Too Much TV | Renzie on TV!

Favorite TV Chicks: Jessica, Kelly, Paloma and Michelle of Survivor Gabon

2008-10-10T07:01:00.007+08:00

a quick break from actual TV viewing with Renzie Baluyut.

Spoiler Alert! If you're actually following Survivor: Gabon, and would rather not read anything on what happens on the show, or who got voted out, you might want to read something else- like my other featured TV eye candy on Too Much TV | Renzie on TV's Favorite TV Chicks.

Otherwise, hey- welcome aboard- read on!

I must admit- I've stopped following Survivor a long time ago. It was the hugest thing for me when it first came out, as the concept of reality shows were still pretty new at the time, and maybe it was interesting watching people eat pretty much anything to get just a little bit of protein.

My interest definitely waned right after Survivor: All Stars- which was, what? Season 7 or 8, I think? Still, Survivor continues to be one of CBS's strongest shows today, and they've even lined it up on Thursday nights along with CSI to go against NBC's comedy line-up, ABC's Grey's Anatomy, and The CW's teen-oriented programming.

Oh, and gratz to Jeff Probst for bagging an Emmy this year.

I'm not about to watch Survivor again, but I have been keeping tabs of what's going down online at least. And like any other red-blooded heterosexual male, I cheer for the chicks. So let's meet our four Survivors: Jessica, Kelly, Paloma and Michelle.

The Chicks of Survivor: Gabon

Jessica "Sugar" Kiper looks more like a 50's pin-up girl than an actual Survivor: Gabon contestant, at least in this press release photo. But in real life, she IS a pin-up model- working as a waitress in 50's-themed restaurants and taking on acting gigs in New York.

She's bubbly, spunky and flirty- but let's see how far she actually gets this season. Go, Sugar, go! Read the rest of her bio on the official Survivor: Gabon website.

Kelly Czarnecki might be one of the cutest on this season of Survivor, but she also looks like she can kick my ass anytime- because she's a kickboxer! Our one-time cheerleader is also into outdoorsy stuff (like camping and canoeing), yoga and fashion. In fact, she hopes to open her own clothing store someday.

Read up more on Kelly here on the Survivor: Gabon section of the CBS official website.

Paloma Soto-Castillo looks like a real nice girl, but our college student has a bit of an adventurous streak in her. According to her profile on the Survivor website, she just decided to drop everything one day and moved to Kenya all by herself- and actually lived with natives and wild animals for 3 months- with no friends, family or the trappings of real life.

So it seems she's probably really at home on Survivor. Then again, probably not- as her tribe members just voted her out this week in their first ever tribal council- seeing her as their weakest player in challenges.

Michelle Chase has this nice little girl-next-door vibe going on, if you ask me. But she's actually one tough chick- and not afraid to speak her mind. According to the CBS website, Michelle also runs triathlons, enjoys boxing, and has been supporting herself since she was 16.

In a landslide vote, however- on the very first episode of this season, Michelle Chase, the 24-year-old music assistant from Los Angeles, California was the first person to be voted out of Survivor: Gabon. One less reason for me to watch the show.

Check out more of Survivor: Gabon on it official website on CBS. Or you could read up on it more on TV.com. Pics are from TV.com.

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!

The Coolest Thing I Ever Saw on TV as a Kid

2008-10-04T12:47:00.004+08:00

from the couch of Renzie Baluyut

Thanks to a message thread on Facebook, I've been able to check out some old Sesame Street clips I've marked as my favorites on my YouTube account.

Sesame Street was definitely one of the most influential TV shows for me when I was a kid. Seared into my subconscious are some of the most fun sketches and songs I've ever seen, which to this day, I could still recite from memory. Check these lines out:

You take the Golden 'An' to the tan van- you give it to Dan, who'll take it to Fran!

A loaf o' bread, a container of milk, and a stick o' butter. (If you can't remember it, I'll write it down for you. That's OK momma, I won't forget.)

Once upon a time in the land of 8, there stood a castle, very great. With 8 flags up in the air, for the King of 8 had put them there (*trumpets*).

That's about the size, where you put your eyes, that's about the size of it!

What do you think your mother would do, if you yelled like a Yellow Yahoo? (Boo!)

But the coolest of all has to be this one: Stevie Wonder's live performance of "Superstition". And he brought his whole crew with him. And some kids to jam out on the balcony. And I mean really jam out. Check out my post on that particular version of "Superstition" here on my personal music blog, My Thoughts in Stereo.

But just as cool is this one song: something I've never seen on any Stevie Wonder album, though I've heard it's been included in a Sesame Street box set sometime ago.

Stevie has his exact same crew with him, this time with some lovely backup ladies (I wonder if one of them was Denise Williams?). Check this one out and tell me you won't be funkin' out to this. Enjoy!

Now THAT'S how you jam on TV. Thanks to lamarixoxi on Youtube for the video.

Stevie used the Heil Talk Box- and he wrote another cool song for Chaka Khan called "Tell Me Something Good" (thanks to rcollins305 for the info). I don't think I ever noticed the tubing (almost well-hidden by the microphone) when I was a kid. Stevie just moves away from the mike to breathe in from time to time.

Now if I could only find a clip of The Pointer Sisters' "Yes We Can Can". I tried searching for it on YouTube. Fail.

Wanna get more Sesame Street vids and clips? There's a whole lot of em posted all over YouTube, but you may want to check out the official Sesame Street Channel on YouTube here.

Hope you enjoyed this post, ladies and gentlemen.

Cheers, everyone!

Favorite TV Chicks: Pailin and Natalie, Amazing Race Asia

2008-09-26T04:06:00.005+08:00

from the couch of Renzie Baluyut

On today's feature on Favorite TV Chicks, we turn the spotlight on two of the prettiest contestants to ever sign up for The Amazing Race: Asia. For those of you who have been checking out the show on AXN, you know what I'm talkin' about: the two lovely ladies of Team Thailand: Pailin and Natalie.

Just what the show needs- some serious weekly eye-candy. But if you caught last night's episode, you probably already know how my favorite team fared.

Maybe it was the heat, the sleep deprivation, or just the race itself, but it seemed that Natalie's spirit had begun to give, despite Pailin's best efforts to keep her going. And as luck would have it, this week's leg ended in an elimination.

Who would've thought, right? They look great, they're most likely in top shape, and definitely in a good mood when the race started out. Then again, whoever's going to win any cycle of The Amazing Race- Asia or otherwise- is really going to need more than just physical prowess, endurance, charm and luck. It's really more about a strong desire to win. They have to want to win more than any other team on the competish.

It was truly disappointing since I was really looking forward to seeing more of the two every week on The Amazing Race: Asia.

Here's Pailin and Natalie's write-up from the Amazing Race: Asia website:

No Amazing Race season is without its resident eye candy but with leggy beauties Pailin and Natalie, their team has one credential none of the previous good looking teams in race history ever had – being in a Miss Universe pageant and winning one!

25 year old Pailin Rungratanasunthorn was the first runner up in 2006 Miss Thailand Universe and represented her country as Miss Thailand Earth 2006 as well.

As for her good friend Natalie Glebova, the 26-year-old actually was a Miss Universe. Natalie took home the gleaming crown and title from the competition held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2005. The Russian Canadian beauty originally from Tuapse, Russia represented Canada in her winning event and is the second Canadian to claim the title.

It is no wonder that beauty pageants are part of their blood, having met in the 2006 Miss Thailand Universe pageant and becoming fast friends after that. Pailin was also one of Natalie's bridesmaids when she married Thailand's highest ranked tennis player, Paradorn Srichaphan, in November 2007.

But beauty is not the only thing that links the Thailand team together. Both have acute business sense as they are running their own business. Pailin's company makes toys, t-shirts and gifts for sale online, while Natalie's company sells beauty products across Thailand.

Describing herself, Pailin notes of her decision to participate in The Amazing Race, "I am really competitive and I want to do something where I can put my energy in it."

Agreeing, Natalie adds, "We're both very competitive and cannot stand to lose. We love to travel, love to do adrenaline like things, love to experience new cultures and learn."

And with both their credentials, travelling has become second nature to them. Pailin has travelled to Japan, China, South Africa, and Egypt while Natalie, other than gracing beauty pageants around the world, has attended the G8 Summit in New York, and as a HIV/AIDS awareness advocate, has travelled extensively to India and Africa.

Having spent their formative years in the beauty circuit, the damsels know a bit about what it takes to stay ahead. And having seen the show on television, the duo is also gunning to experience the thrills and tumbles that only the race can deliver. Exclaims Natalie, "We love to try new things. Give us bungee jumping, parachuting, paragliding and parasailing any day!"

She adds, "We are competitive, we're in shape and we're going to kick ass."

The girls have started preparing for the trek around the world based on what the previous Amazing Race Asia seasons were like. Surprisingly, their strategy for winning is to be the underdog and "fly under the radar". "Let's hope that no one will take us too seriously so we won't be recognized as a threat until it's too late!"

Well, so much for those two. But even if they did get eliminated, they still have a fan in me. Just look at those two- absolutely gorgeous :D

You can check out the rest of the teams, team photos and even interact with other fans of The Amazing Race: Asia on the official AXN Asia website.

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.

Favorite TV Chicks: Anna Torv, Dania Ramirez and Mädchen Amick

2008-09-25T00:55:00.007+08:00

from the couch of Renzie Baluyut

With our old favorite TV shows coming back for new seasons, we can definitely expect a lot of great viewing these next few months. There will be surprise hits and flops, drama on- and off-cam, and of course, new chicks on TV!

So far, I have my eye on three great-looking women: Anna Torv of the J.J. Abrams FOX drama Fringe, Dania Ramirez, the deadly Maya from the hit NBC show Heroes, and then we have Mädchen Amick, who plays Nate Archibald's new cougar love interest on Gossip Girl on The CW.

Lets get to know them a little better, shall we?

Anna Torv of Fringe

As special agent Olivia Dunham, Anna Torv kicks ass every week on Fringe. And just like any other FBI field operative, she's chasing down criminals on foot, or vaulting over cars, or even across buildings.

What makes Dunham's character so bad-ass is the kind of crooks she hunts down: you'd think they're regular serial killers or terrorists, but these miscreants are actually part of some much larger, much more elaborate conspiracy she's still trying to figure out.

Anna Torv's character is forced to confront the systematic spread of weird, paranormal occurences (called 'The Pattern' on the show), and I have to say that Anna is doing great playing Olivia Dunham.

Anna is an Australian actress, with a few movies and TV shows to her credit, but this is the biggest role she has thus far, and I say good luck on this endeavor. She's doing a great job, and I can't wait to watch the next episode to see how The Pattern unfolds.

J.J. Abrams' Fringe is this season's new sci-fi action/thriller. I'd describe it as the new X-Files, though there are people who also see a little bit of Dark Angel, Twilight Zone and Lost in it.

Dania Ramirez of Heroes

We've actually seen Dania Ramirez's character, Maya, last season on the NBC hit drama. Remember that Mexican chick who'd always be crying black tears and then everyone in a hundred-foot-radius would suddenly drop dead?

Well, Maya is back this season, and while we didn't see much character development the last time she was on Heroes, she promises fans this time, "I cry a lot less this season and make out a lot more."

We can all appreciate that. Thank you, Dania.

Dania Ramirez actually came from the Dominican Republic, and has had a recurring role in The Sopranos' final season. You also may have caught her on the last X-Men movie (X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006) and on a music video here and there.

As for Dania's character on Heroes, well, we've seen some more of that "making out" the other night. That, plus more revealing clothes. Still no idea how her powers work though. Is it psionic in nature? Does she exude some kind of airborne nerve toxin? A fast-acting disease perhaps?

I suppose we'll have to find out in the next several episodes of Heroes. And I wouldn't mind seeing more Dania Ramirez in the process.

Mädchen Amick of Gossip Girl

Her name Mädchen means "girl" in German, and is pronounced mayd-shyen- remember that. You probably remember her as Shelly Johnson from the old TV drama Twin Peaks, or that chick in the Stephen King movie Sleepwalkers (1992).

OK, so she also had recurring roles on a lot of other shows including Gilmore Girls, E.R., Jake In Progress and Joey- that plus a number of movie roles and other gigs. So you get the idea: she has been around for quite some time, and now Mädchen is back, for the appreciation of a totally new audience on Gossip Girl.

Mädchen Amick plays the role of Catherine Mason, one of this season's new characters. She has a summer fling with Chace Crawford's character of Nate Archibald, which of course goes on to extend for several episodes just for fun.

We also find out later on that Catherine Mason is stepmom to Blair Waldorf's (Leighton Meester) love interest, Marcus. With all the characters running around, up to their usual Upper East-side scheming and shenanigans, you know that this makes for great Gossip Girl drama, and it can only be a good thing for viewers, right?

There will definitely be more Mädchen Amick and Catherine Mason this season. You know you love her.

Hey, you can check out our featured actresses on their own respective profiles on the Internet Movie Database: check out Anna Torv's here, Dania Ramirez's here, and Mädchen Amick's 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!

Seems Our Heroes Have Their Work Cut Out For Them

2008-09-24T15:12:00.005+08:00

by Renzie Baluyut

You've probably been waiting for it all year- the third volume of Heroes finally made its premiere last night. I caught it myself, and liked it. I'm sure a lot of my friends did too. But in the business of television, buzz is good, but ratings ultimately matter. The question is: was the NBC drama able to hold up well enough against the fierce Monday night competition?

Not quite heroically enough, according to a report on TV.com. In fact, according to figures from The Hollywood Reporter, viewership of Heroes: Villains is rather disappointing- down 25% this season, based on ratings of the third season premiere last night, pulling in only 9.9 million sets of eyeballs.

Which meant one in four who saw the second season premiere last year was probably watching something else, leaving it up to the DVR to record the show, or just busy doing other stuff. Heroes overload, perhaps?

We had three hours' worth of Heroes last night: a 1-hour clip show at 8pm, which pretty much just brings us up to speed with what went down the past couple seasons, then you had Episodes 1 and 2 of the "Villains" volume: "The Second Coming" at 9pm and "The Butterfly Effect" at 10pm.

Understand, however, that in my case, I also want to catch my other favorite Monday night shows- specifically: Gossip Girl (on The CW, at 8pm), How I Met Your Mother (on CBS, at 8:30pm), The Sarah Connor Chronicles (on FOX, at 9pm). So thank Bob for DVR's.

