Stomach Flu Picture Dump

Today's theme is CSI: Miami.

TV Reviews for the Viewing Week of Oct. 5, 2008 Pt. 2

Ah, the race card. Always good for making people feel uncomfortable, and that’s where the funny is in this show. And with a good cast, telegraphing where you’re going in a show can be funny. Take for example what Christine’s brother and ex-husband did. They spelled out a handful of male stereotypes, say how silly they are, then fall into all of them.

A bisected transgendered person. They could have played with that a bit more, I think. That would have made positive identification tricky, but I guess they had to move the plot along. I’m enjoying how they’re doing interrogations, with one person observing behind the glass and making suggestions via a hidden earpiece.

This is the first chance this season I’ve had to watch this show. I’m indifferent about Jay Mohr. He can be really funny at times, but he can also be really annoying. He was okay in this. I like his ex-wife. I know I’ve seen her before, and I know she was in Steven Weber’s short-lived sitcom, but I can’t remember what I’ve seen her in recently. I don’t like Ed Bagley, Jr. The only time I’ve found him tolerable is in Arrested Development.

Is Luke Perry making a comeback? First a guest starring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, now on Criminal Minds. He must be getting all nostalgic since there’s a new 90210 on. And hey, it’s Brian Doyle Murray, Bill’s less-famous and less-talented brother. And the guy who played Tripp on Star Trek: Enterprise. With as many people that are in an episode like this (Waco-esque cult stand-off with Reid and Prentiss trapped on the wrong side), I guess it helps to have some recognizable faces in the mix, if only to separate out the important players from the extras. And I just realized that’s not Brian Doyle Murray, but the other brother who is even LESS famous and talented. But we’ve also got the helicopter pilot from the last season of Lost, whose name escapes me at the moment. It was a good episode overall, but Joe Montegna was overacting a bit.

I’ve got a buddy who didn’t think Clay was long for this world. I don’t know. I can see a couple of different scenarios playing out if he or Jacks is killed, both of them involving Peggy Bundy.

Nick George’s wife is hot. Her hair is way too short, but she’s still hot. Is the common man supposed to be sympathetic to anything that happens to the Darlings? With their wealth, their power, their status, it is impossible to relate to them. We could at first with Nick, but he’s quickly falling into the Darlings’ web.

With so much time being spent looking for Lex, I hope he’s found. This show isn’t the same without him. I wonder if this whole season is going to be a geek fest for the comic book fans. We had the Justice League earlier, there are rumors of Doomsday, and here we’ve got Maxima. Thinking back, I can understand why the producers/creators/writers waited so long into the show’s life to make the show more comic booky. It seems pretty damn ridiculous when you think about it. It’s easier to accept the kryptonite monster of the week than a quickly explained alien hottie who is looking to mate with a Kryptonian. I guess some things are really are meant for one medium and not another.

Ah, the things we can learn about ourselves by watching white trash make up for past sins. Thanks to a guest spot by David Arquette, we learn that sometimes a lie is a good thing. He was great as an "amateur" stunt man who ends up losing his long-term memory due to too many blows to the head. Ten years back Earl kept convincing him to do more and more dangerous stunts just so he could sleep with his wife. The play on Groundhog Day was creative, as was Earl’s decision with his list.

Okay, 2 ½ Men was an unintentional casualty. I thought Boston Legal would be the first I would axe, but I was wrong. This was awful. Molly Shannon was okay, and her character’s fiancé was good, but Selma Blair’s character and her husband were painful to watch. I don’t think I laughed once. I might have cracked a smile, but there was no laughing.

"Long pig?"
"He means human flesh."
"And that is my word of the day."
What great dialogue on this show. And I think we ARE looking at an eventual battle between Sam and Dean. And if there has to be a twist, it’s that Dean isn’t actually taking advice from an angel, just another demon who wants Sam to stop sending demons back to hell. So Sam makes a massive life choice at the end

"It’s not the poop. It’s the mystery behind the poop."
"Name’s Artemis. I have a bleached asshole."
This show is like a live action South Park if all the kids were grown up. This episode was about poop. Even the Sex and the City subplot ended up being about poop. How awesome is that?

