I Just Blue Myself

Rumors are swirling that the long-fabled Arrested Development movie may not be a myth after all. Jason Bateman spoke with Mitchell Hurwitz about working on the script during the Writers Strike.



I don't want to get my hopes up...but let's just say I'm pretty giddy. Tobias alone would be worth the cost of admission.

Watch Smart!

Desperate Housewives is over for now and in its place is a TV movie that looks about as cheesy as Monroe, Wis. For your well-being, I would encourage you to steer clear and instead watch something informative for a change. My Tivo has been reminding me all week about 1968 With Tom Brokaw. I finally looked into it and it is going to be an excellent news-documentary.

Brokaw examines this literally explosive time in America's history with news clips and personal reflections. He also interviews people who were knee deep in the struggle and those who can look back on it now. Brokaw even spoke with Rafer Johnson, the aide who was next to RFK the night he was assassinated.

Known as a seasoned journalist, Brokaw is also a well-respected author, scholar and historian. His previous books The Greatest Generation and Boom were critically acclaimed best sellers.

1968 is on tonight on The History Channel at 9/8 central.

This Just In: The Real World Stinks

I am over The Real World. In my humble opinion the show started sucking after New Orleans. Call me old school.

My suspicions were only confirmed when I saw this video via Reality Blurred. The next season of RW takes place in Hollywood (Hills cameos anyone?) and the cast is employed by an improv company. The video is some of their performance. You can even see the MTV cameras capturing it.

From what I can make out:

• These people are not funny
• They should not be doing improv
• Let alone in public

And supposedly someone else gets kicked off of this season too. RW alternates have been having a pretty good year.

Run For Money is Going To Run My Life

Necessity begets innovation and this new reality show is no exception.

Sci-Fi's Run For Money is going to be my new favorite program as it combines 24 and Legends of the Hidden Temple.

50 people are unleashed in fancy locations and compete against each other in challenges for cash and prizes. However, they are being relentlessly pursued by "hunters" who are trying to take them out of the game. The contestants get money every second they stay alive and can walk-away at any point. If they don't and they're attacked by a hunter then they lose everything.

The challenges are an hour long and the show is in real-time, adding to the intensity. As the hour ticks by the playing field gets smaller and more hunters come out. The last person standing gets the grand prize.

This show is going to be like crack for me. Challenges, hunters, frayed nerves, glamorous locations, fierce temple guards...err hunters, and people who don't know when to quit.

Let's just hope there's no shrine of the silver monkey. Otherwise these people are dead in the water.

Almost Better Than Shoes: Sex and the City Trailer

Proof that I am easily swayed by vibrant colors, glitter and city skylines:

The Sex and the City movie trailer.

AHHH! I have never been this excited for a movie based on a TV show ever. That's right, not even you Ninja Turtles. I wasn't even that big of a fan when the show was on. Re-runs on TBS can make anyone a believer.

Mostly, I'm just hoping Brady Hobbes got cuter. He was looking pretty raggedy...even for a baby.

Not As Bloody As The Movie

ER is celebrating their 300th episode tonight. Say what you will about the show, especially it's current declining years, but that's quite an accomplishment.

My favorite moments:

• George Clooney saving those boys from the drain pipe. That day, a star was born.
  
• The episode, My Bloody Valentine. Dramatic, scary, sad. Why did Lucy have to die?
• ER teamed up with Third Watch after Susan's niece went missing. There aren't enough great crossover episodes anymore.
  
• Any episode with Red Buttons. Nuff said.
  
• When the Greene/Corday baby, Ella, accidentally eats ecstasy. Who knew baby overdoses could be so funny? Extreme melodrama.
  
• Carter, Kovac and Pratt venture to Africa. Finallly, the travesties are brought to the surface. The episodes were beautiful and incredibly poignant. Some of ER at its best.
  

24 Things Kiefer Sutherland Can Do In Jail

Kiefer Sutherland was sentenced to 48 days in jail today and he started serving his time immediately.

In case Kief gets some online time in the clink, I've come up with 24 things he (or Jack Bauer) can occupy his time with.

1. Make friends with cell mate. Watch him get killed like everyone else close to Jack Bauer.
   
2. Make prank phone calls to Chuck Norris in a desperate attempt to neutralize number one threat.
   
3. Re-think Phone Booth. Why Kiefer why?
4. Hang up picture of Jennifer Aniston in solidarity.
   
5. Take time to read...better scripts.
   
6. Finally get a meal and some sleep.
   
7. Yell for schematics of the jail. Escape in an amazing Prison Break/24 cross-promotion.
   
8. Find Jesus. Interrogate him for information.
   
9. Refer to everyone as Chloe.
   
10. Avenge the death of David Palmer.
    
11. Found Canadian gang, the Canuckle Sandwiches.
    
12. Write letters to Charlie Sheen. Ask him to send Young Guns on VHS for street cred.
    
13. Get memorial tattoo of Curtis, Terri and Tony Almeda.
    
14. Book that band you manage for a show at the dining hall.
    
15. Mediate the Writers Strike by any means necessary. Pain serum may be necessary.
    
16. Carve shank out of Golden Globe.
    
17. Trade Emmy for cigarettes and toilet wine
18. Pitch pilot to Fox: Dancing Behind Bars.
    
19. Fashion well fitting jeans and long-sleeve thermal tee out of prison jumper
    
20. Prepare motivational cliches and anecdotes for late night talk shows upon release
21. Hope that they let you go after 84 minutes too.
    
