Holmes

I've recently become semi-obsessed with Sherlock Holmes once again. I say "once again" because there was a time when I would read the complete run of Holmes stories from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle every few years. I was generally into contemporary authors when I was growing up. But we had a bound copy of the 4 novels and 50+ short stories that were written by him about Holmes, and a full set of bound Charles Dickens novels as well. And when I had nothing else to read, I would turn to these to re-read. Over and over again. The Holmes stuff never took that long, so I read those probably a dozen times or so.

But it's honestly been about two decades since I've read them. A lot of that has to do with me reading much, much less than I did when I was a teen or in my early twenties. That's kinda sad. Non-stop availability of just about anything I want to see streaming-wise has also been a big problem.

But problem solved! Well, at least in the Sherlock Holmes situation.

I watched the first season, ahem...series, of the BBC Sherlock production a year or so ago, and I loved it. Starring the immensely talented and oh-so-British-named Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, it's an extremely watchable contemporary update of the Sherlock Holmes stories. But I forgot about it until about a week ago. So I jumped into Series 2...and then watched all 6 episodes over again. Just because I could. I highly recommend this series.

Then I went and found Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows someplace, and I watched that too. And, since it had been awhile since I had seen its' predecessor, Sherlock Holmes, I watched that too. These are the Guy Ritchie films starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law. Much, much different than the BBC series, but a lot of fun with Sherlock portrayed as more of an action hero.

And I didn't stop there. I had been hearing some good words about the American TV adaptation, Elementary. Mostly from this guy. Another contemporary update, this one stars Jonny Lee Miller as a former Scotland Yard consultant living and recovering from addiction in Brooklyn. Oh, and they made Watson an American. And female. Portrayed by the always wonderful Lucy Liu. Sure...why not.

So last night I gave it a try. And after one episode, I'm probably hooked again. Except I haven't been able to find anyplace that streams the earlier episodes from this first Season. Our cable company has the last 5 aired episodes (some re-runs) On Demand, but that's it. So that sucks. I thought it was going to be on Hulu Plus, but it's not. Durn.

I am NOT going to be happy if I cannot satisfy my Sherlock fix with Elementary. I may have to go back to, gasp, reading!

Any other Sherlock adaptations out there I should be watching? Zero Effect, starring Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller was loosely based on Sherlock, but it was a lot of fun. So I'm up for anything. Hit me.

Game of ME

With the emphasis on ME!

I've been told, for too fucking long actually, by my buddy Slyde that I would love Game of Thrones. Or, actually, A Song of Fire and Ice. I think the name HBO chose for the series, which is the title of the first book, is actually a better name for the entire series. So I'm not upset that HBO made that decision. Anyway, I started reading the books a couple of months ago. I'm now on the last available book, and I'm a little pissed that I have to wait several years for the remaining two novels.

Anyway.

Last night, I convinced Gia to watch the first episode of the HBO series. Because I love it and I believed that she would also. She didn't disappoint. Or it didn't disappoint. Either way, she loved it. And I'm enjoying it even more the second time around.

We actually watched two episodes, and she is all in. Peter Dinklage is amazing, of course. But so is the rest of the cast. Now we are going to burn through the rest of Season 1 and then burn through Season 2 as soon as it becomes available thru streaming.

So I win again.

As usual. Hehehehehe!

The One Who Knocks

Not Death, but I could see how fans of Monty Python could make that mistake.

No, I'm talking about everyone's favorite meth cooker/dealer, Walter White. The dude can wear a nose bandage and a porkpie hat like no one's business.  And he's back! Or, more specifically, Breaking Bad is back.

We watched the final season (actually to be split in two half-seasons) premiere last night, and shit got real right away. I can't wait to see how Walter White's transformation from "Mr. Chips to Scarface"* is completed.  This is the first season that I am watching in real time, so I'm a bit bummed that I can just watch all of the remaining episodes in one long mind-fuck of a marathon. But I'll take the awesome one week at a time.

