The Fox schedule for next season is out, and unlike last year, there are more than two new shows on the way..

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE
9:00-10:00 PM LIE TO ME

TUESDAY
8:00-10:00 PM SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Performance Show

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Results Show
9:00-10:00 PM GLEE

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE

FRIDAY
8:00-8:30 PM BROTHERS
8:30-9:00 PM ‘TIL DEATH
9:00-10:00 PM DOLLHOUSE

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 PM COPS
8:30-9:00 PM COPS
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S MOST WANTED
11:00 PM-Midnight THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (working title)
Midnight-12:30 AM ANIMATION DOMINATION ENCORES

SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM THE OT (NFL post-game)
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM THE CLEVELAND SHOW
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY
9:30-10:00 PM AMERICAN DAD

FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: MIDSEASON 2010 (All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE
9:00-10:00 PM 24

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL Performance Show
9:00-10:00 PM PAST LIFE

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL Results Show
9:00-10:00 PM HUMAN TARGET (January) / GLEE (spring)

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE

FRIDAY
8:00-8:30 PM BROTHERS
8:30-9:00 PM ‘TIL DEATH
9:00-10:00 PM DOLLHOUSE

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 PM COPS
8:30-9:00 PM COPS
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S MOST WANTED
11:00 PM-Midnight THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (working title)
Midnight-12:30 AM ANIMATION DOMINATION ENCORES

SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 PM ANIMATION DOMINATION ENCORES
7:30-8:00 PM AMERICAN DAD
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM SONS OF TUCSON
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY
9:30-10:00 PM THE CLEVELAND SHOW

New Fox Show Descriptions

GLEE

McKinley High School’s Glee Club used to be at the top of the show choir world, but years later, it has turned into a haven for misfits and social outcasts. But at McKinley, things for the Glee Club are about to change. From Ryan Murphy, the creator of “Nip/Tuck,” comes GLEE, an uplifting comedy musical series with biting humor that features a soundtrack of hit music from past to present. The show follows an optimistic high school teacher as he tries to refuel his own passion for singing while reinventing the school’s glee club and challenging a group of underdogs to realize their star potential. WILL SCHUESTER (Matthew Morrison) has offered to take on the Herculean task of restoring McKinley’s Glee Club to its former glory with the help of fellow teacher and germaphobe EMMA PILLSBURY (Jayma Mays). It’s a tall order when the brightest stars of the club include KURT (Chris Colfer), a nerdy soprano with a flair for the dramatic; MERCEDES (Amber Riley), a dynamic diva-in-training who refuses to sing back-up; ARTIE (Kevin McHale), a geeky guitarist who spends more time avoiding bullies than chasing girls; and TINA (Jenna Ushkowitz), an awkward girl who needs to suppress her stutter before she can take center stage. Will’s only hope lies with two true talents: RACHEL BERRY (Lea Michele), a perfectionist firecracker who is convinced that show choir is her ticket to stardom; and FINN HUDSON (Cory Monteith), the popular high school quarterback with movie star looks and a Motown voice who must protect his reputation with his holier-than-thou girlfriend and head cheerleader, QUINN (Dianna Agron), and his arrogant football teammate, PUCK (Mark Salling). Driven by his secret past, Will is determined to do whatever it takes to make Glee great again, even though everyone around him thinks he’s nuts. He’s out to prove them all wrong from his tough-as-nails wife TERRI SCHUESTER (Jessalyn Gilsig) to McKinley’s scheming cheerleading coach SUE SYLVESTER (Jane Lynch) to an ber-hip world that thinks jazz hands and sequined tuxedos litter the road to infamy rather than pave the way to Hollywood dreams.

Sean’s Take: Well, the promos look funny, but I get a distinct “I pitched this as a movie, no one bought it, so I’m going to try it on television” vibe from it.  Not sure how you carry this concept out as a full series.  I don’t picture it lasting, but I do see a cult following for it.

