Grid Effect

Since I am vowing to wait one week until I post recaps, it is going to be a stretch coming up with writing material until Wednesday. So I figured, when you’re in a bind and all else fails, hyping up The Sopranos is always a crowd pleaser.

As most of you know the storied series is set to begin its nine final episodes on April 8th. It has been an extended six seasons, and will have totaled eighty-six episodes over the course of roughly eight years (dating back to 1999). Do the math, that’s less than one episode a month and has often been the target of much criticism from impatient media and fans. But If you look at the series now, the time lapse has been necessary because it’s a microcosm of what it used to be. It has ventured from lighthearted to dark to downright morbid throughout the six seasons, each of which has a different energy and its own exposition about the human condition.

The show experienced a turning point in season three (for connoisseurs this is obvious, for everyone else they probably do not care enough to remember it), in episode six of that season (32 overall) entitled “University”, when Ralphie beat a stripper/prostitute to death. This brought some controversy along with it as they had never illustrated a woman being a murder victim in this series. Despite some minute criticism and quiet rumblings for boycotts, the heat essentially blew over, and that episode had set a new tone for the series.

Since then we have seen two women murdered while crawling on all fours and another beaten and nearly strangled to death, and no one voiced a single complaint. You want to know why? Because these characters are inherently awful, immoral people. You’re not supposed to admire or emulate them do the writers suggest you should. From season four on the series has questioned its own morality for the benefit of a grander theme.

This is what has made The Sopranos so enjoyable, particularly for film buffs. It suffices the fan boy in us as well as the arthouse goon, the only other series’ that have managed to do that are Friday Night Lights and The Wire (Both of which delve more into a study on societal institutions in vastly different contemporary American settings, whereas the Sopranos focuses more on internal conflict). But David Chase & Co. led the helm, revolutionizing television as a narrative art form, catapulting the medium into something that can be as good as, if not better than any Oscar nominated film, something dramatic television had never experienced.

Generally, I like comparing The Sopranos to Led Zeppelin albums. The first season widely considered the most commerically and (this is rare) critically successful. Zeppelin hit the scene with there first album and it was unlike anything anyone had ever heard. From that point on the second album, much like The Sopranos second season, resembled its predecessor due to its creative and commercial success, and both followed up their debut with a stellar sophomore effort. But from that point on, neither a Zeppelin album nor a Sopranos resembled their earlier work. And I think these last seven episodes are going to be David Chase’s Physical Graffiti, a murass of head banging 70’s metal and souful melodies and thought provoking writing that ended up defining just how eclectic the band was.

Chase is about to enter this territory. Like I said this show appeases the fan boy in me. Well, over the course of the past three seasons, there has been much grumbling amongst the fan boy legions. Not enough homicidal tendencies for their liking, apparently (though I thought Chase countered this well in season five and everyone seemed placated, but with audiences short term memories and constantly high expectations, the first half of season six put a damper on season five for this crowd). But after these nine episodes, I think them, as well as the art house throng will be pleasantly surprised. I haven’t seen any screenings or read reviews of anyone who has, its just a premonition of mine.

One thing I have always admired about the creators of South Park is there willingness to mock or denigrate culturally lauded people and entities. Sometimes they hit their mark (”Cancelled”, a parody on America’s fascination with reality television) and occasionally they miss (”A Million Little Fibers”, the bizarre and indescribable take on the James Frey fabricated memoirs scandal). Usually they fall into the former, and last night was no exception.

In interest of full disclosure here, I have never disliked 24. I watched it a couple of times, wasn’t overly impressed but definitely understood the appeal: Hyper-masculine super agent Jack Bauer defeats the bad guys through means of sheer will in the span of a single day. But the fact the show became so universally heralded as “the best show on television” and all other such nonsense, my disdain has exponentially grown for all things 24 related. I have no idea whether Parker and Stone are fans, after all, the episode last night could fall under the “Imitation is the best form of flattery” motive for its creation. but the mimicking they did on that series was second to none. Right down to every specific, inconsequential detail.

To be honest, its not the fact that the parody was so successful in execution that made it great (though it certainly did not hurt), its the fact that everyone else seems afraid to. I am not sure when it happened but it was long before last night, South Park has a pass to say whatever they want about anyone or anything and manage to allude all significant public criticism and repercussions.

Not to mention the complete and utter character assassination of Hilary Clinton and her presidential campaign (not too mention the current president, but they have done that numerous times). Will it ever come to fruition? Nope. Will she or anyone else around her comment or even acknowledge last nights episode? I really wouldn’t count on it. She is running a political campaign and has bigger fish to fry, but can you imagine if SNL pulled something even remotely as crude? It would be publicly denounced as inappropriate. Again, Parker and Stone have never made their politics clear to their fan base (though you can tell where they stand on varying issues based on the conclusions of most topical episodes, it’s hard to determine whether they lean left or right of center), but it really isn’t the point. In fact it would almost ruin the joke because it would appear they were pushing an agenda. It’s just their indifference to conceptually humiliating a often hated, yet also often beloved female politician.

Between Cartman’s torture techniques, the use of MySpace in tracking potential terrorists, the Die Hard: With A Vengeance reference (i.e. the Russians pulling the ruse of distracting local and national officials with the threat of bombing an elementary school) and all the aforementioned reasons, I enjoyed this episode and so far this season immensely and is dually compensating for the lackluster finish to the tenth season.

