Top 5 'The West Wing' Episodes

I don't think this was meant to be the start of a meme, but perhaps by continuing it here, it will become one.  Simon at Screen Insight put together his Top 5 'Friends' Episodes after seeing Andy Buckle's Film Emporium's Top 10 'Seinfeld' episodes.  So I thought I'd take my own favorite TV show (after 'Friends') and create my own Top 10 list.  There was recently a post over at The Matinee talking about the decline of the Top 5 list.  I would argue that one perspective he left out that probably will always sustain the Top 5 (or 10) and that's nostalgia for a favored topic/show/movie/actor.  While I could argue with Simon that there are different episodes that should make up the Top 5 'Friends' episodes, I'm fine with his choices because I'm a huge fan and just reading where his funny bone was tickled is enough for me.  That's the spirit in which I write this list.

Honorable Mention - Isaac and Ishmael (Season 3 Episode 1) - This is the only completely stand alone episode of the series.  It references nothing you'd need to know from any other episode and furthers no other plots.  It's the response to 9/11 episode and as the world changed, The West Wing decided to incorporate that into their political story without making it change the world within it.  Talking about all aspects of terrorism and terrorists and with plenty of the typical West Wing history lessons, it's a wonderful episode and always makes me cry.  Everyone gets to shine for just a moment without any single character running the show

# 10 - Shibboleth (Season 2 Episode 8) - There are a lot of episodes that deal with faith during the course of this show.  But this episode deals specifically with Chinese Christian refugees.  However, the part that I really like throughout the episode is Bartlett's obsession with Thanksgiving.  The holiday episodes of this show usually deal with them peripherally, but they face it head on here.

#9 - 20 Hours in America (parts I and II) (Season 4 Episode 1 and 2) - There are a lot of two-part episodes, at least one per season, and they often create some of the best stories of the series.  This kicks off Bartlett's re-election campaign with a trip across the country where Toby, Josh and Donna get left behind by the motorcade.  We watch them try to get back to DC while arguing over how the campaign is going.  There's also my favorite speech in this episode about halfway through the second part referencing a catastrophe at a college - it's the music underneath that I really love.



#8 - Take This Sabbath Day (Season 1 Episode 14) - This is Marlee Matlin's first episode as a campaign manager.  Overall, the President is trying to decide whether or not to commute a death sentence and what it will mean if he does it just because he (as a Catholic) doesn't believe in the death penalty.  There's a scene with Karl Malden as his former parish priest that gets me every time.

#7 - The Stackhouse Fillibuster (Season 2 Episode 17) - This is a fairly unique episode because there is voice-over.  Each of the senior staff are writing letters to people describing their recent days that have led to the first filibuster of the term.  It's a particularly long filibuster by a Senator for no obvious reason.  Over the course of the night they figure out how to help the Senator and what he's actually trying to accomplish with the tactic.  It's a lot of information about how our government should and often does work, but done in a really creative way.

#6 - No Exit (Season 5 Episode 20) - One of The West Wing's best qualities is when they force people to have lengthy conversations when all else has stopped (like during a catastrophe).  In this one (in a nod to Sartre) people are forced to stay in rooms when an airborne toxin is detected.  Most also happen to be in rooms with people they dislike or don't know and for a change, things don't resolve particularly well.  Mary McCormack has arrived as a new NSA staffer and fights really well with Josh.

#5 - Undecideds (Season 7 Episode 8) - There aren't a lot of stand alone episodes from the final 2 seasons.  They're fairly continuous from episode to episode, but this one has a throwback moment to the quality of the first seasons (under Aaron Sorkin) where Matt Santos is trying to figure out how to be both a Presidential candidate and a Latino representing his race.  Watching him struggle hits home for anyone who wants to be both a representative of their group and to stand above being identified solely by that group.  And the speech his gives at the end is awesome.

#4 - In the Shadow of Two Gunman Part I and II - This is the origin episode and starts the second season.  When I loan my DVDs to people I always give them the first disc of the second season with the first season because the cliff hanger at the end of the first season is impossible to stop at.  This episode shows how Bartlett got into the race to be President and how the rest of his staff got hired - you get to see what they were each doing before they joined the campaign.  It's a really really terrific episode with lots of action and quickness interspersed with information where everyone tells their story.