THE CLEVELAND SHOW

THE CLEVELAND SHOW is a new animated series that follows everyone’s favorite soft-spoken neighbor, CLEVELAND BROWN (Mike Henry), to his hometown in Virginia as he settles down with his high school sweetheart, her unruly kids and his own 14-year-old son, CLEVELAND JR. (Kevin Michael Richardson). Many years ago, Cleveland was a high school student madly in love with a beautiful girl named DONNA (Sanaa Lathan). Much to his dismay, his love went unrequited, and Donna wound up marrying another man. Cleveland once told Donna he would always love her, and if this man ever done her wrong, he’d be there when she called. Well, this man done her wrong. Donna’s husband ran off, leaving Donna with a teenage daughter and a young son. Now she’s open to Cleveland and has offered him another chance at love. Unattached after the Loretta-Quagmire debacle and true to his word, Cleveland joyously reunites with Donna, and he and Cleveland Jr. move to Virginia to join their new family. Once in Virginia, there are a few surprises in store for Cleveland, including ROBERTA (Reagan Gomez-Preston), a rebellious new stepdaughter; RALLO (Henry), his new 5-year-old stepson who loves the ladies; and a collection of neighbors that includes a loudmouth redneck, LESTER (Richardson); a hipster wanna-be, HOLT (guest voice Jason Sudeikis); and a religious pair of talking bears, TIM (Seth MacFarlane) and his wife ARIANNA (guest voice Arianna Huffington).

Sean’s Take: Did we really need a spin-off from Family Guy?  More importantly, did we need a spin-off of one of the least used characters from Family Guy?  What’s even odder is that Fox already ordered a second season of it without one episode having aired yet!  This one is just totally beyond me.

BROTHERS

Starring Michael Strahan (”FOX NFL Sunday”) and Daryl “Chill” Mitchell (”Ed,” “Veronica’s Closet”), BROTHERS is a new half-hour comedy about a former NFL hot shot who learns that even though you can always go home again, the trip back might be tougher than you think. MIKE TRAINOR (Strahan) seemingly has it all he’s a good-looking, wealthy and recently retired NFL player living the high-life in New York City, but he’s about to get sidelined. When Mike gets a phone call from his MOM (CCH Pounder, “The Shield”) who orders him home to Houston, he quickly realizes the more his life has changed, the more his family has stayed the same. His brother CHILL (Daryl “Chill” Mitchell), whose life was altered drastically after a car accident left him in a wheelchair, is struggling to keep his restaurant afloat with the help of his loudmouth associate, ROSCOE (Colton Dunn, “MADtv”). The dynamics between Mike and Chill are the same as when they were kids, and their sibling rivalry hasn’t lessened with age. If they can stop their bickering, put aside their differences and learn to be teammates, the brothers might just turn out to be each other’s biggest asset. Copy/pasted from The Futon Critic Wedged between Mike and Chill are their parents. Their father, whom everyone refers to as COACH (Carl Weathers, “Rocky”), is the local high school football coach and the conservative, opinionated alpha male of his clan. Coach thinks he runs the show, but really it’s Mom who calls the shots. Saucy, stern and a schemer, she is the mastermind of the family. And when she learns that Mike’s business manager took off with all his money, she orchestrates a plan to keep Mike in Houston, save Chill’s restaurant and bring the family back together under one roof again all without anyone realizing what she’s up to. Mom’s plan helps Mike realize that his family however dysfunctional they may be is the only family he’s got. And although he may not have a penny to his name, as long as he’s surrounded by people who love him, he’ll always be a rich man.

Sean’s Take: This show holds zero interest for me, but I oddly see it doing “okay” in the ratings.

THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (working title)

Emmy Award-winning actress, comedian and author Wanda Sykes returns to FOX to host the innovative and irreverent new Saturday late-night series, THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (working title). The high-energy one-hour show will feature biting commentary on topical issues and heated panel discussions with recurring personalities. The series’ unique format will highlight Sykes’ outspoken comedic perspective on current events and will also allow her to leave the studio to shoot segments in the field.

Sean’s Take: It’ll be on late night Saturdays… if Mad TV could exist in that slot through 14 seasons, I’m pretty sure this will be good for a few years at least.  Don’t get me wrong, I think Ms. Sykes is funny, I just can’t imagine this show needing to do much to stay on the air.

