Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Sun Always Shines on T.V.: Better Off Ted

Ok, this is probably one of my favorite shows on TV right now. I happened upon it one night while I was waiting for Scrubs and found myself laughing pretty hard. In a nutshell, it's about this guy who works at a company that builds products for war or the military. The show follows Ted (duh) and 4 others, so it is a small cast. The humor is quick and smart. There are a ton of references to science fiction, which I really enjoy.

The last episode had an interaction between Linda (the nice girl) and some head of a department at the company. Anyway, Veronica (boss and mean) and her try to get him to change his mind on the company's policy on fundraising, but he won't Linda tells the man she isn't leaving, Veronica says things that the Emperor himself said during Luke's battle against Vader. The classic line of "only your hatred can defeat him" was used. Only sci-fi fans would appreciate that line and let me tell you...I did.

Unfortunately, it appears as though Better Off Ted is going to be cancelled. It is going through the same fate as Scrubs, showing an entire season in a month...not good.

It's a shame that this show will only have 26 episodes under its belt when it is gone because it will never make it to syndication. This is a must buy for me on dvd.

here's a sample

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Sun Always Shines on T.V.: Scrubs - Med School

So way back in May I talked about Scrubs' season (series at the time) finale. There was little chance of a spin off because Zach Braff (J.D.) had said he was moving on. Well, something happened and Scrubs Season 9 was a go.

I was interested in this because I read some interviews about just how much the show was changing. Gone was Carla, the Janitor, Ted, and for most of the season J.D. and Elliot. How could a show that was built on an ensemble cast survive? Oh I forgot the biggest change, the hospital was gone and now they were professors at med school.

I mentioned last May about the dangers of continuing a show after the main start left ala Spin City. It's a hard act to follow. They learned by changing the setting and the shows creator tried to change the name to Scrubs: Med School. ABC said no, but on the title screen after it flashes Scrubs, med school does appear in the corner.

So what is the new show like? Well the new show focuses on Lucy, Drew, and Cole. Jo (from season 8) returns and does a great job. I would have liked to have seen the other interns from season 8 return (Sunny does show up in one episode), but they rebooted completely. Watching the first 4 -5 episodes is painful, it was like watching Spin City all over again. I couldn't get past no Janitor or Ted. Even the new building distracted me. The writers did a nice job of establishing the new characters and I think that the only one that worked right away was Drew. He reminds me of a young Dr. Cox at times. Lucy is supposed to be a combination of J.D. and Elliot. While Drew is totally new, a white kid who thinks he cool with his ghetto slang. It was really annoying at first, but now it works. Unfortunately, I feel like they made J.D. and Turk even more "flamboyant".

After the first few "awkward" episodes, the show is starting to hit its stride. The last 3 episodes are great. Watching Lucy realize she likes Cole was classic Scrubs. Having Cox's wife, Jordan, return was great as well. I really think this show can be a success like Spin City was for the next 3-4 years. Unfortunately, ABC is showing the entire season in like 5 weeks. That's right, an entire season in a month - month and a half. As I write this, there are only like 4 more new episodes left. I hope it gets another season to get going, but I don't think it will.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Futureal: 2010 albums

New year...new tag. Futureal tags will be for predicting things, like upcoming albums, shows, or whatever hasn't happened yet.

So with 2009 closing and 2010 just starting, what am I looking forward to? Well here is a quick "wish list" if you will.

Anthrax: they were supposed to release Worship Music in October, but dumped there lead singer, Dan Nelson. From the videos I saw, the new album was a lot heavier than anything they had done before... think Testament's Low through The Gathering (yes include Demonic). Supposedly they are back with John Bush, which is great, but I hope they don't sacrifice the music.

As I Lay Dying: their albums have gotten better with each release. An Ocean Between Us was great. No filler at all. I don't want to have too high of hopes, but I already do. I really want this one to be great. It is one of those things you try to avoid, but like I said this one is way up there for me.

Fear Factory: Dino is back and from what I have heard it is classic FF. I thought the last album was too much of a metal rocker type album instead of industrial metal.

Beyond the Embrace: maybe? Their first two albums are great, but then nothing. On their Myspace page, there was a hint of a new album this year. Crossing my fingers here.

Trivium: no brainer here. Shogun was great and I hope the follow up is a lot better than The Crusade was to Ascendancy.

Into Eternity: haven't heard anything, but I am hoping for a new one from these guys.

All That Remains: see above.

In Flames: A Sense of Purpose was ok. That's it. Come Clarity was great. Maybe they rushed with A Sense of Purpose who knows. I am hoping for something like CC or even Reroute to Remain.

That's about it. I think this should be a good year. Last year was so slow until June or July then it got crazy. Hopefully, I won't have to wait until June to hear something great.

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Now playing: Brides of Destruction - Life
via FoxyTunes