There is a great discussion about the show over on one of the baseball blogs that I read here. Warning...the post and the comments contain many spoilers. So don't click on that if you don't wanna know yet. But basically the author of the post admits to having seen a few scenes of the show here and there, but nothing incredible enough to devout 40+ hours of his life catching up on it. About 2/3 of the way down in the comments section, he gives in to his readers and orders the first season to give it a try. I don't know why he had to order it. Just about everyone has a Netflix subscription nowadays and the first 4 season are available on Instant. But hopefully we have a new convert to the Breaking Bad Church of the Desperate.

I'm thinking about trademarking that church idea.  Donations can be forwarded directly to me.

The video below is mildly spoiler-ish, but oh-so-delicious!  Probably the best scene from the show so far from Season 4.  The 12-seconds of silence at the end as the crippling realization of what her husband has become hits Skyler in the gut is amazing.

*That's show-runner Vince Gilligan's description of Walter White's character arc.

Bullets Over Tuesday

Just because. Just for scuzz. If you follow me on Twitter, some of these items may be repeats. Sue me.

• Went out of my comfort zone and made something that I had never heard of much less made before on Monday night. Gia had a hankerin'* for steak, and a hankerin' for steak in a beurre rouge sauce in particular. I've got high school level French going on, so I knew that beurre = butter and rouge = red, but that's about all I knew, besides the hunk o' meat that is. Turns out it's a steak in a red wine/shallot reduction with butter. A LOT of butter. This is not something for the faint of heart. But it is oh-so-fucking-delicious. It ain't going on the regular weekly rotation, but maybe once a month or so... We shall see. 

The sauce was a creamy, dark pink and the meat was slightly above medium. Delish!

•  I saw today that Katy Perry has a concert video coming out. My first reaction was that I couldn't care any less. Then I saw that it was in 3-D and I suddenly became more interested. I'm still not gonna see it, but I'm definitely...interested.

click for the jiggle

•  We just finished this season of Mad Men. That show is freakin' amazing and I don't care if you agree or disagree with me. I just love it. Now we have a month or so until the final season of Breaking Bad begins. Or ends. Sniff. I don't think I could enjoy TV as much as the dramas that AMC and FX are producing. Amazing stuff.

• Speaking of well-made television, I finally saw Season One of Game of Thrones a few weeks ago. Watched it over one weekend. I had just finished the first book in the series, so I immediately wanted to see what HBO did with it. It didn't disappoint. I'm reading Book Two right now, and I understand the second season has just ended. Excellent. I can't wait to watch it. More amazing stuff.

• Speaking of unknown television, I recorded the first couple of episodes of the new A&E drama Longwire. It's about a lawman out of Wyoming. Other than that...I have no idea. But I dig shows about tough guy lawmen in cowboy hats (see Justified), so I'm willing to give it a go. Anyone watching?

• My pee is gonna smell like asparagus tomorrow. I just know it. Too much information? Tough shit.

That's all I got. See ya!

*When you are in the mood for steak, you have to use the word "hanker". It's the law. 

Lilyhammer

For those of you with Netflix accounts, check out the full first season of Lilyhammer. The first original programming offered by Netflix, and a damn fine offering at that.


It tells the tale of a mob guy named Frankie the Fixer and his relocation to Lillehammer, Norway as a part of the Witness Protection Services.  He was forced to turn rat after an unsuccessful attempt was made on his life by his co-horts in crime.  He chose Lillehammer because of his fascination with the 1994 Winter Olympics that were held in and near that town.  It's a classic "fish out of water" story.  Definitely a comedy, but not outrageously so. The comedy comes more from the situations that arise when a tough NY mob guy has to adjust to life in idyllic, rural-sh Norway.

