The Suite Spot Weekly TV Round Up: 2/1-2/7

The winter TV season is in full swing and since it's been some time since I've written one of these columns, I've got a lot to talk about - think of this as a TV buffet. The obvious choice to open with? Lost. Hard to believe, but we're already four episodes into the 17-episode fifth season. This week's installment, while panned by many because of it's slow pacing and what many have called a return to a dead formula, still kept me glued to my seat. Yes, I agree that the horrendous chemistry between Jack and Kate bogged down a significant portion of the episode (as did the disappointing red-herring reveal of Carole Littleton's uninvolvement with Kate's lawsuit), but the shortcomings were easily outweighed by the happenings on the island. Scott offered his predictions earlier this week and I've got some as well. I'll let you good folks argue in the comments about their validity:

• Seeing as how Penny and Desmond aren't married, we can assume that the baby took his mother's name. While it's quite likely that the baby was indeed named after Charlie Pace, his formal name would be? Charles Widmore. I posit that Penny just gave birth to her own father. Think about it.
• And speaking of lineage, let me throw these two guesses out there as well: Daniel is Charlotte's father and Miles is the son of Pierre Chang.
• And for my final trick, by the end of this season, we're going to find out that Richard Alpert, and possibly some of the other early Others, have only four toed feet. Realistically, whomever's been on the island the longest built that statue and it's safe to guess they built it in the only image they knew - their own.

And for you word freaks who loved finding out that "Hoffs/Drawlar" was an anagram for "flash forward" (the funeral home from the season three finale), then you'll love this: the carpet cleaning van that Ben had been driving Locke's body around in bears the name Canton-Rainier and that's an anagram for reincarnation. So even though most have assumed it anyway, I'd say it's for certain now that Jeremy Bentham has not taken his last breath.

Moving on to Heroes. The show returned this past Monday for what NBC spent an ungodly amount of money on to promote during the Superbowl. While they wisely billed it as a new season (it's actually the second half of season three), I'm not sure the masked wording is going to be able to make people forget about the abysmally bad seasons two and three, part one. Heroes' frosh season was critically acclaimed and for good reason - it was damn good television. But ever since the strike-shortened second season, the sci-fi drama has never been able to reclaim its past glory. Claims of "comic book logic" can only account for the show's poor inconsistency for so long. That being said, this week's mid-season premiere was a step in the right direction and hopefully the return of Bryan Fuller will remedy some of what's wrong. Fuller was a co-EP during season one, but left after that to chair Pushing Daisies. PD has since been canceled by ABC and Fuller has returned to Heroes.

Now, some quick thoughts on shows that everyone should be watching, but not enough are:

1. Battlestar Galactica (airs Fridays at 10PM on SciFi) - Entering the tail end of its fourth and final season, BSG has proven to be one of the most well written and well acted dramas on TV. I shunned the show initially because I was never a fan of anything even remotely similar to Star Trek. That being said, BSG is not Star Trek. It's an incredibly layered, smart, textured narrative that says far more about human nature, intolerance, and ethics, than it does about stun rays and warp speed. I blew through the first three seasons on DVD in about two weeks. You will too.
2. Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (airs Mondays at 10PM on Travel Channel): I didn't even know the Travel Channel existed and had you mentioned this show to me, I would have assumed it was on Food Network... mainly because Bourdain used to be. AB:NR is much more than a Tasty Travels rip-off though. It's part Planet Earth, part Sundance documentary, part cooking show, and it's all narrated by one of the most likable assholes currently on TV.
3. Friday Night Lights (airs Friday at 9PM on NBC): This show is going to get canceled. Period. And it's a damn shame too. Arguably one of the greatest sports dramas to ever grace the small screen, FNL (a spin-off of the film in title and topic only), is the quintessential slice of Americana that everyone can relate to. Unfortunately, the ratings have never been there and had DirecTV not ponied up to secure first-run airing rights for the third season (which is now airing in its second run broadcast premiere on NBC), then season two probably would have been the end for Dillon Panthers.

And finally, a look to the future. I recently screened the opening minutes of the new ABC drama The Unusuals a few weeks ago and I think the alphabet network might be on to something with this one. In a TV landscape that's still dominated with police dramas, it takes a lot to stand-out. ABC has already grabbed one success this season with Life on Mars (that's another one that you should be watching and probably aren't) and I'm guessing The Unusuals (premieres Wednesday, April 8th, at 10PM) will follow suit.

As always, comments are welcome, and thanks for reading.

-Tooms

The cable-free life

$93.16. That was the total of my last Comcast cable bill.  That was September.