If you read the post about upcoming changes for Grid Effect (Two entries down), then you know I am recappng episodes a week after they air as opposed to the following day. Last night I updated that post to say this applies only to dramatic and hour long reality series’. So yeah, expect a South Park review later today> Onto the links…

I guess Probst is admitting the haves vs. have nots theme was a mistake, but promises things will improve over the course of the season. I like to see the contrition and all, at least we know they won’t attempt it again, at least not this egregiously. But whether he admits it or not, we all know it was a mistake. One team is all malourished the other is sleeping on a bed. Seems a little imbalanced regardless of what Probst says.

Jason Alexander is getting yet another sitcom deal, this time with ABC. This article says he is a victim of the Seinfeld curse, but if he were anyone else that made his name in any other sitcom, there is no chance of him getting a fourth shot at his own lead role. None. So maybe its not a curse so much as it is a blessing? You think on that.

Here’s a psuedo-video (I have no idea what the technical term for it is and I am to tired to look it up) of the much anticipated Jennifer Aniston-Courtney Cox kiss from Dirt on Tuesday. And, umm, tame doesn’t even begin to describe it. Look, ladies (more specifically Mrs. Cox, because it is your series), if you’re going to try and draw in an audience with a cheap, superficial gimmick rather than compelling character arcs, insightful/witty dialogue and credible plot development, then you have to commit to the gimmick and not simply mail it in, as you clearly did. Because I can guarantee you, that anyone who tuned in for this specific gimmick, is never, ever, ever, ever going to watch your show again. Ever.

Apparently Eddie Falco was pretty emotional on the final set of The Sopranos. I say this with all sincerity, that I really, really appreciate the passion she has for that role. The three lead actors (James Gandolfini, Eddie Falco and I think the default third lead because they have killed so many of them off, Michael Imperioli) commit to their roles like no other lead actors on television. It’s part of what makes the series so engaging, you can watch three great performers at the top of their game working meticulously with multi-faceted characters. And much like Falco couldn’t control herself on her final set, I can barely contain myself for the final nine episodes.

Speaking of The Sopranos, Joey Pants (or Joey Pantoliano) who played infamed and probably best Tony Soprano rival Ralph Cifaretto, is steaming about a prop model head likened to his that they used and portrayed as decapated on a recent Vanity Fair cover and on the series. What I can’t understand is, what brought this on now? He was murdered in the fourth season and that is whe they showed the disposal of his head in episode 48, the ninth installment of the fourth season entitled “Whoever Did This” and originally aired on November 10th, 2002. As far as I know he has never voiced any concern in the past five years over this, why now?

Lebron James and Jimmy Kimmel are scheduled to host the ESPY’s together. Lebron has said he aspires to be a global icon and one of the richest men in the world (which is somewhat obnoxious because he’s a fucking basketball player). Someone should tell him this a step in the wrong direction, especially if he is going to be chewing his fingernails throughout the broadcast.

And finally, 7-Eleven’s may become Kwik-E-Marts in the promotion for the new Simpsons movie. Please, 7-11, do not encourage them. This series has been stale for the past six or seven years, we do not need the added exposure.

More later today on last night’s brilliant South Park episode.

Last Wednesday’s Friday Night Lights could best be described as a transitive episode, nothing was settled and a series of of new character arcs were introduced. Every featured Dillon character was given a certain predicament and approached it with sound logic, resorted to the irrational, then reverted back to conventional wisdom (with the exception of one case). And we are left spinning in the wind as to how everything will be resolved, as is introspective storytelling’s wont. Onto the recap…

Julie this week is in categorical spoiled teen mode over her parents announcement to potentially move to Austin, something she would have wholly embraced two and a half months ago. Its never really explained, but neither of her parents can’t quite figure out that Saceran is her basic reason for pining to stay in the po-dunk town she at one point rejected. Naturally, this information is disclosed (though we are not sure who Buddy has and has not told about psuedo-PI job with the notepad) and is unable to level with Matt about the prospect of moving to the college town. If she doesn’t want to go, then I am more than willing. When it comes to comparing the women at OSU to the women at UT, UT wins in a proverbial landslide.

Anyhow, this famlial quandary happens to fall in the throws of the supposedly annual Dillon Father-Daughter dance. After supposedly days (DAYS!) of the silent treatment, the story reaches its climax eith an excurciatingly painful scene where Julie announces that “she has dreams to”. I think I just figured out why my friends mock me for watching this show. They level with each other, then eventually head inside with all the enthusiasm of a lamb at the slaughter. Taylor ends up telling TMU (the fictional university that offered him a head coaching position) that he’ll have to think on it.

Riggins, in prospective tawdry love affair news (something he excels at, apparently) Tim goes from being reprimanded by his new mid-thirties single mother neighbor for fixing her storm drain to being asked for a favor, that is, to pick her kid up from school. It wreaks of poor single mother victim hood, what with all the “they won’t give me time off work” business. Yeah, it must be rough baiting your high school neighbor who lies steadily in a constant drunken stupor to do it for you. Surely this won’t give her something else to begrudge. And second of all, why isn’t Riggins in school? Is he skipping? Is this something that happens regularly? (See, you can dissect even the better series on television and make them seem cheap and poorly edited).

When Mildly Attractive Mid-Thirties Single Woman Next Door (If it hasn’t dawned on you yet, we do not have a name for this women. So if your wondering why the first nine words of this paragraph are capitalized, its because I am turning her into an acronym: MAMTSWND) asks Tim for the favor that she doesn’t want but needs as a result of how evil The Man is, she stressed puncuality, apparently the kid has trust issues. Low and behold, Tim arrives late to him being bullied by four kids. All of which, tower over him like Greg Oden over Joey Dorsey (NCAA Tournament reference, sorry). Riggins interferes and causes one of the antagonistic kids to wet his pants.

