As I listened to him talk, I began to critically think about his TV watching habits, and how his viewing choices created this image in my mind. Eventually it made me think about my DVRing habits…

In the past Week (yes 7 days) I have recorded:

1) NCIS

2) The Mentalist

3) Friday the 13^th the Series

4) True Blood

5) Blood Ties

6) Kindred the Embraced

7) X-Files

Without a Trace

9) Cold Case

10) My Boys

Check with me in a week and I *might* add Ugly Betty to the mix. I haven’t really decided if I like that show and if I do if I like it enough to record it. If Without a Trace continues to play its B Game, it is off the list, and I haven’t actually watched The Mentalist yet. Of course Scrubs will be added once new episodes air.

If you just looked at the list, what you could tell about me. Well aside from my slightly obvious thing for Vampire shows, I think it says a lot. What we chose to watch or in this case record to watch often times creates a pretty accurate snapshot of who we are. It tells people our likes and our dislikes. Even the shows that we don’t want others to know we watch give people little insights about us. It show people what we really do like when others aren’t looking.

After reading this list, my naming my new parakeet Mina (as in Mina Harker) will make more sense. You know...the corporate goth, just one of the guys, with a dark sense of humor, who falls in love with series that are quickly cancelled....and the list could go on and on. I watch these shows because they in some way I can relate to them. Whether it be great writing, a storyline I can get into, or literally relate to a character I see a part of me or something I hold in high regard. I’m beginning to think that maybe it is true in most people.

Yes I know, there are some people who will argue that people are like cattle. They are so media illiterate that they will watch whatever slop the powers that be put on the air. Admittedly, I cringe at the masses who watch reality television and think it is the best thing since sliced bread. However, their choice to watch those shows does say something about the person. It isn’t always a negative thing, but it still says something.

If I looked at your recording list, what would I find? What would it tell me about you?

Of course I was a little excited about my DVR. I don’t really have a lot of shows I watch regularly, but the few I do I watch I would often miss. I work three jobs and I’m pretty much always on the go. Then there is the annoying point where two of y shows somehow end up in the same time slot. Yes I can flip back and forth, but I always end up missing something. My DVR would make life easier, but it wasn’t the end all beat all everyone was claiming it would be.

My U-Verse account was set up on the day I moved in, so I immediately started putting programs. You know, Cold Case, NCIS and Scrubs reruns I missed in first run and things of that nature. I had only had 40 (and I’m being generous there) channels. Now I had 400. Soon I discovered that there was this channel called Chiller, and it was showing reruns of “Friday the Thirteenth the Series” and “Kindred the Embraced.” Of course, those started being recorded.

I was crushed when Lifetime stopped airing episodes of “Blood Ties.” However, one of their sister networks still airs them every Saturday and Sunday night at 10:00. Yes I know…it is on Lifetime. That fact alone should make me refuse to watch it, but come on, it is so addictive. The special effects are cheesy, but the acting and chemistry between leads is amazing…ok so my DVR lets me watch my under appreciated guilty pleasure shows. I love this. I can save them for as long as I would like, and I can watch them whenever I please. So yes, I can watch “Blood Ties” 3:00 after working until 2:00. This is heaven for me.

Okay yes, I loved being able to record “My Boys” while I worked Friday night and “In Plain Sight” just in case I missed the beginning. Admittedly, recording movies off my movie channels and old X-files episodes has been nice. Still the selling point it getting to catch my secret favorites again.

I’m a convert…and yes that does scare me a little. As I sat there watching my favorite show in the middle of the night, I looked back on those days where I didn’t even have the channels to watch them on. Sometimes I wonder if I am adapting to the technology or if I am just being a slave to it.

It's that time of year again--the days are getting shorter, the mornings and evenings are getting cooler, there's football to watch, and suddenly both my DVRs are really full.

My fall television schedule is really ridiculous.  I think I'm up to 19 shows at last count--yes, 19 separate television shows, many of which fall on the same night.  But I can't help myself!  There is a lot of quality (and not-so-quality, but entertaining) television on these days, and I don't want to miss a single commercial block.  If I wasn’t supplementing my recordings with some downloads to watch on my iPhone, I think the DVRs would be packing their stuff and leaving me a Dear Jess note.

One of my most anticipated shows this season is J.J. Abrams' new sci-fi venture, Fringe. The pilot this last week definitely had me intrigued and ready to watch more.  The premise is apparently similar to The X-Files (which I didn't watch) and the pilot was pretty ballsy for network television.  I have to appreciate a show that wants to take risks.  Fringe stars Joshua Jackson, who I just can’t stop calling Pacey.

