TVSquad

I finally caved. After all the hype and all the buzz, I gave in. I'm sick of avoiding headlines on blogs and it's frustrating to hear everyone chatting away about "Cylons this..." and "Caprica that..." while I stand by mute and clueless. I've finally started to watch Battlestar Galactica.

I should mention that I'm not completely in the dark. I've tried before. On a couple of occasions actually. I've had a burned copy of the three hour mini-series that started it all for some time now. I could never get through it. This time, I went all out though. I even shelled out the $55 for the season one DVD set. Now, I'm through the mini-series and I'm nine episodes into the season. Four to go before the finale and all of a sudden, I've stopped. I started thinking. What if I had watched the show, right from the get-go when it premiered back in 2005 along with everyone else? Let's pretend. Let's say it is 2005 all over again and episode nine just aired last night -- the one where Tigh's estranged wife shows up. Let's pretend that seasons 2, 3 and 4 don't exist yet. Cool premise? OK...

I don't see what the big deal is.

(S01E07) "What? Slingshots too ineffective?" - Chuck

Oh it is good to be back after a week of absence! I know you guys missed me so much, but I think that Will O'Brien did a great job with his review of last week's episode.

One note from last week's episode that Will didn't cover... Captain Awesome's name is Devon? I had to rewind the video three times just to make sure. What a lame name (no offense to any Devons out there). I was really hoping for a Hoyt or Blakely or Mortimer.

I don't know if you caught the little Brothers and Sisters song-and-dance pre-season-premiere show this fall. I believe you can catch it online if you didn't see it on air. I am being a little smarmy about that pre-show because one of my fears about Brothers and Sisters is this: Their attempts to oversell it will turn people off. If I were an uninitiated viewer, or even a lukewarm one, having the cast and crew get together to talk about how much they love the show and love each other would make me wonder what they were compensating for. Smacks of desperation. And there's honestly no need for that.

One of the things that resonated with me as I watched the DVD extras, watched the early shows again, just for some perspective after a year of watching, is that this is a really good show.

Now that the second season of The Sarah Silverman Program has begun (see Brad T.'s review of last night's season premiere), anyone who wants to go back and review the first season can now do so on DVD.

Comedy Central usually puts together decent DVD packages for its shows, and this one is no exception. Well, it's decent if you're a fan of Silverman's goofy and self-absorbed songs, because this package features them quite a bit.

That's right, Friday Night Lights shaves as close as a blade, or your money back.

Sorry, whenever I hear news of a refund that old electric razor commercial pops into my head. Remember that one? No? Okay, moving on:

The folks behind NBC's Friday Night Lights are so sure you'll love the first season DVD set coming out next Tuesday that they're offering to refund your money if you don't like it. In order to qualify for the refund, you have to purchase the DVD before the end of the year, and I guess you also have to hate the series.

Choke on hot blue nostalgia, Generation X.

The Smurfs, that popular animated program I and many of my friends watched religiously as children of the '80s, is finally coming out on DVD. The Smurfs: Season One, Volume One is a two-disc set including the first nineteen episodes of the first season, along with "The Smurfs Springtime Special" and "Smurfs: The Music Video." The set comes out December 4.

Friday Night Lights is a good series.

Oh, really, Adam? And why should we believe you?

I'll tell you why: because I don't like football, hated high school, and especially didn't care for high school football, or athletics of any kind. Despite all of that, Friday Night Lights has drawn me in by being one of the most objective, unflinching depictions of teenage life since Freaks and Geeks. The two series aren't comparable beyond that, but they both do away with the gloss and rose-colored hindsight prevalent in so many other TV series and movies about teens. Friday Night Lights does not try to force a certain perspective: if you think getting worked up over a sport is idiotic, this show won't change your mind, but you'll be too affected by how it both tears the town apart and brings it together to care.

According to TMZ, Brian Dunkelman offended a Laugh Factory audience last week by bitterly joking during his stand-up routine, "If wishes came true Ryan Seacrest would have AIDS."

As you might recall, Dunkelman was Ryan's American Idol co-host during season one. After leaving the show, Dunkelman faded into obscurity while Ryan Seacrest went on to become one of the most recognizable faces on TV.

Some very cool news for fans of This American Life, the Showtime version of the long-running public radio mainstay. The first season of the series is now available on iTunes for $1.99 per episode (six episodes total) or $10.99 for the whole season. You can also download the radio version for free, just in case you didn't know.

I'll admit I didn't get into This American Life, the radio series or the TV program, until recently after hearing for many years how compelling and well-made it is. Those people were right, and it's become a permanent fixture on both my Tivo and my iPod. If they made a This American Life pamphlet, I would subscribe to that, too.