MAMTSWND arrives home elated to see her kid bonding with the borderline socially dysfunctional Riggins, but is flummoxed to discover her neighbor is teaching her baby boy how to fight. Turns out MAMTSWND is a pacifist. Wow. A single mother in west Texas is also a pacifist… talk about a social pariah. I should really stop making fun of her, she must have a really hard time. Riggins and MAMTSWND actually engage in an endearing conversation about what’s best for her son, as they both have nothing but the best of intentions for him.

Of course this all ends with Riggins making a move on her after she throws every possible non-sequitor his way, her throwing him out proclaiming he is “just a kid” (doesn’t really seem to stop anybody nowadays, MAMTSWND, what makes you so special that your above sleeping with a high schooler?… Oh, right, its torrid, bizarre and illegal. Gotcha.). Then naturally she goes all Debra LaFave on us and reciprocates his advances. She even gives the obligatory predatorial “No one can Know” whisper in his ear as she readies herself to mount the All-Conference fullback. Obviously this doesn’t end until she’s in a fetishistic cheerleader’s uniform.

Street did not make the Quad-Rugby national team and is sulking over it until Herc snaps him back to reality. When Street explains, “I really needed this”; Herc informs him, “It’s competition, not therapy”. And it needed to be said, even though Street realizes this and his knee-jerk reaction stemmed directly from a kid whose entire life revolved around competitive football and is still adjusting to life without functioning legs.

Because Herc must stay in Austin for the remainder of practices/tryouts, Street is stranded there as well. Until the blond tattoo artist offers to escort him back to Dillon (she is going that way anyways) and they end up making out at a replica stonehedge. Few can resist the romantic setting of replicated historical sites, and clearly these two are no exception. Him and Lyla are on the rocks.

In what’s arguably the best scene in this season (and the saving grace of this episode), Jason goes to buy some Champion Beer (What the hell? Is this a localized Texas thing? That looks like the RC of beers) which was probably an acceptable feat when he was QB’ing The Panthers, now that he is the “town cripple” suing the football team (which he alludes to earlier), he doesn’t have a prayer. Riggins coincidentally walks into the same place and presents a fake ID for the purpose of plausible deniability. Ends up he is with Saceran and Smash, the four of them go out the field of misguided glory (the football field) and proceed to get hammered and work through Matt’s trepidation about the pending state playoffs. In the process, Jason and Riggins make amends, Street finds his possible nitch in coaching (which is seethingly predictable, but I enjoy it none the less) and prepare the QB for the upcoming playoff game. It’s beautifully shot and reminded me why I have so much respect for this series, because I almost forgot in the first 45 minutes.

Other plot points:

-Tyra’s mom is still the suffocating underacheiver that wants her daughter to be wallowing in the mire when Tyra reaches her forties. After some stern, relentless insistence from Tami, Tyra has now decided to clean up her act. After some pushing and pulling, the two agree to help and be there for each other… This all happened like a couple months ago.

-Waverly has been diagnosed as bi-polar and Smash is conflicted. And by conflicted, I mean scared shitless. No telling how he plans on carrying it, if at all.

-Buddy puts forth a horrendous effort to get his wife back. He enlists Lyla to help with a photo album despite her protests, offers it up to his estranged spouse as amends. She rejects it and her mother spills the beans that he has been unfaithful throughout the union. Up until that point Lyla had been sympathetic towards her father (for obvious reasons), but this newfound discovery leads her to direct her anger towards her fathers car dealership to beat the hell out of four of the lot show pieces before driving through the glass wall that car showrooms are infamous for. For me, this crosses the line from vindictive to psychotic. Next time I get into an argument with a girlfriend, I am going to break all of her car windows, just to see how everyone reacts.

Sorry I was late to this, couldn’t find the time at work and had to finish the second half of it afterwards. Anyhow, new episode tonight at 8pm et.

I might make a habit of recapping and reviewing episodes on the morning that the subsequent episode is set to air, as opposed to the morning following the original air date. The reason for this is two fold. One, it extends my deadline. Instead of having a matter of hours to complete what’s usually a lengthy post, I now have close to six days, making my prose more cogent and entertaining. Two, it refreshes the readers memory before an episode he/she is most likely going to watch later that evening, a recap from the same day makes the backstory easier to apply and interpret. Typically, I recap an episode immediately after it airs, and by the time the following episode is set to broadcast, said recap is already off the homepage.

For example, a new episode of Friday Night Lights is scheduled to air tonight. I am posting my recap for last Wednesday’s episode sometime this afternoon.

In addition, each series that is regularly recapped will be segregated into its own category. This is for those new to the site, in case they are partial to one particular series I have recapped in the past, this makes some older posts more readily available.

If any of these changes are ill-advised and undesirable, then feel free to leave your complaints in the comments section. All feedback and suggestions, positive or otherwise, are welcomed.

(Update: The new practice of posting recaps of episodes the same day the following episode is set to air applies only to dramatic and hour long reality series’. Expect a review for sitcoms the day after they air).

In all mob and sport movies, there is a female love interest that claims to love the protagonist despite his shortcomings and/or misdeeds, this is a fine if overused gimmick and is occasionally used pragmatically to study both characters in-depthly, more so than if they had never been introduced.