Now that's just MY demographic. What about the rest of Monday night primetime-viewing America? It seemed that ABC's Dancing with the Stars pulled in 21.1 million viewers- more than twice the number of Heroes' viewers- at 9pm, and then CBS kicks NBC's ass at 10pm with David Caruso's screaming hot shades with CSI: Miami's 16.9 million viewers.

The biggest draw for Monday night however, seemed to have come from Monday Night Football, with the return of Bret Favre, so all around, even the other Monday night shows got hit: The Sarah Connor Chronicles only had 5.8 million viewers, Prison Break (also on FOX) also took a slight dive, and so did Gossip Girl, which saw 20% less viewers compared to last week.

Possibly impressive: comedy newcomer Worst Week garnered more than 11 million viewers last night- still at least a million more viewers than the Heroes season 3 premiere.

I'm still hoping that our heroes (and villains) would rally by next week. Sure looks like the Petrellis have some hustling to do.

Cheers, everyone!

You Know Tina Fey Just HAS To Do a Sarah Palin, Right?

2008-09-16T04:08:00.004+08:00

You already knew this was coming. Tina Fey is just going to be so all over Sarah Palin.

Exactly what I thought when I first saw Governor Sarah Palin, running mate of Republican presidential hopeful, Senator John McCain, on TV at that Republican Convention a few weeks back. She does look so much like Tina Fey, doesn't she? Check their photos out right here.

The resemblance is uncanny, wouldn't you agree?

In case you didn't know, Tina Fey is best known for her work on Saturday Night Live and on 30 Rock, both on NBC. On a recent airing of Saturday Night Live, the show opens with Tina Fey (as Gov. Palin) alongside Amy Poehler (as Sen. Hillary Clinton) as they address the nation. In true SNL form, the sketch just completely bowled me over. Watch and enjoy.

Special thanks and shout-out to Erin P of The Life of Erin for leading me to Truveo- a virtual treasure trove of great video gems from all over the net, including a lot of classic (and new) SNL skits and sketches. Video originally from the NBC official website.

Cheers, everyone!

Renzie Watches Burn Notice

2008-09-07T03:04:00.006+08:00

Probably one of the more underappreciated shows that came out in the past couple years is the USA Network's Burn Notice. The new season came out last July 10- just after I flew back to Metro Manila from Los Angeles, and I gotta say- the show just keeps getting better and better.

Burn Notice first came out in the summer of 2007. The title refers to a memo of sorts issued by intelligence agencies that pretty much dismisses and discredits agents, operatives or other assets as unreliable, and are therefore, blacklisted from any project thereafter. So spies don't get pink slips, they get burn notices.

Our show follows the misadventures of Michael Westen (played by Jeffrey Donovan), an international covert-ops operative, who got inconveniently burned in the middle of an assignment, and is trying to figure out why he got burned, and who got him blacklisted and flagged on just about every government watchlist to begin with.

Finding his assets frozen, cut off from his network and waking up in a sleazy motel in Miami, Michael sets off to redeem himself. So he takes on just about any job he can get his hands on- small-time stuff, really, for someone of Michael's caliber- but hey, as long as it pays the bills, takes care of the rent, with enough leftover for blueberry yogurt and beer, it's all good.

So what's an ex-spy supposed to do? Get by with a little help from his "friends", that's what.

Michael then reluctantly enlists the aid of a couple of "friends": a trigger-happy ex-girlfriend, (Fiona, played by Gabrielle Anwar) who just so happens to be an IRA-trained demolitions expert and sharpshooter, and a former Navy SEAL and Military Intel Operative (Sam, played by Bruce Campbell) who's seen better days and too many sugar mommas and mojitos.

Then of course, there's Michael's mother, who's just happy to have her son back in town (after not hearing from him in 10+ years), and calls him up 20, 30 times a day, often asking for Michael to attend to some errand or help out with some problem at home.

The show is really a first-person narrative from the viewpoint of Michael, offering some interesting insights and nuggets of wisdom in espionage and covert ops. The show has an entertaining mix of action, suspense and comedy, fun and memorable characters, and ultimately a good storyline.

I just finished a Season 1 marathon, and now I'm watching the Season 2 episodes I've had recorded- and it's great stuff. Check out the Season 2 promo they had airing on the USA Network:

Wanna catch more Burn Notice? Visit the show on its official website, or on its entries on TV.com, on IMDb.com and on Wikipedia.

Cheers, everyone!

Renzie's Updated Fall Guide 2008

2008-08-29T05:32:00.000+08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, the new shows for the Fall Season are upon us. Yes, your favorite shows- at least most of 'em, anyway- are back to entertain you once again. So get your eyeballs ready- there's lots of great stuff coming out of primetime TV these next few months!

Week of Sept 01 to 07

Gossip Girl comes back with its second season on The CW, Monday, September 01.
An all-new Prison Break returns to FOX, with a 2-hour fourth season premiere on Monday, September 01.
The brand new 90210 premieres on The CW on Tuesday, Sept 02

Yet another cycle of America's Next Top Model- we're on season 11, btw- comes back on The CW on Wednesday, Sept 03
A brand new HBO original series, True Blood, premieres on Sunday, Sept 07.
Entourage on HBO returns with season 5; new episodes begin on Sunday, Sept 07.

Week of Sept 8 to 14

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, returns with all-new episodes on FOX, the second season premieres on Monday, Sept 08
Fringe, the new J.J. Abrams drama comes out on FOX with a special 2-hour episode on Sept 09

Week of Sept 15 to 21

House, now on its fifth season, comes back on Tuesday, Sept 16.
Smallville is back with new episodes for season 8 on The CW; Thursday, Sept 18.
An all-new Supernatural returns to The CW with its fourth season on Thursday, Sept 18.
Everybody Hates Chris season 4 comes back with all=new episodes starting Friday, Sept 19.

Week of Sept 22 to 28

Heroes on NBC. With a 60-minute clip show preceeding the third season premiere. Sept 22.
How I Met Your Mother returns with its fourth season on CBS; Monday, Sept 22.
The new Knight Rider premieres on Wednesday, Sept 24 on NBC.

Season 5 of CSI: New York comes back on CBS on Wednesday, Sept 24.
The third season of Ugly Betty premieres on ABC on Thursday, Sept 25.
My Name is Earl is back for its fourth season; new episodes start on Thursday, Sept 25 on NBC.

It's a special 2-hour premiere for season 5 of Grey's Anatomy; comes back on ABC on Sept 25.
The Office returns with new episodes on Thursday, Sept 25, with a special one-hour episode premiering on NBC.
The Simpsons is now on its 20th Season- with all new episodes starting Sunday, Sept 28 on FOX.

The Amazing Race is back on CBS for its 13th season; it's another race around the world on Sunday, Sept 28.
It's the fifth season of Desperate Housewives; brand new episodes on ABC on Sunday, Sept 28.
Showtime's Dexter is back for season 3; premieres on Sunday, Sept 28.

ABC's Brothers and Sisters is on its third season, returning on ABC on Sunday, Sept 28.
Little Britain also comes back on HBO, on Sunday, Sept 28.

Week of Sept 29 to Oct 5

The second season of Chuck comes back on NBC on Sept 29.
Life, also on its second season, comes back on NBC on Sept 29, but moves to Fridays on Oct 10.
Pushing Daisies is also on its second season on ABC; premieres on Wednesday, Oct 01.

The Grey's Anatomy spinoff, Private Practice, is back for another run. Second season premieres on Wednesday, Oct 01 on ABC.
A new Sci Fi original series, Sanctuary, premieres on Friday, Oct 03.

Beyond the first week of October

CSI: Las Vegas is back on CBS; season 9 premieres on Thursday, Oct 9.
NBC's 30 Rock returns with all-new episodes for its third season; airs Thursday, Oct 30.

So there we have it, ladies and gentlemen. Whether you choose to clear your schedules or set your digital recorders- here's to a great Fall Season for TV!

Some pics from Wikipedia. Your favorite show isn't on this list? Then go to TV.com's Fall Guide 2008 for more.

Cheers, everyone!

A Quick Update From The Couch - 2008 July

2008-07-26T17:50:00.002+08:00

Hey everybody.

It's actually been quite a while since I've posted anything really substantial on this blog. I've been in Los Angeles for a little over a month- and if you've been reading any of my other blogs, you probably already know that I have plans of moving there definitely within the year.

I've already cut all my corporate ties (i.e. retired early from my radio career in Metro Manila and had gone completely home-based) back in the Philippines, and I'm starting to appreciate my new work-life situation.

What it means, really, is more time for me to do the shit I want, whenever I want. And yes, that means, among other things, more TV.

And there was a lot of great TV in Los Angeles, by the way. The TV viewing experience made even so much better by the wonders of TiVo. Whoever invented DVR's should be given a nobel prize, in my opinion.

So what have I been watching while I was in Los Angeles? Not a lot, really. But I did manage to catch a few shows for the short time I was there:

A lot of G4TV: Attack of the Show and Ninja Warrior- probably the best game show on TV I've seen in a long while. Also some Code Monkeys and X-Play.
Whenever I can- The Soup with Joel McHale, and Chelsea Lately on E!
The last few episodes of Battlestar Galactica on the Sci Fi channel- awesome, wasn't it?
There was also this marathon of old episodes of The Incredible Hulk, just before the movie opened. Managed to watch a few episodes, until you realize that it became really formulaic after a few.
Was also able to check out some episodes of Metalocapypse and Robot Chicken on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Some really funny shit.
Recorded a few episodes of MonsterQuest on the History Channel. We should have that show back at home; I heard another cable operator is actually carrying History Channel. SkyCable sucks- remind me to cut my subscription.
The premiere of CBS' new drama Swingtown. Great premise, fun soundtrack, but ultimately disappointing.

Big thanks to all of you who have been reading this blog, and coming back every so often to check on things here.

So yeah, I'm back. Here skimming through blogs, websites and TV for just a little inspiration. You'll hear more from me soon enough.

Cheers, everyone.

Getting To Know Joss Whedon

2008-06-26T13:41:00.001+08:00

I'll have to admit: I wasn't a fan of Joss Whedon until I saw Serenity and Firefly- which, in my opinion is probably one of the best TV shows ever.

When Buffy: The Vampire Slayer hit local TV, I was way too much into work back then- way too much. Plus, there was a lot of crazy things going on in my life as well, and TV was really the last thing on my list of priorities.

But even without watching any of his work (at least without my knowing), there was an awareness of sorts. So by the time I saw Serenity- I was completely sold.

Plus, Firefly was a remarkable piece of work- I'm one of those guys who just wanted so much more show.

Notable Joss Whedon Projects

He's the creator, as well as writer and director for three popular TV series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), Angel (1999-2004) and Firefly (2002-2003).
He wrote 25 issues for Astonishing X-Men (which picks up from New X-Men), a comic book series which focuses the spotlight on Beast, Shadowcat, Colossus, Lockheed and Wolverine, with Emma Frost and Cyclops leading this incarnation of the X-Men.
Wrote (and co-wrote) a number of films, including Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the 1992 film starring Kristy Swanson), Disney/Pixar's Toy Story (1995), Alien: Resurrection (1997) and Titan A.E. (2000).
Wrote uncredited drafts or rewrites for Speed (1994), Waterworld (1995), Twister (1996) and X-Men (2000).
More recently, he has teamed up with brothers Zack and Jed, together with Jed's fiancee Maurissa Tancharoen to produce the internet musical, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". Stars Nathan Fillion, Neil-Patrick Harris and Felicia Day.
FOX will be airing his new TV series, Dollhouse, in January 2009, starring Eliza Dushku.

Read more about Joss Whedon on his write-up on Wikipedia, and check out his body of work on the Internet Movie Database.

Cheers everyone!

Getting To Know Neil Patrick Harris

2008-06-22T17:02:00.000+08:00

For a moment there, I thought it would be an impossible feat to completely break away from the old Doogie Howser, M.D. stereotype. But Neil Patrick Harris did manage to do so, and so much more.

In recent years, Neil Patrick Harris has come up with some very memorable characters. My personal favorites:

As chronic womanizer, shady character, and metrosexual Barney Stinson, on the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother.
As a parody of himself in Harold and Kumar Goes To White Castle (2004) and again in Harold and Kumar Escapes From Guantanamo Bay (2008).
More recently as Dr. Horrible/Billy on the Joss Whedon internet musical "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog".

Five Facts About Neil Patrick Harris

While he might be an amateur magician, he's still a huge magic fan, and sits on the Board of Director's of Hollywood's Magic Castle. NPH has even performed magic tricks on Johnny Carson (The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson), Letterman (Late Show with David Letterman), Leno (The Tonight Show with Jay Leno) and Ellen (The Ellen DeGeneres Show).
He and Freddie Prinze, Jr. attended the same high school.
NPH is an accomplished theater actor. He's perfomed as Mark in Rent at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles to rave reviews, and made his Broadway debut in 2002 in Proof with Anne Heche. So, yes, he can really sing, as well as act.
He's a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, or MST3K.
Neil Patrick Harris also does cartoon voiceovers: he's voiced The Flash in the direct-to-DVD DC animated project Justice League: The New Frontier (2008), and as Peter Parker/Spider-man in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003).

For more about Neil Patrick Harris, check out his body of work on the Internet Movie Database, or read more about him on Wikipedia.

Cheers, everyone.

Getting To Know Nathan Fillion

2008-06-16T18:41:00.000+08:00

For me, Nathan Fillion will forever be Captain Malcolm Reynolds, one-time Browncoat, and captain of the Firefly-class Serenity, on the unfortunately short-lived Joss Whedon-directed TV series, Firefly.

Later on, I discovered that Nathan (along with several of his Firefly co-stars) had done voiceover work for the animated series Justice League Unlimited- as the gun-totin' Vigilante.

A few years later, he goes on to do voicework for video games, more notably on the Xbox's Jade Empire (as Gao The Lesser), and then on Halo 3 (where he identifies himself as Sergeant Reynolds).

Now in post-production: Nathan Fillion is voicing the role of Steve Trevor in the latest DC direct-to-DVD animated feature, Wonder Woman, which is slated for release later this year. Can't wait to get my hands on that one.

Five Factoids About Nathan Fillion:

ABC picked up a pilot for a comedy Nathan wrote. The project is called Repo Brothers, which should be out in several months. In the meantime, he is playing the title character of a new ABC crime drama called Castle, which we would be seeing in 2009.
Remember the Spielberg movie Saving Private Ryan (1998)? Well, Nathan was the Minessotta Private Ryan- not the Ryan Captain Miller's team of rangers were looking for. I saw it again on HBO.
According to IMDb.com, Fillion wanted to be a high school drama teacher. In college he majored in art, and minored in drama while pursuing an acting career on the side.
Nathan claims to be descended from Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early. When told this, Joss Whedon created a bounty hunter by the name of Jubal Early for the Firefly episode "Objects in Space."
You can check him out as the self-centered and slightly-cheesy Captain Hammer on the Joss Whedon online musical "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog", with co-stars Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day.