Here I am three months later with NO interest in giving them my business again. 

If you are anything like my friends or family, you're probably wondering what prompted this shocking decision.  Why would a man that has had cable for 25 straight years and still enjoys solid TV programming turn away from this American household staple?

Here goes.

The immediate cause was 18 months of frustrating service with Comcast.  Overpriced PPV movies, channel package realignments, and continual rate increases all coupled with crappy customer service got my goat.  The only thing that kept me hanging on was the fact that neither DirectTv nor At&t U-verse were available at my residence.  They still aren't.

The next factor was the rapidly growing availability of legal, mainstream programming on the web.  Hulu, ABC.com, and other sites started streaming high-quality television episodes with limited commercial interruptions at no cost to viewers.  Oh, and did I mention that its being done with better picture quality than standard definition programming?

The tipping point (thanks Malcom) came when nbcsports.com streamed the Beijing Summer Olympics...live! This opened my eyes.  Why couldn't, and why shouldn't, all content be offered via this medium?!  

Give it another year.

Over the past three months I've consumed all of the content a television lover could ever ask for:  

• Live broadcasts of the presidential debates and the resulting SNL parodies
• Live college basketball games of my alma mater
• Live NFL games in their entirety and highlights of every almost sport
• Sitcoms, dramas, reality tv, music videos, cartoons, and late night talk shows
• News
• Films

Give it a chance and save yourself some money.  Pay off some of that credit card debt.  Put an extra gift in someone's stocking.  Here, i'll even help! I only ask that you help me find a way to watch my Yankees come September.

The Suite Spot's Guide to a Cable-Free World

• Hulu.com:  NBC, FOX, Comedy Central, FX, and now films.  Try The Office, House, Arrested Development, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• ESPN360.com:  Live college basketball/fooball and NBA.  Stick with the college sports.  The NBA is garbage.
• NFL.com:  Thursday and Sunday Night Football
• ABC.com / CBS.com:  Most of their network shows.  Try Lost and Survivor.
• Netflix.com:  Films, TV Series.   Try The Shield, Weeds, Dexter, The Office
• Sprint Phones:  Discovery Channel, NFL Network, NFL Radio, ABC, Music Videos  

NBC takes gamble; gives Leno 10PM slot

After what has seemed like endless speculation about whether or not Jay Leno will stay with NBC once Conan O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show in May 2009, the peacock network dropped a bombshell this week:

Leno is staying and they're moving him to 10PM.

For months, Leno has been taking jabs at NBC on his late-night program and for the most part, it seemed like the supposedly disgruntled host would probably end up on either FOX or ABC as a direct competitor to Conan. Not the case - Leno has changed his tune and seems happy to be staying around. The magnitude of this move is immeasurable. NBC is taking a huge gamble and there are a number of things to consider...

• By moving Leno into the prime-time 10PM slot, NBC is effectively saying good-bye to original programming in that block. No more hour long dramas means NBC saves money. Considering that Sunday Night Football consumes all of its respective night, that means NBC potentially has to program only 8PM to 10PM, five nights a week. That's a mere 10 hours of original programming, 3 or 4 of which are almost assuredly going to be reality shows. This is an entirely new model for the evening TV landscape.
• Despite the fact that Leno is currently a ratings darling, that too may change. Consider what he'll now be going up against - CSI: Miami and CSI: NY are both huge ratings grabbers for CBS and FOX still airs 10PM local news broadcasts on most of its affiliates which often do much better than competitors 11PM broadcasts. Will a traditional late-night audience be around at 10PM?
• More than anything though, this unfortunately speaks directly to NBC's faith in Conan O'Brien. The Late Night host admitted this week that much of his success is owed directly to having Jay Leno as a lead-in and he said he was thrilled for that to continue. Personally I can't see how he could possibly be happy about this since it's sure to hurt his numbers as he tries to gain new fans in May. While it's expected that Conan will bring his sizable viewership numbers with him, he's still a much newer, fresher, and younger host, while Leno's style still hearkens back to the days of Johnny Carson - a style many still prefer. Having Leno continue as Conan's lead-in not only takes away from the monumental transition on The Tonight Show, it practically negates it. You may recall the feud between Letterman and Leno when Carson retired. Granted Leno isn't retiring and that's the point - the average American isn't going to view this as anything other than, "Oh hey, all those shows start an hour earlier." Also, consider this: currently Leno leads right into Conan - a HUGE help. Once the regime change takes place, the 11PM news will be in between them. Will Leno's legion stick around for that 1/2 hour? Number will probably drop off.

