I'll take potpourri for $4,300, Alex

The brilliant but snuffed before its time Deadwood has been released on DVD. Critic Alan Sepinwall touches on the release here, and offers some thoughts on the extras (including who was to "blame" for the premature axe falling on one of TV's best, and most challenging, shows. Fuck you HBO, you cocksuckers).

Another great reason to always keep a fully stocked bar at home. Ladies!

Critics are savaging The Spirit, which is Frank Miller's take on Will Eisner's seminal comic. As a longtime fan of the comic, I'm not sure Miller was the right guy to try to capture the tricky tone of the original work. But here's a look at crimefighters who share The Spirit's sense of fashion. When I was a kid and writing and illustrating my own comics, I did a Shadow knock-off I called "The Dark." He looked almost exactly like Lamont Cranston's alter ego, except his mask was purple instead of red. And he had a smaller nose. I think I did the whole thing so I could use the trite headline "who's afraid of The Dark?!" Hey, I was ten.

Two of my favorite TV critics have put together their Top 10 lists. Last week, I linked to Mo Ryan's. Here is Alan Sepinwall's. Though I never got into The Wire or The Shield, I agree with most of their choices, and it's cool that they're so similar. So nice to see TNRLM favorites: Mad Men, Lost, Chuck, In Treatment, The Office, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Burn Notice, 30 Rock and The Middleman (!). I would also add Dexter (which both critics seemed to think had an off year), How I Met Your Mother, and Big Bang Theory.

I twittered about this, but here's visual evidence of "the golden shower."

Thoughts on The Middleman from the creator (no DVD or S2 updates, sadly), along with an unfilmed scene.

Great summary of the year's best in TV quotage. Also from TVGal, 2008 "Favorites."

Hilariously, and ironically, forwarded from a friend:


A detailed Vanity Fair article on the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special.

Fuck recycling. Build a Battlestar!

The awesome and geek-friendly Dina Meyer will turn up on Burn Notice as Micheal's ex-fiancee.

A day late: misheard xmas lyrics.

I'm not a huge fan of horror films, but here's an interesting list of the 25 best modern horror movies.

Sex In The City + Werewolves = Bitches (who said Hollywood was out of ideas?)

Haven't read the content yet, but how frakkin' hot are Alyson Hannigan's candy striped knee socks?

The AV Club's 2008 in Band Names. Very funny stuff. Personal favorites: Methadone Abortion Clinic, Only Hate Will Set You Free, Post Mortem Bong Hit, Jesus Fucking Christ, Graveslut, Gestapo Pussy Ranch, Anal Hearse, 3 Piston Ass Hammer, Touched By A Janitor, Sleezus Fist And The Latter Day Taints, Fuckstorm, Flock of Steven Seagals, Previously On Lost, Kneel to Zod, Calling Jack Burton, Piss Piss Piss Moan Moan Moan, Bourbon Toothpaste

The 50 Greatest Television Shows of All Time

Empire, the UK's preeminent entertainment magazine (and really, one of the best out there period) just published a list of the 50 Greatest Television Shows of All Time. While it has a certain British sensibility, and includes several shows many of us in The Colonies haven't seen, it is a solid list and one that deserves comment. So open up another tab in your browser, and follow along with me as I count (most of) them down.

Nice to see some love for Quantum Leap

Would not put Prison Break in the Top 50. Or Top 250.

Veronica's best episode is NOT the S2 finale. And I might put it higher on the list.

DS9's best ep would be "Far Beyond the Stars," Trials and Tribbilations" or "In the Pale Moonlight."

Nice to see Farscape love, too. I would put it higher than 45. I would have never believed I could take seriously a show that featured muppets as aliens, but damned if it didn't work, thanks to inventive scripting and downright sizzling performances by Ben Browder and Claudia Black.

Star Trek at 43? Kidding, right? Dammit, Jim, that's too low!

Band of Brothers. Cool. I hate the way I finally got around to watching this one, though.

For Star Trek: TNG, they rightly named "Best of Both Worlds (Parts I and II)" as the best ep, though I would put "Yesterday's Enterprise" just a notch below that one.

Alias that high? Above 3 Treks and Farscape? I liked Alias, but not that much.

Deadwood at 31. Ahhh, dearly departed Deadwood. I realize there was more to Deadwood's demise than the creation of the trippy, challenging and ultimately frustrating John From Cincinnati, but I would have easily forgone that for one more season with Al Swearingen. And an average of 1,000 "fucks" per 12 episode season? That's 83 "fucks" per episode. That's fucking awesome, fuckers.

