77 posts tagged “television”
So after listening to David Cook's cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" a few more times after last night's American Idol, I'm thinking I like that as much as anything he's done all season. I think it's my favorite song of his since "Hello," which is saying a lot (because that performance was amazing, and was certainly the song that convinced me of David's talent). I think I like "Looking For" equally as much. I really do. And watching him sing it, it makes it even better. The (moronicasinineridiculous) judges like to talk about, you know, star-making moments and crap, and for me? Watching David Cook completely own that audience during that performance, it was pretty great. He looked like a veteran up there. By comparison, David Archuleta, to me, wasn't even close. The kid can sing. He truly can. I won't deny that he's a fine singer. But he's just not as good as David Cook in any number of ways. He's not as creative, his voice isn't as powerful, he's not as good of a performer, he's not as versatile, and he's just plain ol' dull. I suspect that may be just what most Idol voters want. He's a safe, boring choice. But I don't see any way that David Cook won't be the more successful artist in five years. If we're talking about David Archuleta in 2013, I'll be shocked. I won't be surprised if we're still hearing Mr. Cook on the radio then. On the radio we'll be listening to in our homes, because gas will be $17 a gallon then, and we still won't have cars fueled by anything other than gas, and no one will be able to afford to listen to the radio while driving around. But I digress.
Yeah, I expect Little David to win tonight, but David Cook's the best this season. One of the best in any season. He's helped (with Brooke) restore my faith (or establish a little faith) in this show. If he wins, it's extremely well-deserved. I hope it happens. And not just because he's a Royals fan (though that, of course, proves his awesomeness more than anything else, ha).
(Also, I think "Dream Big" wasn't bad at all last night. I liked it. I admit it. And oh yeah, the judges SUCKED last night, did I say that? They did. Blech.)
I just wanted to say, tsk, tsk, Bachelor Matt. You dismissed my favorite bachelorette last night. Amanda is cool, but I love Noelle. She runs her own little photography business, she's smart, beautiful, not afraid to tell you that she has a "grandma" side to her (very endearing to me!), and she's from Colorado! Sure, she's in California now, but Colorado! From a city I know, to boot! And I love her name. I think she's awesome. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Tsk. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. But that's okay. While it was disappointing at the time, it's certainly true that (for the most part), the women who go home early on this show are always the real winners. So yeah. Thanks for not coming to America and stealing all our women, Matt. Thanks for leaving the best one! Ha, ha. Funny how, for the most part, I always end up liking the people on that show who seem like they really aren't quite reality show material (a big compliment).
Yes, I know, dorky show.
In other TV news, Gossip Girl really is awesome, and yeah, Blair Waldorf remains my favorite character on TV. I'm so happy it's back! Last night's episode was delightfully complex and well-done.
Also, I need to start watching 30 Rock. Tina Fey is too great for me to not be watching.
AND, it was so nice to have Brothers & Sisters back! Good show.
And oh! James Van Der Beek sporting a receding hairline and a Canadian accent on How I Met Your Mother? I loved it. AND the return of Robin Sparkles. Can't ask for more.
Yay for the return of new TV! We just need more than a few episodes of each show. Those episodes are going to disappear like THAT.
First of all, I FINALLY saw my first hummingbird of the year today! Just one, a male, and he only stayed for a minute, but yeah, I'm excited!
And second, ugh, Parvati is pretty heinous. And not even 10% as attractive as she seems to think she is. Blech.
So I've begun watching American Idol again. I've held out long enough. I've been getting to know the contestants over the past few weeks, and yeah, now I'm gonna start watching regularly again. So, we'll make my first Idol comment of the season this:
Danny Noriega's movements tonight while singing (uh, yeah, "singing") reminded me very much of the way the velociraptors moved in the first Jurassic Park movie. Short flailing arms and odd strutting. Ha.
And much to my surprise, David Cook was kinda great tonight.
This is quite a handy page if you're looking forward to new episodes of your favorite TV series. Thanks, TV Guide! And yay for the end of the strike!
No more Chuck or Pushing Daisies this season is a bummer, though. But hey, new Office and How I Met Your Mother and Gossip Girl and more? Excellent.
Now, NBC just has to renew Friday Night Lights. Seriously. Still just about the best show on TV.