HUMAN TARGET

It takes a brave, selfless man to make himself a “human target” in order to save the lives of those in danger. Based on the popular DC Comics graphic novel, HUMAN TARGET is a full-throttle action drama centered on CHRISTOPHER CHANCE (Mark Valley, FRINGE), a unique private contractor/security guard hired to protect. Call him what you like, because for Chance, it’s about one thing only: saving his clients’ lives. When there is an unusual or imminent threat that can’t be solved through “normal” means of protection, Chance is hired to completely integrate himself into his clients’ lives to become the human target. If you’re a corporate manager whose disgruntled employee has gone violently off the deep end, Chance is your new auditor. If you’re the president of a bank who’s been tipped off to a potential heist, Chance is your unassuming bank teller. During each job, Chance, assisted by his business partner WINSTON (Chi McBride, “Pushing Daisies”) and hired gun GUERRERO (Jackie Earle Haley, “Watchmen”), puts himself directly in the line of fire as he races against time to save his client, while unraveling the truth behind the mission. With every new danger, Chance’s dark history will also unravel. Does anyone know who Christopher Chance really is, or what secrets lay buried in his past? What would make a man willingly become a HUMAN TARGET?

Sean’s Take: I really have no clue.  I imagine a full season at least, but beyond that, I just really don’t know.

PAST LIFE

Have you ever experienced deja vu or met someone you thought seemed familiar? Do you believe in karma, fate or love at first sight? From writer David Hudgins (”Friday Night Lights”), and inspired by the book “The Reincarnationist” by M.J. Rose, comes PAST LIFE, a new drama series about an unlikely pair of past-life detectives who investigate whether what is happening to you today is the result of who you were before. DR. KATE MCGINN (Kelli Giddish, “All My Children”) is not your typical psychologist. Confident, outspoken and highly educated, she works at The Talmadge Center for Behavioral Health in New York City, a world-renowned institute dedicated to the study of the science of the soul. After experiencing a past-life regression in her 20s, Kate became a believer in reincarnation. Using regression therapy and her natural gift for reading people, Kate helps solve the mysteries of her troubled clients who suffer from present-day problems caused by past-life traumas. She believes there are levels of consciousness and explanations for human behavior that science can’t begin to explain. Accustomed to skeptics, but not bothered by them, Kate is an unapologetic believer and a force of nature who marches to the beat of her own drummer. Her partner, PRICE WHATLEY (Nicholas Bishop, “Home and Away”), is a different story. A former NYPD homicide detective, pragmatic and cynical, Price is a damaged soul who constantly battles grief and guilt over the accidental death of his wife. Price feels that Kate, though not certifiable, certainly operates on the fringes of science. It’s a volatile relationship, but with Price’s solid detective skills, and Kate’s penchant for out-of-the-box thinking, together they make a formidable, if somewhat dysfunctional, team. A fast-paced emotional thrill ride, each episode finds Price and Kate working with their colleagues to unravel a new mystery involving the past-lives of their clients. DR. MALACHI TALMADGE (Richard Schiff, “The West Wing”) is Kate’s mentor and the center’s namesake, an avuncular but gruff elder statesman who is a legend in the field of cognitive research. DR. RISHI KARNA (Ravi Patel, “Scrubs”) is the rookie of the group, a baby-faced therapist from Calcutta who loves bad American TV, Cuban jazz and driving everyone crazy.

Sean’s Take: … so, you found a different way to package Bones.  Oh well, if CBS can have 50 procedural cop shows, why not let Fox have a bunch of “male/female team solves crimes while one is a sorta looney doctor, and the other one is a down-to-earth cop type” shows.

SONS OF TUCSON

In the tradition of “Malcolm in the Middle” and “The Bernie Mac Show,” SONS OF TUCSON is a family comedy about three brothers who hire a charming, wayward schemer to stand in as their father when their real one goes to prison. What begins as a business relationship evolves into something more complex and compelling: a family unlike any we’ve ever seen. The three brothers find their dad-for-hire, RON SNUFFKIN (Tyler Labine, “Reaper”), at the local sporting good store. Ron will be forced to draw on a wide array of skills and a vast bag of tricks as he steps into the patriarch role to take care of the boys of the Gunderson family. ROBBY GUNDERSON (Davis Cleveland, “How I Met Your Mother”), 8, is a loose cannon who doesn’t respond well to authority; GARY GUNDERSON (Frank Dolce, “Doubt”), 11, is a bright and street-savvy leader who is every bit the con man his father is; and BRANDON GUNDERSON (Troy Gentile, “Entourage”), 13, is a gentle free spirit who simply goes along for the ride. MAGGIE MORALES (Natalie Martinez, “Saints & Sinners”), Robby’s second-grade teacher and the object of Ron’s affection, might just be the only stable figure in the lives of this quirky quartet. While SONS OF TUCSON is grounded in the day-to-day challenges of a single-parent home, nothing in the Gunderson household is quite what it seems. An ongoing chess match between Ron and the boys will keep both parties on their toes, as neither side can afford to give up too much power or independence.