Steve Van Zandt riffs off of his character from The Sopranos as Frankie the Fixer turned Giovanni Henrikksen. And even though he is basically playing the same character, he gets to stretch his wings quite a bit more in this one.  His Frankie/Giovanni is much more interesting than Silvio Dante. Less and more dangerous at the same time, he is a man who falls in love with a town, a people, a woman and her son. Offering wiseguy advice and logic and learning a thing or two himself.

One of the interesting things about the show is the Norwegian cast. Van Zandt plays the only character who speaks English on a full-time basis. As a part of his relocation, he learned the language but not enough to speak it himself. So he understands everyone and they all understand him, even though they speak Norwegian most of the time. So it's basically a foreign show in subtitles. Don't worry, it's not distracting at all.

It's not the most original concept in the world. It's been done time and time again from Northern Exposure to My Cousin Vinny. But it works. And I'm fascinated by Norway, so it offered that extra appeal for me. 

The show has been getting good reviews and it has been renewed for another season.  But you can check out the first 8 episodes online right now.  Capisce?

See ya, NCIS

Shoulda done this a long time ago, but NCIS...I'm breaking up with you.

I haven't been really enjoying it for a couple of years now, but I've been watching it out of habit. It's fucking terrible. But it was like comfort food or comfort television, if you will.  Something to put on in the background while I'm doing something else.  It's really fucking terrible.

I feel like the only reason I hung in this long was my awkward crush on Pauley Perrette.  But even she (and her character Abby) are starting to wear on my last nerves.

Last week's episode was the final straw.

They introduced a new love interest for the elderly Dr. Mallard (David McCallum), played by Cheryl Ladd.  The homicide of the week looks like it was turning into a serial killer case.  And Ducky, Dr. Mallard (get it?), was having mixed feelings about how exciting his job was. Or at least he was having mixed feelings about sharing his excitement with his new lady love.  She seemed...oddly into it.

No. They weren't going to make Cheryl Ladd a serial killer, were they? Nah. That would require several weeks of character and plot development.  Plus the modus operandi was ridiculously complicated.  Getting someone drunk, getting them to a remote location, getting them to take ecstasy, tying them up, then getting them to drink enough water to kill them because ecstasy makes you thirsty.  What?  There were way too many problems with that. 

Yet, that's exactly what they did.  And, although Mark Harmon's character did figure out that she was the killer, she basically just confessed to Ducky when he demeaned the actions of the killer.  She wanted him to be impressed by the killer, ya see?

Ugh...it was the most ridiculous hour of television ever produced. And yet it wasn't that much worse than every other episode that I have been trudging through.  It just sucks.

Officially deleted from my DVR queue. Goodbye, NCIS. Forever.

Mayhem

I don't know what's the matter with me, but here I am posting again about a commercial series that I've really been enjoying.  That makes it two weeks in a row. I don't even really watch commercials normally.  But, like I said last week, I've been watching a lot of baseball and I don't change the channels during the breaks. Otherwise it's DVR and fast forward and see ya later.

The ads I've been particularly enjoying lately have been the Allstate commercials with Dean Winter (Oz, 30 Rock, etc...) as the personification of Mayhem. They are very reminscent of another ad campaign from several years ago from Traveler's Insurance where Richard Edson played the personification of Risk. I'm jake with that, though. I dig both actors. And I really don't care at all about Allstate or Traveler's.  I just like the commercials.

Like this one, where Dean Winter personifies Mayhem personifying a raccoon (how meta is that?) living in the attic of a house.  Just tearing shit up.  Hilarious!

Or this one, where he has a bit of fun blocking a driver's side mirror.  Yeah...blind spot Mayhem ensues.

And never again shall I mention TV commercials on this blog.

Until I see the next one that makes me laugh.