You can read more about Nathan Fillion on his entry on Wikipedia, and check out all the projects he's done so far on the Internet Movie Database.

Cheers, everyone!

The FOX Fall Lineup 2008

2008-05-22T04:55:00.004+08:00

Summer is right on top of us- with the last season's shows already wrapping up, and networks announcing their primetime lineups for the coming fall. Welcome to Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- in this post we cover The FOX Network.

Returning Favorites on FOX

Alright! More Summer Glau in "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles". The very first season of only nine episodes just wasn't enough.

You know "American Idol" is definitely coming back for another run, and so are "24", "Family Guy", "House", "Prison Break" and "The Simpsons".

Also renewed are "America's Most Wanted", "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?", "Bones", "COPS", "Don't Forget the Lyrics", "Hell's Kitchen", "King of the Hill", "Kitchen Nightmares", "MadTV", "The Moment of Truth", "So You Think You Can Dance", "TALKSHOW with Spike Feresten" and "'Til Death".

Cancelled Shows

Gone from the FOX lineup this fall are "Back To You", "Canterbury's Law", "Nashville", "New Amsterdam", "The Next Great American Band", "The Return of Jezebel James" and "Unhitched".

New Shows

This is where that new Joss Whedon project comes in: "Dollhouse" starring Elisha Dushku (from "Tru Calling").

Also we have a spinoff from "The Family Guy"- "The Cleveland Show", as well as another animated comedy, "Sit Down, Shut Up".

Also added to the lineup: comedies "Starting Under" and "Do Not Disturb", dramas "The Fringe" and "The Oaks" and the reality show "Secret Millionaire".

We've covered all the major networks so far on our 5-part coverage of the upcoming seasons on TV: Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- feel free to check out the earlier networks in our earlier posts.

Cheers, everyone!

The CBS Fall Lineup 2008

2008-05-22T04:28:00.003+08:00

Summer is right on top of us- with the last season's shows already wrapping up, and networks announcing their primetime lineups for the coming fall. Welcome to Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- in this post we cover CBS.

Returning Favorites on CBS

The only show on the lineup that really matters to me is "How I Met Your Mother", which is already on its fourth season. Maybe we'll actually get to meet her this time.

Also, all 3 CSI shows have been renewed, as well as "Cold Case", "Criminal Minds", "NCIS", "Numb3rs", "The Unit" and "Without a Trace". That's a whole lot of crime drama, wouldn't you agree? But it seems to work alright with CBS.

We'll also be seing new seasons of "The Amazing Race", "Ghost Whisperer", "The New Adventures of Old Christine" "Survivor", "Two and a Half Men", "The Big Bang Theory", "48 Hours" and "60 Minutes".

Cancelled Shows

It put up a good fight, thanks to fans- but "Jericho" wouldn't be coming back this time.

Also gone: "Kid Nation", "Cane" Power of 10", "Secret Talents of the Stars", "Shark", "Viva Laughlin", "welcome to the Captain", and the vampire drama "Moonlight".

New Shows

Only a few new shows have been added to the CBS lineup, and other than the new Jerry Bruckheimer sci-fi thriller "The Eleventh Hour", it seems that I haven't heard of the rest of CBS' new shows- at least for now.

Remember Ava- Alex Karev's new psycho girlfriend from the latest "Grey's Anatomy"? Well she's got her own comedy now on "The Ex List". CBS also has a new crime drama with "The Mentalist", the Jay Mohr sitcom "Project Gary" and "Worst Week", an American take on the British series "The Worst Week of My Life".

Keep track of your favorite shows for the coming fall season on my continuing coverage: Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- our next posts will be covering FOX. We've already covered NBC, ABC and The CW earlier on.

Cheers, everyone!

Human Tetris, Great Gameshow From Japan

2008-05-22T03:39:00.003+08:00

You can always count on the Japanese to come up with some incredibly crazy- and funny stuff. You probably remember seeing this clip from last year: a rather innovative game show called "The Human Tetris"- at least that's what the clip says on YouTube.

If you haven't seen it yet, check this one out- it's extremely funny!

You gotta hand it to these guys: a great concept truly needs no translation. Anyway, word is that FOX has picked up this show and already ordered 13 episodes- only this time, they're calling it "Hole In The Wall".

I wonder how it will match up to the original? I suppose we'll find out soon enough.

Cheers, everyone!

The CW Fall Lineup 2008

2008-05-22T03:07:00.004+08:00

Summer is right on top of us- with the last season's shows already wrapping up, and networks announcing their primetime lineups for the coming fall. Welcome to Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- in this post we cover The CW.

Returning Favorites on The CW

This season on The CW, you can expect more drama goin' down on new episodes of "Gossip Girl" and "One Tree Hill", and fresh sets of "Reaper", "Smallville" and "Supernatural".

I can't believe we have yet another cycle of "America's Next Top Model". Then again, I got friends who watch that show religiously.

Also renewed: the Chris Rock comedy "Everybody Hates Chris"- which I totally have to catch up on, and "The Game".

Cancelled Shows

Not coming back at all are "Aliens in America", "Beauty and the Geek" and "Pussycat Dolls Presents". The axe also dropped on "Online Nation", "Life is Wild", "Girlfriends", "CW Now" and "Crowned".
New Shows

Already getting some early hype is the new "90210"- along with a completely new cast, you might also expect to see familiar faces of the old "Beverly Hills: 90210" to make cameo appearances and guest roles.

Also new: "Stylista" and "Surviving the Filthy Rich".

Keep track of your favorite shows for the coming fall season on my continuing coverage: Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- our next posts will be covering FOX and CBS. We've already covered NBC and ABC earlier on.

Cheers, everyone!

The ABC Fall Lineup 2008

2008-05-22T02:52:00.005+08:00

Summer is right on top of us- with the last season's shows already wrapping up, and networks announcing their primetime lineups for the coming fall. Welcome to Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- in this post we cover ABC.

Returning Favorites on ABC

Definitely top-draws "Grey's Anatomy", "Lost", "Ugly Betty", "Dancing With The Stars", "Pushing Daisies" and "Desperate Housewives" are coming back with brand new seasons.

"Scrubs", now on its eighth season, moves to its new home from NBC. Surprisingly for me, "Private Practice" has been given another shot. Let's hope Addison pulls through this time.

Also coming back are "According To Jim", "America's Funniest Home Videos", "The Bachelor", "Boston Legal", "Brothers and Sisters", "Dirty Sexy Money", Eli Stone", "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", "Primetime: What Would You Do?", "Samantha Who?" "Saturday Night College Football", "Supernanny" and "Wife Swap"

Wow, looks like they kept a lot this season.

Cancelled Shows

One of the biggest disappointments was the cancellation of "Cavemen". I haven't even had a chance to see it, but a lot of people say it's good. Have to check out the DVD when it comes out then.

Also gone are "Women's Murder Club", "Oprah's Big Give", "October Road", "Notes from the Underbelly", "Miss/Guided", "Men in Trees", "Just for Laughs", "Cashmere Mafia", "Carpoolers" and "Big Shots".

New Shows

Not much in the way of new shows. There's this animated comedy from Mike Judge (dude who gave us "Beavis and Butthead" and "King of the Hill") called "The Goode Family".

Also new are "Life on Mars"- a remake of the BBC drama, and two Ashton Kutcher projects: "Opportunity Knocks" and a still-untitled collaboration with Tyra Banks.

Keep track of your favorite shows for the coming fall season on my continuing coverage: Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- our next posts will be covering FOX, CBS and The CW. We've already covered NBC earlier on.

Cheers, everyone!

What Do You Think of the New 90210?

2008-05-22T02:26:00.003+08:00

I have to admit- I wasn't that huge a fan of the old "Beverly Hills: 90210", even if I had a huge crush on Jenny Garth back then.

You've probably heard by now that The CW is coming up with a brand new 90210- with an entirely different cast of characters, cameos of old familiar faces, and well, lots of Beverly Hills drama.

Check out this new 90210 sneak peak from a vid posted by ecclectic2007 on YouTube:

The only person I seem to recognize from the whole bunch was Jessica Walters, who played the quirky Lucille Bluth in "Arrested Development".

So what do you think of the new 90210 so far?

The NBC Fall Lineup 2008

2008-05-22T02:00:00.009+08:00

Summer is right on top of us- with the last season's shows already wrapping up, and networks announcing their primetime lineups for the coming fall. Welcome to Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- in this post we cover NBC.

Returning Favorites on NBC

We'll be seeing new seasons of our favorites "30 Rock", "Chuck", "Heroes", "Life", "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office".

Also coming back are "Medium", "Lipstick Jungle", "Law & Order: SVU", "Law & Order", "Friday Night Lights", "ER", "Deal or No Deal", "Dateline NBC", "The Biggest Loser" and "The Apprentice".

Cancelled Shows

I was hoping they might be able to breathe new life into "Bionic Woman". Oh well- so much for that.

Axed this season were mostly game shows and competitions: "1 vs 100", "Amne$ia", "Clash of the Choirs", "My Dad is Better than Your Dad", "Phenomenon", and "The Singing Bee".

Also cancelled were "Las Vegas" and "Journeyman".

"Quarterlife" heads on over to NBC's sister cable channel Bravo.

New Shows on NBC

For new shows, there's a still-untitled spin-off of "The Office" in the pipeline, the new Christian Slater spy-drama "My Own Worst Enemy", a new Molly Shannon comedy "Kath & Kim", and the new Howie Mandell show, "Howie Do It".

Don't forget the re-imagined "Knight Rider"- though we heard it hardly has anything to do with the pilot that aired earlier this year.

Other new shows include dramas "Crusoe", "Kings", "The Listener", "Merlin", "The Philanthropist", and documentary/reality shows "America's Toughest Jobs", "The Chopping Block", "Shark Taggers", and "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Keep track of your favorite shows for the coming fall season on my continuing coverage: Renzie Reviews the 2008 Fall Lineup- our next posts will be covering ABC, FOX, CBS and The CW.

Cheers, everyone!

Crap From My Childhood: Mazinger Z (1972)

2008-05-21T03:20:00.002+08:00

I've always had a fond appreciation for Mazinger Z. I think it was 1978 or 1979 when we actually got to see this anime in the Philippines. It was phenomenal- kids would run straight home right after school to catch these huge-ass robots slug it out with other evil huge-ass robots; there was nothing on TV like it.

Aside from the other Mecha shows, of course. At the time, other than Mazinger Z, there were Voltes V, Daimos, Mekanda Robot, UFO Grendaizer on one TV station (GMA 7), and then you had Balatak, Jeeg, Danguard Ace, Striker Force and Star Zinger on another (RPN 9). Of course there were others later on (Getta Robot, Gaiking, etc.), so maybe I'll blog all about these other mecha shows in another post.

Anyway, Mazinger Z was the very first mecha anime that came out- Wednesdays, I remember. For a cartoon, the theme was rather different from other usual animated fare at the time, like say, SuperFriends, or Disney movies or stuff from Hanna Barbera.

Mazinger Z ushered in a host of new mecha shows that were a lot more violent, darker, and perhaps a little more mature. Looking back, maybe it was a little too violent for kids (I was 5 or 6 at the time). But as far as mecha anime shows go, Mazinger Z set the conventions which would later be used by similar programs, and set the standard for a great super-robot series.

Check out this great Mazinger Z pic by Jose Liepana. Totally awesome.

The Mazinger Z Story

An archeological research team digs up an ancient civilization (said to be the Myceneans) on an island (which may have been the island of Rhodes?). The team discovers that this civilization made use of an army of giant steel titans (not unlike the legendary bronze giant, Talos), as a protection against invaders. The expedition team unearth prototypes of these titans, and start restoring them.

Realizing these giants can be remote-controlled, Dr. Hell soon sees the massive potential of these prototypes as instruments of world domination, and decides to kill off all the other members of the research team, so he can have the steel titans for his own designs. Professor Juzo Kabuto, another member of the research team, was the sole survivor of this treachery, and managed to escape to warn the world of Dr. Hell's plans.

Dr. Hell then starts building his mobile base of operations and his army of robot "beast fighters". In the meantime, Professor Kabuto builds Mazinger Z- a super-robot created out of a fictitious super-alloy (Chogokin-Z) that could only be found at the base of Mt. Fuji, and armed with an array of weaponry to stand up against Dr. Hell's mecha army.

Just as Professor Kabuto finishes Mazinger Z, he is assassinated by Dr. Hell's right-hand man, Baron Ashura. The dying professor passes on the secret of Mazinger Z to his grandson, Kouji, who then does battle with the beast fighters sent by Dr. Hell in every episode.

Mazinger Z Weapon Systems

To activate Mazinger Z, Kouji flies a specially-made hovervehicle (called the Pilder) into the super-robot's cranial cavity. This effectively allows him to interface with Mazinger Z and control the mecha's movement and access the weapon systems.

Rocket Punch. Mazinger Z can launch his fist and forearm as a projectile that can punch through steel. These forearms then fly back to reattach themselves back to Mazinger Z's arms.
Koshiryoku Beams. Laser beams that shoot from Mazinger Z's eyes.
Rust Hurricane. Mazinger Z can blow out gale-force winds which can disintegrate steel
Breast Fire. High-intensity beams powerful enough to melt metal that radiate from the red fixtures on Mazinger Z's chest.

Mazinger Z also had a female counterpart, Aphrodite A- which is piloted by the hot-blooded and tomboyish Sayaka Yumi, who also serves as Kouji's romantic interest. While Aphrodite A is also made of the same Chogokin-Z superalloy, she doesn't have much in the way of offensive weaponry. In fact, her only weapon system are missiles launched from her breasts- the Oppai Missile System.

Other Mazinger Z Facts

Go Nagai, the legendary Japanese animator, was the creative genius behind Mazinger Z. Mecha/super-robot fans would usually credit him as the father of the super-robot anime genre, and Mazinger Z as "the mecha show that started it all". In response, Go Nagai would humbly pass the honor to two other animators and their projects: Osamu Tezuka's Tetsuwan Atom (aka "Astro Boy") and Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Tetsujin 28-go (aka "Gigantor").
Mazinger Z was re-dubbed in English and re-named Tranzor Z for the US release in 1985. Many scenes considered too violent or too sexually suggestive were edited from the series, cutting down the number of episodes from 92 to 65.
As you can see on YouTube, Mazinger Z seems to also have been popular in Italy, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain and the Middle East.

