Mark this down as the episode of Swingtown which cemented my love for the show, even though anyone who's ever watched TV for more than five minutes could tell you where each of the three plotlines were going to go by about fifteen minutes into the hour. Didn't matter. I'm all in with the Millers, Thompsons and Deckers. Well, not like that. But I might consider it if Tom showed up and hit me with lines like "Whatever kind of party this is, that's the party I'm at." and "Ever see a man split a log, Jan?" (of course, he'd have to say Myn, but you get my drift.) At this point, Tom is my absolute favorite. Even as a female, I can appreciate the awesomeness of a airline captain whose wife leaves her seat to join him in the cockpit (hee. I said cockpit!) for a quickie before he has to land the plane. And everything just rolls off his back. When Roger and Janet showed up--after canceling at Roger's behest--and interrupted his & Trina's impending four way shower with Bruce & Susan at her family's cabin, what was Tom's response? " I didn't know this weekend was gonna be a three way!" All of this, and perfect hair to boot!
The Bachelorette: A Day Late and a Dollar Short, Ep 7 (Jun 4)
Written by Don Kowalewski, on 07-02-2008 16:23
Views
19
So here we are on the edge of our seats as DeAnna gets closer and closer to picking the man of her dreams from three men who are the men of her dreams. And we are closer to the completion of my Love & Dating Lessons I’ll have written down so that if ever I’m unable to raise my son during his formative dating years, he’ll have these tidbits of advice to help guide him. The men on The Bachelorette always remind me wha total tools some guys are and, if I’m around, I’ll make sure my son doesn’t join that douchey fraternity of freaks. But in the case I get caught trying to knock over a casino with 11 of my smartest, coolest, funniest, most well coifed friends and go away for a long time, these lessons will be here for him.
Monday’s show should be called “A Father’s Worst Nightmare” because DeAnna takes all three remaining bachelors on “dream dates” and then possibly takes each back to a fantasy suite where …well …I’m sure they spend the better part of the night snuffing out candles. But there also could be some ‘making whoopee’ going on. Jeremy, the poser, Jason, the father, and Jesse, the snowboarder, all get their shot at the punch board – sorry, I crossed the line.
Since the inaugural edition of What the Kids Like, I’ve been receiving thousands of questions from readers of all ages on a daily basis. Of course, I’m too busy listening to the devil’s music and being an Anti-American-Liberal-hippy (according to my grandma)to answer every single one, so I’m dedicating this week’s article to answering the best (and worst, I guess). Here’s one I got the other day:
Dear Kevin, What’s this downloading thing? How do I do it? Isn’t it illegal? -Don
Nothing is illegal on the internet! That’s why the internet was invented. Just go find the CD you want and download it. It’s not like you’re stealing the physical CD; you’re just stealing the songs. So who cares?
Also, the good bands aren’t sold in stores like Target and Wal-Mart anyway, so it’s practically like they’re begging you to download their music. If you really feel bad about downloading and not paying, I suggest you find a way to buy the album somewhere online or go to a concert. The band makes money from concerts and merchandise sales at said concerts and not from CD sales.
Who Needs Fresh Air?: Action - The Complete Series (Jul 2)
Written by EJ Feddes, on 07-02-2008 08:52
Views
15
Wow, it’s warm outside. And with a holiday weekend there are going to be picnics and fireworks and crowds and flying disc related games. It’s a little bit horrifying, frankly. If you want to avoid all of that hullabaloo, I recommend hiding out in your TV bunker with Action: The Complete Series.