The name alone grabbed me on this one. This episode was okay. A guy ends up getting "pregnant" after undergoing a test for a new pill. The labor ends up being pretty funny, as is the "birth."

Wow, yet another cop drama. This one’s got a decent twist, though. It looks like our lead was hit by a car in the present and is in a coma. But for some reason his mind or whatever is stuck in 1973. It feels a lot like the show NBC had last season where the reporter in San Francisco kept jumping into the past, but so far with this show our boy doesn’t hop back and forth. It looks like he’s probably in the past until he comes out of the coma. Michael Imperioli does nothing for me, but Harvey Keitel is awesome. He’s a no nonsense cop who can’t be troubled to play by the book. Oh what shenanigans we’ll have when he does something that rules-and-regulations cop from the present doesn’t agree with. Fun times!

I wonder why NBC is doing two episodes a week. Are they planning on pulling it earlier than at the end of the regular season to make way for something else? I hope the show gets a full season. It’s pretty much a by-the-book cop show, but it’s got good acting and a good conspiracy in the background. And each episode our hero detective gets a little closer to finding out who set him up. In this episode he learns what cops were working with his partner’s father, who seems to be deeply involved in the conspiracy.

It’s a decent show, but I’m just not feeling it. I’m going to give it another episode or two, then I’ll probably drop it. I like the new guy, the forensic guy who looks like James Marsters, and the caveman guy. The blond is extremely hot, but I don’t much care for her acting or the woman who plays her mother, the woman from Stargate: SG1. The stories are mildly intriguing, but only mildly. Of course, the first season of Buffy wasn’t all that great either.

I’ve officially stopped watching Miami and New York regularly. They’ll be available to me on OnDemand, but I just don’t have the time or inclination to watch them on a regular basis. But I can’t give up the original. Especially with Lawrence Fishburne joining the cast. I’ll miss William Peterson when he’s gone, because he made the show what it is, but I’m interested in seeing what Morpheus will bring to the table. Anyways, about the season premiere. Warrick was never one of my favorite characters, but I always thought Dourdan played him well. He died well in this episode, and the speech he gave about Grissom being like a father to him was perfect. I’m a little surprised that the writers didn’t try to drag out the premiere to at least two episodes, but I thought it was wrapped up nicely in just one. Goodbye Warrick Brown, you’ll be missed.

TV Reviews for the Viewing Week of Oct. 5, 2008 Pt. 1

Dennis Leary in Everybody Poops. At first it amused me. Then it got me thinking. I REALLY like Leary when I was 14. I listened to No Cure for Cancer all the time. Then I noticed him in movies, and he was pretty decent, but he was still Dennis Leary. The he got his own show, The Job, and I really liked it. But again, it was Dennis Leary as a cop, not playing a cop. I haven’t watched Rescue Me, but I’m assuming it’s the same. He’s really a one-trick pony, isn’t he? Oh, yeah, and the episode was decent. Principal Skinner got the most chuckles out of me this episode.

This is how Family Guy works. They take a joke, repeat it, and it’s funny. Then they keep repeating it, and it gets kind of old. And yet they repeat it some more, and it’s funnier than it was originally. I feel so much better now that I now that bird is the word. And an Office Space parody! Awesome as hell! Kids, hell isn’t really awesome. It’s a horrible, fiery place of eternal damnation. And you’re all going there if you laughed at the Jesus joke, and you’ll be on one of the special circles with me if you laughed as hard as I did and almost woke up my kids. Damn, I wasn’t expecting it and it just knocked me upside the head with a big-ass hammer of funny. Oh crap, that was the most I’ve laughed in a long time.

