On TV

So, the Colts won. But let’s talk about something more important — the commercials.

I have to say I was underwhelmed this year. Most of the commercials seemed pretty average. But here are my picks for the best and worst:

Best: The poor, mud-covered dog who finally gets to ride on the Budweiser Clydesdale wagon. I’m a sucker for animals. Loved it.

Best: The auctioneer who did the wedding ceremony in about ten seconds. If you’ve ever been to a wedding that dragged on and on, you had to appreciate that one.

Best: The assembly line robot who had a horrible dream that he got fired and had to find another job. Very clever and funny.

Worst: The Doritos commercials. There was one were a guy in the car was distracted by the woman, and another one where a cashier starts flirting with a guy who has bought every flavor of Doritos imaginable. Weird and gross.

Worst: The one for the map system where the map turned into a giant robot that was going to destroy the world, until the guy morphed into some kind of superhero. That was a total Power Rangers rip-off.

Worst: The Snickers commercial where the two mechanics do a “Lady and the Tramp” and both chew on the candy bar until they kiss. Yuck.

What about you? Which commercials did you like? Inquiring minds want to  know …

Watched the latest episode of My Name is Earl last night.

Best. Episode. Ever!

The whole episode featured the residents of Camden County on the show COPS, back when Earl was still married to Joy and a petty thief. But the best parts were all the in-jokes. Last night on Earl, we got to see just about every person he’s helped or hurt, from the one-legged girl to the one-eyed mailman to Nancy the hooker. Kenny was also on the show, along with the cop Earl helped turn into a professional bowler.

I love it when a series does all the wink-wink stuff for the fans. I try to do that in my Bigtime books — just throw out little references or turns of phrases from previous books.  

What about you? What nods do you like to see in your favorite book, movie, or TV series? Inquiring minds want to know …

I’ve finally had time to watch the “fall finales” of some of my favorite shows this week. Some were good, some were so-so, some were a little confusing. Here’s what I think. Warning: There be spoilers ahead.

Heroes: I knew Sylar was going to kill Eden the moment she suggested that she “persuade” him to commit suicide. And really, Mr. Bennet, don’t you think you should off the guy who wants to cut out your daughter’s brain so he can absorb her power? Instead of following orders from your shady higher-ups? Just a thought.

Other than that, a great episode. Loved the painting of Hiro battling that dinosaur and Ando wishing that “destiny would lose their number.” I have no idea how they’re going to bring Niki, DL, and Micah into the mix with the other heroes, but I hope they do it soon. I think it’d be fun to see Niki’s alter-ego face off with Nathan again.

Then, there’s Peter. Oh, Peter. Seeing a future in which you spontaneously explode can not be good for your mental health. I’m wondering if that was really the future or Sylar (or someone else) playing some kind of mind game with Peter.

Hmmm. So many questions to ponder over until January …

Prison Break: A rock ’em, sock ’em finale with lots of twists and turns, including Kellerman’s surprising about-face. I thought the oh-so-guilt-ridden Mahone would be the one to help the brothers escape custody (yet again). Instead, Kellerman put a bullet in the FBI agent. I hope Mahone makes it to next season.

T-Bag finally found his lady love — after seducing and killing a postal worker to get her address. He’s sooo creepy — and sooo fascinating at the same time. No C-Note or Haywire, though, and very little of Sarah or Sucre. Ah, well. At least it’s coming back in January instead of March.

If the show goes for a third season, I hope the writers have the former convicts band together to uncover the conspiracy. That would be a great way for everyone to interact more. Just a thought …

Veronica Mars: I gotta say that this one was a little disappointing. Mercer is the rapist, helped by the dorm supervisor all because they did a psychological experiment together back in the day. What’s up with that? Plus, there were no flashbacks to show us how they pulled it off. They really should have done more with the experiment episode to tie it together like that.

But what bothered me the most was Veronica. The girl is just reckless. She’s going to a dorm room to confront a rapist, and she doesn’t call her dad, Logan, Wallace, or even the police. That was dumb. And it always seems like someone has to save her. It was her dad the first season, Logan last year, and Parker this time.

I enjoyed seeing Parker confront Mercer, but Veronica, please, do me a favor — take some self-defense classes. Because your Taser isn’t helping you much these days. You only weigh like a hundred pounds. If you’re going to go around confronting bad guys, you should be able to take care of yourself. 

I did enjoy one of the last scenes with Logan bashing the police car so he could get thrown into the same cell as Mercer. Classic Logan. 🙂

And, I’m interested to see what they do about the dean’s murder. How much you wanna bet that Lamb blames Weevil?

What about you? What shows are you loving or hating this year? Inquiring minds want to know …

I used to love Lost. Not so much anymore.

Season 1 totally rocked. The story, the characters, the backflashes — it was all good. Then, came Season 2, with the weird hatch and weirder Others. The show lost its original focus — people trying to survive on a tropical island. Instead, we got debates about fate and destiny and religion and science. Not to mention more mysteries with few answers.

Now, we’re in Season 3. And it pretty much blows. The show has gotten too convaluted, and the storytelling just isn’t what it used to be. Case in point — this week’s episode. It was all about Mr. Eko, the drug runner turned priest haunted by his brother’s death.

I’d heard rumors that someone was going to die, and as soon as I saw Eko’s first flashback, I knew that it was him. They did the same thing with Shannon and Ana Lucia last year. If I was one of the Lost actors and having a flashback episode when one of the characters was supposed to get killed, I’d be really worried.

The flashback didn’t tell me anything new about Eko, other than why he decided to build a church on the island. But okay. I can live with that. Eko is still an interesting character. Even if I find it highly unlikely he can survive an explosion, get mauled by a polar bear, run a high fever, and still somehow walk miles into the jungle.

It was the monster that ruined it for me. Talk about stretching the realm of believability. I would have been okay if the monster had been genetically mutated polar bears or some sort of crossbred experimental bear-jungle-cat hybrid. Something, anything remotely believable. But black, boiling smoke as your monster? Yikes.

We’d seen the monster before last season, and I thought it was just as silly then as I do now. And it seems to have the ability to shapeshift into people. Weird. And kind of dumb.

As for having the monster kill Eko … what was the point? It would have made more sense (not to mention have been much more believable) to kill Eko in the hatch explosion or let the polar bear eat him. (BTW, the polar-bear special effects need a lot of work.) And why even kill Eko? We didn’t know him that well. His death won’t have the impact of Locke or Jack getting offed.

Then, there’s the other side of the island, where the Others continue to play mind games with Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. I don’t know what they’re up to, and I’m almost to the point of not caring anymore. And tuning out. Permanently.

What about you? Are you still loving Lost? Inquiring minds want to know …