Another show I've been looking forward to is True Blood, the new HBO drama starring the ever-adorable Anna Paquin.  It's based off a series of books about a psychic Louisiana waitress who gets involved with vampires in her tiny town.  Yeah, I know, it sounds far-fetched, but I've read all eight books in the series so far, and they're highly entertaining.  The show is a lot more explicit than the books (thanks to Alan Ball at the helm, no doubt) but I really enjoyed the first episode.  It is staying very true to the plot of the first novel so far, which I appreciate.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a show that surprised me last season, which earned it a coveted place on the DVR.  I have never seen any of the Terminator movies all the way through, but I hear they’re making one with Christian Bale and I can guarantee I’ll be in the front row for that.  Sarah Connor has some great cast members, including one of my favorite young sci-fi actresses, Summer Glau (previously seen as River Tam in the short-lived but much loved Joss Whedon show Firefly) and Brian Austin Green, who is exhibiting the kind of acting we never got to see him showcase on the original 90210.  You know, the good kind.

I have quite a few standbys from previous seasons returning to the television lineup this year—Heroes, Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Grey's Anatomy (we broke up briefly over the whole Izzie-George storyline, but we're back together on a trial basis), Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Dexter, Friday Night Lights, and more.

Oh, fall television.  I love you almost as much as Monday Night Football.

I remember when Olbermann left Sports Center. While I still enjoyed the legacy he left behind, the show was not the same.  Life simply was not as good without Keith Olbermann at ESPN. You might be wondering, how did Mr. Olbermann change from the greatest person in the world to someone that Mike wants to slap?  MSNBC... that is how.

I never have liked overtly political commentators even when I agree with them.  I especially cannot stand overtly political commentators when I disagree with them and they are simply wrong.  I sure hope Keith Olbermann does not think of himself as a non-biased news reporter, because fair and balanced he is not.  If I were Barack Obama I would get a restraining order on the guy, I worry that he may be his number one fan like in the movie “Misery”.

I could list out all the stupid things that the man has said, however I am afraid that the Internet would crash if I did that.  If he were Lloyd Christmas, the limo driver from the movie “Dumb and Dumber” then his approach would be fine.   He would be a harmless buffoon who could say anything he wants and only those people stuck in his limo would have to hear it.  As it is, all of America has too.

If Olbermann is the President of Dumb then his Vice President would have to be Chris Matthews.  Seeing those two cover politics has made me an unbeliever in MSNBC, this is the same network that brought me the great Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert.  Keith Olbermann has tainted the legacy of NBC news and as well as his days doing Sport Center back in the 1990’s.  Keith Olbermann is now a yellow journalist of the worst type.

1. Humor Lives on Long After the Comedian Dies
Many SNL alum have died well before their time. Call it a curse. Call it fate. Call it what you want. Either way, Jim Belushi, Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman, and Chris Farley all died way too young. We all benefit from being able to go back and watch them on VCR tape or DVD. Their comedy will continue to live on long after SNL is gone.

2. There is No Situation That Cannot be Laughed At
Whether it’s appropriate or not, laughter is incredibly therapeutic. There’s a reason that crying and laughter are so similar physiologically. They are so refreshing and cleansing. While not all of us can laugh in the face of adversity, it is wonderful when we can. One of the best examples that SNL provided us was the Will Ferrell skit where he came to work dressed a little too patriotically. I believe you can find that clip on one of the Best of Will Ferrell DVDs.

3. No Matter how Annoying Someone Is, I Will Still Miss Them When They Stop Coming Around
Don’t lie, if you watched SNL in the 90’s you were a little sad when Mike Myer’s characters Dieter (Sprockets), Linda Richmond (Coffee Talk), and Wayne (Wayne’s World) stopped appearing on the show. This can be said for almost all of the timeless, yet annoying characters that appeared on the show. I never realized how true this statement was until one of my long-time, yet amazingly annoying coworkers left the company. It took me a while to get over the fact that I missed having this guy ask me for White-Out on a daily basis.

4. Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = Crazy Delicious
I always thought of myself as more of a Twizzlers and Dr. Pepper guy, but I did give Mr. Pibb and Red Vines a whirl the last time I went to the movies. And you know what? They are crazy delicious.