There were actually two Mazinger Z openings. This one I remember the most watching it as a kid (thanks to javeln, who shared this clip on YouTube):

This other opening replaces the first midway into the season (thanks to JihadAlexander, who also shared this clip on YouTube):

If you wanna check out more of Mazinger Z, you can read more about him here on his Wikipedia entry, here on the AnimeNewsNetwork, or here on TV.com. Interestingly enough, you may also want to check out Wikipedia entry on Mazinger Z's enemies-of-the-week, the "mechanical beasts".

"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.

Favorite TV Chicks: Chyler Leigh

2008-05-20T03:10:00.006+08:00

One of the things that keeps "Grey's Anatomy" interesting for me this season is the addition of the character of Lexie Grey- Meredith's younger half-sister, played by the cute-as-a-button Chyler Leigh.

What I didn't know was that at age 23 (she was born 10 April 1982, btw), she's already been a part of at least 9 different TV series:

"Reunion" (2005)
"North Shore" (2004)
"The Practice" (2003)
"Girls Club" (2002). She played lawyer Sarah Mickle.
"That '80s Show" (2002). Her character was a punk rocker, June Tuesday.
"7th Heaven" (2000)
"M.Y.O.B." (2000)
"Wilder Days" (2000)
"Safe Harbor" (1999)
"Saving Graces" (1999)
"Kinetic City Super Crew" (1997)
"Hall Pass" (1996), a syndicated news show

Of course, none are as memorable (or as big of a hit) as "Grey's Anatomy". In the latest season (Season 4) of the ABC medical drama, Lexie joins the staff of Seattle Grace as part of this year's batch of interns. Naturally, there's drama going on between her and Meredith, and later on with other characters- that's about as far as I go to keep things spoiler-free.

No surprise: Chyler did some modeling before her acting career took off. In fact, she's been in front of a camera since age 12, doing the round of magazines and catalogs. Even landing gigs on national ads for Coca-Cola and Wendy's, among other projects.

Chyler Leigh also had film roles. In 1997, she made her film debut in Kickboxing Academy. No I haven't seen it, but according to her Wikipedia entry, her love interest in this particular movie was her real-life brother (Christopher Khayman Leigh- who, incidentally, played a Power Ranger in 3 Power Ranger series). Which was weird, because there are several scenes in the movie where the two actually kiss.

Anyway, in 2001 she snagged the lead role in the Columbia/Tri-Star comedy Not Another Teen Movie- which, I have to admit, I have to check out again- just to catch a little more of Chyler. In the meantime, feel free to drool over her on this hot photo right here:

Other bits about Chyler Leigh: If you're a Marilyn Manson fan, you may recall seeing Chyler in the "Tainted Love" music video as well. She was ranked #65 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002. The following picture was taken for Stuff Magazine, the issue that came out in January 2002, to promote Not Another Teen Movie. That's Chyler with co-star Mia Kirshner.

You can continue seeing more of Chyler as Dr. Lexie Grey on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy"- check out your local listings on when you can catch it. Great show.

Also, check out Chyler's rather comprehensive profile on IMDb.com- where you can also find more photos, bios and other trivia about Miss Leigh.

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!

Crap From My Childhood: Spiral Zone (1987)

2008-05-20T02:08:00.005+08:00

Remember that old eighties cartoon Spiral Zone?

Well, I can barely remember the series myself. All I have are memories of '87 or '88, catching it on some afternoons right after I get home from school.

I thought it was kick-ass though. It made a great alternative to other cartoons like G.I. Joe and the Transformers, and I liked the whole concept around the "let's-put-together-a-crack-team-of-commandos-from-around-the world" idea. Check out the intro from a clip we found on YouTube right here:

What's Spiral Zone All About

Supposedly a renegade military scientist who calls himself "The Overlord" managed to envelop a significant portion of future Earth in a strange dark mist using some new form of biological warfare.

Our main villain managed to put up "Zone Generators" which spewed forth clouds that covered vast population centers. End result: millions of people stuck in this spiral-shaped territory (thus, the title) become zombie-like thralls- or Zoners- from which The Overlord now builds his army.

Naturally, he's got himself some henchmen as well- The Black Widows- which act as his lieutenants and special agents, riding around Zoned areas in Sledge Hammers: one-man vehicles with tracked wheels, overhead guns and flails on the side. The Overlord has a special command ATV with a cannon for himself.

Anyway, the world finally unites against this global menace, and puts together a crack team of commandos to go in the Zones and blow up the Zone Generators to liberate the planet one city at a time. We got:

Colonel Dirk Courage. American field commander. Rides around in this monocycle with this massive cannon mounted on top.
Lieutenant Hiro Taka. The team's recon, infiltration and melee combat expert from Japan.
2nd Lieutenant Max Jones. The team's African-American special missions expert.
Master Sergeant 'Tank' Schmidt. The team's heavy weapons specialist from Germany.
Corporal Katerina Anastacia. The team's medic from the Soviet Union.

So these guys don a special body armor that renders them immune to the effects of the Zone. From a mountain base, they're flown to the mission-of-the-week via a jet transport, then ride into enemy territory in fast-attack monocycles.

Spiral Zone Now

It's hard to get a hold of clips or pictures of this old cartoon. Personally, I only have a VHS tape of a few shows myself, and I'd really like to get me a DVD copy (if I could find one). Found a website which supposedly distributed copies of the series, but it's all sold out for now.

Bandai actually had a toy line going on in Japan, years before the franchise (and the accompanying TV series) was developed for the American market. So if you're into collecting the action figures, it means that there should be a number of collectors out there with a few pieces you might be interested in.

Check out Spiral Zone on TV.com and on IMDb.com. You can also catch bits and pieces of Spiral Zone on RetroJunk, and its 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.

American Idol Totally Lost Its Appeal For Me This Season

2008-05-20T01:05:00.004+08:00

I know the American Idol juggernaut just about got everybody hooked this season- now that it's down to David Archuleta versus David Cook for the finale.

My money's on Cook, but Archuleta does have a whole shitload of fans.

Alright, so I know enough about what's generally going down, but the truth is, I can't help but notice that, for the past several episodes, my enthusiasm for the show has noticeably waned.

I was trying to figure it out: was it possibly the lack of eye-candy for me? Hardly any chicks this season- at least not as compelling as when Katherine McPhee was around (sorry, just needed a reason to put her pic up on this blog :p). In fairness, Carly Smithson was the most fun to watch for this batch, so I know I really stopped watching the actual broadcasts after Broadway night and just relied on the internet for updates.

Was it because the weekly themes were sorta skewed towards a more mature audience? Alright, I dig Lennon/McCartney. Even the Andrew Lloyd Webber night was rather entertaining. But Dolly Parton night? Neil Diamond? I can only take so much Dolly or Diamond in one hour of TV viewing. Oh I didn't even bother watching Neil Diamond night. Where's the element of 'staying contemporary' Simon Cowell has been constantly crowing about?

While the show has inadvertently managed to keep itself interesting somehow- what with the Paula Abdul blunder a couple of weeks back (you can even catch a clip on YouTube if you missed it), or that debacle with Archuleta's dad on being such a stage parent (which you can read about here, here and here)- it doesn't seem to completely accomplish what the show set out to do: get my eyeballs locked on FOX two nights a week.

Luck of the draw, I suppose. Here's to hoping they get a more interesting set of contestants next year.

Cheers, everyone.

Conan Features GTA IV

2008-05-16T03:46:00.004+08:00

It's not a secret that NBC late night talk show host Conan O'Brien is into video games. As a matter of fact, he did manage to amuse himself and whatever was left of his staff with rounds of Rock Band during the Writers' Strike earlier this year.

So it's no surprise that he's been able to get himself a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest and hottest GTA title in the controversial game series, which immerses you in a shady world of violence, sex and drug-dealing.

Supposedly, the latest installment of the GTA series has addressed these issues. And for the past few shows, Conan has been kind enough to share his experiences with a more audience-friendly, mellowed-down Grand Theft Auto IV.

Take a look at these:

Clips were shared by MuchRockness on YouTube. Always a good time whenever you catch Conan O'Brien every night on your NBC Channel, on Late Night with Conan O'Brien right after The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Cheers, everyone!

Your Favorite Shows Are About To Wrap Up!

2008-05-11T22:48:00.006+08:00

Too bad a lot of our shows had their number of episodes cut this season. Nevertheless, get ready as your favorite shows leave you hanging at the edge of your seats, answer some questions, or leave you with even more questions.

Let's check in on our most-watched shows as they wrap up in time for summer!

30 Rock (NBC). Jack lands himself a new job, Liz gets a pregnancy scare, and Tracy's porn-video game masterpiece is just about complete. We need more 30 Rock! Season 2 just ended last Thursday, May 8.

America's Next Top Model (The CW). Haven't we had enough top models already? Cycle 10 ends on Wednesday, May 14.

American Idol (FOX). The two Davids battle it out, but for some reason, I'm just not too excited about it this season. Season finale on Wednesday, May 21.

Battlestar Galactica (SciFi). We hit the episode 10 mark on Friday, June 13. No official word on when it's coming out, but the second installment of 10 episodes wraps up not just Season 4, but the entire series.

But hey, word is, we'll be getting the spin-off Caprica soon, and there might even be a BSG movie coming up!

CSI (CBS). Warrick finds himself in hot water in CSI's eighth season finale. This Thursday, May 15.

CSI: Miami (CBS). The entire Miami team is in danger, but Horatio is around to save the day. Find out what happens on the sixth season finale on (Monday) May 19.

CSI: New York (CBS). A bank heist goes terribly wrong- but you know the New York team is going to pull through as always. Could be fun! Season 4 wraps up on Wednesday, May 21.

Gossip Girl (The CW). The promos are hot, and as far as we can tell with the past few episodes, the first season finale is sure not to disappoint. Catch it Monday next week, May 19.

Grey's Anatomy (ABC). It's gonna be a 2-hour season finale, and you know there's gonna be lots of Seattle Grace drama going on. Fourth season wraps up on (Thursday) May 22.

The Hills (MTV). If you're a fan of Heidi, Spencer and Lauren, then you definitely wouldn't want to miss The Hills' third season finale! Airs on Monday, May 12.

House (FOX) is on its 4th season, and the two-hour finale airs this Monday, May 12.

How I Met Your Mother (CBS). We're almost at the end of Season 3, and we still don't know exactly how he did. Are we finally going to get some answers on (Monday) May 19?

Lost (ABC). Brace yourself for a two-hour season finale. More answers this time? Or just more questions? Check it out on (Thursday) May 29.

My Name is Earl (NBC). Earl must make a choice: his wife, or the list. The one-hour season finale airs this (Thursday) May 15.

The Office (NBC). Toby says goodbye and heads off to Costa Rica, and in comes his HR replacement. How does Michael Scott deal this time? Find out on Thursday, May 14.

One Tree Hill (The CW). I haven't watched a single episode, but I know a lot of my friends who do. The fifth season draws to a close on (Monday) May 19.

Reaper (The CW). It's Sam versus an entire army of demons as we wrap up the first season. Question is, will Reaper be back for Season 2? Airs on Tuesday, May 20.

Scrubs (NBC). Word is, they're moving to ABC next season. But not before the entire Sacred Heart staff winds up in a twisted fairy tale conjured up by Dr. Cox. Season 7 just ended last Thursday, May 8.

Smallville (The CW). What has Braniac been up to this time? Also- Clark faces off with Lex, Lana wakes up from her coma, and so much more going on as Season 7 of Smallville wraps up on (Thursday) May 15.

Supernatural (The CW). Dean has just 30 hours left until his pact with the demon Lilith expires. Can he, Sam and Bobby pull through? Season finale airs on Thursday, May 15.

Top Chef (Bravo). Just needed an excuse to put host Padma Lakshmi's picture up here. Season 4 has been really fun, and we may have some six episodes still on the way- which means we'll be seeing our top 2 chefs slug it out on (Wednesday) June 18.

Ugly Betty (ABC). Sorry, I don't watch this show, but my friends do. Season finale happens on (Thursday) May 22.

So there you have it- make sure you don't miss your shows! Stick around as we cover the fall line-ups soon. We'll get official word from the networks in a few days.

Cheers, everyone!

More Old Cartoons of Marvel Superheroes

2008-05-04T11:27:00.002+08:00

Okay fine, maybe I got a little nostalgic after that last post of mine on Iron Man. So I browsed through a few more videos on YouTube, and decided to share the opening themes of other old (circa-1967/68) Marvel cartoons here.

One of the catchier tunes that's been nailed into my brain since childhood was this one of The Incredible Hulk. Never was that huge a fan of the Green Goliath, but this campy theme just never fails to entertain. Check it out:

Not the best theme song there is, right? But incredibly sticky, you gotta give them credit for that. Okay, I'm sure you remember this one of Captain America:

Now that wasn't so bad, was it? Moving on, here are the opening themes for The Mighty Thor and the Sub-Mariner.

Lastly, while not from the same series of cartoons, here's the opening theme from the classic Spider-man cartoon:

So you have to hand it to Marvel for coming up with all these great gems from waaay back then. Sure, they're horrible now, compared to even the worst cartoons you have on Nick or Cartoon Network, but man, were they a lot of fun!

Cheers, everyone!

Remember the Old Iron Man Cartoon?

2008-05-04T11:14:00.004+08:00

In the most recent Iron Man movie with Robert Downey, Jr., I noticed there was something familiar about the music during that hotel/casino scene towards the beginning. And then Pepper Potts' mobile phone goes off a couple of times. The ringtone was almost instantly recognizable for me, and I just knew it- they HAD to use the theme from the old Iron Man cartoon.

Check out a clip of the opening theme which I found on YouTube:

I remember watching the cartoon on weekday afternoons after school in the eighties, not knowing that at the time, the show was already almost 20 years old! I only found out fairly recently that the old Marvel cartoon made its first TV appearance in 1967 or 68.

Totally cheesy, I know. But it sure brings back some great childhood memories, for sure.

Check out my other blog entries on "Everything You Need To Know About Iron Man" on my other blog, "Renzie on Movies", which I wrote after checking out the kick-ass Iron Man movie. You can read Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.

Cheers, everyone!

Why You Should Watch "How I Met Your Mother"

2008-04-25T04:53:00.001+08:00

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.

Favorite TV Chicks: Padma Lakshmi

2008-04-22T00:17:00.003+08:00

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!