Sean’s Take: Okay, seriously, half of the new shows on Fox this year sound like the type you see in a comedy skit about how weird TV has gotten.  A show about a stand-in dad?  What the heck?!?  Not only that, they stuck it in the middle of their Sunday night animation line-up.  Okay, yeah, that makes sense.

The best news is that Dollhouse is list on Friday nights, but I will be really surprised if it makes it past this initial 13 episode order.

It’s true folks, Dollhouse is getting a second season.

The official announcement won’t happen until Monday, but sources are saying a thirteen episode order has been placed.  If you’re concerned about it being only thirteen, don’t be.  Television networks normally order that number, see how things are going, and then they’ll order “the back nine” to brign the total to 22, the length of a normal television season.  Those nine aren’t a certainity, though, so don’t think that these being ordered will get us a full season for sure.

Apparently Joss Whedon had to promise to lower the budget to get the show considered.  This was due to the fact that some believe this is the lowest rated show to ever get a renewal.  It was only when Fox added in DVR viewings, online streaming and anticipated DVD sales, they decided to gite another go.

The sad thing is, the final episode of season 1 could have almost acted as a series finale, so it’s difficult to imagine where they are going to take the story next, but at least we get to find out!  For once Fox is taking a risk, and it’s about time considering their track record with canceling shows.

So… welcome back to the Dollhouse.

Justin Timberlake returned for his third time hosting Saturday Night Live, and, well, “Dick In A Box” got a sequel.

This is the first time Timberlake has returned to host since we got the infamous “Dick In A Box” sketch that caused such a stir.  I really didn’t know if they would try to do a follow-up, but try they did, and they succeeded, albeit in a different way. For whatever reason, Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake seem to work together amazingly well, we’re just all lucky enough to enjoy the results.

Doing a direct follow-up probably would have been a disaster, but using the same characters in a totally different situation that is just as disturbing as the original turned out to be the way to go.  It seems the two have been in jail for five months, and they get out just in time for Mother’s Day and realize they haven’t gotten any gifts for them. Well, they come up with a plan that is best left to the video.

Yes, that was Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson as their moms.

In case you’ve never seen the original, here it is via YouTube so any one in the world can watch it. Enjoy.

Ever since the week of September 28, 1987, there has been a question that has plagued this planet: Who is the best Star Trek captain?

The week of September 28,1987 was when Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in syndication, and since that time there has been no more hotly debated topic amongst Star Trek fans who the best Captain is.  The problem, as I see it, is everyone’s favorite has always come down to emotion.  They base their love of a particular Captain on which one they grew up with, or that they know the best.  I’ve always tried to approach it more as, “Which Captain would I actually follow into a battle?”, and that is exactly how I have put this list together.

First I will give you the Captains in chronological order by the show’s timeline, and then I’ll get down to the nitty gritty at the end.  Enjoy!… and try not to kill me for my rankings!

Capt. Jonathan Archer, Enterprise

While Enterprise was the fifth, and final, Star Trek television series, it was actually the first in the timeline as it takes place towards the beginning of the United Federation of Planets (UFP).

Capt. Archer seemed very confused about what it meant to be a Captain through out the run of his series.  He went from a wide-eyed explorer who loved the stars to a commanding officer who was willing to make morally questionable command decisions as the series went on.

Perhaps it could be chalked up to the fact the UFP was still in its infancy, and they hadn’t set down a lot of rules yet, such as “the prime directive”, but he just seemed to never fully understand what it meant to be a captain, and never had that “take no guff” air of command about him without swinging to the extreme ends of the pendulum.

Capt. James T. Kirk, Star Trek: The Original Series

Oh, Kirk. He was the first exposure so many people had to the world of Star Trek, and so they judge everything since by the standards he set.  And oh what standards those were!

The problem with Capt. Kirk is that he was an adrenaline junkie.  He never met an alien he didn’t want to shoot or sleep with.  Diplomacy?  What the heck is that?!?  It’s hard to say how good he was as an actual officer, but there is no question that his crew was loyal to him, and would have followed him any where he went.  Course, that may have lead them into an even worse problem, but who cared at that point?

