Countdown to the end.

PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT! (the colon episode)
Penn & Teller's show has been on the air about 3 or 4 years now and every time I think they have a provocative subject matter, it's always a huge disappointment. Unlike Morgan Spurlock, who actually researches his subject - Penn just goes about spewing hatred towards everything without and REAL point of view on anything - so in effect, his show - really is bullshit.
Grade: D


ULTIMATE BEAUTY CONTEST (VH1)
Wow - this was a truly grotesque window into the world of adolescent beauty pageants. The kids are sad, the parents are scary and pathetic - and the whole enterprise seems completely empty and sordid.
But - the filmmaking was good.
Grade: B

THE BAD GIRLS CLUB (OXY)
I just watched a bunch of these and it continues to be a very wild and provocative show. And stupid. Really fucking stupid. But in the best possible way.
Grade: B +


AMERICAN IDOL REWIND (SYND)
I occasionally watch these re-edited shows and was completely impressed with how Nikki McKibbin, who was a mess the week before - rebounded back with 2 knockout performances - first MARY JANE and then YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE. Speaking of IDOL, why is it the only person I could remember from this year's crop is Sanjaya?


KING OF QUEENS (CBS)
Like SOPRANOS and THE SHIELD (well - THE SHIELD as it turns out, will be back for one more season after these eps play out) - but QUEENS ends it's 9 year run with a spate of 7 episodes. Judging by the first of the last, in which Arthur coaches Spence on how to get a job, this is just further evidence that KING will probably go down as one of the most under appreciated comedies in the last decade.
Grade: A


ROCKY (DVD)
I recently re-watched this with G. While I absolutely love this film and almost everything about it, I have to say - I agreed with G. about the fact that the fight at the end was one of the weaker elements. Stallone would later correct this in ROCKY 2 - which had better training sequences and a fantastic final bout.


THE SHIELD (DVD)
Continues it's run as the nastiest show on television right now.
Grade: A


REAL TIME W/BILL MA-HAIR (HBO)
Bill had on Al Sharpton to talk about the Imus situation. While Imus is clearly racist, what's not so clear anymore is how easy it is to get villainized by a society incredibly eager to say "gotcha."

ENTOURAGE (HBO)
Good episode, but the Ari/Lloyd thing felt...like the script needed another pass. Ari was all for sending Lloyd to the bar, then had a complete change of heart later - it felt like there was a transition that was missing - and it also felt a little over the top for Ari in the first place. I can't remember the Vince storyline at all.
Grade: B -

THE SOPRANOS (HBO) (Spoilers)
The second ep in their final batch was almost Seinfeldian - it's becoming a show about nothing. And for a major plot point to hinge on a fictional movie that Chris made...just seems....I don't know. And did we need 40 minutes on the death of Johnny Sack? Not that there wasn't a good story in there somewhere, but it seemed like the story could've dealt with Sack being all alone while he was dying - no visits from Phil or Tony - it just seemed really out of place the way it was stuck in the middle of the story. The scene with Silvio provided a moment of electricity - and as The Girl asked me, "Why was Phil giving a classroom speech about his brother to kids who raised their hands and asked questions?" I have no problem with T and Christopher getting into it - it just felt like a very forced way to do it with the movie, which completely took me out of the episode every time they showed it. And enough with Tim Daly as the TV writer. C'mon Sopranos - 7 more episodes, is it too much to ask to get fucking great again?
Grade: B -