Anderson Cooper’s new show!

Oops…while sitting here drinking my coffee and watching Anderson Cooper interview the cast of “Sister Wives” I realized that I had left Cooper’s new daytime talk show off our list of “must see TV” in my previous post. Sorry, Coop!

I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but, Cooper’s new show is kinda awesome. He’s hard-hitting, probing, sarcastic, geeky and best of all, he is totally hilarious. Yep, I said it, the dude is funny!

We’ve been hardcore Cooper fans since his days hosting the late, great reality show “The Mole”, and though I dig his “serious” work on CNN, I gotta tell ya, Cooper looks really comfortable on daytime TV. Seriously, he’s a natural…

Still not buying it? Well, consider this. Christine stayed home sick from work yesterday, watched several Tivo-ed episodes of Cooper’s show and was totally, 100% healed. Now, if that’s not a glowing recommendation, I don’t know what is. The age of Oprah is officially over…long live the new king of daytime TV!

Oprah in Australia!

Underwater marriage proposals, Gayle and Oprah cuddling with Koala bears, soaring helicopter rides over the heart of the Great Barrier Reef? Whew…what’s not to love about Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventures this week?

Seriously, even dyed-in-the-wool Oprah haters like my wife would have to agree that this is damn fine daytime TV. Need further proof? Well, all the stuff listed above happened in the first half of the first episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday. Yep, and there are still three more days of shrimp-on-the-barbie Australian awesomeness to air! Yee-haw!

So, even if you missed the first couple of episodes, set your Tivo’s now. Because this week on Oprah is gonna rock so hard that I don’t even care if I sound like a total girl gushing about it. Go, Oprah!

Countdown to London 2012…

Yesterday, our friend and fellow Olympics-nerd, James, mentioned on his Facebook page that the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England are due to begin exactly two years from now. Hooray! I know it’s a little early to set up a season pass on our Tivo — seriously, I would if I could — but, it’s never too early to start talking about the latest Olympic mascots!

Introduced to the world back in May, the official mascots for the London games are a pair of strangely-hideous, one-eyed blobs named Wenlock and Mandeville.

And while they are not nearly as cute as the Fuwa Friendlies from the Beijing games, or the epically-cool Quatchi and friends from the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Wenlock and Mandeville do have a pretty interesting origin story, and the animated clip explaining it all (below) is even cooler!

I won’t spoil it for you by giving any of the plot away, but, their names do carry great meaning for folks in the UK and the story behind how they were “born” is really kinda cool. And on top of all that, the clip holds up very well on repeat views. We’ve watched it dozens of times already on YouTube — Greta is obsessed with the rainbows! — and I still get misty-eyed at the ending every time.

Anyway, though I probably won’t be dashing across the pond to buy plush figures of these new mascots (if they even come in plush!) when the games begin, I do heartily approve of them in concept.

So, check out the first of what I’m assuming will be many videos celebrating the world’s next big Olympic mascots…and by all means, let the countdown to London 2012 begin!

Emerging from a curling haze…

Aside from their crazy-lame handling of the Closing Ceremonies last night, Christine and I loved everything NBC aired from Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Games, but most of all, we loved the curling. It might not get the prime time coverage it totally deserves, but, trust me, amigos, this was the year that curling finally came into it’s own.

I know that on the surface it looks like kind of a goofy Olympic event — I mean, seriously, aside from Quidditch, what other sport involves prominent broom-usage? — but sit down and watch a match or two, learn the basic rules and the marquee players and I guarantee you, you’ll be hooked.

We’ve been fans since Nagano, but this is the first year we were able to Tivo and watch every match — probably because this was the first year the networks of NBC actually aired EVERY match — played at the Vancouver Olympic Centre. And if you think I’m kidding about the “every” comment, take a look at our poor, battered Tivo next time you come over. I swear, man, that thing was smoking at one point last week…insanity!

Anyway, having watched every match, I can tell you with some authority that this was a hell of a Curling Bonspiel, my friends. I kid you not, those games were dramatic as all get out.

When the American Men’s Team starting losing too many games in a row, their slacker team skip, John Shuster was benched. Benched! Crazy. And guess what happened then? The American Men actually won a game. Even crazier! But instead of sticking to the new lineup for a few games, the men brought Shuster back for the following game and the men ended up losing every other match-up at the Olympics except for one fluke win over Sweden.

In fact, they were such awful curlers (and such bad sports about it!) that Shuster was actually heard uttering the phrase: “Man, I hate this stupid game.” during their last match with Team China. Are you serious, dude? If you hate the game that much, then QUIT! But while you’re wearing a freaking microphone on the world stage…shut the hell up already! Yikes…stuff like that makes us all look bad.

The American Women weren’t much better, but they did seem to have some genuine team spirit and their skip, Debbie McCormick was kind of a cutie, even if she curled for shit. So, after the American teams went down in flames, Christine and I began rooting for some of our other favorites from past Olympics.