Justified

I had this post planned for about a week now, but Dave2 pushed it to the top of my blog-pile with a mention of it yesterday on his site.  Justified on FX has, rather suddenly, become my absolute favorite show on television.  It's about a quick-draw throwback of a US Marshall named Raylan Givens who was re-assigned back to his hometown/county in Kentucky after an on-the-job shooting gone right in Miami.  Huh?  Yeah.  Lots of wackiness ensues as he has to deal with his ex-wife, father, childhood friends/criminal kingpins, etc..

It's really, really, really, really good.

The main character is played by Timothy Olyphant, and, to borrow a phrase from the kids at Warming Glow, if you're a dude and you don't have a little crush on Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens then you're totally gay.

The second season so far is even better than the first.  I really how the writers of the show introduced this season's set of antagonists (an awesome backwoods pot-dealing clan led by the surprisingly frightening Margo Martindale), yet still managed to make it seem like a logical continuation of the first season. 

You really should be watching it.

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As an addendum to my raving about Justified, here are my current Top 5 must-see television shows.

• Justified
• Fringe
• The Cape
• Modern Family
• Raising Hope

Raising Hope and Modern Family might be the only two shoes that have ever made me laugh out loud with frightening consistency. We are constantly pausing and rewinding the DVR to re-watch especially funny parts of each show.  Fringe is just fucking awesome, and anyone who fancies themselves a cool nerd needs to be watching it.

I have a harder time explaining why I love The Cape.  I didn't love it initially.  In fact, I was real close to dropping it after two episodes.  But the third episode won me over, and it keeps getting better and better and weirder and weirder as the weeks go by.  I'm trying not to get too attached to it because it is bringing in terrible ratings so it's likely to get canceled.  But I'm going to enjoy the ride while it lasts.  If you don't mind spoilers, you should head over to io9 and see what the geeks are saying about it.  They love it just as much as I do.

Torchwood

I think I might have a new favorite TV show.

It's called Torchwood and it's a BBC production and a spin-off of the latest reboot of Doctor Who. Now, I was never a Doctor Who fan. In fact...I just didn't get the appeal at all. Cheesy special effects, cheesy storylines, cheesy scarves. Just a whole mess of cheese. But I also never really gave it a chance.

When the reboot started back in 2005, I did give it another try. And I did find that I kinda liked it. Not enough to keep watching, but enough to earn some begrudging respect for it. I think I stopped watching after about 6 episodes.  Right before the main character from Torchwood was introduced.

But Torchwood (an anagram for Doctor Who) is an entirely different beast. Made to be shown later in the evening, it has higher production values and more adult content. The makers of the show wanted to do something similar to those early episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but ya know...with British accents, cursing and some partial nudity.  And you know how I love me some Buffy.

So I jumped in the other night with the first episode of Season 1. And I loved it. It's a great idea and far enough away from Doctor Who that my past prejudices haven't come to light.  Now I have all three seasons queued up on my Netflix Instant account and ready to rock and roll.

And I kinda dig Eve Myles who plays Cardiff policewoman Gwen Cooper.  She's got these great freckles and a goofy sexy space between her two front teeth.  Ah...I can't explain it.

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. The space is sexy, right?  No?  Just me?  Crap.

UPDATED Fall TV schedule

Wow, I've been cutting heads seriously this year. TV is going through an "everything sucks" phase for me. Here's a brief rundown of everything I've dropped so far this year.

Monday

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS 8:00 PM) - Done.  I finally fucking done with this show.  I absolutely HATE Ted!  He is, without a doubt, the worst television character I've ever come across.  And it's a shame.  Because Neil Patrick Harris and the rest of the crew are doing some fine work.  But Ted Mosby sucks.  It was like ripping off a band-aid, but I'm glad I did it.  Fuck this show!
• The Event (NBC 9:00 PM) - Holy crap, was this boring!  I don't care about the event, I don't care about the characters, I don't care about anything with this show.  It's awful.  Truly awful.  And a total waste of my time.  Good bye.
• Hawaii Five-O (CBS 10:00 PM) - I didn't hate this show.  In fact, I kinda liked it.  But it was all just pretty window dressing.  Buh-bye!