5. It Is not Always Possible to Make a Good Idea Work on a Large Level
Sure some Saturday Night Live skits have found success on the big screen, but many have found their way to the bottom of the DVD bargain barrel. It just goes to show that it is always important to strike when the iron is hot and be prepared to deal with failure if a “can’t miss” idea doesn’t turn out as well as expected.

6. Things That I Remember are Often Better or Worse Than They Actually Were
When I would watch SNL with my father, there was always a debate over whether the casts from the 90’s were better than the casts from the 70’s and 80’s. This led me to realize that we, as a society, are less likely to remember the bad things that happened in the past when there are good things that happened alongside them. It’s hard to remember that a past relationship often has its positives and negatives when we tend to focus on the last memory, which is usually bad. It is equally as hard to remember that our sports heroes often had bad games before they made the memorable plays that immortalized them.

7. The Things My Parents Enjoyed May Not Work for me, but I Can Still Respect Them
I used to try to watch the old 70’s episodes of SNL. More often than not, I would find myself wondering why I did not find them funny. It took me a while to realize that most humor of the time is based on events that were current. I don’t remember the gas shortage of the late 70’s, so how would I find it humorous? And just because I can’t laugh about the things that happened back then, I can still respect that my parents could.

8. Anyone Can Be Replaced
Sometimes people leave a situation on their own terms, sometimes they don’t. Either way - businesses, lives, and TV shows go on. Sure, there is going to be a period of reminiscing that will follow the change, but that’s just human nature. I can remember hating that the SNL cast of 1994 was replaced in 1995. That was until they came up with new and (now) timeless characters.

9. It Is Possible to Change Without Having to Do Anything Radical
If the turnover of the SNL’s casts every 5-10 years has proven anything, it’s that the same formula can be duplicated successfully with only minor changes. Sure, the topics have to be updated and writers come and go, but the heart remains. It’s really no different than when your father goes off the deep end, divorces your mother, buys a Corvette, and dates a girl in high school. He’s still the same guy.

10. Some Things in Life are Begging to Be Made Fun of and Some Aren't
There is often a fine line between funny and insulting. Some topics just don’t need to be touched and others deserve to be beaten into the ground by the sounds of laughter. In retrospect, the Monica Lewinsky scandal that happened during the Clinton presidency could have been a disaster. Think of all the sensitive information that crossed Clinton’s desk. The same desk he was busy pink-stinking his cigars on. It could have been much worse if not for the humor that came from it. I still laugh my ass thinking about it.

Of course there are other lessons to be learned and all of these lessons could have come from other sources, but I grew up in front of the TV and I often found myself watching SNL on Saturday nights. Yes, I was a nerd.

Being a big fan of shows like Nancy Grace and Greta Van Susteren, I can’t help but get sucked into the circus that is this tragic case. Wearing my logical hat, I really get sick to my stomach when I think about the whole thing.

These are the facts. Keep in mind, the only thing that Casey Anthony has been charged with is child endangerment and providing police with false information.

Casey Anthony says she dropped off the toddler Caylee 3 with a “fictional baby sitter” “Zeinada” on June 9th. She wasn’t reported missing until July 15th by the grandparents. So investigators are already a month behind on the whereabouts of the little girl. Usually, in missing children cases, hope diminishes after 48 hours. Things got really bizarre after the initial phone calls. Casey Anthony 22 was arrested July 15th.

Casey Anthony’s car was found abandoned in a parking lot (which her mother found and called 911 and said that it smells like a dead body) cadaver dogs were alerted to the smell of decomposition (when investigators were asked if the dogs could make a mistake…they adamantly say no) and then investigators took samples of hair, a stain and dirt this forensic evidence is processing and is pending.

Casey Anthony’s parents insist that the smell was coming from old pizza left in the car that had been sitting for 22 days…and Casey’s family George, Cindy and brother Lee are standing behind her story that the little girl was abducted which at this point seems unlikely and absurd that they would be so naïve and stand behind there daughter/sister who is obviously self absorbed and neurotic when something tragic and terrible happened to an innocent little girl no matter what condition they find her in ( dead or alive).

Cadaver dogs also alerted to 2 spots in the grand parents back yard near Caylees play house. It is also a fact that Casey borrowed a shovel from one of her parent’s neighbor during the distorted time line and her parents also reported gas cans stolen from there shed and I believe that were also later found in Casey’s car. Along with the above evidence which is somewhat circumstantial at this point. They have also tracked the cell phone pings in which puts Casey in some isolated areas but doesn’t really prove any thing and doesn’t seem to help the time line.

