Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Back to You - Ouch!

No, the pain is not from having sat through another craptacular sitcom. No, this pain is from seeing a sitcom set at a TV station - featuring folks who had a former relationship as the central characters.

BACK TO YOU makes JOINED IN PROGRESS seem rather derivative.

But hey - this is TV - where suits have no original ideas - so maybe I've got a chance now!

BACK TO YOU (Wednesdays at 8/7 c on FOX) stars Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton - and the pilot was damn fine.

JOINED IN PROGRESS hasn't been cast, seen or read by anyone who can help bring it to life.

But I recommend you check them both out.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Belated Props to Flushed Away

The folks at Aardman (responsible for the wonderful WALLACE & GROMIT series of claymation films) teamed up with the CGI folks from Dreamworks for FLUSHED AWAY.

Not having young children in the house, I thought I had no reason to see this kiddie flick when it was first released.

I humbly admit the error.

This brilliant bit of diversion is such a treat. The plot may be simple, but the detail upon detail thrown in by the animators makes for a wonderful 90 minute ride.

It made me long for a CGI version of DANGERMOUSE - a project I had no idea I wanted to see until tonight.

Click on over to Netflix and get this one in your queue

Monday, September 17, 2007

Emmys '07

I didn't get to see as much of the Emmy telecast as I wanted - and maybe that's a good thing. The list of winners is stupefying.

The good:

Theatre in the round. A cool concept that heightened the Hi-Def picture. The producers of AMERICAN IDOL were in charge and it showed.

Yay for THE SOPRANOS, Terry O'Quinn from LOST, and the Stewart/Colbert/Carroll acceptance bit.

Boo to just about everything else. Spader wins Best Actor in a drama over Hugh Laurie? I don't think so.

Meanwhile, FOX had to deal with a few loose lips. Seems Ray Romano and Sally Field forgot the show wasn't being aired on HBO. (And no, Sally was NOT censored for her political diatribe, it was her choice of vocabulary FOX didn't like. They really, really didn't like it.)

Kudos to FOX for having the forethought to actually putting the program on a delay so they could cut away from any profanity. Like it or not, this is broadcast TV. It has a responsibility to the free over the air viewers.

'Bout time.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Burning Off the Summer, Part 1

My schedule's been a bit cramped of late, but Mrs. Kimosabe & I worked hard this weekend cleaning out the TiVo of some of the summer stuff we couldn't quite get to over the last few weeks. The fall premieres are a comin' and that means there's lots of TV watching to squeeze into two weeks' time.

I'm three episodes into MAD MEN and have every intention of finishing the run. Kudos to AMC for enhancing the environment for this advertising based drama with trivia bumpers that run in between all of their commercials.

Orkin started advertising on TV in 1954... followed by an Orkin spot.

The number one night for movie advertising is Thursday... followed by a spot for a movie.

The Paramount logo is the oldest movie studio logo still in use... followed by a spot for Paramount film.

Smart stuff - and a very clever way to fight back against TiVo hopping.

Also - a big shout out to SUPERNATURAL. Got all caught up on the Winchester brothers' adventures tonight. The show has an X-FILES feel - and it should, Kim Manners was deeply involved in both. It's a tight show, too. The main story always seems to be wrapped up in 45 minutes, followed by a little bit more of the ongoing mythology. Nice.

SUPERNATURAL started the season head to head against THE O.C. - and choices had to be made. Come October 4th, Sam & Dean will get their season pass back.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Time for Some TV

Summer's over and another fall TV season is about to begin.

I've been away for too long, prepping for a premiere of my own.

Now that the show is open, it's time to clean out the TiVo of some good cable programming - MAD MEN, SAVING GRACE, DAMAGES and umpteen reruns of SUPERNATURAL (that we couldn't squeeze into the schedule during their first runs).

Coming soon - my recommendations for the fall.

Stay tuned.