Daniel's TV Blog

This was another unique format for flashback. This time it was one continuous story being told by Michael/Kevin to Desmond and Sayid. The timeline for the flashback is kinda odd mostly with regard to Tom. Tom was at the Hydra station and later at Otherville before being killed on the beach by Sawyer. Getting off the island to NYC and back can not be a quick trip even if they didn't use the sub which got destroyed by Locke. How did he do it? Maybe he used he secret gay powers. I'd like to point out that I first hypothesized he was gay back in episode 3.01. But he's dead now so I guess it doesn't matter. From the previews of the last five episodes it looks like a lot more people are going to die in the war between Ben and Widmore.

Here's more stuff we learned:

• Michael returned to NYC with Walt but has to live a secret life
  
• Michael tried to kill himself at least twice but the island wouldn't let him
• Tom was able to leave the island after the sky went all purple
• Tom says Widmore's people are responsible for the fake 815

And new questions:

• Where is the Temple?
• Why is the Temple special?
• Why is the Temple not for the 815 people?
• Who is the guy in the bed next to Michael in his dream? Was that Jacob?
• Why is Michael dreaming about Libby? Is it the Island?
• Why won't the island let Michael kill himself?
• Is Delenn really dead? There's no obvious wound like on Carl

We got over three weeks until the next episode.

Last year I added a list of Best Week Ever winners on Wikipedia. Since then, the user who has added the most to that page was some user named Murdock408. Besides BWE he also updates pages on the Saw movies, the TV show Cavemen, an outlet mall in New Jersey, and a 10 year old video game called Skull Monkeys. It's an odd collection of culture.

On January 18, 2008, unrepentant Australian party teen Corey Worthington had the best week ever.


On January 25, 2008, Ricky from Project Runway cried his way to having the best week ever.


On February 1, 2008, 80's Popstars had the best week ever.


On February 8, 2008, Everybody's Girlfriends had the best week ever. Mostly because the super bowl is over. I don't have a good video.

On February 15, 2008, a very creepy Gary Coleman had the best week ever. Here's a funny Sims version of Diff'rent Stokes.


On February 29, 2008, Man Emotions had the best week ever. Here is the clip of Jimmy Kimmel enjoying Ben Affleck


On March 7, 2008, Tyra's Ego had the best week ever. Here she is going crazy on Top Model.


On March 14, 2008, Susan Mitchell, the lady who was trapped in the closet, had the best best week ever. I don't have a clip but it was my favorite episode this year. They got to resurrect all the Trapped in the Closet jokes from years past.

On March 21, 2008, Fat Animals had the best week ever. Here's some cute fat animals.

Labels: Best Week Ever

The producers gave us a new flashback format: the flashback-flashforward combo. They are very tricky. There were several clues I picked up on but didn't make the conclusion. Jin had a crazy old cell phone. Also he had his old bad and violent attitude he gave up after the crash. But he's dead now. With Sun flashforwad we have a bit more clues to the rescue timeline. Sun is now over two months pregnant so her birth is going to be in summer of 2005. This means the Oceanic 6 will be rescued in the first half of 2005. Here's what else we learned:

• It is indeed Widmore's boat
• The captain is hot
• The captain thinks Ben's people are responsible for fake 815
• Sun has three weeks until she starts to get sick
• Jin's gravestone is dated 9-22-04, the date of the 815 crash

And new questions:

• What are Frank and the Goa'uld planning?
• Why does Sun think something's wrong?
• Who was banging on the pipes?
• Why isn't Juliet there for the birth?
• When and how did Jin die? I think it must have been in order to save Sun
• Who shot themselves in Sayid and Desmond's new room?
• Why is Michael now Kevin Johnson?
• Why is Hurley happy no one else came?

Labels: LOST

As my TiVo is nearly empty, I've been watching lots more random television than normal. My channel of choice is The History Channel International. I watched a great show on the failure of the Spanish Armada. They failed because they were ill prepared and thought their superior numbers would give them the advantage. They were wrong. But it seems to be that the vast majority of the shows on there are either about World War II or the biblical era. It's been fun to learn a bit more about the histories we've all studies so much in the past. Here are some fun facts I've learned:

• Hitler had an extensive bunker system built into a mountain in Berchtesgaden that was ransacked by the locals before the end of the war
• It was a common tradition in ancient times to attribute a virgin birth to famous historical figures. Alexander the Great, Plato, and Pythagoras were all believed to have started with that.
• Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Holocaust, escaped to Argentina but was caught and put on trial in Israel in the 60s.
• No one really knows where Mt. Sinai actually was. Passages in the bible eliminate most of the real life locations.
• The Luftwaffe used aircraft made by Messerschmitt. I love saying Messerschmitt. I wish they made luxury sedans today. "Did you see how that douche in the Messerschmitt cut me off without even using a turn signal?"
• Pontius Pilate only had three men crucified during his entire rein as governor of Judea

The regular History channel wastes time with shows about bigfoot, UFOs, and lumberjacks. I prefer History Channel Internationál.