#3 - The Supremes - A really really terrific episode that shows all the creativity you can have when you're making up a political universe and have innovative ideas that could potentially happen in the real world if the real world didn't actually include politicians.  Glenn Close guest stars as a liberal judge being considered for the Supreme Court.  However, given the difficulty in getting people through the Senate confirmation process they've realized anyone with strong political convictions can no longer get confirmed.  A creative solution presents itself and we see a long discussion of the Supreme Court.

#2 - Two Cathedrals (Season 2 Episode 22 - Another flashback episode preceding Bartlett's confirmation of re-election.  It's just after Mrs. Landingham (Kathryn Joosten) is killed.  We see the first time she meets Bartlett in high school and the kind of kid he was that led to the man he became.  He talks to God in Latin in a terrific sequence in the Cathedral after her funeral.  A young Mrs. Landingham played by Kirsten Nelson does a great job of capturing Joosten's acting style we love.  It was a sad day losing Mrs. Landingham, but she's sent off in a terrific episode.

#1 - Evidence of Things Not Seen (Season 4 Episode 19) - My favorite episode of the entire series.  It's a lot of talking - the staff is meeting to play poker on a Friday night.  However, Bartlett needs to talk to the Russian President to resolve a crashed spy-plane.  And the White House is shot at and is put under lock-down, forcing people to stay in certain places and keep talking to each other.  And throughout the episode, CJ is always trying to convince her colleagues that you can stand an egg on end during the equinox to a lot of humor.  Oh, and Mathew Perry guest stars as a new counsel applicant.  You can see why they chose Perry and Bradley Whitford to star in Sorkin's next show.  Oh, and Joshua Malina has arrived to stay.  Love him!

The Walking Dead: Wrap Up

I promise I won't give away who lives and who dies, because some of the tension of The Walking Dead comes from who survives the first season, but there are other things I really enjoyed about the series, particularly the finale, that don't give anything away.  One of these is how they've reversed a classic dilemma: if you have a life-threatening disease with no known cure, should you end your life or life as long as you can hoping they find a cure?  Our heroes are all healthy people (mostly), but ironically, they behave like people with a terminal illness.  The proposition introduced by The Walking Dead finale into this conundrum is that there's a third option: fight for a cure.  Usually in movies, an ill person isn't going to be the one who finds the cure - they're too busy with the effort of just staying alive.  There's usually another person who has made finding a cure their life's work (Extraordinary Measures, Medicine Man, etc.).  However, in The Walking Dead, our heroes are the healthy ones and the ones with the terminal illness at the same time and thus have a vested interest in finding a "cure" to their problem.  One of the hints they drop in the finale is that curing or ending the "walking dead" might be possible - the French might have been on to something.  So now our main characters all have 3 options, which the finale explores brilliantly: 1 - end your life now on  your own terms, 2 - go into hiding and begin working to just stay alive until someone else finds a cure or you die, and 3 - Go work really hard to find a cure.  This addition to the classic debate by people with a terminal illness was what really struck me as original about the way this season wrapped up.  What do you think?

TV Review: Treme

It's rare that a show's opening credits can accurately portray what a TV show is about.  I've watched the first three episodes of the HBO series Treme (pronounced Treh-may).  The Treme is a neighborhood in New Orleans that borders the famous French Quarter, but is made up of several races, and is reputed to be the place where the roots of Jazz were planted and grew.  The show begins about 4 months after hurricane Katrina ravaged so much of New Orleans, driving people out of the city, giving everyone a story of survival or loss, and now a story of return.

John Goodman is an English professor at Tulane irate about the way the hurricane was covered in the news and then forgotten.  He rages against the destruction of the levees and the fault of the government.  He's married to Melissa Leo, an attorney trying to help find a man who was arrested just before Katrina, and thus completely lost in the penal system as prisoners (even those not yet arraigned) were farmed out to other precincts until things could get back to normal.  He's the brother of bar-owner Khandi Alexander.  Leo also defends two of our other stars -  Wendall Pierce and Steve Zahn, both of whom get in trouble in Episode 3 by cops so wound up by all the lack of order that they beat-down first and ask questions later.

