My Top 10 Shows Excluding VM

My Top 10 shows, excluding Veronica Mars.

In no particular order:

1. WKRP in Cincinnati
2. Star Trek (TNG and DS9 only)
3. Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
4. The Muppet Show
5. The Simpsons
6. Absolutely Fabulous
7. Futurama
8. The Cosby Show
9. The Sopranos
10. Charlie's Angels (mock me all you want; I don't care)

I watch a ton of Law & Order and its various spinoffs, but I don't consider it a favorite; it's more like snack food TV to me.

Anyone else want to make a list?

Also in no particular order:

1. The Rockford Files
2. SCTV
3. Star Trek (original series only, not that later crap)
4. Father Ted
5. Homicide: Life on the Streets
6. Robbery Homicide Division
7. EZ Streets
8. Action
9. Highlander: The Series
10. Daria

That's a quick take. I'm not sure I should allocate spots to RHD or EZ Streets given that neither lasted a season, but each was like nothing before or since. On a different day I might have given those spots to Absolutely Fabulous and South Park. Highlander is the guilty pleasure, if that's not obvious.

In no particular order:

1. M*A*S*H
2. WKRP in Cincinnati
3. Mystery! on PBS (yes, I know, it's never the same, but I LOVE it)
4. Homicide: Life on the Streets (I miss Frank and Bayliss)
5. Daria (I miss Daria)
6. Black Adder
7. Highlander: The Series
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
9. Foster's Home for Imaginery Friends (yes, a cartoon)
10. Hill Street Blues

This list is almost as embarrasing as my music collection...

My list - no particular order:

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Angel
3. Freaks and Geeks (all 13 episodes...stupid NBC)
4. The Simpsons
5. Beverly Hills 90210 (Yes. It's true. It was my guilty pleasure for 10 sweet, sweet years. I loved/hated it so much!)
6. The Twilight Zone (original 1959-64 series)
7. Twin Peaks
8. The Office (BBC and American versions, which technically counts as two shows, but hey, who's counting?)
9. The Sopranos
10. And last, but definitely not least...Arrested Development.

And of course there's so many more that could have easily made the list.

WKRP was thisclose to being in my top ten. That show rocked my childhood. I used to watch everyday when it was in syndication. I always thought Andy was so dreamy. Hee!

Also, I have to give an honorable mention to Dynasty. I probably started watching this show when I was, like, 8 or 9 years old and I became completely obsessed with who could be possibly one of the greatest television characters of all time - Alexis Morrell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan. The outfits! The smackdowns! I even bought a 1000-piece Joan Collins puzzle that I labored over for days one summer. And I would have sawed off my right arm for an Alexis doll. Hey, what can I say? Even my 9-year-old self knew that nobody could take her to bed and to the cleaners in the same night. The lady deserved my respect.

I took the liberty of fixing the Alexis photo so it would work (by downloading the image and then posting it somewhere else that allows remote image loading). WKRP was a great favorite of mine too. I forgot about Twin Peaks. If it hadn't gone crazy at the end it would definitely be listworthy.

Thanks for fixing the picture. It looked like it worked when I did it last night. Guess I'm still learning!

Yeah, the end of Twin Peaks sucked. (Worst. Ending. Ever!) But season one holds a special place in my heart.

Usually if they limit remote loading they will still let it happen a few times and then cut it off (theoretically, someone does pay for the bandwidth involved when you IMG SRC something). So it usually looks like it's working and then stops. But if your browser cache already has the image in it, you might not even notice that it's been cut off.

Yes, Twin Peaks had many wonderful moments. My favorite was when Leland/Bob almost decided to brain Cooper with a golf club when he had, I think, Maddy's body in his trunk and had been weaving around singing "The Surrey With A Fringe on Top."

Cooper: "Leland, we'll see those clubs another time."

Hey, guys, how do we feel about posting spoilers?

I'm not talking about big spoilers like "Mr. Echolls did it in the Cabana with the Jack Daniels Bottle of Iced Tea" but, rather, little ones like "Dick is going to Hearst." Or even "Ryan Hansen is returning to the show." Or "that [doofy actor] from that overrated [severely overrated, Rasputin-like FOX comedy now mercifully in the ground for good] show will not be joining the cast."

I'm o.k. with little spoilers but I don't want to know about big spoilers.

I'm OK with the small stuff. Maybe if we're not sure if it's considered big or small, we could always link to the article with a spoiler warning.

(Also - Ouch! Feeling the hate. *Sniff.* That is one of my all time favorite shows.)