I've been very neglectful in my LOST posts. I like to watch it at least twice before making my entry. I think the sixth episode was the best of season four so far. But I think Juliet is probably my favorite character so any Juliet episode is going to be great. Great story, great flashback, and great surprise ending. We got to see a new Dharma station, we got to see Jack kiss Juliet, we got an awesome chick fight, and we got to see Ben loose it. Great episode. Anyway, here's what we learned.

• Juliet doesn't like being the center of attention
• Tom has daddy issues
• Goodwin was married to Harper the therapist
• Pregnant women die because of an immune system problem
• Harper knew that Ben had a thing for Juliet
• The sub was stocked with non Dharma products
• The freighter people were sent by Widmore
• Widmore killed one of Ben's people
• Charlotte knows Ben gassed the Dharma people
• Ben brought Juliet to the island and kept her there because she is "his".
• Juliet likes Jack and Ben knows it
• Ben is now living free in Otherville

And the new questions:

• Who does Juliet remind Ben of?
• How did Ben get a message to Harper to deliver to Juliet?
• How did Ben know where Daniel and Charlotte were heading?
• How could Daniel and Charlotte know about The Tempest? Unless they know about Dharma Inititive.
• Was Harper really there at all?
• Who lived in Juliet's house before Ben gave it to Juliet?
• How did Goodwin get the chemical burn? Why did he lie about it?
• If Kate was suspicious why did she turn he on Charlotte?
• Why did Ben ask if the rabbit had a number on it? Spoiler alert
• Which Red Sox game did Ben tape over?
• Who took the video of Widmore in the alley
• What else is in the Widmore file Ben gave to Locke?
• As everyone in Otherville seemed to know that Ben was in love with Juliet, why did they try to prosecute her before he woke up from surgery?
• Why is Hurley so lucky with the horseshoes?

Labels: LOST

VH1 has a new show that is very addicting because it is so wrong. It's I Know My Kid's a Star and it's awful. The first reason you shouldn't watch it the host Danny Bonaduce. Actually, he's not that bad. And he's perfect for the show. You also shouldn't watch it because of the terrible talent of the children. Most of them are awful. How did they get on this show? But the main reason not to watch the show is the most horrible stage mom in the history of stage moms, Haley's mom. Best Week Ever did a number on her last week and she deserved it. She's putting way too much pressure on daughter to buy her a dream home. And yes, her tampon is showing. Episode 2 is tonight.

Labels: I Know My Kid's a Star

Labels: Jericho

Last week, FoDtvB Matt had a great series of blog posts about what a horrible person Elisabitch Hasselcunt is. This week we learned some more about the girls of The View.

• Whoopie has bronchitis.
• Joy and Elisabitch are addicted to their Blackberry's
• The only thing Elisabitch got from Sen. Obama's great race speech this week was that he threw his grandmother under the bus.
  
• Touching Sherri's boobs are an occupational hazard, but...
• Don't touch Barabara's boob!
• Elisabitch Hasslecunt would rather commit murder-suicide than have her husband cheat on her. He should run away from her as fast as he can. She is a psycho just waiting to snap.
  

Labels: The View

This week I was introduced to a BBC reality show called How Clean Is Your House? Domestic goddess Kim and Aggie drive all over Britain to find the filthiest houses. These houses are gross. There are people who haven't hoovered (that's British for vacuumed) their rugs in years. There are people who have never cleaned their cookers (that's British for stoves) and they are infested with filth. There are people who have a months worth of fags lying around (that's British for homosexuals).

Kim and Aggie put on their feathered rubber cleaning gloves and get these homes clean. The direct the residents to remove their clutter. Usually there's a huge pile of rubbish bags in the street at the end. Then they would bring in an industrial cleaning crew to take on the carpet, floors, and walls. In addition they show the residents how to keep things clean. And they send out the dust and dirt to the lab to see what creepy-crawlies are infesting their home. That usually motivates the targets to keep things clean. Finally, they check up on them a few weeks later to see how they been keeping up on things.

If you have BBC America, put this on your TiVo. However, like a lot of shows like this (such as Queer Eye), the formula gets a little boring after a while.

