Imagine that...the IMA on the cover!

Okay, you ever have those days when you just want to get things off your chest? 

It’s time for some RANTS AND RAVES!

See if you agree…

A RANT…

The Indianapolis Star.

Why am I still paying to get this paper? It’s literally shrinking every week. Some entire sections are only two pages…that’s it. One piece of paper!

There are fewer and fewer local articles and bylines. 

And is it just me, or does there seem to be an article, feature or something about the Indianapolis Museum of Art every week!? Seriously, it seems the IMA is in the Sunday feature supplement on a regular basis. The IMA is impressive, but give me a break.

To top it off, I get a letter this week telling me the rate is going up…wonderful. Less for a whole lot more.

A RAVE…

Lio...an inspired new comic strip

But this same paper also has introduced me to a new comic strip called “Lio” that is so halfway bizzare and yet inspired. It almost makes the paper worth it.

Almost.

I got to fly into the brand new Indianapolis International Airport last week after spending a week in New York. Only problem is, I spent two and a half hours on the tarmac in Newark, New Jersey.

So my first flight into the new Indy jewel…happened in the middle of the night, arriving after midnight! Welcome home to a closed down and very quiet facility.

A RAVE…

But it still looked pretty impressive.

A RANT…

Word is that ABC is probably going to pull the plug on “Pushing Daisies,” one of the more innovative and original series in recent years. Darn…I really liked this one. Too bad not enough other people did.

Kicking the holidays off far right

A RAVE…

This Sunday night at 10pm Comedy Central will kick off the holidays right…(or is that far right?) with a Christmas special from Stephen Colbert! 

It’s called, naturally, “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All.”

Colbert started playing the Stephen Colbert character of a right wing blow-hard (take that Bill O’Reilly) for laughs beginning on “The Daily Show” and eventually taking on his own daily show following that Daily Show.

Jon Stewart, Toby Keith, John Legend and Elvis Costello are guests.

I’ll be watching.

ANOTHER RAVE…

The DVD of Disney/Pixar’s “Wall-E” is outstanding.

A Best Picture contender?

I think this ecological animated story of a little robot should get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, it’s that good. (It WILL win best Animated Feature.) Cool feature in many of the new DVD releases…a digital copy you can download into a computer or I-Phone or other digital player so you can take the movie with you, in whatever format you want.

 PIXAR has yet to make a movie me and my kids didn’t enjoy.

PIXAR is the best.

A RANT…

One of my buddies, Sandwich, the guy that created the Sandwich scale for rating movies, way way way underappreciates the PIXAR movies. What is wrong with this guy that he can’t appreciate great art? I hope he reads this and gives me a good answer. (And if he doesn’t read this, that’s a whole other rant!)

Later

Paliin, Michaels and Fey on SNL

This election year just keeps getting stranger and stranger.

Did you watch “Saturday Night Live?” This past weekend, I thought it Saturday night surreal.

Governor Sarah Palin, fresh from her Indiana appearance at Verizon Wireless in Noblesville on Friday,  appeared on the NBC comedy show Saturday night.

Over the past few weekends, comedienne Tina Fey has been having a field day taking shots at the Republican Vice Presidential candidate. The bits have been a huge hit on the web and helped SNL to some of their biggest ratings in years!

Saturday night, Palin did a wonderful job poking fun at herself. If you haven’t seen the routine yet, click here for a peek. Funny stuff. But strange. There she was…a Vice Presidential candidate standing alongside Alec Baldwin (a frequent critic of Republicans) getting laughs. (It was also a show that featured an Oliver Stone cameo, too!) Those stinging SNL routines have NOT helped Palin’s overall standing in the polls…yet, here she was, taking those same routines head on with that knowing wink that Fey has made even more famous!

Weird. But immensely entertaining.

An apology on Letterman

It was a culmination of a week of unusual events where entertainment shows, particularly comedic shows, took over the political process…and in some bizzare way, I think are doing a service to the electoral process!

Think about it.

Senator John McCain humbly returns to the Ed Sullivan Theatre after standing up host David Letterman a few weeks ago. After admitting he “screwed up,” the Presidential candidate and frequent guest on the show faces some of the toughest and hard-hitting questions from host Letterman, particularly about McCain’s choice of Palin.

The advantage Letterman has over a traditional journalist? If things get a little too tense, he can lean back and interject some humor, something he did more than a few times during the exchange with McCain. A journalist couldn’t or hasn’t pushed questions like Letterman did.

Is it fair?

Why not? Letterman’s show was where McCain decided to announce his bid for the presidential race so many months ago. If Letterman is good enough to start a presidential run, it’s a fair place to ask tough questions.

And it’s paying off in ratings. The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS averaged 6.5 million viewers, the biggest audience for the Late Show in three years since Oprah Winfrey’s visit in December 2005. On the same night, VP candidate Sen. Joe Biden was on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno drawing in an average of 4.6 million viewers.

Saturday night’s appearance of Governor Palin on SNL brought in the best overnight ratings for the show in 14 years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Comedy and politics. They just seem to go together!

The Emmy Awards are this Sunday night airing at 8PM on ABC and RTV 6.

30 ROCK

I have a real love/hate thing for the Emmy Awards.

Sometimes I love the Emmys because they recognize what I think are terrific shows and performances. Then other times I hate the Emmys because once they discover a show or performance, they tend to recognize them year after year, often at the expense of truly outstanding shows and acting.

