Monthly Archives: June 2011

TV

‘The Playboy Club’ joins Real Beer and Good Music as Things Too Cool for Utah…

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NBC’s The Playboy Club will be airing this fall…at least on most channels. As I mentioned in a previous article, this show will be racy. Of course this is expected because of what the Playboy symbol represents. Most stations were okay with this, but KSL-TV in Salt Lake City Utah is not on board. The president and CEO Mark Willes said that what the Playboy brand stands for is inconsistent with what the station stands for. I looked at this station’s regularly scheduled programming guide, and they are right. They play nothing racier than Days of our Lives and Law and Order: SVU. In The Playboy Club, or at least what I have seen from the trailers, there is a lot of adult content, and all of the women are dressed like bunnies in cute little leotards and fishnets.

But what is worse? a woman in a leotard, or a couple cheating and half naked on a soap opera? I understand that it is going to be a sexy show, but the nudity clause the cast had to sign was specifically for in-DVD extra content. No one will be getting naked on NBC. It is ridiculous. For example, Glee shows two girls making out who are IN HIGH SCHOOL, couples cheating on one another, a pregnancy, and drunken Britney stripping. I am sure that if Glee was put on by NBC, this channel would have no problem airing it. Yet, because this show has the playboy symbol, suddenly it can’t just be a sexy drama… it must be too provocative. NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt said that they are the only place reacting this way, and it is their prerogative to do so.

Heather Morris strips on GLEE – You’re welcome Doc!

Playboy is all about sexuality and beautiful women…but this show does not seem to be any worse than what appears in soap operas or teen dramas. I guess we will have to wait until it premiers this fall to say for sure, but I am of the opinion that KSL-TV has no reason to pull this show from their lineup. The Playboy Club has been adopted by Salt Lake City’s My Network affiliate, KMYU.


The Playboy Club will air Mondays at 10pm on NBC.

TV

Joe Rogan to Force Cow Testicles Down Your Throat: Fear Factor Returns!

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Fear Factor will be returning to NBC, and it looks as though host Joe Rogan will returning as well. For those who never watched Fear Factor, it was a gruesome show daring contestants to eat gross things or perform ridiculous stunts. And it was a huge hit at the height of the ‘Reality TV Boom’.

On the show, the last remaining contestant who can perform all of the acts wins $50,000. This show really pushed the bile to the forefront of my throat. The contestants were made to do things such as bob for items inside of a vat of cow blood, walk down a runway naked in front of hundreds of people, and eat the testicles of various animals. Mmm… cow balls. I couldn’t help but watch this show when it first aired in 2001. The show was canceled in 2006 after becoming the first reality show to be syndicated back in 2004.

Joe Rogan is currently the color commentator for the UFC, he is a fantastic stand-up comic, and he also has a podcast – which I have listened to some of. Rogan has commented in his podcasts about the show. In the last one I heard, he had mentioned that they were talking about money because his career is very hectic right now and he does not want to stop doing stand-up. He mentioned that when he was initially offered the hosting position back in 2001, he was positive that the show wouldn’t take off. He says he is excited for Fear Factor to come back.

See: EXCITED.
POP CULTURE

NIN: Year Zero Mini-Series Showing Signs of Life

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NINE months ago we got word from Trent Reznor that his plans for a two-year HBO and BBC Worldwide mini-series based on his Year Zero album released in 2007 was moving forward in the pre-production.

For those of you who are not cultured (or depressed) enough to be familiar with that album, it was Trent Reznor’s response to the George W Bush government policies. It served as warning if those policies continued, by portraying what the world would be like 15 years down the road – after a nuclear war between the United States and Iran, and the rise of the Bureau of Morality who take away American’s civil liberties. (Quick side note as a NIN fan: decent album, not the best. Favorite songs on the album include Survivalism, The Good Soldier, Capital G, God Given, and In This Twilight.)

At that time we heard that the team working on this project consists of Daniel Knauf (creator of Carnival), Lawerence Bender (producer of Pulp Fiction), and Kevin Kelly Brown (producer of Roswell). Since then, the development of this sci-fi mini-series has INCHed along, until recently when they announced that HBO and BBC have NAILed down a writer for the entire series, Jim Uhls. Uhls is most famous for adapting the screen play for Fight Club, and most forgotten about for writing the screen play for that piece of crap Jumper. Or maybe that was all Hayden Christensen’s fault… Thanks for ruining Darth Vadar asshole.

“Give me back my conditioner.”

Anyways, its good to finally here some news and confirmation that this mini-series moving forward and becoming closer to reality since the premise of the show sounds like it could be successful if done well. HBO does have a pretty solid track record when it comes to their own shows, but lets just hope tapping in to his inner ‘Tyler Durdon’ was apart of Uhls contract when coming aboard.

Movie Trailers

Mission Impossible 4 – Starring Hawkeye and Simon Pegg!

