What Did You Watch? 2013-02-20 (Wednesday)

[Ubiquitous]

After an arduous workout, I watched:

GREEN ACRES:
"The Engagement Ring". Eb can't afford an engagement ring for Darlene,
his finace.

GREEN ACRES:
"The Free Paint Job". A paint company struggles to paint the Douglass
house. Meanwhile, Lisa attempts to cook spaghetti.

THE O'REILLY FACTOR
� What is America's biggest problem, part two
� Is President Obama manipulating the press to get favorable coverage?
A Factor investigation!
� Plus, bikinis and bigotry? Dennis Miller on the racial controversy
over the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue..

What did you watch?

--
"Re-electing Obama is like backing The Titanic up and hitting the
iceberg a second time."

[Obveeus]

"Ubiquitous" <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> What did you watch?


WHITNEY: Whitney's dad (Peter Gallagher) gives her $5,000. Whitney
promptly throws the money away. Everyone else takes turns pretending they
have money to throw away. The highlight of the episode, though, was Whitney
wearing black leather pants. She should be the next WONDER WOMAN.
Meanwhile, I wonder if a future episode will ever explain where the $5,000
went.

THE NEIGHBORS: Larry Bird decides to win an Oscar while the two young male
children enter the spelling bee. This episode had some great moments,
including the 'extras' at the end of Larry's film.

MODERN FAMILY: Cam and Mitchell damage Gloria's baby. Claire and Phil go
to her college reunion, where apparently she liked to sleep with any guy
wearing tweed. The twist with Gloria's dayplan was clear right from the
start of the episode, but I did like all of the family members trading off
who had to be the fall guy for the baby's makeover.

SURVIVOR: I watched this one online...congrats to CBS for having the worst
video player on all the internet. In the show, we get more of the 'Secret
Agent Pink Panther' (just for you, Mason) basically acting for the camera.
We also get lots of Brandon (my uncle is a famous Survivor loser) acting for
the camera. This is the problem with returning players...they are there to
further develop their persona rather than play the actual game. Meanwhile,
over on the fan's team, we have the military war veteran explaining all to
accurately that the one thing being in the military teaches you is how to
sit around and do nothing. Fortunately for him, four members of his tribe
are playing the sexual flirtation game of Survivor...apparently unaware as
'big fans of the game' that that strategy is usually fatal early on. The
fan tribe lost the challenge partly because they sent three women out to do
an underwater task, but partly because they didn't have the good sense to
keep the corn hole specialist from last week as their only thrower this
week. If they had stuck with him, I think they could have still won the
challenge.

RED WIDOW: The pilot episode online. Basically, a mafia soap about a large
family every one of which deserves the bad stuff that happens to them. I
won't watch further.

[Ian J. Ball]

In article <kg4qtf$kd1$1...@dont-email.me>,

Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> What did you watch?

The Lying Game (recorded) - "Regrets Only". They are definitely moving
the story along now. I don't like what they did with Emma here (her 180
on Thayer back to Ethan seemed to almost come out of nowhere... :/ ).
But they are definitely moving the story along with respect to Charisma
Carpenter and Alec (and, at this point, it really does seem like
Charisma Carpenter was behind the killing...).

Suburgatory (recorded) - "Yakult Leader". Somehow I watched this out of
order, but I'm glad I did as I thought it was pretty funny (the opening
with Sheila and Ryan Shay playing tennis was quite over the top!!), esp.
the parts where Tessa tried to find a new boyfriend for Lisa Shay. I
didn't like the George storyline sporting the return of Yoni (the always
annoying Wilmer Valderrama), but even the George storyline perked up
when George took Yakult for a walk with the always hilarious Dalia.
Best line of the episode - Dalia: "Yeah, I played that game with
Yakult that Daddy Altman taught me: the one where you throw a ball and
Yakult brings it back. What's it called... "Bring it back"?..." LOL.

Vegas (recorded) - "Two of a Kind". This was a pretty good one. The Feds
show up and confiscate Savino's 'skim' for Chicago. While the
investigation into Mia's father's death continues, Jack is blackmailed
by Savino to help ship a new 'skim' back to Chicago. Meanwhile, Dixon is
hired to be the bodyguard of an actress from Hollywood (Anna Camp) in
town to film a western movie. In the end, Jack 'fesses up to Mia, and
it's revealed that Ralph suspected Jack in Mia's father's death, all
along, as I suspected.

White Collar (recorded) - "Shoot the Moon". This, OTOH, I found to be
quite disappointing, and it should have been good. The problem here was
that, 1) the guest actors playing the couple who kidnap Peter and
Elizabeth were uncompelling (good guest stars would have made this worth
watching... :/ ), and 2) the kidnapping couple were written as
uninteresting.
Meanwhile, Sara is officially written out, and I can't say I'm sorry
to see her go. (Maybe now they'll remember that Kate was supposed to be
the love of Neal's life!...)