What bothers me the most about this whole thing is the 22 year old mother’s persona and attitude. This girl definitely has some screws loose, aside from being caught in multiple, ridiculous lies. There is the pictures that show Casey out partying in night clubs prancing around like a frat girl drinking and dancing all the pictures she has a smile ear to ear…hey I am not against girls having fun but damn you haven’t seen your daughter in weeks …so its time to party??? Then there is when she gets arrested she has her visitations with her family when she doesn’t realize that she is being video taped she is only concerned about her self …its me me me she is cussing at her family and really showing no concern about her daughter and how the case is going.

I am a father (keep in mind I actually considered the kid lo-jack implants for my kids), and let me tell you, no reasonable or normal parent or person is going to act the way Casey acted when there child goes missing. For me personally I would find it hard to crack a smile…much less go out and shake my ass and drink. I would immediately call law enforcement. Take a look at the Elizabeth Smart case and how her parents handled the case with her daughter being kidnapped that was normal it was sincere and you could honestly tell that they were not involved as bizarre as the case was.
With Casey Anthony I am almost certain something sinister has happened and she was the cause of it.

Now that she has spent 30 days in jail while her sensationalist lawyer dances around legitimate questions on the news shows she now has a sensationalist bail bonds moron Leonard Padilla who has successfully bailed her out of jail.

Let me tell you I don’t think this girls going to get any kind of fair trial (not that I care) with the morons she has in her camp and her off the wall mother…these people need a PR person and even that wont fix the damage.

The investigators haven’t charged her with murder because they don’t have enough tangible forensic evidence yet and they would have a mostly circumstantial case and the defense would ask for a speedy trial…which would probably not be good because if new evidence came up and she was acquitted from the first trial it would be double jeopardy and they couldn’t prosecute her.

So what do you think happened? Was it a tragic accident that Casey and her family are trying to cover up? Was it something malicious and psychotic on Casey’s part? Did Casey Anthony sell her child? Is Casey just guilty of being a horrible parent and her child was abducted?

I have a feeling it was a tragic accident she is trying to cover up.

What do you think?

It was a was a pretty typical Friday night between football season and basketball season. I was fourteen, and none of my friends could drive. Of course, the fall had been full of football games and pep band would be starting shortly, so my social life would be picking back up soon. My little brother *had* to watch this Bruce Campbell show on FOX called “The Adventure’s of Briscoe County Jr.” I wasn’t impressed, so I left the room.  

A little while later I returned to the family room and I found this new show playing. The thing that caught my eye was how it was shot. It was dark but clear…um yeah I guess that is the best way to explain it. The two lead characters really seemed to have chemistry. The next thing I knew my behind was plopped on that couch and I watched the whole episode. That was the night I began my love affair with the X-Files.

While the show stayed on Friday nights, it made it very hard to keep up. I was band geek, and I want a social life, and to be honest taping off the TV was not something my parents knew how to do if we weren’t home. (What did we do before DVR’s) Back in the day I was not the little technogeek I am now, so setting up the VCR timer was not in my repertoire. I loved each episode I did see. I loved Scully and Mulder.

I loved the story lines. Even when the producer’s idea of hiding Gillian Anderson’s very obvious pregnancy was using a huge trench coat, I suspended my disbelief. I was not so much of the Scullyless episode in season 2 (after Anderson had her baby) where Mulder hangs out that vampire chick (played my Duchovny’s girlfriend). Still, I stayed true to the cause.

Finally, The show was moved out of the “time slot of death” on Friday nights. It was moved to 9:00 on Sundays, and I was ecstatic. Now it was an every Sunday event. I would be watching X-Files no matter what. My love of the show continued through high school. I grew up watching Mulder and Scully, and each week their interactions were kept bringing me back.  Okay, fine, yeah Skinner can be a nice guy, The Cigarette Smoking Man is creepy and quite evil. I was never sold on Agent Spender, but his character did end up having purpose. Even the Lone Gunmen grew on me.   

My two favorite episodes were “Never Again” from season four and “Bad Blood” from season five. “Never Again” was a Scully centered episode where  Jodie Foster was the voice of a  young man’s tattoo. It was great to see Scully out on her own, and even better to see Mulder a little jealous.  In “Bad Blood” the duo are investigating what appears to be a community of vampires. Each Agent tells Skinner about their perception of the happenings…but then again “the were drugged.”

This episode guest starred Luke Wilson. He was not well known at the time, but he still caught the fans’ attention (even with buck teeth).I kept watching in college, and finally in 1998 the first movie came out. Yes, I saw it in the theater. Yes it was everything I wanted it to be. I had big hopes for the following seasons. Seasons six and seven held up to that.