Holy crap this guy just can’t catch a break…which, I guess, is the whole premise of the show. The whole adult-beating-up-a-beloved-childrens-mascot thing has been done before, but it usually ends with a group of children, especially the one said adult is with, crying hysterically. I liked this twist, which caused yet more damage to our hero’s worth in the eyes of his possible in-laws.

First off, kudos on the voice casting. All of the main characters sound almost exactly like the actors from the movies. I haven’t seen the recent movie, and I’ve heard nothing but bad reviews. I’m not as gung ho about Star Wars now though as I was about 15 years or so ago. I can handle some bad acting and some ridiculous plot devices. I also like this animation better than the Clone War mini episodes that Cartoon Network aired a couple of years ago. If nothing else, this show LOOKS really neat.

A plane hi-jacking, just like the first episode, except the plane is actually in the air. I love watching the team work. They are like real-life G.I. Joes…or as real life as a television series can portray. And while these men are risking their lives in the air, at home their wives are in almost as much danger. This episode shows what happens to the ladies when they are really put through the test. Just like every week, kudos to all involved with this great show.

More shows really need to incorporate Huey Lewis and the News music into the story. And hot blondes. Hot blondes need to be everywhere. But not in an underground base. It’s a corny show, but the spy cave? Really? When are they going to get their own Q? No Q, but they’ve got Mistress Heather (CSI fans know who I’m talking about), so that’s okay. Sometimes I don’t like it when the two main characters end up hooking up, but sometimes it works. I think it would work here, as long as they don’t make Chuck the suave super-spy guy. Hmm, I thought Bryce ended up dying. Guess I was wrong.

Sheldon and Penny interacting is always funny. Oh, and this episode had it all. Sheldon and sex. Penny and online gaming. Leonard confused about everything. Very good, very funny episode.

Barney picking up a lesbian. Sweet. I’ve never understood the animosity toward New Jersey. I’ve heard it’s quite beautiful…in places. Of course, I’ve never been there or to New York. But Marshall gave a quite compelling speech in defense of NJ. But of course we got Ted bitching again, and it was about how great New York is. What a broken record.

As much as I’m enjoying watching T-Bag sweat it out while attempting to be someone he’s not, it’s always that much better watching him get beat down, cut up, and locked away where he can’t be found. I would think that Agent Self would have known about computer guy’s problems in Vegas and would not have allowed him to go, or at the least make sure he doesn’t enter a casino.

I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying Brian Austin Green. For the short amount of time I watched the original Beverly Hills 90210, his was one of the more annoying characters on the show. I like that, thanks to his characters, we get to see glimpses of the future. I enjoyed this episode. I enjoyed that they referenced the first movie, a variation of which was used as the plot. And it took me until the end of the episode to make the connection between John’s alias and the book used for the book report. Way to go, Eagle Eye.

Watching Sylar as a homebody was amusing. I wonder if having Claire’s ability saved him? And I wonder if it’s going to matter. I hope we get to see why Gabriel named his son after Bennet. Is it because he feels guilty of something or because the two ended up being friends? The last part sounds a bit improbable while the first sounds very probable. It looks like my theory regarding the triplets was wrong. They WERE triplets, not clones. Oh well, it’s nice to be wrong, that way I’m surprised when the truth comes out.

Well, we already knew Denny liked his guns. At least we got to see him shoot somebody. And that was definitely the highlight of the episode. I’m getting bored with it. This may be my first casualty of this season.

I hope Crews and his wife get back together, and I like the way he was upfront with her new husband. Donal Logue is great as the new captain, and he’s definitely got his creepy moments. Good for Reese for confronting her father. His response wasn’t exactly inspiring, too.