Pierce is a trombone-playing hound dog who has children with several women and kind of hops between them trying to find a place to sleep, have sex, and then play his 'bone.  Zahn is a sort of bum who has righteous indignation about anyone who dares to see New Orleans as a cliche rather than the source of all great music.  He's a DJ, hotel worker, bum, who sleeps with restaurant owner Kim Dickens (Matt's mom from Friday Night Lights) who is trying to get off the ground again with her fancy restaurant.  The other main cast member is Clarke Peters (the other The Wire veteran with Pierce) who plays one of the old guard of the Treme, who leads one of the group of parade marchers, with full costume, creole music, etc.  He's quiet, but angry, and a few things evertually set him off - mostly the lack of dignity and respect that has happened since the hurricane - robbery, violence, and indecency.  You can see he's going to bring back the traditions lost during the hurricane when Mardi Gras comes around again, but that it might be a herculean effort.

It's a gritty show that will make you feel guilty for not doing more and feel overwhelmed that there is way too much for one person to do.  It will also make you realize that no matter what happens, real life WILL continue.  The music is terrific, along the lines of the opening credits, but new every time.  Elvis Costello is a recurring character (playing himself I think) along with lots of other music legends I can only identify because they show up in the credits, but if you love this kind of music, you can see your favorites perform I'm sure.  Never having been to New Orleans, I can vouch for it's authenticity, but I can say that the performances, the dialogue, and the settings feel authentic.  It definitely makes me want to go to New Orleans and see it for myself, even if as a tourist I should stick to the French Quarter.

TV fun!

I saw a Meme over at Encore's World of Film and TV, originated somewhere unknown, but advertised by Ryan at SortaThatGuy that is totally something I must contribute to given my TV obsession.  I also wanted to try to increase my blog presence, and I'm a big fan of TV so this sounds terrific.  It's a 30 Day event, so enjoy.  First post to come later today. 

Day 01 - A show that should have never been canceled
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 - Your favorite new show ( aired this t.v season)
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite t.v show
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite t.v show
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show
Day 14 - Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best t.v show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First t.v show obsession
Day 29 - Current t.v show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death

Sex and the City 2: Review (Spoilers)

I have a great big, "I told you so coming" from all the people who didn't think the new Sex and the City 2 movie would be good.  I really liked the first movie, and of course the series was terrific so I assumed they'd just do a bit more of the same - focusing on a different character than the previous movie, possibly Charlotte dealing with motherhood, Miranda dealing with her job and family or possibly bringing in a new man for Samantha.  Okay, they did all of those things, for the first 15 minutes of the movie, resolving the problems in the last 5 minutes of the movie.  The first 15 minutes had a terrifically over the top wedding between Anthony and Stanford (Carrie and Charlotte's best gay guy friends).  Liza Minelli performs the ceremony (the best line - "When this much gay energy is concentrated in one place, Liza manifests") and sings "Single Ladies".  The middle 2 hours of the movie were so dreadful, I almost left the theater.  Since I'm warning you not to see this movie, I'm going to spoil as much as I can.  Samantha is offered a trip to Abu Dhabi to possibly do publicity for a hotel.  She brings the girls with her, they have a lovely hotel, lavish time, and then become stupid, oblivious, racists (well mostly Samantha, but the others aren't much better).  Carrie runs into her ex-Aiden, they kiss and rather than keeping her mouth shut about an anonymous kiss around the world, she tells everyone, making her already tenuous marriage to boring Mr. Big a bit more tenuous.  Meanwhile, Charlotte and Miranda bond over the guilt of motherhood and the inability to be complete or perfect while just being a mom.  Samantha decides to defy both laws, culture, and fairly common decency by getting it on with a guy in Abu Dhabi.  She's arrested and her cushy trip is revoked.  However, Carrie forgot her passport at a store in the spice market, so before they can leave they have to get it back.  Of course the nice shoe store manager still has it, but menopausal Samantha drops her purse and condoms pop out, and she's collecting them in her less than covering clothes and starts to be accosted by Arab men (she is swearing at them, hip thrusting, and yelling about sex).  Two full bhurka covered women bring the girls to safety and reveal that they all wear super fashionable clothes under their bhurkas.   There is almost nothing believable about their trip.  Women this highly educated and professional would hardly expect to be allowed to escape either the laws or the custom of keeping yourself covered in a muslim country, particularly when all the women around them are already doing that.  Yes, Samantha is over the top back home, but I don't think she's dumb enough given that she works in publicity to think she can get away with whatever she wants. 