Labels: BBC America, How Clean Is Your House

The first two of twelve DVDs of the HBO/BBC series Rome hit my mailbox just before the weekend last week. I'm really liking it even without the full front male nudity (like the attached cropped photo of Mark Antony). It's impossible to be part of western civilization without knowing lots about The Roman Republic and Roman Empire. Since I never really did an in depth study of it in high school history or college, I never really had a good grasp of where all the parts fit together. Something I never even really thought about the transition of the Republic into the Empire. The show gets into it that and makes it fascinating. Along with the historical figures of Caesar, Mark Antony, Brutus, and Augustus (as a child), they have some fictional characters. And of course everyone is quite hot. I've only watched five of the twenty-two episodes. I can't wait for the next set this weekend. Netflix makes things some much easier.

Labels: Netflix, Rome

E!'s new show Pop Fiction is on tonight. It debuted last Sunday. For weeks they have been publicizing it but not saying what at all it is about. Last week we say its a practical joke show where the target is the paparazzi-stalkarazzi-blogarazzi industry. They create fictional stories for the celebrity news to consume. Do you remember a few weeks ago when Paris was photographed with a "guru"? That was fake and set up by this show. Yet the media consumed it and spit it back out. Chelsea Lately did a whole bit about it where she had Chuy dress up like a guru for the show. Even she was fooled and its on her network.

The funny thing about this show is they can't (or have yet to) show you what the new episodes are about before they air. That's part of the premise of the show. If they let you in on what it was about, it wouldn't have that middle-finger-to-the-media factor. It's a funny show.

Labels: Pop Fiction

I'm excited about a new show starting tonight on FOX called New Amsterdam. On the plus side the main character is immortal. On the negative side, it looks like a standard detective show. On the plus side, the immortal is not a vampire. On the negative side, he ceases to be immortal once he finds his "true love". On the plus side he's hot.

I'm looking forward to the details of how he is immortal. Does he die and come back? Does his DNA resequence itself? Why doesn't gravity make him saggy? For a really good immortal story, rent The Man From Earth. It's very good.

The first time I caught a segment of The Girls Next Door on TV, I was shocked. And it takes a lot to shock me. There was so much nudity. It was an episode where the girls were making a new Playboy shoot. They were strategically blurred but at first glance it looked like a bare naked lady on basic cable. Later when I was talking to friend of DtvB Matt, I was told this isn't what each episode is about and he likes the show. So I gave it another try and then made a season pass. Here are the reasons a Goldstar gay boy like me watches a show about Hugh Hefner's girlfriends.

1) It is a very well produced Celebreality show. Each episode has a story that flows to a satisfactory ending. All the themes of each episode make sense. And it doesn't really seem scripted. I know all these shows have some level of scripting but this one isn't as noticeable as Hogan Knows Best or Scott Baio is...
2) The girls are all different and they all get along. Holly, Bridget, and Kendra all have very different personalties. Unlike what you would expect when three women have a herem style relationship with one man, there is no backstabbing or in fighting. In fact they get along so well many of the episodes are about their adventures without Hef. There was just a two part Jamaica episode with an occasional phone call to Hef back at the mansion. I don't know what Kendra does all day but Bridget is working on a career in radio and Holly has become a very good photo shoot producer.
3) I love Mary. Mary O'Connor is the antithesis of the girls. She is Hef's longtime personal secretary. The best word to describe Mary is dowdy, although she would probably prefer matronly. All the craziness of the Playboy Mansion and she never does a double take or clutches her pearls. Plus her husband makes a mean baloney sandwich.
4) This show is the best example of what women will do for money and security. All these women are in their twenties and Hef is 81. Their combined ages are less than him. Holly completely believes that she and Hef are going to get married and have kids. He's 81! He already has two failed marriages and four kids, it's not the time in his life to have more kids.
5) Hef is hilarious. His routines are so rigid. He has to have his soup meal at the certain time in the afternoon. He doesn't like changes to the mansion. He has a huge staff following him around making sure he is comfortable inside and outside the mansion. He is a true rich eccentric like the ones from old movies.
6) It has the best theme song of any reality show ever. "Come on a my house a my house, I'm gonna give you caaaaandy." I want that on my iPhone. In fact, after publishing this I'm going to go search iTunes for it.

Besides being a really great time travel episode which opens up lots more questions, this episode really cleared up some big holes in Desmond's back story. About the only thing we don't know is the reason he went to prison. The Desmond-Penny story really is a most magnificent love story.

