RANDOM THOUGHTS:
Welcome back! The following were on my mind between Thursday, March 3rd and Monday, March 7th:
- Remember back in the beginning of the NBA season when one of the big questions heading into the 2010-11 Miami Heat season was which of the members of the team would be the leader and who would take the last shot of the game when it counts? Well, five months and a now six game losing streak later, I think the bigger question isn't whether who will take the last shot but whether someone can ever make them. This season, the team (despite the presence of the Big Three) is a combined 1 for 16 for attempting either a game leading or game tying basket in the final ten seconds of the game.Add on to the news that the losing streak has become such an emotional toll that coach Erik Spoelstra told the press that some players cried in the locker room, and you have yourself a team that is not having a good start to the NBA's second half of the season.
-It's not totally wrong to feel really good about the possibility of my favorite basketball team, the Chicago Bulls, going as far as the Eastern Conference Finals, is it? After all, Derrick Rose is playing like the NBA's MVP at this point (which he is), all of the other major players including Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah are healthy and finally playing together after the team had an injury-ridden first half, Luol Deng is finally playing like the guy that John Paxson hoped he would when he refused to trade him in many potential blockbuster deals since 2006, they're playing one of the best defenses in the league, and Tom Thibodeau is the frontrunner for Coach of the Year. Furthermore, with the way that the playoff picture is shaping up in the East, you have the Bulls playing either Philadelphia or the winner in the Indiana/Charlotte race for the 8th seed in the first round (which shouldn't be hard for a team as talented as Chicago) and a second round matchup against either Miami or New York in the second round (Chicago has swept the Heat this season, but the Knicks have beaten the Bulls head-to-head, which would make them the hardest possible opponent in the first two rounds of the playoffs), so a late May matchup with the Celtics or Magic seems pretty likely.
- I don't care if Starz only aired a sneak preview of the pilot episode with the actual premiere date set for next month, "Camelot" is still one of the worst shows that I've seen in the past year. Just atrocious on all fronts, from the bad writing to the poor acting. To me, it made "The Event" look like "Lost."
- Dear NBA,
If you're going to go with the Hispanic theme on the team uniforms, shouldn't you at least do something others than add "Los" or "El" in the beginning of the team names. I'm sure the Spanish have their own word for "Heat," "Spurs" or "Bulls" in their dictionary, and I don't think that Americans watching the game will be confused as to which team they are watching thanks to the help of their recognizable uniforms and scoreboard with the team abbreviations on the top or bottom of the screen.
- Call me a unloyal fan if you would like, but this is the first time in the show's four season history that I would actually be okay with NBC finally deciding to give "Chuck" the boot. After all, the ratings are at the weakest that they have ever been and are only going to go down even farther. Also, unlike the previous two seasons where I so desired to see NBC renew the show just so that I can see more from the life of Chuck Bartowski, I feel now that the show's creators and writers have done all that they can with the plot creatively, with Sarah and Chuck now ready to get married and Casey possibly thinking of taking the offer from another spy association among other things. Of course, that is unless the show's creators and writing staff feel that they want to have a Sarah gets pregnant story-arc or an episode in which a beloved character (possibly Casey or Morgan) get's killed, but I find that really unlikely. Besides, they have had two consecutive seasons that were set to only have 13 episodes, only to have that order extended because of the failure of the other NBC dramas, so it's kind of like the show has had 7 seasons at this point instead of four.
- With there being no NBC Comedy power rankings to run this week, and since it's been nearly four months since I last ran this feature, I think that it's about time for me to use my list-making hobby for good and introduce the newest installment of the TV Top Ten, where I make a rankings of my ten favorite scripted TV shows at the present time. Without further ado, let's get right into in...
10. (tie) "The Simpsons" (still #10)
10. (tie) "The Colbert Report" (position previously held by "Conan" and "30 for 30")
9. "American Dad" (position previously held by "Modern Family")
8. "The Chicago Code" (position previously held by "South Park")
7. "Lights Out" (position previously held by "Fringe")
6. "30 Rock" (down from #2, position previously held by "The Walking Dead")
5. "The Office" (position previously held by "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia")
4. "Fringe" (up from #7, position previously held by "Boardwalk Empire")
3. "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (still #3)
2. "Community" (down from #1, position previously held by "30 Rock")
1. "Parks and Recreations" (position previously held by "Community")
Up from Last List (December 2010): "Parks and Recreations," "The Colbert Report," "American Dad," "The Chicago Code," "The Office," "Lights Out," "Fringe."
Down from Last List (December 2010): "Community," "30 Rock," "Boardwalk Empire," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "The Walking Dead," "Modern Family," "South Park," "Conan," "30 for 30."
New From Last List (December 2010): "The Colbert Report," "American Dad," "Parks and Recreations," "The Chicago Code," "Lights Out," "The Office."
Just Barely Missed List: "Bob's Burgers," "Chuck," "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," "Real Time with Bill Maher," "Conan," "Tosh.O."
Other thoughts:
a. If you are a regular reader of this site over the past month and a half (in which I then ask the question "Are you crazy?"), then the order of the four NBC Thursday night comedies shown here shouldn't come to you as a surprise, considering the fact that this was the order of the four shows during the first six weeks that I have been working on the weekly power rankings.
b. After months of falling down from as high as #1 to not even making the list last time, it's good to see "The Office" having some good string of episodes that have allowed me to put it back on the list. All right right in the world again (at least, in my world).
c. I hope that this, and maybe the next list (which should come out sometime in the late spring) won't be the only time that "Lights Out" and "The Chicago Code" get a chance to vie for a spot on this list. I find both of these shows to quite riveting dramas with a lot of upside to it. Of course, the ratings for both have been pretty poor (especially in the case of "Lights Out," which has failed to attract an audience of over a million people in the last episode), so the only thing that I can do is to just cross my fingers and hope that the powers that be can have mercy on their futures.
d. I'm not sure what my true feelings of "Bob's Burgers" are yet. On one hand, it's brand of comedy isn't necessarily the type that I have adored over the years. On the other hand, the show has really grown on me to the point that I consider it better than "Family Guy" and definitely "The Cleveland Show" at this point, and I have considered the episodes to be fresh compared to the typically MacFarlane controlled animated lineup that we're used to seeing on the network.
e. Shows that I didn't watch during these past three months: "Big Love," "Justified," "Parenthood," "The Middle."
f. Shows to expect on the list next time: "Mildred Pierce," "Game of Thrones," "The Killing," "Treme," "Sports Show with Norm Macdonald," "House of Borgias," "South Park."
As mentioned last Thursday, the RTs as of now will go back to just being once a week. In that case, I bid you adieu, and hope to see you back again next Monday!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or
tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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