June 29, 2010

Freshmen Shows get Syndication

Big News for fans of Glee and Modern Family.  It seems like these freshmen series have already landed themselves syndication for the fall!  According to deadline.com"...Twentieth Television is finalizing separate deals for the cable rights to both hit shows made by 20th Century Fox TV with NBC Universal’s Oxygen and USA Network."

Oxygen, which will be the syndication network for Glee in 2013, is also planning a 2011 reality show to find the next Glee star!  So if you want to be on Glee look into this upcoming reality show.  It is reported that Oxygen will pay mid-six figures per episode of Glee to air in syndication.  It is rumored that this deal will also feature additional Glee-related programming! (not sure what this means but I love Glee so more programming could be great!)

As for Modern Family, it will be syndicated on USA network (not sure when this starts).  The network, which has mainly focused on hour-long programs is planning to expand into the half-hour market.  They recently ordered their first half-hour script and are looking for off-network series to support it's upcoming original half-hour series.  Prior to landing Modern Family the network pursued Two and a Half Men which landed on TBS.

Both Oxygen and USA are owned by NBCU soon to be owned by Comcast.

So are you all excited to watch re-runs of these shows on cable?  Sound off in the comments

June 22, 2010

And You Thought the KFC Double Down was a Strange Idea

Introducing the new Grilled Cheese Burger Melt at Friendly's.  Here's it's nutritional info:
1500 Calories
870 Fat Calories
79g Total Fat
38g Saturated Fat
180g Cholesterol
2090mg Sodium
101g Carbs
9g Dietary Fiber
4g Sugar
54g Protein


Although this is not an entirely new invention; in the South there has been a sandwich called "Fatty Melts" and "Chubby Melts".  Here's a picture of the early creation -->

Although yes it is unhealthy and very greasy it is in no way disgusting.  It contains all the same ingredients as a normal cheeseburger with 2 extra slices of bread and hey a Big Mac has a 3rd piece of bread so just 1 more slice of bread than a Big Mac.  It's actually kind of ingenious if you ask me.  It looks tasty but very greasy.  And as strange as this sounds, KFC's Double Down is actually...better for you than this burger creation!

Here is a link comparing this sandwich to alleged rapist Ben Roethlisberger...it's too funny not to glance at.

So folks what do you think of this burger creation?  Sound off in the comments below



June 21, 2010

HIMYM: Robin Sparkles Variety Show is Coming!

According to TVGuide.com, the previously mentioned variety show staring teen pop singer Robin Sparkles and Alan Thicke is going to be seen this coming season on How I Met Your Mother!

"It's going to happen. I don't know when, but it looks like it's finally coming," Cobie Smulders tells TVGuide.com. "I talked to [creators and executive producers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas]: 'Are we doing a variety show?' We are. Don't you worry!"
As for other news on the Robin front, Cobie Smulders had this to say about her character's love life

"Maybe she'll turn out to be a lesbian! That's her doppelgänger. That'd be interesting for me to play — straight Robin, lesbian Robin, Robin Sparkles. Love, Loss will prepare me for it!" Smulders laughs. "I don't know in what form Robin will find love, but hopefully it'll be the right one. I don't know if it'll be Ted, Barney, Marshall or Lily — it can be anyone in our cast at this point because I make out with every single person! Listen, Robin is a slut! She gets around. Season 6, hopefully she closes her legs a little bit!"
So HIMYM fans what do you think Robin's variety show will look like?  Sound off in the comments!

Glee to the Movies?

I just read that there is a possibility of up to THREE Glee movies.  According to Hollywoodlife.com, all of the stars of Glee have a stipulation in their contract that they must be available should 20th Century Fox decide to make up to 3 movies based on the show. 
[The actor] hereby grants Fox three exclusive, irrevocable options to engage [the actor] in up to, respectively, three feature length motion pictures.
Lea Michele, Corey Monteith, Diana Aragon, and Mark Salling all have this in their contracts that they signed prior to filming the pilot back in 2008. 