Tuesday

• Glee (FOX 8:00 PM) - I know there are fans.  God knows, I know there are fans.  But I just don't get it.  Did you know that the cast of Glee just passed The Beatles for most hits in the Billboard Top 100 by a musical group?  Yeah.  So here's my ice-cold slushy to the face, Glee.  Bye!

Wednesday

• Terriers (FX 10:00 PM) - Here's another show that I kinda liked, but I just couldn't get into.  The leads were engaging, as was the storyline.  I guess it was just new TV overload for me.  I may watch this one when it shows up on NetFlix Instant.
  

Thursday - here we go...

• Shit My Dad Says (CBS 8:30 PM) - Sofa King Awful!  It was so unlike the Twitter feed that it supposedly was adapted from.  I see almost no evidence of that.  And Shatner shat the bed with this role.  Low point?  The Shat doing a karaoke version of "I'm Too Sexy".  See ya!
  

Friday

• BlueBloods (CBS 10:00 PM) - I didn't really even give this one a shot.  It was okay.  And the fact that is was shot on location in NYC was a plus.  But ultimately it seemed like just another CBS soap opera.  I cut it loose before it had a chance to sink in.
  

Saturday

• Saturday Night Live (NBC 11:30 PM)- YES, YES, YES!!!  I've finally been able to delete this albatross around my neck from my DVR!  Relax...I still kinda watch it.  But now it's on NetFlix Instant a couple of days after it premieres.  And since I live on the Internet, I already know which skits to watch and which ones to FF through.  So bye-bye Mrs. American Pie!  It was nice knowing ya!

That's an extra 7 1/2 hours of time I can spend each week catching up on Veronica Mars!  Sweet!

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. I dropped them like they were hot.

Veronica Mars

So for the past couple of weeks, I've been feeding my addiction on Netflix for Veronica Mars. The wacky, sometimes harsh adventures of a teenage private detective living in what looks to be the nicest place in the world. Even for those non-oh-niners. Is San Diego and the surrounding area really that nice?  Anyway, I'm about halfway through Season 2 as of this weekend.  And I can finally see why nerds around the world are so in love with Kristen Bell.  She's genuinely adorable.

I hate to admit it, but tt's really, really fucking good.   And no, I don't feel like an old turd for enjoying this particular high-school drama.  Except for the times that I really do feel that way.  You know?

I totally blame he and she for this whole mess.

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day.  If I were a porn star, my name would definitely be Dick Casablancas .

Cablevision vs FOX

Back in May, there was a bit of a contract dispute between ABC-TV and our local cable provider, Cablevision. There was a deadline and it passed and ABC's programming was pulled on a Sunday morning from Cablevision, but we all knew it was grandstanding. ABC was broadcasting the Oscars that night and you just knew that an agreement would be made in time for the Oscars to be seen in our HUGE media market. And it eventually happened...about 20 minutes into the broadcast.

The same kind of impasse is happening today* with FOX and Cablevision in our area. And there is another big event (for some of us) going on tonight* that will probably accelerate the negotiation.

Game 1 of the NLCS between the Phillies and the Giants.

Sure, it's not going to get the same ratings as the Oscars. But baseball fans have been anticipating this game all week. A classic marquee pitching matchup between Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay. Last year's NL Cy Young winner vs. this year's winner. Well, Halladay hasn't won it yet, but it's pretty much a given that he will win it.

I'm gonna be super fucking pissed if I'm not gonna be able to watch it!

*I wrote this on Saturday morning. I'll post updates, both joyful and sad, as the day progresses. Huh?

UPDATE #1: 8:56 PM EST - They are still at an impasse. I am still pissed.

UPDATE #2: 10:23 AM EST (Sunday) - Still nothing. Less pissed. Mostly because I'm fighting a cold.

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. A bunch of fucking suits!

