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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.
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Review: HBO’s ‘True Blood’ Season 4, Episode 1: ‘She’s Not There’

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The waiting is over!  The much anticipated fourth season of True Blood has finally arrived!  We can now know the fate of our beloved characters in Bon Temps, Louisiana.

We’ve already seen the first 8 minutes of this episode.  You can read our review of this early preview here.

  Continue reading Review: HBO’s ‘True Blood’ Season 4, Episode 1: ‘She’s Not There’ →

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TNT’s Falling Skies – Review: Episode 3 ‘Prisoner of War’

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This episode picks up where last week’s premiere left off with Tom and a small group attempting to save his son Ben. Things get off to a rough start as Tom and company are doing some recon of what they’re up against and someone knocks a piece of masonry off the building to the ground alerting a mech who opens fire. Before they’re driven off they saw the harnessed children including Ben gathering up scrap metal.

After the return to their base, Col. Porter briefs a group on how various other resistance groups are now in touch across the country. He also explains that the skitterers are setting up shop in every major city too and he wants his soldiers gathering intelligence on them and anything that their resistance can use. Tom stays after to tell them he has found Ben and a lot of other kids and Porter tells Tom they have a scientist that thinks he can remove the harness without killing the children, but needs one to try it on… you’ve probably guessed that its gonna be Ben. Tom gets the go ahead to rescue Ben only and bring him back for the harness removal. Then it turns that Tom even knows the guy who can remove the harness! Gasp in astonishment people!

Dr. Michael Harris tells Tom how he came to be in the resistance and apologizes about the death of his wife. Something tells me there’s more behind what happened to Tom’s wife, but it’s plainly obvious to all viewers. Afterwards its off to get Ben. Of course shit goes all awry as one of Tom’s buddies, Mike, sees his own son and blows their cover in his stupidity to save him. A mech is all over their ass at this point and they have to leave, Hal and Karen(?) getting left behind in the process at the mercy of another Mech.

Tom plans on going back after they get away, running headlong into a Skitter in the process and having to throw down with the ugly sum-bitch. Tom shockingly gets the upper hand by blowing off a couple of the skitter’s limbs with a shottie and then bludgeoning his face a little bit. He then returns to base with a prisoner of war – a live skitter. I can’t wait to see what they learn from the ugly turd in the next episode. Very exciting indeed!

Hal wakes up in the night, watching the harnessed kid carry off Karen as a mech shines a light in his face. As several harnessed kids march in front of the mech, a skitter points at the children while looking at Hal and saying something in its own language. Then I’m front of Hal the Mech proceeds to completely annihilate the kids with its cannon. Wow.

Doc Harris manages to get the harness of Mikes son by welding it off and leaving the needles from the harness in the kid’s back, the reasoning being that they withdrawal from whatever is in the harness and that is why they die. This way they wean off slowly and use morphine as a bridge between.

Tom finds Hal and he tells him the skitters let him go. Tom explains it’s what the Nazis sometimes did that with Allied prisoners to send a message: take one and we kill the rest. Tom then has a confrontation with Doc Harris who admits he ran and left Toms wife to die. His reward? Pow! Right in the kissa from Tom! At the end as the captive Skitter opens its eyes, the harness free child does too. It would seem the skitters still have a level of control even with the harness off.

I give this episode 4 out of 5 bears as we learned more about the aliens and it looks like we’ll learn a lot more in the next episode. The action was great and the acting was decent. Sure some of the scenes were cheesy as mice turds but it still good. I’m loving the above average effects in the show and animatronics they use with skitters along with cg. I’ll still be a watcher next week for sure!

TV

Critics Choice TV Awards: Results Don’t Lend Same Credibility Nominations Did…

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A couple weeks ago I got excited and told you about the quality of nominations from the first ever ‘Critics Choice TV Awards’. Representation for Community, Parks and Rec, Always Sunny, and Justified made me think someone had finally gotten it right. Then the winners were announced. Most of the good-will they had built with me has since disappeared. Let’s take a look…

BEST DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Justified
– Predicted Winner: Boardwalk Empire
– Actual Winner: Mad Men

This is about the least inspired choice possible. Way to distinguish yourselves by picking the show that has won this award 3 years running from the Emmy committee. I feel like they mailed this one in for a bid to be taken seriously, and in that bid I think they lose credibility.

It’s nice to see Justified nominated, but it looks like this one was over before it started. Mad Men is obviously not a terrible pick as all the shows were good, just seems uninspired.

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Kyle Chandler, “Friday Night Lights”
 – Predicted Winner: William H. Macy, “Shameless”
– Actual Winner: Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”

This is again predictable. I really like Jon Hamm, but so far this looks just the same as every other awards show out there, giving gold to maybe the most over-rated show on television.

