Out of Focus

Granted, this is just an unsubstantiated theory likely most beloved by conspiracy theorists who dislike the GOP, but could President Bush have given everyone more fodder proving the argument that he really is just Karl Rove’s puppet? The political blogosphere has gone a bit wild today over the possibility that Bush was wired with a hidden earpiece during the first debate so that Rove could feed him lines from offstage. Speculation has been fueled by a shot of the candidates from behind showing some sort of object under Bush’s jacket between his shoulder blades.

Dave Lindorff has actually tried to investigate this as best (and seemingly fairly) as possible in this Salon article. Chances are we’ll never know for sure, and I’m sure as quickly as heartfelt Democrats say it’s likely, there are diehard Republicans who might dismiss the possibility outright. While Lindorff definitely doesn’t come to any definitive conclusions, his story is compelling. Obviously the Bush campaign won’t comment, and apparently the Kerry campaign is staying silent as well, which is the best thing they could do.

The most unfortunate element of this entire story? The fact that if it is true, it wouldn’t really surprise anyone.

UPDATE: Salon actually now has had a response from the Bush campaign, albeit one that denied an audio assist by making fun of the speculation without commenting whatsoever on what the bulge might actually be. Make of that what you will.

Every day last week, I wrote-up my own little notes on the current television fall season. This time around was in many ways more difficult than previous years because the traditional TV season is a thing of the past. Not all the new shows roll out the same week anymore. Many series will only air until the end of 2004 and then some old favorites, and more new shows, will be premiering. With Fox, they tried to create a summer season with new shows — pretty much all failures, even the ones that have been renewed — but they’re real programming schedule doesn’t start until after the World Series is over in November.

A quick note: There are still a few new shows I still haven’t watched yet, specifically life as we know it (which just premiered last night), Wife Swap, Center of the Universe and of course pretty much everything new on Fox. Also, I obviously can’t predict whether old favorites, like The West Wing, will actually be able to redeem themselves.

Still, with all of that said, following is my ranking of the best nights of broadcast network television, and the links will take you back to my original night-by-night posts:

1. Sunday: Hands down the best night with two “don’t miss” options in each of the 8 and 9 PM hours.

2. Wednesday: 8 PM is probably the single most competitive time-slot with actually good programming of the entire week. 9 PM will be as competitive, but with crappier shows.

3. Thursday: It’s not what it used to be, but there’s still plenty to see.

4. Tuesday: Plenty of crap, but enough to keep you busy, especially if you’re looking for mild distractions.

5. Friday: Beats out Monday by a hair since it’s just not quite as bad.

6. Monday: If you’re a rabid football fan, this night isn’t so bad. If you’re not, there’s plenty of mediocre things to see, but very little that’s actually good.

7. Saturday: A TV wasteland, except for The Amazing Race.

As far as individual shows go, after the jump is a recap of my “don’t miss” selections as well as some thoughts on premieres I’ve seen since writing the original posts. Cause you know, this is important shit!

Continue reading “THE FALL SEASON IN (P)REVIEW: REVIEWING THE (P)REVIEW — SUMMARY EDITION”

I haven’t written too much about either the first Presidential or the Vice-Presidential debate primarily because I know that if I had sat down and started to do so, I would have, in fact, written too much. Besides, the debates themselves have taken a backseat to the debate about the debates. The spin and the press and the polling has become more important than anything any of the candidates say. Anyway, there are a bunch of people who you can find in the column to the right (under “Politically Motivated …”) not to mention the glorious Wonkette who are writing plenty and worth reading. I’ve even got some right-wingers over there because I like to see what the other side is saying, no matter how illogical it may seem.

I did only recently discover one new “political” blog which is worth reading if you don’t mind an utter lack of what I suppose could be termed civility. The Rude Pundit writes what most of us who back Kerry-Edwards and/or are utterly frustrated with the arrogance and deception of Bush & Cheney are thinking every time the mouth from the south swaggers (he calls it “walking”) into a room and (mis)speaks. It ain’t pretty, but hey, it’s not like his name doesn’t aptly describe his posts. Before each of the debates, he has written, “If at tonight’s ‘debate’ when (Kerry or Edwards) is asked,” followed by a Republican attack point question; he then goes on to produce a long invective filled with harsh and extreme language but also valid criticisms; and then wraps up with “then the debate will be worthless.”

