Random

Work has been busy leading up to this coming weekend. While things won't necessarily get less busy, they will get less hectic provided this weekend goes smoothly. So while I have some time, here are some random notes.

Shaq looks strange in a Suns jersey. If someone had told you in 1995 that Grant Hill and Shaquille O'Neal would play on the same team, you'd probably assume they'd be favored to win a championship. Shaq was drafted #1 overall in 1992 and Grant Hill was drafted #3 overall in 1994.

Jason Kidd returned to the Mavericks who originally drafted him in 1994 (#2 overall). He's not the only player lately to return to their original team. Steve Nash made this move a few years back when he rejoined the Suns after his time with Dallas. Chris Webber recently signed with the Golden State Warriors who didn't draft him but traded for him on draft day. Not only does he return to the Warriors, but he returns to Don Nelson who coached the Warriors during Webber's first stint. Keith Van Horn was involved in the Kidd trade, and while he hasn't played for a few years, he technically returned to the New Jersey Nets who drafted him #2 overall in 1997.

The trend of NBA players being traded as well as free agency always tends to muddy the memories of current players' original teams. Afterall, who could forget Tracy McGrady the Raptor or Chauncey Billups the Celtic?

With respect to LOST:
What a great season so far! Lots of new questions...
I think I know how Jack and Claire discover that they're (half)brother and (half)sister.
I think I know who's in the coffin and why.

Perhaps coincidentally following a trend. Gary Louris joins Dan Wilson in releasing a solo album. Both musicians are more famous as a part of bands (Louris from the Jayhawks and Wilson from Semisonic), but the common ground continues in that they both worked with the Dixie Chicks on their Grammy winning album. Louris' album hit stores (and more commonly, online outlets) this week and it sounds good. You might remember my raving of Gary Louris when I saw him with side project Golden Smog.

I Prefer My TV in 3D over HD

I'm convinced that someday soon, I'll get on the HD train and buy a high definition TV...but for now I'm convinced that 3D TV has way more value than HD TV. What do I mean by 3D TV? Television with three dimensions. No, not the goofy glasses with one blue and one red "lens." I'm talking about stories that go deeper than shallow characters and linear plot lines. I learned early in my days of dabbling in fiction that there are really only 5 basic conflicts from which to base fiction. Man vs. Man, Man vs. Himself, Man vs. God, Man vs. The World, Man vs. Nature. Three dimensional television should creatively wrap 3 or more of those conflicts together at the same time. My favorite show on TV right now is LOST and I think you can make the statement that all five conflicts are playing out on and off the island before and after the crash of flight 815. It's creative enough and the characters are developed well enough to sustain the tangle of conflicts. Comedies, sit coms especially can get away with humor surrounding a premise and with an electric enough cast and good enough writers, can ride a premise for season after season without needing to tangle conflicts. I just caught up on the latest episodes of Life and it's proven that it can successfully meld at least three of the conflicts together. I've thought of it before, but I thought I would try and put words to it. A good story, good character development and elements of our real world mixed with a world we don't live in (figuratively or literally) will always win out over any effect made more special by high definition television. I support the writers in the WGA and their strike, even as it affects shows I love, because there are story elements, characters, conficts and magic that studio heads, special effects designers, and executive producers can't begin to dream up.

Chuck is Lost?

I confirmed by rewinding with my Tivo, but at first I thought I was hearing things... While watching a segment of Chuck in between extra innings of the Rockies Padres game, I overheard Chuck's subconsious say "Ocean flight 815 was shot down." They're on different networks so it's a little strange for a LOST reference, isn't it? I'm not convinced Chuck is a good show, but Tivo is recording it every week for me just in case I decide to like it.