I think I need to see about picking up some Wild America seasons on DVD. I was flipping around the ol' TV dial today when I came across an old episode, and those shows really were, and are, so, so good. I think that program is one of those formative influences for me as I was growing up. Made me appreciate nature to just a slightly higher degree. Maybe it's part of the reason why I'd now generally side with any wild animal over a person in any dispute, ha. But yeah, it's an awesome show. I find any episode I see to be oddly soothing. Somehow Marty Stouffer manages to capture something about what it's like to be out there in the wilderness, or even just how it feels to sit by a mountain stream or spend a day wandering along a path. I love it. Even episodes that seem to be 30 years old, they still work. So yeah, maybe a DVD is in order. Hmmm.
I've waited until I figure most people have seen it before commenting, but...
THAT WAS THE BEST ENDING TO THE AMAZING RACE EVER!
I say that because I think I decided a while ago that Rachel and TK were my favorite Amazing Race team ever, but yay! Teams I want to win never win! And I love those two. They NEVER argued or bickered or picked on each other or did anything nasty to another team. They just played, and enjoyed each other, and yeah, it was awesome. And they seemed more in love at the end than they even did at the start. Aww. Gives me hope. It does! Ha. Yeah, I couldn't be happier with the way that turned out.
And I really liked all three of the final teams. Christina and Ron were great. Ron started the season annoying, but he really grew. I give him a lot of credit for that. And Nick and Don, too. They were good.
But Rachel and TK! Yay! Makes me want to hold a victory party, ha. Way to go, guys! WOO!
And oh! Go here to see them on today's CBS Early Show! Yay!
Well, I tried to write this before, but I was dumb and went away from the compose post page before I was done composing, so I lost everything. I'm pretty smart sometimes. But yeah, happy hew year! What I wanted to talk about before was New Year's Eve coverage on TV, so that's what I'll do now, too.
This New Year's is very special for me for one reason. I ... watched Fox News longer than I ever have before. Ever! I don't typically like Fox News so much, but you know, they pulled it off tonight. They did. They were far and away my choice for best broadcast from Times Square for 2007/8. I don't want much from these broadcasts, you know? All I need is live footage from Times Square, with a minimal amount of interruption from musicians and special guests. I think the music thing that the networks love so much is fine as long as we're before 11:30 or after 12:15 or so, but when we're right around midnight, all I want is Times Square. I want to see the spectacle of it. I want to see the crowd, hear the noise, feel the atmosphere. I want to pretend I'm there. I don't wanna watch a band I hate performing in Las Vegas or Los Angeles. I just want New York, and I want only hosts that are decent and unobtrusive, and maybe a reporter or two in the crowd. Last year, CNN won the night with Anderson Cooper and Erica Hill. Anderson hosting, Erica in the crowd. SImple, good, I liked it. This year? UGH, we got Anderson with ... Kathy Griffin! Kathy decided to make it her own personal unfunny comedy showcase, so pretty much the whole show turned into a shrill, annoying disaster. Blech. Meanwhile, the other networks were busy with their music. Alicia Keys is fine and all, but again, I just want Times Square. Fergie? Bleh. I was somewhat interested to see Carrie Underwood, so kudos to ABC for that, and kudos to them again for Dick Clark, but yeah, I'd have preferred just one singer and more live crowd coverage. SO, yeah, I'm back to Fox News. They brought the goods for me tonight. It was just Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly, both of whom seemed good to me, reporting from a perch above times square, with a few others down in the crowd talking to people. And no commercials at all for at least half an hour around midnight. That's all I need. It was great, and they earned my viewership. I feel like I got the Times Square experience, and I was satisfied. So yeah, it's rare that I say this, but Fox News was the best tonight. Thanks, guys. See you ... next year, ha. Not likely before that.
NEWHART SEASON ONE IS COMING OUT ON DVD IN FEBRUARY! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
(You don't know how long I've waited for this. SO excited. Hee.)
I don't do many Survivor posts anymore. I certainly used to. I did one a week, where I ranked all the remaining contestants from my favorite to my least favorite. There were a couple of sub-par seasons there that kinda killed my enthusiasm for that, but after Survivor: China, I'm kinda back on the boat. I want to do a season-ending final rankings list, just because. So here we go, my tribute to Survivor: China. My list of my favorite survivors from this season. We'll start at the bottom and work our way up. Here we goooo...