There are a few funny moments, only in the beginning, particularly at the wedding and when they show us what the girls looked like when they all met years ago (image).  Do not go see this if you liked Sex and the City.  This is like a typical single episode surrounding a really, really bad movie in the middle.  1.5 lambs/stars  The .5 is because the clothes are fun, typically ridiculous, but gorgeous.

Lost: finale!

Sorry, I can't post the Monday musical today because I must write about the finale of Lost that aired last night.  Yes, there are spoilers after the first paragraph so if you actually care about seeing it fresh, skip the rest of this post.  I don't think I caught the first season live, I think I caught it on DVD later, and then watched the rest live.  I haven't always loved it and there were definitely episodes I didn't pay any attention to and I would never say I've understood an entire episode, but I have to say, the finale did give me a lot of closure.   I enjoyed it; I think I kind of understand what happened; and it didn't piss me off or leave me feeling like a movie needs to be made to give me more of these characters.   This review is not for the casual watcher - there are too many things to explain and very few make sense, so only if you watched it and want my take on what happened will this make sense. - Jess

So on Tuesday we saw that Jack had become the new Jacob - which I think means something like Jack had been assigned the duty of making sure that evil (Locke) doesn't escape the island and take over the world, and that Jack had to protect the light - the good - from Locke.   The sub had been blown up, but there's still a plane that can take people off the island.  So most of them are trying to get to the other island.  Miles finds Richard in the forest where Locke left him to die, and they head for the plane.  While traveling by dugout canoe they find Lapidus in the water (Rachel, he wasn't dead, who knew?!) and they realize now they can actually fly the plane.  Meanwhile, Locke has returned with Ben to find the well where they dumped Desmond.  He's gone, but they follow some dog tracks (yes, Vincent lives) to a hut where Rose and Bernard have been happily existing this whole time.  I actually always liked them, kinda calm and relaxed people among the crazy.  Dez swaps his life for Rose and Bernard and leaves with Locke and Ben.  I don't remember how, but somehow Locke, Ben, and Dez meet up with Jack, Sawyer, Hurley, and Kate at the pool of light.  Jack's decided he'll let Locke do what he wants and then kill Locke afterward.  This is where it doesn't make much sense.  Dez goes down the light waterfall, moves a stone, and the light goes out and earthquakes start (presumably to send the island to the bottom of the ocean).  This makes Locke mortal - no longer a smoke monster.  Thus, when he and Jack fight, even though he stabs Jack in the gut and in the neck, Jack still manages to kill him.  However, the island is having earthquakes and Jack realizes he has to put the stone back to make the light come back.  Sawyer and Kate have left to catch the plane, but Hurley and Ben go help Jack go down the light waterfall.  Because he knows it'll kill him, Jack anoints Hurley to take his place (become the new protector), and Hurley makes Ben his #2.   Jack goes down, moves the stone, saves Desmond, and basically dies.  We also see the plane take off with Kate, Sawyer, Miles, Richard, and Lapidus.  The End of life on the island.  All's well that ends well.