Which brings us to The Black Donnelly’s. I have no idea why Tommy is so infatuated with Jenny. None. Other than Joey “Ice Cream” narrating it, there has never been any indication as tp why he is so smitten with her. It has only been stated, never explained. There has never been any deep sincerity between the two on camera, they seemingly share nothing in common and to top it all off, they have been friends since childhood and she, at some point GOT MARRIED! Set aside a few pleading, lovelorn stares, an impartial viewer would think they hated each other, if it were not for the fact that Joey “Ice Cream” says something along the lines of, “But Tommy would do anything for Jenny”, every ten minutes.

Last nights episode bordered on ridiculous. For God only knows what reason, Jimmy is under the impression that since he killed Louie “Downtown” and retained his cellphone with all of his customers numbers and gambling debts, that he is now entitled to those debts. Tommy was the lone voice of reason for about fifteen minutes, until discovering that an old high school friend named Maxwell who married a past love interest of Tommy’s was the person Jimmy was trying to shake down to the tune of $5,000.

In addition to this, Jenny’s dad, who is apparently suffering from Alzheimers, has been making bank deposits inside the neighboring mailbox. So out of nowhere, Tommy feels in the right to extort this guy for the five grand in order to help Jenny save her family’s diner, which we have never seen more than two people in at a time. To her credit, Jenny did not ask for any help and was unaware as to how Tommy came across the $2,500 (he split it 50/50 with Jimmy, who, by the way, was going to kill Maxwell for money he owed someone else). But when he offered her the money, she acted all conflicted about accepting it, she could have left it lying on the counter for someone else to pick up, or even put it back where Tommy found it or donated it to her favorite charity, but predictably, she took it presumably to save her diner.

Nothing about any of this is noble or selfless. Jimmy’s running around like a mad man threatening to murder people for essentially no reason, Kevin is complacent in all of it, Sean still hasn’t left his mothers apartment, Tommy justifies everything he does for duh purrty girl and Jenny is attracted to all of it, regardless of how much she pretends like she isn’t. I know he is presented in a overly sinister fashion, everytime he appears on screen the room gets smokey, the lights dim and they que up the suspense numbers to inidicate we are supposed to hate him; but at least he realizes he’s a scumbag and acts accordingly.

I carry much more respect for that than I do for three brothers (leaving out Sean, he has yet to do anything unredeemable other than mope around like a twelve year old), an unmerciful girl and an insufferable tagalong who all do remarkably horrible shit under the guise of “for the family”.

With all that said, this show literally has me by the balls for no explicable reason. I guess I am interested in seeing how they tie everything together and where they plan on taking Tommy’s character. So I suppose I’ll continue watching, though I probably won’t like it.

The only television I watched over the weekend (other than basketball, of course) were three rerun episodes of Rescue Me from the series’ innagural season. After watching said three episodes, I can categorically say that all rape/non-rape scenes aside, this show was much better in execution in its debut.

It had drama (Colleen getting into a potentially fatal car accident, Franco finding out he has a five year old daughter), comedy (”I told you not to spend that money so quickly, haven’t you ever seen Goodfellas?”) and several slowly unraveling plotlines. As opposed to this most recent season, in which the degree of tragedy that Tommy was burdened with (his son dies, his brother and ex-wife are sleeping together, said brother is gunned down, Lenny Clarke is in prison, chief has a heart attack, one of his best friends dies, the list goes on) bordered on comedic and unbelievable rather than nuanced and realistic. A lot of it just seemed akin to manufactured drama.

Which isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy what I watched, this was the first time I have rewatched the first season, and everything in season three was much more gripping after watching a few episodes from season one (Keela was introduced in those three episodes, seeing Connor get into trouble, Probie getting physically assaulted by a swingers couple, Lieu’s ongoing marital problems, chief’s homophobia, etc.). I am simply pointing out that everything seemed organic in the first season, whereas now it can occasionally come off as lacking authenticity.

Season three did have its moments, regardless of how few and far between they may have been. Dennis Leary’s bar scene (probably solely responsible for his emmy nomination), Charles Durden’s funeral scene and the homage to the Kennedy’s with the hearing impaired sister just to name a few.

But then there was the downside, the love square between Tommy, Janet, Johnny and Marisa Tomei (cannot remember her characters name, my apologies) and the never ending plethora of casual sex partners Tommy had. To contrast this with what I saw in the three episodes of the first season, Tommy was trying to sabotage his ex wife’s (Janet) relationship while hoping to unveil the name of the girl he had been sleeping with whom he met at a bar. Much better storytelling in the latter.

And what was the most underwhelming aspect of last season? The ending. That bullshit non-cliffhanger that left Tommy and Shiela in a burning beach house. We all know Tommy Gavin is not going to die, at the rate this series is going they’ll probably open up with him dreaming about his own funeral or something. Shiela, on the other hand, could quite possibly meet her maker. And if that means Tommy would be the surrogate father to her kid, then all the better. That kid is damn funny.

I am in no way, shape or form, ready to bail on this series. I understand several female viewers did after the infamous Tommy-Janet scene, and I can agree that the series at large has a, ummm, unique method of characterizing women on this series. As in virtually all of them are portrayed negatively (with the exception of Laura, Diane Farr’s character that left at the end of season two), so I can understand some of the backlash. But by and large the women on this series are peripheral characters, Susan Sarandon’s character was a plot device, much like the guy who attempted to rape Probie in the first season, I don’t think there is anything particularly misogynistic about that, its just that there is only so much available camera time and the show is ultimately about the firehouse. Regrettably, some misogyny should be expected within this environment but it doesn’t necessarily mean the series creators are chauvinists themselves.