The "Constant" in this episode and the entire show in general is these character with huge control issues. Keamy and Omar yelled at Frank for leaving the island with Desmond and Sayid. Dr. Ray yelled at Sayid for talking to his patient. Keamy and Omar and Dr. Ray didn't want Desmond to talk to Daniel. The Sergeant wanted Desmond to follow his orders. Charlotte didn't want to Daniel to talk to Jack and Juliet about the island's time dilation properties. Why can't everyone just work together for the common good?

Here's what we've learned:

• The phones can only call each other
• The freighter is called the Kahana which is also a neighborhood in West Maui where my parent's have a friend with a vacation home. We all went there last June.
• The Black Rock diary's auction number was 2342, which is the same number Daniel's machine needed to be set to (2.342). These are two of Hurley's numbers, of course.
• Caleb from the OC bought the Black Rock Diary
• There can be a break in time when coming to or leaving the island.
• Some people who come to or leave the island get unstuck in time.
• Minkowski is unstuck in time as well but he seems to be grounded in the present where as Desmond is grounded in the past. Perhaps because he was coming to the island while Desmond was coming from the island. Or maybe it is just random.
• Minkowski is dead.
• It is Christmas Eve.
  

And some new questions:

• Why does Charlete want Daniel not to tell the survivors about the time dilation effects of the island?
• If Penny kept calling the Kahana, why did she tell Charlie she didn't know about it?
• Who sabotaged all the radio equipment?
• Who opened the sick bay door?
• What is in the Black Rock diary?
• If the radio was sabotaged two days ago, how come the captain doesn't know about it yet?
• What does Penny know about the island?
• Does Penny know her father is interested in the island as well?
  

Sarah Silverman is fucking Matt Damon...on the bed, on the floor, on a towel by the door, in the tub, in the car, up against the mini bar.


And Jimmy Kimmel is fucking Ben Affleck. I wish they had a non bleeped version.

Labels: YouTube

I'm super glad the Writer's Strike was over well before the Academy Awards. That way there was no way they could blame that trainwreck on the absence of writers. The problem is movies suck. Of the five movies nominated I only saw one, Juno. I didn't think it was even close to Oscar worthy. The title character deserved an acting nomination but the movie itself had some fundamental problems. The biggest of which was the inconsistent narration. I'm not a big fan of narration to begin. It is a lazy way of telling the story. With Juno the narration began well into the film and was from the point of view of Juno. This denotes it is her story and thus we shouldn't see all the scenes without her in them. The winning film was about some random killer and no one saw it. A big majority of winners were not Americans. Unknown films, unknown winners, too much build up, and too many other award shows conspired to make the Oscars the least viewed show in the history of all time. The Academy needs to start nominating popular films if this venue is going to persist. I suggest letting it die.

The best thing about the Academy Awards was the first episode of The Daily Show were they blamed the low ratings on Jon, claiming not even his mother watched it. It was very funny.

Labels: Awards Shows

There's not much about Kate's off island life we don't know by know. Of course the details of the rescue and integration of the Oceanic 6 is still a ways a way from being shown. We now know all her crimes, her arrest, and now her trial. Jack has had less chance to be a dick lately. Although Locke seems to be going over the deep end. Terry O'Quinn said on The View that Locke is very dangerous now that he has "found religion". Isn't that always true. Jack retold the crash and rescue lie that the Oceanic Six somehow agreed to on the stand to help Kate. It is not clear if this happened before or after he visiting Hurley in Santa Rosa.

Here's what we know:

• Jack perjured himself for Kate. If the truth ever comes how, he can go to jail.
• Ben has one week to get Miles his cash.
• Locke has gone off the deep end.
• Kate isn't pregnant...or is she?
• Kate is pretending to be Aaron's mother.
• Jack still loves Kate.

And the new questions:

• What does Locke expect from Ben?
• Why is Kate being charged in a California court for Federal and other state charges?
• Who are the other two "survivors" that didn't make it that Jack talked about?
• Why was the Xanadu video tape queued up to the best part? Who takes out the tape in the middle of the best part?
• Why does Locke not want Ben and Miles to talk to each other?
• Who does Miles work for?
• Why does Miles want 3.2 million?
• How does Miles plan to deal with Charlotte?
• What is the memory exercise Charlotte and Daniel are doing?
• Why can he only remember two cards?
• Why does the DA want Kate to stay in California? Is she working for one of the island groups?
• Why does Jack not want to see Aaron?
• What happened to Claire?
• How did the Oceanic 6 integrate Aaron into their rescue lie?

Labels: LOST