Toddler Television

I guess I'm going to admit that my little guy watches television.  3 shows nearly every day.

Curious George - His favorite show. During the opening song he makes animal noises when it shows different animals and then when George goes into the hole he waves goodbye and then holds up his palms to say 'where's George'? And then when George appears again he points excitedly.  I tried to get a video of this about a month ago and this is probably the best I got.  I started late, and could have gone longer cause he does cute stuff as the show starts, but it's still really cute :)

2-27-13 Curious George Theme

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - His second favorite show.

Super Why - We think this show contributes to why he is so interested in letters. He watches it every morning while Hot Cup and I are getting ready for the day.

He'll watch others occasionally too, of course.

Dagen H

Does the transition to digital television make you think of anything? You know, from history? I'm guessing that it does not. Or if it does, it's probably more closely related to DTV than what it makes me think of. Ever since they started plastering ads everywhere about DTV (a long time ago, they’re rarer now), I think about H Day when I see them. I’d read once about all the advertising the Swedish government did to make that work (the “four-year education program”). I think I made the connection because of that somehow. I’m weird.

Can you think of any other widely advertised nationwide switch that a government headed? There’s probably tons. I can’t think of any more at the moment though.

30 Years Later

Aside from telling us that Coke Zero tastes like regular Coke, I think that this commercial was intended to have us look back at the old Coke commercial. So that's what we shall do. And happily. The original one is excellent.

Mean Troy
Coke Zero
2009 Super Bowl


Mean Joe Green
Coca-Cola Classic
1979 Super Bowl


Correction: Make that 29 years. Mean Joe Green was in 1980 according to Adland.

Now Playing

I swear I’m not some sort of X-Files freak, I just enjoy watching it. Thank you Costco, for allowing me to complete my collection for an affordable price. [And Iggy, for starting it :)] Anyway, due to circumstances beyond my control, I’m not going to get to see the movie for another week :(

Jericho

With too many shows to watch and a life to live, I wasn’t sure about Jericho after season 1. Part of the reason I watched the 7 episode 2nd season is because I assumed it was coming to an end, meaning it wouldn’t ask for years of loyalty. [Maybe I'd have watched it either way – we’ll never know.] But now that it’s over I’m kind of sad. It really was a good show.

The series ended last night with an excellent episode. The last couple episodes did seem a little rushed, but it brought the series to a close. It'd be nice if some cable channel picked it up but apparently none of them want it. They could pick up where we left off yesterday or start by airing the cliffhanger we all want to see.

I was reading people’s comments online about this and thought this one from Sean was worth sharing:

In the final episode, Stanley was not burying Bonnie, it was the show that was being put into the grave and the Cheyenne government [er, J&R] is really CBS. The constitutional convention was a metaphor for CBS killing creative programming for more mind numbing reality shows. Think about it!

Okay, I don’t blame CBS, and I really like a lot of their other shows, and it’s not like they’re the leader in reality programming [what do they even have besides Survivor?]; but if you watch Jericho, you’ll appreciate that comment.

Unusual Suspects

Today I left work early for an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon who told me that what I have is in fact a tendon problem, not a carpal tunnel problem. I have to wear an ugly splint on each wrist for 3 weeks; that'll be fun when I'm in Florida next week. The good news is it sounds like a painless recovery. Especially since I’m assuming work is paying for everything.

I got home from that around 4 and guess what! I turned on the TV and The X-Files was on! It’s never on when I am not at work so this was very exciting. And it was an excellent episode – the one where we see how the Lone Gunmen first got together and first met Mulder. Great show.

And the winner is ...

Congratulations to The West Wing!!
And thanks again to those who participated in my poll.

For those who didn't yet see the final results:

Time to Vote!

Hmmm, so about three people read my blog. I thought there might be a couple more but I guess that's about right. Thanks you three, for voting in my poll. If anyone else out there sees this (whether you know me or not), time is running out for you to be part of, what I choose to assume is, the first ever poll for Best Opening Credits of a TV Series. Vote now!

You may wonder what other shows were considered and why I chose the ones I did. Those are fair questions, but I've decided not to outline my process here. While it would explain things, it’s not very exciting.

Apologies for going ahead with Wednesday's post without reminding you to participate in their poll :)

Placement

Ad placement, like product placement, is very important. But advertising online can sometimes make for some pretty funny placement. DCist caught one this morning. (I admit I hit the refresh button a few times, wasting a few impressions of other advertisers, to get this screen shot.)

And not long ago at work we spotted our own ad in the middle of an article about Canadian beef.

It's a little off topic but this reminds me of the "shameless" Papa Johns commercial for meatball pizza during the 2005 Domino's episode of The Apprentice.

