The Top 10 TV Shows From 2000-2010

10. Entourage - There are few shows as short as Entourage... Some pound on you with intensity, or drama, and some drift by like a breeze, so easy to watch, that it takes no further concentration than writing your name on a sheet of paper... No sooner than I've settled into my seat, with a soda or beer, and vicariously lived a week in the life of one Vincent Chase, and held onto my hat as Ari Gold rips into his assistant,  the end credits are rolling.          


9. Prison Break- Michael Scofield is one of the most charismatic characters ever brought to the small screen.

The character first appeared in the series pilot as a man who stages a bank robbery in order to get sent into the prison where his older brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), is being held until his execution. The premise of Prison Break revolves around the two brothers and Michael's plan to help Lincoln escape his death sentence. The improbable plot twists, and vivid gritty characters kept me hanging on through the series 4 year run. It was the perfect length for the series. Another season sould have been retarded... After all, they break out of 2 different prisons.... The Season 2 cat and mouse game between Scofield and troubled  FBI Agent Alex Mahone bested even the duel between Tommy Lee Jones and Harrison Ford in The Fugitive.

8. King Of Queens   The movie "Despicable Me" is out right now, but K.O.Q could've been called "Despicable Them." Even Seinfeld's characters, who went to prison for their lack of character were holier than Doug and Carrie Heffernan. Incredibly funny and yes, despicable moments ensued over the series' eight or so seasons on the air, with an amazing cast of supporting characters, and Kevin James impeccable comic timing, the show was a delight.       

7. Frasier- Spun off from Cheers, Frasier actually aired longer than Cheers did, from 1993 to 2004. I believe the character of Frasier is the longest running character in TV, perhaps second only to some guy on Gunsmoke. I'm certain that that's what made the show so great. Seeing a character develop over 23 years was like growing up with someone.. I know Frasier as well as I know my actual friends.In real life, I have no opera attending, sherry sipping psychologist friends, but great writing made this erudite, pompous windbag a person I'd actually be friends with, and actually miss, when the show ended.   

6. Weeds - I've never subscribed to Showtime, and was late to discover "Weeds." The show has the quirkiness of "Northern Exposure" and "Arrested Development," but all the while, viewers start to feel a paranoid edginess, as they root for the drug-dealing, absentee mother Nancy Botwin. Central to all my Top Ten picks, a great cast is the reason the show works so well...That, and FEARLESS writing. Who else puts a soccer mom in a mini-mall connected to a tunnel under the Mexican border where heroin and prostitutes are smuggled on a daily basis? The rewards of watching Kevin Nealon and Elizabeth Perkins (both former clients) self-implode are many... Smoke up!



5. House - Don't you just wanna smack Gregory House? Not if you were in his hospital, with some ridiculously obscure disease. Hugh Laurie deserves every Emmy nomination he gets for his work. Hell, just quashing his native British accent alone, and sounding so.... American is fine work, but he inhabits that character like no other.... He is a thinking man's Archie Bunker. Quick to point fingers at everyone else, and unable to figure out why he is so damn miserable. Yet, he is funny in the snarkiest of ways, and I rejoice in the torment he unleashes on his co-workers.. The medical mystery runs a distant second place to his antics....

      

4. E.R. - Like Frasier, I've seen  Dr. John Carter for 15 years, and come to know his character well... I've never missed a single episode in the series 15 year run, and it was every bit as good in season 15 as it was at the start... No medical show has, or ever will,  come close to the longevity of E.R The sheer number of main characters on the show takes an eternity to scroll through. (Go ahead, click on the link, and watch your scrollbar on the right side of the screen turn into a tiny sliver.......) The list of major guest stars who appeared on not one episode, but stuck around for 5 or more, is incredible.... Again, it was the stories and the writing that kept everyone coming back....

3. Lost - Very little more can be said about the most innovative show to EVER air on television. When theologists and scholars are still trying to write about the themes and theories of the show, all I can do is stand back and smile.   Thank you J.J. Abrams for Lost, AND "Alias."       