So Gleeks, what do you think about the possibility of a Glee movie or three?  Sound off in the comments

New INFO:
Show creator Ryan Murphy has stated that there will NOT be any Glee movies :( 

June 9, 2010

Glee Season 1 Finale: "Don't Stop Believin'" in this show!

So, Glee wrapped up it's brilliant and award winning first season last night with a bang.  Quinn had her baby, New Directions competed at Regionals, and Sue Sylvester showed some heart (at least to us).  My first and overall opinion of the finale is that it was really good, but I do have a few gripes about it.  But first let us recap.

We find out that the judges at regionals will be "celebrities", including our very own local celeb - Sue Sylvester, along with Olivia Newton-John, Josh Grobin, and the local news anchor Ron something or other.  New Directions feels like it's over because with Sue on the judging panel they are sure to lose.

Will invites the gang to his place for pizza and to gear up for regionals but they feel like they still think it's over for Glee because if they don't place the club gets shut down.  Mr. Shue goes to Emma for some advice on how to get the kids motivated and we find out she's been dating her dentist (who may or may not be played by John Stamos come fall, or at least that's the rumor floating around the Internet).  

Finn talks to Rachel and says the two of them as leaders need to step up and get the group focused on winning and after Will talks to Emma he decides that when he was ready to quit at the beginning of the year the 6 kids in the club at that point (Rachel, Finn, Mercedes, Kurt, Artie, and Tina) convinced him to stay by singing "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey and says that at regionals they will perform a medley of Journey songs! (YES!)

Regionals arrive and by my count there were only 3 teams competing, New Directions, Vocal Adrenaline, and Oral Intensity (funniest name ever) from Ft. Wyane, IN.  OI goes first and our gang gets nervous, they are signing a mash up Olivia Newton-John and Josh Grobin (what?).  So someone tipped them off to who the judges would be! 

New Directions is up next.  Rachel and Finn start at the back of the room and walk up to the stage similar to Rachel's performance of "Don't Rain on My Parade" from sectionals.  Although the big thing is that before they go on Finn tells Rachel he loves her! that's huge!  So they go on with their medley of Journey songs finishing it all with a slightly different rendition of "Don't Stop Believin" than they did in the pilot and it was great! 

When they get backstage Quinn is greeted by her mother who apologizes for kicking her out of the house and says she's sorry she missed all the other times she sang and she wants her to move back home and they can set up a nursery for the baby and that her she kicked her dad out for cheating on her with a "tattooed woman".  While waiting for a response Quinn's water breaks and they rush her to the hospital where she gives birth to "Beth" with daddy Puck and new found friend Mercedes in the room with her all while Vocal Adrenaline sings their song "Bohemian Rhapsody" (or I should say Jesse sings and the rest of the team just dances?!). 

The hospital must be across the street because Rachel comes back to hear some of VA's performance and talk to her mom (their coach).  She asks where the team is and she says at the hospital because Quinn is having her baby.

Backstage the judges are now trying to decide a winner, Josh Grobin liked New Directions, Olivia Newton John voted for Oral Intensity because they used her songs and Ron chooses Vocal Adrenaline.  When Grobin votes for New Directions the other judges go on bashing them calling them poor and actually being really mean about it and Sue tries to stick up for them (OMG Sue is sticking up for Glee) it is the same school she works at after all. 

The time comes for the announcement of the winner.  Sue gets to announce the winners.  Runner up goes to "the not at all stupidly named Oral Intensity" (great line).  and 1st place goes to....Vocal Adrenaline (I sort of wonder if Sue was actually telling the truth here she didn't even really look at the card before she announced it)...which means New Directions didn't place so Glee club is canceled!

Emma is seen fighting Principal Figgins for the club and tells Will he can't give up. He says he loves her and kisses her. (which wasn't scripted by the way!)

The team is very sad about it but take the time to tell Mr. Shue about what they all got out of being in Glee and he and Puck sing a wonderful "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" complete with ukulele.