Arrow - This was also relatively weak, as Ollie and the gang pursue a
murderous thief played by FauxBaltar. Meanwhile, Ollie tries to date the
hot cop from "The Gates", Diggle tries to date his widowed
sister-in-law, Thea tries to date the guy who purse snatched her, and a
little of Felicity Smoak [giggle, giggle] goes a long way. Meh... :/

Criminal Minds - A pretty darn substandard episode that was only
remotely interesting because Yani Gellman from PLL was one of the
guest-stars.

Recorded for later: Suburgatory, and The Soup(!).

--
"Surf-crazed aliens... Of course." - Amber, "Alien Surf Girls",
Episode #1.1, "Wipeout".
Wait a minute... "Of course"?! "*Of course*"?!! Did I miss a step here??!!

[Arthur Lipscomb]

On 2/21/2013 6:25 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> In article <kg4qtf$kd1$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
>> What did you watch?
>

snip

>
> Arrow - This was also relatively weak, as Ollie and the gang pursue a
> murderous thief played by FauxBaltar.

So that's who it was! I knew I recognized him from somewhere but
couldn't place him.

Meanwhile, Ollie tries to date the
> hot cop from "The Gates", Diggle tries to date his widowed
> sister-in-law, Thea tries to date the guy who purse snatched her,

I don't read comics but even I recognized his name...Roy Harper. Didn't
they already establish the sister is nicknamed "Speedy" and gave her a
drug problem? Plus they introduced "The Huntress" a few episodes ago.
Does this mean she's out and he's in instead? Or are they just building
up the sidekick gallery?

[Arthur Lipscomb]

On 2/21/2013 4:34 AM, Obveeus wrote:
> "Ubiquitous" <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>>
>> What did you watch?
>
>

> THE NEIGHBORS: Larry Bird decides to win an Oscar while the two young male
> children enter the spelling bee. This episode had some great moments,

Agreed.

> including the 'extras' at the end of Larry's film.

The extras at the end was great. Not as earth-shattering as when they
accidentally overheard part of the plot to conquer the planet but way
funnier. Obviously the human neighbors have concluded that once the
aliens conquer the planet they will be kept as pets so they're trying to
stay on their good side. ;-)

>
>
> SURVIVOR: I watched this one online...congrats to CBS for having the worst
> video player on all the internet. In the show, we get more of the 'Secret
> Agent Pink Panther' (just for you, Mason) basically acting for the camera.
> We also get lots of Brandon (my uncle is a famous Survivor loser) acting for
> the camera. This is the problem with returning players...they are there to
> further develop their persona rather than play the actual game.

If you caught the preview, you saw that he's apparently planning to go
out out next episode.

Meanwhile,
> over on the fan's team, we have the military war veteran explaining all to
> accurately that the one thing being in the military teaches you is how to
> sit around and do nothing. Fortunately for him, four members of his tribe
> are playing the sexual flirtation game of Survivor...apparently unaware as
> 'big fans of the game' that that strategy is usually fatal early on.

They're only "fans" so they can't be expected to know something like that.

The
> fan tribe lost the challenge partly because they sent three women out to do
> an underwater task, but partly because they didn't have the good sense to
> keep the corn hole specialist from last week as their only thrower this
> week. If they had stuck with him, I think they could have still won the
> challenge.
>

Once again the wrong person went home.


I watched:


Arrow - Already commented on. So-so episode. I did like how the new
sidekick is calling them out on their selective targeting of criminals.


Supernatural - "Man's Best Friend With Benefits" - Slightly above
background noise only enough to generally follow what happened. The
guys get a call from help from their friend who is now a warlock.
What's the point of doing a recap if they aren't going to recap the
"friend" character who was apparently introduced earlier but I have no
memory of? I had to rewatch the recap to see if maybe I missed his
segment but no, he wasn't mentioned.


Switched at Birth - "Drive in the Knife" - Again, slightly above
background noise. Looks like they're going to introduce an alcoholic
storyline which I really don't care about. Otherwise a mostly
forgettable episode.


Southland - Lots of stuff happened criminals were caught and cops were
less than perfect. Typical episode.

[icebreaker]

Not a great night for TV.

Arrow -- at least the boys got some dating action, Diggle, his widowed SiL,
and Arrow, his detective honey. Felicity got all glammed up. The necklace
was really explosive fashion. I don't particularly like this show all that
much but adding Felicity to the mix improves it as long as she comes in
smaller doses.

Modern Family -- 10 minutes and out. Should have bailed with the Burrell
bowling shoes bit that opened the show.

Suburgatory -- 10 minutes and out. This show is just really pretty bad this
season.

Chicago Fire -- Shiri Appleby breaks Shay's heart once more as she agrees to
move to NY to be able to share custody of the baby instead of moving in with
Shay and fighting the ex. Dawson, Hermann, and Otis discover a safe hidden
behind a bar wall and argue over whether to open it or not. They open it at
the end and say they shouldn't have after seeing the contents. Severide
manages to save his ex-fiance from going down the drain. Matt's Mom moves
out as she sees she's causing problems. Cruz melts down and turns in his
badge but Mouch talks him down right before Casey informs the Chief.