16. CHICKEN. By faaaaar my least favorite survivor this season, and probably almost the first time (maybe not) that my least favorite also went home first. I just don't get why he was cast in the first place, unless it was to be the sacrificial lamb. Was there ever ANY chance that he'd go beyond the first two or three weeks? He was annoying, socially inept, and quite possibly crazy to boot. Sorry, Chick.
15. SHEREA. Just so darn lazy and whiny. And argumentative. And I'm sorry, but sometimes we really don't need to see someone wandering around in her bra on TV. I may have disliked Chicken more, but I was most happy this season when Sherea went home.
14. DAVE. Did anyone like this guy? I know Ashley had a special reserve of hate for him, but no one seemed to really like him. Sherea certainly didn't. When they bickered, ugh. I just wanted them both to leave. Happily, Dave didn't last all that long, so he took his mighty work ethic and terrible skill at challenges home with him before he could do anything really terrible like make the jury.
13. FROSTI. This is an odd pick for such a low slot, because truthfully, for most of the season I liked Frosti just fine. But when you really sit and listen to him? I don't know. He seems a little annoying to me in a vague sort of way. It's hard to describe my feelings about him. I don't actually dislike him, sometimes I was a fan, even, but I feel like he should have been a much better player than he was, and yeah, he almost seemed whiny to me. And dude, why do you talk so much about your age? You're two years younger than Todd. That's it. C'mon.
12. JAIME. There was a brief period where I didn't mind Jaime so much, but ugh. She's exhausting to listen to, and now I really do appreciate Courtney's somewhat nasty comments about her when she was still around. I'm unconvinced of Jaime's intelligence, for one thing, and if I had any leftover positive thoughts about her, they were snuffed out last night when she made it her job to ask the "hard" question of the final three (she came off as lame and kind of a loser there). She just seems kinda boring at best and downright grating at worst. I imagine she's better in real life, because Erik seems cool enough, and he's sticking with her, so I'll give them both the benefit of the doubt. And oh, she beats out Frosti here just because, somehow, she was actually a superior strategist.
11. ASHLEY. Ashley seems pretty cool, I guess. She simply didn't last long enough to show us who she was or how good she could have been at the game. Getting sick early on was pretty much it for her. And getting beaten by Dave was sad. Oh well.
10. DENISE. I probably would like a few of the ones I've already listed better than Denise in real life, but hey, Denise went a long way in this game. She did well. She seems generally likable. My BIG problem with Denise reared its ugly head last night when she cried to Amanda about her sad life. That happens once in a while on this show, someone pleading that they need the money most because of their station in life, and it always, always bothers me. It's sad that Denise has had a hard life in some ways. But that has nothing to do with Survivor. At least, it shouldn't. I hate it when someone plays the poor card. Just makes me crazy. Also, people treated Courtney like she was the one who was floating by on someone else's coattails this season, but for my money, that role belonged solely to Denise. So yeah, she does seem like a good person. I like her. But I'm glad she didn't win. And yeah, Courtney's comment at that one point last night WAS harsh and went too far ... but.
9. ERIK. This seems way too low, but yeah, this is where Erik lands for me. I liked Erik a lot. All season. There was a time when I'd have ranked him among my top four or five. But I don't know. Honestly? He's a little boring. A little too good for my taste. And he didn't strike me as a very good player, just because he wasn't really PLAYING. He had a ton of things going for him, but he didn't actively work to advance in the game. I like Erik a bunch. But yeah, wasted potential sinks him here for me.
8. JEAN-ROBERT. I feel kinda bad, putting Jean-Robert over Erik, but part of me kinda liked the guy. He was a pain in the ass sometimes, and I don't know how I feel about the strategy of "pretending" to be lazy and then improving so people take notice of how awesome you are, and no one had a more inflated sense of how good he was at both the game and at life in general, and I wouldn't want to be in a room with him alone for very long, and I don't think I'd even really pull for him to win a poker competition, BUT ... he was entertaining. And memorable. And I really think he was more interesting than most of the people out there. So, yeah.
