on me. Many of you probably lost interest in the third season (or maybe even sooner) thinking they were building up too many questions and not enough answers, but I think Ronald D. Moore and the writers of BSG really tied up the whole series in the final stretch to a (mostly) satisfying conclusion. 

Alas, I find myself still on Friday nights the past couple of weeks a bit depressed, knowing BSG won't be on anymore.  My mood is kind of likened to Barack Obama as told by this recent article from The Onion:

Obama Depressed, Distant Since 'Battlestar Galactica' Series Finale

WASHINGTON—According to sources in the White House, President Barack Obama has been uncharacteristically distant and withdrawn ever since last month's two-hour series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

"The president seems to be someplace else lately," said one high-level official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Yesterday we were all being briefed on the encroachment of Iranian drone planes into Iraq, when he just looked up from the table and blurted out, 'What am I supposed to watch on Fridays at 10 p.m. now? Numb3rs?'"

"I haven't seen him this upset since Admiral Adama realized that Earth was actually an uninhabitable wasteland," the official continued. "Or at least that's what he told me. I don't actually watch the show. It's not really my thing."

Since the end of the series, Obama has reportedly brushed off key budgetary decisions, ignored his wife and children, and neglected his daily workouts, claiming that he no longer cares if he lets himself go "just like Lee did before the rescue on New Caprica."

In addition, sources confirmed that instead of meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday, the depressed president sat alone in the Oval Office, scouring Internet message boards for posts by other fans about the series conclusion.

Yes, this article is a joke, yet it's not so funny considering I actually have spent some time "scouring Internet message boards" myself about the series finale.  Sigh... 

Say "hi" to your mother for me...

As Wild Willie mentioned on a comment post, last weekend's SNL had some winners, including a couple of guest appearances by Sarah Palin and this cameo by Marky Mark:

Wishing I could live in the Pacific Northwest...

In response to Wild Willie's post below, I had heard about Voodoo Doughnuts when it was featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations as he went through the Pacific Northwest last year. It's a pretty entertaining show and much more interesting than most of the glorified ads they broadcast on the Travel Channel. If you like to travel, I highly recommend watching.

Scratch will probably appreciate this...

I guess there is life after Saved By the Bell. I enjoy this so much more than even the thought of a Screech sex tape. More pictures at Best Week Ever:

What the frak?!

Just finished watching the final show of Battlestar Galactica before the long dreaded break (no new shows till 2009 to see the final conclusion of this series? You've got to be fraking kidding me!), and realized I haven't blogged a thing about the show this whole season.

Overall, I think it's been a bit hit and miss. A lot was devoted to the four characters revealed to be part of the final five Cylons, which I thought would lead to more compelling stories. Unfortunately, I find Tory annoying and Anders a bit boring. All the infighting in the Cylon fleet seemed to drag on. And Baltar's ascendence as some sort of Jesus figure was also something I hoped would be more interesting than it turned out to be. Instead, he seemed to appear more like the leader of a polygamist cult, which I guess shouldn't surprise anyone given the Mormon undertones of the original Battlestar Galactica series.

The relationship between Admiral Adama and Laura Roslin has played out slowly, but finally came to its satisfying conclusion this season. Adama sitting out in the middle of space all by his lonesome in a Raptor, Laura finally professing her love to him--I think I might have cried a little myself. And then they finished up this half of the season with a cliffhanger that really leaves you going, "Wha?!"

I have yet to convince Lemon to watch this show, which I think is a real shame. She still can't get over the fact that it's science fiction, even though the best parts of this show are the ones that probably have nothing to do with sci-fi and everything to do with character development and relationships. Oh well. At least I've got her saying "Frak!" all the time.

Seriously?

I may be the only one of Kool-Aid Gang who actually watches Grey's Anatomy, in which case the mild humor of the title of this post will be lost on most of you. It's actually Lemon's favorite show (she even likes it more than 30 Rock), which gives me an easy excuse to watch girlie television such as this.

Most of the time, I kind of roll my eyes, though, at all the preposterous story lines they come up with. It makes ER seem down right boring at times. Add to the fact, I can't understand why surgical residents seem to be taking care of every problem that enters fictional Seattle Grace Hospital whether it be guy encased in concrete or lady with a simple cough.

Anywho, where was I? Oh yeah. So Katherine Heigl is one of the rising stars that came out of this show, having essentially broken out into the big screen with Knocked Up. Unfortunately, with all the success she had with that film, she ended up badmouthing the movie for it's portrayal of women as humorless. That seemed a bit in poor taste, considering the movie was what has now made her a bankable movie star. Now comes this latest slap in the face to those that led her to her fame. Apparently, she felt that despite the lousy scriptwriting this season, her acting was of such high caliber that she had to make sure she removed herself from Emmy contention so as not to steal the award from someone else:

"I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization" decided against competing, Heigl said in a written statement provided by her publicist, Melissa Kates, who was contacted by the AP.