Of course, lost in all of this mess is Jimmy Fallon, who's taking over the Late Night seat. What does everyone else think though? Is this move a risk for NBC, or a more-of-the-same safe bet?

The Stripper from NYC

Friday night June 27, 2008 was not the typical night for me and a few friends. Myself and two guys were out to have a typical guys night out... Pregaming at the crib, watching the Yankees lose, drinking some bud light 40's, making fun of people we know, and deciding where we wanted to head out to. After a few forties were in the tank, we decided to head to an upper east side bar where young, slutty girls, often still in college with fake id's go to score a slightly older man with a job and the ability to pay for her drinks. Girls who start to mature at 24 and by 25 are somehow ready to settle down forgetting that the ages of 18-23 existed, especially if the doctor gave them a thumbs up once annually. The music at this place is conducive to hooking up, 90's and 80's tunes that everyone who is in or has been to college knows every lyric of, and hip-hop that makes these 18-23 year old's bootys shake and grind on each other and us men. Only two of us were allowed to flirt with the vixens on the floor as the others held true to their girlfriends and got drunk looking.

By 4 a.m. we were sauced, mildly successful and ready to head home. We left the bar and hailed a cab. The cabbie proceeded to drive right past our destination two blocks until we finally got dropped off. That was the single best mistake a cab driver has ever made. He deserves more of a tip we gave him to say the least. Walking back up those few blocks we spotted this blond haired woman aged about 23, wearing a short skirt and walking a little dog. Being as drunk as I was, I decided to ask her what kind of dog she had, when hearing it was a Yorkie I noticed a distinct upstate New York accent and told her we had gone to Syracuse. She was from buffalo and right then knowing her for 30 seconds asked us if we cared for a beer. She was too hot to say no, so we headed up to her 4th floor apartment, walked inside the door. She lived alone in this real nice 1 bedroom joint with many instruments spread across her living room. She handed us a few fresh beers and the conversation started...

I asked , "What were doing at 4:30a.m, just walking your dog, or getting out of work?"
"Just got out of work" She said.
"Ahh, where do you bartend?"
"I'm not a bartender!"

Right then and there I smiled, couldn't contain it really, there is only one other profession that I could think of at the time that would keep a girl like this out so late. She must have been a...

"I'm actually a stripper!" She said as she bent down, me and another friend noticed she was not wearing anything underneath her skirt and immediately believed her. She then asked if we cared to do some drugs, she opened a full box of drugs she said she got from her bouncers. You name it, it was in there, pills, pot, snow. Everything was in there. We passed on them and started joking and talking about our night out and how there were some good strippers in the making at the bar we were at. She explained how she was stripping to make enough money to record her own CD, as she was really an aspiring artist trying to make it big in NYC. (We've all heard that at one time or another) By 5:30 a.m I was awake talking to her, one friend was dead asleep, and the other was playing her instruments (musical). She told us where she was stripping at and told us to come by at one time or another as soon as she got done her tour. Her and her co-workers were going on a month long tour to promote the strip club. She gave me her number and said to keep in touch as we were "now neighbors" and when she was done her tour that we'd get together.

We woke up the next day, laughed it off and checked the strip club's website, sure enough the tour was listed and she was the cover girl. She picked up my first phone call and made plans she later cancelled, second call went unanswered. I guess I'll never see this dame again unless I pay for the experience.

The Suite Spot Weekly TV Round-Up: 11/16 to 11/22

I'm about to go on a giant FX rant, so bear with me because right now, it's pretty much the only network on TV where everything is worth watching. In the last Round-Up, I mentioned that both Nip/Tuck and Damages will return in January and dates for premieres have since been announced. Nip/Tuck's WGA Strike-shortened fifth season will resume on Tuesday 1/6 with eight new episodes to go in the season and Damages will follow on the next evening, Wednesday the 7th with its season two premiere. I honestly can't say enough good things about both of these shows and they each deserve your viewership. FX is doing some amazing things for an ad-supported cable network. Check out the latest promo for Nip/Tuck, set to Kanye's "Flashing Lights:"

And speaking of January premieres, ABC has announced that Lost will return a month earlier than expected on Wednesday, January 21st with two new episodes back-to-back. However, the real buzz about the show right now is focusing on the official season five poster released by ABC yesterday. See any clues?

In other ABC news, the alphabet network did some slashing this week and shit-canned three popular, but ratings challenged, series: Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, and Eli Stone. All three series were cut short during last year's writer's strike and despite their season two renewals, they just couldn't find an audience. However, one new show is making the grade and ABC has extended freshman drama Life on Mars to a 17 episode order. It's one of the better new shows this season. So check it out and hopefully ABC will give it the back 5 for a full 22.

