Why You Should Watch "How I Met Your Mother"

I found myself watching "How I Met Your Mother" from the very start- the beginning of Season One- the other day.

Star World (a cable channel that carries the show) has recently been airing those episodes everyday- which we could catch just right before American Idol or Life or whatever show they have on the primetime slot.

I gotta admit- I love watching "How I Met Your Mother". CBS was right on the money with this one. Some people compare it to "Friends"- but for me, it's like comparing apples and oranges: absolutely no comparison.

What "How I Met Your Mother" Is About

Based from the title, it's really rather straightforward: Ted Mosby (voiced by Bob Saget) has his son and daughter sitting on a couch (in the year 2030) listening to his stories leading to- eventually- how he met their mom.

Which brings us to the current year, where Ted (Josh Radnor) is hanging out with friends from college Marshall Eriksen (played by Jason Segel) and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan of Buffy and the American Pie series). They are also joined by the modern-day Fonzie, Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris of Doogie Howser, MD) and Robin Scherbatsky (played by the oh-so-hot Cobie Smulders).

So you have the events leading to how Ted eventually hooks up with his future wife as the main story arc, with smaller story arcs within a season. An episode then has the "things-we-did-in-New-York-in-2008" which is all very funny, once you let the dynamics work out among the characters.

Currently, we're on Season Three. Right after the Writers' Strike, a few more episodes would be airing before this current season wraps up. Still, it would be great to get a copy of the DVD to check out the earlier seasons, or you could catch it on your local cable channel (like on Star World, in Asia).

What I Like About The Show

It's fun, it's witty, it's so cleverly written. I care about the characters: what kind of misadventure Barney is getting himself into this time, or how cute Lily and Marshall are together as a couple, or what role Robin would be playing in Ted's future.

Even the recurring characters are a hoot, or the occasional surprise cameo appearance. The show's got a good hold on pop culture, and it's great that they work it so well into the script. Basically you have a lot of catch-phrases in just about any episode.

The theme song? A 15-second edit of "Hey Beautiful" by The Solids. Never fails to cheer me up, no matter how stressed out or crappy I feel. Check it out here on my channel on YouTube.



Great comedy sitcoms don't come your way very often. "How I Met Your Mother" is up there in that tier of great TV comedies, and is definitely one of the reasons we check out CBS every Monday night.

Cheers, everyone.


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Favorite TV Chicks: Padma Lakshmi

She's incredibly beautiful, totally accomplished, and brings an extra kind of hotness every week on Bravo's "Top Chef". Have you met Padma Lakshmi?

Alright, I admit, she's one of the main reasons why I watch "Top Chef". All shows should have hosts this gorgeous. But she's not just there for eye-candy. Not only is she a chef, but she's also a supermodel, actress (both in Hollywood AND Bollywood), Food Network personality, fashion icon, award-winning author and UN ambassador.

She already has two cookbooks to her credit: Easy Exotic- which covered her experiments on delicious low-fat recipes, and Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet- a collection of international recipes that are easy to prepare, yet elegant and memorable.

Other Interesting Things You Might Want To Know About Padma

  • That scar on her right arm? She got it from an accident when she was 14. According to Wikipedia:
    The accident happened on a Sunday afternoon on her way back with her parents from a Hindu temple in Malibu. She remembers a loud bang, looking out the windshield and realized the family's red Mecury Sedan was airborne. Padma describes the event in the Vogue-April 2001 edition as "Flying in a car felt like an exhilarating hallucination, an unbelievable ride that oddly remains one of the most beautiful images in my memory." The car flew 40 feet down an embankment directly into a tree. The tree trunk fell directly on top of the car. She remained conscious, covered in glass, for the 40 minutes it took for the paramedics and firefighters to get through the traffic. They used the "jaws of life" to extract the family from the crumpled car. A helicopter landed in the middle of the highway to air lift her parents away while an ambulance carried Padma to the hospital. Fortunately, everyone survived. Her injuries included a fractured right hip and a shattered upper right arm which resulted in her famous 7" scar.
  • Padma is of Indian-American descent. She was born in India (on 01 September 1970), but spent most of her teenage life in the United States.
  • Padma Lakshmi was once married to Salman Rushdie. They divorced on July 2007, just a little after three years of marriage.
  • She was named number 66 on AskMen.com's "The Top Most Desirable Women of 2008" list. Personally, I think she really could've ranked higher.
  • "Top Chef" isn't her first TV show. She also hosted The Food Network's "Melting Pot: Padma's Passport", and the Discovery Channel's "Planet Food".
Check out Padma's official website here, or you can also check her out on IMDb, TV.com, or on her Wikipedia entry here.

As long as TV keeps coming up with delicious eye-candy, this blog's feature on "Favorite TV Chicks" will be on hand to get to know more about our fine female performers who make our TV shows a little bit more interesting. Only on "Too Much TV: Renzie on TV!"