Of all the Captains, Kirk was clearly the most ‘by the seat of his pants’ one in the history of the franchise.  He seemed to luck into solutions to situations more than actually solving them, or he would end up leaving it to his crew which always seemed far more capable than him.  He was clearly a product of the time frame this show was made in, but that carried over to the movie franchise, so I’m not sure that can even be used as a defense.  He was a decent Captain, just probably not the best.

(Please note this is all based on William Shatner’s performance in the role, I have not seen the new movie yet, but from what I know, it would have to be almost considered a seperate character)

Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

If Capt. Kirk wasn’t your introduction to Star Trek, then it was Capt. Picard, and then he’s the one you judge everyone else by.  However, unlike Kirk, he actually seemed like an actual Captain.

Unlike his predecessor (in the history of Star Trek, 70-some years separated Picard and Kirk, so I mean as characters), Picard was truly a commander.  He was enough of a diplomat that he would be called upon to serve as the arbitrator in peace negotiations, but he was a man of action when needed, and at that he was a brilliant tactician.

One thing the UFP (yes, really the show’s writers) did between the original series and this one was to make the rule that the Captain of a starship couldn’t go on “away missions”.  This eliminated a lot of the potential for Picard to go all Kirk on an alien race (”Should I sleep with it or kill it?!?”), and that was all left to his second in command, Cmdr. Riker.

I think Picard brought a certain elegance to the rank, and it wasn’t just Patrick Stewart’s Shakespearean training, it was that the writer’s realized a Captain shouldn’t be so much of a cowboy, but someone that people would actually want to follow into battle.

Capt. Benjamin Sisko, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Capt. Sisko is a tough one to talk about because he was in such a different situation than any other commanding officer in the history of the series.

While he did start off at the rank of Commander at the beginning of the series, he was promoted to Captain later in the series.  No matter what his rank was, he was still the top ranked officer on Deep Space Nine and on the U.S.S. Defiant.   While this was actually my personal favorite of the five series, I have to call it as it is, and Sisko was always more of a glorified dock manager than a “Captain”.  Yes, there were moments that you could say were Captain like, especially when fighting the Dominion, his primary job was to keep the station running smoothly, which was essentially a seaport.

I think if he had been out running around the galaxy like all of the other Captains he would have proven himself a very capable Captain, but going simply by what we saw on screen, he just didn’t really have the opportunities the others did.

Capt. Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager

Voyager was the series I was personally most disappointed with because they missed an oppurtuinty to have the ship come home with pipes sticking out at odd angles in the hallways, plates missing from the hull and so on.  Instead the ship came home looking like it had regular servicing at a Starbase, and a glorious oppurtunity to show a less than shiny Starfleet vessel was totally missed.

That aside, Janeway was probably the Captain with the most weight put on her shoulders.  70,000 light years from home, a crew made up of Starfleet regulars and Marquis renegades, and yet she kept them together until they found an eventual way home.  If this wasn’t a true example of someone acting like a Captain, being a true leader of people, I don’t know what is.

While the show may not have been the best, it was actually the best they ever did at showing a Captain under trying circumstances.  It doesn’t mean she was the overall best, but it certainly shot her up my personal rankings.

Conclusion

So, what is my personal final list?  Well, I’ll tell you this, I based it on command experience shown, and not on which series I liked the most, or which I watched first.  Basically, I tried to remove all emotion from the list, so I know this will be a ranking that gets much disagreement, but it’s how I did it.

1. Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation
2. Capt. Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager
3. Capt. James T. Kirk, Star Trek: The Original Series
4. Capt. Benjamin Sisko, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
5. Capt. Jonathan Archer, Enterprise

So, there you have it, probably not the way most people would rank them, but I explained how I reached my conclusions, and I truly doubt you could find any two Star Trek fans who agree 100% on the order.

If you enjoyed this list, you may also like Who Is The Best James Bond & Who Is The Best Doctor Who.

***MAJOR SPOILERS***

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Bea Arthur has passed away at the age of 86.

A long time stage actress, Ms. Arthur came to be best known in the 1970’s when she was was cast as Edith’s (Jean Stapleton) cousin, Maude Finley, on the hit series, All in the Family.  Maude was a very liberal woman who proved the perfect foil for Archie’s (Carroll O’Connor) old world views on races, women and everything else under the sun.  Though she was already 50-years-old at the time, ABC took notice of her performance on the show and decided to spin her off into her own show, simply entitled Maude.