Necessary Roughness -- Matt tells Dani he's involved with someone (magazine
reporter) and Dani is disappointed. The gay QB is coming out publicly and
Dani tells him to befriend a team member for support so he chooses TK.
Juliette is going to Paris to start a fashion line and wants RJ along for
the ride. That goes over well when Dani gets wind. He goes and she tells him
he's on his own. Mark Cuban purchased the stadium and other facilities from
Pittman and wants 500 million for them. Word about the gay QB leeks from
Matt's girlfriend's mag (wasn't her) and they part ways. During halftime,
the QB comes out backed up by TK and they go on to win with TK grabbing
passes. Matt tells Dani on the sideline that he's not as involved as he
thought. Nico takes a job offer from Cuban as there's nothing to keep him
there any longer with Dani and Matt together. We see a closeup of mag
girlfriend's purse with a big ole X on the pee stick. As Nico is leaving
he's stopped by cops and taken for questioning. It was a badge with US on
it, but not a starred marshal's badge so I don't know what agency. Pittman
may still be alive. Hope I'm wrong.

[Obveeus]

"icebreaker" <icebr...@anywherebuthere.com> wrote:

> Modern Family -- 10 minutes and out. Should have bailed with the Burrell
> bowling shoes bit that opened the show.

The bowling shoe slapstick paid off at the end of the episode.

[anim8rFSK]

In article <kg5hqt$j6v$1...@dont-email.me>,

"icebreaker" <icebr...@anywherebuthere.com> wrote:

> Not a great night for TV.
>
> Arrow -- at least the boys got some dating action, Diggle, his widowed SiL,
> and Arrow, his detective honey. Felicity got all glammed up. The necklace
> was really explosive fashion. I don't particularly like this show all that
> much but adding Felicity to the mix improves it as long as she comes in
> smaller doses.

Felicity is smoakin'

But, really, the super top secret keypad combination to the super top
secret Arrowcave (that you have to punch to get OUT) is 1-4-1?? Three
digits??

--
"Every time a Kardashian gets a TV show, an angel dies."

[Hunter]

On Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:25:39 -0800, "Ian J. Ball"
<ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:

>In article <kg4qtf$kd1$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
>> What did you watch?
>

(snip)

>
>Vegas (recorded) - "Two of a Kind". This was a pretty good one. The Feds
>show up and confiscate Savino's 'skim' for Chicago. While the
>investigation into Mia's father's death continues, Jack is blackmailed
>by Savino to help ship a new 'skim' back to Chicago. Meanwhile, Dixon is
>hired to be the bodyguard of an actress from Hollywood (Anna Camp) in
>town to film a western movie. In the end, Jack 'fesses up to Mia, and
>it's revealed that Ralph suspected Jack in Mia's father's death, all
>along, as I suspected.

----
He didn't suspect until he interviewed the busy body who listen in on
party lines that he heard that the victim that called in the prowler
complaint to the station. Ralph said, we don't have a record of that
and she said in effect "then something is wrong with your records."
THEN Ralph suspected something, that someone in side his office maybe
obstructing justice. He then checked the copy of the fingerprint card
of his brother that was sent to the FBI and saw that it didn't match
what he knew to be Jack's fingerprints due to a scar on one of Jack's
fingers. THEN he knew. But before this episode he didn't have a clue.
(snip)

>
>Arrow - This was also relatively weak, as Ollie and the gang pursue a
>murderous thief played by FauxBaltar.

----
And we also saw another "Battlestar Galactica" Alum: Rekha Sharma who
played Tory Foster, President Roselind's aide?

And no he wasn't FauxBaltar.

Oh at the risk of someone twisting my words the main plot of the guy
using sophisticated bomb collars to make people steal for him was
based on something in real life. Anyone remember the case of the Brian
Davis, the pizza delivery man being forced to wear a bomb collar to
rob a bank and then it exploded killing him in 2003? Some say he was
in on the plot but I believe he was an innocent victim.

>
>Meanwhile, Ollie tries to date the
>hot cop from "The Gates", Diggle tries to date his widowed
>sister-in-law, Thea tries to date the guy who purse snatched her, and a
>little of Felicity Smoak [giggle, giggle] goes a long way. Meh... :/

----
And all the dates were disasters, but they all will give it a second
chance. And with Thea we now have met Green Arrow's future side kick

>
>Criminal Minds - A pretty darn substandard episode that was only
>remotely interesting because Yani Gellman from PLL was one of the
>guest-stars.

----
I thought it was at least interesting, homophobes trying to convert
their child but producing a serial killer instead.
(snip)

------>Hunter

"No man in the wrong can stand up against
a fellow that's in the right and keeps on acomin'."

