Thursday, November 30, 2006

'Survivor 13: Cook Islands' - East Coast Update - 11/30 - The Boot

Candice was voted off with all of Aitu (and Jonathan) voting for her. Candice, Parvati, and Adam voted for Jonathan.

A full review/recap will be posted late this evening. Stop back!

'Survivor 13: Cook Islands' - East Coast Update - 11/30 - Immunity

Adam won Immunity.

TV Newsy Bits (and Stuff) - Thursday, November 30, 2006

Yes, last night was the infamous Return of Richard Simmons to the Late Show with David Letterman. Other than being sort of mean to him and almost setting him on fire, Dave controlled himself rather well. I wonder if he'll use the little matching "Harry" shirt - I can bet he won't wear the "David" shirt after Richard wore it. Huh... a $300 tie? Yikes!

Tonight is Survivor 13: Cook Islands night and, as usual, I'll post East Coast Updates of important events (Immunity, Boot) as they air here in the NYC area. Late tonight, a full recap/review will be posted. If you're not seeing what you think is the most recent post, use the November 2006 Archive link you see in the right sidebar of the main page.

Although I must watch C.S.I. tonight (the miniature crime scene killer returns) and I'm not a huge Scrubs fan, I'll be setting the VCR for the Scrubs season premiere (I think... I'm so confused by fall finales). It's on at the same time as C.S.I. (9 PM ET/PT) and, the kicker is... The Blue Man Group! Yes!

UPDATE: Although CBS has been running a promo for next week's new C.S.I. episode all week (in which the miniature crime scene killer returns), tonight's episode is a repeat. Why do they do that? Grr. Thanks to a commenter for the heads up!

In other TV Newsy Bits:

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

TV Newsy Bits - Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Well, if I can just get my computer and Blogger to cooperate with each other, I'll be fine. And, here I am!

I want to start with a bit of a rant. What the heck is with this fall season finale stuff? It's caught on like wildfire - first Lost, now Jericho, next week Heroes. I swear it's the shows I like best out of the reality television realm that are being affected. Is it a plot against me? Is the man trying to keep me down? Although I don't watch the show, my friends over at BuddyTV mention that Prison Break is also a victim of fall finales.

I appreciate that they'll be showing 12 to 13 new episodes starting in January or February, but why such a long hiatus? I'm old school TV, y'see. Back in the days when we walked nine miles uphill both to and from school in -20 degree weather in three feet of snow, we had almost 40 episodes of shows each season from September to May! Yes, we did! Really! It's a nefarious plot of ne'er-do-well production staffers to produce less while reaping in more cash. Can I get a witness?

Ahem.

That said, here's the TV Newsy Bits:
  • Set those VCRs or DVRs, or your TIVO... whatever technology you have on hand! Tonight is Richard Simmons return to The Late Show with David Letterman after a six-year absence. It's going to be one heck of a show.
  • There are mild promotional kind of spoilers for the upcoming episode of The Amazing Race 10 in this Celebrity Spider article.
  • Celebrity Spider has similar spoilers (not the boot) for tomorrow night's Survivor 13: Cook Islands.
  • They also covered mild spoilers for the next Heroes episode. Which, I must add, is the fall season finale for the show. Don't get me started on that again.
  • If you can make it through the rather poorly written transcript, Media Fiends has Nate's (Survivor) appearance on The Early Show.
  • Reality News Online (RNO) has a much better interview with Nate. IGN has an even more extensive interview with him.

Tonight, I watched Criminal Minds, a first for me. Well, I sort of watched it once before, but it didn't keep my attention. Tonight's episode did it - kept my attention. Of course, once Lost returns, that time slot isn't any good for me. But, until then, I'll be giving CM a shot.

Last night I watched the Charlie Brown Christmas show. My goodness, I haven't watched that in a good decade or more. I think I can still recite the lines for each character as it goes along. Ah, the memories. The first time I saw it (the first time it ever aired), we only had a black and white TV set. We didn't get a color set until Christmas that year and, by then, it was too late to see it in color. That was a long, long time ago. Yet, I think the show still holds up well despite the way the world has changed since its first airing. Cool, Charlie Brown.