Not from Cincinnati Anymore

I withheld writing anything about the show because I was still trying to figure out enough about what was happening with it to make a coherent pitch. What I should have said weeks ago was "Watch John From Cincinnati!" HBO canceled the show, as networks continue to do to shows I like. The thing about JFC was that it was doing something very unique...but in the way that the show ended it's first and only season, there are so many unanswered questions it's not even worth discussing. It's such a waste. The characters were intriguing, the storyline was Twin Peaksy, and with actors like Ed O'Neill [whose character Bill Jacks may have stolen the show], Bruce Greenwood, Rebecca DeMornay, Luis Guzman, Luke Perry (even the idea that Zach Morris and Dylan McKay shared the screen was intriguing), the dynamic Paul Ben-Victor (who joins a list of multi-show HBO veterans for his role on Entourage [Season 3]), and even Jennifer Grey. The story examines many people who are at the bottom of the list of people you would expect miracles to happen to. The mysterious character of John comes into their lives and only really tells people what they're thinking, what others are thinking and to seek God. One character is raised from the ground, one character is raised from the dead, and all of the characters are actively feeling themselves change. I also thought it was interesting the way the characters all used labels for each other (the hairlip, the lawyer, the doctor, the chemist, the Hawaiian, the porn star, the skinny girl, and other not so nice labels too). It was fascinating and I'm sad to see it not coming back.

Imagine if other shows were cancelled after one season. Imagine the mythology of LOST ending with Jack and Locke looking down into the hatch. Imagine Friends ending with Rachel learning Ross loves her and not dragging the storyline on for 7 more years... Imagine The West Wing concluding with gunfire on the President and his staff but no resolution. Imagine 24 ending with Nina killing Teri Bauer. Imagine if the Sopranos ended anticlimactically with all four Sopranos sitting in a restaurant having dinner...oh wait.

Nothing in the new shows this year stands out as my next favorite TV show, so in the meantime I will continue to enjoy Entourage, Flight of the Conchords, Hard Knocks, and wait impatiently for LOST to return in February.

Speaking of LOST, some exciting stuff coming out of Comic-Con. I've always held back from writing about LOST on this blog, but it won't take long to find info...don't worry the producers are way too smart to let spoilers ruin anything for you.

What's Next For TV

Don't worry no spoilers here. All I will say about the season finale of LOST is that it lived up to the hype that it changes everything. I'm more and more impressed with the creators and writers and even ABC for trusting them to make the show the way they want to make it. There's also the part of me that is disappointed we won't pick back up with where we left off until February 08.
One of the great things about Tivo is that I don't have to be bound to watching TV as it happens. While LOST is one of those shows that I feel necessity to watch while it's airing...otherwise I'm dodging the internets, newspapers, friends, emails, etc until I get a chance to watch. No other show is like that. And although there was some significant events in the season finale of The Office, I still could have slept alright having not seen it at 7 (AKtime) on Thursday. So, when I heard that NBC canceled Studio 60, but would air the final episodes in the ER slot, I set Tivo to record it. I watched Thursday's episode last night, and it made me feel two things. The first is that I'm disappointed that NBC didn't give the show a shot from the start. I hear more and more positive reviews of the show, despite it's cancellation. The second thing I felt was the loss of the West Wing. If you haven't seen Studio 60, it's a show about the cast and crew of a SNL type show created by Aaron Sorkin who created The West Wing. Because it revolves around a show, it can get pretty meta at times. This meta TV was no more evident than this week. On the show within the show, Allison Janney was the guest host, so she was playing herself. Allison Janney played CJ Cregg on The West Wing for 7 seasons, CJ had a relationship with Danny Concannon, played by Timothy Busfield. Timothy Busfield plays Cal, the director of the show within the show (to make things even more confusing, Busfield actually directs several episodes of the show about the show within the show). Although fellow West Winger Bradley Whitford didn't appear in this episode, Janney made reference to him in the same way she would've about Whitford's West Wing character. Confused yet? I thought Studio 60 had an interesting dynamic to it and the power of that dynamic was made clear ironically in the episode after NBC announced it was canceled. Having fictional characters interact with real life characters is something that can add a degree of depth to a show. Imagine Matt Perry's character making reference to Friends, or Steven Weber to Wings, or Lucy Davis to the British Office, or even if Nate Torrance's character talked about doing credit card commercials.