RIP, Jerry Juhl

I just heard that Jerry Juhl passed away from cancer on Monday. Who is that? If you've ever laughed at a Muppet, you know. He wrote the words, the corny, punny, silly jokes that make Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo and the gang so hilarious and endearing. He invented the Fraggles and was the first employee Jim Hensen ever hired. The world is a funnier place because of him. Thanks, Jerry.

Posted by tivogirl at 4:16 PM 0 comments  

Amazing Race Family Edition first impressions

Spoiler alert! If you haven't watched the first episode yet, you won't want to read this until you do.


Okay, now for the rest of you, here are my impressions of the first family edition of the Amazing Race. It's not as different as I anticipated, so far. A few points:

* I do have a feeling this is going to be an all-American or at least North American adventure. I get a real sea-to-shining-sea feel from the route so far, which would be quite interesting.

* No Road Blocks?! Perhaps they just skipped this for the first leg, but I'll be disappointed if there are no Road Blocks this season. Traditionally they have been tasks just one team member must perform. I figured they might modify it to allow two, but not do away with it completely.

* Have any of these people ever read a map? It's pretty typical for teams to get lost on the heavy driving legs, especially early on, but this was excessive. Navigation is a key element to the Race, which they should know if they've ever watched it.

* Nice touch having Kevin and Drew from season one as the hot dog vendors. :)

Now for the team impressions:

* The Weaver family (dad killed in a freak speedway accident) are better racers than I expected, but WOW are they annoying!
* The Godlewski (sp?) sisters started out horribly, but then won the leg. How'd they do that?! They are surprisingly competitive.
* The Gaghans are tons of fun. That little girl is quite the competitor. They race smart and logically. I like them.
* The Aiello guys did almost as well as I thought they would, but made a poor choice on the detour. They need to think a little more.
* The Paolo family is quite possibly the most obnoxious bunch of people ever on television. Poor mom won't last long with little rest and many more physical challenges.
* The Linz siblings - wow what happened there? Four young, healthy, seemingly intelligent people finish next to last? Hopefully the shock of it will wake them up and they'll use their heads more on the next leg.
* The Black family just made one critical mistake - building instead of pulling the buggy. That task held a clear advantage for teams with small (and lightweight) children, but they just didn't see it.

So far, I'm pulling for the Gaghans, Linzs and Aiellos. I can't wait for the Paolos and Weavers to go. Here's hoping next week we see some Road Blocks! So far, it's a great race!

Posted by tivogirl at 8:46 AM 0 comments  

Don't forget...

... the Amazing Race Family Edition starts tonight! If you've ever read this blog, you know AR is one of the best things on TV, so watch it already!

If you're really into AR, you can even play a fantasy game this year - sort of. It's really a pick-em, where you simply choose the team who you think will place first in each leg. If you're right, you're entered into a drawing for a $250 gas card (c'mon CBS, that's the best prize you can come up with?!).

Posted by tivogirl at 4:13 PM 0 comments  

Some great stuff!

Tivogirl had a little family emergency late last week... sorry for the interruption. Thankfully, Tivodad had the foresight to keep his copy of the Lost season premiere, so the whole Tivofamily got to watch it together on the big screen! What a fun way to see the show, huh? It was a great episode, if a little predictable (c'mon, you can't introduce a new character in flashback the same episode you introduce a new mystery man on the island... of course it's the same guy, duh!)

Last night's Desperate Housewives was just as fun as I remember, though Lynette taking the baby to the job interview (AND changing its diaper to boot) and still getting the job was farfetched, at best. Gimme a break.

I finally caught the first two episodes of Threshold, which isn't bad. I like Carla Gugino and the rest of the cast has good chemistry, but it's not quite up there with the X-files just yet.

Extras, the Ricky Gervais series on HBO, premiered last night. While it's no Office (as if anything else will ever be), it's hilarious and Gervais is brilliant. His character has a bit of David Brent, but well-intentioned rather than idiotic. Instead waiting through long uncomfortable pauses after saying something stupid, he attempts to explain his way out of it. And Kate Winslet is a scream.

I still have Everybody Hates Chris, invasion and some returning shows to watch, so more on those another time.

Posted by tivogirl at 10:54 AM 0 comments  

New shows - more hits and misses

Over the last few days I've caught up on some of the new shows premiering this week. As with the last batch I previewed, they are hit and miss. First, the good:

Surprisingly, How I Met Your Mother (on Mondays) is witty and engaging. It reminded me a lot of the early seasons of Friends (before it got too soapy for my taste). The three lead actors are especially fun to watch (Allison Hanigan was always just a passable actress to me, and nothing much has changed here). Neil Patrick Harris steals every scene he's in, as the funny letch who reminds me a bit of a grown up Alex Keaton. I expected the show to be a by-the-numbers sitcom, but hoped the cast might make it better. Thankfully, it does.

