Daily Twaddle

I know that my mom and my sister know where this phrase came from. A television series in the late eighties… Sledge Hammer!

I’ve talked a few times about Sledge Hammer with people and they think I’m crazy. Yes, this show existed, the guy talked to his gun and slept with it under his pillow. (I mean piece - not gun for you full-metal-jacket fans).

The show is REAL - Roch… look for yourself!

Wikipedia Article
Intro on YouTube
IMDB Profile

And guess what? It’s on my Netflix list!
Coming to a TV near me.

Blake Lewis - American Idol’s “beat-boxer”. He has a great voice and I like all his performances. But I have to say… I don’t miss the beat-boxing. It’s a cool novelty and a great talent - but I’m glad he’s leaving it out of his performances. He brought it out for Haley during her mentor-session with Jennifer Lopez - a nice little reminder of his talent. Poor Haley… I’ll talk about her later.

For one performance, Blake sang “Love Song” from The Cure. It was great! He was the first American Idol to sing a Cure song. This performance reminded me of Ace Young’s “Wham (George Micheal)” performance - which was sensational. I hope he wins.

As far as Sanjaya… well, he’s just out of his element. But I can understand why America keeps voting for him. He’s unique and entertaining. If only his voice was as good as his show. Some website called “votefortheworst” takes credit for Sanjaya’s Idol success. Give me a break. One oblivious website is not responsible for tens of millions of votes. I DO think the judges chose the wrong finalists. They chose them based on their initial audition instead of their continual progression through each stage. This is Sanjaya’s loophole.

Roch’s favorite Idol was Haley Scarnato. She was voted out last night. Roch wanted Chris Sligh to win. So did I. He is a wonderful singer, but he lost some of his edge and humor. He seemed to have more stress than fun and the fun is what I loved about him.

We’ll see how it goes. Blake seems to be popular. I don’t like Phil, Chris (Richardson), Sanjaya, or Melinda. I hope they go next… in that same order.

This is in reference to my last post “Should I give up on Satellite TV?”

I did some research about episode downloads and my mom is right. All my favorite shows (full episodes) are available to watch for free on the Network’s website. Fox is the only network that doesn’t participate. They only have American Idol anyway. Which is started to suck anyway.

Here is a list of my top favorite shows in order of what I won’t miss, to what I might miss if I have to.

1. Heroes. An epic drama that chronicles the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities.
   ★I had to give this one a star!NBC
2. Monk. An obsessive compulsive detective solves impossible crimes. USA
3. How I Met Your Mother. A comedy similar to Friends narrated by the main character to his kids. But it’s not about how he met their mother. CBS
4. Desperate Housewives. A nighttime soap opera. ABC
5. Ugly Betty. A comedy about an ugly girl who works at a fashion magazine. ABC
6. Psych. A comdedy/drama about a guy with a photographic memory who pretends to be physic to solve crimes. USA
7. 30 Rock (with Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin). A workplace comedy where the workplace exists behind-the-scenes of a live variety show. NBC
8. The New Aventures of Old Cristine. (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) A comedy about a single mother and owner of a “30-minute workout gym” who is the portrait of the new American mom. CBS
9. The Black Donnellys. A crime drama series about four Irish brothers’ sudden involvement in organized crime, focusing on how they go from boys to mobsters. NBC
10. Rules of Engagement. (With David Spade) A comedy about the married life, a new couple and the one single guy. CBS
11. Two and a Half Men. A comedy about a single man who lets his brother and nephew move in with him. CBS

Here is a list of mentionables, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch them. But I enjoy watching them when they’re on. They’re in no particular order.

• The King of Queens. CBS
• The Class. CBS
• Saturday Night Live. NBC
• Scrubs. ABC
• My Name is Earl. NBC
• According to Jim. ABC
• Ellen. ABC
• American Idol. Fox
• Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? Fox

Two of my favorite shows are Monk and Psych from USA Network (owned by NBC). Full “webisodes” are free if you have an Intel® Viiv™ technology based-PC or an Intel® Centrino® mobile technology based-notebook. Which I don’t have. I do have an intel duo processor in my Mac. But I lack IE, Windows and those two processors.

I can download them from iTunes for $1.99 each episode. Which equates to $16 a month if a new one airs each week.

Lately, I’ve been unsatisfied with television. I pay an outrageous amount of money for cable TV + DVR even though the shows I want to watch are free from most networks. iTunes offers downloads of many of my favorite TV shows as well.

My biggest pet peeve is the extraordinary amount of commercials. The commercial-time seems to match the show-time. But luckily, I record my shows on my DVR and fastforward through the commercials (a $10 monthly fee).

Second… there aren’t that many shows that I watch. It seems like I need to spend more time watching TV to really get my money’s worth.

Last… TV costs too much. I spend about $50 a month on cable. I watch two hours of TV each weekday on average. So, my daily rate is $1.25. The price of a Starbucks coffee. I don’t think it’s worth it.