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September 27, 2006
New "Lost" Tonight (sort of)
Don’t be fooled by the little “(N)� next to “Lost� in tonight’s TV listings. The season premiere of “Lost� is still a week away, but technically we get a “new� episode tonight in the form of a recap of the last two seasons.
This might be the perfect time to sit your roommate down and get him and her addicted. Typically these recaps are worth a look and with so much going on in this series, an hour’s worth of CliffsNotes are just what the doctor ordered.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed tonight that “Jericho� (8 p.m., CBS) will recover with a much better episode than last week’s pilot. Then again, I had those same fingers crossed when Grady didn’t pull Pedro.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2006
Good TV Hunting
Tuesday Night TV Picks:
Are you suffering from system overload? Too many new shows…not enough time to watch them. And, AND, not enough room on your DVR!
Welcome to the fall television season, which is ALMOST in full swing. I say, "almost," because come October more shows will debut, including the mother of them all, “Lost.�
Oh, boy, well here we go, the following suggestions are for entertainment purposes. Don’t blame me if you gamble and lose. Huh?
WATCH: Fox’s “House, M.D.� at 8 p.m., followed by “Standoff� at 9 p.m. CHANGE the channel to CBS at 10 p.m. and check out Ray Liotta (and Amy Smart) in “Smith.�
TAPE: CBS’s “The Unit� at 9 p.m. and “Law & Order: SVU� at 10 p.m.
And now for my LATE NIGHT TAPING SPECIAL: Bill Murray stars in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou� airing on Encore at 12 a.m.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 2:31 PM | Comments (1)
Big Stars in Lowell
I’m in the middle of putting together a story about the upcoming season at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium and all I have to say is: “Bravo!�
Check out the quality acts coming this season:
Brian Regan, Oct. 8
Bill Cosby, Oct. 13
George Carlin, Oct. 29
Bob Weir & Ratdog, Nov. 10
There’s several more, but these four really standout.
Cosby makes his semi-annual appearance in Lowell, while Carlin also returns. Weir makes his first appearance at LMA.
To any of you within reasonable driving distance, make the trip up to LMA. It’s a rare chance to see a big-time act in an intimate setting. “King of Queens� star Kevin James took advantage of the small crowd by interacting with it earlier this year.
FYI: I am not on the LMA payroll, but if they want to send over a bunch of free tickets…Hey, I won’t complain.
What acts would you like to see at the LMA? Are you planning on attending any shows? Drop me a line.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2006
They're Still Alive
Oh, you knew this was coming. Well, if you knew me personally you’d know.
So we’re in our second month of blogging here and now I find myself making my first big Pearl Jam post.
You remember Pearl Jam, the only band to survive and thrive from the early 1990s Seattle grunge scene.
Eddie and the boys were recently nominated for favorite artist in the alternative music category of the 2006 American Music Awards. They are up against Nickelback and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Pearl Jam doesn’t belong in this category. They are hardly alternative anymore, considering the band sounds more and more like Led Zeppelin and The Who these days. You know — classic rock, which is hard to find.
PJ won’t win (although they probably deserve it) because “music fans� vote and decide who wins. Judging recent album sales, unfortunately, the bet here is that Nickelback takes the crown.
Oh well, at least Pearl Jam was nominated.
The award show airs Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 2:50 PM | Comments (5)
TGIF
For the ladies...and for the men, in celebration of last night's season premiere of "Grey's Anatomy."
Posted by Andy Ravens at 10:13 AM | Comments (2)
September 20, 2006
Wednesday TV Picks
With the fall TV season in full swing we are periodically going to suggest shows to watch, especially on days when network competition appears tough. Wednesday, my friends, is just one of those days.
Tonight’s TV picks:
I already watched the "Jericho" pilot, the new CBS drama that debuts tonight at 8. My recommendation – if you can – tape “Jericho� and tune into the new “Bones� (Fox, 8 p.m.), which is a much better show.
Don’t get me wrong, if “Jericho� really turns into a drama about World War III: That would be pretty cool. But I doubt the network has the guts to touch religion, which we all know would ignite such a war.
At 9 p.m. I’m going with Fox’s "Justice," a fast-paced legal drama that is quickly growing on me. Two questions for the show’s producers: Is the defendant always going to be innocent? Will this Dream Team of defense lawyers ever suffer a loss? So far, each defendant won his/her case and was really innocent of any crime. C’mon Fox, ya gotta mix it up.
While seeking "Justice," I’d tape CBS’ “Criminal Minds,� which airs at the same time. The solid criminal drama is back for a second season.
And at 10 p.m., give NBC’s “Kidnapped� a look.
Looks like a dirty fresh evening of TV. Enjoy.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 3:49 PM | Comments (3)
And....We're Back!
Ravers,
Thanks to Dr. Evil The Sun’s blogs took a tremendous hit about a week ago as somehow — and don’t ask me how — that criminal mastermind unleashed a dozen of his “sharks with friggin laser beams attached to their heads� inside our computer offices.
The result was pretty gruesome as the ferocious beasts blasted away our vital computer equipment that keeps these blogs running.
I’ll take all the blame for this, as I’ve recently started poo-pooing the idea of yet another “Austin Powers� movie sequel. Yeah, baby. Blame it on me. But no sweat, we are back and better than ever.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2006
LA Singing Story
Lowell’s own George Miserlis, who makes regular singing appearances on NBC’s “Scrubs,� recently released his first solo album and it has already cracked CD Baby’s Top 20 in sales.
Check out "Big City Sessions," a collection of super smooth ballads, here.