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

2008-04-20T10:33:00.002+08:00

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!

A Crash Course in Battlestar Galactica

2008-04-04T00:45:00.001+08:00

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!

It's Good To Be Gil Grissom

2008-04-03T13:11:00.002+08:00

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!

The Best Battlestar Galactica Episodes Ever

2008-04-03T09:24:00.000+08:00

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!

Yes, That IS Tom Hanks.

2008-03-11T23:33:00.000+08:00

Ah, the 90's. You all remember Right Said Fred? C+C Music Factory? What about Ariel and Efrim? Then check out this clip and get ready for a laugh trip!

This SNL Digital Short was first shown on the Saturday Night Live episode that aired on 06 May 2006. Featuring Andy Samberg (as Ariel) and Tom Hanks (as Efrim) in "Please Don't Cut My Testicles". In the clip we also see Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen and Jorma Taccone.

This is actually one of my favorite 'shorts. Always good for a laugh whenever I need a quick pick-me-up. And in case you'd want to sing along- like I occasionally would- here are some lyrics! Enjoy!

"Please Don't Cut My Testicles"
Ariel and Efrim

Morning in the kitchen,
You're frying an egg
I'm squeezing some oranges-
The room is getting hot

Over at the counter, I shake the salt
You take out a knife- (ooh!)
Please don't cut my testicles

Please don't cut my testicles
Please don't cut my testicles
Don't cut my testicles
It's a nice day- relax!

Oh Efrim, you're sexy.
Right back at you baby
Oh Efrim, you're handsome.
I'm serious about my testicles!

At the post office, standing in line
You wrap my package, I lick the stamp
Put it in the slot, then close the door
But please don't slam it on my testicles!

Don't slam my testicles
Please don't slam my testicles
Don't slam my testicles
It's a free country, how fun!

Oh Ariel, you worry
I do, I worry often.
Oh Efrim, come with me
Did I mention I was gay?

Don't burn off our testicles
Don't burn off our testicles
Please don't burn my testicles
I'm sorry, I love you.

This is an ongoing effort on "Too Much TV!" to feature as many of the SNL Digital Shorts shown on Saturday Night Live. You can find a whole lot more on NBC's Saturday Night Live official website.

Cheers, everyone!

Ellen Page Has Nightmares!

2008-03-11T23:15:00.000+08:00

You've loved her in Juno! Now check out the incomparable Ellen Page as she deals with a zombie and -uh- Count Dracula. In dreamland. Um...just watch the video.

SNL Digital Shorts are back, boys and girls! This one, "The Mirror", is from the sixth episode of the season 33- and the second since the chicks and dudes from Saturday Night Live came back on the air since the Writers' Strike.

As far as I can tell, "The Mirror" features Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis and Kristen Wiig.

This is an ongoing effort on "Too Much TV!" to feature as many of the SNL Digital Shorts shown on Saturday Night Live. You can find a whole lot more on NBC's Saturday Night Live official website.

Cheers everyone!

A New Hero on NBC!

2008-03-11T22:48:00.000+08:00

Well at least it looks like the shots were taken from Nathan Petrelli's office or something, using Nathan Petrelli-esque clothes. What do you think?

Saturday Night Live is back on the air, ladies and gentlemen. We've had three episodes (since the Writers' Strike) this year so far, bringing the total live broadcasts to eight this season (we're now on season 33, btw).

It's great to have some old favorites back on TV. Me, I've always been a huge fan of the SNL Digital Shorts. Check this one out called "Hero Song".

Featuring SNL's Andy Samberg, fellow cast member Jason Sudeikis, and I think that's Amy Adams on the sketch as well. Oh, and that dude (35 seconds into the clip) also looks like Jorma Taccone.

Lookin' forward to seeing more SNL Digital Shorts- keep it up guys! Check out more great clips on NBC's Saturday Night Live official website.

Cheers everyone!

Bravo TV Picks Up Christian Siriano For A New Show?

2008-03-11T22:05:00.000+08:00

OK, so maybe not- but here's a little something for you Project Runway fans.

Great to have Saturday Night Live back on the air. This is a clip from an episode that aired last weekend, March 8. Guest host for this episode was Amy Adams (from the Enchanted movie, as well as Talladega Nights and a couple episodes of The Office)

This incredibly funny skit- “Fierce: The Hot Mess Make-over Show” features Amy Poehler who was awesome as Project Runway contestant Christian Siriano, with Bill Hader as Tim Gunn and Amy Adams as Heidi Klum.

Found this clip through PopOnThePop.com, but of course you can find more clips on NBC's Saturday Night Live official website.

Cheers everyone!

Lazy Sunday: The Chronic- what? -cles of Narnia!

2008-03-11T22:03:00.000+08:00

It was in December of 2005, midway into the 31st season, that Saturday Night Live started airing 3-minute short films called "SNL Digital Shorts" as part of its broadcast.

You gotta give credit to The Lonely Island guys- Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg for putting all their hard work and comedic talent into making these clips happen. From what I understand, the boys have been largely responsible for writing the stuff, shooting it themselves on digital video cameras, and editing them on a regular PC.

Which is what they've been doing for quite some time during their early Lonely Island days. The very first SNL digital short, which appeared on the 03 December 2005 episode was "Lettuce", which became an instant internet favorite. You can find a clip of "Lettuce" on the NBC official website, but the quality is really bad (we'll feature it when we find a better clip).

What really made it happen for the dudes, was this clip- "Lazy Sunday", which aired 2 weeks later on December 17. It was a huge internet favorite, and racked up some 5 million views on YouTube before NBC pulled it out (but it's now available on the NBC website). Check it out now!

"Lazy Sunday" stars Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell. Oh, and in case you feel like singing to it, here are the lyrics. Jorma Taccone provided the beat to this, and Akiva directed the video.

"Lazy Sunday"
An SNL Digital Short

Lazy Sunday, wake up in the late afternoon
Called Parnell just to see how he's doin'
Hello?
What up, Parn!
Yo Samberg, what's crackin'?
You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?
Narnia!
Man it's happ'nin'!

But first, my hunger pangs are stickin' like duct tape.
Let's hit up Magnolia and mack on some cupcakes.
No doubt, that bakery's got all the bomb frostings.
I love those cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling.

Two! No, Six! No, Twelve! Baker's Dozen!
I told'ja that I'm crazy for these cupcakes, cousin!
Yo, where's the movie playin'?
Upper West Side, dude!
Well, let's hit up Yahoo Maps to find the dopest route.
I prefer Mapquest!
That's a good one too.
Google Maps is the best!
True that! Double true!
68th and Broadway.
Step on it, sucka!
What you wanna do Chris?
snack attack, muthafucka!

Hit the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
Yes, the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
We love that Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
Pass that Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!

Yo, stop at the deli, the theater's overpriced!
You got that backpack? Gonna pack it up nice.
Don't want security to get suspicious-
Mr. Pibbs and Red Vines equals crazy delicious!

Yo, reach in my pocket and pull out some dough,
Girl acted like she never seen a $10 before!
It's all about the Hamiltons, baby
Throw the snacks in a bag, and I'm Ghost like Swayze.

Roll up to the theater, ticket buying what we're handling,
You can call us Aaron Burr from the way we're dropping Hamiltons
Parked in our seats movie trivia's the illest!
"What Friends alum starred in films with Bruce Willis?"
We answered so fast, it was scary:
Everyone stared in awe when we screamed "Matthew Perry!"
Then quiet in the theater or it's gonna get tragic
We're about to be taken to a dream world of magic

In the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
Yes, the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
We love that Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
Pass that Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!

It's this blog's goal to feature as many of the SNL Digital Shorts as we possibly can. So drop on in from time to time to see what we can dig up!

Cheers, everyone!

Have You Seen The New Knight Rider?

2008-03-04T12:06:00.000+08:00

NBC had once again revived the Knight Rider franchise. Knight Rider 2008, a made-for-tv movie/backdoor pilot, aired a couple of Sundays ago, 17 February 2008. It's a totally new storyline that ignores the earlier Knight Rider movies (one in 1991 and another in 1994), and that alternate-reality Team Knight Rider series.

This one pretty much comes from the timeline set from the old Knight Rider TV series. And without having to reveal too much, let's just say that, despite a whole new cast and a brand new car- yes, there IS still a Michael Knight connection.

The New Knight Rider

KITT- the Knight Industries Two Thousand- used to be a Black Pontiac Firebird/Trans Am that boasted a molecular bonded shell (read: bulletproof) and some serious AI (the car can talk, man!).

Our new KITT has a whole range of spiffy new enhancements and upgrades- so now it's the Knight Industries Three Thousand. I guess it's the extra 1000 that gives it that extra punch.

Instead of the Black Pontiac Firebird, the new KITT is a 2008 Ford Mustang GT500KR, but has generally the same features of the original KITT- it's black and it talks!

Check out the features of the new and improved KITT, as compiled by Wikipedia:

550 horsepower solar hybrid engine
Sports-tuned suspension
Xenon headlamps with infrared night-vision
Metallic paint with nanotech enhanced camouflage including morphing License Plate.
Military satellite access
FBI database access
Self-regeneration and damage repair
High-speed Internet
Artificial Intelligence
Voice-activated GPS
Apple Wireless Keyboard in the glove box under an accessory drawer
Biometric Interface to access security features.
Wireless headset to communicate with passengers within a limited distance.
Biomedical Scanner.
It is important to note that if KITT's Artificial Intelligence is offline, the self-regeneration mechanism is inactive, making it as vulnerable as an ordinary car. Part of the shutting down procedures of KITT's AI includes the release of the clutch pedal as well as a stick shift to allow manual control.
Other details from the pilot film:
Driving cross-country, KITT can average a speed of 191 mph (307 km/h) and travel 627 mi (1,009 km) in 3 h 17 min.
Although largely solar powered, KITT does use gasoline; with 91% of the energy being recycled, it averages 167 mpg (US) (1.4 l/100 km).
Instead of the famous communicator watch, KITT communicates with its operators via a wireless headset, and can access wireless phone networks. Since KITT can tie into numerous computer systems, it is able to emulate many of the functions of the watch, such as unlocking doors.

KITT is voiced this time by actor Val Kilmer.

Is The New Knight Rider Going To Be A Whole New Series?

No word yet, as far as I can tell. The Knight Rider made-for-TV movie that aired was really a backdoor pilot- which means that, depending on how it was received by the audience, and on its commercial viability- a network can then choose to pick it up for a regular season, or just dump it in the TV Recycle Bin altogether.

Knight Rider 2008 did get considerably high ratings: According to Wikipedia, Nielson tracked 10.0 million viewers watching NBC with 4.0/10 households tuning in. The show was received poorly by critics, but despite the less-than-positive reviews, NBC captured first place within the 18-49 demographic. The movie averaged a viewership of 12.8 million viewers.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what NBC has to say about it.

More later. Cheers, everyone!

Song List from American Idol Season 7 - Top 10 Chicks

2008-02-29T01:27:00.000+08:00

Welcome to my continuing coverage of the songs featured on American Idol Season 7. No blow-by-blow reportage, no thoughts about the show (at least not at this point), just the songs performed by our Top 20 contestants.

We're doing the 70's this week, and we just covered the dudes' songs earlier on. Now we have the songlist for the chicks' performances.

List of Songs Sung By The Contestants
The Chicks of the Top 20 Sing the 70's!
American Idol Season 7

Carly Smithson - Heart "Crazy On You"
Syesha Mercado - Billy Paul "Me and Mrs. Jones"
Brooke White - Carly Simon "You're So Vain"
Ramiele Malubay - Thelma Houston "Don't Leave Me This Way"
Kristy Lee Cook - Linda Ronstadt "You're No Good"

Amanda Overmyer - Kansas "Carry On Wayward Son"
Alaina Whitaker - Olivia Newton-John "Hopelessly Devoted To You"
Alexandrea Lushington - Chicago "If You Leave Me Now"
Kady Malloy - Heart "Magic Man"
Asia'h Epperson - Eric Carmen "All By Myself"

Don't forget to watch the results show- we see ours in the Philippines on Star World. Go right ahead and check out the official FOX website here, for exclusive vids, photos, blogs and a chance to interact with fellow AI fans!

4 more episodes 'til we get our Top 12- come back next week for the list of songs performed then!

Cheers, everyone!

Song List from American Idol Season 7 - Top 10 Dudes

2008-02-29T01:18:00.000+08:00

This is my continuing coverage on the featured music on American Idol season 7. Just to make it clear, I'm not doing a blow-by-blow or an episode guide: that's the reason why we all watch it live :). However, I aim to do a public service by helping out fellow fans with the song titles and artists featured, as performed by our contestants.

That being said, we're now down to our Top 20. Our theme for this week: the 70's. And here are the songs from our remaining 10 dudes, on American Idol episode aired 26 February 2008.

List of Songs Sung By The Contestants
The Dudes of the Top 20 Sing the 70's!
American Idol Season 7

Michael Johns - Fleetwood Mac "Go Your Own Way"
Jason Castro - Andy Gibb "I Just Want To Be Your Everything"
Luke Menard - Queen "Killer Queen"
Robbie Carrico - Foreigner "Hot Blooded"
Danny Noriega - The Carpenters "Superstar"

David Hernandez - The Temptations "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"
Jason Yeager - The Doobie Brothers "Long Train Runnin'"
Chikezie Eze - Donny Hathaway "I Believe To My Soul"
David Cook - Free "All Right Now"
David Archuleta - John Lennon "Imagine"

The chicks' song choices coming up next. More American Idol Music comin' your way as Season 7 continues. Go right ahead and check out the official FOX website here, for exclusive vids, photos, blogs and a chance to interact with fellow AI fans! Here's looking forward to some interesting performances next week.

Cheers, everyone!

Song List from American Idol Season 7 - Top 12 Chicks

2008-02-29T01:01:00.000+08:00

This is my continuing coverage of the music featured on American Idol Season 7. This week, we see our Top 24 in action belting out some jams from the '60's.

We already featured the dudes' song choices earlier on, so now we cover the chicks' musical performances.

So here's the playlist from American Idol Season 7, episode aired 20 February 2008!

