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.

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!

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.

Xbox Live + Netflix = Fun!

I'm sure many of you know about this now. I'm going to talk about it anyway. If you have an Xbox 360 that is Live enabled and a Netflix account, you can stream movies and television shows right to your television. And it's not just a huge list of crappy movies either. My daughter is a big fan of Hannah Montana so we've queued up the entire first and second seasons of the show for her. My husband likes Red Dwarf so we have the last three seasons set up for him. I love Japanese dramas and anime so there's things like R.O.D. the TV on my list. It's a great way to spend a relaxing weekend - catching up on old TV shows or watching movies. If only there were more hours in the day for me to work through our queue!

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.

Mid-season hiatus

A lot of shows are starting their mid-season hiatus this week. That means we won't be seeing any new episodes until after the new year. Last night, I watched Chuck, Heroes and My Own Worst Enemy. Granted, My Own Worst Enemy has been cancelled so it's gone for good. Heroes was uninteresting. I'd like to see more of Hiro, Ando and Daphne and less of Claire and the Petrellis. Meanwhile, Chuck remains my absolute favorite show. Let's hear your side. What did you love or hate this season?

TV Review: My Own Worst Enemy

When I was younger, I had a huge crush on Christian Slater. I would even sit through a terrible movie just because he was in it. When I heard that he was starring in a new television show, there were many fangirl moments. Luckily, my husband was intrigued by the show's premise and wanted to watch it as well. My Own Worst Enemy is about a secret agent named Edward Albright. Edward does all the spy things: sniping someone from an empty building, having sex with the hot female enemy and having lots of secrets. One of his secrets is that he is also Henry Spivy, a normal working man with a wife and two kids. Henry does not know about Edward. Henry is Edward's undercover personality. Somehow, the organization has figured out a way to force a person into a split personality. When Edward "goes to sleep," Henry "wakes up." When Henry is woken via a computer program, the computer also implants false memories to explain the time away from his family. (He travels a lot for work.)

First - Christian Slater is still hot. Second - the show was pretty interesting. The debut episode dealt with the problems that arose when Henry suddenly wakes up in the middle of one of Edward's missions. Since Henry was not aware that he is a split personality, it came as quite a shock to him. He seems to have dealt with it in a very rational manner and I'm curious to see where the writers will go from here.

I also have to curse NBC for putting all their interesting shows on Monday nights. Spread the love out across the whole week man!

TV review: Knight Rider

I've been putting off talking about this show. Mostly because I know people can get overly emotional (and by that I mean 'angry') when shows from their childhood are remade. I was a big fan of the original Knight Rider series when I was younger. So I was skeptical when a new version was announced. After all, would it still be the same lovable show without the cheesiness that is David Hasselhoff? No worries, my friends. The updated version of the show is different but that is a good thing. It is a little more serious and a little more technical. However, those are things that make the show awesome. Since special effects are amazing nowadays, KITT can do just about anything. I'm really looking forward to what will happen on the show. Especially if the rumors are true and David Hasselhoff comes back with the old KITT.

TV review: Heroes season 3

Despite a terrible second season due to last year's writers strike, the third season of Heroes debuted with a two-hour premiere last night. As a whole, I didn't think it was too bad. There were some "What the hell" moments where I wanted to reach into the television and smack a few characters upside the head. I guess that just goes with the series overall. I'm interested to see what they do with the villains this season. To be honest, I'm finding our heroes (specifically Claire and Nathan) rather boring. They need to do something to step it up a bit. They've had plenty of time to get used to having powers. I'm ready for them to stop whining about it now. I wish I could say I have high hopes for this show. I'm really just hoping they don't screw it up.