Needless to say, season one was a great reminder of why I loved this series in its debut and was a nice precursor to get ready for the fourth season scheduled to start in June. Instead of going into it with pre-set notions about illicit, borderline incestual love affairs and an absurd amount of forced dramatics, I can hark back to a time when this series was as good as anything on basic cable.

Did not have time to do a recap on Wednesday’s Friday night Lights (I’ll probably save it for next Friday) so instead I will offer up some compelling links to close out the week:

If you’re wondering why we often experience huge lapses in between Office episodes, this might be partly responsible. Judging from Rainn Wilson’s acting decisions though, I feel like they might have a Friends like resume when it comes to film.

I am hesitant to even post a link with numerous spoilers about the upcoming final (half) season of The Sopranos, but click on this link with extreme caution. (Note: I absolutely refuse to read this, do so at your own peril and please don’t summarize it in the comments section. Thanks).

Yet another fledgling actor has been picked up for DUI. I am sensing a correlation here between falling celebrity status and alcohol related legal issues. Can’t quite put my finger on it…

One of my favorite television writers discusses the creative originality of Friday Night Lights.

And finally, Real World casting directors have decided to begin seeking out “real people” for upcoming seasons of the aging reality series. I assume their intepretation of “real people” are those who occasionally go see a movie on Tuesday night instead of getting rip-roaring plastered, but the way the series has been for the passed five or six years, I think the producers have made their bed, now must lie in it.
Audience members who enjoyed the show in the early-mid 90’s are not coming back, so they might as well cling to the younger viewers who enjoy the continuously inebriated melodrama. Though I think at this point the Bunim/Murray Company is worried about a catastrophic lawsuit of some kind or someone’s untimely demise. As stated before, I think this Denver cast is the most unstable in the history of the series, I am sure that will make Tyrie’s, Brooke’s and Jenn’s parents all proud that their children were members of the cast that forced the producers to say, “Maybe we should look for some ‘real people’ next time”. Now that, my friends, is emotionally crippled.

Unfortunately I never found the time to post at work and was forced to wait until now, at my house, during my free time, to summarize South Park. Its so much better to get these write ups out of the way on the companies dime, but I’m a whore for the man much like everyone else. But now that I’m done lamenting, what an odd turn for the Comedy Central series last night. While the last two episodes were vulgar and topically controversial, this one was just… bizarre; but immensely clever. I knew it was funny and was a great parody of doomsday films, but it was so offbeat I had a difficult time just trying to figure out when to laugh.

For those who did not watch last night, there was an outbreak of lice in the 4th grade classroom, much of the episode revolved around determining who was the culprate. But the other half of the episode took place inside of Tommy’s hair where a colony of lice questioned the meaning and future of their existence. They survived several hardships throughout the episode, such as an acidic flood (anti-lice shampoo), a hurricane (Tommy subsequently blow-drying his hair) and famine (the after effects of both natural disasters).

The attempt to humanize a village of lice and the satirically force uys to care about there outcome is funny in and of itself, but the lice clinging to strands of a nine year olds hair for dear life while he gingerly blow drys his hair sent me over the edge, it was the one true laugh out loud moment of the episode. As far as the rest was concerned, its almost as if they became too concerned with satire and forgot to add a punchline.

The story with the kids was more on track with what I like to see out of this series: a group of elementary school kids persecuting and villainizing each other for the means of self-preservation. Whenever they exhibit the narcissism of kids this age, I enjoy it, mostly because no one else seems to even acknowledge it. So Parker and Stone could make 100 episodes with the same thematic principals and it would still seem fresh and still be entertaining.

While I think this series is still currently off from its hay day (fifth and sixth seasons), I think this is a step in the right direction. And like I have said repeatedly I am always going to be entertained by this series, mainly because its some of the least formulaic comedy writing on television, and topical or no their material is always original. I just don’t think Parker and Stone need to push the envelope this far.

Thirteen days in between episodes distances us from an already distant Survivor season. With that said, lets dive right into the recap.

Pre-credits scene, For the first time in a long time in the pre-credits, its daytime! Yau-Man, as well as the rest of us, are surprised he’s still there, but all of us are better for it as he’s actually likable. That’s surprising, they go straight to a Probst meet up before the credits. He asks two people to step up, one from each team, Edgardo and Earl are the two volunteers. Probst informs them that they are forming new tribes. Ironically enough, they both probably want off their current teams. Earl, because he has a slight touch of famine; Edgardo, because the two women in his alliance are shit heads.

They must choose someone from opposite tribes. And the most recent member selected picks the next player for his/her team Edgardo takes Mookie, Earl takes Boo, Mookie takes Alex, Boo takes Michelle, Alex takes Rocky, Michelle takes Cassandra, Rocky takes Dreamz, way to put differences aside for sheer brawn. Cassandra takes Yau-Man. Anthony goes to a new all-male tribe, Stacy to the mixed squad and Lisi is the only one not selected, she blabbers incoherently about not wanting to stay in the game or something? I am not really clear. Anyhow, Edgardo wins a fierce battle of scissor-paper-stone to reach into a bag and pull out one of the two buff colors. More importantly than deciding team colors, this determines who goes to which camp. He pulls out the wrong one, the all male team is going to the island of no sustenance, the mixed tribe is being put up at the resort camp.