What have you been watching?

Monday, November 27, 2006

Holiday Television Programming: Nov. 27 - Dec. 1

Yes, yes! This week's holiday television programming includes some old favorites, as well as new holiday-themed episodes of current shows. The latter is always fun for me. How can I think of holiday television shows without thinking of Mary Tyler Moore volunteering to work all alone on Christmas Eve at WJM-TV, only to find her friends truly cared about her? Alas, I'm not seeing the episode ("Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid II" - orginally aired in December, 1970) anywhere in the listings. Oh, well. I have it on videotape somewhere.

Although this list isn't all-inclusive and doesn't cover local programming specific to areas outside of NYC, here's what I found for this week:

Monday, November 27:
  • 8 PM ET/PT - A Holiday to Remember (movie) on the cable station ABC Family.
  • 9 PM ET/PT - Unwrapped "Holiday Treats" - the FOOD Network.
  • QVC seems all holiday-themed, all around the clock.

Tuesday, November 28:

  • 7 PM ET/PT - Elf (the movie) on the USA Network
  • Get ready to do your Snoopy dance - A Charlie Brown Christmas airs on ABC at 8 PM ET/PT. For sentimental reasons, this has always been a favorite of mine.
  • 8 PM ET/PT - Scrooged with Bill Murray on the ABC Family Network.
  • 9 PM ET/PT - USA Network, The Great American Christmas - six diverse families discuss the meaning of the holiday.
  • 9 PM ET/PT - Road Tasted "Gift Guide" - holiday food gifts on the FOOD Network.
  • 10 PM ET/PT (repeated the next hour, too) - The Nip/Tuck holiday episode on FX Network.

Wednesday, November 29:

  • The USA Network has holiday movies galore with Stealing Christmas at noon (ET/PT) and Elf at 2 PM ET/PT.
  • Starting at 6 PM ET/PT, although not holiday-related, the SciFi Channel is having a Heroes marathon, beginning with the pilot episode. So, if you've missed Heroes, here's your chance to save the cheerleader, save the world.
  • 7 PM ET, local NBC affiliate WNBC (NYC) - Christmas in Rockerfeller Center - the tree lighting ceremony. I could go, I guess. But it's a lot less crowded and hassle-free to watch it on TV.
  • 8 PM ET/PT - Christmas in Rockerfeller Center - the national version of the above show with the glitz, glitter, and singing pop stars. NBC
  • 8 PM ET/PT - Mr. St. Nick (movie) on ABC Family Network.
  • 10:30 PM ET/PT - Ham on the Street, unique food gifts. FOOD Network.

Thursday, November 30:

  • 8 PM ET/PT - Santa Claus: The Movie on the ABC Family channel.
  • 9 PM ET/PT - Golf and Christmas? It's A Miracle on the 17th Green on the Lifetime cable channel.
  • 10 PM ET/PT - Men in Trees - Thanksgiving-themed episode on ABC.

Friday, December 1:

  • 12 PM ET/PT - I'll be Home For Christmas (movie), Lifetime cable channel.
  • 2 PM ET/PT - Eve's Christmas (movie), also on Lifetime.
  • 7 PM ET/PT - Frosty's Winter Wonderland, narrated by Andy Griffiths, on ABC Family cable network.
  • 7:30 PM ET/PT - ABC Family Network kicks off a Harry Potter-infused weekend with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
  • 8 PM ET/PT - The Polar Express on ABC TV, a welcome addition to the holiday line-up!
  • 8 PM ET/PT - Emeril's Happy Happy Holidays on the FOOD Network. Hmmm, I've never had goose for the holiday.
  • 9 PM ET/PT - Noel (movie) on the Lifetime cable channel.

Now, if I could just stay home and watch it all!