2. 24    What will the world do without Jack Bauer? Yes, seasons 6 and 7 were iffy, but even iffy seasons of 24 blow away everything else on the TV landscape.... Pure adrenaline, pure escapism, pure punishment.
I hope the rumored film packs the wallop that the series sustained. I only regret that some of the characters they killed off could've made it into the big screen version....     
          



1. Deadwood  - Shakespeare would've been astonished by the writing of this show.... and at times, he'd be the only one who could comprehend it.... Never has a show had such eloquence mix with such potty-mouth dialogue... The dialogue that issues from this heavy drama about life in Deadwood, South Dakota circa 1871.

Many historical figures appear as characters on the show—such as Seth Bullock, Al Swearengen, Wild Bill Hickok, Sol Star, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp, E. B. Farnum, Charlie Utter, and George Hearst. The plot lines involving these characters include historical truths as well as substantial fictional elements. Some of the characters are fully fictional, although they may have been based on actual persons. Deadwood received wide critical acclaim, particularly for Milch's writing and Ian McShane's co-lead performance.^[3] It also won eight Emmy Awards (in 28 nominations) and one Golden Globe.  Shame on HBO for cutting costs, and putting Milch's other project, the useless "John From Cincinnati" on in its place....   It is impossible for me to watch other westerns now, as they look absolutely stupid when compared with this, the most masterfully written show in TV history.

Honorable Mentions: Battlestar Galactica, Coupling (BBC), Jericho

How To Make $56,000 in 3 minutes...

For all those wondering why Drew Carey acts so lame in this video, there is an article on Esquire magazine's website that explains it. Well.... FIRST... watch the video....................................According to a commentor on the video..The guy who won had been studying the show for months, trying to figure out patterns in the prices. The producers initially thought he cheated and the show would never air, which is why Carey just kinda blows off the whole moment. Still a super weak move by him, though.

Semi-frightening Look At How Our Rock Star Icons have aged...

For the full photo essay... click here...but open a beer first... It's a bumpy ride.... I feel sooooo much older than I did 10 minutes ago...

When All Summer TV blows, get back to the basics..

I stumbled upon an article about fat TV husbands and their hot wives... And realized that formula might be the single best formula for success on TV...  Starting with the Honeymooners and The Flintstones, through Modern Family... the list pretty much shows 'em all...  Women viewers can laugh at how stupid the males are, and male viewers can just ogle the wives.... Not sure Marge Simpson is hot enough to ogle, except for the episode when she was a calendar girl.... A commentor posted a clip of my favorite rerun show, "The King of Queens." starring my former client Leah Remini. As funny as the clip is, it doesn't capture even a portion of the funny stuff thats been on there... Criminal that that show never got an Emmy.....

Emmy Thoughts

The production offices at 'Friday Night Lights' must be a-twitter, with long-awaited nominations for Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, for Lead Actor/tress..... Truly the best portrait of a marriage ever put on TV.

Likewise, the 'Modern Family'  family should be feeling smug right about now, though it's a shame that Ed O'Neil was left out... Still laughing at repeats, most recently, at the Pigeon Battle:


I'm wondering when America's undying love for vampires will... die! True Blood gets an undeserved nom for Best Drama Series... I've watched 2 episodes, and came away unimpressed.

Did you know there was a category for Best Non-Fiction TV Special? I hope The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3D-- On Ice! Wins....

Best Reality Show? If they give it to The Amazing Race AGAIN, I'm going to have kittens... The recently completed 20th season of Survivor didn't even get a nod, despite the press and critics saying it might have been its best ever.... Russell just can't get no love. Instead, I'd hope they give it to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution... Only 6 episodes, but great ones! The jaw-dropping episodes are here on Hulu.
Back next week with more thoughts on TV....

Can't ever find anything good to watch? Stick with me, kid.

Summer TV is UNWATCHABLE

Except for Friday Night Lights, I’m not watching a single thing off broadcast TV this summer…..Thank heavens for Netflix and Hulu…

A few gems I’m WAYYYYY late to the party TV-wise:

–

COUPLING…

Not the useless US version, but the British original. Netflix has all three fairly short seasons….Easily as funny as Friends…..