I know of only one work of film/TV comedy that demanded and was improved by having an omnicient narrator (Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run—Sex and the City, I think, could have taken or left it), and nothing has ever been improved by the sound of Ron Howard's voice. The basic problem is not that the narration is annoying and intrusive (although that is a problem). Rather, the key problem is that the humor product requires the narration at all. If a narration is needed, it almost always means that something is fundamentally wrong with the comedy. Comedy depends on the audience connecting the dots, and if an ongoing narration is needed to explain the jokes, it's a sign of a serious problem with the jokes. In my opinion, that is.

Re posting spoilers: I have no problem with that so long as there is a spoiler warning.

Re Arrested Development -- I agree with MWR. I really tried to like that show, because cool, smart people liked it, and I just couldn't find the humor.

Hey, not everyone likes everything! That's what makes this crazy world go round. I had just never read something so outwardly bitter about AD and was a bit surprised, that's all. Although I never found the narration to be in place to "explain the jokes." Most of the narration propelled each episode with back story and continuity from show to show. But what can you do? It apparently wasn't everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I have a long and varied list of shows, movies and celebrities that I strongly dislike, possibly even hate. I think it gives my personality a certain flare. Heh.

But enough about AD. Back to the spoiler topic. I think we should do spoiler alerts or links maybe. It looks like people are reading our little blog (well, at least one person) and I'd hate to inadvertently spoil someone who didn't want to be. That sucks. Thoughts on alerts/links?

As syp will tell you, I'm occasionally known to overstate my criticism of things for dramatic effect or to amuse myself or—more rarely—others. I will say that I thought AD was really overrated by its small cadre of fans. I found the show very self-conscious and precious, as if the writers would rather have you see how clever they were than make you laugh (it's best not to think too deeply about where I get these insights). I found the scenarios overly forced, designed to deliver a confluence of events or set-piece at the end of each episode. My memory is dim, but there was something about a seal, something about a model home falling on the halfway sane son (OMG, the homes were shoddily built and one fell on him! Touché!), etc. Also, didn't they introduce an identical twin of the father and do an extended mistaken-identity bit? That's weak. But enough about all that. Reasonable minds differ (Bubbles's husband doesn't like The Rockford Files, for God's sake). But if you like AD, be sure to rent Take the Money and Run, perhaps Woody Allen's funniest film.

On spoilers, my thought is that if not for things someone might consider spoilers, we might run out of things to write about between now and freaking October 3. Let's deal with it as follows. If you are writing something with a spoiler, put the following immediately before the spoiler: "[Spoiler Follows - Highlight to Read]". Then change the font color to #ffffff (white, like our background) and type your damned spoiler. When you are done, set the font back to your personal color and type : "[End of Spoiler]". What could be easier? Let's see how it would work. [Spoiler Follows - Highlight to Read] I thought my spoiler was epic, you know, spanning years, and continents. Lives ruined and bloodshed. [End of Spoiler]. Pretty sweet, eh? Almost makes up for how I savaged your favorite show. Or, should I say, your second-favorite show?

I think that sounds like a fine idea. If we wind up not liking it, we can always do something different. Don't worry, I didn't take the savaging personally. Not everyone can have good taste. HAH! Kidding, kidding. (And I wouldn't rank AD #1, but it definitely resides in my top ten.)

Uh oh. I smell the need for a list comparison coming on. Anyone? After all, we probably won't have a ton of VM stuff to talk about between now and October 3. (Unless Kristen Bell wears more grandma dresses to any more events this summer.) Plus I have this weird thing about making lists. I find it to be a very Zen way to waste time. Wow. Actually reading that sentence made me realize that I'm a total freak. Heh.

Also, what's not to like about The Rockford Files? Come on Mr. Bubbles!

Ha. Ron Howard's voiceovers for AD were the only thing of his I've liked since Splash.

As for spoilers, I'm fine with MWR's suggestion, though I admit I'll almost surely read every single one anyway.

And as for what we'll talk about between now and October 3, I dunno about you but I'm getting lots of fodder from watching reruns. Now if I can just get around to posting my thoughts . . . .

Hearst, the Duke of the West

So apparently both Logan and Dick will be attending Hearst.

Action figures!

"Warner Bros. Consumer Products announced today a new licensing agreement with CineQuest.com that will bring the first 12” collectible figures and 6” busts based on the highly-acclaimed television series, Veronica Mars to fans and collectors."

If anyone is interested in getting any, I can most likely get them at wholesale. That's right - I've got connections. Heh. My sister, Paige, owns the fabulous Corner Comics in Kenmore, WA. Just let me know and she'll keep an eye out to order.

The Tubey Awards

They're back! Make sure to vote for your favorites.

"There's no one dumb that watches 'Veronica Mars'."