Miserlis, who lives in California, has his own Web site that can be found here.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 10:55 AM | Comments (1)
September 8, 2006
"Smart" Move CBS
I just finished watching a few new CBS TV shows scheduled to debut over the next two weeks.
Here’s a quick run down of the pilots:
“The Class� (Sept. 18) sports an interesting premise: A young man decides to find as many of his third grade classmates as possible and throws a party. We won’t ruin whom the party is for and what happens, but let’s just say the show falls into a familiar formula. Good idea, bad execution. Maybe there’s hope.
“Smith� (Sept. 19) stars Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen (of “Sideways�) and features the super sexy Amy Smart. Liotta leads a gang of criminals who steal high society items like old paintings. I don’t own any old paintings so I consider them to be high society items. Am I wrong? "Smith� is fun and feels like a movie. Liotta gets to drive a speedboat…so cool. But the real reason to watch? Check out Amy Smart's picture.
“Jericho� (Sept. 20) begins rather oddly when a child (and everyone else in this small Kansas town) spots a giant nuclear mushroom cloud on the horizon. Is it World War III? As far as we know, the citizens of Jericho, Kansas are the only ones to have survived…so far. Gerald McRaney (of "Deadwood") is the only standout here.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 4:21 PM | Comments (0)
September 7, 2006
Thursday Night Lights
It’s halftime of the Steelers-Dolphins game, the first contest of the NFL season and the return of football on NBC (We’re not counting those pre-season pretend games).
Here’s what I’m thinking NBC:
Cut the theme music. It sounds like something out of the “Star Wars� prequels. Is Charlie Batch about to throw a touchdown pass or is Anakin Skywalker about to invade Heinz Field?
The network’s choreographed introduction of its new “analyst� Jerome Bettis was truly a new low in sports television. Bettis arrived on the field in a super-sized yellow school bus to a thunderous applause. Later, he is shown cheering for his hometown Steelers. Yeah, that’s some neutral “analyst� you’ve got there NBC. Way to go.
Too many shots of Ben “The Motorcycle Diaries� Roethlisberger.
Too many Peyton Manning commercials (OK, we know that’s not your fault NBC).
Pink performed a song for NBC before the game. It was worse than listening to a screaming infant, a car alarm and a half-hour of MTV -- all at the same time.
Now for the good:
Broadcasters Al Michaels and John Madden are doing just fine. Madden is actually making some good points, while Michaels is his steady self. Madden spoke about a complicated defensive scheme (called a “double bubble�) and broke it down into laymen’s terms. Lately, it’s been popular to say that Madden has “lost his fastball.� Well, along the way it looks like he picked up a split-finger and a nasty curve.
The HD picture appears just as crisp as any other network’s.
Love the scoreboard, which runs at the bottom of the screen.
Ravers: Drop me a line.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 10:39 PM | Comments (3)
September 6, 2006
Katie Couric Can?
I had a meeting last night, but I did make a point to tape Katie Couric’s debut on the “CBS Evening News.� It was a night of firsts: She became the first woman to solo anchor the evening news on major network television; while this was the first time I've ever taped an evening news broadcast.
It’s too early (and unfair) to judge Couric’s long-term success, however, it’s perfectly fine to comment on the drastic changes to the network’s newscast.
The most obvious change was a spike in ratings. This will likely level off, but the curiosity factor garnered CBS a 9.1 rating and 17 share in the nation’s 55 biggest markets, according to Nielsen Media Research. It simply smoked NBC’s and ABC’s broadcasts.
The pace of the broadcast was also quicker as Couric, dressed in a white blazer, blitzed through a series of stories without much transition between topics.
The network also capitalized on the former NBC product’s famous legs. Couric, her bare legs crossed opposite a New York Times reporter, asked all the right questions about terrorism. Thankfully, Times columnist Thomas Friedman was never caught looking down, but hey, ya never know, it was a taped interview!
Couric, who sat behind a beautiful semi-circle desk, finished the telecast admitting she had not come up with a signature phrase to end each night of news. Does anyone really need one? Shouldn’t that just emerge? Oh well, you’re invited to send your suggestions to CBS News.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 2:52 PM | Comments (2)
September 5, 2006
Dr.'s In, Standoff's Out
Tonight we saw the season premiere of FOX’s “House� followed by the series premiere of “Standoff.�
I wasn’t too impressed with “Standoff,� a story about two romantically involved FBI hostage negotiators.
I was, however, very happy with Dr. House, who is walking, but still seemingly addicted to painkillers.
So what did you guys think? Or were you busy watching more U.S. Open re-runs on USA? Rain, rain…go away!
Posted by Andy Ravens at 10:46 PM | Comments (1)
September 4, 2006
Peach Pit
If you’ve just returned home and finished off the only nice day of the long weekend click quickly to SoapNet (Comcast Channel 244) to watch the six-hour “Beverly Hills, 90210� marathon. It runs today from 5 to 11 p.m. and is a fun trip down memory lane.
Have fun! And remember: “Donna Martin Graduates!� It’s so cheesy, but so good.
Posted by Andy Ravens at 5:13 PM | Comments (5)
September 1, 2006
CNN's Kyra Phillips pulls a "Naked Gun"
Poor Kyra Phillips.
The CNN broadcaster left her microphone on in the bathroom and what resulted was pretty hilarious.
Kyra can be heard speaking to another woman about how great her husband is and how her sister-in-law is a "control freak." The audio was heard LIVE on CNN during a recent speech delivered by President Bush.
Check out the video here
Posted by Andy Ravens at 10:11 AM | Comments (5)