Love that Dexter made the list.

Bender on Futurama is named after Judd Nelson's character in the Breakfast Club? Cool.

Nice choice with Angel at 21. Numfar does the dance of joy. And of course, I would have it higher.

Scrubs at 19? Wha? Huh? I mean, I liked Scrubs for a while, until it became all about kids, but 19?

Best. Sitcom. Ever. Arrested Development at 18. Sweet, but it should be even higher.

South Park is still as funny today as it was when it premiered.

Heroes at 15? Has anyone watched season 2? Although I will agree with them about "Five Years Gone." I still have that ep saved on the TiVo, even after all this time.

Firefly at 14! Shiny! How do you pick a "best" episode here? "Out of Gas" is a very solid and obvious choice, though I'm also partial to the more existential "Objects in Space" (Jubal Early is a fantastic creation) and "Shindig" never fails to crack me up. And that's not even mentioning "Our Mrs. Reynolds" with the duplicitous and adorable YoSaffBridge.

Frak Yeah. BSG at 13. Too Low? So Say We All. And for my take on the best episode (and hell, ALL the episodes), check out this Very Special Edition of TNRLM's "The Canon"

Hard to argue with Seinfeld at 11, but I still put Arrested Development as the best sitcom ever, a c-hair ahead of this show and Cheers.

Now we're in the Top 10, with the X-Files at 9. Despite some hits and misses (mostly the unsatisfying wrap up and faltering under its own weight mythology), this still ranks as one of the best shows of all time. Best episode? They cite "Jose Chung," which might be worthy, but there are so many to consider, like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "Bad Blood" and many others, including "Home" (check out the Did You Know blurb at the bottom for the surprising origin of that story).

Never watched The Wire. Dunno. Just no interest.

24 at 6? I love watching Jack Bauer whoop some terrorist (or bystander) ass with the best of 'em, but as Gob Bluth would say...."Come On!"

Lost checks in at 5. Given my obsession with the show (I just received 2 "Dharma" and one "Oceanic Air" t-shirts I ordered last weekend), I can't argue with that one. Another show that's tough to pick a best episode. What about "Walkabout?" Or last season's finale, "Through The Looking Glass?" Or this season's "The Constant?"

You woke up this morning. Got yourself a gun. Mama always said you'd be the chosen one. Or at #3. "Long Term Parking" is indeed a fine episode, but "Pine Barrens" is a fucking masterpiece.

I'm fond of The Simpsons, and it certainly has had a significant cultural impact and impressive staying power. That's their choice for number 1. However, speaking of "The Chosen One," my choice for number 1 would be Empire's choice for number 2. The answer, of course, is the television masterpiece Buffy The Vampire Slayer. If you are still scared by the silly title, you're really missing out (much like I assume some folks are by Battlestar Galactica) and owe it to yourself to go buy all seven seasons on DVD right now. Trust me, you won't regret it. Or, if you like, you can do a little sampling at hulu.com. And then you'll go buy all seven seasons on DVD. I'll even get you started right now:

As for the "best" episode of Buffy? You can check out this other Very Special Edition of TNRLM's "The Canon" right here.

As you can tell, I don't have that many quibbles with the list overall, despite the omission of some "classic" series (Twilight Zone, Magnum PI, Cheers, M*A*S*H, etc.). The only "new" series I would think merits inclusion is the compelling Mad Men.

What's missing? Agree or disagree? What are the best episodes? Whatcha think, TNRLM readers?

Good news and bad news

As is my nature, first the bad. It appears the proposed (and promised, cocksuckers!) Deadwood movies don't have much of a chance, though the suits still like to leave some hope for the fans.

On the other hand the perplexing yet compelling (at least for me, this one is a total "your mileage may vary") John From Cincinnati is doing much better than the initial ratings have indicated, once you factor in cumulative viewers.

All that can be found right here.

The most fucked up hour of television ever.

I finally got around to catching up with John From Cincinnati, HBO's new "surf noir" drama on Sundays. I set up a season pass for it on the Tivo, knowing only a few things about it. It was HBO's new drama, and those are generally worth checking out. It was created and written by David Milch, of dear, departed Deadwood fame. Summer is generally the time when the new television slate is bankrupt of ideas and plastered with reality stool samples, so new and different things are worth checking out.