Maude was a hit series in its own right, and propelled Ms. Arthur even more into the national spotlight when her show started tackling serious issues such as alcoholism. However, it was when her character had an abortion that the series took on a life of its own as it was the first time it had been mentioned in a television series since it had become legal. Protests were launched against the show, but it only seemed to make it that much more of a “must watch” series.

That series came to an end in 1978 when Ms. Arthur opted to leave the show.  By this point she was a household name, and due to her unusual height (5′9″) and exceptionally deep voice, she got a lot of work in guest appearances on various series.  It was in 1985 when she joined a new series entitled The Golden Girls with Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty. This series once again broke new ground as all four leads were older women, and she was once again propelled into another hit series.  She stayed with that show, now a basic cable rerun staple, until 1992.  The show continued one more year without her under the name The Golden Palace, but without Ms. Arthur it just couldn’t succeed.

Since the end of that series her work has been very sporadic, but she was still an iconic television figure never needing an introduction.

She passed away at her home, surrounded by family, of an unspecified form of cancer.

Thank you for many great years of very entertaining television, Ms. Arthur.

It has been a year since I tackled the subject of the Dancing With The Stars band, and it seems I need to do it again.

Back on April 15th of 2008 I took on the subject of the Dancing With The Stars band, and Harold Wheeler, the band conductor and arranger.   In the year that followed, this has been a rather large hot bed for comments that bring my intelligence into question.  The comments questioning the placement of my head in my rectal area aside, one commenter, Jeff D, made a point that actually got through to me and made me rethink my opinion on this whole matter a bit.

These arrangements are made for a standard “Big Band” format. That fits BALLROOM dancing.

And therein is the problem I believe.  Well, at least most of it.  This show has attempted to take popular songs from many different genres, and they leave it to the band to try to make them fit a format they were never built for.  I still hate the singers, but this one comment (notice the comment didn’t insult my intelligence, amazing how much further that will get someone) really made me rethink my stance on the actual band.  For instance, does anyone think The Clash were ever meant for ballroom dancing?  No, they weren’t.  Yet there was one of their songs a few seasons ago, being tormented to the point of painful, but I now hate it a little less because I finally see what was being done to it.

I still have problems with what seems like random changes in the tempo of songs that even seem to throw the dancers off their step.  And as for the singers… the singers are a whole different matter that just make me cringe.  I’m sure they’re fine for certain styles of singing, but a lot of times they just seem totally ill suited for what they are being asked to sing on the show.

Now, there is one point where I do still have to wonder about the band and Jeff D’s comment (I’m not attacking him, it is just something specific I thought of), and that is when the band tackles songs by the band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.  Songs by this group seem to be a favorite on this show, popping up at least 3 to 4 times thus far.  For those of you unfamiliar with them, they are a California band deeply entrenched in the 1940’s swing era style of music, and you may have seen them in the movie Swingers some years ago.  You would think a band that plays in swing style wouldn’t need any “corrections”, but yet, there they are when the Dancing With The Stars band plays them.  It’s usually just a slight tempo change, but it is still a change.

Sure the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy issue is a small one, and I’ll forgive it, and I will say the commenter changed my mind a bit.  The producers are the ones who choose the music each week, and perhaps it is time someone, namely Harold Wheeler, sat them down and said, “You really think this song is a good choice for this show?  Sure it’s popular, but it doesn’t even come close to fitting the style we need.”  I doubt this will ever happen, but I can dream of a day where I stop cringing when I hear them twist another of my favorite songs in to some unrecognizable mess that makes me cringe.

As for the singers… my problems with them have nothing to do with the arrangements, but more so that they are being asked to sing songs that they have never attempted that particular style before in their lives.  What better time to try it out than on live TV?

One last note, in my original post I made a comment about my love of the version of the song “Roxanne” from Moulin Rouge.  Many people have argued in the comments that it is a horrible arrangement, but seeing as the original band, The Police, had to sign off on its use, I’m guessing they didn’t think it was so horrible.  In that particular case, yes, the song was significantly changed, but I felt the arrangement fit the context of the song’s subject matter far better.  It is a song about prostitution after all, and the guttural, growling version that plays in the movie makes a whole lot more sense than Sting’s original ascending vocals that have almost a melancholy tone to them. Yes, that is my opinion, as are all posts on this blog, and it is the one I’m sticking to on that particular case.  I’ll give a small victory to the commenters on the overall feelings on the main thrust of the article about the band, but I will never surrender my love of that particular version of that song.