Fringe Theory

Fringe is just about the oddest television show I've ever come across. And I'm not just talking about the content of the show itself. I'm talking about my relationship with the show, mostly. A real "on again/off again" type of affair.

Back when it debuted, I really thought it had a chance to be something special. But after about half the season, it seemed to have deteriorated into a sad X-Files clone. Your generic "mystery of the week" type of show, and it was doing nothing for me. Sure, the acting (especially the fantastic John Noble) was decent and it was science-fiction after all, so I should have been hooked. But I wasn't. So I dropped it like that bad habit they are always talking about in Proverbs.

Then, for some reason, I watched the last handful of episodes from last season. And it finally hooked me. I haven't gone back to watch the season and a half plus that I missed, maybe one day I will. But for now I'm pretty happy just watching the new episodes as they appear each week. Lots of fun stuff going on. Specifically another universe that is freakishly similar to ours in a lot of ways, but weirdly different in small ways that makes it a lot of fun. Like they have a comic-book character over there called The Red Lantern instead of The Green Lantern. Or occasionally a siren will go off and everyone needs to start sucking from n oxygen tube. And Back to the Future was made with Eric Stoltz in the lead role instead of Michael J. Fox.

Well that last one is something that very nearly DID happen in our own universe. In fact, Stoltz played Marty McFly for about 5 weeks of shooting before the switch was made. They say the Stoltz version would have been more somber and much darker than the comedy that Fox provided. I dunno. I'm not one of those people that adored BTTF, but there are a bunch of them around. Maybe I would have liked the Stoltz version better.

I'd like to switch realities/universes for a couple of hours to find out.

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. Wait...McFly...Stoltz played the lead character in The Fly II. Am I on to something here?

The Fall TV schedule

Because clearly my opinion is important to you all, I thought I would follow in other's footsteps and let you all know what I've tagged in our DVR to record as this Fall television season starts in earnest this week. Fascinating stuff, eh?

Monday

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS 8:00 PM) - I'm really considering dropping this one. I really hate the main character, but the talent of the supporting cast keeps me coming back. Oh how I would love it if Ted gets hit by a bus and spends this season in a coma.
• The Event (NBC 9:00 PM) - The "it" show of the new year. The replacement for Lost for all of those who need a crazy mystery show. I have no idea if I'm going to like it, but I'm willing to give it a try for at least a few weeks.
• Hawaii Five-O (CBS 10:00 PM) - I'm just taking a flyer on this one. I'm guessing that I drop it after a week or two.

Tuesday

• NCIS (CBS 8:00 PM) - Yeah, that show that is consistently in the Top 5 in ratings even though no one you know watches it? It's me. I'm watching it. But I've got a man-crush on Mark Harmon and a real crush on Pauley Perrette, so fuck y'all.
• Glee (FOX 8:00 PM) - This one is really for Gia. She seems to love it, even though we missed most of the first season. I dunno. Seems harmless enough, but if she watches it without me I think I'll live.

Wednesday

• Survivor (CBS 8:00 PM) - Still the best reality show out there. And an absolute pleasure to watch in HD. Gorgeous locations always. This season, former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson is one of the contestants. Not sure how that's gonna work out, but I'm gonna say not very well for the coach.
  
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC 9:00 PM) - Ah, a little rape, some incest, maybe sprinkled in with just plain-old domestic violence. What's not to love?
  
• Modern Family (ABC 9:00 PM) - If Community isn't the funniest show on television, then this ensemble comedy might be. Plus you get to watch Sofia Vergara every week. Rowr!
  
• Terriers (FX 10:00 PM) - I caught the first two episodes of this and I think I'm hooked. Donal Logue is always engaging and it's got a nice balance of drama and comedy. FX is really making some great shows these days.
  

Thursday - here we go...

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS 8:00 PM) - It's filled with awful nerd stereotypes, but it really makes us laugh. Especially Sheldon. I don't know if he deserved the Emmy that he just won, but it was nice to see someone other than Alec Baldwin get it.
  