The Veterans on the Men’s Team from Great Britain rocked, but the real story from the UK was the 19-year-old Women’s skip, Eve Muirhead, who was not only cute as hell, but she was also a damn fine curler. She was really fun to watch — not to mention listen to, her Scottish accent ruled! — and I’m sure Muirhead and her team will only get better as they gear up for Russia in 2014.

Also very fun to watch was the Japanese Women’s Team, who had more spunk and spirit in their little black brooms than our American Men and Women’s Teams combined. Seriously, these girls rocked it on the ice!

But the biggest story of the Bonspiel were the two Canadian teams. Led by their bad-ass skip, Kevin Martin, the Canadian men took home the Gold for Canada after one of the most exciting Gold Medal matches in history. Wow, their final game with Norway was a real nail-biter…so exciting! And the Norwegian Team’s already-legendary pants made the whole thing even more so. Gotta love those guys too…crazy pants or not, they are some damn fine curlers!

The Canadian Women rocked it too, but ended up taking home a Silver Medal after their shocking last-minute loss to Team Sweden. And though we felt bad for Cheryl Bernard and her girls losing the Gold on home turf, I gotta say, it was really exciting to see our favorite team of all time take home their second straight Olympic Gold Medal.

That’s right, amigos, Team Sweden, led by their epically-talented skip, Anette Norberg, made curling history by winning their second straight Curling Gold. Crazy, huh? I don’t even think any of the men’s teams have done that yet! Awesome. And they thought they were rock stars before…I can only imagine the reception that Norberg and her girls got back home. Wow…go, Sweden!

Oooo…and speaking of Sweden, I gotta give props to the Swedish Men’s team too. All of the dudes on that team are under 25-years-old, which is really young in curling, but those guys kicked butt. Sure, they lost the Bronze to Switzerland, but they played like curling God’s out there. So cool to watch…I can’t wait to see them come back even stronger in Russia when they’ll all still be well under 30-years-old. Wow…wish I could say the same!

Anyway, anyone who has actually bothered to read to the end of this post must be a curling superfan like ourselves, so, feel free to comment away. We’d love to hear what you thought of the games and which teams you were rooting for in Vancouver…even if you don’t agree with us!

Best Super Bowl Ad (2010 Edition)

OK, so, we didn’t post a link to our favorite Super Bowl ad last year, or the year before, but starting today, Christine and I have decided to post our favorite of the dozens of crazy-expensive, wildly over-produced Super Bowl ads that air each year during the big game. Yes, amigos, we still Tivo the game strictly for the commercials. But we do always watch the halftime show — which rocked! Long live, The Who! — so, that counts for something, right?

Anyway, I gotta say that this year’s crop of commercials was a little weak compared to years past and most of the heavily-hyped ads were downright lame. Betty White playing football for Snickers? Funny concept, but stupid ending. Same thing with Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo hamming it up as the Griswold’s in that painfully-stupid Homeaway.com promo. Yikes…

And though we loved the Bud Light ads — that beer can house was hilarious! — the one commercial that came out of left field and moved us both to tears — seriously, we were totally bawling — was the Google Search Stories ad: “Parisian Love”. Simple, elegant, and beautifully produced, it was a sweeping, epic love story stuffed into one lovely little minute. Really touching stuff. Wow…

And if you enjoyed that one, there is actually an entire Google Search Stories channel on YouTube (who knew?) with a bunch of other equally-cool commercials. So, check it out!

Also, dying to hear which ads you loved or hated this year, so, comment away…

2009 Fall TV Season Report Card

Seeing as the Fall TV season has been up and running for a couple of weeks now, thought we’d finally weigh in on the crop of new shows. The good news is that, so far, most of the shows we’ve watched have been good. Seriously, I can’t remember the last time we added this many new shows to our Tivo Season Pass!

And though some of the most heavily-promoted new shows kinda sucked (I’m talking to you, “Cougar Town”) some of them are actually totally deserving of the hype (“The Vampire Diaries”, “The Good Wife”, “Modern Family”, etc.). But rather than bore you with long, detailed descriptions of the shows in question, we felt an annotated report card would be much more to the point.

So, without further ado, I give you our first annual Fall TV Season report card…enjoy!

Letter Grade: A+

“The Vampire Diaries” (The CW) – Long-lost loves, family secrets, dark, brooding vampires in high school…what’s not to love here? “Twilight” be damned, this show is the best of the crop so far…and the fact that it stars mi “The American Mall” amiga, Nina Dobrev, certainly doesn’t hurt. If you haven’t already, you must Tivo this show!

“Modern Family” (ABC) – This show has only aired twice and we laughed our asses off and cried during both episodes. A really sweet, heartfelt and hilarious look at one crazy extended family. Awesome!

