Tag: TV Shows

Laughter: My only medicine

I just spent like an hour laughing my ass off. I’m talking deep guffaws. The kind that rock your belly and make you miss half of the dialogue going on. And the sad part? I was watching Two and a Half Men followed by The New Adventures of Old Christine. Seriously, just follow that up with According to Jim and my night would be complete.

I can laugh at just about anything. Even when I know it’s crap. The Woman has found me rolling on the ground while watching a movie and I’ll admit outright that it’s terrible. And like I said, these aren’t little chuckles, they’re full on cackles.

It’s not like doctor visits are common for me, so I’m relying on the old adage that laughter is the best medicine. That’s also why having a baby should be good for me. From what I’ve learned on America’s Funniest Home Videos, those little guys are sources of non-stop amusement.

In the nick of time…

The writers’ strike ended the other day, and thank god for that one. I was beginning to get worried that I’d be stuck with a shortened season of One Tree Hill. It’s tough enough following plots that… wait… what did I say? I meant Lost. I was worried about Lost. Of course. I mean, who watches that teenie bopper crap anyway? Does anyone really care if Brooke can succeed without her mom’s help or if she’s really competing with Peyton for Lucas’s affection? Or if Mouth will realize that Alice is no good for him, but Millie could be the real thing?

Duh… as if…

The day we’ve been a-waiting

Yes, it’s finally returned. That ultimate achievement in television culture that ties us together as we try to figure out what could come next. What mystery or secret will be revealed next. What trials will the characters face that will determine their survival. And, of course, how many points will they score. That’s right, Jess has returned to present us with another season of Lost-vivor!

Oh yeah, and the new season of Lost premiered last night – that was pretty cool, too.

The return of quality television

No, I’m not talking about the writers’ strike ending. After all, who needs sitcoms and other scripted crap when you have the return of the single greatest series in the history of television. I speak, of course, about AMERICAN FREAKIN’ GLADIATORS! If you’re not watching the premiere, what the hell is wrong with you?!?!

So far we’ve already had an injury to a contestant and a gladiator, two instances of Hulk saying “Dude”, a scary guy named Wolf, a body slam, and multiple offensive stereotypes. It’s fun for the whole family. And they have come up with the ultimate gladiator: HELLGA! Yes, that’s one of the female gladiators.

Without a doubt, it is just as much cheesy fun as the original. I can’t believe I’m not drinking right now…

Things I’ve watched in HD

A few months ago, courtesy of some gift cards and a sale, The Woman and I had the opportunity to procure a beautiful new TV for our viewing pleasure. Specifically, this 42″ LCD from Vizio – a set I can’t recommend enough. And now that we have HD service courtesy of Verizon FiOS, there’s little reason for us to ever leave the comfort of our coach.

These days, we’ll stay on a show simply because it looks great in HD regardless of the content. In the past few weeks, I’ve watched significant amounts of the following in HD:

  • A moose, standing in a lake, eating.
  • Two moose, standing in a lake, eating.
  • A herd of buffalo, standing in a river, eating.
  • A snowy field, set to music by Enya.
  • Krull.
  • A show called “Nothing But Trailers” that features… well… nothing but trailers.
  • Every NFL game that didn’t involve the Patriots, and even a few that did.
  • Madagascar and Ice Age.
  • An actual glacier.
  • A dog show.
  • Loverboy.
  • An NBA game.
  • Curling.
  • “Secret History of the Bra”.

Of course I’m kidding – I never watched an NBA game. But you could probably have a championship game on the Grass Growing Network, and I would be glued to it as long as it were in 720P or better. The beauty of HD and its effects on content probably goes in the following order:

  1. Sports
  2. Nature
  3. Other educational shows
  4. Computer animation
  5. Recent movies
  6. Recent TV shows
  7. Older movies
  8. Older TV shows

And that’s how I decide my viewing these days – not by what’s actually playing but by where it ranks on the awesome scale…

My fifteen minutes continues

What can I say about fame? It’s fleeting – but at least I can milk it for a few more entries.