The Susan Boyle phenomenon rolls on, and currently shows no signs of slowing down either.

Sure there have been a lot of Internet sensations, but quite often they are of the mean or mocking nature, so it’s actually nice to see something uplifting like Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s Got Talent being the video everyone passes around this week.

I think it is even more amazing that someone who appeared on a nation specific show is popping up everywhere, showing just how global anything placed on the Internet can be.  As she is making the rounds of the USA television shows, she has now appeared on Larry King Live last night in what is one of her lengthiest interviews over on this side of the Atlantic.  She appeared with one of the judges from Britain’s Got Talent, Piers Morgan, and talked about what that performance was like, and what the future holds for her.  As an added treat, in the second video at 2:25 mark, you can hear her sing a snippet of “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic, sans musical accompaniment, and even impresses Mr. Morgan again with her abilities.

Also last night on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon did a sketch based around her original performance, and while she does not appear in any new footage, it is quite an amusing little take on just how everyone is reacting to her and her talents. (Sorry, but the video is not available outside of the USA)

Make sure to check out SusanBoyleFandom.com for all of the latest Susan Boyle relate news!

Finally we get to hear Susan Boyle, the 47-year-old who wowed the judges and audience on Britain’s Got Talent, sing a second song to prove if her performance was a fluke or not!

As I said yesterday, hearing Ms. Boyle sing a second song was going to be the key to figuring out if it was somehow a fluke when she sang  ”I Dreamed A Dream”.  The good news is, a second song has surfaced and… she’s the real deal folks!

The Daily Record located a 1999 charity CD that had only 1,000 pressings, and on it Ms. Boyle performs “Cry me A River” and… wow, just… wow.  This woman is a true talent, and I am so thrilled to finally hear her sing a second song so we at last know if it was just some weird oddity when she sang on Britain’s Got Talent the other night.

As The Daily Record is claiming exclusivity on the track, these copies may disappear, but I will try to keep an eye on them.  Thanks to The Inquisitr for the idea of posting two different copies right off the bat to try to make sure you can hear this amazingly rare recording.

And, oddly enough, a copy from a Japanese website.

Make sure to check out Susan Boyle Wowing the judges on Britain’s Got Talent and her appearance on The Early Show.

Make sure to check out SusanBoyleFandom.com for all of the latest Susan Boyle relate news!

It seems that the cancellation of Dollhouse is drawing closer and closer.

While it is not a certainity yet, and there is still a glimmer of hope that we’ll see a second season, that glimmer seems to be fading pretty darn fast at this point.  Series creator Joss Whedon has made two public appearances this week, one to receive the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism at Harvard and the other to speak at the Paley Festival, and at both events he did not sound exactly update about the future of the show. Speaking to Sci Fi Wire, Mr. Whedon gave some of his thoughts:

[The chances are] not very good but in limbo.  Obviously our numbers are pretty soft, and there it is, but we live in hope. I’m really proud of the episodes that are coming out. More than that, I can’t really ask.

He also cleared up some of the rampant speculation circulating about the mysterious thirteenth episode, “Epitaph One”:

“The decision had to do with the studio saying, ‘We need another episode for our package, and we can’t afford one,’” Whedon said. “‘Can you do a clip show? Can we show the unaired pilot?’ I’m like, ‘No, you can’t. It wouldn’t make any sense. Besides, we cannibalized it for parts. Most of it’s in other episodes.’ And they were like, ‘Well, we really have to have 13 for foreign.’ And I said, ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll shoot a post-apocalyptic thriller that’s all on our sets in six days with a cast of four other people, then we’ll pepper it with different bits from our regular cast, and we can do it all during the schedule. It’ll cost you half. I can do this.’ And I was so in love with the idea that I just came up with off the top of my head, and that’s what it turned into. It’s one of the best episodes we’ve ever made.”

This still doesn’t clear up for us when, if ever, we’ll get to see the episode.  It sounds like the foreign markets will see it for sure, which means it should show up online, albeit illegally, but hopefully they would use it as a selling point for the DVD release in the United States also.

