I watched some Rocky & Bullwinkle and dozed off on the couch, both things I think Dad would approve of.
Happy Father’s Day
Idiot box
Catch-22
I’m watching the first episode of George Clooney’s adaptation of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, and I’m realizing I need to reread the book.
You don’t say
Of course, because this is The Good Place, I can’t honestly tell if this is just some placeholder text that slipped through, or if this is legitimately the intended description for tonight’s episode.
Recipe for reality TV
- Recap.
- Drama.
- Contestants talking to the camera.
- Drama.
- Commercials.
- Repeat 2–5 as required.
- Big, unforeseen twist.
- Voting.
- Drama.
- Crying.
- Credits.
- Preview of next week.
- Off-screen: Two reality-show producers meet up at the bank, but can’t actually speak to each other because they’re laughing so hard they’re lucky they can even breathe.
{edit}—I guess I could’ve saved this for a Thursday Thirteen. Is that even a meme anymore?
Really now? The Gyrocaptain?
Tonight, flipping through my channels, I came across this listing:
Cast your mind to The Road Warrior. Who comes immediately to mind?
I know, I know. It’s these two guys, right?
It must be, because they’re the ones listed first. Last billing goes to this unknown actor, Melvin Something-or-other…
What ever became of him, anyways?
Late to the party
…again.
A friend of mine told me about Carnivàle when it was originally on TV. I don’t get HBO, though, and I wasn’t interested in getting hooked on episodic TV either (which worked out well, aside from a slight Battlestar Galactica addiction).
But the first season was on sale at Wal*Mart the other month, for like $20, so I said “What the hey” and bought it. Tonight I put the first disc in the player.
It’s pretty fantastic; the first episode was well laid out, with a self-contained story and the promise of more to come.
It seems to be a story of the war between good and evil, in 1934, during the Dust Bowl years. It’s well-acted, well-written, and the production values are unimpeachable. Ronald D. Moore, who produced this series (or at least the episode I watched) went on to “re-imagine” Battlestar Galactica, my addiction to which I’ve already mentioned.
This series promises to be interesting. Hopefully I can find the second (and, I believe, final) season somewhere too.
3‑word Galactica review
Holy, holy crap.
So, again, Mr. TV, we meets.
TV: Coming up next on NBC: Amnesia, the game show that tests the memory — of you!
Me: Should I trust the writers of a program that couldn’t come up with a tagline that scans better, like, say, “the game show that tests your memory!”?
That, by the way, is a rhetorical question.
The three most frustrating words in the TV world…
…are to be continued.
Watching an episode of Battlestar Galactica, my one TV addiction, and all the players are in place: The Cylons have arrived, the humans are on the ground, about to be overrun by the enemy, and in orbit, Galactica has six nuclear weapons aimed down at the planet.
And the screen goes black and those three little words appear at the bottom of the screen.
Gaah!
Comedy gold
Here’s one more reason that I love Corner Gas:
Hank, thinking he’s psychic*, tries to explain the disturbing dream he had the night before.
Hank: I just, I woke up with this uneasy feeling.
Brent: You ate cotton candy and pepperoni for supper last night. It’s a wonder you woke up at all.
____
* Or phycic, as the Dog River Howler spelt it.