"In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials," added Heigl. She plays Dr. Izzie Stevens on "Grey's Anatomy," which slipped in the ratings this past season but remained a top 10 show.

Man, talk about an inflated ego. I remember when Bill Cosby used to remove himself from contention every year. Of course, that was after he kept winning. In comparison, Heigl won one Emmy for a supporting role--ONE!

And here you though they were just leading us on with no idea of real conclusion...

Reminder: The final season of Battlestar Galactica starts tomorrow. If you haven't watched much, or just can't remember what the frak is going on, check out the eight minute synopsis on scifi.com.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy Chinese New Year! It's the Year of the Rat. Legend has it that Buddha staged a race across a river with the animals of the Chinese zodiac to determine the order of the lunar calendar. The race was almost won by the determined Ox, but at the last minute, the Rat who had been riding on his back, jumped off at the end to win the race--sneaky bastard. And if you were curious, Tigers, you came in third. Thus, the Rat comes first in the cycle, meaning this year is a good time to start over and begin anew.

Perhaps I'll use this year to start over with learning Mandarin Chinese, which I might be able to achieve doing what I do best--watching TV! From The Boston Globe (via Pop Candy):

Kai-lan Chow, the newest addition to Nickelodeon's "Nick Jr." preschool block, has big, wide-set brown eyes and a penchant - like some others on her network - for breaking the fourth wall. Many times in every episode of "Ni Hao, Kai-lan," the new animated series that launches at 11 a.m. today, she will gaze beyond the TV screen and ask her audience for help. Often, the task will involve repeating a word in Mandarin.

Of the many goals packed into every half-hour "Ni Hao" episode, this is the most inventive and ambitious: To give preschoolers a rudimentary lesson in the Chinese language. (Ni Hao, incidentally, means "hello.") There is precedent, of course; PBS's "Sesame Street" taught a generation to count to 10 in Spanish, and Nick Jr.'s "Dora the Explorer" and "Go, Diego, Go!" have continued the tradition. "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" promises political relevance, too. Of all the languages worth knowing in the future, Mandarin ranks high.

Strange to think that Wild Willie's and Fandango's kids will probably know more Chinese than me. Now, even they can make fun of me behind my back with my wife and her family.

I don't know what's been in your mouth...

Considering I eat bunch in communal Chinese settings where dishes are shared rather than hoarded to oneself, I don't get too worked up about the "double dipper." However, some people do, and inspired by George (Costanza, not Firecracker) and that classic episode of Seinfeld, a group from Clemson University studied whether such practices truly are bad for you. From The New York Times:

The team of nine students instructed volunteers to take a bite of a wheat cracker and dip the cracker for three seconds into about a tablespoon of a test dip. They then repeated the process with new crackers, for a total of either three or six double dips per dip sample. The team then analyzed the remaining dip and counted the number of aerobic bacteria in it. They didn’t determine whether any of the bacteria were harmful, and didn’t count anaerobic bacteria, which are harder to culture, or viruses.

There were six test dips: sterile water with three different degrees of acidity, a commercial salsa, a cheese dip and chocolate syrup.

On average, the students found that three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater’s mouth to the remaining dip.

Each cracker picked up between one and two grams of dip. That means that sporadic double dipping in a cup of dip would transfer at least 50 to 100 bacteria from one mouth to another with every bite.

The kind of dip made a difference in a couple of ways. The more acidic water samples had somewhat fewer bacteria, and the numbers of bacteria declined with time. But the acidic salsa picked up higher initial numbers of bacteria than the cheese or chocolate, because it was runny. The thicker the dip, the more stuck to the chip, and so the fewer bacteria were left behind in the bowl.

I'm still not convinced that the transfer of bacteria is an adequate end point to study. They admit that you probably should be studying whether those are harmful bacteria that are going from one mouth to the next, or just normal flora. Don't worry, though--I don't double dip.

If she had been wearing a pair of those adidas sneakers, I'll bet they would have let her in...

I found this audition for American Idol rather humorous, but then felt rather sad for this young girl.  Why must we all judge each other by outer appearances? Why must we all be hip and cool to be accepted in this world? Why can't we all just run around as our favorite Star Wars character? Is it jealousy that I empathize with her so much?  Is it my inner Star Wars dorkness yearning to be let out just as she has let her own spring free for the entire world to see? 

Who am I kidding?  She was just GOOFY! Ten bucks says she makes a cameo appearance at some MTV awards show later in the year.

CBS still looks like the geriatric channel to me...