Season Six picked up where the movie left off, and season seven kept building those storylines. It also gave closure to some characters and storylines we had known since  1993.  Seasons eight and nine were a bit disappointing. After a few episodes I started watching the show less and less. If I knew Mulder was going to be in the episode, I was sure to tune in, but out side of that no so much. Of course, I watched the episode where Scully gives birth to William. It isn’t that I do not like Robert Patrick (okay fine, I couldn’t look at him without thinking of Terminator 2) or Annabeth Gish (aka Julia Robert’s little sister in Mystic Pizza) , but it just wasn’t the same. Part of the reason I loved the show were the Scully and Mulder interactions. Without them, the show just didn’t hold my attention.

Admittedly the Brady Bunch house episode was fun, but that was part of the problem. It was just fun. The must watch draw was gone. On May 19, 2002 the final episode aired. I have actually not watched the whole episode. I’ve read recaps and I have seen parts and pieces of it, but you see I was on tour when the last episode aired. A certain member of my family was supposed to tape it “forgot” to. (Yes Mom, if you are reading this I *still* haven’t quite forgiven you.) However, I do know it was a cliffhanger, and it left the door wide open for a new movie.

After six years of rumors and speculation, the new movie is finally here. While I might not get to see it opening weekend, it is high up on my list of things to do. I am curious to see how they get Mulder and Scully back together, and to see how the story unfolds. It really is the first movie I’ve been really eager to see in years…well since Garden State. Now the question is: Will it live up to all my internal hype? I sure hope it does. I’ve gone six years with only being able to enjoy two of my favorite TV characters in reruns. I am very happy to have them back…even if it only in a movie.

I admit that I watch more television than a person should. There are times when I just want to turn off my brain and veg. I don’t really have the patience to stick through a whole show so I’m always surfing the channels, trying to avoid the junk on the airwaves such as the endless number of hook-up shows. But I found a new program that is like a family-sized bag of Doritos and gallon of Coke for your eyes and mind.

On Tuesdays, the G4 network airs its newest summer offering called Hurl! (You know it has to be a good quality show because the title ends with an exclamation point.) The program is a game show where the winner is the person who manages not to throw up.

Five contestants eat as much food (macaroni and cheese) as they can in five minutes. The three top eaters advance to the next round where they are placed in steel ball cages and rolled around like hamsters by men wearing hazmat suits. If a contestant vomits, he’s out. However, the color announcers point out, if a player manages to swallow what comes up into his mouth, he can stay in the game. It is only when he hurls that he is eliminated. If no one spews after five minutes of rolling, the participants go to the next round (pumpkin pie) where the top two eaters advance and are placed in the balls again. They play a third round if necessary (pumpkin pie with whipped cream.) The game keeps going until there’s a winner. And this is the funniest part. The contestants do all of this to win— TA-DA-- $1,000!

The show has the unpolished look and feel of something broadcasted on a college television station during homecoming week. The premise is so simple and the show is bereft of any intelligence or redeeming social value. But it’s also goofy fun to watch these trash-talking adultolescents punish themselves.  

I can’t imagine tuning into Hurl! every week. The novelty wears off quickly. There comes a time when watching a person roll around in his sick loses its appeal. I left all that behind when I graduated from college and I really don’t want to return to those days again. Maybe this is a sign I should finally get to those books I’ve been meaning to read.

Prior to February 17, 2008, I’d watched one racing event in my life, the Talladega 500 in 1993, and the only reason I watched that was because it was the tribute after Davey Allison’s helicopter crashed on the way to the race.  I was only 12, so I can’t really tell you why we watched it, but I know that my dad and I sat there and watched the whole thing.

So when I started dating a guy in February who loved racing, I thought to myself, “Well, I guess it’s a nice, relaxing way to spend Sunday afternoons.  And I have always liked cars and been interested in them.  So why not?”  I never in a million years expected to program my DVR to tape the races, and then to text said boyfriend in a rage over the injustice of Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., colliding with only a few laps to go, thereby, dashing “Junior’s” hopes of breaking his losing streak.  I almost didn’t recognize myself.

And it didn’t stop at NASCAR.  I was also introduced to Formula 1 Racing and, as you might have gathered from the opening paragraph, Indy Car Racing.  Much to my chagrin, Formula 1 and Indy Car don’t run every weekend like NASCAR does, and I much prefer open wheel racing, especially Formula 1, to stock car racing.