CTRL….

A very unusual web-based series with NBC $$ behind it… Not some $18 student with camcorder production… Funny idea about an office worker who can manipulate time/space using the keys on his keyboard..Full Episodes Here

Technorati Tags: CTRL,Coupling,TV

Free Diver Creates Mesmerizing Trip into Deep Sinkhole

In this remarkable clip, world freediving champion Guillaume Nery stands at the edge of the world's deepest underwater sink hole. And he jumps. The ensuing photography is a hypnotic adventure into the impossible. While Nery contends that no freediver can nor ever will make it to the bottom of Dean's Blue Hole, he spent four afternoons pulling off the stunts to simulate the effect while girlfriend/freediver Julie Gautier, just as impressively, filmed them (while freediving herself!) with a Canon 5D Mark II.  (via Gizmodo)

Iggy The Cat And The iPad

My Top 90 Favorite List of Bart Simpson's Chalkboard Punishments

    * I will not waste chalk.
    * I will not aim for the head.
    * I will not skateboard in the halls.
    * I will not do anything bad ever again.
    * I will not torment the emotionally frail.
    * I will not call the principal "spud head".
    * I will not spank others.
    * I am not a dentist.
    * I will not bribe Principal Skinner.
    * Spitwads are not free speech.
    * "Bart Bucks" are not legal tender.
    * High explosives and school don't mix.
    * Hamsters cannot fly.
    * All work and no play makes Bart a dull boy.
    * I will not say "Springfield" just to get applause.
    * I am not authorized to fire substitute teachers.
    * I am not deliciously saucy.
    * Organ transplants are best left to the professionals.
    * I will not send lard through the mail.
    * No one wants to hear my armpits.
    * Next time it could be me on the scaffolding.
    * The Good Humor man can only be pushed so far.
    * I will stop talking about the twelve inch pianist.
    * I do not have power of attorney over first graders.
    * I am not certified to remove asbestos.
    * "Bagman" is not a legitimate career choice.
    * I will not barf unless I'm sick.
    * I will not expose the ignorance of the faculty.
    * I will not instigate revolution.
    * I saw nothing unusual in the teacher's lounge.
    * I will not call my teacher "hot cakes".
    * I will not snap bras.
    * Garlic gum is not funny.
    * I will not fake seizures.
    * I will not encourage others to fly.
    * I will not bury the new kid.
    * I will not Xerox my butt.
    * I will not drive the principal's car.
    * I will not eat things for money.
    * I will not pledge allegiance to Bart.
    * I will not yell "She's Dead" during roll call.
    * I will not sell school property.
    * The principle's toupee is not a frisbee.
    * I do not have diplomatic immunity.
    * I will not charge admission to the bathroom.
    * I will not go very far with this attitude.
    * Goldfish don't bounce.
    * No one is interested in my underpants.
    * I will not sell land in Florida.
    * I will not sell miracle cures.
    * I will not grease the monkey bars.
    * I will not hide behind the fifth amendment.
    I did not learn everything I need to know in kindergarten
    There was no Roman god named "Fartacus"
    Rudolph's red nose is not alcohol-related
    I will not file frivolous lawsuits
    A trained ape could not teach gym
    Loose teeth don't need my help
    I have neither been there nor done that
    I will stop phoning it in
    Class clown is not a paid position
    Substitute teachers are not scabs
    My suspension was not "mutual"
    A belch is not an oral report
    Dodgeball stops at the gym door
    I will not surprise the incontinent
    I am not the acting President
    I was not the sixth Beatle
    I will only provide a urine sample when asked
    The nurse is not dealing
    Science class should not end in tragedy
    I will not publish the Principal's credit report
    The hamster did not have "a full life"
    Fish do not like coffee
    Milhouse did not test cootie positive
    This school does not need a "regime change"
    SpongeBob is not a contraceptive
    The capital of Montana is not "Hannah"
    Teacher did not pay too much for her condo!
    The art teacher is fat, not pregnant
    Teacher's diet is working
    There's no such month as "Rocktober"
    I did not see teacher siphoning gas
    It's "Facebook," not "Assbook"
    The class hamster isn't just sleeping
    Chalkboarding is not torture
    I am not allergic to long division
    Halloween does not kick Thanksgiving's ass
    Teachers' unions are not ruining the country
    The world may end in 2012 but this show won't.