Cheers, everyone!

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Crap From My Childhood: Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976)

Thank YouTube for bringing back all those childhood memories, I always say. It's been decades since I actually saw anything Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, so featuring the clips here is really such a trip.

"Electra Woman and Dyna Girl", as I remembered was a live-action superhero (or, more appropriately, superheroine) series, which played a lot off on the popularity of the Adam West/Burt Ward "Batman" series. The show was actually part of "The Krofft Supershow", a variety show for kids, together with "Dr. Shrinker" and another old favorite, "Wonderbug".

Dierdre Hall of "Days of Our Lives" stars as Electra Woman, with Judy Strangis as her sidekick Dyna Girl. While not fighting crime, they're Lori and Judy, reporters for Newsmaker magazine.

Instead of utility belts, they each have a bulky wrist-mounted ElectraCom- which, by default, serves as their way of changing into their superheroine costumes, as well as acting as a 2-way communication device with Professor Frank Helkin (who invented the ElectraComs, btw), who's constantly monitoring their progress in the Electra-cave.

With the addition of certain cartridges, the ElectraCom can do just about anything from emitting a variety of beams, generate force fields, freeze targets, etc. depending on the mission-of-the-week.

They also have their own vehicle, the ElectraCar, which also transforms into the ElectraPlane.

70sVidKid shares with us the funky opening theme for the show on YouTube. Check it:



Also on YouTube are episodes of the show in bits and pieces. Special mention goes to spottymax for putting these up online for fans to enjoy.
  • "The Sorcerer's Golden Trick". Our crime-fighting duo takes on an evil spellcaster and his plans to clean out Fort Knox. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
  • "Glitter Rock". Glitter Rock plans to control the country of Touremberg with his mind-controlling music. Naturally, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl are around to save the day. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
  • "Empress of Evil". More evil spellcasters, more traps, and more Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
  • "Ali Baba". Dyna Girl lets out her dark side on this one, as the evil Ali Baba subjects her to the power of the Metamorphosis Formula! Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
  • "Return of The Sorcerer". The Sorcerer is back with a vengeance, and this time he plans to steal the crown jewels of England. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
  • "The Pharaoh". It's mayhem in a museum as The Pharaoh steals the key to unlimited power. Just about the only episode spottymax missed putting up on YouTube.
  • "The Spider-Lady". Okay, so this time, it's a rip-off of Spider-Man, and made into a female villain. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
  • "Return of The Pharaoh". The very last set of episodes of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
In 2001, The WB commissioned a pilot for a new version of the show, this time with a more contemporary twist set 25 years after the original series. Supposedly, Electra Woman is already retired, but a fan somehow convinces her to get back into the crimefighting scene, and ends up being the new Dyna Girl.

The pilot was never picked up, but is available on YouTube (courtesy of spottymax once again) for you to check out. Here's Part 1, and here's Part 2. Enjoy.

Also, you can check out the "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" profile on IMDb, or read up more on the show on TV.com, or their entry on Wikipedia.

"Crap From My Childhood" is a special feature on old cartoons and kiddie shows from the 1970s and 1980s. Read all about it on Renzie's personal blog on all things television: "Too Much TV!"

Cheers, everyone!

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A Crash Course in Battlestar Galactica

I gotta thank my good friend, Tessa for the heads up on this. We were just chatting on Yahoo, geeking out on this coming Friday's episode of Battlestar Galactica, when she mentions this nice little promotional video she found in her TiVo.

Fortunately for us who weren't able to catch it, it's actually available online. And I have to say, it's a really funny recap to bring you up to speed. Feel free to play it over and over again if you need to :) I watched it at least thrice already.

Spoiler Warning: the eight-minute clip is filled with spoilers from all three seasons, so don't watch it if you still want to watch your BSG spoiler-free. Otherwise, enjoy!



Everything you need to know about BSG right there, right? Time to get those DVDs! An all-new Battlestar Galactica comes your way this Friday, April 4 at 10pm/9 Central. Check out the new clip here on the SciFi.com official website, and watch Season 3 all over again in time for Friday!

Cheers, everyone!


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It's Good To Be Gil Grissom

Hey you CSI fans! William Petersen- who plays Gil Grissom on the CBS drama CSI- has signed on for another year of forensic investigating on the hit show. And he's doing it for US$600k per episode- up 20% from last year, according to TVGuide.com.

Now according to TV.com,

... just because Petersen signed a contract, it doesn't mean it will be "all Gil all the time" on the show. Petersen has a clause in his contract that will allow him to take a few episodes off and pursue other acting endeavors, including some theater work in Chicago.

Well played, Mr. Petersen. Well played.

CSI is back on tonight, April 3 on CBS 9pm ET/PT. Check out lots of great CSI stuff on the CBS website. CSI is currently on its eighth season, with six new episodes coming your way starting with tonight's "Grissom's Divine Comedy".