7. LESLIE. I liked Leslie. I never know what she means when she says she's "not religious," but that she "has a relationship with God" and is "passionate about her faith." And she IS a Christian talk show host. What is her definition of "religion," exactly? But despite that, I liked her. I wish she would have lasted. She seemed kinda cool to me. She was an abhorrent strategic player (don't share secrets with Todd!), but in this case, I don't care. I just liked her, period.
6. PEIH-GEE. I can't beliiiiiieeeeve I finally learned how to spell her name, ha. And honestly? I can't STAND Peih-Gee. CAN'T STAND HER. But ... she was a pretty great player, and a true threat to win the whole thing. So she gets five or six spots higher here than I'd prefer, just because of that. Almost no one was a better strategist. Almost. So her personality just makes me crazy, and she's very unaware of how she comes across (she likes herself too much, ha), but she was a solid player. No offense, though, Peih-Gee, I don't think you would have won a jury vote. Sorry.
5. JAMES. I was never James' biggest fan, but he does seem like a good guy and a really hard worker. I like him even better away from the show. Yes, he made a few HUGE mistakes, but at least he was playing the game to win. I respect him for that. I do, however, wish that he wouldn't be the one brought back next season for the next go-round. I suspect he will be.
4. AARON. Aaron was, I think, a victim of numbers, and tribal shifts, and a handful of other things. He deserved to go far, and had he been able to ally himself with Amanda, Todd and Courtney early on, I believe he would have made it to the finals. Todd probably wouldn't have let that happen, but yeah. He was strong, smart, likable, easygoing, and gone way too soon. I'd like to see him come back if they ever decide to do a show filled with players who never realized their potential in the game.
3. TODD. Todd was a really, really, really good player (with really freakish hair in real life). He wasn't as good as HE thinks he was, and he kinda bugged me in the reunion show last night, but yeah. He strikes me as a poor man's Amazon Rob, only more successful. If that makes sense. No one did more with what they had to offer, and I give him lots of credit for manipulating the game to his advantage. He's a moderately deserving winner. The one place I take issue with Todd is, he really is too enamored with his own game. He won in part because of his strategy, but more than that, he won because he did better in the final tribal council. He talked a good game at the end and won the same way George W. Bush won the presidency in 2000: he assumed the role of the winner, and people bought it. But he was NOT the best contestant, nor the best strategist. That honor goes to ...
T1. AMANDA. Amanda owned this game until that last half hour last night. OWNED it. Don't kid yourself, Todd. You were at the end because Amanda allowed you to be there. She could have dumped you many, many times. I don't think there was ever a point at which you could have dumped her. I know Todd believes he hand-picked Amanda and then played a perfect game, pulling her with him, but no. Todd played a decent strategic game, but he was too loud and obvious about it. Amanda kept things together, kept the alliance strong with Courtney and Denise, and did it in a better, more subtle way. She was THE smartest player this season (one of the smartest in any season for my money), and she played VERY well. Up until the end. She didn't bring it home. She allowed Todd to play the victor in the last tribal council, and she, in contrast, was apologetic to the jury. It didn't work. She also mishandled the weepy Denise situation. Amanda was, I think, undone because she was a kinder person than Todd when you came right down to it. It hurt her. You played EXCEPTIONALLY well, Amanda, so don't apologize!
And that leaves me with...
T1. COURTNEY. Yep, I'm calling it a tie for first between Amanda and Courtney. I can't pick. I think they're both great in different ways. Amanda was the best player, but I just love Courtney. Completely. I like intelligent, sarcastic, snarky girls, what can I say? She was the most fun thing in this season, and the show was always best when she was on the screen. She was a blast. She played the game better than anyone gave her credit for, and she went all the way to the end. She grew as a player as the game progressed, and did well while constantly making nasty comments about almost everyone else. It was a feat. Her anti-Jean-Robert stuff was awesome. Her impression of Jaime was great. But was I ever happier to see someone win a challenge than when she won immunity that one week? I loved it. Say what you will about Denise, but she was a weaker player than Courtney. More sympathetic, sure, but weaker. Courtney did what she had to do to survive, and she did it well. With sarcasm and occasional contempt. I loved it. One of my all-time favorites.
So yeah, THAT was too long! These things always are. But yeah, I thought this was a really good season, with a really good cast. I'm sorry it's over. And even with the questionable move of bringing old players back again, I'm totally looking forward to February's new installment.