That's all I got for this week. If you're looking for something good to watch this weekend, then Sunday evening is your night with Entourage (the season five finale) and 24: Redemption (the two hour season seven prequel).

JCVD is a Knockout!

Jean Claude Van Damme delivers a devestating performance as himself in this semi-autobiographical tour de force. The film has garnered rave reviews across the board and around the world and the Suite Spot would like to join in endorsing it as one of the best films of the year. Kudos to Van Damme for the soul-baring performance and for such a daring career move... not that he had much to lose at this point. Bloodsport it is not, but JCVD is not to be missed!

Bobbin' for life

If we're not in a merge I think I'm history... even though I teach science. That's a little joke.
-Bob, Survivor Gabon

Bob Crowley is a remarkable man. He's wears every one of his 58 years on his face and yet he competes physically with those at their physical peak. He is clearly devoted to his chosen profession of teaching, yet he is also an accomplished outdoorsman. He has a large and loving family as evidenced by the letters he received from home and he's a friggin' log roll champion!

Then there's Randy Bailey. As self-described in his official bio he's "angry, blunt, mean and sarcastic", and "admits he's a train wreck with no living relatives besides an older brother, from whom he hasn't heard from in years." Wow. Seems like a real winner. However, though he has aged rather poorly in the looks department, he is actually quite the physical specimen given his middle age, regularly equaling or besting the younger cast members in challenges. In addition, he's deftly kept himself safe from tribal council sendoffs with a combination of clever alliances and ingenuity in camp.

Both have seen their best years pass them by yet both succeed in the game. How do they do it? Bob is a machine. Be it in camp or in the challenges, he never stops. You can see this is not just come ruse for the game either, his sinewy body has clearly been put through its paces with years of action and repetition. His natural ability and breadth of skills never fail to amaze. One gets the feeling that Bob would like to win the game as something of a personal test. The money or fame at stake is secondary to the challenge at hand and a loss would be chalked up as an educational experience rather than a disaster.

Randy, on the other hand, plays with a measured style should not be mistaken for lethargy as he has shown to be as strong and agile as any. He is clever and resourceful, as shown with his fashioning of fishing gear from fragments of his glasses. To me, he is reminiscent of a crocodile in that he'll lull you into ease with a lack of activity, then strike in a sudden flurry. His personality around camp certainly turns other off but he makes no apologies for his persona. His competitive spirit has no equal and is that of someone with nothing to lose and something to prove. I believe that he feels that his life would be validated with a win and therefore losing is not an option.

So what can we learn from this? I believe that there are two ways to deal with most situations. The Bob way is to play hard, try your best, and know that even if you fail you can take pride in the fact that you did things the right way. The Randy way is to take an opportunity and grab it by the throat, trying to exploit whatever advantage you can. This could provide an easy path to success, but in the event of failure, you must ask yourself if your course of action was worth it.

These two men are clearly polar opposites in life while producing startlingly similar results in the game of Survivor. The path Randy has chosen is easy to fall into, but results in lots of loneliness, pain, and a resentful attitude towards the world. The path Bob has chosen has left him happy, healthy, and surrounded by loved ones. I respect Bob and envy the honerable way he has lived his live and he is reaping the rewards accordingly. I pity Bob and the fruits of his actions are self-evident.

Think about this when presented with an obstacle in life. While sometimes it may be tempting to choose a Randy-like solution, I think the world would be a better place if more people could channel their inner Bob.

The Suite Spot Weekly TV Round-Up: 11/2 - 11/8

Welcome to the newest weekly column here at The Suite Spot, where I'll be bringing to you the week in TV. A sort of "in case you missed it" crash course covering anything boob-tube related. If it's on TV, then I probably watch it.

If you have any sense of television history, then you've probably heard of a little cartoon called The Simpsons. This past Sunday marked the show's 19th "Treehouse of Horror" special, and while I personally think they usually suck, this one had an extremely relevant highlight - a spoof on the Emmy winning/critically-acclaimed AMC drama Mad Men. If you aren't watching this show, you should be. Now. Anyway, The Simpsons beautifully re-created the entire opening sequence (frame for frame) from Mad Men. Take a look:



Moving on to Monday night Prison Break made an effort to shake things up a bit by killing off original cast member Brad Bellick (played by Wade Williams, pictured above). This entire season has been much better as the show has been re-created into a heist drama, but Bellick's presence has been a non-factor. The idiotic redneck we grew to love over the first three seasons has played no role in this season's machinations and frankly, it seems to me that his death was inevitable from the get-go. I don't see it impacting the remainder of the season at all.