List of Songs Sung By The Contestants
The Chicks of the Top 24 Sing!
American Idol Season 7

Kristy Lee Cook - Fontella Bass "Rescue Me"
Joanne Borgella - Burt Bacharach "Say A Little Prayer For You"
Alaina Whittaker - Spiral Starecase "More Today Than Yesterday"

Amanda Overmyer - Van Morrison "Baby Please Don't Go"
Amy Davis - Connie Francis "Where The Boys Are"
Brooke White - The Turtles "Happy Together"

Alexandrea Lushington - Blood, Sweat & Tears "Spinning Wheel"
Kady Malloy - The Mindbenders "A Groovy Kind Of Love"
Asia'h Epperson - Janis Joplin "Piece Of My Heart"

Ramiele Malubay - Dusty Springfield "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me"
Syesha Mercado - The Nashville Teens "Tobacco Road"
Carly Smithson - Tony Bennett "The Shadow of Your Smile"

More American Idol Music comin' your way as Season 7 continues. Go right ahead and check out the official FOX website here, for exclusive vids, photos, blogs and a chance to interact with fellow AI fans! Here's looking forward to some interesting performances next week.

Cheers, everyone!

Song List from American Idol Season 7 - Top 12 Dudes

2008-02-29T00:37:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone.

I decided to provide you all a list of all the songs sung on the Tuesday & Wednesday shows (Wednesday and Thursday in the Philippines). To be honest I don't have a favorite just yet. And even if I did, it would usually be a chick :).

So, here's the tune-age from the episode of American Idol Season 7 that aired last 19 February 2008. The week's theme: the sixties!

List of Songs Sung By The Contestants:
The Dudes of the Top 24 Sing!
American Idol Season 7

David Hernandez - Wilson Pickett "In the Midnight Hour"
Chikezie Ezie - Spiral Staircase "More Today Than Yesterday"
David Cook - The Turtles "Happy Together"

Jason Yeager - Andy Williams "Moon River"
Robbie Carrico - Three Dog Night "One"
David Archuleta - The Miracles "Shop Around"

Danny Noriega - Elvis Presley "Jailhouse Rock"
Luke Menard - Nilsson "Everybody's Talkin'"
Colton Berry - Elvis Presley - "Suspicious Minds"

Garrett Haley - Neil Sedaka - "Breakin' up is Hard to Do"
Jason Castro - Lovin' Spoonful - "Daydream"
Michael Johns - The Doors - "Light My Fire"

More American Idol Music comin' your way as Season 7 continues. The chicks' 60's songs coming up. Go right ahead and check out the official FOX website here, for exclusive vids, photos, blogs and a chance to interact with fellow AI fans!

Cheers, everyone!

Favorite TV Chicks: Heidi Klum

2008-02-20T14:27:00.003+08:00

Popular media has, for the most part, managed to portray supermodels as anorexic drama queens and dim-witted divas, and for some reason we've lapped that up that image completely.

While it is true that there might be those in the fashion industry that might be a little in the way of attention-hungry, unreasonable or just in need of a good cheeseburger, such isn't the case at all for my girl, Heidi Klum.

In fact, she's the ultimate supermodel if you ask me: she's beautiful, and has a body that's still as marketable as ever. But more importantly, Heidi's been able to make good use of her popularity and success to pursue other interests both inside and out of her immediate comfort zone.

Plus, she's sharp, has a fun personality, and an all-around media darling. Seriously, can you really say anything bad about Heidi Klum?

Heidi Klum, Supermodel.

In 1991, an eighteen-year-old Heidi Klum entered a modeling contest after some prodding by her friend. She did win the contest, voted the winner out of 25,000 other hopefuls, and bagging a contract worth about US$300,000.

Since then, Heidi's been on the cover of just about every fashion magazine- but it was her work for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and for Victoria Secret that catapulted her into fame.

Heidi's also been a spokesmodel for several well-known brands, like Liz Claiborne, H&M, Braun, Volkswagen, Jordache and McDonalds, and even made appearances in TV shows and movies- "Sex and the City", "How I Met Your Mother", The Devil Wears Prada, Ella Enchanted and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.

Project Runway

In December 2004, Heidi Klum signed up as host, judge and executive producer of the reality show "Project Runway". The show came out on the Bravo cable TV channel. That's her with the Season 1 contestants in the picture to the left.

In "Project Runway", fashion designers compete for the chance to show their work at New York Fashion Week and receive money to launch their own fashion line, among other prizes.

Heidi has received an Emmy nomination for the show for each of the first three seasons. In 2008, Project Runway and Heidi Klum received a Peabody Award, the first time a reality show had won the award, according to Heidi's entry on Wikipedia.

Heidi Klum Now

As we know, Heidi's happily married to musician Seal, with two boys Henry Günther Ademola Dashtu Samuel (who's turning 3 in September) and Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel (who's having his second birthday on November). Heidi also has Helene "Leni" Klum, who's turning 4 this May.

Heidi's still rather active in the fashion industry, designing her own clothing lines (and her own line of jewelry, even) as well as designing for others (Birkenstock, Mouawad, Victoria Secret). She also produced two fragrances, "Heidi Klum" and "Me".

Besides "Project Runway", she's also working on "Germany's Next Top Model", and is trying out her hand at voicing for video games, sculpture and paintings, even dabbling into pop music.

For more of Heidi, you can check out her official website, HeidiKlum.com. You can also read more about her on her IMDb profile here, or 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!

Get Your Gossip Girl On!

2008-02-12T22:53:00.000+08:00

Alright, ever since Gossip Girl hit local screens, people have been asking me about it- so here it is.

Gossip Girl is pretty much this season's biggest guilty pleasure. Think of it as The O.C. for 2008- well, more like 2007 to be exact. The CW came out with the show in mid-September of 2007. As of this writing, we're halfway into the first season, which means you have 13 episodes to catch up on to bring yourself up to speed.

I know it's not a huge huge show, but I've read somewhere that despite the show facing massive competish, Gossip Girl is one of the most downloaded or recorded shows (if not the most) of the season- which means people will probably watch their Bionic Woman or Private Practice or America's Next Top Model (when it was shown on Wednesdays), but people will find some way to get their Gossip Girl fix (via TiVo, or downloaded, or whatever).

The truth is, Gossip Girl was one of the most anticipated new shows of the season. If you didn't already know, the soap is based on the popular novel series (of the same name) written by Cecily von Ziegesar. From Wikipedia:

Gossip Girl revolves around the lives of socialite young adults growing up on New York's Upper East Side who attend elite academic institutions while dealing with sex, drugs, and other teenage issues. Featuring an ensemble cast, the series begins by introducing Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and best friend Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), as well as Blair's boyfriend Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford). Other characters in the show include Dan (Penn Badgley) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen), who become involved in the lives of the main characters despite being less inclined to merge with the upper-east-side crowd. The series is narrated by a seemingly omniscient character, "Gossip Girl" (voiced by Kristen Bell), who runs a blog about her fellow Upper East Siders — consequently stirring the plot and creating potential rivalries in this exclusive and vicious circle of friends.

I can still remember watching the Pilot episode just before Christmas; at the time I was raving about the new shows Chuck and Reaper, and I had this friend who was raving about this one. She checked out Chuck, and I checked out Gossip Girl. Her selling point? "You know, the narrator on that show is Kirsten Bell..." Ding! I'vebeen hooked ever since.

Crazy fan-boy...

No, seriously, the story is alright. Josh Schwartz of The O.C. executive produces the show (together with Stephanie Savage), and also incidentally, executive produces Chuck- which was probably why my friend and I liked both shows.

Another reason why both shows feel so right? I have to say it's the music. The soundtrack, man! For that, we credit Alexandra Patsavas- noted musical director who also worked on kickass soundtracks on The O.C., Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural, Chuck and this show- Gossip Girl. From an About.com interview about the music she picks for the show, Alexandra says:

"I'm relying on old favorites while exploring current pop music. And since the show revolves primarily around high school students in New York, we'll definitely be using some New York-based bands. But these kids listen to the radio, too."

So go check it out while the new episodes aren't out yet: Gossip Girl- Mondays 8/7 Central on The CW. Check out the official website here.

Cheers, everyone!

How Are Our Shows Doing?

2008-02-12T16:39:00.000+08:00

Finally, Jericho fans will be getting what they paid for in truckloads of nuts! A new episode comes out on Feb 12. So if you feel like doing some homework just before the new season premiere, you still have time to do some surfing or even watching the last few episodes all over again- which is what I'll probably be doing.

While we do have some shows to tide us over for now- The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Project Runway, The Apprentice and Lost, I'd sure like to get some resolution done for the whole lot of shows left midway through their respective seasons.

So here I am, still keeping tabs on the shows I usually watch. There are actually a lot of people asking me if a certain show has new episodes out, or if I know when a new show is coming back- so I thought I'd do everyone a service by posting a quick update on some of our favorite shows right here.

30 Rock last aired Episode 10 of Season 2 last Jan 10. It's been weeks since we got anything new.
Bionic Woman aired Episode 8 "Do Not Disturb" last Nov 28- still no news on when we're getting more Jamie Sommers.
Battlestar Galactica comes back with a fresh new season on April 4. Time to watch the earlier 1970s series?
Chuck has already come back from Christmas break, airing two new episodes on January 24, but hasn't come up with new ones since then. We have 13 Chuck episodes so far.
Gossip Girl came back on January 2, but hasn't aired another episode since January 9. We're also at 13 episodes for Gossip Girl for now.

Grey's Anatomy came back with "Lay Your Hands On Me" last January 10- but that was it. Nothing new from the guys since then.
No word from Heroes yet. Their last episode was last Dec 3, "Powerless".
Nothing new from the guys of "How I Met Your Mother" since the last December 10 show, "The Platinum Rule".
Earl and the gang of My Name Is Earl came back last January 10 with "Bad Earl"; we have yet to hear from them after that.
We have word from the boys of Reaper- they'll be out with a brand new episode on March 6.

Scrubs last went on with "My #1 Doctor" last December 6. No word yet when the guys will be out with a new episode.
Smallville already came back with 3 new episodes since the break: "Persona" last Jan 31, "Siren" last Feb 7 and "Fracture" out this week.
So far so good for Supernatural- they've come back from the holiday hiatus, with last week's "Dream a Little Dream of Me", and "Mystery Spot" out this week for Valentines' Day.
I miss the guys from The Office- the last episode we saw from them was last November's "The Deposition".

Man, I really hope these producers and studios work it out with the writers soon. There's just so much show to be shown- and they're not showing us show-lovers anything. Everybody needs to get back to work, you know?

In the meantime, I got me some DVDs to tide me over. But they can only get me so far, right? We all need our shows back!

Seven New Words for 'Ass'.

2008-02-12T01:26:00.000+08:00

And now for a short educational break- our feature for today is a sweet little track from the Insane-o-Flex featuring Dana Swanson and Nick Ingkatanuwat with "I Like Your Booty (But I'm Not Gay)".

The title says it all- and pretty much all the words you need to sing along to this track that was first featured on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters OST. See if you can broaden your vocabulary with seven new words for 'ass' or 'booty' from this little number.

Just check out the video!

Featuring characters we all love from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force universe gettin' their groove on! Including the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past, -hang on- is that Larry Blackmon from Cameo? And is that Schoolly D? Well, we also have The Mooninites- Ignignokt and Er and the Plutonians Oglethorpe and Emory.

To be honest, the song was just going on and on in my head, and I just needed to find a way to get it out of my system.

Unfortunately, I'll probably be singing this song all week. Just not out loud, I hope.

Cheers, everyone!

10 Reasons To Watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force!

2008-02-11T19:24:00.000+08:00

Now do I really need to give you reasons to watch one of the greatest shows ever to come out on Adult Swim?

Well, probably I do. After all, Aqua Teen Hunger Force (or ATHF, for convenience's sake) has a particular kind of humor that might not be for everybody. I have to admit- its sarcastic, absurdist, twisted sense of humor might not be for everybody. But ATHF is very well something that never fails to make me laugh every time I watch it.

The show is now on its sixth season (woohoo!)- which means some 10 new episodes coming out, according to Wikipedia.

So here we are, the Top 10 Reasons to Watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force!

1. Dr. Weird. "Gentlemen- behold!" I've always loved the cold opens from the first few seasons. They feature our favorite mad scientist presenting his latest creation to his lone lab assistant, Steve ("Hey, um, Dr. Weird- I thought that grant was to cure diseases or something like that...") which initially provided the focus for the stories, and eventually just became hilarious non-sequiturs by the middle of Season 1.

My personal favorite: "My ass has decided to eat me! It hungers...for more!" You have to see it to believe it.

By the third season, we instead see Emory and Oglethorpe (see below) as the characters for the show's cold opens. While they're both funny as hell as well, I sure miss Dr. Weird...

Dr. Weird is voiced by C. Martin Croker- the same dude who voices Zorak in the Space Ghost Coast to Coast and The Brak Show series. Incidentally, Croker also voices Steve.

2. The Theme Song! "Coz we are tha Aqua Teen! Make tha homies say 'Ho!' and the girlies wanna scream!" Rumor has it that Schooly D composed this opening rap in the limo as he was on his way to the recording studio. It's a fun TV theme- the kind that gets you all pumped up before an episode, you know? And there are two versions out, in case you didn't know- the standard opening theme cut, and another slightly longer cut which you can check out here, with other earlier [Adult Swim] songs.

3. Carl! He's uncouth, he's totally unsexy, he's Carl Brutananadilewski. Or just plain ol' Carl. He's the Aqua Teen Hunger Force's next-door neighbor (who doesn't like them very much, btw), with a penchant for classic rock, pornography, prostitutes and hot wings.

From an entry in Wikipedia, we have this:

He is visited by misfortune in almost every episode, and is occasionally seen completely dead. He is usually seen suffering horribly; i.e. having bug eggs hatching in his stomach, having his skin ripped off, having his fingers chopped off, shooting himself in the foot and bleeding for hours in his living room next to an apathetic Master Shake, being raped by the artificial dog Handbanana or being shot in the shoulder with a flaming arrow by Ted Nugent.

It is shown that he and his father used to work in what is said to be insulation making when he was only 8, shown to be having a rather dilapidated house on Christmas, where he gets a piece of carpet that is to be boiled and eaten, thus explaining his eating of carpets on occasion. He dropped out of high school in his senior year, 1982, because, according to their XM radio show, the school refused to play "I Want to Rock and Roll All Night" at his senior prom, but he was failing anyway.

Just the kind of guy you'd want to hang out with, right? That's Carl for you! Voiced wonderfully by ATHF co-creator Dave Willis.

4. Master Shake. Wikipedia describes him as a...

...lazy, stingy, simple-minded, mean-spirited, illiterate, sadistic, and self-centered milkshake in the form of a white cup with a pink straw and two yellow kitchen gloves.

It's mostly true. He's also the self-proclaimed leader of the ATHF; Frylock's probably just cool about this and Meatwad is just too oblivious for his own good.