In case you’re wondering the new teams shape up like this:

Ravu: Edgardo, Anthony, Dreamz, Rocky, Alex & Boo.

Moto: Earl, Mookie, Yau-Man, Stacy, Cassandra & Michelle

Lisi is at exile island and for whatever reason seems disinterested in the interpreting the clue. She is really giving the Survivor editing team an easy time here.

Yau-Man, Earl and Michelle are basking in the glory that is Moto’s camp. Earl interviews how him and Yau-Man have an upper hand on the rest of the tribe because of the knowledge of the idol.

The favored alliance

Back at Ravu, they seem to be in good spirits for the time being and enjoying a full blown “male empowerment” cheer. Its everything you’d expect it to be. Rocky says he enjoys “touching and making out with women, and having conversations with them”, but likes being with just the guys. Well, there was only one remaining woman on his old tribe, surely he could have waited a few days to vote her off then talk about how great it is to have conversations with her. Anthony interviews about his physical and social inadequacies with his team, he explains how unfortunate he is to end up in this predicament, and unfortunately he’s probably right.

Earl recognizes that Boo may feel a little threatened about the new situation, as there are three former Ravu members on the new Moto tribe, in addition with the way Boo and Stacy were treating Cassandra, she is surely switching sides. Boo said he could smell the million because he’s a jackass. There’s still thirteen people left in the game, we’re not even close to half over, his confidence had crossed over into full blown arrogance, welcome back Boo.

Speaking of Stacy, there are so few women and she is clearly losing the head-to-head battle with Michelle for reigning attractive female status. In terms of Survivor, she has been living in luxury compared to Michelle’s squalor, and yet her face is breaking out horribly. Doesn’t bode well when your personality is already so ugly.

Anthony’s paranoia is going to get him booted, he describes the situation as, “the big men go off while Cookie is still here at the campfire”. Alex, who was previously complaining about all the backstabbing at the old Moto, is already politicking himself. They decide on an alliance of four between Alex, Mookie, Dreamz and Edgardo. Mookie cracks a series of unnecessary jokes about how weak Anthony is: “Rocky called him out and he almost cried” are his exact words. That’s embarrassing. The new Ravu manage to catch a bevy of fish.

Immunity challenge is everyone connected to the ends of three poles tied together going through and obstacle course that consists of five narrow gates and a finish line, which favors smaller contestants. Its dreadful to watch. In fact, they kind of get locked up and its impossible to narrate what’s happening. I can tell you that it’s neck and neck annnnnddddd, Moto wins in a close one. Obviously Anthony is going home. Not only did the perceived dominant majority decide he’s next, but the fifth member of the tribe cannot stand him.

We come back from commercial and Anthony is sharpening a blade and mocking the situation. It could easily be interpreted the wrong way. I think the next ten minutes are simply going to be Anthony lamenting his position. Dreamz does concede that Anthony does work more around camp.

Seems like we might have a game now. Edgardo and Dreamz both seem to favor Anthony. Edgardo even goes so far as to say that Anthony is Rocky’s “bitch”, and that is not something he thinks highly of. Rocky is now noticeably threatened, comparing Anthony to a girl again in an attempt to question his manhood, also adding that he doesn’t have any social skills. Which isn’t necessarily true, very few people can get along with someone like Rocky, I would dare to call him and his hyper-aggression borderline antisocial. But I wasn’t a psych major so I really have no idea.

At TC, Edgardo discusses how the defunct Ravu camp was exaggerated, and points out that at Moto’s camp it doesn’t really embody the concept of Survivor. In the instance that there is lacking any element of survival. Rocky berates Anthony about his femininity, at the behest of Probst Anthony actually stands up for himself. Anthony then explains he avoided confrontation to keep his tribe together so they could maintain some sort of solidarity, and that is a perfectly logical explanation. Alex at least says to Probst he felt empathy for Anthony. This was something of a zero sum episode, though, because they are getting Lisi for next episode.

They vote, Rocky and Anthony vote for each other, the rest go as such:
Anthony
Anthony
Anthony
More or less predictable, and most likely the wrong decision. I get the feeling Mookie was the deciding vote because he has lived with Rocky and Anthony for the past seventeen days. Set aside a few days when they first arrived, cannot really attest to the character of anyone on the old Ravu tribe.

In his parting words, Anthony is pissed off. And rightfully so. It amazes me that considering all of these individuals are over the age of twenty-three, that they would let simply the loudest person dictate the terms, but that’s what took place.

Next week looks like more of the same. Back with more on South Park when I can get the free time at work this afternoon.

Tonight there are three series’ airing new episodes that we generally have a laudatory opinion of here at Grid Effect. In addition to Friday Night Lights and South Park (which only airs in 6-8 episode intervals), Survivor has been moved to tonight for this week for the sake of the NCAA’s; and that is perfectly acceptable considering we would have a three week hiatus if they didn’t (for a fucking reality series at that).

My point being, that while I enjoy summarizing, watching, debating and categorizing all the aspects of all these series, I like to get off my couch once in a while. Currently, there are four out of the six nights in which I do not watch a single series: Sunday (soon to change with Entourage and, more importantly, The Sopranos returning on April 8th), Monday (Yeah, yeah, I know, The Black Donnelly’s, but you have no idea how hesitant I am to tune into that every Monday, in fact the only reason I do is for material), Tuesday and Friday.