-----William J. McDonald
Captain, Texas Rangers from 1891 to 1907

[David Barnett]

In article <kg4qtf$kd1$1...@dont-email.me>,
web...@polaris.net says...
>
> What did you watch?

Yesterday, after watching NCIS, I watched:

NCIS: LA: Skin Deep
I found the gadget a bit too fantastic, otherwise the
episode was OK.

VEGAS: Two of a Kind
Jack Lamb finally confesses, and so the interest lies
whether he & Mia will get together again. Not that I care
one way or the other. Oh, there is also whether Savino
will solve his predicament.

This morning, Fri Feb 22, I watched:

THE MENTALIST: Days of Wine & Roses
Unless I nodded, no Red John (aka Moriarty to me) in this
episode, thank goodness. I'm as sick of him as a lot of
you people are.

Still watching, but only 10+ minutes into it:

CSI: Fallen Angels

--
David Barnett

[David Barnett]

In article <ijball-NO_SPAM-4AB27F.06253921022013
@news.eternal-september.org>, ijball-...@mac.invalid
says...

>
> Vegas (recorded) - "Two of a Kind". This was a pretty good one. The Feds
> show up and confiscate Savino's 'skim' for Chicago. While the
> investigation into Mia's father's death continues, Jack is blackmailed
> by Savino to help ship a new 'skim' back to Chicago. Meanwhile, Dixon is
> hired to be the bodyguard of an actress from Hollywood (Anna Camp) in
> town to film a western movie. In the end, Jack 'fesses up to Mia, and
> it's revealed that Ralph suspected Jack in Mia's father's death, all
> along, as I suspected.

Watched this last night, & I agree.
A- from me.

--
David Barnett

[Mason Barge]

I actually watched tv for a change!

CULT premiere -
This was pretty decent, even though I actually realized it was
a CW show by the tone of the show itself (I had no idea what channel I
had recorded it from). Heavily derivative of The Ring with a bit of
Scientology paranoia thrown in. Fair to poor acting. But it kept
moving along.

Grade: B-

THE AMERICANS ep. 3
They pulled the nose up after that disasterous love triangle
crapola last week. This show was rock solid, with three excellent
performances in the leads, and good professional directing and pacing.
Margo Martindale is a bit miscast, much as I love her. I thought the
main plot was actually a fairly brilliant take on the famous Haig "I'm
in charge" speech.
That actress who plays the Russian clerical worker is
brilliant. And a cute butt never hurts. The actress, Annet Mahendru,
is an Afghani immigrant and apparently some sort of superwoman. This
could be a breakthrough role for her.

In fact, they have done exceptionally well casting the minor roles,
like young Keri and her mother. There's a lot to like about this
show.

Grade: A-

JUSTIFIED
I'm sure all the fans have already watched this ep. It just
keeps on giving us good show after good show, and it was SO much fun
that Raylan got to shoot someone. And got laid.

Grade: A+

ARBITRAGE (Netflix, movie)
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. I turn this on and 3 minutes
into it, I see that actress from "Another Earth". Is she just poison?
This movie was AWFUL (or at least the first ten minutes)(two minutes
of dialog or meaningful anything and like eight minutes of watching
Richard Gere gaze meaningfully out windows with his chin in his hand).

Grade: F

SHAME (HBO movie)
And another ten-minutes-and-out. At least this time we get to
look at naked people instead of Richard Gere while violins play
meaningful palp and nothing happens.

Grade: F+

DANCE MOMS
The network must have told Abby to cool her jets a bit.
Apparently I wasn't the only one about an inch away from taking this
off my list. She actually hugged all the girls after the competition
(even the ones who didn't win!) and told someone who didn't finish in
the top ten that she wasn't total scum.

Grade: D (moms), C (Abby), A (kids)

[Hunter]

On Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:08:41 -0800, Arthur Lipscomb
<art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>On 2/21/2013 6:25 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>> In article <kg4qtf$kd1$1...@dont-email.me>,
>> Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>>
>>> What did you watch?
>>
>snip
>>
>> Arrow - This was also relatively weak, as Ollie and the gang pursue a
>> murderous thief played by FauxBaltar.
>
>
>So that's who it was! I knew I recognized him from somewhere but
>couldn't place him.

----
Did you recognize Rekha Sharma who played Tory Foster, President
Roselind's aide? She was tackled by Hall during the bust early in the
episode and was the one examining the giant ruby/red diamond.

>
>Meanwhile, Ollie tries to date the
>> hot cop from "The Gates", Diggle tries to date his widowed
>> sister-in-law, Thea tries to date the guy who purse snatched her,
>
>I don't read comics but even I recognized his name...Roy Harper. Didn't
>they already establish the sister is nicknamed "Speedy" and gave her a
>drug problem? Plus they introduced "The Huntress" a few episodes ago.
>Does this mean she's out and he's in instead? Or are they just building
>up the sidekick gallery?