That said, I never got around to watching JFC for some reason. Maybe it was Sopranos hangover, maybe it was the ongoing drama in real life. Perhaps it was the perplexing reviews I read that ranged from "brilliant!" to "impenetrable!" to "what the fuck?!" Anyway, I was bored on the 4th and finally started watching. Four hours later, I'm hooked. Though I have to agree with those three quotes. I mean, really:

• A three generation surfing clan.
• Quasi-Shakespearean dialogue laced with colorful vulgarity.
• A mysterious stranger that spouts zen like non-sequiters and repeats whatever he hears. And has "magical pockets" in his pants that produce cash and credit cards. And heals others from fatal injuries. And heals himself.
• Zippy the parrot, who also apparently has healing powers.
• Surfing patriarchs that suddenly start to levitate three feet off the ground.
• Sex that makes you "see god," but without the sex.
• Luke Perry as a scheming, surf marketing mogul.
• A gay lottery winner, apparently the victim of some abuse, who may or may not see ghosts in a specific hotel room, who buys the local surf hotel.
• A sometimes kind hearted Hawaiian heroin dealer and his unbelievably dimwitted sidekick.

If that sounds "wacky," you don't know the half of it. This is without a doubt the most fucked up television series I've ever seen. I still don't know what the hell is going on, but I'm compelled to watch. It has fantastic performances from the entire cast, and of course, the trademark dialogue that dazzles and mystifies from David Milch. But I still cannot fathom exactly what the hell it's all about. There are the obvious religious metaphors, and it certainly has its share of mystical shenanigans. I don't even know how to describe it, other than to say it's a glorious, fascinating trainwreck -- and I mean that in a good way -- of epic proportions.

It's easy to "punish" JFC in the larger context of HBO. It's certainly not a "replacement" for HBO's signature show The Sopranos. Many folks, me included, still hold a grudge that Milch "left" Deadwood to create JFC. But if you take those issues out, you're left with a curious, bewildering yet strongly compelling and brilliantly crafted hour of television.

Yes, I'll miss Tone and Carm, and Bullock and Al. But I'm watching Mitch, John, Butchie and Zippy the parrot, too.

Speaking of Deadwood, JFC has featured some of the actors from that all time great, among others of note.

Whodat:
Garret Dillahunt is Doc Smith, who diagnosed the youngest Yost with a broken neck and brain death, only to see his patient completely healed by a kiss from Zippy. The parrot. Dillahunt played not one, but two, beautifully realized psychopaths on Deadwood (Jack McCall and Francis Wolcott). Last year, he was Matthew on The 4400.
Austin Nichols is the titular John. He also played Morgan Earp on Deadwood.
Dayton Callie is Steady Freddie, the drug dealer. He was stalwart Charlie Utter on Deadwood, and also recently played the adopted father of the miniature killer on CSI: Original Recipe.
Jim Beaver is Vietnam Joe, who found John originally. Beaver played the long suffering Ellsworth on Deadwood.
Stephen Tobolowsky is a lawyer or administrator from the hospital where Smith works, and played Hugo Jarry on Deadwood.

Others on JFC:
Brian Van Holt is the middle Yost, Butchie. I recall him from the Carla Gugino sci-fi show Threshold, where he was a wooden government agent. Here, he's terrific as the drug addled ne'er do well.
Matt Winston is the disturbed new hotel owner. I remember him as the annoying Daniels from Enterprise.
Paul Ben-Victor is Palaka, the dim-bulb sidekick for Freddie. He was the truck driver in recently in Drive, as well as studio head Allen Grey in Entourage.
Willie Garson is the "surf attorney." He's widely known as gay friend Stanford on estrogen/martini fest Sex and the City, but I also recongize him as extraterrestrial/TV and movie producer Martin Lloyd on Stargate SG-1.

The show also prominently features Rebecca DeMornay as the Yost matriarch, Luis Guzman as the hotel manager, and Ed O'Neill as ex-cop and friend of the family Bill. Who owns Zippy the parrot.

Entertainment Nuggets

Thursday's My Name is Earl had to have more euphemisms for "balls" per minute than any other show in recent memory. (Little Chubbies, Gonad pouch, Humpty and Dumpty, Meat and potatoes among many others). And funny that the word "balls" wasn't uttered until the very end. Plus, what perfect casting! Norm MacDonald doing his "vintage Burt Reynolds" bit as Big Chubby's (Burt Reynolds) son? Awesome. It made me google some of his appearances on Celebrity Jeopardy for a few extra laughs. Words to live by from Little Chubby: "Don't trust a man who wants to put his finger in your butt."

30 Rock wasn't as laugh out loud funny as last week, but every time Liz uttered "Blurgh!" or "By the hammer of Thor!" I cracked up.

More insight on the Deadwood movies (damn, you HBO for not renewing this amazing show) here.