Sue goes to Figgins and using her blackmail tells him to give Glee another year.  She tells Will it's because life wouldn't be the same if she didn't have him to fight with.  The audience sees just exactly how she votes at Regionals and surprisingly enough she votes New Directions #1. 

I guess we will see what next year holds for our Glee kids this fall.  If you can't stand that it's a summer with no Glee, fear not, you can rewatch the first season every Thursday night on Fox this summer!

OK, on to my gripes about the finale

First off, in the scene where they are having pizza at Will's I swear Quinn says she's only 8 months pregnant yet she has the baby at regionals which seems to be only a few days, maybe weeks (if your pushing it) from the point when they have pizza...WTF?  They've kinda run this whole pregnancy strangely by really playing it up in the first half of the season and then completely downplaying it the second half...I mean half the time Quinn barely looked pregnant. 

Second gripe is that why would you have a competition and have it be judged by celebrities?  And why did Olivia Newton John and Josh Grobin seem to be the two that took it the least serious? they are the music professionals right?  And don't even get me started on Josh Grobin's acting (or lack there of).

OK, first why are there only 3 teams? just trying to save time? if there are only 3 teams then they can only have 2 place and they knew they couldn't have New Directions finish lower than 3rd? 

Why did they only sing 1 song or mash up of songs?  at sectionals they sang 3 songs!

Honestly how can you vote for Vocal Adrenaline over the other 2 when Jesse was the only one who really sang?  you can't call yourself a Glee Club if you only have 1 person singing most of the song!  It seemed like the rest of their club was only there for backup dancing and a few little words here and there in the song but other than their cleverly choreographed dancing their song was no where near as good as New Directions (which makes me first second guess the judges lack of judgement and second the announcement Sue made of the winner).  Maybe next season will come out that New Directions actually won and Sue cheated?

Finally how did Shelby (Vocal Adrenaline's coach) get to adopt Quinn's baby?  She just got done telling Rachel (her real daughter) that she needs to focus on her and she wants a house and a dog and basically wants nothing to do with Rachel and then she gets to adopt Quinn's baby?  I guess they needed to tie the story together but come on?  Although at least she kept Puck's name of Beth for her.  Maybe she will let Puck and Quinn be a part of the baby's life since she regrets not being a part of Rachel's as a child...we shall see.

So, What did you think of the finale Gleeks?  sound off in the comments.

June 8, 2010

Persons Unknown - This Might Actually be Worth Watching

I took a chance and watched NBC's "Persons Unknown" last night...and I have to say, It was decent.  It strikes intrigue in the viewer, which is always a good thing; however, i would like a little more character development in the coming episodes.  The premise is this - seven people are kidnapped and held hostage in an abandoned town all while being monitored with surveillance cameras.  They have drug implants in their leg so if they try to leave they get a dose of the drugs and faint.  This strange ghost town has workers at the hotel where they sleep and the Chinese restaurant where they are forced to eat, however none of the workers seem to know much either.  These seven people weren't taken from the same location either, one was in New York, another in San Fransico...So it leaves the viewer wondering where are they, why were they taken, and how will they get out of there?  It seems as if the kidnappers have been watching them before they were taken and they are continuing to monitor them in this ghost town.  It almost feels like a game because each of them recieved a fortune cookie at dinner and although we don't know what all of them said (because what they read could have been a lie) we know for sure that one reads "kill your neighbor and you'll be free", so that makes me want to see what happens with that!  I'll be sure to tune in to NBC next monday at 10pm, will you?
Here's the first episode from hulu

June 6, 2010

Newsworthy Notes

Some of this news is old some is new but it's about stuff I care about so I thought I'd share it with you.