----
Green Arrow in the comics did have more than one side kick. I guess
they probably are going to say that Oliver is going to eventually
nickname Roy "Speedy" in honor of his sister. Or maybe they will skip
the "Speedy" stage and have Roy be Red Arrow from the beginning. Or
maybe his sister and Roy will be Green Arrow's side kicks
simultaneously as a team.

>
>and a
>> little of Felicity Smoak [giggle, giggle] goes a long way. Meh... :/

----
She was damn hot at the Function. I said it before my compliments to
the casting director who casts so many hot girls on the show. Even the
guest stars like Rekha Sharma are hot. :-)

[Hunter]

On Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:27:02 -0500, "icebreaker"
<icebr...@anywherebuthere.com> wrote:

>Not a great night for TV.
>
>Arrow -- at least the boys got some dating action, Diggle, his widowed SiL,
>and Arrow, his detective honey. Felicity got all glammed up.

-----
All of them hot women. :-) I think there is more to Mackenna Hall than
meets the eye.

>
> The necklace was really explosive fashion.

-----
Probably inspired by the Brian Wells case in 2003.

>
>I don't particularly like this show all that
>much but adding Felicity to the mix improves it as long as she comes in
>smaller doses.

-----
If they can come up with more excuses for her to get glammed up... :-)

>
>Chicago Fire -- Shiri Appleby breaks Shay's heart once more as she agrees to
>move to NY to be able to share custody of the baby instead of moving in with
>Shay and fighting the ex.

-----
I hope Shay is done with her. I hope Severide lets her return home. I
think he will.

>
> Dawson, Hermann, and Otis discover a safe hidden
>behind a bar wall and argue over whether to open it or not. They open it at
>the end and say they shouldn't have after seeing the contents.

------
Maybe it was a amputated finger or something. :-)

>
>Severide
>manages to save his ex-fiance from going down the drain. Matt's Mom moves
>out as she sees she's causing problems.

----
She did the right thing.

>
>Cruz melts down and turns in his
>badge but Mouch talks him down right before Casey informs the Chief.

------
I have mixed feelings. I don't like him getting away with murder but
at the same time I don't feel sorry for the victim. I hope Cruz's
brother make it worth while and takes advantage of his second chance
to walk the straight and narrow.

[tenworld]

On Thursday, February 21, 2013 4:02:28 PM UTC-8, David Barnett wrote:
> VEGAS: Two of a Kind
>
> Jack Lamb finally confesses, and so the interest lies
>
> whether he & Mia will get together again. Not that I care
>
> one way or the other. Oh, there is also whether Savino
>
> will solve his predicament.

This show is on the likely to be cancelled lists so I expect we will get a resolution at season's end that could be interesting. This reminds me of that show a few years ago about the FBI plant in local mafia in richmond - they ended that cleanly with the mob boss beating up his wife who then turns informant. Hopefully if vegas ends they will have a good ender too.

[Hunter]

On Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:44:51 -0800 (PST), tenworld <t...@world.std.com>
wrote:

>On Thursday, February 21, 2013 4:02:28 PM UTC-8, David Barnett wrote:
>> VEGAS: Two of a Kind

>>=20
>> Jack Lamb finally confesses, and so the interest lies=20
>>=20
>> whether he & Mia will get together again. Not that I care=20
>>=20
>> one way or the other. Oh, there is also whether Savino=20
>>=20
>> will solve his predicament.
>
>This show is on the likely to be cancelled lists so I expect we will get a =
>resolution at season's end that could be interesting. This reminds me of t=
>hat show a few years ago about the FBI plant in local mafia in richmond - t=
>hey ended that cleanly with the mob boss beating up his wife who then turns=

> informant. Hopefully if vegas ends they will have a good ender too.

-----
This show isn't going to be canceled. Hell no. It's scoring about 10.5
million people total viewers each episode on average.

[Hunter]

On Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:46:11 -0500, Mason Barge <mason...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>I actually watched tv for a change!
>
>CULT premiere -
> This was pretty decent, even though I actually realized it was
>a CW show by the tone of the show itself (I had no idea what channel I
>had recorded it from). Heavily derivative of The Ring with a bit of
>Scientology paranoia thrown in. Fair to poor acting. But it kept
>moving along.

----
I don't much like it. Some say those who like "The Following" should
like this, but ironicaly I find it less realistic.

>
>Grade: B-
>
>THE AMERICANS ep. 3
> They pulled the nose up after that disasterous love triangle
>crapola last week. This show was rock solid, with three excellent
>performances in the leads, and good professional directing and pacing.
>Margo Martindale is a bit miscast, much as I love her. I thought the
>main plot was actually a fairly brilliant take on the famous Haig "I'm
>in charge" speech.

----
I like the episode It reminded me on how I heard that regan was shot.
I was a high school senior at the time. My HS let out around 2:20pm
and I dash home on the subway from 50th street (NYC, Manhattan) to
catch the 3pm showing of "General Hosjpital" getting home at about
3:05pm Instead of "General Hospital" I found my mother in front of the
TV-unusual for her during that time of the day-and ABC's late great
Frank Reynolds was on. And she told me have a seat something has
happened or words to that effect. We watch the newscast all day just
like the Jenning's daughter with her new boyfriend and her younger
brother.

