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
TV
An Evening With Rich Christensen
When I interviewed Rich back on April 14th, I kept looking for the right word to describe him. He would say something that would take me back a bit and I couldn’t think of the right word to describe it. It was intense but that wasn’t the right word. He wasn’t preachy, far from it. Although I’m not entirely sure my editing skill did him justice on that front. The perfect word dawned on me as I edited the interview: Passionate. Continue reading
Entertainment Link-Off: The Boobtube Busts
Did anyone check out the series* finale of Scrubs on Wednesday night? It was such a brilliant episode! Definitely one of the best series finales ever… assuming ABC does not extend the show for a 9th season out of desperation. Anyway, headlining the article today is Hayden Panettiere doing the Vulcan hand sign. No, she’s not in the latest Star Trek flick (that was released Thursday night), but she did appear at the premiere. The film currently sits at 96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps J.J. Abrams did manage to revive the franchise that was declared dead after the disastrous 10th flick Star Trek: Nemesis.
Let’s start off with a very random entertainment news. Apparently Chuck Norris can still kick ass… even if it’s just a cardboard version of him! (Olivia Munn)
After the jump, some movie news, a tiny bit on new music and the end of network television! Continue reading
Crosby And Ovechkin Get Four Periods On NBC
The word has come down from NBC executives: Game one of Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals will be on the network for regulation and one overtime period. After that, coverage will switch over to Versus because NBC will begin coverage of the Kentucky Derby. Continue reading
Entertainment Link-Off: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Be a nerd. Join the herd. Save Chuck! The second season finale of Chuck airs on Monday at 8pm on NBC (CityTV if you’re in Canada). Don’t forget to tune in if you want the show to have a shot at a third season! If you missed the majority of the second season, don’t worry, you can catch up by clicking this. In addition to watching the finale on Monday night, don’t forget to take part in the Save Chuck Campaign. The recent rumours about a Chuck renewal aren’t true, so we must push forward to prevent Ben Silverman from making the biggest mistake of his life by cancelling this series. While most “save our show” campaigns are useless, this one might be more effective. Have faith fellow Nerd Herders. Viva Buymoria!
After the jump, more articles on movies, video games, video games turned into movies (or not) and a hilarious Chuck fanvid. Continue reading
The Chuck Season Finale Primer
On Monday, Chuck wraps up its second season. A big rating would go a long way to keeping it on NBC. Of course, it’s not just Chuck that’s “on the bubble.” Now that Jay Leno is doing five hours a week in primetime, a lot of NBC shows are on the verge of cancellation. However, Chuck is the best of the bunch. So to get you to watch the finale, I’ve put together a little visual recap of the season to catch you up. Continue reading
John Madden Retires From Broadcasting
NBC announced that NFL colour analyst John Madden is retiring from broadcasting today. After being in sports broadcasting for 40 years, Madden said he knew this was the right time. Continue reading
Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!
It’s official!!! Friday Night Lights has been renewed for two more seasons!!! Continue reading
7 Reasons Not To “Chuck” Your 3D Glasses
One of the big storylines that always leads up to the Super Bowl and has nothing to do with football itself is the Super Bowl ads. This year, a lot of hype was generated by a 60-second ad for the upcoming Dreamworks movie Monsters and Aliens and SoBe Lifewater. In addition to the $6-million price tag for the spot, it’s making headlines for being the first 3D Super Bowl ad. NBC is also giving 3D a go beyond the Super Bowl by broadcasting an episode of Chuck in 3D (appropriately titled Chuck vs. the Third Dimension). So here’s some reasons to hold on to your 3D glasses and tune in Monday at 8:00 PM:
1. Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne plays CIA agent Sarah Walker. Not only can she kick the ass of most the global terrorist network, she looks kick ass (sorry, horrid play on words) doing so often seen in various states of (un-) dress. If the pictures below don’t do her justice, then wait for a Chuck trademark slow-mo glam cam moment… in 3D.
(Pictures from Strahotski.com)
2. Sarah Lancaster
Sarah plays Chuck’s sister Ellie. While Yvonne tends to get the top billing in the looks department, Sarah isn’t someone you would turn a blind eye to. She even got her own glam cam moment earlier this season.
(Picture from ChuckTV.net)
3. Gratuitous Eye Candy (Guest Stars)
If there’s one thing that the producers of Chuck to better than everyone else, it’s casting guest stars without screwing up the show with ridiculous stories (see Nanny, The). So far this season, we’ve seen Michael Clarke Duncan, John Larroquette, Michael Strahan, Tony Hale and Gary Cole among others with an appearance tonight by Dominic Monaghan in 3D. For the guys, the guest casting has been nothing short of stellar with Rachel Bilson, Melinda Clarke, Nicole Richie, Jordana Brewster, and an upcoming appearance by Tricia Helfer.
(Photos from rachel-b.org, jordana-brewster.org, and trisha-helfer.org)
4. Amazing Spy Action
Chuck is sort of like James Bond meets… a sci-fi show that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is making continuous nerd cultural references. And in a sci-fi spy action-comedy show like Chuck you would expect car chases, explosions, shootings, saving the world, hot women, and lots of sci-fi/geek references which is all true here. Oh, I almost forgot… CATFIGHTS!
5. First Full TV Show in 3D
Now that we have Super Bowl ads in 3D, this was the next logical step. This isn’t the first time NBC has shown things in 3D. They played parts of a two-part episode of Third Rock from the Sun in 3D. Chuck vs. the Third Dimension will be shown entirely in 3D using Color-Code 3D technology. The only catch is that you need those blue-and-yellow 3D glasses (which you can pickup at Pepsi and SoBe displays in the US). If you can’t get your hands on a pair of 3D glasses, show star Zachary Levi says that drinking 2.1 to 2.4 cans of beer can solve your problem. In Canada, with exchange, that’s 4.3 to 5.1 cans of Canadian beer.
(3)6. The Bus
Jerome Bettis guest stars in this episode making him the second retired NFLer to appear this season. I don’t know what exactly he’s up to but the preview shows him as a Buy More employee. How can it possibly go badly?
7. It’s the Best Show You’re Not Watching
I know you probably get that a lot, especially with the save FNL campaign the blogosphere is running right now. I’d love to see a fourth season of FNL but I’ve become resigned to the fact that clear eyes and full hearts might sometimes lose. With NBC giving Jay Leno an hour of primetime broadcasting each night starting next season (though I expect that experiment to fail spectacularly), we have to save Chuck from a fate that the recession has made more likely for quality programming.
Along with all the stuff I’ve mentioned above, this is one of the best written shows on television. The little bits that you hear throughout the show tie together nicely at the end of the show. There’s all sorts of references to pop and nerd culture scattered throughout the show. The acting is some of the best on television. Even though Chuck and Sarah’s relationship is the fakest on television (because it’s just a CIA cover), it comes off as the realest one on TV.
If you still aren’t convinced, here’s NBC’s promo for Chuck vs. the Third Dimension.
If that isn’t enough, at the very least watch some past episodes of Chuck. And don’t forget to tune into NBC (CityTV in Canada) tonight at 8:00 PM.
The Lowdown 