Don't ask me why, but someone has compiled a video consisting of the final ten seconds of every episode of the first season of Star Trek: the Next Generation.

Now many of you may know this, but almost every episode ended with someone saying, "bite me, suck-face!" and giving the finger directly into the camera. I know, it's weird. I never quite understood it myself. It's one of those TV catchphrases that never quite caught on.

Seriously, though, if you're a fan of The Next Generation, this is a pretty cool tribute, as each episode doesn't end with a definite conclusion, but with another step toward more adventure.

On Sunday, February 4, the same day some kind of football game or something airs on TV, TBS will air all thirteen season one episodes of the series My Boys. The marathon begins with the first episode at 5:00pm and ends at 11:30pm. New episodes will premiere sometime this summer.

My Boys is currently the number one sitcom on ad-supported cable for adults 18 to 49, which means you actually have to watch the show if you fall into that age bracket. Otherwise, you upset the balance of the universe and before you know it the moon is crashing into the sun, the ocean tides are reversing, and owls are eating giraffes. I don't make the rules, people.

Of course, you could always record the marathon and watch the big game instead, but those of us who were artsy marching band nerds when we were younger and never cared much for football will be sitting back to enjoy some comedy.

After the TCA Lost session, the gathered reporters tried to get some one-on-ones with the stars and producers, but I decided to skip that and go straight to lunch (the closest I got to a one-on-one was when I saw Matthew Fox exit the bathroom as I was on my way in. Me: "Havin' fun?" Fox: "Yeaaaah." It was in a tone that told me that he'd have rather gotten a full-cavity body search at the airport than sit for that panel). So, there I was, sitting at a big empty table with an AOL colleague, innocently eating and chatting, when ABC President Steve McPherson sat down with two reporters in tow.

It seems that little bombshell the Lost producers dropped about an "endpoint" had the reporters all atwitter, as the two were peppering him with questions about it. Before we knew it the table was jam packed with reporters, asking McPherson if he knew about this endpoint and when it might be. When he speculated it might be after a seventh season, one reporter chimed in that "they said it might be after five." But McPherson was smooth throughout, telling everyone that he's been talking with the producers about an endpoint almost since the beginning of the series, and he didn't seem to be that concerned about it.

As the conversation turned from Lost to other shows, I decided to throw him a question about my favorite fall disappointment, The Nine.

The first season of Metalocalypse, which finished off last week, will be available on DVD in the summer of 2007, according to DethKlok's lead singer Nathan Explosion (each of the band members have their own MySpace). The message was sent as a bulletin to members of the site, but you can check it out in the Toon Zone forums, also.

The message also teases that there may be a second season of the series, telling fans to pay close attention to the last line of the season's last episode. Since that line was something like, "The Metalocalypse has begun" I'm going to say that's a pretty good sign we'll be seeing more of the brutal but not-especially-bright boys of DethKlok in the future.

Also, a full-length DethKlok album will be available this summer. The CD will include complete songs featured in the show, as well as some new stuff. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for new information on both of these releases as more pops up. ROCK.

Let's face it; TV in Christmas day blows, especially if you're not a fan of football, basketball, or constantly burning logs. Yeah, the various networks tend to have marathons, but many of them are holiday related, and by the time you've unwrapped the presents and drank your weight in egg nog, you're pretty damned sick of holiday cheer.

Our friends at G4 might have the perfect antidote to that: a marathon of everyone's favorite cancelled comedy, Arrested Development. According to Newsday, the network will air the entire first season of AD, starting at 9 AM Monday morning. That's eleven hours of Bluthian fun and games to help you forget that your aunt gave you socks for the tenth year in a row. Unlike a lot of comedies, the first season of AD hits its creative stride pretty quickly (I became a fan after watching the second episode), so there are no real growing pains to see here, just smart comedy. It's a heck of a lot better than hearing about Shaq and Kobe for the three billionth time.

[via Pop Candy]

I don't know how long these episodes have been available, but I just happened to notice that the entire first season of Saturday Night Live is available for download on iTunes (actually, it looks like it was just added this week). You can purchase individual episodes for a buck ninety-nine, or get the whole shebang for $44.99. This first season is filled with classic moments that were unlike anything seen on television before, late night or otherwise, proving beyond any doubt that lots and lots of cocaine make people very funny. But I kid.

Of course, you can always buy the DVD set, also, which is probably the better option, but this first season is pretty damn funny no matter what screen you view it on, unless it's the new Sylvania Dead Puppy Television, a TV screen framed in dead puppies. This product is available through the Sylvania Web site, or it could possibly just be a dream I had the other night. I haven't bothered to check.