I think Haig got something of a raw deal with his I'm in control here
at the white house statement. I don't think he ment the entire
country, putting himself as a acting President, but simply the head of
things at the White House. The vice President was still in communicado
at the time. Now I do fault him for not knowing the line of
succession. He should've known that. He showed his ignorance and so
disappated any reassurence he might have given if he at least got that
right..

>
> That actress who plays the Russian clerical worker is
>brilliant. And a cute butt never hurts. The actress, Annet Mahendru,
>is an Afghani immigrant and apparently some sort of superwoman. This
>could be a breakthrough role for her.

-----
Nina is georgeous but how is she a "superwoman"?

>
> In fact, they have done exceptionally well casting the minor roles,
>like young Keri and her mother. There's a lot to like about this
>show.
>
>Grade: A-

----
Elizabeth's flashbacks were interesting, seeing where in part she got
her trust no one demeanor.

>
>JUSTIFIED
> I'm sure all the fans have already watched this ep. It just
>keeps on giving us good show after good show, and it was SO much fun
>that Raylan got to shoot someone.

----
Yeah, but I kinda liked the guy.

>
> And got laid.
>
>Grade: A+

-----
Maybe maybe not. Raylan did see himself as old, he mayn't gone through
with it even if she made a pass at him.
(snip)

[Obveeus]

"Mason Barge" <mason...@gmail.com> wrote:

>I actually watched tv for a change!
>
> CULT premiere -
> This was pretty decent, even though I actually realized it was
> a CW show by the tone of the show itself (I had no idea what channel I
> had recorded it from). Heavily derivative of The Ring with a bit of
> Scientology paranoia thrown in. Fair to poor acting. But it kept
> moving along.

Yes, it asked enough questions to atleast present itself as interesting,
unlike THE FOLOWING which pretty much presented itself as a 'madman follower
of the week' show in episode #1....and a cult based upon the internet
fanbase of a TV show makes a lot more sense than a cult based upon followers
of one guy already in prison.

> JUSTIFIED
> I'm sure all the fans have already watched this ep. It just
> keeps on giving us good show after good show, and it was SO much fun
> that Raylan got to shoot someone. And got laid.

Best show currently on the air.

> SHAME (HBO movie)
> And another ten-minutes-and-out. At least this time we get to
> look at naked people instead of Richard Gere while violins play
> meaningful palp and nothing happens.

If you only watched 10 minutes, you missed lots of nothing happening.

[Jim T.]

On Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:13:57 GMT, Hunter <buffh...@my-deja.com>
(Hunter) wrote:

>On Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:46:11 -0500, Mason Barge <mason...@gmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>I actually watched tv for a change!
>>
>>CULT premiere -
>> This was pretty decent, even though I actually realized it was
>>a CW show by the tone of the show itself (I had no idea what channel I
>>had recorded it from). Heavily derivative of The Ring with a bit of
>>Scientology paranoia thrown in. Fair to poor acting. But it kept
>>moving along.
>----
>I don't much like it. Some say those who like "The Following" should
>like this, but ironicaly I find it less realistic.

If you're looking for realism from Cult I think you're missing the
point. I think it's going for more of a fantastical/horror feel and
succeeding somewhat. Whereas The Following IS trying to appear more
realistic, and failing miserably.

[Mason Barge]

On Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:30:32 -0500, "Obveeus" <Obv...@aol.com> wrote:

>
>"Mason Barge" <mason...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>I actually watched tv for a change!
>>
>> CULT premiere -
>> This was pretty decent, even though I actually realized it was
>> a CW show by the tone of the show itself (I had no idea what channel I
>> had recorded it from). Heavily derivative of The Ring with a bit of
>> Scientology paranoia thrown in. Fair to poor acting. But it kept
>> moving along.
>
>Yes, it asked enough questions to atleast present itself as interesting,
>unlike THE FOLOWING which pretty much presented itself as a 'madman follower
>of the week' show in episode #1....and a cult based upon the internet
>fanbase of a TV show makes a lot more sense than a cult based upon followers
>of one guy already in prison.
>
>> JUSTIFIED
>> I'm sure all the fans have already watched this ep. It just
>> keeps on giving us good show after good show, and it was SO much fun
>> that Raylan got to shoot someone. And got laid.
>
>Best show currently on the air.

I'd make it a tie with Breaking Bad, which does have another season.

BB is more inconsistent in quality, but at its best, it's the best
thing ever to appear on television.