His pre-first Presidential debate post is here, and his pre-VP debate post is here. His argument for tonight’s fake-town hall debate, featuring an explanation of the term “global test,” is right here, and is fucking brilliant. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Obviously, don’t forget to watch tonight’s debate at 9 PM, even if you have to do like me and DiVo it (I’ll be at Vera Drake at the NYFF). Also don’t forget that today is the last day you can register to vote in New York state. I realize I may not have mentioned this before, and for that I’m sorry. But please, even if you have to actually go somewhere to do so today, if you haven’t yet registered, go do it now. If you’re in California, you still have another 10 days, but don’t be lazy. Go now. Thus ends my latest PSA.

Alright, so I’m four days late. Sorry. But this is a big undertaking, especially since Sunday nights are the best night for TV all week, and I’m not even including cable programming in the equation. HBO is a given on Sundays, but Showtime has been aggressively programming the night as well, and some of the other cablers pop-in here and there (like Sci-Fi and USA) with ambitious mini-series or movies. To make things more complicated, from 8-10 PM, the networks actually give audiences a variety of choices which are all, to some degree, worthwhile. And ABC, of all networks, pulled a major coup this past week – I’ll bet you their marketing department is celebrating some big ass bonuses right now – in scoring the number 1 show for the week in most key demos with the premiere of Desperate Housewives. To make matters even better for ABC, Desperate Housewives is a damn good show! (PS: Thanks for the pic, TV Guide!) So without further ado, here’s Sunday (main broadcast networks only):

Continue reading “THE FALL SEASON IN (P)REVIEW: SUNDAYS ARE BY FAR THE BEST NIGHT OF THE WEEK”

Between September and the end of the year, six films starring Jude Law will have opened. We’ve already had Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and I &#9829 Huckabees, and still to come are Closer, The Aviator and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Next up, however, is the remake of the great British “comedy” Alfie. Law takes over the role that Michael Caine originated in 1966 as a young lothario who starts to have his womanizing ways come back to haunt him.

I’m not 100% sure why there needed to be a remake of Alfie, other than there seems to be a movement on to remake all of Michael Caine’s late-’60s/early-’70s films: first there was Get Carter, then The Italian Job. I think Law fits into Caine’s role better than either Sylvester Stallone or Mark Wahlberg, so hopefully that will make for a better movie as well. The new Alfie opens on October 22. If you want to run-up to Jude Law, tell him how much you love him, ask him why this movie was made, and, most importantly, ask how the hell he made six films — the lead role in most of them — in such a short time, here’s your chance by winning a trip to the New York Premiere on October 18. Just go to this web site and enter the free promotion, but you have to do it my midnight tonight (10/6). If you go to the main Alfie web site you’ll also find a link for some other promotions, including a drawing in which you can win a Vespa.

The world isn’t laughing tonight. Dick Cheney may have looked like death at the end of the debate, barely able to even get up from his chair, but he got up to walk and spout bullshit for another day. The same sadly can’t be said for Rodney Dangerfield who passed away yesterday at the age of 82. Rodney had gone into the hospital for heart surgery in August, but complications, from which he never recovered, put him into a coma.

Caddyshack. and Back to School are my two picks for best Dangerfield films. You also can see him give a fantastic performance in a very ugly role in Natural Born Killers.

See ya later you sad clown, and thanks for making us all laugh over-and-over-and-over again.

First Janet Leigh; now Rodney Dangerfield. I’m scared of who might go next.

UPDATE: Check out Thigh Master’s much better appreciation to the man who never failed to make people laugh.