Cheers, everyone!


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The Best Battlestar Galactica Episodes Ever

They say it's the best show on television. I say they're right.

In case you haven't heard, Battlestar Galactica's new season- season 4- premieres this Friday, April 4, on the Sci-Fi channel. We have a brand new episode coming our way, and literally picks up where the end of Season 3 has left off.

Naturally, the past several days have been spent on a marathon of Battlestar Galactica. I definitely have my favorite episodes- usually those involving the Galactica and its Vipers blasting away wave upon wave of Cylon Raiders, or some other impressive operation.

So it made me wonder: exactly what are the fans' favorite BSG episodes? I dug into TV.com's files, and here's what I dug up. I'll try to keep things as spoiler-free as possible.

The Top 10 Battlestar Galactica Episodes, according to TV.com.

1. Crossroads, Part 2. The last half of the third season-ender; season 3, episode 19. The writers threw us a curveball on this one- we find out who the four of the final five Cylons are, Baltar's trial comes to a tense conclusion, and Starbuck is back- enlightened and with a new sense of direction.

2. Pegasus. Season 2, episode 10. The Galactica runs into another colonial battlestar- the Mercury-class Pegasus. The crew is overjoyed as the two fleets join forces, until Admiral Cain- commander of the Pegasus- subsequently takes command of the new fleet. The Galactica crew learns about the harsh practices onboard Pegasus, and tension between the two battlestars quickly hit a boiling point.

3. Kobol's Last Gleaming. The first season-ender; season 1, episode 13. The Galactica discovers Kobol- the lost birthplace of humanity. This startling revelation somehow causes a split between Roslin and Adama. Roslin sends Starbuck off to a special mission. Adama sends Boomer off on a mission to blow up the Basestar orbiting Kobol. Someone is shot by a Cylon agent.

4. Resurrection Ship. Season 2, episode 12. The conflict between the two battlestars have been put on hold with the discovery of a Cylon Resurrection ship. As Galactica and Pegasus get ready for a joint attack- Adama and Cain try to outmaneuver each other to seize complete command of the military.

5. Downloaded. Season 2, episode 18. Boomer's consciousness is downloaded into a new body, and this time, she's reborn on Cylon-occupied Caprica. Number Six has been tasked to help her adjust to her new life in Cylon society.

6. Exodus. Season 3, episode 3. The Galactica returns to New Caprica, and with the aid of the Resistance, mounts a daring rescue operation to evacuate the Cylon-occupied planet.

7. Pilot, Part 2. The second half of the 2003 miniseries that kick-started the re-imagined BSG universe. It has been 40 years since the First Cylon War, and war has once again descended upon the Colonies, this time the Cylons wiping out the human home worlds and virtually destroying the Colonial fleet. An old battlestar might just be the only thing standing between the Cylons and the total destruction of the human race. Adama takes command of the remnants of the Colonial fleet. With all others in the line of succession dead, Laura Roslin, the Education Minister, is appointed president of the Thirteen Colonies.

8. Lay Down Your Burdens. The second season-ender; season 2, episode 20. The elections are finally underway, and Starbuck returns from her rescue mission from Cylon-occupied Caprica, along with a Cylon who delivers an unexpected message to Adama and Roslin. Roslin believes Baltar is a Cylon collaborator.

9. Flight of the Phoenix. Season 2, episode 9. The Galactica has been infected with a computer virus that is messing with the battlestar's functions and is scanning them for weaknesses. Tyrol's crew is hard at work on a new fighter they call The Blackbird. Oh, and a whole swarm of Cylon Raiders should be down on them shortly.

10. Home. Season 2, episode 7. Adama reassembles the fleet and heads for Kobol. Roslin and her party searches for The Tomb of Athena- which supposedly leads the way to Earth. Adama and Roslin make their peace and continue on the expedition together.

What are your favorite Battlestar Galactica episodes?

An all-new Battlestar Galactica comes your way this Friday, April 4 at 10pm/9 Central. Check out the new clip here on the SciFi.com official website, and watch Season 3 all over again in time for Friday!

Cheers, everyone!

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Just A Regular Dude Watching TV

I might be a media guy, but my field is really more into radio and marketing more than anything else. For the most part, it means that what I know about television is pretty much stuff just about anyone can know- so don't expect me to go technical or anything.

I'm just a regular dude who just happens to appreciate me some good TV.

TV has so much to offer- a show I like might not exactly appeal to your tastes and vice versa. And that's the beauty of it all- with just so much TV going on, there's definitely something for everyone out there. We even have our own guilty pleasures- and that's just all good.

Feel free to share your thoughts on whatever TV show you like (or don't like). As long as you're all mature about it, with a genuine desire to inform, educate, or just someone with an honest opinion- come, sit and let's talk about TV.

Cheers, everyone.

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