On to Tuesday night, nothing new was on save for the Presidential Election, which brings me right into Wednesday night. Anyone still watching South Park? For the most part, I try to catch it, but it's hard to figure out when episodes are new since seasons always tend to take off months at a time. However, I caught this one and I'm glad I did. Kudos to Matt Stone and Trey Parker because they must have worked their asses off following the announcement of Obama winning late Tuesday night. The duo re-cut the entire episode all day Wednesday, even going so far as to included exact phrasing from Obama's acceptance speech into the episode. While it's clear that much of the episode is ambiguous and would have worked had McCain pulled off a victory, it's still impressive to think that whole chunks of the episode were prepped mere hours before it aired. You can see the whole episode at South Park Studios.

Also on Wednesday night, FX freshman drama Sons of Anarchy continued with its trend of getting better and better each week. Embroiled in a cat and mouse game with the ATF, I'm really looking forward to see how Clay and Jax can get SAMCRO out of this mess. I'm especially impressed with Agent Stahl (Ally Walker, pictured). She's been relentless in her pursuit of the club, but after her run-in with Otto at prison, I don't see it ending the way she wants. In other FX news, the network announced this week that both Nip/Tuck and Damages will return in January. Here's the latest promo for Damages:

Moving on to Thursday night and Grey's Anatomy, ABC suits dropped a bombshell this week when they announced that last night's episode, "Rise Up," would be Brooke Smith's last. Apparently execs at the Alphabet network weren't too happy about Erica's (Smith) lesbian storyline with fellow doc Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez). Personally, I didn't care for the plot too much either but it is November sweeps. However, was it really necessary to fire Smith? Anyone else see it? To be honest, her exit wasn't too bad. Considering everything that happened (her lesbian epiphany coupled with Callie's reluctance and the whole Denny Duquette mess), I thought it made sense.

One parting shot - FOX released its mid-season schedule this week, and after a year of delays, 24 is finally scheduled to return with its seventh season with the traditional two night, four hour premiere on Sun. 1/11 and Mon. 1/12. In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the latest promo:

So what does everyone think? Good column? Let The Suite Spot know in the comments! Especially if there's something big you think I missed!

Survivor Gabon...

Survivor is back, and this time in earth's last eden, Gabon Africa. There is a vast array of personalites, ranging from a bow-tie wearing physics teacher, Bob, to a retro pin-up model named Sugar. Three episodes in, we have seen some very solid challenges, a new twist on exile island, where you have a choice to find the hidden idol by opening a clue, or chill out in comfort during the night by choosing the apple. If you aren't watching or have given up on the show in season's past, now is the time to get your self back in the saddle and ride this one for the fall season.

Couple small things that stand out this season-

Great theme music- african beat, steel drums, kinda makes you feel happy just watching the show.
Atmosphere- last time the show was in Africa, Season 3, it was in a boring desert with no water, bad challenges, only a few worthy people, and little to no excitement. This year we have more of a jungle, wet, swampy landscape with hills and greenery all over.
People- We will have arguments, we have GC, a former thug turned maintanence supervisor who quote is a "grown man." Your every season of survivor old woman/man, Gillian, the wierd dude, Randy a Wedding Videographer who will never get married. Tis the irony of Survivor folks. We have an asian video game professional, enough said. The guy hasn't been kissed since high school, and if you think I'm lying We have your typical as well, a few lawyers, one gay, a doctor, a physics teacher, sales rep, and your token surivor hot waitress, Paloma. The show is stacked!

Host- Jeff Probst, thank god that Survivor took this guy away from Rock N' Roll Jeapordy. He not only is best show on any running TV show, reality or other, he is making a case to become one of the best of all time. He is crisp, wins Emmy after Emmy, asks the show contestants perfect questions that always stir the pot, and the ladies love him, including most of the ladies.

Now that i've been nice-- There are a few glitches with the show that Why do they always show dangerous animals around the tribe when they are never really that close. They recently showed an aligator in water and then immediately cut to Sugar wading in the water. The gator was probably taped in a different river at a compeletely different time. Sure its supposed to make you scared and get your adrenaline pumping, but honestly CBS after 20 seasons, we get it. They have showed the same ape like animal running to the end of the range each episode, like I said, we get it. I guess just one more thing, when deciet is about to happen on the show, find some other way to hint at it besides showing us a snake right before the grand deception.

Other than that, keep up the good work-- show is money and there's a reason we're almost 20 seasons deep in it and always is top 15 in ratings