“Glee” (FOX) – Best new show that started airing last season. It’s like co-creator Ryan Murphy threw his old WB show “Popular” in a giant pot, boiled away the fat and cheese and created something truly magical. “Glee” is a pleasure to watch from start to finish.

“The Good Wife” (CBS) – This show looked like such a snooze when it was announced, but it is so much more than meets the eye. The cast is superb, particularly Julianna Margulies’ mouthy sidekick, Archie Panjabi, who truly electrifies every scene she’s in. I’m not kidding, these gals have onscreen chemistry to burn. And seeing Josh Charles, Chris Noth and Christine Baranski back on a weekly series is never a bad thing either.

Letter Grade: A

“Melrose Place” (The CW) – Already a hundred times better than the original series, and a million times better than the hideously-lame “90210” remake that debuted last year, this “Melrose” is juicy, campy, sexy and best of all, crazy fun to watch. And unlike the new “90210”, the classic characters actually have a story and a reason to be there when they show up. Ooo, and speaking of, Heather Locklear is checking back in soon…so, bring on the awesomeness!

“Mercy” (NBC) – Didn’t expect this show to be good at all, but caught a few minutes of it in passing and am now totally hooked. Quirky characters that don’t annoy, zippy writing and a first-rate cast in a medical show about nurses? Wow, almost makes me forget that “ER” was canceled…

Letter Grade: B

“Accidentally On Purpose” (CBS) – I normally loathe Jenna Elfman, but it seems that I’ll watch anything to do with babies and pregnancy these days, so, I Tivoed the show. And, you know what? It’s not nearly as bad as it looks. I won’t Tivo it again, but you could find much worse ways to pass a half hour.

“The City” (MTV) – I know this show — a spin-off of the far-more-popular ‘The Hills” — is technically in it’s second season, but, wow, with two new alpha bitches on board, this is a brand new show in my book and it rocks!

Letter Grade: D

“Cougar Town” (ABC) – I am not easily offended, but the onslaught of crass, unfunny, gross-out jokes on this show made me wanna stop watching before the first commercial break. Yuck…just, yuck.

“Eastwick” (ABC) – Three charming female leads does not a series make. I don’t need a crystal ball to see that this mediocre reworking of an already mediocre movie is headed nowhere fast. Yikes…

“Trauma” (NBC) – The show opens with a kick-ass head-on collision between two helicopters in San Francisco, but it’s all downhill from there. Yawn…

Letter Grade: F

“The Beautiful Life: TBL” (The CW) – Models, runways, drugs, and a skeletal, strung-out Mischa Barton badly playing herself? What’s not to love? Well, amigos…everything. I don’t know what’s funnier…the fact that someone at the CW actually thought this show would be popular enough to warrant a cheesy nickname (“TBL”??) or the fact that it was deservedly canceled after two episodes. Urgh, what a train wreck…

Oh, yeah, and just for the record, these grades are for the episodes that have aired so far. So, if a cool show starts blowing chunks and getting all “Alias” or “Heroes” on us midseason, we reserve the right to change our grades. I mean, hello, it is only October…

Scarlett Johansson + Pete Yorn = Best Music Video Ever!

Longtime readers know of my deep and abiding love for Scarlett Johansson, but what even I didn’t know until this morning is that aside from looking lovely and acting her ass off in some amazing movies, Scarjo can actually sing! I mean, I knew she had an album a while back, but, no offense, so did Paris Hilton.

And while I can’t vouch for the quality of the entire album Scarjo released this week with indie slatwart Pete Yorn — it’s called “Break Up” — I can say for sure that the song and video for their first single “Relator” is freaking awesome!

Christine and I often Tivo cool music videos for each other to find when they wake up and you can imagine my surprise when the little rocking, retro-fueled video (linked below) bleep bleeped onto my screen this morning. Sheer. Pop. Awesomeness. Thank you, sweetie!

Seriously, I loved the song so much that I watched the video at least ten times today…even Greta was tapping her feet! And even though the song comes a little too late to be our official 2009 summer jam — that honor goes to the equally jamming “1, 2, 3, 4” by the Plain White T’s — something tells me “Relator” will be getting a lot of play on our iPods this fall.

To see the video for yourself, click here. And in the meantime, rock on Scaryorn, we don’t just love your song and music video…we totally wanna be you guys! Um, you know…minus the whole breaking up part…

“American Idol” reaches a new low…

First “American Idol” producers refused to do right by their long-suffering workers by going union, then they dumped Paula Abdul when she asked for like, a third of what Seacrest makes, and now, “Idol” producers have made the biggest mistake of all by hiring Ellen Degeneres as the fourth judge.

I mean, really? Ellen?! What was Tyra too busy running her media empire to take the gig? Jeez, what the hell does a self-absorbed union-busting scab like Ellen know about judging singing competitions? And if America thought Paula was too nice to the contestants, just imagine how much the “queen of nice” will pander to the worst singers in the bunch?

