The Shredder on Eli Stone

Oh My Gosh. I love the show Eli Stone! It's like Alley McBeal with a spiritual edge. And Jonny Lee Miller. Oh and Victor Garber. And better singing and dancing! And... an wise Asian acupuncturist/spiritual guide with a fake Chinese accent... who is played by a Japanese-American guy.

Tonight I looked at imdb.com, and was looking at the different actors' histories. I discovered that not only did James Saito (Dr. Chen) do cameos on a bunch of shows, but he was the Shredder. That's right. He was freakin' Oroko Saki in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This show just keeps getting better.

Come back SNL, Come back!

NBC has been rerunning 2007 episodes of SNL since the writer's strike started, and I can't wait for new episodes. I really feel that the American political process needs the kind of commentary that Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler provide. Actually, I can't wait to see who will play Barak Obama (Maya Rudolf?).

Meanwhile, last year's episodes are hilarious, because they all talk about how Hillary Clinton is the presumptive winner of the Presidential election, and how the media has decided that they want her to win. That must make her current position all the more bitter.

I'm so glad the writier's strike is over. I can't wait to see SNL portray Huckabee....

David Palmer for President

Jen asked me if I think Mike Huckabee looks at all like President Logan from 24. Why.... yes, yes he does. I knew there was a reason I didn't quite trust him. Of course, besides party affiliation, I'm not sure how similar they are. In fact, Logan was very unlikable (and I couldn't find any pictures of him smiling), whereas Mike Huckabee is very likeable (all smiling pictures online) and I'd vote for him if wasn't against just about everything I stand for. As it happens, apparently lots of people have noticed the resemblance.













President Logan Mike Huckabee

Now the more important question is: Does Barack Obama remind you at all of President Palmer? Of course, they don't really look anything alike, but I have to say there have been times during this campaign that Barack said things that reminded me of the very president who got me through a couple years of the Bush Administration. When he was assassinated, my hopes died with him. But now, my hopes have been resurrected by another friendly and inspiring African-American man. And this one is a real person!

My So-Called Quarterlife

MSCL + Blogs + 20-somethings = quarterlife

Today I heard an interview with Marshall Herskovitz, the creator of thirtysomething and Once and Again, and the producer of My So-Called Life. He talked about how when MSCL came out in 1994 teenagers (particularly teenage girls) were basically invisible to the people programming TV. The show got canceled after one season (to the dismay of many), and apparently Herskovitz went to the network. He told them that it would be an act of TV Altruism to keep the show on the air; the ratings were low, but they were giving a voice to a group that was basically voiceless at the time. Almost immediately after the show was canceled studios realized that teenagers were a powerful and untapped market (Herskovitz credits the success of Baz Lurhmann's Romeo + Juliet for this change).

Well, Herskovitz has a new show, about 20-somethings, called quarterlife. The show is being hailed as the first network-quality show to be made exclusively for the internet (although it is airing on NBC in February). Currently you can watch 8-minute episodes at the website, which of course features a social networking feature. The show is about a 25-year-old blogger and aspiring writer. Check it out! I just watched the first episode, and it was pretty good.

I have often connected My So-Called Life and other such art with the development of blogging movement. You may recall that I blame books like The Catcher in the Rye, shows like MSCL, and the Self-esteem Ed movement for my generation's passionate desire to have our own unique voices heard. I'm special! I'm unique! Listen to me! Make a TV show about my attempts to blog and be a writer!