See the Emmy Nominated Wallace And Gromit Here

Wallace And Gromit - A Matter Of Loaf And Death

DANMAN | MySpace Video

"A Matter of Load and Death"

Been "Off the Air" For Awhile

I've been .... pre-occupied with a dozen other things more important than blogging for the past few months, but for now, with a more stable situation, I return to the blogosphere invigorated.....

Sorry to read that Scrubs, Heroes and Better Off Ted will likely be cancelled at the end of this season. All were innovative shows that broke the mold... Who can forget the Scrubs all-musical episode? Such wonders as "Guy Love" and "It All Comes Down to Poo..." made me laugh out loud.
Thank God for Modern Family and 30 Rock.

This blog will become more specialized, towards TV coverage... as you see. I seem to make more time for TV in my day than others..... But this isn't 'True Confessions.' On with the show....

If you've never caught Friday Night Lights on NBC or DirecTV, the first 3 seasons are on Netflix's direct streaming PLAY NOW section. Kyle Chandler deserved an Emmy for Best Actor but the show has been largely ignored by the public, despite winning a Peabody Award...
From Wikipedia:

".....The show’s producers decided at the outset to allow their performers leeway in what they say and do on the show. Though scripted like any hour-long television drama, performers are given great leeway in the delivery of their lines and the blocking of each scene. If actors feel that something is not true to their character or a mode of delivery doesn’t work, they are free to change it provided they still hit the vital plot points.^[20]

The freedom that producers have extended to the performers is complemented by the fact that the show is taped without rehearsal and without extensive blocking. Camera operators are trained to follow the actors rather than actors standing in one place and having cameras fixed around them. This allows performers to not only feel free to make changes but to feel safe in making those changes because the infrastructure will work around them. Executive producer Jeffrey Reiner described this method as “no rehearsal, no blocking, just three cameras and we shoot.”^[21]

Working in this fashion has had a profound influence on everyone involved with the show, with series star Kyle Chandler going so far as to say “When I look back at my life, I'm going to say, "Wow, [executive producer] Peter Berg really changed my life."”^[22] Executive producer and head writer Jason Katims echoes this sentiment saying “When I first came on [the ‘FNL’] set, I thought, it’s interesting — this is what I imagined filmmaking would be, before I saw what filmmaking was

Quick and Fun Science Project

Homopolar Motor - Funny video clips are a click away

Did You Know It takes 72 muscles to speak one word? Here's 25 More Facts

It takes 1,000 yards of linen to wrap an average mummy.
It takes 50,000 words to use up the lead in one pencil
It takes 600 grapes to make one bottle of wine.
It takes 30 to 40 gallons of tree sap to make one gallon of maple syrup
It takes 24 to 26 hours for a hen to produce an egg.
It takes 72 muscles to speak one word
It takes eight weeks for the average man to grow a one inch-long beard.
It takes one acre of soybeans to produce 82,368 crayons
It takes a bushel of corn to sweeten 400 cans of coke
It takes 25 tomatoes to make one bottle of ketchup
It takes one acre of trees one year to remove 13 tons of dust and noxious gases from the air
It takes seven years for a lobster to grow to one pound
It takes 345 squirts of milk from a cow's udder to make one gallon of milk.
It takes 18 hummingbirds to weigh an ounce
It takes 42,000 tennis balls for a Wimbledon tournament.
It takes one bale of cotton to make 1,217 T-Shirts
It takes about 100 cherries to make a cherry pie.
It takes 2 million visits to 2 million flowers for a honeybee to make one pound of honey
It takes five gallons of milk to make a five-pound wheel of cheese
It takes a mole one day to make a 300 foot long tunnel.
It takes 23 seconds for blood to make a complete circuit of the human body.
It takes a five-mile walk to burn off the calories of one chocolate sundae.

