Category: TV

Medium – Well Done

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If you asked me what my current favorite shows are, Medium wouldn’t be the first, second, or even third show that I’d mention. But it would make the list. Medium is one of my favorites. I DVR it each week and then my wife and I watch it whenever. Medium is always good for a storytelling twist and sometimes even a “scare” or two. It also features the most realistic family on television.
I’m pleased to post that NBC has given an early renewal to Medium. It’ll return for a fourth season this the fall. NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly was quoted as saying, “‘Medium’ is a quality show with an outstanding star that has always delivered a very loyal audience. We are pleased to know that we can look forward to more of its unique storytelling next year.”
Me too.

Jericho!

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Anyone watching Jericho? I am, have been since the start, and enjoy it more with every passing week. Normally I would have made sure that the nuclear mushroom cloud was pictured in the logo above, but the show has grown less about the bombs than it is about just SURVIVING. With a great cast of characters and enough subplots to keep us interested, this is a show to watch.
The season finale is next Wednesday, and I can’t wait. But if you haven’t been watching it, perhaps you should. My guess is that they’ll rerun all of the episodes this summer. You can get caught up and then be ready for the new season… which we all know started with a [big] bang!

Sanjaya vs Stern: Class Act?

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Last night Sanjaya Malakar was voted off of American Idol. Truth be told, his time had come more than a couple of votes ago. And while it was time for Sanjaya to go, my bet is we haven’t seen the last of him. He has a solid fan base of little girls and enough “cuteness” and talent to at least get a shot a something. What? I’m not sure, but something.

Two more things before we close: 1] Sanjaya took more flack, bad comments and teasing than any other American Idol contestant that I can remember. Sanjaya kept his sense of humor and showed class through it all. 2] Sanjaya’s leaving puts a rest to the Howard Stern claim that Howard has the power [through his audience] to take Sanjaya to the finals and kill American Idol. Let’s just hope that Stern can show the same class as Sanjaya now that Stern’s mission has failed.

Stern vs American Idol

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Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed, “King of All Media” has encouraged his fans to vote for Sanjaya Malakar since the general consensus is that Sanjaya is the worst singer currently on the show. Stern has repeatedly told his listeners to go to Vote for the Worst.com and also to call in to vote for Sanjaya.

So now that Sanjaya has avoided the boot and made it into the top nine, Stern is crowing. He told his listeners, “We’re corrupting the entire thing. All of us are routing American Idol. It’s so great. The No. 1 show in television and it’s getting ruined.”

Okay. Let’s look at the facts: 1] American Idol is still the top rated show on television. 2] American Idol’s ratings are up! [More viewers means more earnings — just the opposite of what Stern is trying to achieve] 3] Vote for the Worst.com doesn’t get anywhere near the number of hits it would take to keep Sanjaya on — and that’s even counting the bump in votes brought in by Stern’s listeners.

It’s interesting that Stern is actually helping American Idol by claiming he will be behind it’s downfall. Perhaps it’s even more interesting that Stern’s getting publicity while at the same time failing at his mission. I guess that’s why he’s the King of All Media.

American Idol Down to 11

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Tonight the American Idol 12 will become 11.

Before I say who I think will be going home, let me compliment Chris Sligh. Not only can the young man sing, but he did exactly what the judges have been encouraging the contestants to do… and then got slammed for doing it.
 
Week in and week out, we hear the judges say, “make the song your own… don’t be an imitator… show your personality.” It was Diana Ross week and Chris took took “Endless Love” and modernized it. Was it as catchy as the original version? No, but then again we’ve heard the original for over 20 years. It’s engrained in our memory banks so no new version will initially sound as good. Still, Chris took the judges’ advice to heart and made the song his own and he sounded really good in doing it. So it ticked me off to hear the judges slam him when it was their suggestions that led him down that path.
 
Sanjaya Malakar should be the next contestant to leave [and Brandon Rogers needs to kick it up a few notches or he’ll soon be on the bubble], but my guess is it will be Haley Scarnato. Haley forgot her words and appeared to be really nervous. Still, I felt it was one of her better performances and hope that she gets another chance to prove herself. Unfortunately I think that Sanjaya has a teeny-bopper fan base that will keep him around for another week.

Once More with Feeling

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American Idol makes the ZONE yet again.

I’m really surprised to say that Antonella Barba has avoided the boot once again. I was pretty sure if the “racy picture” scandal didn’t catch up with her tonight, her singing would. There’s no doubt that she’s a pretty girl, but I didn’t think her performance was good enough to save her. And some folks say ya can’t get by on looks.

If you watched American Idol tonight you know that Alaina Alexander, Leslie Hunt, AJ Tabaldo and Nicholas Pedro were voted off. I can’t really argue with those choices [unless it would be to keep Leslie and say goodbye to Antonella]. I’m not ready to pick a winner yet, but I will say that I’ll be surprised if it’s not one of the ladies.

One final comment about tonight’s show… I believe that Alaina was the first contestant in the show’s history to be so emotional [after being told that she was leaving] that she wasn’t able to immediately sing her last song. It was touching to see all of the girls come out to comfort her… and did you notice that Sundance was tearing up as well?

Making Like Neo

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Last Thursday, Antonella Barba dodged a bullet when she missed being eliminated from American Idol. As reported on Friday, “racy photos” of Ms. Barba began appearing on the net. Because some of the photos were very “racy,” I thought that Ms. Barba would probably be asked to leave the show. Things may have changed though.

Today Barba’s best friend, Amanda Coluccio was quoted in The Star-Ledger of Newark as saying, “The really bad ones aren’t her. I’ve studied them. It’s not her nose. She’s never had (acrylic nail) tips (like the woman in the photo) in her life. She’s the least slutty person I know.”

If that is the case, Ms. Barba has probably dodged another bullet.

American Idol: Picture That

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Antonella Barba is one of the contestants on American Idol. Although she is a pretty young lady and can sing [well enough to make the show anyway], I thought that she would probably get the boot in the first round of eliminations. I was surprised when she made it to the second round.
If you’ve read this far then you’ve probably heard the news that “racy photos” of Ms. Barba have been popping up all over the internet since Friday. The first photos were of Ms. Barba posing with friends on the beach [topless but covering themselves with their hands] and of her in sexy outfits / poses. Then another round of photos came to light and they reportedly were of Ms. Barba engaged in a sex act. Still more photos of Ms. Barba are making their way to the net. My guess is that Antonella Barba will be asked to leave the show before the second round of eliminations begin… which is what I thought should have happened in the first place.

The Invaders

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I’m not sure how many ZONErs will remember or be aware of the tv series, “The Invaders.” It ran for only 43 episodes in 1967 – 1968. I was 8 years old when the series premiered and since I haven’t seen an episode since it went off the air, I don’t really know how well it would hold up. If it was any where as good as this intro or this promo, I think I’d still enjoy watching it!

Which Bot is Best?

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I took the photo above at MegaCon on Sunday. There was a company there that had life-size recreations of famous robots.For my money, these three are probably the MOST famous robots in the world. There’s 3CPO from Star Wars, the robot from Lost in Space, and Robbie the Robot.

Given my pick, I’d take the Lost in Space robot. Of course, I grew up watching Lost in Space. If I was a child of the 70’s, I’d probably want 3CPO and someone a bit older than me would want Robbie.

Would a child of the 80’s want KITT?