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Connie Britton, “Friday Night Lights”
– Predicted Winner: Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”
 – Actual Winner: Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”

This is a show that I admit to have not watched, so I can say anything against the pick, but can’t speak for it either. Julianna Margulies is a solid actress and I’ve heard only good things about this show, so I’ll just give them the benifit of doubt and assume this was the right pick, but it’s too bad FNL didn’t get any love from the voters. This is the spot I thought Mad Men would get it’s statue, but obviously they still cleaned up without it…

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Walton Goggins, “Justified”
– Predicted Winner: Walton Goggins, “Justified”
– Actual Winner: John Noble, “Fringe”

Normally I wouldn’t have any problem with the greatly under-rated Fringe collecting some accolades, except in this case where it costs Goggins a much deserved victory here. Noble is great, I just thought it was Boyd Crowder’s year is all…

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Margo Martindale, “Justified”
– Predicted Winner: Margo Martindale, “Justified”
 – Actual Winner: TIE: Margo Martindale, “Justified”/Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”

Well HOLY SHIT, I almost called one right! Justified almost took the spotlight, but instead had to share it with – You Guessed It – Mad Men. Now I love Hendricks from her days on Firefly, but come on. This is a sham. A tie? BOOO. Martindale should’ve had this one to herself.

BEST COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: “Parks and Recreation”
– Predicted Winner: “Modern Family”
– Actual Winner: “Modern Family”

I really have no issue here. Parks and Rec I thought deserved it, but Modern Family is a great show. And to be honest, with the quality of nominees here, so long as it didn’t go to Glee or The Big Bang Theory I was gonna be ok with it. That being said, Modern Family would’ve been 3rd on my list, behind Community at 2nd. Anyhow, who can complain about a show that stars Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen, with Al Bundy to boot?

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: Charlie Day, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
– Predicted Winner: Steve Carell, “The Office”
– Actual Winner: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”

This is without a doubt the biggest issue I have with this list. The Big Bang Theory is unbelievably stupid and keeps getting rewarded for it’s formulaic CBS assembly line style of comedy. Nothing against Parsons personally, but this just seems to be a show about who non-nerd imagine real nerds act. And his character is annoying. I hate this show. And when you take into account the other 4 nominees, this decision makes even less sense…

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: Martha Plimpton, “Raising Hope”
– Predicted Winner: Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”
– Actual Winner: Tina Fey, “30 Rock”

Not it’s not unusual to hear me praise Tina Fey, I’m a huge fan of her’s. The problem I have here is that this was easily the weakest season of 30 Rock to date, while Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation really took off this season and I just don’t get the choice. Sure, in 2009 – Fey over Poehler is a no-brainier, but this one just seems like a reputation win…

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: Nick Offerman, “Parks & Rec”
– Predicted Winner: Nick Offerman, “Parks & Rec”
– Actual Winner: NPH, “How I Met Your Mother”

If Jim Parson’s won is my #1 issue, this is my #1B issue. I like NPH, but as we’ve talked about in the past HIMYM isn’t what it once was, and this was without a doubt Nick Offerman’s award. Offerman’s ‘Ron Swanson’ is the best character on television and he was absolutely robbed here. It makes me wonder if the voters even watched Parks and Rec this season. As much as I like Harris, he actually would’ve been last on my list of the 5 nominees…

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
– Predicted Winner: Jane Lynch, “Glee”
– Actual Winner: Busy Philipps, “Cougar Town”

I was rooting for Bowen because I think she gets overlooked, but I can’t badmouth Busy Phillips. I don’t watch Cougar Town, but she was a principal character on Freaks and Geeks, and was in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles so she’s ok in my book…

This could’ve gone anyway really, all the nominees were deserving.

Where I will give them credit is that they awarded the first Critics’ Choice Television Icon Award to Danny Devito, star of Taxi and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

TV

‘If Only One More’ – TV Shows We’d Love to Have Gotten One More Season Out Of…

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So for our latest Staff Piece we decided to take a look at shows we feel could’ve gone a little longer. This list is consists of TV shows that could’ve benefited from one more season…

Deadwood (Brian Kronner)

tv showsThis is one of those shows whose cancellation seemed to make no sense. I mean it obviously came down to the monetary expense of the show’s production and the never stellar ratings like anything else, but it seemed popular enough to survive those obstacles. Critically loved and awarded (28 Emmy Nominations in 3 Years), this is the show that put Ian McShane on the map and won him a Golden Globe during the 2nd season. The show itself ended somewhat ambiguously, with Bullock (Olyphant) and Al Swearengen (McShane) having to join forces against Hearst, who is taking over the town. The season ended with Hearst leaving town, victorious, and many local matters unresolved amongst our principal characters.

Continue reading ‘If Only One More’ – TV Shows We’d Love to Have Gotten One More Season Out Of… →