22. Start writing memoir. Stop halfway when you realize you are in fact not Jack Bauer.
    
23. Fix the flawed BCS system by challenging the top 10 teams to an arm wrestling match
24. Get sober.
    

Hump Day Updates

• There is just no excuse not to be watching Kid Nation. If these out of context quotations don't do anything for you then I'm out of ideas. Read some other blog.
  
• " Pelvis has left the building."
• " Those aren't igloos dude those are teepees."
  

• TLC is taking Pageant Place to the next level. On Miss America: Reality Check, all 52 Ms. America contestants are going to live in one house to see if their " smarts, attitudes and looks hold up in contemporary society." The ladies will participate in challenges and events leading up to the finale event. Even with Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) hosting, I think it's for the best this show is only four weeks long.
  

• Over the past two nights I've discovered I want to eventually find a guy whose personality is the combination of Yukon Cornelius and Dell from Private Practice. Yukon is obvious. Who else will slay abominable snowmen who get in my way? Dell is a recent discovery though. Tonight, he finally confessed his love for Naomi and it was so adorable. Too bad he confessed it to her ex-husband.
  
• " You know how many women think like that, and look like that, and laugh like that and care? One. So far I've met one. And yeah, she's out of my league in every possible way. But I don't care. She dazzles me. And I'm not stupid enough to hope that one day I'll meet someone like her when the time is right because I won't. I love her. Okay? And I guarantee you-I wouldn't make her cry."

Cue the swooning.

• An anti-whaling group named their boat Steve Irwin. Bindi Irwin had this to say before she was dragged to her next appearance.
  

Dexter Vacations on CBS

I'm a little peeved about this.

Thanks to the strike, CBS is plucking content from their sister network Showtime, re-purposing it and airing it on the broadcast network. Dexter is the first to make the jump, which is no surprise considering the popularity of CBS' other crime dramas. The Tudors and Weeds are also being considered for primetime spots.

This is actually kind of genius on Showtime's part. These shows are brand new to most of the country. CBS will be the premier destination for "new" drama, when everyone else will be airing re-runs, game shows, or worse. Plus, when people watch Dexter and get hooked (because it's impossible not to) and the writers strike comes to an end, they'll be more likely to order Showtime. Their subscriptions are going to skyrocket.

So why am I peeved? I finally understand what people who bought the iPhone early felt like. No fair! I paid extra for those premium channels and now they're just giving it all away. It just seems a little wrong.

I guess you can't stop progress. It will be interesting to see how they edit Dexter for time and content. They'll have to cut 10 minutes out of every episode. That might even be enough to get me to watch them again.

Damn. I've been swayed already.

Writers Strike: Weekly Update

• The late night talk show host are ponying up and paying their staff. Some are more modest about it than others.
  

• This baby was born during the strike. Her mom is a writer and her dad is a gaffer. She's adorable. Too bad her parents are temporarily out of work. (Womp, womp)

• Viacom is putting every single episode of South Park online for free. While you're laughing at a talking piece of shit, remember that the writers aren't getting paid for any online content.
  

• The writers on strike clinched the coveted title of iWantMedia's Media Person of the Year. They beat out Perez Hilton, Rosie O'Donnell, Don Imus and others. Maybe they will carry this momentum with them when they resume negotiations tomorrow.
  

Commercialism Is Alive This Holiday Season!

While I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas tonight, all I could think of were old holiday commercials. This special seems kind of incomplete without ads for My Buddy and Magna Doodles.

Some of the most memorable holiday commercials were for food...or maybe I was a very hungry child.

Good luck getting this Fruity Pebbles jingle out of your head. Its been in mine for 15 years.



This commercial is for Coke Santa Packs. This song is actually catchy and borderline jazzy. My favorite part is when they call Coke "the only real holiday refreshment." I guess they haven't heard of eggnog or Pomegranate 7-Up.

The-N Moves Out

The N, (Nickelodeon for teenagers) is getting it's own channel. I imagine the conversation between The N and its parent channel, Noggin went something like this:

Noggin: You have got to stop showing teens doing drugs, getting drunk, having sex with each other, failing classes, and causing a ruckus.
The N: Shut up! You can't tell me what to do.
Noggin: As long as you take up 10 hours of programming on my channel, you will do what I say.
The N: Well then maybe I'll just start my own channel then!
Noggin: Fine!
The N: Fine!

And scene.

Confused? Nickelodeon wanted an educational channel for pre-school kids. Enter Noggin. The N is the primetime and late night programming block on Noggin (think Adult Swim on Cartoon Network) It is home to South of Nowhere, About A Girl, and re-runs of Fresh Prince, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, etc. Probably due to the popularity of Canadian mega-show Degrassi, The-N is stretching their legs and getting their own network.

Still confused? Watch this handy promo. If this doesn't get you excited for teen drama 24/7, I don't know what will. I can almost feel the adolescent angst and depression already.