Yeah, so I know I still owe you the whole Sunday (p)review thing, but that’s going to take me a while, and it just so happens I’m on jury duty right now. Well, not right now. Today, I’m at work. But that’s what’s making it more difficult. Because you see, yesterday I was at jury duty, and I just read (and slept) all day. But today, I didn’t have to go back to jury duty — I just have to call and check-in this afternoon. Which means I had to come in to work. Which means I have a ton of crap from yesterday and today to take care of. Plus, I’ve spent a lot of time at New York Film Festival screenings, and I definitely have something to say about the five films I’ve seen so far. But for now, here are just a few things I wanted to throw out there:

• Have I mentioned that you need to register to vote? I haven’t? My bad. Well, overkill or not, register your ass to vote. The New York deadline is THIS FRIDAY. Other states may be sooner (or already past?), and you may have to mail something in even if you can start the process online. So don’t keep saying, “I’m gonna do it.” Do it now. You can Rock-the-Vote if you like, but just make sure you Declare Yourself because Your Vote Matters!

Continue reading “MISCELLANEOUS MISCELLANY: THE REALLY REALLY BRIEF VERSION — REALLY”

Nearly 45 years after she got slashed to death in a shower becoming the most famous murder victim in history in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, actress Janet Leigh has died. While Psycho eventually overshadowed everything else on her resume, by the time she made it, Leigh had already created a long and respected body of work, including her turn two years earlier opposite Charlton Heston in the brilliant Orson Welles noir Touch of Evil. She was also part of one of the most noted ’50s Hollywood celebrity couples when in 1951 she married Tony Curtis, and by the end of the decade the couple had given birth to future actresses Kelly and Jamie Lee.

But it’s still Leigh’s performance in Psycho that has had the most influence on the world of cinema. Almost every actress to appear in any sort of thriller or horror film who has ever had to scream or show any expression of terror — including Jamie Lee most notably in Halloween — has in some way used Leigh’s performance as a model.

I’m pretty sure TCM will be programming some sort of Leigh memorial festival, and the schedule will probably pop up on their site by the end of the day. But I encourage you to get to know Janet Leigh, a/k/a/ Jeannette Helen Morrison, when they give you the chance. She was a great one, and movies were definitely better for her being around.

UPDATE: As expected, Turner Classic Movies will, in fact, turn its schedule over to the films of Janet Leigh this Sunday 10/10, although they’re doing so during the day and not the primetime hours. Although Psycho is included at 4 PM (Eastern; 1 Pacific), neither Touch of Evil nor The Manchurian Candidate is. However, The Naked Spur will show at 2 PM, and if you’re sick or tired or lazy or just want to spend a great day watching a bunch of movies, you could do much worse than watching The Naked Spur and Psycho on TCM and renting Touch of Evil and The Manchurian Candidate. And of course, check-out the rest of what TCM is offering that morning. Whatever you watch, I’m sure you’ll see why Leigh had such a captivating camera presence that sometimes may have even outshone her formidable acting talent.

The major networks have basically abandoned Saturdays. The WB and UPN don’t even program the night, and NBC’s entire schedule consists of special clip shows and repeats. In fact, there is so little going on that in the fall previews by both TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly, the featured show doesn’t even exist in prime-time. Instead, TV Guide spotlighted Saturday Night Live and EW examined Mad TV. But other than ABC spreading family films and theatrical movie broadcasts across three hours, and CBS throwing the best reality show on all of television into one of the worst time slots imaginable, there’s not much interesting going on Saturdays.

And why should there be? Who stays home Saturday nights, right?

Well, here’s something to consider. What do the following shows have in common? The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, The Bob Newhart Show, M*A*S*H, The Carol Burnett Show, The Jeffersons, Starsky and Hutch, The Love Boat, CHiPs, Hart to Hart, Fantasy Island, WKRP in Cincinnati, T.J. Hooker, Diff’rent Strokes, Silver Spoons, Gimme a Break!, The Golden Girls, 227, Hunter, Empty Nest, Who’s the Boss?, Growing Pains, Sisters, and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

I’m sure the context of my question gives away the answer: all of those shows have aired, and succeeded — many even thrived — on Saturdays. In fact, from 1971-1975, All in the Family was the top rated show on all of television while airing at 8 PM on Saturday night. And the only reason that ended in 1975 is because All in the Family was moved to Tuesdays to make room for The Jeffersons, and brand new show launched on Saturday at 8 PM because that was CBS’s strongest night of the week. During the 1973 season, CBS’s Saturday lineup kicked-off with All in the Family (still the #1 show), continued with M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Bob Newhart Show before winding up with The Carol Burnett Show. That’s a lineup including five of the best shows in television history, let alone that season.

