7/26/2006
The Contender is Back
The boxing reality show The Contender is back for a second season and it has found a new home on ESPN where it belongs. The show was cancelled after one season on NBC and then picked up by the all sports network.
Created by Rocky himself, Sly Stallone, The Contender is very much the Rocky story told through each of the fighters. When I say the Rocky story I of course mean the original underdog in life story. Not the Rocky vs Clubber Lang or Ivan Drago tale.
The Contender is worth checking out even if you're not a boxing fan. It's a show with heart, it's shot beautifully and it has amazing music set to the fights. Believe me you will be rooting for one or both of the fighters at the end of the show. Their personal and most of the time emotional stories are told throughout the show leading up to climactic fight at the end. The winner stays to fight another day and the loser is sent back to their lives.
So if you are a fan of boxing or are a fan of watching real people sacrifice themselves for their families well being The Contender on ESPN is a show you will enjoy.
7/24/2006
'Tabloid Wars'
If I remember it, I'll be watching "Tabloid Wars" on Bravo at 9 p.m. today. The six-week series looks at how major newspapers compete against each other. Tonight's show features at the highly competitive New York City market. It will be interesting to see how far these reporters will go to get a story. And if they really hate their rivals.
7/19/2006
The Tour
Like fellow blogger Greg Tarr, I've been watching the Tour de France on OLN the last couple of weeks, and I'm starting to wonder if Greg and I are the only two people tuned in, aside from my sister and her husband and the friends and family mebers of the cyclists. I read yesterday where ratings are down 50 percent compared to last year.
The downturn can, of course, be blamed on the absence of seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong. And, also, cycling has never been as big here as in Europe.
It does seem like they've started playing up the story of current Tour leader (and Pennsylvania native) Floyd Landis in recent days -- he's not a cancer survivor like Lance, but he's racing with a bum hip that will probably have to be replaced when the Tour is over.
If you like to ride a bike and haven't watched the Tour, I urge you to tune in -- you'll ride with much more vim and vigor after watching these guys cruise along at 25 MPH (that's my downhill speed!) or climb through the Alps.
7/18/2006
"Lost" again
It looks like ABC is at it again with its wacky scheduling of its hit series, "Lost." According to the AP, the series will return Oct. 4 for maybe six episodes and then take a break until 2007. ABC officials say filming with such a large cast is the problem for the delay.
Here's an idea. Start the new season in Feb. 2007 and go straight through until May sweeps. Even if have back-to-back shows, it's better than showing just six episodes and having to wait more than three months for the rest.
"Lost" again
It looks like ABC is at it again with its wacky scheduling of its hit series, "Lost." According to the AP, the series will return Oct. 4 for maybe six episodes and then take a break until 2007. ABC officials say filming with such a large cast is the problem for the delay.
Here's an idea. Start the new season in Feb. 2007 and go straight through until May sweeps. Even if have back-to-back shows, it's better than showing just six episodes and having to wait more than three months for the rest.
7/17/2006
What are you watching?
OK, it's summer. Which means it isn't a great time to be a TV watcher. But what is everyone watching?
I've enjoyed the last few episodes of "Entourage." Vince becoming a mega-star and then throwing it all away because a studio head lied to him! Turtle's new rappers hitting it big and Drama finally getting Ari to represent him. And E. Oh, E! Like they say, two's company and three's a crowd. So what's has you glued to the tube during these hot summer nights?
7/7/2006
Vive la Tour
Hundreds of millions of people in the United States are glued to their television sets watching as men bicycle around the country of France. OK, maybe I lied. It's probably more like hundreds of Americans are tuning in to the Tour de France on OLN (Outdoor Life Network,) and I'm one of them.
With the absence of Lance Armstrong, the greatest American athlete ever, due to his retirement from the sport a year ago, and also Tour favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso due to a doping scandal, the race is wide open. Riders with a very good shot of winning the three week race are actually American. George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer and Pennsylvania native Floyd Landis are all contenders to wear the maillot jeune (yellow jersey) on the Tour's final day in Paris on July 23.
The racing so far in week one has been very entertaining. The strategy, the stage victories and even the crashes have been exciting to watch. And it will only get better because weeks two and three contain the grueling mountain stages.
So if you thought that the Tour de France was some boring bicycle race not worth watching, I recommend you sit and watch a stage with an open mind. You might just get hooked.
7/3/2006
Prime Minister's Questions
Gore Vidal once said that the average British schoolboy is more articulate than the average American politician, and you can't help but wonder if he's got a point if you tune in to "Prime Minister's Questions" on C-Span Sunday nights at 9.
Every week the British House of Commons is in session, the Prime Minister is obligated to take questions from members of Parliament. It's rowdy and packed full of verbal jousting.
Really, it's great fun to watch.
And if you're one of those insatiable junkies of British politics who can name all the British prime ministers since World War II (and their party affiliation, no less) you can watch "Prime Minister's Questions" live on C-Span2 on Wednesdays at 7 a.m.
"Closure"
If I was a big ol' boss at one of the local television news outfits, I would throw down the following edict:
Please, pretty please, for the love of God, don't use the word "closure."
If there's ever a word that's overused on local newscasts, it's closure. Everyone seems to be looking for closure. Closure here, closure there, closure everywhere.
At noon today on KDKA-TV, they had a report on the 19-year-old woman who disappeared in (I think) the Allegheny River over the weekend, and the fact that crews are combing the river for her body. Sure enough, the reporter said her family is looking for closure.
Ugh.
It would probably be more precise (and less hackneyed) to say that her family is seeking a sense of resolution.
Another TV cliche: when a team loses, particularly a baseball team, the announcer will say something like, "They couldn't get the job done." I've even heard players, in post-game interviews, say, "We couldn't get the job done."