I haven't watched enough high definition TV to notice if this phenomenon still exists, but have you ever noticed that the big networks always seem to look just a little different than each other? CBS always looks kind of pale. ABC looks a bit different. NBC kind of has this brighter quality to it. Leave it to Chuck Klosterman in his monthly Esquire column to get to the bottom of this:

I have always wondered this: Why am I able to see any random television program, often for less than ten seconds, and immediately recognize which network the show is airing on? To me, the differences seem obvious and undeniable: On ABC, colors are always darker and the definition is softer. NBC programs look more like traditional videotape (brighter, sharper, more aggressively modern). Everything on CBS has a slightly grainy, understated appearance. Fox looks like the middle ground between CBS and NBC. When the show Cavemen premiered last fall and I came across the first episode by accident, I did not know what channel I was watching, but I did know this: Aesthetically, Cavemen looked like an ABC show. It looked like Head of the Class, which had looked like Barney Miller. I had a similar experience when I first saw 30 Rock, a sitcom that visually resembles Friends (which visually resembled Silver Spoons). These relationships have nothing to do with content; they refer only to the technical, non-narrative aspects of how the shows are broadcast. For reasons I don’t understand, I can identify the look of any major network instantaneously. So can a lot of other people. We can do it without even trying.

Except that we can’t.

Read the rest of the article here if you're intrigued, although I still don't think he quite answers the question.  Each network's broadcast does look different, as you can always tell when they air the State of the Union Address or some other common live feed.

Where's Tom Hanks when you need him?

Did anyone happen to catch the links on Pop Candy to this play on DaVinci's The Last Supper that appears in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly?  Ronald D. Moore clues correlating to the numbers telling us what we might expect next season on Battlestar Galactica are below.  Click on the pictures so you can actually read it.  

Exciting stuff, guys.  Exciting stuff.  I can't believe we've got to wait till April.  Damn Sci-Fi Channel big-wigs.

I don't think I've ever been so disappointed in my life...

The new teaser for Knight Rider is up.  Yawn.

"My suits are wearing me!"

In regard to a previous comment regarding How I Met Your Mother and "the slap," here's a video reference to those a bit unfamiliar:

Getting closer to the end...

Since Wild Willie has limited opportunities to hit the movie theaters, I guess he'll have to make do with what's on TV.  Luckily, Lost comes back next month, and here's a trailer.  

Who needs music videos anymore? TV shows do a fine job these days selling bands and their music...

I never really caught much of The O.C. during it's run since I didn't find anyone except the characters played by Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson all that interesting to watch.  The show was good for finding fresh emerging musical artists, though, and I'd often peruse the web looking to see who's music got featured on the show to pull myself out of a rut of listening to old familiar tunes. The creator of The O.C., Josh Schwartz, has gone on to start a couple of new shows this season such as Gossip Girl (sort of The O.C. reimagined in the high society atmosphere of New York City) and Chuck (sort of The O.C. reimagined if Seth suddenly became a secret agent man) complete with their own edgy soundtracks featuring a mix of hip songs and more obscure, lesser known bands put together by musical supervisor Alexandra Patsavas (who's also responsible for other music-laden shows like Grey's Anatomy and, of course, The O.C.).  

Anywho, this is a long-winded segway to say you should all check out this group, Band of Horses.  I got their latest album Cease To Begin awhile back and thought it was pretty good, but never thought to post about it until I recognized a couple of their songs ("No One's Gonna Love You" and "The General Specific") during key scenes in recent episodes of Chuck and Gossip Girl.  Now, this is not to say that this is a predictable radio-friendly pop album, but it does show a wide spectrum of moods from ethereal and mysterious to foot-stomping fun.  It's more kind of what would happen if you put The Shins and My Morning Jacket in a blender, and listened to the results.  It's indie rock with just a hint of the South.  
 

Almost as bad as making Bond drive a BMW instead of an Aston Martin...

If you haven't heard yet, NBC has plans to release a reinvented pilot of Knight Rider in a couple of months they're hoping might spawn interest in an entire new series. Now, you can make fun of the Hoff all you want and mock the corny plotlines of the original series back in the 80's, but as a kid, I thought Knight Rider was the coolest thing on TV. I had hopes that this new iteration would have the potential to be on par with another recent update of a classic Glen Larson-produced show--Battlestar Galactica. Alas, by the looks of some of the pictures, this might actually turn out even dumber than the original. As much as I like the Shelby Cobra, it seems completely wrong as K.I.T.T. More pics at Ain't It Cool News.


Oh, and the new voice of the Knight Industries Three Thousand supercar? None other than Arrested Development's George Oscar Bluth II. Huh? Will Arnett?!


If David Hasselhoff actually does make a cameo, I'll be convinced this is supposed to be a spoof comedy, and will be looking for Leslie Nielsen to pop out at some point in the show.

Is Swany losing his TV touch?

The Kool-Aid Gang's television guru has done all of a a great disservice. I guess we can blame it on the fact that he is now a full time career guy. But I still think he deserves to receive a hard time for not warning us ahead of time that the Sci-Fi Network would be airing a 2 hour special on the Battlestar Pegasus at the end of November. After searching for additional airings of the show, all I could come up with was that you could buy it on DVD. You can pre-order Battlestar Galactica: Razor and have it shipped just in time for Christmas. If anyone gets to see it let me know how it was.

Boys becoming men, men becoming wolves...

A clip of this song was on 30 Rock a few weeks ago. If you're still not watching this show, you should be. Don't bother watching the visuals. Just listen. Kind of late, but still funny enough for me to post: