Is the anniversary over yet?

For the rest of the country, maybe it is a good thing to be reminded what people down South have gone through during and after Katrina--especially if it reminds them that the devastation was not limited to New Orleans, bad enough as that was and is, and that thousands upon thousands of people across the region, their fellow Americans, are still struggling to get their lives back to some semblance of normalcy.

For those of us who lived through it, it is still too fresh in our minds, something we, our families, our friends and our neighbors still live with day to day. Even as one who was fortunate--whose home was left standing, still inhabitable and soon-repaired, whose losses were only things, whose dear ones survived--I find it hard to relive the details, to revisit the days already lived through. The TV, the radio, the newspaper have all been full of unrelenting retrospectives of what happened, what was lost, what we have yet to rebuild or replace as a community, a region. If I want a retrospective, all I have to do is get out of the house and walk down the street, or take a drive across town. Further than that is a bit of a problem; the bridge that used to cross the bay will take at least two years to rebuild. Just turning off the TV or laying aside the paper doesn't make it go away. Small wonder that some people are overwhelmed, that mental health problems have doubled, that suicides are up sharply from the statistical norm.

We would dearly love to be able to forget for a little while about Katrina. But we hope and pray that our fellow Americans remember.

VANISHED - Let's Hope Not

VANISHED (Mondays at 9/8c on FOX) premiered to mixed reviews from the TV critics. It's been called a cut and paste job, a hodge podge effort, this year's REUNION.

I'm here to tell you the critics are wrong.

Two episodes into the season and I am officially all in.

VANISHED looks to be a perfect companion piece to PRISON BREAK. It's as deliciously convoluted, twisting and surprising as its sophomore lead-in and it shows in the ratings. It's keeping a very healthy percentage of the PRISON BREAK audience.

It didn't take me long to accept John Allen Nelson as Senator Collins. I was afraid it might be tough for the actor to shed 24's Walt Cummings.

It's the lead FBI investigator I'm finding most enjoyable. He is a compelling mix of Nathon Fillion and Ashton Kutcher. Ming-Na is his touchstone of a partner, who is burdened with a good deal of exposition and technobabble - can't wait to see her kick some bad guy butt down the line.

VANISHED is not "IMPORTANT TELEVISION." It's not groundbreaking like 24 or LOST. But it is tasty escapist fare, like a big juicy hot dog at the ballpark.

If we're lucky, come January, VANISHED will still be appearing weekly.

Comedy, But Not As We Know It

I am now some 12 hours removed from watching Comedy Central's Roast of William Shatner and I still can't get the taste out of my mouth.

What a complete waste of time.

I suppose I'm showing my age, but I can recall a time when celebrities could gather together and poke each other with very sharp sticks - all while avoiding any need for their network to step and censor them.

I'm not a prude. Far from it, in fact. I LOVED The Aristocrats. Dirty jokes have their place. But when it comes to TV - even basic cable - I'd much rather the stick poking be in the form of wit instead of something that rhymes with it.

But I suppose you can't expect much from a C-list group of comedians. I mean, when Andy Dick is the most recognizable name among the jokesters, you're in trouble. Then again, I don't watch a lot of Comedy Central. It may be that our beloved enemy to Western Civilization - VERTICAL INTEGRATION - may be responsible for who was on the panel.

It took me a minute to undertand why Betty White was ionvolved - obviously I don't watch BOSTON LEGAL. I still haven't figured out what Farrah Fawcett was doing on the stage.

We were treated to a barrage of bleeped F-bombs and waaaay too much information on the personal life on George Takei. It actually made me feel pity for George. Sad that his sex life is all he has to trade on these days.

Amazingly, no one mentioned anything about Mr. Sulu dropping aft shields.

The joke of the night came from one of the stand up comedians - the short one, I have no idea what his name is. "George, when you came out of the closet, did it make that SWISSSH sound?"

No, seriously. That was as funny as it got.

I miss Dean, Sammy, Frank, Bob, Lucy and Milty. They could get down and dirty with the best. (OK, they WERE the best) But when it was time to be on TV, they somehow managed to clean it up - and keep the funny.

I wish someone could teach today's alleged comics that skill.

The Descent: The Big Squeeze

THE DESCENT is being billed as the scariest movie since ALIEN.

I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I didn't find ALIEN particularly scary. Tense at times, perhaps, but scary? Not really.

THE BLAIR WITCH? Had me unnerved the entire ride. THE DESCENT let me off the hook early on.

Oh, don't get me wrong - there are enough 'jump' scenes in this movie to make parts of it fun, but ultimately, there's not a lot of 'there' there. Not much in terms of a moral lesson, character development, growth, or any of that rot - especially in comparison to the extended UK ending on YouTube. (Bookmark that link for AFTER you've seen the movie!)

After taking a peek at the way the film makers wanted THE DESCENT to end, you've got to wonder what in the world the American studio suits were thinking. Americans can't handle ambiguity? Do they honestly think their version is less ambiguous? More so, I say.

Kudos, though, for the sheer sense of claustrophobia the director managed to literally SQUEEZE into an early spelunking sequence. I haven't felt that unsettled in a movie theatre since Uma Thurman was buried alive in KILL BILL.

I am by no means claustrophobic - but this sequence had me wanting to go for a walk around the cinema lobby. At that point, I was actually wondering if I was going to be able to make it through the entire film. Unfortunately, there's not a lot that follows that's anywhere nearly as creative, compelling or original.

Ultimately, I suppose I have to give THE DESCENT a half-hearted recommendation. Six girls go in, one girl comes out. Did you expect it to work ANY other way?

Two and a half hands up.

Arkansas Sports Announcer Killed in Car Crash

Monday night, the state of Arkansas lost one of its finest ambassadors, sports announcer Paul Eels.

Mr. Eels' car crossed a median and hit an oncoming car head on. His death was instant.

Paul is being remembered as the voice of the Arkansas Razorbacks for the past umpteen years, a kind soul and a genuine human being.

I caught myself pausing to wonder what it must be like for his survivors to be struggling with their grief - that sort of overwhelming pain associated with an unexpected death. Paul Eels was not ill. He did not retire, he did not linger on a death bed for weeks or months. He simply didn't make it home for dinner Monday night.

On top of that, add an outpouring from complete strangers - strangers who all felt a personal relationship with the man they called husband and father. I hope it's reassuring.

I'll miss hearing his voice. Sometimes it made me a little less homesick to hear him call a game. But, I can't help but think most of have just lost a sports announcer. The family has lost so much more.

I hope they can wrap their minds around the genuine sorrow that is being felt by fans statewide, and by transplanted Arkansans all over the country and the world.

The family has requested memorials be made to the Paul Eells Memorial Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 10689, Conway, AR 72034.

MTV at 25: Idiots Killed the Video Star

Yesterday, MTV celebrated its 25th birthday - by ignoring it.

Instead of giving music fans a trip down memory lane - perhaps with a retrospective, interviews with VJs and bands of old, MTV spent the day at Laguna Beach. The retrospective was being held over at MTV's step sister channel, VH1 Classic.

Even the VH1 was a bit lackluster. The fete was billed as MTV Day One, but all we really got was some bimbo from the 21st century telling us what it was like back in the day and airing the crappy videos that were available back in 1981. Had those same crappy been offered up with a healthy dose of Martha Quinn, I'd be more forgiving.

I suppose it really shouldn't have come as a surprise, after all the Viacom Networks were the same cable channels that butchered coverage of Live Aid anniversary concert.

All in all, it's just another example of the cold hearted vertical integration that has taken over cable TV of late - the same mindset that allows wrestling on Sci-Fi, prevents music from being played on MTV.

Video may have killed the radio star, but it took a corporate behemoth with a brain the size of an acorn to kill a video channel.