First and foremost fans of ABC's FlashForward or organizing a save the show effort on June 10 outside of the ABC HQs in Atlanta, LA, Chicago, NY, and Detroit. They are planning a "blackout" where they will simulate the show's blackout on the streets outside the HQ for 2 min and 17 sec (just like the show)...All I have to say is I hope this works cause I loved this show. There is also a facebook page to save the show. It wouldn't be the first time a show was cancelled and fans got the network to bring it back with a grand gesture. Take CBS's cancellation of Jerhico for example. The fans sent thousands of peanuts to the CBS executives and funny enough, it worked and CBS brought it out of cancellation but it only lasted 1 more season (I didn't watch this show so I can't say if it was worth the effort but enough people thought it was worth it and it got saved)...here's hoping these fans can get this show brought back from the dead. Here's a link to the story on Variety.  And at the bottom of the story are links to the facebook save the show page and another website which my work computer wouldn't allow me to go to so not sure about that one.

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Here's another bit of news that I frankly don't care for.  Disney which owns ABC, ABC Family, SoapNet and many other channels has decided that in 2012 they will pull the plug on SoapNet and replace it with Disney Junior.  Great just what we need more cartoon channels!  I like cartoons dont' get me wrong but come on there are so many channels out there for kids.  And now how am I going to watch re-runs of Beverly Hills 90210 or One Tree Hill?  It also airs Gilmore Girls (but that's also syndicated on ABC Family) and the OC plus re-airing daytime soaps and talk shows such as The View and it even has an original series called Being Erica.  All of this will disappear so that Disney can air another channel aimed at toddlers!  I mean it's gonna air shows that are already on other channels like Handy Manny and other Playhouse Disney shows...just watch the frickin Disney Channel if you wanna watch these shows! Toddlers don't need a 24 hour network for themselves!  Toddlers shouldn't be watching that much TV! come on parents!  here's a link to a story.

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This is really old news but in case you didn't hear Glee, which will return for a second season this fall, has already been picked up for a third season!  This happened a few weeks back but it was during season finale time and I was trying to watch a lot of television plus I had already posted a ton of posts on here so I held on to the news for a while and am just now getting around to posting it.  But here's another bit of info about Glee for you.  The Complete First Season of Glee will be available on DVD September 14.  I know that's a long way away but it's news nonetheless.  There will be some never before seen Sue's Corner's, 3 behind the scenes clips and some karaoke sing-a-long feature.  If you already bought Glee: Volume One: Road to Sectionals, you will get a $10 rebate for buying the complete first season on DVD as well.  (This is exactly why I didn't buy the DVD when it came out because I had a feeling that they wouldnt' release the second half as a separate DVD so I said I would just wait for the full season to be released and if it was released as 2 sets of DVDs I would just buy the 2 sets when the second set came out).  More info on the DVD here.

June 3, 2010

Lee DeWyze Acoustic Version of "Beautiful Day"

Why didn't Lee DeWyze sing this version of "Beautiful Day" on the finale performance of idol?  I think it would have made his win margin much bigger and I hope that this is the version he puts on his album because it is so much better than copying U2's version.  Check it out below



Then compare it to his idol performance here

June 2, 2010

Rain Man meet "Brain" Man

If you thought Dustin Hoffman's character in "Rain Man" was impressive, wait until you see what this guy can do.  Last night on 20/20, ABC told the story of "superhumans" those who defy the limitations of average humans.  A man who scales buildings like spiderman with no safety nets and no equipment, a man who jumps from the highest places and flys in his man-made flying squirrel type suit at speeds topping 200 mph!  Mermaids - humans who swim with prosthetic fins and can hold their breath for 5 or more minutes at a time to swim at deep depths with the fish.  A man who can survive in the sub-freezing temperatures that no other human can survive.  A man who can run 50+ miles in a given day and has run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days!  But of all these crazy "superhumans" this brainman is by far the most interesting.

He memorized π (pi) to 22,000 digits!  He has Asperger's syndrome (which is a form of Autism) and is also considered a savant which wikipedia defines as "...a rare condition in which people with developmental disorders have one or more areas of expertise, ability, or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual's overall limitations." 

He also has Synaesthesia which allows him to see numbers as images such as colored shapes.  He uses this synaesthesia to do math unlike the way the rest of us do math.  He visualizes three-dimensional shapes and visualizes the answer as opposed to mathematically solving the problem like the rest of us. 

Here is his portion from last night's 20/20