[Obveeus]

I like BREAKING BAD as well, but it doesn't count since it isn't *curently*
on (don't count those 4am Monday morning reruns)

[anim8rFSK]

In article <kg5goe$bss$1...@dont-email.me>,

Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

> On 2/21/2013 6:25 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> > In article <kg4qtf$kd1$1...@dont-email.me>,
> > Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
> >
> >> What did you watch?
> >
> snip
> >
> > Arrow - This was also relatively weak, as Ollie and the gang pursue a
> > murderous thief played by FauxBaltar.
>
>
> So that's who it was! I knew I recognized him from somewhere but
> couldn't place him.
>
> Meanwhile, Ollie tries to date the
> > hot cop from "The Gates", Diggle tries to date his widowed
> > sister-in-law, Thea tries to date the guy who purse snatched her,
>
> I don't read comics but even I recognized his name...Roy Harper. Didn't
> they already establish the sister is nicknamed "Speedy" and gave her a
> drug problem?

There are 2 main Speedys in the comics. One is the worthless drug
addict Roy Harper, and the other is the worthless child prostitute Mia
something ... they're sort of mixing and matching here. I think she was
the sidekick of Green Arrow Junior (the original died, but got better).

Plus they introduced "The Huntress" a few episodes ago.
> Does this mean she's out and he's in instead? Or are they just building
> up the sidekick gallery?

The Huntress 'actress' (and I use the term very loosely) moved on to the
new DRACULA series, so I'd say she's out.

[anim8rFSK]

In article
<ijball-NO_SPAM-4AB...@news.eternal-september.org>,

"Ian J. Ball" <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:

> In article <kg4qtf$kd1$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> > What did you watch?
>
> The Lying Game (recorded) - "Regrets Only". They are definitely moving
> the story along now. I don't like what they did with Emma here (her 180
> on Thayer back to Ethan seemed to almost come out of nowhere... :/ ).
> But they are definitely moving the story along with respect to Charisma
> Carpenter and Alec (and, at this point, it really does seem like
> Charisma Carpenter was behind the killing...).

I'm still waiting for her to turn up again on Veronica Mars.

>
> White Collar (recorded) - "Shoot the Moon". This, OTOH, I found to be
> quite disappointing, and it should have been good. The problem here was
> that, 1) the guest actors playing the couple who kidnap Peter and
> Elizabeth were uncompelling (good guest stars would have made this worth
> watching... :/ ), and 2) the kidnapping couple were written as
> uninteresting.

And it featured skinnygirl.

> Meanwhile, Sara is officially written out, and I can't say I'm sorry
> to see her go. (Maybe now they'll remember that Kate was supposed to be
> the love of Neal's life!...)

Or bring in hot granddaughter ...

>
> Arrow - This was also relatively weak, as Ollie and the gang pursue a
> murderous thief played by FauxBaltar. Meanwhile, Ollie tries to date the
> hot cop from "The Gates",

Oh, is that heartless girl?

Diggle tries to date his widowed
> sister-in-law,

And, yes, it was just creepy

Thea tries to date the guy who purse snatched her, and a
> little of Felicity Smoak [giggle, giggle]

rowr

goes a long way. Meh... :/

[Ian J. Ball]

In article <anim8rfsk-080FC...@news.easynews.com>,

anim8rFSK <anim...@cox.net> wrote:

> In article <kg5goe$bss$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
> > On 2/21/2013 6:25 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> > > In article <kg4qtf$kd1$1...@dont-email.me>,
> > > Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
> > >
> > >> What did you watch?
> > >
> > snip
> > >
> > > Arrow - This was also relatively weak, as Ollie and the gang pursue a
> > > murderous thief played by FauxBaltar.
>

> > Plus they introduced "The Huntress" a few episodes ago.
> > Does this mean she's out and he's in instead? Or are they just building
> > up the sidekick gallery?
>
> The Huntress 'actress' (and I use the term very loosely) moved on to the
> new DRACULA series, so I'd say she's out.

They can always recast (it's not like the original actress made much of
an impression, outside of being kind of odd-looking) next season, and in
the case of that character I definitely think they should.

[Hunter]

-----
Only if one belives he mesmerized everyone who follows him in prison
or on the net.

[Hunter]

On Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:21:06 -0800, Arthur Lipscomb
<art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>On 2/21/2013 4:34 AM, Obveeus wrote:
>> "Ubiquitous" <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> What did you watch?

(snip)

>>
>> SURVIVOR: I watched this one online...congrats to CBS for having the worst
>> video player on all the internet. In the show, we get more of the 'Secret
>> Agent Pink Panther' (just for you, Mason) basically acting for the camera.
>> We also get lots of Brandon (my uncle is a famous Survivor loser) acting for
>> the camera. This is the problem with returning players...they are there to
>> further develop their persona rather than play the actual game.
>
>If you caught the preview, you saw that he's apparently planning to go
>out out next episode.

-----
If you are refering to secret agent man Philip I hope he at least wear
pants.

>
>Meanwhile,
>> over on the fan's team, we have the military war veteran explaining all to
>> accurately that the one thing being in the military teaches you is how to
>> sit around and do nothing. Fortunately for him, four members of his tribe
>> are playing the sexual flirtation game of Survivor...apparently unaware as
>> 'big fans of the game' that that strategy is usually fatal early on.
>
>They're only "fans" so they can't be expected to know something like that.