Meanwhile, in the sideways world (where the plane didn't crash), Dez, who has remembered what happened on the island and become enlightened and enlightened Hurley are trying to enlighten everyone else.  They broke Kate and Sayid out of jail, and now Kate is attending a party with Claire and Dez that Charlie and Daniel Faraday are playing (backstage Daniel and Charlotte meet for the first time and sense a connection).  Claire goes into labor and Kate helps her deliver the baby, just like on the island, and they both become enlightened - which seems to mean they're very happy and remembering all the good stuff that brought them together in the past.  Charlie arrives after the birth and the deja vu hits him and he becomes enlightened.  Jin and Sun are in the hospital and it turns out Juliette is their baby doctor (oh, and the mother of Jack's son - Rachel, you called it), and seeing the baby on the monitor with Juliette enlightens Sun, and Jin realizes he loves his wife and he's enlightened.  Also, it means they both remember how to speak English - very fast Rosetta stone, like "the intersect" on Chuck.  Sawyer and Juliette run into each other and their witty banter brings them back to the island and they're enlightened.  Hurley's been driving around trying to find Shannon and Boone, and when Sayid goes to help Shannon, they're enlightened and remember they were in love (until Shannon was shot).  Oh yeah, Jack operated on Locke's broken back, and when Locke gets the feeling back in his feet, he becomes enlightened.  So only Jack is left.  He goes to the party where Claire had her baby, and runs into Kate.  He sees images of their love, but isn't yet enlightened.  She brings him to this church where his father's body has been brought.  He goes inside, and the coffin is empty, but it enlightens Jack some more.  His father appears and explains to him that he's dead - and that at some point everyone is, some before you, some after.  Slow that I am, I finally realized all the images around them are from all the religions - crucifixes, menorah, moon and stars, etc.  Basically, the Lost creators were trying to be all-encompassing in their finale, but it definitely left out atheists.  I think they were trying to say that the sideways world was "heaven/nirvana/afterlife place" where you went to learn things about your life and connect with the people from the most powerful parts of your life.  When you are enlightened, it will all come together and that will be the end.  It kind of worked that way.  I like it because they did a good job making all the nice moments of the series, the love, the triumph, adventure, etc. become the most important parts.   Basically, it is better to have loved and "lost" than never to have loved at all because eventually everything comes back to you, even if you're dead.  Trite, maybe, but maybe just cheesy.  I'll have to wait to read more commentary to find out if I'm even close.  But that's my best guess.  I wasn't blown away, it was confusing, and took some time to digest, but overall I liked it.

PS - If you can, watch some of the alternate endings they did on Jimmy Kimmel last night too.

Friday Night Lights is coming back, get ready!

Friday, May 7 at 8pm on NBC, the fourth season of Friday Night Lights will begin its run anew.  With the deal between DirectTV and NBC, we got a bonus 2 seasons of FNL, and it was worth every penny.  Taking advantage of my dad's DirectTV subscription, I've already seen and LOVED season 4.  The first season was amazing, introducing characters and stories that were some of the best on TV.  Definitely was the introduction of the most function marriage on television in a long time.  Season 2 went off the rails a bit with the whole Landry/Tyra murder story.  Season 3 brought us our first villains with the McCoys (JD and his dad).  Now in Season 4, our beloved coach has been fired from the Dillon Panthers, but hired at the new East Dillon High to coach the Lions.  The field is a joke compared to the turf the Pathers played on.  There are no boosters to speak of, and the strength of the team is fairly limited.  We get to meet some wonderful new characters and catch up with some old ones.  I can't wait to watch it all again.   Michael B. Jordan (pictured), from the terrific season 4 of The Wire, is a new player on the Lions, trying to escape his legal troubles by turning his life around.  You can always trust FNL not to be cliched or overly dramatic, and they tell his story really well.  Jurnee Smollett plays a cheerleader at East Dillon who used to date Jordan, but now finds my fav Landry Clarke (Jesse Plemons) intriguing.  I won't tell you which characters return and which ones don't, but just trust the show will still be awesome. 

Early Season Finales

**Some spoilers, but if you don't watch these shows, consider it philosophical rather than spoiling anything **
Three shows I have really enjoyed this season ended a bit early considering May sweeps haven't even started. Ugly Betty, Damages, and Project Runway all completed their seasons, and in the case of Ugly Betty (and possibly Damages) it's the end of the series. Ugly Betty did what the best finales do, wrap up all the stories enough that avid fans are satisfied without putting everything to rest. Betty was slowly wrapped up, she lost her braces, started dressing better, and straightened her hair more. It made her look more professional and fashionable (helpful given where she works) and it was done gradually enough that it didn't seem like it was something she forced. Her sister got married, and she seemed to have a job she was going to like, and possibly a romantic interest we didn't have to watch unfold, but were content was okay.

Damages, however, wrapped up the mysteries of the series slowly and with very little satisfaction to the ending. The character we'd known was dead from the first episode of this season was still dead at the end of the season, and they kept us guessing who might have actually done it, but by the time it was revealed, I didn't care. There were a few false starts, but basically in this season a whole bunch of people died, mostly bad guys, but no one I was upset to see go. There were mysteries that didn't really matter (who cares that Ellen was nearly (but not) given away as a child?), and people going a little crazy for no obvious reason (Patty dreaming again and again about the baby she lost which we knew about in the first season). All in all, I enjoyed much of the season, but not the finale. I didn't watch season 2 and don't think I'll watch again should it get renewed.

