TV review: Michael & Michael Have Issues

Michael-and-michael-have-issues Last night was the debut of Michael & Michael Have Issues on Comedy Central. I am a huge fan of Michael Ian Black and I have been since he was on The State way back in 1993. So I was definitely looking forward to the new show.

There is no real plot to the show other than Michael Ian Black ("Black") and Michael Showalter ("Sho") butt heads at every opportunity they get. If Sho says something is awesome, Black has to say it sucks. This first episode had the Michaels fighting over an article in a high school newspaper that Greg the Intern was writing. Black didn't want to be interviewed but Sho did. Sho went behind Black's back and...let's just say it devolved into a bare-chested pseudo-fight on the front lawn of Black's house. Absolutely hysterical. I can't wait until next week's episode.

Warehouse 13

Last night was the premiere of Warehouse 13, the first new show on the new SyFy network. (Yes, that name still makes me gag.) The two-hour premiere started off slow, as most premieres do. Myka, the lead female, was annoyingly brash in the beginning, but, of course, she lightened up by the end. And Peter, the lead male, was pretty awesome throughout the whole thing. It'll be interesting to see where the show goes. At this point, the show could go either way. It could be cheesily awesome, like Eureka, or just plain terrible. I hope it's awesome.

Dead Like Me

I finished watching Dead Like Me last week. That was a really funny series. The movie was pretty terrible though. Anyway, one of my favorite parts of the series was when Happy Times had the emergency drill and someone had made grilled cheese with the AED defibrillator. I can't imagine that they would have made a particularly tasty sandwich but it was still funny seeing the melted cheese stuck between the paddles. I'm so sad that the series is over (yeah, I know, it's been like five years and I should get over it.) So, I need a new series to watch on DVD. Any suggestions?

Chuck 3D

Last night was the 3D episode of Chuck. 3D today is different from the 3D of the 1980s. Back then, 3D meant that Jaws was jumping out of the screen at you. Today, 3D means the show doesn't look flat. The characters stand apart from the background. If you were standing in a store (a BuyMore, maybe) and you looked at someone standing in front of a display (maybe Chuck standing in front of the Nerd Herd booth), there is obviously a separation between the person and the display. In regular 2D television, you don't get the depth perception needed to separate the two. The human brain makes assumptions based on things it has already experienced. That is why we can look at 2D television and not be like "HAY! THAT PERSON IS IN THE DISPLAY!" However, the 'new' 3D makes it so our brain doesn't have to assume things. It can see that the person is standing apart from the display. And it is awesome. I wish all of my TV shows were 3D. Though I don't want to wear those cardboard classes anymore. Those suck lots. I would happily buy a good pair of hard plastic sunglass-type 3D glasses to wear if all my shows were in 3D. But a television that did that for me would be cooler!

TV review: Paranormal State

I get hooked on the weirdest programs. Lately, I've been watching a lot of A&E's Paranormal State. It's not like Ghost Hunters on SciFi or anything. This is about a society/club from Penn State that go around investigating paranormal situations. Clients will contact the society and, if they think it is necessary, they will go check it out. It's not a great show. I think it needs to be one hour instead of just a half hour. There are definitely some other things they could expand on. Yet it's something that you get addicted to watching. Sometimes it's spooky, sometimes it's funny but it's always interesting.

iCarly

Now that you've watched the opening to iCarly, let me tell you more about the show. The main characters are Carly Shay, Sam Puckett, Freddie Benson and Carly's older brother (and guardian), Spencer. Carly, Sam and Freddie are middle-schoolers that run a video webcast called iCarly. While they don't really talk about how popular their webshow is, it seems that a ton of people watch it. (Note: There are clips and segments on the actual iCarly.com website too.) Spencer is the goofball of the bunch. Despite being 26-years old (and having attended law school for 3 days), he always acts like a little kid: running around and seeing the fun things in life instead of being a 'boring adult.' (He probably has a Seattle injury lawyer on call for when his stunts injure other people....) But he's definitely the most fun character.

I have to admit that, even though the show is aimed for kids and young teens, it is a pretty awesome. Carly is an upstanding, intelligent young girl that is a great role model for kids. Sam is the prankster who is always getting into trouble but everyone knows she really has a heart of gold. And Freddie, well, he's mostly around to help Carly and get picked on by Sam. I'd much rather watch this than another episode of Spongebob Squarepants.

Cyrano de Bergerac

Last night, PBS' Great Performances showed Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner's performance of Cyrano de Bergerac from the Broadway run in late 2007/early 2008. I thought Kline was magnificent as Cyrano. However, Garner overacted everything about Roxanne. I wanted to like her and perhaps the problem is that I went in expecting an amazing performance from her. She's lucky that she was paired with Kline. If it was a lesser actor, the show would have been toast.

Lifetime sucks

Over the holidays, I decided to introduce my daughter to my very favorite Christmas movie, White Christmas. It was playing on the Lifetime channel so I recorded it for us to watch later. We finally got a chance to sit down and watch it. I was so excited to see her reaction to the singing and, especially, the dancing. We get to the part where Wallace & Davis help the sisters escape their grungy landlord when.....I realize that they have cut out the "Snow" song and the arrival at the train station immediately following it. W.T.F. As it turns out, Lifetime decided they needed more commercials and less movie so they cut out almost half of the dance numbers. I was so disappointed because those were the parts I wanted my daughter to see! (She takes dance classes.) So screw you, Lifetime. I will never turn your way again.