Poor, poor Vic. He’s only slightly ahead of the curve professionally while his personal and family life is just slowly crumbling away. It took me until about half-way through the episode to remember who Tavon was. This is a problem I have with this show and 24. Episodes and characters plotlines all get jumbled together and I tend to either forget or interchange things. It looks like the Armenian problem is solved, but I’m surprised that Vic punked out regarding Shane. He was all about the payback for Lem, and then he has a change of heart? Shane doesn’t deserve it.

Horatio didn’t put his glasses on! What is the world coming to?!? Y’know, I wouldn’t even watch this show if it weren’t on OnDemand. At least I don’t have to waste DVR space on it.

TV Reviews for the Week of Sept. 28, 2008 Pt. 2

I’m so glad this show survived the writer’s strike. It’s delightfully quirky with great storytelling, great acting, and great ideas. A very succinct yet informative introduction gave us all the backstory we needed to know since it’s been, what, about 10 months since the last episode we saw? Did this have any episodes after last season’s writers’ strike was over? Regardless, it felt like the last episode was just last week. This episode was very bee centric and induced a couple of shivers; people covered in bees is just a creepy thing.
Okay, that was an awful crime scene. The writers of this show are just a smidge messed up I think. Other than that, this was a pretty forgettable episode. I say that because it is now only a day after watching the episode and I can’t remember any details.

Pretty violent week this week. Hodge is definitely my least favorite character on the show. Emotionless, he seems more like a robot than Reed does (and there’s a pretty humorous moment regarding Reed’s lifelikeness about half-way in). The divorce didn’t help make him sympathetic, since it was his fault. I guess the hearing problems from the carbomb are supposed to help with that. Not working.

CMD? Really? That’s awesome, as is everyone’s reaction. At first I thought the SAMCRO who was protecting him was Kid Rock, then I realized he wasn’t. Good story, huh? Chuck was the best thing about this episode, but we also learned an interesting fact about the ATF agent. And damn, if an OMC tells you to remove a tattoo, you remove the tattoo. You don’t want them to do it for you.

This is probably the most soap operaest show I watch, and I was also worried about it after the writers’ strike. The premiere seemed a bit more serious than episodes from last season, what with the death and then the arrest at the end of the show. There was a bit more wackiness last year, and I’m wondering if it’ll be back in the coming episodes, or if the show was retooled a bit.
I enjoyed the second episode more than the first, and it was all because of pigsquatch, or hogsquatch, or whatever the 800 lb. pig was called. Even when it’s not the funniest show on, it’s still got top-notch acting with strong guest stars. And here I thought Jerry Van Dyke was dead.

Oliver knew he was poisoned before coming to the party, or he instinctively knew his champagne was poisoned and by what. Either way, that’s some pretty stupid writing. Why go to the party if you already know you’re poisoned, or how did he know how long he’d have left if he was just poisoned? Whatever happened, we get to see Oliver’s transformation into the Green Arrow, and from what I know of his comic book origins (I’m not the biggest fan), I think it’s pretty close (minus Tess, of course) and if not, they at least got the main points.

It can’t be a coincidence that the scene in the diner was highly reminiscent of Back to the Future, and then there’s the obvious Delorean reference. I don’t know if Dean Van Halen is a better name than Calvin Kline. This was an excellent use of time travel. Dean learned about the hazards of changing the past, and while he tried, you can’t change something that has already happened. Plus, we got to see the secret origin of the Winchester family of hunters. Awesome.

I don’t know what I should feel worse about, the fact that I know about most of the sexual stuff that’s brought up in this show, or that I find it all incredibly hilarious. Then the obvious concussion and the wedding dress and the poppers. Oh crap that was a funny hour of TV.