Master Shake seems to get a perverse sort of pleasure out of tormenting Meatwad, but most of the time he can be found swimming in Carl's pool or just watching TV.

According to Wikipedia about his abilities:

His special power is that he is able to shoot pistachio milkshake onto the ground, suck liquids (up to 85 gallons) using his straw, and is very proficient with firearms and bows. Also, almost everything he throws to the ground after picking up (with the principal exception of tennis rackets) tends to explode, although none of the team seem to notice most of the time.

Master Shake is voiced by Dana Snyder.

5. Frylock. Definitely the brains of the group, quite possibly the team's voice of reason, and probably the only one with "real" superpowers. Described in Wikipedia as...

...A floating red box of French fries sporting a "van dyke" beard, dental braces, and a blue mystic jewel embedded in his back.

He uses his fries to grip things and occasionally as a fry radar or 'Frydar.' He is also able to shoot all of his fries at a target simultaneously (referred to once as "The Defense of Idahocules" in commentary).

Frylock is scientifically-minded and conducts experiments in his room, which contains his library, supercomputer (which Shake purchased, but avoided actually paying for), cloner, and various other lab equipment. He is the most intellectual of the ATHF characters, and also attempts to provide the others with some sense of morality.

His jewel gives him various powers, such as the ability to fly (or mostly hover around), and shoot lasers, fireballs, lightning, and even fire-extinguisher foam from his eyes.

Voiced by Carey Means- the same guy who voiced all the parts of Thundercleese on The Brak Show.

6. Meatwad. Our lovable morphing ball of grease and meat- though we're not completely sure what kind of meat it is exactly, what we DO know is that it isn't fit for human consumption.

Even more simple-minded than Master Shake, child-like (with a plastic chew-toy for a brain), and as such, is often the subject of Shake's cruel practical jokes and exploitative behavior.

His main power is shapeshifting; which in the past he has used to morph into a hotdog, a meat igloo (well, those two mostly), also a meat-bridge, a Wayne Gretzky meat sculpture (that looks more like a samurai Lincoln), and other various meat objects.

As he doesn't have much in the way of friends, Meatwad actually managed to put together a number of inanimate companions (crude dolls, made of the simplest household objects) to play with from time to time:

...such as Dewey the paper towel roll, Vanessa the apple, Jeffy the garden hose, and Boxy Brown, a cardboard box decorated with the face of a generic blaxploitation protagonist.

Meatwad is also voiced by co-creator Dave Willis (who also does all the Carl parts, see above).

7. The Mooninites. Ignignokt and Er are our recurring two-dimensional characters; Ignignokt is laid-back but arrogant and smug, while Er is more belligerent, and known for his trash-talking.

The Mooninites generally look the same, resembling blocky, old school Atari-style graphics: Ignignokt is larger and green, while Er is smaller and pink.

The Mooninites are voiced by ATHF creators Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro- Dave voicing the Ignignokt parts and Matt doing the Er parts.

8. Emory and Oglethorpe. Two crudely drawn spiked aliens from the planet Pluto, whom we see by the start of Season 3, replacing the Dr. Wierd series of cold opens.

Oglethorpe the fat, orange one, while Emory is the tall, green Plutonian. Oglethorpe seems to be Austrian/German based on his accent, claims to be a genius, but is probably just as simple-minded as Master Shake or Meatwad.

Emory, on the other hand, might actually have more sense than his Plutonian companion, but is more soft-spoken, and therefore tends to just go with the flow.

Oglethorpe and Emory are usually seen bickering with Ignignokt and Er- which makes for some very funny interaction. Oglethorpe is voiced by Andy Merrill- the same guy behind the Brak character, while Emory is voiced by Mike Schatz- who voices Torpedo Vegas on Frisky Dingo.

9. MC Pee Pants. MC Pee Pants is our mentally insane, eight-foot spider who wears a shower cap and a diaper. He usually has some twisted scheme for world domination, and uses rap to sugar-coat his criminal master-plans. From Wikipedia:

He is frequently killed, after which he is reincarnated by Satan in a new form with another convoluted scheme. Thus far he's been a cow (Sir Loin), an old man and briefly a vampire (Little Brittle), an earthworm, and, finally, a fly in the ATHF movie.

Voiced by MC Chris- who also had some parts on Sealab 2021.

10. The Box Set DVD is out! Because you just have to watch 'em all over again just before plopping yourself down to enjoy the newest Aqua Teen Hunger Force DVD Box Set out in the market!

Sure, you got volumes one to four- but do you already have ATHF volume 5? It's got 2 disks from the latest ATHF season- including favorites such as "Dickesode", "Hand Banana", "Ezekiel", "Car Wash" and the Star Studded Xmas Spectacular!

With loads of extra features and hours and hours of Aqua Teen Hunger Force goodness (assuming you watch it over and over again- which you probably will).

You can watch the promo vid on YouTube right here. Of course, if you can't wait, I've included the vid right here for your Aqua Teen-lovin' convenience.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force volume 5 DVD Box Set. Out in stores January 29th

Nice touch on the clip- just like a confused Sesame Street bit, with Carl as a voiceover for the end tag. The man says it all: "Go wait in line!"

Cheers everyone!

TV Theme Trippin'

2008-02-05T17:23:00.000+08:00

Another day at the office, another day of sifting through music. It's alright really, but I'm the kind of guy who wants variety in listening fare, you know?

Fortunately for me, I got my Creative with me and my big-ass headphones. I felt like TV themes today, so I cranked up the volume and tripped out while doing my scripts and notes and this blog entry here.

Sucking up sounds from...

America's Top Model - "Wanna Be On Top?" Darkchild featuring Tyra on vocals.
Alias - J.J. Abrams does theme songs too! Got the short mix and a longer 2-minute mix.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force - from Schooly D! Make the homies say 'Ho!' and the girlies wanna scream! Also got MC PeePants "I Want Candy" and other Aqua Teen gems.
Bubblegrum Crisis - "Waiting For You" has got to be one of the best end themes in anime ever.
Battlestar Galactica - both Bear McCreary albums, but my favorite is the "Colonial Anthem" which is an updated yet still majestic-sounding version of the classic theme. Also have the Richard Gibbs "Main Title Theme"- awesome, totally awesome.
Chobits - "Let Me Be With You" (I have 2 mixes- the original and a cool little remix version), and pretty much the rest of the album, including "Raison d'Etre".
Chuck - still updating my Chuck Soundtrack listings, but we do have Cake's "Short Skirt, Long Jacket"- original cut and TV opening edit.
CSI - Essential listening from The Who! "Who Are You?" (from Las Vegas), "Won't Get Fooled Again" (from Miami), and my absolute personal favorite "Baba O'Riley" (from New York)
Densha Otoko - the Japanese hit sitcom/romance comedy- great stuff they put together, but it made me appreciate "Twilight" by the Electric Light Orchestra so much more!
Enterprise - Ah. "Faith of the Heart" by Diane Warren f Russell Watson. Subpar Star Trek series, but awesome theme song.
Grey's Anatomy - got the Psapp song "Cosy In The Rocket", and at least 3 seasons worth of Grey's OST goodness!
Heroes - we have the opening 15-sec theme and that song I loved from season 1 episode 1: Rogue Wave's "Your Eyes"
Harvey Birdman - the voice talent who does Johnny Bravo? Yeah, he sings this one.
House - the opening theme is an edit of Massive Attack's "Teardrop".
How I Met Your Mother - "Hey Beautiful" from The Solids- both original cut and TV opening edit. Also, got Robin Sparkles' "Let's Go To The Mall!"
Malcolm In The Middle - Geek rock from They Might Be Giants- "Boss of Me". Plus a killer 70's selection- gotta compile those as a side project.
Metalocalypse - there's only one way I'm listening to Metal- and that's through Dethklok! I love the Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle!
Midori Days - what really moves me is the "Mou Soukoshi" song played at the end of every episode. Lovely. Lovely song.
My Name Is Earl - what I really dig was DJ EZ Rock and Rob Bass' "It Takes Two"!
One Tree Hill - Sure it's got Gavin deGraw and Bethany Joy Lenz/Galeotti, but earlier on I was digging on Tyler Hilton's "Missing You".
Project Runway - Harold "Barefoot" Sanders came up with such a kickass theme.
Scrubs - got Lazlo Bane's "Superman", Jan Stevens' End Theme, music from Ted's band and so much more!
Supernatural - the show that got me back into classic rock. Got two seasons worth of OST music- gotta love it!
That 70's Show - Cheap Trick, baby, yeah! Also got both albums, so that's a whole lot of 70's trippin'.
Space Ghost Coast to Coast - play me to the desk, Zorak!
The Apprentice - some good ol' Philly funk from The O'Jays' "For the Love of Money". Munny, munny munny munny- Munny!
The Brak Show - straight out of Adult Swim! Also have the classic "Kick Your Ass" and "I Hate You Jerks" by Zorak.
The O.C. - got maybe 5 albums worth of soundtrack. Personal favorite though is "Dice" by Finley Quaye f Beth Orton.
Sealab 2021 Theme- by Calamine!
Smallville - Yes we have Remy Zero's "Save Me", but more importantly we have that lovely end theme from Mark Snow.
The Drew Carey Show - Cheap Trick's "Cleveland Rocks"!
The Sopranos - A1's "Woke Up This Morning" really gets me in that mindset to do some business, you know? Also got some great stuff from Madreblu and memorable lines from the series
Tru Calling - got "Somebody Help Me" by Full Blown Rose. Can almost see Elisha Dushku running around with those ripped abs of hers.
Veronica Mars - Ah. The Dandy Warhols' "We Used To Be Friends". It's actually the song I have set as my morning wake-up alarm. Gotta get me a copy of the Season 3 mix though- that version was cool too.

Wow, I wonder what other stuff I have at home... gotta check the PC later on. Such a frackin' fan-boy, huh?

Cheers everyone!

Gettin' My Fix of Frisky!

2008-02-04T16:29:00.001+08:00

"There's your twenty billion, Brent- drink it in!" bellows an irritated Killface at the beleaguered marketing executives before him. "The fusion chamber alone cost nine billion. The- the- the thrusters another four. You think there's just heaps of money left over for- What did you call it!?"

Remembering how Killface can get terribly violent when upset, Brent musters all the courage to answer, "Uh- Uh- "Media buy?"

"Media buy!" roars the enraged criminal mastermind- he had gunned down another marketing executive earlier today, and it was likely he would do so again. It's hard to destroy the world while you're on a tight budget.

Frisky Dingo is for me, is a work of genius. It's an animated series airing on Adult Swim from the same twisted minds behind Sealab 2021- Matt Thompson and Adam Reed. Each episode is about 15 minutes long (or 11, without the breaks).

The pilot introduces us to the megalomaniac supervillain Killface- think of a Frasier-like fellow hell-bent on world domination only bald, freakishly muscular, undead-looking with T-Rex feet. Just like every supercriminal mastermind, he has grandiose plans of sending the world down a path of destruction- but now he's being bogged down by project costs, media buy and a less-than-enthusiastic marketing department.

The succeeding episode introduces us to billionaire playboy Xander Crews (just like Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark) who dons the garb of the superhero Awesome X- who's been a little too successful at what he does, such that there are simply no more supervillains around to fight anymore.

So Killface needs more cost-effective ways to promote his schemes for global destruction, and Awesome X has to find a way to stay relevant somehow- mostly so he can keep his action figure line in business.

I've just watched the first two episodes, and from what I've seen- it's crazy funny- just the kind of cartoon I need to get a good laugh trip. It's definitely not your usual hero-versus-villain fare. It's a lot more entertaining than you might think.

Check out Frisky Dingo's official website here- they got the pilot, downloads, episode guides and lots of great Frisky goodness! And if that isn't enough, here's another site for show transcripts, fan art, more pics and so much more!

Lost is Back! Aw Yeah...

2008-02-01T04:39:00.000+08:00

Okay, lemme whet your appetites a bit. Here's a little teaser from TV.com:

They thought they had met the enemy. They thought they had seen evil. They thought wrong. As the new season begins, the feeling that rescue is close at hand, the survivors don't know whether or not to believe Charlie's final message that the people claiming to liberate them are not who they seem to be. As unlikely alliances are formed, those they thought could be trusted may turn against them, as the enemy of their enemy becomes their friend. But who can be trusted? Is rescue really as close as it seems?

How does THAT grip your shorts? In any case, it's great to finally have some new shows on TV. So thank Bob for J.J. Abrams and his crew, the good people of ABC, and the guys behind Lost.

I got my eyes once again on the series for this season- let's hope it's a good one!

Cheers!

"Heroes" Grabs Show of The Year Award

2008-02-01T02:42:00.000+08:00

"Renzie on TV" sends out its congratulations to Heroes, for bagging this year's most coveted award on TV.com's Best of 2007!

The super-powered NBC drama rounded up 52% of the more than 10 million votes from TV.com fans, beating out Editors' Choice Lost, which only got around 2% of the vote.

Heroes also won over House (which got 4 million + votes), Friday Night Lights (54,000+ votes), Family Guy (24,000+ votes) and The Sopranos (16,000+ votes).

Here are the other winners of TV.com's Best of 2007:

Best New Fall Show: Pushing Daisies (Editors' Choice), beating out Aliens in America, Bionic Woman, Californication, Kid Nation and Reaper.

Best In Genre: Drama - Heroes FTW, over House, Lost (Editors' Choice), Dexter, Grey's Anatomy and Damages.

Best In Genre: Comedy - Scrubs laughs off the competition, including Editors' Choice Weeds. Also tickling fans' funnybones last year are The Office, My Name is Earl, 30 Rock and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Best In Genre: Action/Adventure - 24 (Editors' Choice) runs off with The Best of 2007 Award, leaving CSI: Las Vegas, NCIS, Prison Break, Numb3rs and CSI: New York in the dust.

Best In Genre: Animation - Fans voted Avatar: The Last Airbender as the year's best cartoon, while the editors were fans of Southpark. Other must-see cartoons for the year include Metalocalypse, The Simpsons, Family Guy and Frisky Dingo.

Best In Genre: Reality - Editors and fans agree on this one- Animal Planet's Meerkat Manor was this year's best reality show. Also making the cut were America's Next Top Model, Survivor, The Hills, Kid Nation and Dancing With The Stars.

Best In Genre: Sci Fi - Editors were gunning for Battlestar Galactica, but fans handed the award to Supernatural. Geeks also loved The 4400, Stargate Atlantis, Eureka and Kyle XY.