Wii Wanking

I Took a "Bathroom Break" for 6 months

Bathroom Break - Click here for the funniest movie of the week

NASA:Global Warming Stopped in 1998

It's all over but the crying, for Al Gore. Fool. This interview with a respected scientist in Australia reveals why he's been curiously quiet lately. Because he is, has been, and always will be: Full of Shit.

A great many founts of authority, from the Royal Society to the UN, most heads of government along with countless captains of industry, learned professors, commentators and journalists will be profoundly embarrassed. Let us hope it is a prolonged and chastening experience.

With catastrophe off the agenda, for most people the fog of millennial gloom will lift, at least until attention turns to the prospect of the next ice age. Among the better educated, the sceptical cast of mind that is the basis of empiricism will once again be back in fashion. The delusion that by recycling and catching public transport we can help save the planet will quickly come to be seen for the childish nonsense it was all along.

Cheaper Better Cappaccino: from Starbucks

Want a stronger, more flavorful cappucino than Starbucks seems capable of making, and for less dough?
Ask them for a "Short Cappaccino". It's not on the menu... I know.... but... well.. read THIS ARTICLE FOR ALL THE DETAILS.

Best Selling Albums of All Time

29 Million

• Eagles: Their Greatest Hits, 1971–1975, Eagles (Asylum)

27 Million

• Thriller, Michael Jackson (Epic)

23 Million

• Led Zeppelin IV, Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)
• The Wall, Pink Floyd (Columbia)

22 Million

• Back in Black, AC/DC (Epic)

21 Million

• Greatest Hits, Volumes I & II, Billy Joel (Columbia)
• Double Live, Garth Brooks (Capitol Nashville)

20 Million

• Come On Over, Shania Twain (Mercury Nashville)

The rest of the best are here.

Holy Crap! Winnie Cooper Grew Up!

Danica McKellar, (probably best known for playing Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years) has very much.. grown up.

In 2005 Danica did a photoshoot for Stuff Magazine.

I did a photo session for "Stuff" magazine last Wednesday-- the first time in my life, ever, taking pictures in lingerie!!

The editors of Stuff want to know which hottie from the 90s Stuff readers would like to see in their magazine. Now, I met Danica back when I worked at ABC, and for some reason, The Protective Big Brother in me wants to say, "No way am I going to encourage people to check you out in sexy pictures!" But there's no denying that she's grown up to become quite a beautiful woman.

Get this: She's a math genius... Just wrote a book called "Math Doesn't Suck"
Graduated with a Masters? in Math from UCLA....

The Fly Jumper: Oh, to be 20 Again...

Evil Military Develops Battery That Lasts 30 Years

What good does that frakkin' military ever do us?
Well, they've figured out how to safely turn radioactive particles into inert, harmless particles, while powering your laptop for the next 25-30 years with no recharging.
The FULL STORY HERE, and HERE.

If Women Ruled the World

A contest for photoshop enthusiasts...
A few more great entries can be seen here.

Nobody's Watching: The TV Pilot

Earlier, I've posted funny clips from the comedy team, Derek and Will, and the Producers of Scrubs and The Family Guy. Remember The Diet Coke and Mentos comedy clip, and the Lost parody... These guys are quite good. They did a pilot for the WB in 2005 that the suits were too dumb to comprehend, and it didn't get picked up. It's split into 3 segs on YouTube, it's rated 4.5 out of 5 stars, and has over 500,000 views...
Be 500,001 here.
The story behind the show is HERE. Very interesting notes about how future TV shows might debut on the internet FIRST, before primetime...

Fun With Pigeons

The Scarecrow... pest repellent.. $69 online.

Humane, Hilarious Bird Sprinkler Saves Hot Tubs

Anyone with a hot-tub, that occasionally gets nailed by the bounty of nature, will appreciate this funny solution to bird crap. It's called the Scarecrow... available online.
($69) Video at Vidmeister