Formula 1 is so exciting.  That’s the kind where they run on mostly road courses, and the cars are a lot faster and a lot lighter, which inherently makes them more dangerous, but man, it’s cool to watch them fly around corners at speeds well over 150 mph and deftly maneuver around chicanes.  

What’s a chicane (pronounced shi with a short i and cane like sugar cane), you might ask?  It’s simply an S-shaped curve, but it’s so much more than that when the amazingly talented cameramen and women catch Oscar-award winning shots of Felipe Massa or Robert Kubica or Kimi Raikkonen or Lewis Hamilton (the top 4 ranking drivers in the current F1 standings) snaking through the curves before they hurtle their Ferrari (Massa and Raikkonen), BMW Sauber (Kubica) or McLaren Mercedes (Hamilton) down a straightaway.  Honestly, the camera work is part of what makes the races so amazing.  

Most Americans are not as familiar with F1 racing as the other two forms of racing because it’s largely a European sport.  In fact, this year, the only North American race was held in Canada on June 8.  The other races are held in such exotic locales as Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, Monte Carlo, Budapest and Japan.  Not exactly Bristol (Tennessee) on a Sunday afternoon.

Before the race at TMS on Saturday, June 7, Indy Car was actually my least favorite.  I mean, I was already watching NASCAR where all they do is drive around and around in circles for 3 or 4 hours, and F1 was way cooler than that with the road courses.  Why did I need to watch Indy Car?  In my mind, it was exactly like Formula 1, but nowhere near as cool.  But there isn’t another NASCAR race at TMS until November, and as I’ve already mentioned, I wasn’t going to be able to make it to an F1 race unless I suddenly came into an inheritance that would allow me to travel halfway across the world, so I thought, “What the heck?  It’s something fun to do on a Saturday night.”

Oh my gosh!!  It was so much more than “something fun to do on a Saturday night.”  Unfortunately, we didn’t get there in time for the green flag (the start of the race), so when we parked in the grass parking lot (translated: we still had a long way to walk), I could already hear the hum of the engines as they raced around at 211 mph.  Needless to say, I was a little grumpy.  If you’ve read any of my movie blogs, you know I like to completely experience things, and in my eyes, I’d already missed a large part of the experience.

When we finally got to our seats, 63 rows up while carrying a heavy cooler, and turned around and I finally experienced my first drive by, I was speechless.  Tears automatically welled in my eyes.  There are no words that can describe what happens as the cars blur by you, and you’re literally encompassed in a wave of sound.  And that was 63 rows up.  I can’t imagine how much more intense the experience would be close to the track.  

As the race went on and Marco Andretti, the 21 year-old phenom with the blood line that includes the skill and prowess of Mario and Michael Andretti, continually tried to go 3-wide to pass current points leader and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner, Scott Dixon, and 2-time Indianapolis 500 winner (2001, 2002) Helio Castroneves (yes, he’s the one who was on Dancing With The Stars), the excitement continued to rise with Marco’s RPMs.  

Unfortunately, the checker flag (end of the race) wasn’t as exciting as it could have been.  There was a caution with only five laps to go, so Scott Dixon crossed the finish line as the winner during the caution at a mere 50 mph; anticlimactic to say the least, given that an end without caution could have seen speeds at or around 215 mph at the finish line.  In fact, the winner of the last 6 or so Indy Car races at TMS has edged out the runner-up by only hundredths or sometimes thousandths of a second.

I realize that some of you may be sitting there thinking, “I don’t care how good you make it sound, they’re still just driving around and around in circles for 550 miles.  There’s no way I’d ever waste 2 or 3 hours watching that.”  I once felt the same as you, but when you get to know about the drivers and the cars and all the work and tedium that go into all this every week, it changes your perspective.  I somehow feel smarter knowing what I know about the cars and the conditions now.  It may not be for everyone, but I know that racing is something that will become an integral part of my entertainment list.  Right alongside Grey’s Anatomy and Pride & Prejudice.

Flipping Out is a documentary about the professional and personal life of Jeff Lewis.  Jeff is a neurotic, obsessive compulsive, anal-retentive, yet very successful house remodeler/re-builder.  Jeff and his team buy low end houses in Los Angeles and then tear them down to their original foundation and frames and then rebuild them into absolute masterpieces.  He's known through out the country as one of the most successful rebuilders in the world.  His talent, in my opinion, is bar none but that's not why Bravo has a hit series.  Jeff's personality couldn't be matched by any other famous celebrity even if they tried.  He's one in a million.  He treats his "team" like children and he loves making his assistant take his pets to the dog psychic every week.  If one assistant messes up his food order, then all hell breaks lose.  All the while if a flood were to come down the street and the flood destroys his new model house, he would remain calm.  It's that kinda of "you don't know what you're getting" personality disorder that makes this show so brilliant and so original. 