So says Kristen Bell. Take that non-watchers!

MSNBC TV critic and Seattle resident Gael Fashingbauer Cooper has been down at the TV Critics Association's summer press tour and got some scoop on Veronica Mars. They're in "do or die" mode so let's hope that Gilmore Girls will be a strong lead in this year and that our obsessive pushing of the show onto others will keep it alive.

Check out Gael's fun pop culture website, Pop Culture Junk Mail.

Season 3

Just checked out zap2it.com and discovered that the Season 3 premiere is October 3rd. Time to start planning the season premiere party!

Hey! A day after my birthday! Happy birthday to me! That reminds me of the season 6 premiere of Buffy when she was resurrected from the dead that aired on my birthday. I was so happy. Yes I'm a dork. Shut up.

Sweet. We can party like it's 1999.

Episode 3.01: "Welcome Wagon"

From www.spoilerfix.com:

• 07/14 - The episode will feature 24-year-old student Fagan, African-American 20-year-old Nancy who is a feminist, Honey a drop dead gorgeous woman in her 20s that could recur, and new recurring character Moe, a gangly and odd 19-year-old. Source: SpoilerFix.com


• 07/08 - Two new series regular will be added to the show. They will each appear in 7 out of the 13 episodes ordered. If the series gets more than 13 episodes, they may stick around. Both characters go to Hearst College. One is a 20-year-old female named Parker who is a charming party girl. The other, a love interest for Veronica, is a college freshman named Piz. They are both set to make their first appearance in the season premiere. Source: SpoilerFix.com [Note: According to a few sources, they decided to not make Piz be a potential interest after all.]

Oh dear, the addition of a "love interest" makes me fear yet again that Logan and Veronica will have once again broken up by the first episode. Grrrr

Oh, dear, that Singaporean journalist is going to be so confused

LOS ANGELES, July 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. TV series "Smallville" will gain a new character next season when actor Aaron Ashmore joins the show as future Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen.

Moviehole.net reported that Ashmore, who previously co-starred on the teen drama "Veronica Mars," will initially join the hit Superman series as a love interest for actress Allison Mack.

Tiny, blonde, cute as a bug.

Kristen Bell is in InStyle this month.

The shot that caught my eye was this one. Paradise Cove is where Jim Rockford's trailer sat in all but the earliest episodes of The Rockford Files, one of the true classics of television and a show to which Veronica Mars owes a debt or two.


The Paradise Cove pier seen behind Veronica will be familiar to viewers of Rockford. If you've never seen The Rockford Files, it's finally started to emerge on DVD. To known it is to love it. In the first season, you get about a five-minute scene of P.I. Jim Rockford driving around a large parking lot to elude a tail. Five minutes of pure set-up for the scene where Rockford, outside the lot now, speeds off—inducing the tail to drive over the "severe tire damage" spikes. You would never see that kind of patient build up in a show today. You'd probably get about 30 seconds at most, with a JRVO demanded by the network. Alas.

I don't know about brilliant...

...But I do know The Gutt is batshit crazy. Here's his interpretation of his performance as Woody Goodman, "child fondler":

Guttenberg's confidence hasn't dwindled in the past year, thanks in large part to a supporting role on UPN's "Veronica Mars."

"I just think I was brilliant," he observes. "I would watch the tapes over and over and over. Have you seen them? Have you seen them? Have you watched them over and over and over? You'll see things that you can't believe. You'll look at me and you'll go, 'That's unbelievable' and that's what I say too. I looked at myself and I said, 'It's unbelievable.'"

He adds, "You know, they said 'child fondler.' That actually seems kind of OK. 'Molester' is bad. I mean, anybody pretty much who's a molester, they go to jail and they stay in jail. A fondler? You know, I don't know if you get. ... Not touching, maybe. Maybe it's like in your mind. Not that I'm saying there's anything OK with it. There's Dick Van Dyke, wow."

Unfortunately for Mr. Van Dyke, he picked the wrong time to walk by, and will forever be tainted with the Gutt's disturbing attempt to convince us that Woody only mentally undressed the members of his little league team while keeping his hands strictly above the boys' shoulders at an arms length away.

Check out the entire interview. The Alien Jew show sounds great!

O.K., I'm just going to come right out and say it: Beaver couldn't have contracted chlamydia somewhere on his body where he could have passed it to Veronica if he had just been fondled or had been the more passive participant in something more than fondling.

I must say, this show puts the lie to the idea that actors need to have insight into their characters in order to give strong performances. First you have Bell proclaiming that Veronica should be with Duncan, then Gallner goes on about how Beaver probably was going to tell Mac everything at some point, and now this.

I'm telling you. Dude is CRAZY.