Still bored at work.

Opening Credits

With the Oscars coming up I've decided to hold a poll. Not for Best Picture or for Best Lead Actor or for anything to do with movies, but for the Best Opening Credits of a TV Series. I've taken the liberty of making the nominations. So forget about which show you might prefer, and vote solely on the opening sequence. Please submit your vote to the left.

Chuck

Gilmore Girls

Psych

The West Wing

I wonder which one Dulé Hill would vote for.

Triplets X2

The first time Clar and I saw this episode together I yelled “I used to have that sweater!” at the same time that she yelled “I have that sweater!” (You see sometimes she’s lucky enough to get what I’ve outgrown.)

That was a fun moment (as all Gilmore-Girls-with-my-sisters-moments are). I think it’s fun when characters on TV are wearing my clothes.

Both the shows I’ve watched this week have had someone wearing my shirt. Not only that but it was the same shirt! Mine’s blue.

What have we learned here? We’ve learned that in the last 10 years I’ve gone from dressing like a teenager to dressing like an adult. But I’ve also gone from being a teenager to being an adult. Still, it’s funny to be matching the moms-of-teenagers. Maybe I should take some cues from characters closer to my age, like Chloe Sullivan and Sarah Walker.

Super Bowl XLII

The commercials didn't quite measure up to some years. There were definitely a few I enjoyed, but I've decided not to rehash them all here.

I just want to bring up one thing: The Cola Wars. I'd thought we'd reached a happy medium with Pepsi taking the Super Bowl and Coke taking the Olympics. But last year Coke was back, and I don't see that they're going anywhere. They both gave us exactly what we've come to expect from them, which is good I suppose. Pepsi featured popular singers and Coke showed us "The Coke Side of Life." Although I appreciated the SNL-styled celeb-filled commercial, if you know me you'd easily correctly bet that Charlie Brown and Washington DC would win in my book.

Just for fun.


It's Derek Jeter; what's not to love?


The Clydesdale series continues.

After the game I discovered the best way to end a Super Bowl evening. And that's with a live performance by the one and only Melissa Branin.

After the evening I discovered the worst way to spend 3:30am. And that is spewing out all the junk I ate during the game.

Uninformed

I took a look at what is happening in the world of television only to find that a month ago two excellent shows were canceled, and I didn’t even know.

Journeyman (NBC)
I’d assumed Journeyman hadn’t been airing because of the writers’ strike, but it may never come back. From what I read I’m not sure that this cancellation is official yet, but I think it must be more than a rumor, and it’s unfortunate.

The Dead Zone (USA)
I only found this show a couple years ago and it airs during the summer. It’s a fun one to watch. It has Anthony Michael Hall, which I think is awesome for some reason, it makes me laugh.

Seriously?

Genie Francis played Laura on the ABC daytime soap opera "General Hospital," and her fairy-tale wedding to Luke riveted 30 million viewers in 1981 and landed the couple on the cover of Newsweek magazine.

Now Francis is apologizing for suddenly quitting the show the following year.

"I'm sorry for leaving you so abruptly, for not taking into account the feelings of the people who helped Laura truly take on a life of her own," the 45-year-old actress said in a statement Thursday from the Hallmark Channel. "It was the decision of a young, impetuous girl, and the woman she has become asks for your forgiveness."

I realize that this was huge for GH, and although I wasn’t watching [or born yet] then, I see how it impacts the story today. [I think they will forever capitalize on that, and why shouldn't they?] But she needs to apologize? Really? 25 years later she’s still got people mad at her about this? Move on.

I could understand if she were to say it was a presonal regret of hers or something.

Anyway, I choose not to believe it was a ploy to get a headline that would reach GH fans so they'd tune into her Hallmark Channel movie.

Also: Kyle XY returns with the 2nd half of season 2 on January 14th.

Too Much TV?

FALL 2007 TV REVIEW

Supernatural, Smallville, Numb3rs, NCIS, The Unit
Excellent, as always.

Criminal Minds
I miss Gideon. I can't believe they got rid of him! Luckily this show is filled with great characters.

Chuck, Journeyman, & maybe Life is Wild

New shows I've decided to check out.

Pushing Daisies, Big Shots, Cane

New shows that provide new jobs to West Wing actors (joining CSI:Miami, One Tree Hill, Desparate Housewives, Psych, Weeds, Studio 60, Brothers & Sisters). I doubt I'll watch any. I always meant to check out Psych; someday I will.

Sitcoms

I love um, but I don't really follow any of the current ones.

Reunited

It's been a year since this fine family has been together like this.

After passing through the hands of a couple other fans, they've all finally come home to me.