Kenny ://

What ever happened to cliff-hangers?

What ever happened to cliff-hangers? I'll tell you, they went to episodic productions on what used to be movies-only cable channels. HBO had "Six Feet Under," which was inarguably one of the best serialized, subtle commentaries on the throes and challenges of regular family life. Sure, they worked in a funeral home, but how different is that from your day-to-day? Working with stiffs, listening to people pour out their issues, etc.  "The Sopranos" is another that really set a standard for hour long entertainment, as did 24.  Now there's Dexter.

Dexter is Showtime's Sunday night cure for what ails you. I don't watch it on Sunday nights, though, bittorrent makes sure of that.  I just watched this week's episode and am getting that "Damn you SHOWTIME" feeling you might get when you feel like you can't possibly wait for the next installment. Is this what it was like during the radio era when television shows were acted out in audio via airwaves? 

I think so.  That's good tee vee right there, folks.

There are decades people frown upon more than others

I'm not a big tee vee watcher but for some reason I'm drawn to The Biggest Loser. I think it's part of my stoic guy-ness, seeing someone else suffer kind of makes everything I've done in the past to make myself suffer through a bike race, a longer run, or a seemingly interminable lecture seem kind of small in comparison. I mean, here are people who have, for the most part, never really suffered the way people on this show do. Basic starvation, extreme exercise (run 20 miles while being 85lbs overweight. hello?), belittling, abusive taunting from their physical trainers, and being subjected to all this on national television? THAT's suffering!

That's not the point, though, the point is that tonight had a segment where they worked out like the 80's and then went through an 80's trivia contest.  At one point, one of the contestants said, "I'm looking forward to this, I LOVE the 80's. I love the hair, the music, the horrible leggings." Something to that effect.

You never hear anyone say "I LOVE the 50's! The hair, the music, the horrible corsets, . . . "

Why is that? Who wouldn't want to wear a beehive and sit in the kitchen waiting for the man of the house to get home every day. Why doesn't VH1 have a show devoted to "I love the 50's?" Or even "I Love the 40's?" 

Maybe I notice the 80's love only because I became a teenager in the 80's and started high school then so that was my most socially impressionable decade?

I dunno, I don't really care. I'm late for a Quiet Riot cover band show.

Laters, skaters.

Sometimes I'm just confused instead of impressed

I love hulu, I really do. And I've been hearing good things about an AMC series called "MadMen." I've never watched it and was happily surprised to see that hulu had the 2nd season opener in its entirety.

Now, having never seen the first season, I think I am even further away from the show than when I started.  There seems to be a lot of things that were references to the last season (which I haven't seen) that just made me think, "Uhh, did I just watch an episode of a daytime drama with 18 years of history?" If that were the case I could just ask Zack to help me out with plotlines, characters, etc., since he's a soap opera watcher the likes of which your aunt Beula never could imagine. 

But this one? Good acting, believable people (except someone pulled out 1990's era dolla bills, y'all), and some insightful and pity-inducing scenes but man, now I feel like I am obliged to go rent the first season just to catch up.

Don't you hate not getting in on the ground floor?

Inspired by speener

David Caruso + CSI: Miami + YouTube.  Awesome one-liners. Spencer made me think of this one

What are you doing on New Year's Eve?

New Year's Eve just got cooler.  Radiohead will be broadcasting a performance of In Rainbows, their latest album, both online and on TV.  I'll be tuning in somewhere somehow.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7161237.stm

I know it doesn't look like it

I know it doesn't look like it but the facial hair is growing; it hasn't hit a plateau just yet.  The best part is that it's so long that it's almost soft by now. Another best part is that one of my best friends in the world is going to shape it into an award winning stache before the stache contest.  She's an arteest and a beaut.  I'm hoping my mustache will be, too. I've kind of got my mind set on either a Lemmy from Motorhead or a mustache that looks like the stripe on Charlie Brown's shirt.  I don't want to give too much away to my competition, though, so that's all I'll say about that.  Here's your Sunday update (soundtrack for this picture by fugazi):

So it's Sunday night, my exams are done and this is day 3 that I haven't even thought about schoolwork or books or anything that has to do with preparing for a class. How'd I spend it?  So happy you asked. Miserably with demanding wimmenz.  As a southern bumper sticker once said, Nuff Said.

Sunday night haiku:

Vacation, a myth
Blackberry follows you with
Red blinking flasher

Post 2 - from the show

From the lobby because I can't get into a fugging session - 12.55 PM, April 24, 2007
There's a camera crew from some limey place interviewing conference attendees. I hope they ask me to talk to them, I'm going to put on the most country accent I can and the first thing out of my mouth will be, "Well, first thang I heard was a big BANG see? And I looked up and seen . . . "

Keeping it real, Memphis style, on the west coast. Hee hee.

tee vee is entertaining

But it's so inconvenient. Can't sleep? Drinking wine by yourself? Watch 30 rock episodes online. For FREE.

http://www.nbc.com/Video/rewind/

You're welcome. You beetches, all 4 of you. That's right, I know you.

The office

I never thought I'd try to join the ever growing and rarely relevant group of people who blog about pop culture from a pedestal of expertise or even valid opinion, but I just gotta say something about last night's episode of The Office.

So, I think of the show as kind of going through a shortened version of the evolution the Simpson's travelled.  When the Simpson's started, it was an examination of pop-culture, it was very post-modern and really one of the most intelligent shows on Tee Vee. Then, 4 or 5 years into the show's life Matt Groening and the other writers seemed to take a break from the intelligent and decided to delve into the stupid bathroom humor and one-dimensional for each story. 

The Office has kind of done the same thing - the first and second seasons of the American version followed pretty much to a tee the British version with a few departures ("Bring Your Daughter to Work Day" written by Mindy Kaling, and I'm sure one or two others - Casino Night was never in Britain, after all).

However, the third season, while revealing on a few different levels by delving into the lives and subplots of a limited number of characters (how much can you do in a few 30 min episodes?) hasn't really lived up to the complexity of the first 2 seasons (I credit that with the fact that they mimic'd the BBC version).  Instead, they seem to have relied on shallow single dimension stories that turn out relatively predictable at best, mediocre at worst. It's difficult for me to be disappointed with episodes of my favorite, and sole regularly-watched show, but season 3 has been a let down.

The "Cocktail Party" episode, though, really put the rubber to the road and gave me what I've been waiting for for a while - it offers some depth through realistic relationship problems (who here hasn't been at a cocktail party when their significant other acted overly amorous?) via jealousy, risk taking in public and, lastly but most importantly, learning little pecadilloes and thought processes about the person with whom you're involved. How telling - is it the art that mirrors life or the other way around?