Las Vegas = Love Boat

Didja ever notice? Some evidence:

Catchy theme song... check
Glamorous yet familiar setting... check
Attractive young cast... check
Bald(ing) patriarch whose daughter is part of said attractive cast... check
Outrageously silly and unrealistic plotlines... check
C-list guest stars... check

Hmmmmmmmm

Posted by tivogirl at 6:04 PM 0 comments  

Two favorites coming together

Zach Braff, of one of my favorite shows, Scrubs, is going to guest star on one of my other favorite shows, Arrested Development! Can't wait!

Posted by tivogirl at 1:05 PM 0 comments  

The Office REALLY premieres tonight - watch it!

As a huge fan of the original BBC version of The Office, I was more than a little scared when I heard they were making an American version. I had hope, however, when I also heard that creators Ricky Gervais (who also played boss-from-hell David Brent) and Stephen Merchant were coming on board as exec producers. But I was still skeptical, seeing as how other translations of British shows have gone (see Coupling).

Then they announced that Steve Carell would play the boss in this new version, I was encouraged, but what has convinced me more than anything else that this show won't be a disaster is the marketing. The ads have set the tone just right, and NBC has done a great job of getting buzz going online -- debuting an episode commercial-free with a partner site last week in live streaming video was genius.

The final straw was watching that very episode online. The NBC version is Americanized, but in a good way. It still has the quirky awkwardness and potentially endearing (and cringeworthy) characters. It holds on to the theme of office life as purgatory that was so crucial in the original. Give The Office a chance tonight when it premieres (NBC after The Apprentice). And if you haven't seen the original, go out and rent or buy the DVD set.

Posted by tivogirl at 6:06 PM 0 comments  

We know, Tivo rocks

Duh!

Posted by tivogirl at 6:05 PM 0 comments  

Wrong number

Oops! So now they're going to waste our time with an hour "recap" show tonight and reveal who's gone tomorrow. Ugh. The results show is the worst thing on television anyway -- I'm to the point where I fast forward through it and watch the last five minutes anyway. I'm this close to just checking online. The worst bit is where they make the ousted contestant perform. Uh, hello?! This is the person America LEAST wants to see sing again, so you have them sing again?!

My first-round pick Carrie is doing terrifically and I can't wait until creepy Steve (who by the way looks like a serial killer) is gone. Mikalah is gone this week for sure. So far, America's getting it right. Anyway, more on Idol another time.

Posted by tivogirl at 6:06 PM 0 comments  

The Office premieres tonight - sort of

In an interesting convergence of broadcast and online, NBC is touting a marketing partnership with MySpace.com by promoting a webcast of an entire episode of The Office more than a week before it premieres on NBC stations. What a great idea!

The episode is not the pilot, but the first original episode of the series (the pilot closely mirrors the pilot of the BBC original, while the series will diverge from there). It will be shown online tonight at 8 eastern, here. That's the only thing I don't like - it's not on demand. If you miss it, you'll be able to watch an extended clip tomorrow, or you'll have to wait for Tuesday, March 29th, when NBC shows it on television.

To tie in with the show, MySpace has several other features on the site like discussion areas and blogs. They've already got quite a few registered users on The Office section. It's a really interesting idea and I hope it catches on.

Posted by tivogirl at 6:07 PM 0 comments  

"Strategy" on the Amazing Race

I've made it clear I'm no fan of Rob and Amber from Survivor. I wasn't happy to hear they'd be on AR this season, but so far it's at least made things interesting. Last night, however, kicked it up a whole new level.

The thing that sets AR apart from other reality shows is that there is typically little opportunity for strategizing or scheming. You do your best to travel quickly, complete the tasks, and hope someone else messes up along the way. Last night, however, Rob found a way to actually strategize the race. He figured out that it would be better for his team to take a four hour penalty than to complete a task. THEN he convinced TWO other teams to do the same!

Kudos to him for thinking of it, but it still just sits wrong with me. Any time you can get an advantage by NOT completing a task, it's a poorly designed task. I hate the Fear Factor-style food eating challenges anyway and would love to see them gone next season. This may just do the trick. At the very least, I hope they change the rules or alter the challenges in a way that you must complete them. Giving up is NOT part of the race!

Posted by tivogirl at 1:07 PM 0 comments  

Deadwood lightens up

When Deadwood premiered last season on HBO, I gave it a shot. The dark, dramatic western was beautifully produced, but the content was crude and mean. Fitting for the people and time it's portraying, but it was like a lead weight to watch every week. And the language! I'm no prude - hell tivogirl has been known to let 'er rip with shocking frequency - but when every other word is a blisterer, it's just plain distracting. I made it through about three episodes, then stopped watching regularly. It was just too darn serious all the time to be entertaining.

This all brings us to the second season premiere last week. Since tivoguy is a fan of the show, I decided to give it another viewing. I'm glad I did. Sometime since the last episode I saw, the show gained a much-needed sense of humor. It's still dark, raw and foul-mouthed, but there are - relatively speaking anyway - lighthearted moments in the mix. It makes all the darkness that much starker but also easier to take.

Out of curiosity, I counted just the bad words that came out of Ian McShane's mouth last week. The average came out to MORE than one per minute - and that was just one character! He spat out the f-word, or a variation thereof, 46 times, said my personal favorite c*cksucker five times and uttered a dozen more lovely phrases in the span of the 50-minute show. It's quite a feat!

Posted by tivogirl at 6:08 PM 0 comments  

Dave Barry blogs 24

So I'm probably the last person on the planet to discover Dave Barry's hilarious blog. But if not, and you haven't seen it, you MUST check out his running commentary on the latest episode of 24. It's a SCREAM! While I'm not happy about the competition (as if), I hope he makes it a regular thing.

Posted by tivogirl at 6:08 PM 0 comments