I wrote the beginning of this post earlier, but had to wait until Project Runway showed to conclude the post, and man it just got worse as it went along. I was happy that Seth Aaron won the season, but this had to be the most boring finale EVER. Usually they do a reunion show BEFORE the finale, and we get to find out what the finalists thought about their performances on the show. Also, there's usually some sort of final challenge where the producers force the finalists to be more creative at the last minute, and they bring back some other rejects to help them complete it all in time. Those were fun. There was also often a scandal about how things were paid for (Kara's boots, Jeffrey's wigs). This year, NOTHING. Just the show, some analysis, and over. So odd. Very disappointing. But I'll definitely still keep watching. (PS - Why did Seth Aaron make his hair look like earmuffs?)

Who knew ABC would win?

I watch a lot of TV. If you're a regular reader of my blog you can attest to my love for TV. I had an odd thought the other day wondering which network I watch the most. To explain why my odd thought occurred, I was explaining to someone that In Plain Sight was returning to USA (Wednesdays at 10) and thought, "Wow, I really like the shows on USA, I bet that's the channel I watch the most," but of course it isn't, so here are the tallies:

ABC: Castle, Lost, Cougar Town, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters

AMC: Mad Men

CBS: How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, CSI: Miami, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, The Mentalist, Numb3rs

Fox: Human Target, Bones, Fringe, Glee

Fx: Damages, Justified (both are new additions to my own watching pattern)

Lifetime: Project Runway, Drop Dead Diva

NBC: Chuck, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights

TNT: Saving Grace, The Closer

USA: In Plain Sight, Royal Pains, Burn Notice, Psych (which might be over soon), White Collar,
used to watch Monk, but that just ended for good


So I guess ABC is the winner. I actually found that surprising, but some of them are my favorite shows. Also ABC has the best online viewing after the fact. Hulu is good for NBC and Fox, but CBS is abysmal. I think what I like about the shows on USA over the other channels is that since so few people I know also watch them, it kinda feels like they're shows just for me. I'm sure more people watch them (or they wouldn't be in multiple seasons) but they're not really part of the zeitgeist or appointment TV so I don't have to forgo something else to watch them. As always, I'm sure I forgot something good that will return in the not too distant future. As you can tell, I don't watch much reality TV, mostly just Project Runway. However, thanks to the Demented Encyclopedia podcast and the Blog Cabins Survivor updates, I keep track of what's going on. If you feel the need to know what's going on without actually watching the shows, check them out.

TV you can work with

I recently submitted the first "chapter" of my PhD thesis. I've always been someone who needs the distraction of TV in the background to keep me focused on work. While doing the actual writing (about 4 weeks work) I watched Season 2 of Alias, Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 1 of The West Wing, and Season 7 of Friends. Of course I've seen them all before, though this was only the second watching of Alias, so it was easy to keep going. What do you watch when you just need something good in the background?

A funny video

TV has some of my favorite people. I watch Friday Night Lights because they're generally good people. I watch Weeds because they're pretty much not. This guy obviously liked TV too. Enjoy. To spike the interest, they include Firefly, X-files, Scrubs, etc....

Good TV: Human Target

One of the many benefits to living on the Canadian border is Canadian television (CJOH and CTV for those who care). So far this has brought me full seasons of The Tudors (before the DVD release, but after the airing on Showtime), and allowed me to watch the shows that are shown opposite several others (they air CSI at 8pm, instead of 9, when I prefer Grey's or Fringe). This is what I like best, when they air a show on a better day, preferably an earlier day than it airs in the states. Right now, they air the new show "Human Target" on Monday nights, instead of Wednesday after Idol in the US. So I don't have to wait until Wednesday to see it. It stars Mark Valley (his father was my high school principal!) from "Fringe", and Chi McBride (recently from "Pushing Daisies"), and Jackie Earle Haley (seemingly attempting to remove the tarnish from his fantastic turn in Little Children). The three of them operate a body-guard for hire agency that runs just a little outside the law, not always, but sometimes (and I'm told is based on a comic book, though it's hard to tell). Valley plays Christopher Chance (one of his aliases) a former special forces military savant, and McBride is his straight-man side kick who makes things happen while Valley's in the field doing the action stuff. It has a small cast, though so far the guest stars have been lots of fun (Tricia Helfer - "BSG", Sean Maher - "Serenity") and speaks well for the future of the series. My only complaint is the opening credits. The design is terrific, but the music is awful, totally doesn't go with an action series at all. I like the series, and LOVE that I can watch it early (not sure why it matters, but it's fun to know I see it earlier than the rest of the States). I hope they keep it going for a while.