Um, totally crazy. Apparently, the only one who has some grip on reality is, gulp, Harry Hamlin. By the way, Bell still thinks V shouldn't be with Logan. Still? Good lord, she may actually believe that stupid fortune cookie fortune Donut gave V for her birthday. Blech.

In the timeless words of Tom Hanks, that's . . . disconcerting.

The Lilly

I just remembered that the model name for our house is the Lilly. I haven't mentioned this to MC. He would just give me the "you realize these are fictional characters, right?" look.

Wow, how weird would it be if someone who hadn't even read this post were to suddenly show up at your house with . . . donuts?

Spotted in Salt Lake City

Alterna-Emmys

Veronica Mars and Lost, neck-and-neck for Best Drama Series. In the end, voters punish Lost for its ongoing descent into Twin-Peaks-style gibberish, and Veronica Mars walks away with the Alterna-Emmy, completing a clean sweep of the major categories.

Favorite lines

I thought I would start listing my favorites lines. Naturally, most of them are Logan lines but there are a few Veronica lines that I'm rather fond of. If I don't get them exactly correct, please forgive me. For example, "these are the jokes" (while snapping her fingers in front of Miss James). One of my all time fav V lines: "And bachelor number 3. Looks like an evildoer, smells like an evildoer, but surprisingly not so much." A good Logan line: "Pretend your dog's life is at stake." Or how about "if I donate to the Latino Pain in the Ass Fund will you shut up?" Ooh, I almost forgot the bit where Logan gets sworn in as deputy mayor (or whatever) and places his hand on the Bible: "it burns!" And then walks off and says "I'm going to fire the Sheriff." It's really much funnier when you see the scene...

Veronica: "I could write down that I met Kid Rock every weekend at the Hedonism Lodge for sensual massage and smoothies, but that doesn't make it true."

Veronica: "I also wanted to marry Vanilla Ice and build the world's largest collection of Z-Bots."

Dick: "Say hello to your spine! It's me . . . your spine." (Dick has many of the best lines . . .)

Dick: "Logan . . . and Logan's special lady friend, who I approve of wholeheartedly and without reservation."

Dick: "Would you and your girlfriend, whose quick wit I find enchanting . . ."

Dick: "Hey, why's the Beav all snug with the chick from 'Ghost World'?"

Veronica: "These are the jokes." (deserves to be mentioned again)

Logan: "Wouldn't your life be so much easier if you were indifferent to me?"

Clemmons: Mr. Echolls, may I have a word?
Logan: Anthropomorphism. It's all yours big guy.

V: Mac, you really do look...
Mac: Don't distract me; I'm plotting how to kill you and make it look like an accident.

Loudspeaker: ...prom is cancelled.
Mac: Prayer works!

Logan: "Yeah, I thought I'd saved the 'Daria' marathon on them."

Hopefully I am getting this right. From Echolls Family Christmas, "Annoy tiny blonde one; Annoy like the wind"

Veronica: So you got a trophy for a rim job?

Veronica: I have to say, I was a bit miffed. I was this close to being able to say the butler did it.

Logan (to Weevil): If you're asking me to the prom again, the answer is still no.

Veronica: Hi, everybody! Say "repressed homosexuality!".

Keith: Did you watch House of Wax again? You know that Hilton girl gives you nightmares.

Lamb: Still picking winners, huh, Veronica?
Veronica: I told you, when I start picking losers, it's all you.

Wallace: He's not gropin' her, is he?
Veronica: No, but earlier I saw him cutting a hole in the bottom of the popcorn bucket.

Lamb: "Duncan bookmarked a boat for sale. We tracked down the seller. Turns out he sold it last week to a teenage boy who paid cash."
Veronica: "I assume that's a generous use of the term 'we'?"

Logan: "I'm sorry, 'see ya' was option A? Look, Bessie, when the milk stops being free, I stop drinking it."

Clemmons: "This would be a prime example of why I consider the advice of . . . some of my students."

Veronica: "Thanks, Cliff. You're the best."
Cliff: "If by 'best' you mean 'willing'—you owe me one, kid."

Veronica: "Why is it that the Kazes of the world are forever in transit between romantic failure and the gym?"

Celeste: "I know you think I hate you, but I don't. I just can't stand to look at you."

Logan: "Come on, I'll drive ya home on the back streets."

J.B.: "I don't have a home page."
Veronica: "You will."

Dr. Griffith: "You can't threaten me, you little punk."
Logan: "I wouldn't be here if you couldn't be threatened."

Logan, to argyle-sweater-clad Piz: "Nice shirt."

Logan (introducing Trina and Kendall): "Rode hard, meet put away wet."