According to Bravo, "the second season of Bravo's hit series "Flipping Out" returns with everyone's favorite obsessive-compulsive house-flipper, Jeff Lewis. It takes a special kind of personality to handle flipping six multimillion-dollar houses at one time, but Lewis, one of Los Angeles' most colorful creative renovators and real estate speculators, pulls it off and turns a six-figure profit on every property every time."   

Season 2 is sure to add many more fights between Jeff and his buyers and between Jeff and his team.  These fights generally begin over someone not adding 25% lemonade in Jeff's drink (his lunch drink must consist of 25% lemonade, 25% Sprite, 50%water) or someone will get an ear full.  On the other hand, you will also see how Jeff is so phenomenal at what he does.  Watching the challenges of having to turn 6 houses (and all the teams those houses involve) in a matter of weeks or months can be extremely daunting.  And trust me, it's more fun watching it on your couch than being in Lewis' shoes.  The man is pure genius and with that comes the territory of heated arguments, funny laughs, and eye opening accomplishments that Jeff and his team perform.  He's got a show for one reason.  He's an expert at what he does. 

So take it from me, please.  Watch this show at least TWO times and I promise that you will be flipping out just like me!

According to Showtime, Weeds is an American "dark comedy" television series. The plot revolves around a widowed housewife from an affluent California suburb who becomes an upper-middle-class marijuana dealer to make ends meet.  She has two children and comes across as your every day "Mrs. Suburbia".  The catch is obviously she's a drug dealer by profession.  So why would this show interest you?  Well besides it winning its fair share of awards, Weeds debuted as the most watched series on Showtime that a first season series ever had.  You also can't beat the star of the show, Mary-Louise Parker and her insanely hysterical friend, Celia, who is played by Elizabeth Perkins.  Kevin Nealon, from SNL fame, also stars as Nancy's (Mary-Louise Parker) creepy, pot smoking CPA. 

The reason this series is so appealing to me is because it describes reality in an unrealistic manner.  Hear me out!  You have a suburban family in California who lives in a typical, cookie-cutter house and whose Mom is a part of the PTA.  The town knows everyone's business and gossips as if there were no tomorrow about it's residents all the while going to church every Sunday.  But the truth of the matter is that everyone has a private life and most of us have a dark side.  Mary-Louise's character just happens to sell pot for a living.  The justification of why she sells drugs so that she can support her family (her husband dies before the first premiere) is what appeals to me most.  Sometimes we have to do things we're not proud of in order for the bigger, better things that need to be accomplished.

If you're looking for an intelligent show with scents of humor and cannabis mixed in, then Weeds is definitely your series. This show doesn't glorify drugs.  On the contrary, it shows that doing anything you have to, in order to support your two widowed kids, can be a daunting task.  However, if it's done right, then things can work out.  So I as I finish up this article, I'm downloading Season 2 to my Apple TV.  I'll keep you posted!

Here is where we are usually left with a cliffhanger, the suspense of waiting all summer to discover “Who shot J.R?” and the like. Now frankly I get aggravated by the “to be continued…” that is inevitably shown on the bottom of the screen in little white letters while one of my favorite characters may or may not be dying in the car I just saw explode or if he/she was the target of the shot just fired. Season finale cliffhangers are usually immediately followed in my house, by screaming things like “No freaking way” or “Are you kidding me?” at the television and possibly tossing a throw pillow.

I understand the basis behind the cliffhanger and it often serves the intended purpose of break room discussions, blog and chat room debates and generally keeping people interested of the show until it returns in the fall. Though I will say things could go both ways; being that if the show wasn’t interesting enough to maintain viewers all season will some big marketing explosion and whodunit of a finale keep them watching after the question has been answered.

If you are not invested in the characters and the show then chances are you don’t really care who gets murdered. On the other hand, would loyal fans of a show be as excited and continue to tune in if the writers were to wrap up the season finale in a nice little bow and all the questions were answered? Personally even if I knew which of the team was blown up on Criminal Minds or how Mack is going to get out of his predicament on CSI: NY, I would still be tuning in next season.