Sci-Fi has had a couple of decent original shows, so I thought I’d give this one a try. I haven’t read anything about it, I’ve only seen a couple of very vague commercials, and the information guide doesn’t really give me all that much information. It’s a two hour premiere, so I hope it’s worth it. The main character looks a LOT like James Marsters, Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Brainiac from Smallville. I’m 90% sure it’s not (and a quick imdb.com search would verify it for me, but it’s late and I’m sleepy), but it’s eerie how much it looks like him. The flashes on various objects when the main character is doing his thing is annoying…and too much like when Shawn does it on Psyche. Okay, my curiosity got the better of me so I imdb’ed the show and was pretty confused. I then looked it up on Wikipedia and found out that the show was originally a series of webisodes. After some mediocre set-up, the show ended on a decent note. The special effects were very Sci-Fi Channel, but I expected that so it didn’t detract too much from the episode itself. I think I’m going to give it a few episode to really sink its claws in me. I’m interested to see what kind of creatures they end up going after or giving aid to.

Two episodes in one week. How could we get so lucky? I actually didn’t pay much attention to the case itself. I enjoy all of the character interactions. I especially enjoyed it when the female detective (I still haven’t learned her name yet) is putting the wire on the shrink. No need for an imagination when someone is standing there in nothing but her bra and panties. I lost all track of the show after that.

A riot breaking out at a Maroon 5 concert because a bunch of muscle-bound frat boys are going ga-ga over the band? No, I don’t buy it. I wonder how well appearances like this help bands that are already pretty well known. I only found out about Feist and Yael Naim because of their songs being used in Apple commercials, but I wouldn’t consider them as pretty well known.
Gee, how could I have forgotten this gem in Part 1 of this…well, last week’s reviews by the time this one got up. First off, when a guy on fire comes screaming into your tent on the beach, help the poor guy out. Throw something heavy at him to knock him the fuck down, then start tossing handfuls of sand on the guy to put the fire out. You’re on a beach for Christ’s sake. The only decent part of this show is all before the opening credits roll. You’ve usually got a crazy death (guy on fire) and a witty quote by one Lt. Horatio Caine. Glasses on, cue The Who, roll credits.

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Listening to: Katy Perry - Self Inflicted
via FoxyTunes

TV Reviews for the Week of Sept. 21, 2008, Pt. 2

First off I should say that my computer crashed half-way into this, and I ended up losing a bunch of reviews. That pisses me off, and rather than waste time by rewatching the stuff and trying to remember what I wrote, those shows will probably just have really short entries. Sorry.

I got into this show a season late. I thought it would fall to the Seinfeld curse, but it didn’t, and I like Christine more than I liked Elaine. Julia Louis Dreyfus seems more comfortable with her, even though she makes the watcher feel so damn uncomfortable. The only problem I had with this episode was the marriage. Not the fact that two women were getting married. I have no problem with that and find it ridiculous that there is a law preventing gay marriage. My problem was the fact that they were taking advantage of something that so many people worked so hard to get. And it was even brought up in the show! I realize that they weren’t trying to make a joke out of the act, but I think it kind of devalues it more.
I never really liked Zack all that much, but now I see how integral he was to the team. While the premise of the show may seem to be about forensic anthropology, it’s more about the team and the relationships within. Law and Order is all about the case. CSI is all about the evidence. Numb3rs is all about the math. Criminal Minds is all about getting into the head of the suspect. In all of these, the personal lives of the main characters take little to no precedence in the show, deferring to that show’s schtick. Not with Bones. The case and the science take a backseat to the relationships, and Zack’s relationship with EVERYONE is something we’ve been missing this season, and it took his appearance to really make that known to me. I’ve really enjoyed seeing the various interns, but they’re no replacement for Zack.



I felt a little cheated by how they wrapped up last season’s finale. That’s really all I’ve got to say. Just a decent episode, but nothing that blew me away (HAH!).




“Jesus Christ.” Dutch Boy’s comment seems to sum it up, although I was hoping for a little more in the fight between the Mayans and SAMCRO. Still, it was a great episode, and I learned what a Patch-Over is. It’s nice that I can still learn things at my age.


