Wednesday Link-Off: Super Bowl Hangover

nina-agdal-aerie13-04Well, since I’m travelling this week, it’ll be a shorter linkdump than usual today. I’m hoping to have that that all fixed by Sunday. To make up for it, here’s Nina Agdal. Did you read my SI Swimsuit Issue cover odds post yesterday? There’s a reason why I’ve featured her today.

Rick Reilly’s column about Colin Kaepernick was pretty bad but the Times-Picayune’s write-up of the Playboy Super Bowl party might just top it. (Deadspin)

What is Fox’s Gus Johnson going to do now that the football season is over? He’s off to Europe to be groomed as Fox Sports’ new voice of soccer ahead of the 2018 World Cup. (Sports Illustrated)

Speaking of soccer, they’re once again in the midst of a massive match-fixing scandal. Well, if they’re willing to accept bribes to host the World Cup, which is the biggest sporting event in the world, why not accept bribes for everything else. (National Post)

After the jump, CBS’ big fail of the Super Bowl, some very Canadian sports kerfuffles, and The Walking Dead as a sitcom. Continue reading

Top Gear on 60 Minutes

As frequent readers know, our favourite TV at The Lowdown Blog is BBC’s Top Gear. Taken at face value, it’s a show about cars and the people who drive them. Really, it’s about three middle-aged men (and a formerly anonymous racing driver) who act like school kids, drive really fast, say whatever they feel like and have a good time doing it. For whatever reason, the iconic news show 60 Minutes went over to England to profile the show and its hosts. After the jump, we have the full 60 Minutes story on Top Gear. Continue reading

The Humanoids: Shot In The Foot

I’m not encouraging that anyone shoots today’s subjects of my ranting. They’re all doing a fine job of that themselves. There are quite a few folks that are either committing career suicide or opening their mouth and inserting their foot. A couple manage to pull off both. That’s the price of fame, I suppose. When you’re in the public eye, anything you say or do will be overanalyzed and overexaggerated to death. Somebody can say something completely innocent but it can be spun into a career destroyer. Not that many people on this list need that much effort. I’ll admit that as a member of the media, there are times when I’m willing to edit something to fit what I want. I once edited a guy on the radio show to make it sound like he was talking about porn. Again, not that any of today’s subjects needed to help. Although the first guy up on the radar claimed he was the victim of judicious editing. Us media guys are such bastards. Continue reading

CBS Announces Primetime Schedule for 2009/2010 Season

jennifer love hewitt 4Normally I could care less about CBS’ primetime schedule. I haven’t tuned into the network regularly since Jericho’s demise. I recently started catching a few episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” (which has been renewed for 2 seasons), “How I Met Your Mother” and “Harper’s Island”. Notice that none of these are part of their famous line-up of bland “procedural dramas”. Headlining this article is Jennifer Love Hewitt, star of Ghost Whisperer. No, I do not watch that show. I just have a picture of her here because she’s hot and she’s associated with the network. That’s it.

This year (like any other year), there are two words that sum up CBS’ latest primetime lineup: more procedurals. Continue reading

Entertainment Link-Off: Good News, Bad News

minka kelly 3The television networks are preparing to announce their fall schedules next week. Headlining this article is Minka Kelly. The soon to be former Friday Night Lights star is set to play the lead in the new CW pilot Body Politic. Unfortunately the pilot is being overshadowed by Twilight: The Series Vampire Diaries, recycled material Melrose Place 2.0 and a scripted version of America’s Next Top Model Beautiful Life. So here I am doing another plug in hopes of generating more attention to a potentially good show, unlike the other stuff that the CW has to offer. I want the show to make it into the fall schedule because it has a great cast and it has a storyline that doesn’t involve a bunch of rich spoiled teens (also the inner VM/FNL fan is also yearning to see this)! While Body Politic isn’t generating enough buzz, the good news is that it appears people are starting to warm up to it. However, the bad news is that the CW usually makes the wrong decisions and are too stupid to realize it until it’s too late (in this case, pick up Vampire Diaries, Beautiful Life and Melrose Place 2.o instead).

After the jump… some good news… and bad news… Continue reading