– I was interviewed by my local paper Sunday night. Much to my surprise, I opened their webpage last night to find my goofy grin smeared across the front. Since most of you probably don’t subscribe to the West Orange Chronicle, you can read the article here. Thanks Debbie. Phone interviews are tough, but you did a great job with the article.

– Meagan (one of my fellow contestants) did a big write-up of what it was like behind the scenes on her blog. I really wanted to do this, too, but I think it might be overload at this point. If anyone is interested, let me know. Otherwise this will probably be it for me.

– Humorously, while googling myself for fun… yeah, that’s never not going to sound dirty… I already found references to the show on the first page. There’s Game Show Newsnet’s Shortshots for the 12th – I’m not sure that they archive it, but the summary of my show is at the bottom. Then there’s Game Show Kingdom’s take on it, too. I also made it on that blog’s list of big winners for the week.

– I’ve topped my previous record for contact with a long lost friend, as an acquaintance from junior high (we didn’t hang out in high school that much) sent me a message on Facebook after seeing me on TV. I’ve been most curious about the possibility that people I haven’t spoken with in well over a decade seeing the show and recognizing me – and this makes one confirmed hit!

– I’ve also been wondering if people might recognize me around town – especially considering my picture is in the paper. But that’s pretty doubtful considering I’m in full-blown winter-mode: 3-4 extra inches of hair and a beard.

Quick thoughts on my fifteen minutes

– Holy crap, is it over already? After the months of waiting and not telling people what happened suddenly, BAM! That’s that. Sure, there’s still the actual money to look forward to, but the show itself just went so fast.

– I looked pretty decent on TV. Until I smiled. I seriously hate my smile. It looks like I went to a blind dentist with a set of busted power tools as a kid.

– Could I have giggled a tad more like a little school girl?

– My mouth was DRY. That seems like a pretty good excuse for why I kept making those weird faces. That’s what I’m sticking with…

– Meredith and I shared some nice moments – alas, I’m already spoken for…

– My best joke was cut out. I was surprised because everybody laughed pretty well at it, and it was a good closer.

– Overall the editing definitely helped me come off as far more cool, calm and collected than I was – even if they trimmed my awesome reasoning that netted me my final question. I did zoom through the early questions rather fast, but not with the ease that it appeared.

– I’ve watched it twice now, and it’s still a tad unreal.

There’s more to come, as I really need to do a breakdown of every question. Thank you to everybody who watched and cheered me on.

T-minus one hour…

Wow. It’s finally going to be on TV. And here I am without a TV. Turns out the cable TV to my company was never really tested. Surprise! It doesn’t work. So now I’m trying to stream it from home. Only that keeps stopping. ARGH! At least I can watch it when I get home, but I wanted to watch it “live”.

At least the stress is killing my nerves…

UPDATE: Thanks to the magic of UltraVNC, VLC, and Hauppage I am now streaming ABC to my company’s conference room. Who needs cable?

The day, it has come…

Coming to a TV set near you: ME!

Turns out, my episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire will be airing next week. That’s right, you too can find out whether or not I make a complete fool of myself by tuning into ABC at 12:30 PM on Wednesday, December 12th (well, that’s if you’re in this area – otherwise you’ve got to check the listings yourself).

I know there was mention of a party, but I don’t think we can pull it off this month. So we’ll probably look at a celebration after the holidays – maybe when the money comes in we can take turns rolling in a pile of singles or something. If anyone wants to swing by that night to watch it with us, drop us a line – or e-mail or whatever. Or just show up – we’re not picky.

Also of interest are the shows leading up to mine. Starting around this upcoming Wednesday will be episodes that we saw being taped, including people I hung out with all day in the “Green Room”. And since The Woman was stuck in the audience all day long, she’ll probably make a blurry appearance in the background on most of them. Can you feel the excitement?!?!