So I guess this is a plea to the networks… can’t we space out the quality programming? After I am done watching all three of these episodes tonight not only am I going to be one step closer to full blown carpel tunnel, but I might have to jog three hours just to compensate for the lack of physical activity, and I hate jogging. So take this with a grain of salt, I know you network overlords have bigger fish to fry, but quit deferring to American Idol on Tuesdays, 24 on Mondays and the steaming pile of dog shit that ABC offers up on Sundays; then maybe I can get back to a semblance of reality and stop living in Pleasantville on Wednesdays. Thanks.

Well, the trailers for The Black Donnelly’s are beginning to mislead, probably in an attempt to boost ratings. But when they promote an episode that insists the Mother’s life is in jeopardy, I want to see some sort of confrontation. Call me shallow, call me crazy, but I am not watching The Black Donnelly’s for its realism or artistic merit, I am watching for pure entertainment value. Not to mention that after work, running, eating and studying for LSAT’s, there isn’t much left to do at 10pm.

Last night was by far the least engaging episode to date. Two of the brothers, Sean and Kevin were pent up in their mothers house. Kevin, who’s aware of the threat from the Italians, is playing the role of protector (probably not the best option), and Sean is in hibernation because of the remaining facial scars from the beating he took. I know if I almost die in a hospital, my utmost concern would be some temporary scars. The writers emphasized the point that he was the “ladies man” of the four, but if one has a near death experience in a hospital, it just doesn’t seem realistic that his immediate regret is a dminished sexual prowess… but maybe that’s just me.

Again, I do not watch this show for its realism, but if your going to incorporate Dostoevsky and Aristotle quotes as thematic interpretations for every episode, something other than a few facial wounds has to be at stake.

One thing I did find humorous, if not typical, is that as a result of Joey “Ice Cream’s” pining to have some sort of sibling solidarity, he attaches himself to Tommy, unequivocally the most dysfunctional of the four. Desperation reaps condemnation, I suppose. If nothing else, at least there is a reason why Mr. “Ice Cream” is a suitable narrator.
Anyhow, clearly stealing gambling debts from the mob is going to come back to haunt the Donnelly’s, but the gimmick of Jimmy getting them in trouble and everyone else suffering the consequences, then Tommy being forced to handle the situation is already tiresome. I would assume the series extends beyond that, but who knows? As of now it is pretty uneven.

I did like how this episode ended, after Nicky threatened Tommy’s family (more specifically his mother), Tommy showed up in front of Nicky’s mother’s apartment to pay of this supposed debt and subtley threaten his mother. It was an original eye for an eye retaliation. Sort of like saying, “we might not be able to kill each other so easily, but those close to us who are most vulnerable are easy targets. So if you hurt my family, I will not hesitate to hurt yours”. then Nicky’s subsequent confirmation that Tommy isn’t someone to take underestimate was enlightening.

I guess this was something of a transition episode. Now that all the heat has blown over from murdering Huey and the Italian mob boss (his name escapes me at the moment), they need some new moral and substantial quandary’s for the sake of the series. I imagine this all ends with Tommy “running the neighborhood” at some point, that is becoming even clearer now that his tuition money from art school is being withheld by Dokey.

Speaking of which, it makes Tommy’s confliction over murdering Huey all that more resonate. Not only was this guy a mentor, a confidante and a friend, he was also paying for his school. In hindsight, it seems like he should have let the two of them kill Jimmy, the malfeasant drug addict with a temper; and let his mentor and father figure live.

And the mistreatment of Jenny was appropriate after last weeks conclusion. She strung two guys along while cheating on her husband (he’s allegedly dead, but she doesn’t know that) and deserved to suffer some sort of consequences. Well, she did. between Jimmy’s attempt at subtley dismissing her and Tommy’s indifference, she looked devastated. Of course, Tommy is still smitten with her and judging by Jimmy’s reaction after she left the bar, something tells me he is as well. This might help explain why Jimmy is so contemptuous of Tommy.

Oh well, next week looks eventful, but then again, the previews look eventful for every episode. One can only hope these are not as egregiously misleading as last weeks previews.

I apologize for not posting on Friday, I have probably watched forty hours of basketball since Thursday night and come Friday morning, my brain was already synched with a bunson burner in the form of a 64 team bracket page. Besides, there was literally nothing worth discussing as the tourney forced every other network to resort to reruns and the like. Set aside that pathetic “new repeat” that The Office attempted to pull (if you weren’t baited in by it, more power to you) and we have a virtual non-existent five days as far as scripted/reality television is concerned. So what do we do here at Grid Effect when there is nothing new or we have writers block? Well, we give you links of course:

David Cross will be playing Howard K. Stern in a Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode that mimmicks the Anna Nicole Smith saga. This is eerily similiar to when Dave Attell was playing Tobias in the Bluths made for TV movie. Also, Amy Ryan, aka Beadie Russell from The Wire will play the astronaut who lost her damn mind and drove across the country in diapers in an alternative episode of the series.

Spielberg is pitching a comedy to Showtime about a woman with multiple personality disorder. It seems that for some reason, in compiling links for this page, I always stumble into what this mans viewing habits are. I know he was a big fan of Alias and currently watches Heroes, now he’s looking to create a comedy? It seems like Spielberg is attempting a leap from film to television, like so many before him. Of course, no one has made the leap who has been as immensely successful as Spielberg, I loved Munich.

Here’s a fairly lengthy article detailing the life and times of Felicia Pearson, the woman who plays Snoop on The Wire. Lets just say the role as Snoop isn’t a far cry from home.