Best of The Worst: The dubious honor goes to According to Jim, though editors thought it was going to be Viva Laughlin. Other bad shows that made the list were Big Shots, Hey Paula, 'Til Death and Nashville.

Best Guilty Pleasure: Admit it, you watch Gossip Girl too- this year's Best Guilty Pleasure. The editors admitted to Cavemen as their go-to guilty pleasure. Rounding out the competish were A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, American Idol, The Girls Next Door and Jail.
Hottest Actor: Surprise, surprise- it goes to Tahmoh Penikett (who plays Helo) of Battlestar Galactica. Editors thought it would be Milo Ventimiglia (of Heroes). Also nominated were Dominic Purcell of Prison Break, Zach Levi of Chuck, Sendhil Ramamurthy also of Heroes and Taye Diggs of Private Practice.

Hottest Actress: Editors had their eyes on newcomer Sarah Shahi of Life, but Grace Park of Battlestar Galactica is this year's hottest hottie! Other babes in the running were Hayden Panettierre of Heroes, Mary-Louise Parker of Weeds, Laura Vandervoort of Smallville and Khandi Alexander of CSI: Miami.

Best Episode: According to the fans, it was the series premiere of Pushing Daisies - "Pie-Lette". Editors put their money on Lost's "Looking Through The Looking Glass". Other contenders were Damages' "Because I Know Patty", Family Guy's "Blue Harvest", the unaired pilot of Babylon Fields, and The Sopranos' "Made In America"

Best in DVD: Fans loved The Twilight Zone: The Complete Set with 28 DVDs! Editors were rooting for BBC's Planet Earth: The Complete Collection. Also in the running were Battlestar Galactica: Season 1, The Colbert Report: Best of The Colbert Report, the Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box Collection and the Family Guy Freakin' Party Pack.

Best News Story: Fans Bring Back Jericho ; CBS Caves- have you heard that one? Editors thought that The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Bomb Scare would bag the award. The Jericho story also beat out the stories on The WGA Strike, The CW dropping Veronica Mars, Lost Ends in 2010, and Dr. Burke Discharged from Grey's Anatomy.

My personal take: a rather good year for Heroes, but the biggest surprise for me is Pushing Daisies- gotta check that one out. Sarah Shahi is another reason for me to check out Life, and I'm totally intrigued by these two new cartoons - Adult Swim's Metalocalypse and Frisky Dingo. Man, I gotta move on past Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Sealab 2021 now.

Also gotta get me a copy of that 28-DVD Twilight Zone pack- now that's a lot of Twilight Zone. Other shows to possibly watch out for are Cavemen and Kid Nation- though I'm not particularly wild about that whole Kid Nation idea.

In the meantime, I got me some Gossip Girl catching up to do. Love it!

Cheers!

Ay Carumba! Bart Simpson gives $10M to Scientology!

2008-02-01T02:19:00.001+08:00

In a news article brought to our attention by the good folks of The Internet Movie Database or IMDb.com, actress Nancy Cartwright, the talent behind The Simpsons' Bart Simpson (and other characters in the show), has donated US$10 million to Scientology.

For Cartwright's donation to the cause, she has been awarded Scientology's Patron Laureate Award in 2007. Not only has she joined a list of celebrity benefactors which have donated greatly to The Church of Scientology, she's right there at the top, according to IMDb.com:

She gave even more than Tom Cruise - who is reported to be the controversial religion's second-in-command - who has donated $5 million in the last four years. According to Impact magazine, Kirstie Alley gave $5 million last year and has picked up the Diamond Meritorious Award. Fellow followers John Travolta and Kelly Preston gave $1 million each and were awarded the Gold Meritorious Award, while Priscilla Presley was handed the Patron Award for a donation of $50,000.

Cartwright's donation was said to be the equivalent of almost twice her annual salary from The Simpsons. The awards were given out at a very exclusive, very private ceremony in Florida in the summer of 2007, also according to Impact Magazine.

Favorite TV Chicks: Yvonne Strahovski

2008-01-20T13:58:00.003+08:00

"Chuck" is undoubtedly one of my more favorite shows for the season. It's a good mix of comedy and action-adventure, with lots of eye-candy, fun characters, and geek-culture references. Looks like production's on hold though, thanks to the ongoing writer's strike.

Which disappoints me to no end, because it means I have to wait quite a bit to see more Yvonne Strahovski on TV. Yvonne is probably this season's breakout female lead. She comes all the way from Australia, where she auditioned from to land the role of CIA Special Agent Sarah Walker on the hit NBC spy thriller-comedy.

Basically her character keeps close to Chuck as a guardian angel of sorts. With a deadly proficiency for throwing knives and other concealed weapons, apparently.

Yvonne's name is really spelled as 'Strzechowski', as in Yvonne Strzechowski. To help us all out, she has been using the more phonetic spelling of Yvonne Strahovski as her stage name.

In any case, I'm just glad Josh Schwartz (same dude who gave us "The O.C." and "Gossip Girl") cast her for the part, and it always is something for fan-boys like me to look forward to whenever "Chuck" comes on.

Check out Yvonne's entry on IMDb here, and 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!

Favorite TV Chicks: Giada de Laurentiis

2008-01-20T12:59:00.007+08:00

Yeah I watch The Food Network every now and then. I live on my own, cook my own food from time to time, so an occasional cooking tip sure wouldn't hurt.

Let's talk about one of my favorite personalities on The Food Network: Giada de Laurentiis. For the longest time, I referred to her as "that chick from Food Network who looks a lot like Natalie Portman". I first saw a lot of her on Everyday Italian (which shows in the Philippines on The Lifestyle Network, though I suspect those episodes are already years old even as they show it now).

Giada is a professional chef, food stylist, author and TV personality. Besides Everyday Italian (which had been on The Food Network since 2003), we also get to catch her on Giada's Weekend Getaways. She also hosted the network specials Behind the Bash and had a 2-part special called Giada In Paradise.

Things You Probably Didn't Know About Giada

It was only recently that I was able to know more about her from my online research. Here are a few interesting bits I found about her on Wikipedia:

I didn't know her last name was "de Laurentiis". Her grandfather is legendary film producer Dino de Laurentiis, who gave us (among a host of other projects) Barbarella (1968), Serpico (1973), the remake of King Kong (1976), Flash Gordon (1980), Dune (1984), Army of Darkness (1992), and most of the Hannibal Lecter movies, including Manhunter (1986), that one with William Petersen.
Given her family background, she's really grown up Hollywood-style. Her mother is actress Veronica de Laurentiis, and her father is actor-producer Alex de Benedetti, a close colleague of Dino de Laurentiis, Veronica's father. Her siblings are also, for the most part, in the business of entertainment.

Giada originally had no plans to go into the "family business", which was why she pursued her interests in the culinary arts to begin with. It was after styling a piece in Food & Wine Magazine in 2001 that Food Network contacted her. She admitted to being a little uncomfortable in front of the camera at first, but later on got more used to it, and so became more relaxed on air.
According to her entry on Wikipedia, when Everyday Italian first aired, the Food Network received emails accusing the network of hiring a model or actress pretending to cook instead of a real chef. Well, we all know better now, don't we?
On an episode of Iron Chef America (in November 2006, actually), we see Giada and Bobby Flay cook off against Rachael Ray and Mario Batali. Rachael and Mario won that time. Nevertheless, it was loads of fun.

Check Out More Giada

Other than her shows on The Food Network, you can catch her from time to time on NBC's Today show.

Other than that, you might want to pick up her books- Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipeswas her first book project, followed by Giada's Family Dinners in 2006, and Everyday Pasta on 2007.

There's talk about a new show (featuring more Giada!) on The Food Network. We'll definitely stay tuned for that.

Check out Giada de Laurentiis' entry here on IMDb, TV.com, and her entry here on Wikipedia.

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!

What's on TV These Days? - 17 January 2008.

2008-01-20T03:01:00.000+08:00

January is coming to a close, and at this point, a lot of shows have already resumed airing new episodes- despite the ongoing writers' strike.

For those of you who have been keeping tabs on TV, waiting for your new shows to come back, it won't be much longer anymore- you have a few good shows already going on, such as The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the second season of Jericho, to name a few.

Grey's Anatomy is finally back- we're currently on our 11th episode for Season 4. Also, we also have new episodes of My Name Is Earl. I have to wonder, though, do they have enough episodes stocked up until the strike is resolved? Or are we going to see the new episodes come in trickles once again? Suspense kills, huh?

Grey's Anatomy, you can catch on Thursdays on ABC, while you can catch My Name Is Earl on NBC that same night. For those with a reality fix, Project Runway season 4 is ongoing (we're already on episode eight, so you may have a lot of catching up to do), as well as the seventh season of The Apprentice- Celebrity Apprentice at that, which could be interesting.

For fans of the NBC reality show, we're on our second episode so far, so you can still catch up. Check your local listings on when to catch Celebrity Apprentice. You can catch Project Runway on BravoTV.

Now as far as the late night scene is concerned, I've been a huge fan of Late Night with Conan o'Brien. Conan Christopher o'Brien is back- apparently with much more facial hair. While you're at it, check out a very entertaining feature of him on Entertainment Weekly, as well as his diary on the ongoing writers' strike.

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for new episodes from our favorite shows coming out. You'll read it here when we get something.

Later, everyone. Cheers!

Come With Me If You Want To Live, She Said.

2008-01-17T18:48:00.000+08:00

Frack. It's all I can say for now.

I was able to see the first 5 minutes of the brand new FOX action-suspense/sci-fi series, "The Sarah Connor Chronicles". And it was completely, totally awesome.

For those of you who have been living under a rock these past few months, "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" is the highly-anticipated TV tie-in of the "Terminator" series of motion pictures (yes, the one with Arnold Schwarzenneger in them).

How's that for a mean-looking cast, huh? We get this blurb from one of my favorite TV websites, www.TV.com:

The Terminator franchise arrives on TV with this serial drama. The series picks up a year after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day with John and Sarah Connor (Thomas Dekker and Lena Headey) hiding from the government. After two years in one place Sarah decides they need a change of scenery and in doing so they expose themselves to FBI Agent James Ellison (Richard T. Jones) and Skynet's army of Terminators including Cameron Phillips (Summer Glau) a reprogrammed Terminator sent to protect John. She informs them that Judgment Day was not stopped and will take place in 2011. John convinces Sarah to stop hiding and fight so Cameron takes them to a time machine the resistance has set up to take them to the year Skynet was created 2007.

How's that for awesome, huh? We have Lena Headey (Queen Gorgo from "300") playing the lead role of Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker (Claire-Bear's best friend Zach on "Heroes") playing the role of adolescent John Connor, and Summer Glau (of "Firefly"/"Serenity" fame) playing a hot, re-programmed Terminatrix.

I'm happy I have the chance to check out two episodes right now. More about it later on.

Catch "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" on FOX, Monday nights at 9pm.

Could Kristy Lee Cook be the Next American Idol?

2008-01-17T18:00:00.001+08:00

I was able to catch the 2-hour season premiere of American Idol on Star World, even after I came home from a dinner date. For the most part, I'm really just curious what this season has to offer. It's really more of a guilty pleasure, I suppose. There were already a couple of times when I swore off American Idol, only to get hooked on it again.

As you might probably expect, you'll have yourself a few good singers, some human interest story-pieces that tug at your heart-strings, but also some very interesting characters.

Sometimes you get all three- easily one of my favorites for American Idol season 7 is Kristy Lee Cook.

Did you catch her bio? She wrestles and trains for cage-fighting- which means she can literally kick my ass (or anybody else's for that matter). She lives in a log cabin surrounded by pine trees and raises horses in here spare time. She's darned cute. And she sings well. Well enough, at the very least, to move to the Hollywood round.

A quick Google search has brought me to an old website that was promoting her CD back in 2005. Interesting. It would be nice to hear (and see!) some more of her.

Here's something we got from that old website, CDBaby.com...

Kristy's music idols are Martina, Faith and Shania (do we really need last names). She also loves the music of Garth Brooks and Gary Allen. Kristy has her own unique sound and style, which will be easily recognizable.

At 5'8", Kristy Lee looks like a blonde, blue-eyed Brook Shields, has an incredible voice and is the wholesome, All-American 'girl next door'. The entertainment world is in for a treat! Here's the REAL American Idol!!!

Seems that, in addition to an early recording career, Kristy has seen action as a commercial model as well. Interesting, huh? I'm definitely gonna keep my eyes on her for this season.

For your singing pleasure, I also have prepared some notes for The Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love" and Joan Jett and the Blackheart's "I Love Rock N Roll" on a separate blog of mine, right here.

Cheers, everyone!

The Quest for the "How I Met Your Mother" Theme Song

2007-08-05T01:38:00.000+08:00

Look, I'm a huge fan of TV themes. I've been collecting the themes to my favorite shows as soon as I found out they could be collected.

With the internet, Wikipedia, YouTube and other great sites out there, you can easily build up your collection of TV tunes, plug in, and bombard your eardrums with the opening themes of your favorite programs.

Most are pretty easy enough to find- say, all of the CSI shows make use of songs from The Who. Or shows like Scrubs, Smallville and Battlestar Galactica have been gracious enough to put together OST albums for schmucks like myself.

Lately, my girlfriend and I have finished Season 2 of CBS' How I Met Your Mother (great stuff, btw, if you haven't seen it yet!). Yes, we've been huge fans since the first few episodes of the previous season. It's an awesome show. Not just awesome- it's legendary! Anyway, we decided to find a copy of the theme and maybe load it on our mobile phones as a ringtone or something- coz that would just be incredibly cool. Running a search on the usual sites: TV.com, Wikipedia, Imdb.com all point to the theme song being done by The Solids (half of which turns out to be the creators of the show: Carter Bays and Craig Thomas!). It's a song called "Hey Beautiful", which you can listen to in its entirety on The Solids' page on MySpace (which you could check out here).

While the song in itself is an incredible piece of work, those of us looking for that recognizable little hook from the opening theme of the show won't be treated to the happy "puh-pa-pa-pah, puh-pa-pa-pah puh-pa-ra-ruh ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ruh" hook we've all grown to love. Hey, while on their MySpace page, do check out their other songs- great stuff right there too.

Anyway, I've noticed a whole bunch of fans looking for the short version of the song. Couldn't find a copy of it a month ago- so I decided to get my own using Moviemaker. Right now, I've loaded it onto my phone and my girlfriend's. So when we get a text message, we get treated to a 12-second slice of ear-candy: never fails to brighten up an otherwise crappy day.

Oh, you can get a copy of the theme song right here: Enjoy!