Fun Monday Night TV

I was really excited about the return of "Chuck" on NBC on Monday night, and enjoyed the new direction the show is going, with a slightly more capable lead character with a haircut. Why do shows use haircuts to change a character, that seems silly. But the show is still really good, and remarkably funny for a spy show.

The second best thing on Monday night this week was a surprise musical number by Neil Patrick Harris on "How I Met Your Mother". The show itself is getting much much closer to actually meeting the title mother, but this episode will be remembered for NPH's ode to his suits. Here's a link to the episode. It's at about the 18 minute mark if you want to check it out. My favorite is still his appearance on Sesame Street.

GLEE- Flash Mob Rome

This is just a fun thing to see! Enjoy.

Glee!

"I find it hard to be in the same room with you, especially this one, which looks like where Strawberry Shortcake and Holly Hobby come to hook up." - Kurt (Chris Colfer), Glee

The Return of Friday Night Lights!!!

I've been reading about the return of "Friday Night Lights" next Wednesday, Oct. 28th on the DirectTV channel before jumping to NBC in the new year. I can't wait. The third season was a huge return to its amazing form after a sophomore oddness. We saw a lot of the wonderful characters graduate, and big changes come to Dillon, TX. Now, there will be some new cast members, and I'm so excited. Jurnee Smollett is joining the cast. She was terrific in The Great Debaters and in her two-hour episode guest spot on "Grey's Anatomy" ending its 4th season as a brain cancer patient. I can't wait.

TV that makes me laugh

"You know there's a question I get asked a lot. Whether I'm accepting an honorary degree or performing a citizens arrest, people ask me, 'Sue, what's your secret?'." - Jane Lynch on Glee

The second thing that made me laugh really hard this week was "Cougar Town". Courtney Cox's new series is not the semi-gross topic I thought it might be. Instead she really doesn't want to be a cougar, but is trying to find a way to be happy, but the different ways she embarrasses herself and her son are just hysterical. She's doing a terrific version of a more mellow "Monica", and it's so much fun. Check it out Wednesdays. In this photo, they're chasing down one of that kids that have been stealing her real estate signs because she's posing with her boobs hanging out. Busy Philips plays her assistant and chose the photo. Hilarity ensues.

Can "The Wire" really be the best show on TV? YES!

A great fellow movie blogger recently posted a great essay on whether a war film can make for great entertainment. It hit me that we can ask that about a lot of the best shows on TV too. "The Wire", which aired on HBO and ran its final season over a year ago, is easily among the best shows ever shown on television. However, a summary of the series includes drugs, murder, corruption, conspiracy and overwhelming violence at times. How does this combination make for great TV, you might ask. And I did - I even had to rewatch the first 5 episodes in an effort to get hooked. Well, 55 episodes later, I watched the entire series and have become one of the proud to recommend it. The description of the series is much less than the sum of its parts, but I will try anyway. Overall, the series is about crime and law enforcement in Baltimore. Each season examines a central group of police officers and drug dealers through a greater lens within Baltimore. The first season sets up the characters and taking down drug kingpins through fastidious and careful law enforcement - specifically a wire tap. However, as in any animal kingdom, once one party finds an advantage, the other finds a way to counter that advantage. The second season examines the corruption and deterioration of Baltimore waterfront and the shipping industry. It does feel a bit like a whole different show for a little while, but eventually you begin to understand what the series is trying to do, and you can accept the second season as it is. It was my least favorite season, and in some ways the most violent and nail-biting and so does stand alone well. The third season brings us back to the streets of an unruly set of drug dealers who seem to be missing their leader. An "out of the box" thinking cop who has had enough of the crime associated with drug dealing on the corners of his district tries out a new paradigm of law enforcement: if you can get them into a single location away from local people - both dealers and fiends - then you'll have peace. Essentially he legalizes the drug trade. However, at the same time, the political machine is starting to get going and lasts through the end of the series. The fourth season, my favorite, examines how crime and the schools interact with each other. One of the cops from the first season has left policing and become a teacher, so we meet his students who all are at the point of making choices about being drug dealers, muscle for drug dealers, snitches, hookers, etc. The political side of law enforcement increases with the mayoral race in Baltimore. Favors are traded on the back of crime statistics and you see both police and politicians trying to make things appear however will best help them. The final season looks at the media's role in crime and solving crimes, specifically at the Baltimore Sun. Funding for the police force has been cut to help out the ailing school system, and our troubled, but heartfelt police set up a fictional serial killer, which they know will increase funding, aided by the stories written by the press bringing attention to the issue.