The Apprentice is rumored to be heading to Chicago for yet a sixth season. because, you know, what better way to rejuvenate a dying series than move its locale around and upset as many people in as many cities as possible?

Finally, in case you haven’t noticed by now, Bravo is repeating every Friday Night Lights episode on the weekends. This is a good sign for the potential longevity of the series.

Anyways, it should be a more eventful week around here, we have The Black Donnelly’s tonight, Survivor and FNL on Wednesday and potentially The Office on Thursday (unsure whether they cancelled it or not for the NCAA Tournament).

For the sake of this website and the limited number of people who frequent it, I am not going to go into any details about last night’s South Park. So if you didn’t happen to watch it, do not bother reading this post because it’s not going to translate well for you.

Parker and Stone really aren’t pulling any punches this season, are they? Between last weeks episode over the use of the “N-Word” and last night’s episode about the Ted Haggard-esque war against homosexuality plus Cartman’s misguided prank, it is at a point now where the co-creators are baiting the national media, the far left, the far right, and every PC goon in the country. Yet still, no outcry. No hysteria. Their relationship with the world at large seems to be at a point where the only thing they could do to shock anybody would be too give up attempting to do so. Honestly, what would be more shocking than a South Park episode that simply revolved around Stan & Kyle having to finish a school project that wasn’t a microcosm for a larger social issue but just contained humorous content?

But alas, we have Butters going to a Jesus Camp to be “cured” of his perceived homosexuality by his parents, and Cartman taking a compromising photo of himself then showing it to his classmates. Odds are, if you show this to the average viewer, as opposed to some counter-culture miscreant such as myself, they are going to find something to be offended about.

When this is the case, it usually sparks at least some media outlet to jump all over them, in hopes of “catching a story” and exposing them to the mainstream public. But for whatever reason, everyone is simply immune to their shennanigans. The last example of a South Park episode sparking any controversy were the two scientology episodes (in terms of humor quotient, the two episodes in question are clogging the bottom rung), and in hindsight that seems a little obscene, the only reason anyone was concerned with them directly correlates to the movie stars that were parodied. For some examples of the best South Park has to offer, Rolling Stone has a video countdown of twenty-five hilarious, pivotal moments in the series.

Honestly, I thought last nights episode was top notch. South Park, much like The Wire, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Sopranos; is one of those shows I will always be entertained by regardless of how mediocre one episode is compared too others in the series.
But my favorite South Park episodes tend to be less topical. Such examples would be The Lord of The Rings episode with the porno tape, “Ginger Kids”, “Cancelled”, “The Entity” and “Towelie”. Obviously they do not miss the mark everytime they focus on a social issue, “Red Man’s Greed” and “Butt Out” rank high on my list as well. But I cannot recall the last time I saw an episode akin to the former group that looked like they put forth any effort.

Every network and every drama, comedy, reality series (short of American Idol), documentary, etc. Bows tio the awesome ratings power that is March Madness. So what does that entail? Another week with no Friday Night Lights, no Survivor and an extended rerun of The Office (Meaning its an episode with twenty-two minutes of recycled footage and twenty-two minutes of new material). So, while I have been meaning to take in The Riches, as it sits ever so patiently on my DVR, I just haven’t gotten around to it. With that said, here are some mid-week links…

Everyone can relax, ESPN will be broadcasting the Rock, Paper, Scissors League Championship this year. Probably during a large, mainstream sporting event that is being hosted by another network. The tournament executives have referred to the ESPN broadcast as “a real validation”. Clearly they never watched Playmakers.

All signs point to 30 Rock and Firday Night Lights returning for a second season. I am just undersold that Peter Berg is going to forego the possibility of becoming a noteworthy film director. On the other hand, What About Brian? and Brothers and Sisters appear to be in their last days. I am sure ABC will replace their crappy melodramas with crappy reality series. This was the most satisfying entertainment article I have read in a while.

Gambling web sites are taking odds on whether or not Heather Mills’ prosthetic leg will fall off during her stint on Dancing With The Stars. One leg and all, Is anyone really rooting for her? I know in Britain they’re not, but in this country she’ll probably be seen as an “underdog”, because entirely too many Americans take this show seriously.

Not that this comes as a surprise to anyone, we all have eyes, but apparently black males are not getting lead acting roles on network dramas. Not that David Simon would ever cheapen The Wire in this manner, but I would actually (and happily) watch a spinoff featuring Carver, Bunk, Freamon, Daniels, Avon Barksdale or Omar. Again, it will never happen, but I would gladly watch it.

And finally, the most notable television website on these here intranets, Television Without Pity, was bought out by NBC earlier this week. For those unfamiliar with the site, they recap numerous dramatic and reality series’ and provide heavily trafficked forums for devoted fans to engage in heavily moderated discourse. I haven’t posted on the website since they sent me a “warning” for a fairly lighthearted query about Kenny Shea on Rescue Me. I refuse to acknowledge this something worthy of a reprimand, so if anything I occasionally read posts over there, but not much else. Some good news out of the merger, they will begin recapping The Wire, which one of the TWoP founders (goes by the name of Glark, no idea who he/she is) has apologized for not already doing so:

“I’m PERSONALLY APOLOGIZING to all Wire fans right here right now because we’ve watched three and a half seasons of The Wire since Christmas and hot damn that is one smart good show.

Now we just have to find the poor sucker who’s going to have to recap that beast.”

Good times.