• Community (NBC 8:00 PM) - Perhaps the funniest show on television. And this season they are pushing the envelope even further. Look for a Christmas special that is done in stop-motion animation like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I can't wait.
  
• 30 Rock (NBC 8:30 PM) - It's starting to wear a little thin with me, but the main stars of the show are just so damned funny that I can't say no.
  
• Shit My Dad Says (CBS 8:30 PM) - No idea, but I'm willing to give it a try. I say that I dump it after after two weeks.
  
• Fringe (FOX 9:00 PM) - Here's one that I used to watch, then stopped watching, then starting watching again at the end of last season and I think I'm back again. But, as you can see, Thursday night is pretty filled up here...so it might get dropped again.
  
• The Office (NBC 9:00 PM) - Still crazy after all these years. I think this is the last season for Steve Carell, right? I can't imagine that they will continue on.
  
• Jersey Shore (MTV 10:00 PM) - Don't judge me.
  
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX 10:00 PM) - Another one that has lost a little as the years have gone by, but I still love the gang and all their awful antics. True story...a certain reader of this blog personally knows some of the cats on this show.
  

Friday

• Human Target (FOX 8:00 PM) - It's not starting until October, but I think this is gonna be the time slot. Doesn't matter. I'm sure this is the last season for this one. Shame, because it was/is a lot of fun. Definitely my favorite new show of last season.
  
• Blue Bloods (CBS 10:00 PM) - Hey, it's got Tom Selleck, his mustache and Donnie Wahlberg. I'll give it one week. Impress me, Selleck.
  

Saturday

• Saturday Night Live (NBC 11:30 PM) - I don't know why. There is about 5 minutes each week that is worth watching. So I generally watch it in FF, hoping I don't miss anything. Ah...anything that is worth seeing is usually all over the Internet by Sunday night anyway.
  

Sunday

• The Amazing Race (CBS 8:00 PM) - Ah, having to adjust the DVR because football ALWAYS runs late on CBS on Sundays. But this show is too much fun to miss. Wouldn't you all love to see Slyde and I run The Amazing Race? He'd have to do all the manly challenges because I'm a delicate flower.
  

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. That's an awful lot of TV. I'm gonna have to pare that down.

Human Target

When I heard that FOX would be adapting a version of Human Target (a comic book character created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino back in the early 1970's) I was mildly interested. I didn't really need another weekly television series to get involved with, but I plugged it into the DVR anyway.  Just for shits and giggles.

Then I watched the first three episodes last Wednesday when nothing else was going on, and I hate to say it but I think I'm hooked.  It's got a few things going for it so far.

• I dig the premise.  An episodic case study of a bodyguard/private investigator who impersonates the intended victim in order to draw out the killers.  The murky and intriguing background of the character only adds to the fun.
• Jackie Earle Haley.  I am so digging this cat's reincarnation as a fun character actor.  He plays a wildcard hired gun named Guerrero in this series and he is about as dangerous as they come.  My favorite bit with him so far was in the first episode when a couple of hired thugs came to rough him up.  The way he, um, dissuaded them was just about as cool as it gets on network programming.  I think I would enjoy watching this guy eat soup.  He's THAT good!
• The rest of the cast and the guest stars.  This show seems to have a very genre-specific casting director, because through three episodes I've already counted three actors from Battlestar Galactica, one from Firefly/Serenity and Danny Glover.  Huh, what?  Yeah...Danny Glover showed up in the pilot for a brief cameo for some weird reason.  The lead turns by Mark Valley (Fringe) and Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies) only add to the good times.

Yeah, it's a fairly mindless bit of fluff.  But it's entertaining and harmless, and sometimes that's all I need from a television program.

Mr. Jackie Earle Haley as Guerrero.  Respect!

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. One more reason to watch TV.  Yeah, I need that like another hole in my head.