My Name is Earl(Tuesdays)... is it as good as everyone says? Almost. It's a little on the safe side of quirky for me, but still has a Coen Brothers feel. A lot of comparisons have been made to their classic Raising Arizona, and that's apt, but it's more like a network television version of it - duh. Jason Lee is so endearing you can't help but like his deeply flawed character anyway.

While it's not a new show, The Office (Tuesdays) new season premiere was a pleasant surprise for me as well. Hit or miss last season (especially when re-doing plotlines covered on the original UK version), it seems to have hit its stride with the premiere. If you dismissed this last year, give it another shot.

Now for the bad...

A show I did not expect to be a rote, annoying, dumbed-down sitcom was Out of Practice (Mondays). Sadly, I was wrong. Despite having Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler at the helm, the show stinks. It's not funny and it's filled with canned laughter. Blech. While I did watch the entire pilot, I took it out of my season pass list the second I was done.

Up tonight is the premiere of Lost, Martha Stewart's version of The Apprentice and Invasion.

Posted by tivogirl at 9:23 AM 0 comments  

Big night

Aside from the premiere of the cool-looking Threshold, there are two other shows to check out tonight. One is Reunion, the Fox show that chronicles 20 years in the lives of a group of high school friends, one year at a time. Each episode is an entire year, beginning in 1986 with graduation. I wasn't that interested in this show from reading the descriptions, but Fox sent a preview DVD, so I watched the pilot. It's much better than I anticipated and made me want to at least give it a few more episodes.

It's got a smart hook -- a little bit of OC-style soap drama for the young folks, and a TON of nostalgia for the older crowd. The nice thing about the nostalgia is, it's nearly spot-on. The fashions and music are the most accurate I've seen, but the hairstyles just aren't quite big and crunchy enough. In any case, it's fun to watch for the references, but the storyline is interesting enough to keep you tuned in to what's going on. Check it out.

The other show is a newly produced special on Animal Planet that will be on in place of Animal Cops Houston tonight at 9 eastern. The hour-long Animal Planet Heroes: Hurricane Rescues will document efforts to save animals during the Katrina crisis. APL has done a great job getting updates on their site during the recovery and will host a live chat with one of the rescuers immediately after the conclusion of the show tonight. My only argument is APL hasn't updated their listing data, so I had to grab the program using the date/time recording option on Tivo. Hopefully that will be remedied today.

Want to donate to the wonderful groups who are rescuing animals in the wake of Katrina? There are tons of great groups, including Noah's Wish, Best Friends, United Animal Nations, and the Humane Society of the US.

Posted by tivogirl at 11:34 AM 0 comments  

Emmy predictions

The Emmy awards are Sunday night (with Ellen hosting again - should be a great show), so here comes my second annual picks post. As I said last year, the Emmys are usually not that tough to pick. For several years, they'll choose the same shows over and over again, long after they are worthy. However, at some point there will be a shake up year, where all kinds of new shows are deservedly awarded and a new regime is crowned. Last year was a bit of a shake up year, so it remains to be seen whether they revert back or stick with the chosen ones.

Now for the picks:

Comedy Series Nominees
Arrested Development FOX
Desperate Housewives ABC
Everybody Loves Raymond CBS
Scrubs NBC
Will & Grace NBC

I'm torn. I love Arrested Development, Desperate Housewives and Scrubs (which is FINALLY nominated). Raymond may get a sympathy vote since it's now off the air, but Will & Grace is past its prime and has never been an Emmy favorite in this category (see supporting actor/actress). I think this will go to Desperate Housewives, but I'll be happy if any of my three faves win.


Drama Series Nominees
Deadwood HBO
Lost ABC
Six Feet Under HBO
24 FOX
The West Wing NBC

Deadwood was much improved in its second season, 24 had its best year yet and Lost was the smash new hit of the year. Lost should take it, but don't be surprised if Deadwood wins.


Reality/Competition Program Nominees
The Amazing Race CBS
American Idol FOX
The Apprentice NBC
Project Runway BRAVO
Survivor CBS

Obivously I must choose two-time winner (and my all time fave reality show) The Amazing Race, but Project Runway was pretty terrific. I don't think it's ready to win this year, though. Survivor jumped the shark this season, but that doesn't mean Emmy will notice.


Lead Actor, Comedy Series Nominees
Jason Bateman - Arrested Development FOX
Zach Braff - Scrubs NBC
Eric McCormack - Will & Grace ABC
Ray Romano - Everybody Loves RaymondCBS
Tony Shalhoub - Monk USA

Again, I'm torn. This time between Jason Bateman and Zach Braff. Bateman is the glue that holds the wacky family Bluth together, but Braff is the heart and soul of his show. I'd love to see Braff win, but Bateman will probably get it, especially if the comedy show award goes to Desperate Housewives.