The downside, in my opinion, to the cliffhanger is if they get it wrong; if the writers kill off the wrong character, which granted the actor may be leaving for personal reasons or whatever, but if they kill off a character that is well liked by the fans without any sort of hint of possible departure, i.e. pregnancy, possible retirement, fictional job relocation, you then run the risk of putting a bad taste in viewer’s mouths and they may not return past the season premiere.

As most television shows premiere their finale episodes and the debate rages on, I’m left thanking the cable gods that some of my favorite shows are just beginning. If it weren’t for My Boys, So you think you can dance, and The Closer, I would be forced to watch the ridiculously horrific “reality” shows debuting this summer. I guess I’ll put the remote down, pick up a book and wait for fall.

These are the only shows that I must record, that take up precious space on my DVR hard drive. The rest of TV I can take or leave.

I’ll miss my buddies for a little while but then I’ll do what I always do in the summer—I’ll hit the bookstore. I don’t have a final Harry Potter to look forward to this time, but there is a book I’m anxious to read.

The Nick of Time by Ted Bell was just released. It is geared toward 10 to 13 year-old boys. It’s an adventure about a boy and his dog and his little sister and they encounter spies, pirates and Nazi’s. It isn’t high-falutin’ literature, I know, but there are times when I want to just read to have fun, to be entertained. My son is looking forward to the book, also. When it comes to fiction books and tweenage boys, there is nothing. And in the titles that are out there, the boys are always feminized.

What makes this book different is, I’m told there is a scene where the little sister tells the bad guys, “Wait until my brother gets here. He’s gonna to kick your butt.” When was the last time you heard that in a book? There is a tacit rule in publishing now that says all girls have to always be self-sufficient and strong, and the boys…not so much. Well, he can be strong too, and be a hero, but he can’t overshadow the heroine in strength and brains.

I’m not advocating going back to stories with weak women who can’t say anything intelligent and always need to be saved. But, as a mother of a son, I don’t think we should make weenies of males, either.  

DWTS is good enough for mom but I’ve never been a fan of ballroom dancing, though I respect it as a style. Step It Up and Dance, hosted by Elizabeth Berkley, is just sad with the weird challenges and overall cheesiness. Dancelife was a little different in that it was basically a reality show about dancers trying to make it in the business, which while it offered a new spin on a dance show; I always wanted more dancing.     

Admittedly I came into the game late with SYTYCD as I didn’t catch on until Season 2, but Seasons 2 and 3 have been phenomenal and more than made up for my lack of Season 1 (which I have watched thanks to the wonderful world of Youtube). Instead of watching people who have never danced before try not to look foolish in ridiculous costumes, I’d rather spend my time watching young dancers, with incredible talent; get the opportunity to live their dreams. Just to refresh everyone’s memory, Nick Lazzarini won Season 1 with Melody Lacayanga coming in second place. Now after my Youtube time, I have to say that Nick is a very talented dancer, but my favorite was Blake McGrath, who by the way was on Dancelife so it all worked out for him. Fast forward past Season 1, and we have Cat Deeley as our new host replacing Lauren Sanchez and a new crop of young faces ready to impress.   

My favorite dancer of Season 2 was runner up Travis Wall. While a contemporary dancer at heart, Travis could pull off any style with ease due to a tremendous amount of natural talent. Natalie Fotopoulos was probably my favorite girl from Season 2, because to me she possessed all the key elements: style, looks, talent, and energy though Heidi Groskreutz, was also incredibly talented. In a close race, Benji Schwimmer (Heidi’s cousin) edged Travis for the title of America’s favorite dancer and my love affair with second place began.

In Season 3, I knew from the beginning that Danny Tidwell was going to win, not only was he Travis Wall’s adopted brother and grew up in a dance studio, but he was insanely talented and incredibly good looking so I was a fan from the start. Neil Haskell, my other favorite guy of Season 3 took 4th place, with Lacey Schwimmer (Benji’s sister) receiving 3rd place, and Danny was runner up to Season 3 winner Sabra Johnson.   

Season 4 should be just as excited and entertaining as previous seasons and frankly, as long as Mia Michaels is a choreographer I’ll be tuning in. While SYTYCD hosts some incredibly talented choreographers, as far as I’m concerned there is no one better than Mia Michaels. The woman won a freaking Emmy for her choreography after all.

While we have to sit through a very American Idol-esque couple of episodes which highlights some of the best and worse auditions, once the dances and voting will get underway, the level of talent and our entertainment value will rise. So mark your calendars for May 22nd and get ready to see who thinks they can dance.