I’ll be honest, I don’t like this show. It’s really not that good. But I don’t miss an episode. It’s my guilty-pleasure show. The only actor that’s anywhere close to decent is Emily Proctor. The rest are just hams, especially David Caruso. He and his character have become such a joke, what with the monotone delivery of every single emotion, plus the dramatic sunglasses. Wow. So last season he was shot. At the beginning of the episode he’s dead. I’m guessing it’s a ruse to make someone think he’s dead, but we’ll see how the episode ends. Oh look at that, I was right. So he was dead, what, 30 minutes before people started finding out? Great plan there.




Not near as bad as Miami, but not quite as good as the original. Gary Sinese is excellent, but the others suffer from Miami’s over-acting disease. As with most shows of this type (I’m looking at you original Law & Order), the episodes tend to all run together. I vaguely remember last season’s finale, but not that it was to be continued. Whatever. It was an okay way to pass a Sunday. I probably should have spent that time watching something I was actually looking forward to, though.




Changing in a phonebooth? Really? After what, eight, nine seasons, they’re still mining the Superman clichés? So, the paramedic guy. Is this guy going to be Doomsday? I haven’t been following all of the scuttlebutt, and the first time I heard about it I rolled my eyes. Doomsday? Really? Also, how did Clark get all of the burn marks off of his borrowed blue shirt? I know that in the comics, at least at the beginning of the Byrne reboot, he had an aura that gave his clothes a bit of protection, but I’m doubting that’s what’s going on here. And a meteor freak. STILL? Really? Sigh, after all these seasons, is thing going anywhere? I don’t know how I feel about Tess Mercer yet. I don’t remember Miss Tessmacher from the movies, but I was a big fan of Mercy from the Superman Animated Series (last seen in Infinity Inc. Volume II). I like the kick-ass chauffer/body guard rather than the replacement CEO. It’s difficult for me to watch this and not think of the cartoon or the comic books or even the movies. This Clark Kent isn’t my Superman, or even my Superboy. As a quick aside, I’ve always noticed that one of the executive producers is Joe Davola. Wasn’t he a Seinfeld character?

As much as I like this show, Jason Lee will always be Brodie and Banky. And Seth Green…I’ll watch anything he’s in. I’ve liked this show since the beginning, but this is probably the most I’ve laughed during it. Well, at least the first episode. Oh how I’ve missed new sitcom episodes. As good as they are, there are only so many times I can laugh at Friends or The Office reruns.



I got into this during the second season. I didn’t much care for the first couple of episodes, so I stopped watching. Oh what I missed. I’ve since watched the original British version, which is a little less funny, a little…a lot more uncomfortable, but still funny. Anyways, that’s besides the point. I love that Holly still thinks Kevin is mentally challenged. It’s so cute. Oh, and when she found out he wasn’t, there’s the uncomfortable that we all know and love. I also thought it was great how they did a little testimonial with Pam while she was on the webcam. And then we get evil Michael Scott from the mirror world. And holy crap, maybe it’s just the romantic in me, but the ending with Pam and Jim was perfect. And poor Toby. Poor, poor Toby.

I love the classic rock soundtrack to this show. I really hope it’s interesting to today’s kids, but I’m seriously doubting it, not unless it’s being sampled in something claiming to be brand new. So, seriously, I want Bobby’s panic room when the Zombie War starts. And after watching Buffy and Angel, where the Apocalypse happens about every other week, it kind of takes some of the bang out of it. But not with this show. This is something major that’s about to happen. This episode is like Old Home week, like a clip show but with a point. And call me jaded, a product of today’s suspense drama’s, but I’m wondering of Dean’s angel is all he says he is. An angel he may be, but might he be working for the other side? Lucifer wasn’t the only one cast down. Could one brother be the chosen to raise Lucifer, the other to keep him in Hell? Hmm, brother against brother. Nah, that never happens.

There’s really not much to comment on with this show. It’s fantastically ridiculous. And there was ever so subtly an MC Hammer reference thrown in.