Lead Actor, Drama Series Nominees
Hank Azaria - Huff Showtime
James Spader - Boston Legal ABC
Hugh Laurie - House FOX
Kiefer Sutherland - 24 FOX
Ian McShane - Deadwood HBO

Both Hugh Laurie and Ian McShane deserve to walk away with this award. McShane won last year, so Emmy could show him the love again, but House was the sleeper hit of the spring. I'm picking Hugh Laurie.


Lead Actress, Comedy Series Nominees
Marcia Cross - Desperate Housewives ABC
Teri Hatcher - Desperate Housewives ABC
Patricia Heaton - Everybody Loves Raymond CBS
Felicity Huffman - Desperate Housewives ABC
Jane Kaczmarek - Malcolm In The Middle FOX

The housewives could split the vote, but Patricia Heaton has won multiple times and Jane Kaczmarek has been overlooked. I don't see that changing. Teri Hatcher has won a few awards for the show, but Marcia Cross had some pretty weighty material at the end of the season, so she should get the award.


Lead Actress, Drama Series Nominees
Jennifer Garner - Alias ABC
Patricia Arquette - Medium NBC
Mariska Hargitay - Law and Order Special Victim's Unit NBC
Glenn Close - The Shield FX
Frances Conroy - Six Feet Under HBO

Honestly, I don't watch any of these shows regularly. Jennifer Garner is the sentimental choice, since the show is always on the edge of cancellation, but I see Emmy awarding Glenn Close for daring to step from feature films (okay, we won't count 102 Dalmations) to series television.


Supporting Actor, Comedy Series Nominees
Jeffrey Tambor - Arrested Development FOX
Brad Garrett - Everybody Loves Raymond CBS
Peter Boyle - Everybody Loves Raymond CBS
Jeremy Piven - Entourage HBO
Sean Hayes - Will & Grace NBC

Jeffrey Tambor will win, but Jeremy Piven is fantastic on Entourage. I'd love to see Piven get it, but the show is a low rated critic's favorite, and there's only room in Emmy's heart for one of those at a time(Arrested Development).


Supporting Actor, Drama Series Nominees
William Shatner - Boston Legal ABC
Terry O'Quinn - Lost ABC
Naveen Andrews - Lost ABC
Oliver Platt - Huff Showtime
Alan Alda - The West Wing NBC

This is Lost's award to win or lose. Terry O'Quinn should beat out Naveen Andrews, if only because his back story is the most compelling on the show. That episode where we see what happened to Locke was the single best hour of television ever.


Supporting Actress, Comedy Series Nominees
Doris Roberts - Everybody Loves Raymond CBS
Jessica Walter - Arrested Development FOX
Holland Taylor - Two and a Half Men CBS
Conchata Ferrell - Two and a Half Men CBS
Megan Mullally - Will & Grace NBC

Unless the Raymond sympathy vote extends this far down, Jessica Walter should waltz away with this one.


Supporting Actress, Drama Series Nominees
Sandra Oh - Grey’s Anatomy ABC
Tyne Daly - Judging Amy CBS
Blythe Danner - Huff Showtime
CCH Pounder - The Shield FX
Stockard Channing - The West Wing NBC

Again, a slew of shows I do not watch. Grey's Anatomy was good but hasn't been around long enough to deserve any awards. The rest are tv veterans the academy loves. I'm picking Stockard Channing, since this is probably the West Wing's last season.

Don't forget to watch Sunday night!

Posted by tivogirl at 2:02 PM 0 comments  

A new, "fierce" guilty pleasure

Once a month, tivogirl's day job lets me telecommute while working a late night shift. What that means to you, dear reader, is tivogirl has lots of time to catch up on (mostly horrid) daytime television!

Between the trainwreck talk shows, court shows, decorating shows, crafting and cooking shows, there just isn't much that rises to the top. Ellen is great, and Oprah is good when she's not preaching. Dr. Phil is fun, but repetitive. Typically I end up catching up on Tivo'd shows or watching HGTV or the Travel Channel all day long. This week the new syndicated talk shows debuted, which normally I would just ignore, but a post over on Jolie in NYC convinced me to check out the new Tyra Banks show.

Tyra, she of Victoria's Secret and runway fame, is older (if you consider 31 "older"), wiser, chunkier and prettier than she's ever been. She's also a gigantic nutcase and a whole lot of fun to watch. Her show bounces around from topic to topic, but it's not as frenetic as it sounds. Her Fierce Force segments have been great so far -- she sends a team of stylists out to a "real world" location to give folks tips. Day one they hit the DMV and helped the folks in line come out with a decent driver's license photo. What a great idea!