With USA Today saying the show is “Gone or nearly dead”, it’s looking more and more likely that the show is a goner.  Unlike Firefly, though, which I loved, I think Dollhouse was just a bit harder to connect with.  In both instances, Fox fiddled with the show: in the case of Firefly they showed the series out of order, and with Dollhouse they put a lot of restraints on what Mr. Whedon could do in the first five episodes.  It wasn’t until the sixth episode that he could get the network to stop meddling with him, but I think by then it was just too late.  He had been set down a path it was hard to get off of, and a lot of viewers had already given up on the show hooking them.

I also just can’t help but thinking that Eliza Dushku’s acting was partially to blame.  While the other “dolls” showed very different characters with each imprint, I had hard time each episode of thinking anything, but “Oh, it’s Eliza… just in a different outfit.”  I thought her most effective acting came out of when she played Echo in her wiped Doll state.  What can I say, she plays “blank” well.

The concept was an intriguing one, but it just took the ball too long to get rolling.  With Buffy, the Vampire Slayer you knew the concept just from the opening monolgue over the credits.  With Firefly you got the gist of things fairly quickly about them being rag tag hoodlums that wander the spaceways under the own rules in pretty much every episode.  Dollhouse was just too complex of a concept for anyone to easily jump into.  Was it about the evils of the Dollhouse?  Was it about the FBI agent?  Was it about Alpha, the rogue doll?  Why was Echo in the program?  While I have every faith that Mr. Whedon would have gotten to where everything tied together, but to draw new viewers in and hook them on the series, I think it was just too much all at once.

Like I said, the cancellation isn’t a done deal as of yet, but all of the signs point to it happening.  Hopefully the answers will be spelled out online or in a comic book for those of us who watched every episode if the series does indeed get cancelled, but for now, hopefully this will scare Joss Whedon away from every trusting the Fox network again with one of his properties.  After the disaster of Firefly, you would have thought he would have learned his lesson, but they promised him it would be different… you know, kind of like battered wife syndrome.  Hopefully this time Joss will sign the divorce papers and find a healthier, happier relationship, not just for his sake, but also the sake of his fans.

Susan Boyle, the 47-year-old who wowed the judges and audience on Britain’s Got Talent, has now made her way across the pond to the shores of the United States.

Now that she has taken Britain and the Internet by storm, it’s time for the United States as a whole to get a taste of Ms. Boyle and her amazing singing voice.  When she appeared on The Early Show on CBS this morning (my original repoort was for NBC The Today Show, and I apologize as I was given faulty info from the Orlando Sentinel), we got at least a little bit more of an idea of what the woman is about than “sad sack”-type moments we got in the original video that was set to “ha ha, look at her” music.

Sadly Ms. Boyle sings the same song she did on the original show, but I have a feeling that may be a ploy by the producers of Britain’s Got Talent.  When she’s asked what she will sing in her second performance in the contest, she simply states that you’ll have to tune in and see.  (well, if you’re in the UK you can, those of us in the USA will have to rely on online videos)

Overall it’s a worthwhile video as you get to see a bit of her town, what the locals think of her, find out a bit more about her life, and, of course, hear her sing a bit.  Check it out below, I have no clue if this will play for visitors outside of the USA, sorry if it doesn’t.  Followed by that is an interview with Broadway legend Patti Lupone, who was the original singer of “I Dreamed A Dream”, and her thoughts on Ms. Boyle’s performance.

Make sure to check out SusanBoyleFandom.com for all of the latest Susan Boyle relate news!

Good news Susan Boyle fans! She’s going to appear on American television!

According to the Orlando Sentinel, it has been announced that Ms. Boyle will be appearing on The Today Show on NBC this morning (sorry for the confusion everyone, it was The Early Show on CBS, link to video is below).  She will be singing from her kitchen in Scotland during the performance, but no hint yet on what she will be singing.  Hopefully it will be different than her “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables she performed on Britain’s Got Talent the other day.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved her performance of that song, but I really would like to hear her do a different song just to make sure the first one was some sort of fluke.  I really, really doubt it was, but would be nice to make sure.

I will try to bring you a copy of the video as soon as humanly possible, and hopefully it won’t be quite the chase the other one was over the weekend.

UPDATE: You can see the Susan Boyle CBS The Early Show interview here.

Make sure to check out SusanBoyleFandom.com for all of the latest Susan Boyle relate news!