----
By being fans of the show they *should* know that.

>
>>The
>> fan tribe lost the challenge partly because they sent three women out to do
>> an underwater task, but partly because they didn't have the good sense to
>> keep the corn hole specialist from last week as their only thrower this
>> week. If they had stuck with him, I think they could have still won the
>> challenge.
>
>Once again the wrong person went home.

----
Totally agree. The ex Marine should've gone.

>
>I watched:
>
>Arrow - Already commented on. So-so episode. I did like how the new
>sidekick is calling them out on their selective targeting of criminals.

-----
Actually Diggle made the same argument back around episode four or
five.

>
>Southland - Lots of stuff happened criminals were caught and cops were
>less than perfect. Typical episode.

----
Except for the end with what happened to Lydia. At least she got back
into shape. And "new boot" has been booted for "leaving" Cooper in a
lurch.

[Jim G.]

Ubiquitous sent the following on Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:55:55 -0500:
>
> What did you watch?

SUPERNATURAL (CW, 8 PM) / Man's Best Friend With Benefits
[After turning to witchcraft, a police officer named Kevin starts having
nightmares in which he murders innocent people; when the murders start
happening in real life, Sam and Dean investigate.]

Love the title, and that's one gorgeous bitch. And her human form isn't
too bad, either, although the red collar should probably go. (Seriously,
two shows that I watched on CW had particularly appealing newcomers (to
me, at least) on them this week, so good work, CW!) As for James, the
police officer, he looked like the love child of Pierce Brosnan and Kurt
Russell, which could explain a lot of things here when it comes to his
bloody nightmares. And on an episode featuring witches and their
familiars, a guy shows up in a ... Gremlin. Nice touch, writers. In any
case, the guys (I'm trying hard to stop calling them "the boys," seeing
as how it's been eight years now) are on the case, and Dean is trying
really hard to *not* make any "doggy style" jokes. (So I'll do it for
him.) All in all, a fun and interesting standalone, but the ending for
the bad guy was more than slightly anticlimactic. And the final scene of
Sammy coughing up blood will surely lead to some interesting things down
the road.

Grade: B+

THE AMERICANS (FX, 9 PM) / In Control
[An assassin attempts to kill President Reagan; Stan pressures his
source within the Rezidentura to find out if the KGB was responsible for
an attempted assassination.]

The title here, of course, refers to Haig's famous line at the time. I
can still remember wondering why so many people confused "in control"
with "in charge," but that's a matter for another day. As for this
outing, it's about the immediate fallout from the Reagan shooting as
everyone on both sides of the Iron Curtain rushes to find out who did
what, and whether their own side had something to do with it. As such,
the outing does a pretty good job of depicting the chaos and panic of
that historical day. Elsewhere, continuing the recent trend of casting
directors finding *really* good young versions of stars, young Elizabeth
is freakishly well cast here as we get a few hints of her backstory and
of her mother's admonition to (more or less) never take candy from
Russian strangers. Excellent job, casting director. We also get to see
inside the marriage of our fibbie and his wife and see the cracks there
that have been caused by his career. Cracks which may be widening even
more with his return and their move to Washington. Shades of HOMELAND
there. And while we continue to see P&E work as a team and ultimately
back each other in the end, we also see how much of a struggle they each
have before that point. The key exchange of the episode, and perhaps of
the series to date:

Elizabeth: Do you listen to what they [the Americans] say? What they say
about us?
Philip: Do you listen to yourself when you talk about them?

Grade: A

--
Jim G. | A fan of the good and the bad, but not the mediocre
"Good evening. I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time, and this is my wife." -- Madame Vastra, DOCTOR WHO

[chicagofan]

icebreaker wrote:
>
> Chicago Fire -- Shiri Appleby breaks Shay's heart once more as she
> agrees to move to NY to be able to share custody of the baby instead
> of moving in with Shay and fighting the ex. Dawson, Hermann, and Otis
> discover a safe hidden behind a bar wall and argue over whether to
> open it or not. They open it at the end and say they shouldn't have
> after seeing the contents. Severide manages to save his ex-fiance from
> going down the drain. Matt's Mom moves out as she sees she's causing
> problems. Cruz melts down and turns in his badge but Mouch talks him
> down right before Casey informs the Chief.

In spite of the fact many here, have probably labeled this a "soap" by
now, I like this show. I liked the way the safe contents "discovery"
resolved itself, and I'm interested in the story behind the
firefighter's death, that would cause Severide's dad and the chief to
differ so much on the character or courage of the man.
bj

[Micky DuPree]

chicagofan <m...@privacy.net> writes:

re Chicago Fire

> In spite of the fact many here, have probably labeled this a "soap" by
> now, I like this show.

"Me too." It's a reasonable working-class drama, though time
compressed, of course. It's not cops, it's not doctors, it's not
lawyers. That alone puts it off the beaten path.

-Micky