She deals with body issues a lot, which is nice to see a former supermodel even acknowledge, let alone do something about. She has women and teens openly discuss their perceptions, then completely drops any pretense of ego and lifts her shirt to expose her belly flab. She did a segment on day one showing before and after modeling photos and explaining how they don't just touch up blemishes but completely erase half of "the booty."

It's only been three days, but so far Tyra's doing a great job. I'm not completely hooked yet, but if she can keep up this pace and not manage to run out of ideas in week three, she could be around for a while.

Posted by tivogirl at 4:02 PM 0 comments  

Returning show premiere dates

I've already posted the list of new shows I'm planning to check out (and some reviews of a few - more to come). It's just as important to know when your old favorites are coming back, especially if you don't have a Tivo to watch for new episodes for you. (But of course you DO have a Tivo, don't you?! Thought so.) These are my staples (all times are Eastern):

9/11/2005 (Sunday)
8:00 PM - The Simpsons (Fox)
17th season premiere

9:00 PM - Family Guy (Fox)
new episodes begin


9/13/2005 (Tuesday)
9:00 PM - House (Fox)
2nd season premiere


9/15/2005 (Thursday)
8:00 PM - Survivor: Guatemala (CBS)
11th season premiere


9/18/2005 (Sunday)
7:30 PM - King of the Hill (Fox)
10th season premiere


9/19/2005 (Monday)
8:00 PM - Arrested Development (Fox)
3rd season premiere

8:00 PM - The King of Queens (CBS)
8th season premiere

9:00 PM - Las Vegas (NBC)
3rd season premiere


9/20/2005 (Tuesday)
9:30 PM - The Office (NBC)
2nd season premiere


9/21/2005 (Wednesday)
9:00 PM - Lost (ABC)
2nd season premiere

10:00 PM - Law & Order (NBC)
16th season premiere


9/22/2005 (Thursday)
8:00 PM - Joey (NBC)
one-hour 2nd season premiere

9:00 PM - The Apprentice (NBC)
4th season premiere

10:00 PM - ER (NBC)
12th season premiere


9/23/2005 (Friday)
8:30 PM - Malcolm in the Middle (Fox)
7th season premiere


9/25/2005 (Sunday)
7:00 PM - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC)
two-hour 3rd season premiere - special time

9:00 PM - Desperate Housewives (ABC)
2nd season premiere


9/27/2005 (Tuesday)
9:00 PM - The Amazing Race (CBS)
two-hour 8th season premiere

10:00 PM - Boston Legal (ABC)
2nd season premiere


9/29/2005 (Thursday)
8:00 PM - Alias (ABC)
5th season premiere

8:30 PM - Will & Grace (NBC)
8th season premiere


10/19/2005 (Wednesday)
10:00 PM - South Park (Comedy Central)
new episodes begin

Posted by tivogirl at 2:18 PM 0 comments  

Fox's new series are hit and miss

The networks just don't trust us bloggers. Even with a name like tivogirl I have to grovel to get information, much less screeners, and most networks completely ignore my existence. But not Fox.

For the last few weeks I've been getting all kinds of fun boxes from the marketing department: a faux-biohazard package with screeners of Bones and House packaged in sealed evidence bags and realistic-looking blood transfusion pouches; a hard-sided mini cooler promoting the "great dads" of Sunday night with goodies from The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad and new show War at Home; a blue prison-issue shirt to promote Prison Break; and a pretty nice leather binder with a legal pad and pen from Head Cases.

Some of this stuff is meant to goad critics into at least givin a show the benefit of the doubt, and sometimes it works. For me, it's nice (though most of the stuff goes on the "up for grabs" shelf at work) but certainly doesn't influence whether or not I recommend a show. I hope I'm not the only one.

So now on to the scoop. How are the new shows? One is terrific, one is pretty good and the third is just plain awful.

Prison Break, which premiered Monday night (and repeats tonight if you missed it) is fantastic. By the first commercial break, I was hooked. It's not as bleak and honest a depiction of prison as Oz, but more along the lines of The Shawshank Redemption. Perhaps that comparison comes because there is a glimmer of hope. A promise that this kid just might pull this thing off and get himself and his doomed brother out of there.

Head Cases, which doesn't debut for another few weeks, has promise. It's about a couple of lawyers who are just a little off, and the pilot details how the two come together to create a firm. While there is a case going on in the midst of it, it's hard to get a feel for the real dynamic of the show without the regular weekly structure in place. If it keeps up the humor and pace of the pilot, Head Cases will go into my season pass list.

The War at Home... awful. Derivitive. Moronic. Worst of all, it's a comedy that is not in the least bit funny. I actually turned this off barely five minutes into the show. I had hopes, as I like Michael Rapaport, but this was a cookie cutter sitcom complete with annoying teenage daughter, obnoxious laugh track and heard-it-before sarcastic and humorless jokes. Do not waste your time.

Posted by tivogirl at 11:01 AM 0 comments