For example, I thought Dennis Franz of “NYPD Blue” turned in remarkable performances as Detective Andy Sipowitz. Problem is, the Emmy voters thought so too…THREE YEARS IN A ROW! Gimme a break!

The same for Best Supporting Actress Doris Roberts from “Everybody Loves Raymond.” They gave her the statue several years in a row. Same for Allison Janey from “The West Wing.” THey are all fine actors. But winning once is nice, twice is pushing it…more than that is doing a disservice to many other fine actors.

Recently, “Boston Legal,” a show I enjoy and really admire, has gotten more than its share of Emmy love than it really deserves. Shatner and Spader are great, but recognize other great characters and actors, will ya!

LOST

Yeesh!

Now that I got that off my chest, take a peek at the nominees…and my picks! 

COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men

“Entourage” is alright, but I would have preferred to see ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” in this category. Part of the charm of the Emmy Awards to me, is showing some love to shows that may not have been discovered by a bigger audience yet. Thus a show like “Daisies,” one of last year’s more innovative and interesting shows could have gotten a boost here.

Glad to see ”Two and a Half Men” here as it deserves attention. It is certainly one of the funnier shows on the air. But I think “30 ROCK” deserves this year’s Emmy Award. Tina Fey and Alex Baldwin are soooooo good.  

MY PICK: 30 ROCK

ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Tony Shalhoub in “Monk” SHOULD NOT BE NOMINATED ANYMORE!!! GIVE ME A BREAK!!! This is what drives me crazy about the Emmys. But they make up for it by nominating Lee Pace of “Pushing Daisies” But Alec Baldwin deserves this one…

MY PICK: ALEC BALDWIN

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Christina Applegate

Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

America Ferrera is fine, but borders on Emmy love overkill. Christina Applegate deserves a shot because she is so good as a comedic actor. Plus, this character is so different from her Kelly Bundy from “Married with Children.” Her recent health scare may influence some voters, too.

But Tina Fey has come into her own not only as a writer and a producer, but as a performer as well. Think Sarah Palin can do it all? She’s got nothing on Tina Fey! And Tina Fey is way funnier (and does a better Palin than Palin does!)

MY PICK: TINA FEY

DRAMA SERIES

MAD MEN

Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men

Good entries in this catagory. I’m especially happy to see “Mad Men” make this cut. I’m even happier to see “Lost” here again. To me, “Lost” is the best show on TV. It won this catagory its first year. It’s back and better than ever this year. This is a tough one, but since I find LOST obsessive, I gotta go with my gut on this one…

MY PICK: LOST

ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
James Spader, Boston Legal

Hugh Laurie deserves this one. Or Jon Hamm from “Mad Men.” The Academy may embrace “Mad Men” so if Jon Hamm wins, the best drama nod could go to “Mad Men,” too. Gonna toss it up and go with…

MY PICK: HUGH LAURIE

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Glenn Close, Damages
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Sally Field is an Academy favorite. So is Mariska Hargitay. Please, oh please Academy, surprise me with either Kyra Sedgwick or Glenn Close. But my gut tells me the thing I hate about the Emmys may come home with this catagory with Mariska winning again.

MY PICK: GLENN CLOSE

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ted Danson, Damages
Michael Emerson, Lost
Zeljko Ivanek, Damages
William Shatner, Boston Legal
John Slattery, Mad Men

I like John Slattery from “Mad Men.” He also had a good turn as the crooked Mayor on “Desperate Housewives” this season. If there is a “Mad Man” mania, he could get swept up in this…but as I felt “LOST” was so good this year, I have to go with Michael Emerson and his creepy factor. He’s so creepy…and good.

MY PICK: MICHAEL EMERSON

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy

I would love to see Chandra Wilson’s Bailey get this…but her character was neglected on a so-so “Grey’s” last season. So what about Rachael Griffiths? She is Australian and does a remarkable American accent. Why not?

MY PICK: RACHAEL GRIFFITHS 

REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef

I gotta go with the witty and popular “Dancing with the Stars.” It deserves it. Where else could you see Marie Osmond feint…and Helio win! Besides, I do a “Dancing” blog, too!

MY PICK: DANCING WITH THE STARS

HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars
Heidi Klum, Project Runway
Howie Mandel, Deal or No Deal
Jeff Probst, Survivor
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

This is the first year for this catagory. I gotta go with the man, Tom Bergeron. The guy has a comeback for anything! Perfect for a live program!

MY PICK: TOM BERGERON

REALITY SERIES
Antiques Roadshow
Dirty Jobs
Extreme Makeover
Intervention
Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List

MY PICK: DIRTY JOBS (Love Mike Rowe…show wouldn’t work without him!)

 VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES

THE DAILY SHOW

The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Late Show With David Letterman
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live

Four of the five are great…SNL is still pretty lame. I think “The Colbert Report” is a tougher show to write and pull off (which they do almost every night) but in an election year, gotta vote for Jon Stewart and “The Daily Show.”

MY PICK: THE DAILY SHOW

*****

There will be many, many more awards on Sunday night. But I am especially looking forward to seeing Josh Groban performing snippets of dozens of famous TV theme shows. From classics like “Cheers” and “The Andy Griffith Show” to the “Simpsons.” Should be a fun bit.

And hopefully the whole evening will be fun to watch. You can see it Sunday night at 8pm on ABC and RTV 6. BTW, Jimmy Kimmel is doing a special show leading into the awards from 7pm to 8pm.  

Groban works up a tribute to TV Theme songs!