It wasn’t just the 70s, though. In the 80s, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island were a one-two ratings punch, and NBC had major hits with Diff’rent Strokes and Gimme a Break! Later the same decade, The Facts of Life and The Golden Girls became major Saturday night hits. But by the mid-to-late ’90s, the last remnants of popular original programming – Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Touched By an Angel, Walker, Texas Ranger – were family shows that by a couple years ago were gone. And now? Virtually nothing.

It all came crashing down sometime in the mid-90s. Slowly but surely, audiences had been dwindling on Saturdays, and networks became more nervous about putting shows, especially new programming, on the night, and now they’ve basically decided to give us a night off.

Continue reading “THE FALL SEASON IN (P)REVIEW: MOVE ALONG PEOPLE — NOTHING TO SEE HERE … IT’S JUST SATURDAY”

You know, last night’s Presidential debate was great. John Kerry finally came out looking like he could win this thing, and Bush looked and sounded awful all night like, simply making statements with the hope that if he repeats something enough, people will believe it to be true. Frighteningly enough, plenty of people out there do, and what happened last night doesn’t necessarily matter as much as what’s been happening ever since 10:30 PM Eastern last night when the spin began. Kerry could have simply repeated the line, “The sky is blue,” all night long, never saying another word, and Bush (and all his supporters) would still have said that Kerry just kept giving mixed messages. The democrats have their spin too for sure, but it just so happens that this time, the actual event happened enough in their favor to make their spin closer to the truth.

You know what I haven’t seen anybody mention? There was a moment when Bush asked for the 30 seconds of additional time and then he sort of directed the question to Kerry as if asking him if it was OK? Kerry replied something about the specific rules which the Bush campaign had insisted upon, with a bit of a chuckle, saying he’d be happy to talk further and address all these issues. It seems that whether it was the time-lights on the podium (which Kerry nailed and Bush ran over a couple times) or the ability to actually debate without direct questioning, Bush’s extensive campaign rules backfired, and Kerry shoved it in Bush’s face at that moment.

But it’s enough to produce quite an Excedrin/Advil/Aleve/Tylenol headache, is it not? So this weekend, before we venture back into the poltical hurricane that will dominate the Sunday morning shows and include next Tuesday’s VP debate and second Presidential debate — this one featuring a highly coordinated town-hall format, but only in the sense that a town will enter a hall, not that there will be any spontanaiety — take a break, and let me remind you of a few suggestions for this weekend:

1. First, run over to the Landmark Sunshine and go see DIG! You won’t be sorry.

2. Next, make time to catch the new David O. Russell film I &#9829 Huckabees. I know I’ve been awaiting it anxiously since Russell — ginormous ego and all — has proven himself with his first three films to be one of the absolute best filmmakers working today.

3. After you’ve seen those, then, and only then, are you allowed to check-out Will Smith as a wise-ass fish.

4. And of course, don’t forget that the New York Film Festival starts tonight. Filmbrain must have nabbed a press pass because he’s started reviewing things before they’ve screened. Me? I’m not so lucky. I’ll be seeing Look at Me tonight, The Big Red One, Triple Agent and Undertow tomorrow, and a whole slew of things over the next two weeks.

5. A new month means a new programming focus for my favorite channel, Turner Classic Movies. This month’s “Star of the Month” is the great actor Peter Lorre. His films will be featured every Friday this month starting tonight, during which schedule you can catch the all-time great Casablanca. But the big “Spotlight of the Month” is on movie musicals. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the month, they’ll be showing 93 films, including classics like Top Hat, Singin’ in the Rain and My Fair Lady.

6. Baseball, baseball, lots and lots of baseball. For me, that means a jam packed weekend where I pray to all that is and isn’t holy that the Giants sweep the Dodgers to force a tie in the NL West, and hopefully even knock LA completely out of the playoffs. Yeah, yeah … most of you will be rooting for/against another team, I know.

7. Last but not least, I mentioned it the other day, but I can’t say it enough: if you’re not registered to vote or you moved, register right now. The deadlines in most states are next week, including New York where it’s next Friday 10/8. Don’t wait so long that you miss it. You can use any of these links to get started.