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Yesterday the new trailer for the latest installment of Mission: Impossible movie franchise hit the net. Now my old mad, an avid fan of the original series, will tell you that the movies were terrible. I would argue that only the John Woo installment (M:I-2) was terrible…

I would say instead that the first movie was pretty decent (Emiliooooo) and the 3rd movie was awesome. It is said 3rd movie – aka “Phillip Seymour Hoffman makes Tom Cruise his bitch” – that give me hope for the 4th. J.J. Abrams directed the 3rd, and is producing the 4th. For those who don’t know, Abrams is the man behind the shows Alias, Lost, and Fringe, as well as the director of movies like Super 8 and my favorite movie of 2009 – Star Trek.

Well this new one, titled Mission: Impossibe – Ghost Protocol, sees Ethan (Cruise) with a new team. In the 3rd movie he was working with Maggie Q – Live Free or Die Hard,  and The Tudors’  Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Not sure yet if Luther – Ving Rhames will show up again. Early reports said he would, but he’s not in the trailer, nor listed on IMDb. This time around though, it appears that Ethan has a whole new team. Maggie, Jonathan, and Ving have been replaced by Paula Patton (Deja ‘Vu), and returning from the last movie, lab tech Benji – played by Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek)!!!

The movie also features Josh Holloway (Lost Community) and Hawkeye, both in some capacity that is not entirely clear from the trailer. Even Carmine Falcone shows up.

Check out the trailer below! Complete with some local flavor from Eminem doing the music…

Simon Pegg has a gun! This movie is gonna be sweet apparently. It’s currently slated for a December 16th release. What do you think? Yay or nay?

COMICS/PRINT, Uncategorized

Flashpoint One Shot: Grodd of War #1

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I hope at this time everyone is loving the crap out of Flashpoint and even the tie in issues that have released so far. There has been a massive amount of tie ins so there had to have been at least one everybody has liked. One of the more debatable ones in my opinion had to be Grodd of War, which as you probably guess stars the Flashpoint equivalent of Gorilla Grodd.

There isn’t much to review about the comic. All that I can say is if you like violence and Grodd then you will no doubt love the living shit out of this comic. It basically shows that Grodd is a merciless SOGB (son of a gorilla bitch) and goes around looking for fights to further challenge himself. The whole one shot is just an excuse to have Grodd and his army enter the mix in Flashpoint proper as at the end of the comic he decides to go to war with Aquaman and Wonder Woman.

Overall I give the comic a 2.5 out of 5 bears. I’m not a fan of Gorilla Grodd so I wouldn’t recommend it to the casual reader, but it was a simple story (which is good sometimes) and has some pretty decent art. It will actually be a welcome sight to see Grodd and his minions enter the fray against Emperor Aquaman and Wonder Woman.

SPORTS

WWE Monday Night Raw Review: June 27th, 2011!

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In the same spirit as the last couple of weeks, tonight’s episode of Raw is yet another special event as the WWE brings back ‘Raw Roulette’. Not only this, but we already knew prior to tonight’s event that the “Heart Break Kid” – Shawn Michaels is going to be in Sin City for the show.

At the start of the show Shawn Michaels makes his way to the ring, and says that he’s had a hard time leaving the WWE. He’s getting all sappy, and kissing the crowds ass, telling them they made him who he was.  He is quickly interrupted by CM Punk, and a couple of his sideshow clowns, McGillicutty and Otunga. Punk begins to give HBK crap for coming back after he said he was going to retire. After some smack talk about how HBK left the WWE a loser because he lost to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, Shawn Michaels gave David Otunga a “sweet chin music.” The general manager then sends an email saying that CM Punk will be in the first match of the night and they will spin the roulette wheel to see what kind of match it will be. Booker T (who is apparently the roulette host) comes on the titan tron and spins the wheel, which lands on a mystery opponent. Booker informs Punk that his opponent will be Kane. Michaels who is still in the ring, then hits McGillicutty with a sweet chin music and tells CM Punk good luck with the match.

Commercial Break…  

CM Punk vs. Kane

The match begins with Kane man handling Punk. He quickly throws Punk to the outside of the ring, and throwing him into the barricade. Once back in the ring, Kane still continues to dominate Punk. CM Punk retaliates with a desperate kick to the head of Kane, and begins picking apart the big red machine. This seems to be the match of head kicks, as Kane gains control back from Punk by doing just that. CM Punk rolls out of the ring, and begins walking to the back. While walking to the back, CM Punk (Who has already promised that after his match in three weeks for the WWE championship, he is going to leave the company) begins yelling at the crowd saying, “What are they going to do, fire me?” Michael Cole then makes one of the most valid points he has ever made, by saying that this was the smartest thing Punk could have done. He already has his title shot, and there would be no point in risking an injury in this match.

Commercial Break… Continue reading WWE Monday Night Raw Review: June 27th, 2011! →