Throughout each season there are the changing leaders of the drug trade, and because all of our police are at some point part of the homicide division, we can keep in touch with the murders from the drug trade while still looking at another side of Baltimore. You must believe me that the experience far outweighs reading this summary. I highly recommend the entire series, particularly season 4. However, given that the dialogue is seemingly faithful to the culture of each group of people - the police jargon, the drug talk, etc. I recommend watching it with subtitles until you get used to the language, which I promise you do after a little while. Also, there is an incredible amount of violence throughout. They do a good job of making the viewers as inured to the violence as the dealers and cops already are, but yet they're still able to shock you with violence, and knowing that no one is ever safe pervades both the living and the watching this series. There is a lot of terrific acting throughout, and none really stand out above, but my favorite character adds a bit to nearly every season he's in. Andre Royo plays a dope addict named "Bubbles" who alternately snitches for the cops and lives on the street. He has a good heart, but can't seem to escape his addiction. His story line is carefully told over the entire series, rather than a single season, and he'll break your heart and show you redemption, all without being cliched or boring. He's a great actor and a wonderful character. While the show was only nominated twice for writing, the entirety of the show is what draws you in and moves you to appreciate how exceptional its quality really is, and thus what the average TV show is missing. Also, for a show with an enormous cast, they did a terrific job of including story lines with every character, but not ultimately revealing much about each individual character, but rather how it relates to the whole.

Movies I want to see

Okay, it's been a while since I've been to the movies. Just a random lull, with visitors and weddings preventing weekend viewing. But I still want to try to see The Ugly Truth, Funny People, (500) Days of Summer, Julie and Julia, and I can't wait to see The Time Traveler's Wife. I've been catching up on The Wire while I work at home. Up to season 4!! It's a really amazing show. It's so dark that I have trouble calling it wonderful or the best ever, as those words don't feel right, but it ranks with some of the greatest shows ever. Also, I spent the weekend catching up on the wonderful performances by the USA swim teams at the World Championships in Rome. 2012 is going to be another amazing Olympics. Oh, and of course, I love my summer TV, not that there's very much. "Royal Pains" has become a good show. I still like "In Plain Sight" (Mary McCormack is really good, and Fred Weller as her partner is perfect). The final season of "Monk" starts Friday along with a new season of "Pysch". "Burn Notice" hasn't been great so far, but I think they're setting it up for a future season, I hope. Kathy Griffin is hilarious and Kyra Sedgwick is still doing a terrific job.

Emmy Nominations 2009

This morning the Emmy nominations were announced by Chandra Wilson and Jim Parsons, both of whom got nominated, Chandra twice! I recently posted my own list of the top 10 performances of 2009. Now, mine are based only on shows I watch, so I can appreciate that there are shows that would be nominated and thus kick out some of my choices, but there are a few snubs I'm surprised by. However, I did pick 2 that were in fact nominated: Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory and Simon Baker for The Mentalist. The other thing about this year's nominations that struck me was the increased number of nominations in certain categories. There were 6 nominated actors or actresses in most categories and 7 nominations for Best Comedy and Drama series and only 2 nominations for Best Miniseries. There were a lot of new faces nominated which is terrific for Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men) and Jack McBrayer (Kenneth on 30 Rock), and even some recent winners not even nominated, like Jeremy Piven (Entourage). I was very disappointed to see no love for Fringe or its actors, Joshua Jackson or John Nobel. I hope that doesn't affect the show's longevity. Ah well, it'll be an interesting awards ceremony, I'll make predictions in September!