Originally airing in 1999, Action was one of the greatest Hollywood satires ever to make it to television. Jay Mohr plays Peter Dragon, a completely unscrupulous movie producer (reportedly based on Joel Silver and the late Don Simpson). After a string of massive hits, Peter finally flops with Slow Torture, and has to scramble to rebuild his reputation. As I can only assume is common in Hollywood, the first step in his comeback is hiring a former child star turned prostitute (Illeana Douglas) as his head of development. He buys a script called Beverly Hills Gun Club from a rookie writer, mostly because Dragon mistook him for a successful writer with a similar name.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. When that Family Feud music kicks in, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Aside from the music, the current primetime incarnation of the show is a little bit different from what us purists remember. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the fact that as the answers to the various survey questions are revealed, the panels no longer flip over with a huge "ding!". And I don't think any of the more recent hosts still shout, "Survey says!" like my old pal Dick Dawson used to do. Of course, they don't try to make out with every female contestant either, regardless of age; although I'm pretty sure Al Roker would've taken Ice T's wife, Coco, up on anything she wanted to offer him in the pilot episode. I love Al, but his painful interactions with Ice-T's family have shown him to be one of the whitest black men on TV, behind only that one dude that Will's cousin Hilary used to date on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
It's obvious producers set out to titillate the audience in this first offering of the summer series. Between Coco T (seriously, is that the name of Mrs. Ice-T?), her mother (who honestly, must have been 5 when she had her) and Raven Symone, there were a lot of boobs on the stage during the hour. And oh yes, Joan Rivers was there too. But, more than these cosmetic touches, the show
Half-Ass Movie Review: Futurama - Beast with a Billion Backs (Jul 1)
Written by EJ Feddes, on 07-01-2008 06:00
Views
16
It is without exaggeration that I say that the FOX Network’s cancellation of Futurama was one of the great injustices of our time. A sci-fi comedy from Simpsons creator Matt Groening, starring an alcoholic robot, it is quite frankly, one of the greatest things ever. Finding new ratings life on Adult Swim and then on Comedy Central, the creative team reunited to produce four direct-to-DVD movies. The second, Beast with a Billion Backs is out now, and all I can do is gush.
Like the first release, Bender’s Big Score, the new movie is a virtual love letter to the fans, with scores of favorite characters showing up. In fact, just about every recurring character who didn’t make it into Big Score makes an appearance. Calculon, Wernstrom, the Robot Devil, Morbo, L’rrr, the Ultimate Robot Fighters, the Grand Midwife, the Wongs, Mayor Poopinmeyer, Harold Zoid, the Bodyless Head of Spiro Agnew, and Hedonism-Bot all make their grand returns here. It’s less continuity-centric than the first movie, but it does advance one of the series’ long-running arcs, the romance of Amy and Kif. If there is anything sweeter than the courtship of an Asian girl from Mars and a boneless, vaguely reptilian alien, I’ve never seen it.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band (Jun 30)
Written by Myndi Weinraub, on 06-30-2008 12:00
Views
55
We're trying something new on spunkybean, and it's called Hidden in Plain Sight. We're giving our writers an opportunity to share some of their personal favorites that may not be known to a nationwide audience, but that they think deserve some more recognition and heck, even a little shameless publicity! Myndi's up first, with a two for one of sorts; a legendary Cleveland band and another current area favorite who share a lead singer.
Growing up in the 80s and 90s on the North Coast (that's what we cool kids called Cleveland, Ohio), there was no better local band to go see than First Light. This group of musicians made revolutionary sounds, fusing together rock and reggae and engaging audiences of all ages and persuasions. Their live shows were always an event, always a party. Anyone who has ever experienced one will tell you that.
View-Do List: Seven Words You Can't Say in a Schedule... (Jun 30-Jul 6))
Written by EJ Feddes, on 06-30-2008 06:28
Views
29
I'm writing this schedule from a Days Inn in Columbus, Ohio. I'm also writing this without a face, because Tom Waits freaking rocked it OFF!
The last time I stayed at a Days Inn, the Pope died. Those two events are not related. Anyway, that particular room had blood on the mattress. Not just a little, like somebody cut their finger. This was the site of a ritual sacrifice. This is a much nicer room, though there is a woman, well, conducting business in the parking lot. Also, the mattress doesn't have a Sleep Number, so much as it has a number on Moh's Scale of Hardness.
Anyway, that's another story. Here's what you'll be watching this week.
MONDAY
NBC
8-9 AMERICAN GLADIATORS – No information available. I mean, it's a pretty good bet it will feature giant people hitting each other with various items. Call it a hunch.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. When that Family Feud music kicks in, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Aside from the music, the current primetime incarnation of the show is a little bit different from what us purists remember. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the fact that as the answers to the various survey questions are revealed, the panels no longer flip over with a huge "ding!". And I don't think any of the more recent hosts still shout, "Survey says!" like my old pal Dick Dawson used to do. Of course, they don't try to make out with every female contestant either, regardless of age; although I'm pretty sure Al Roker would've taken Ice T's wife, Coco, up on anything she wanted to offer him in the pilot episode. I love Al, but his painful interactions with Ice-T's family have shown him to be one of the whitest black men on TV, behind only that one dude that Will's cousin Hilary used to date on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