Urgh..if I wanted to see Ellen’s manufactured brand of “aw shucks folks” sweetness I’d watch her daytime show. The fact that she’ll be inflicted on my “Idol” viewing time each week might just be enough to break me of my “Idol” habit for good. On the upside, not watching “Idol” will free up a lot of Tivo time come January…so, hmmm…maybe I should be thanking Ellen.

Nah, I still hate her phony ass…

AMtv rocks!

I know it seems like all we watch these days is MTV, but, well, it is kind of our first click on the remote when channel surfing, and we don’t get TCM or Bravo anymore…so, can you really blame us?

And while even the cheesiest of their shows are imminently watchable — “Parental Control” is a drug I cannot resist, and “16 and Pregnant” was downright Emmy-worthy, a seriously fantastic show! — I gotta say, like the rest of you, we’ve been missing the music videos big time.

Well, cheer up, amigos, because MTV has brought back music videos in the form of AMtv. Yep, you heard me, the music has returned to music television! Of course, as the name suggests, AMtv plays said music videos in the middle of the freaking night — from 3:00AM to 9:00AM Monday thru Thursday — so, actually watching them is a whole other issue.

But if you do find yourself awake, say, nursing, changing or bottle-feeding a four-month old, well, AMtv is the show for you, amigos! And lest you think Christine and I are the only crazy people watching music videos till dawn, MTV runs Pampers ads every half hour during the show, so you just know there are legions of other sleep-deprived parents doing the exact same thing.

So, on behalf of the bleary-eyed new parents of America, I want to be the first to say, thank you, MTV. Sure, every other video sucks — yes, Lady Gaga, I’m talking to you — but the fact that you give us scads of other cool current (and retro!) videos to fast-forward through and enjoy in the middle of the night seriously rocks our world. Que viva, la AMtv!

Oh yeah, and, trust me, you do not have to be a bleary-eyed new parent to love this show, so, Tivo away, my friends!

FX cancels “The Riches”

Unfortunately, the Season Pass list on our Tivo just got a little leaner with the announcement this week that FX is cancelling one of our favorite shows ever, the pitch-black satire of American consumerism, “The Riches”.

Maybe it was too dark, or too weird, or, hell, maybe it was too freaking awesome for TV! But for whatever reason, the brainiacs at FX have decided to let the show go the way of it’s God-awful sister show “Dirt”. Cancelling “Dirt” I understand, that show was just plain stupid, and Courtney Cox? Wow…bad.

But “The Riches” had it all, baby! Juicy storytelling, totally original characters, a super cool concept — a family of modern-day gypsy “travelers” assumes the identities of a normal, all-American “buffer” family in the burbs in an attempt to go straight — and some of the best acting you’ve ever seen on the small screen.

Sure, the leads were awesome, Eddie Izzard can do no wrong in my book, and Minnie Driver’s tragically-flawed character broke our hearts on a nightly basis — I’m not kidding, yo, she rocked! — but this was a show were even the smallest part was amazing. Seriously, even the crazy, catatonic Grandma with like, four lines, was incredible.

And though the kids were all out-of-this-world-good, I gotta say our favorite character was Driver’s neighbor, Nina, played by the rocking Margo Martindale. Martindale has guest-starred in practically everything, but here she was given a chance to really explore a character over time, and she totally ran with it!

Married to a gay alpaca farmer — hilariously played by “Passions” regular, Bruce French — Martindale’s repressed, self-medicating housewife evolved over time into the one person Driver could truly confide in. In lesser hands, these crazy characters could become types, but Driver and Martindale made Dahlia and Nina into living, breathing women of substance, and watching their relationship blossom was really beautiful to watch.

And when Driver lied to her about something major on the season finale, and Martindale knew she was lying, the look on her face was just…wow…I mean, give this woman an Emmy already!

So, though we’ll never know how things turned out for the Malloy/Rich family and their strange, Southern-Gothic brood of extended friends, co-workers and enemies, I gotta tell ya, our lives have been richer — no pun intended — for knowing them. Rock on in rerun heaven, amigos!

Beijing Olympics: Week Three!

Everybody keeps saying that the Summer Olympics ended on Sunday, but according to our Tivo, Christine and I still have almost 48-hours worth of Olympics yet to watch. Weird…huh?

Well, the way I see it, until we finish plowing through the many moons of Olympic coverage we have stored up, the Games of the 29th Olympiad are very much alive and well in Burbank, amigos!

Now, before we get back to watching those rocking Synchronized Swimming and Modern Pentathalon finals, Christine and I just wanted to take a moment to wish that nice Michael Phelps boy well.

Man, we sure hope he wins all those swimming medals he came to Beijing for! Go for the gold, Phelpsy!