Week 11 TV Power Rankings

With a lot of shows seasons either ending or going on hiatus until after the holidays, we too will be taking a break from the rankings. Look for our return sometime after the week of 1/17.

"Running Wilde" and "The Challenge: Cutthroat" have been removed because the first was garbage and the second was too difficult to write about each week.

1. (2) “Chuck” – Well it was pretty much inevitable, wasn’t it? After one week off the top spot, “Chuck” returns. I thought the return of Timothy Dalton was a lot better than his first episode that other “Chuck” fans were all about. I was a little bit disappointed with the way Chuck was able to regain his Intersect abilities though. It seemed like too much of a quick fix.

2. (1) “Community” – I thought the episode dealing with Troy’s 21^st birthday was one of the more depressing episodes of a sitcom I’ve seen. The laughs really weren’t there this episode, but it showed how strong a show “Community” has become because I don’t watch it for the jokes (even though they are usually plentiful), I watch it for the characters. That’s usually the mark of a very strong show.

3. (5) “Terriers” – It’s just so sad. Unfortunately, no one besides me and a few other people watched this show, and so FX had little choice but to cancel it. I’m still ranking it this highly because there was no show on cable this year that had a better full season. I’d highly recommend anyone interested to someday purchase the DVD and am confident you won’t be disappointed.

4. (4) “30 Rock” – I keep saying it and I am fully aware how repetitive I am, but this season has just been such a return to glory for this show. I am starting to not be surprised by how good the quality is each week, but rather expecting it the same way I did when the show first started.

5. (3) “Modern Family” – There’s been a couple slow episodes and a few strong ones, but the majority of this season has fallen somewhere in the middle. Still, it’s held firm as one of the shows I look forward to the most each week.

6. (6) “Boardwalk Empire” – Fantastic finale. I know I criticized the show in the beginning for being a little slow, but I had absolutely no complaints about the last few episodes. The finale did an excellent job of closing out the season, and also setting things up for a second season I can’t wait to see.

7. (7) “Sons of Anarchy” – Well here’s the question: Would you rather watch a show where the season is very good throughout, but the finale is so-so, or a show where the season is uneven, but the finale is incredible? Season 2 of “Sons” was the former, Season 3 the latter. I think I would put myself in the former category because even with the finale of Season 3, I still enjoyed Season 2 a lot more. What will be interesting is the first two finales clearly set up the dilemmas for the following seasons, whereas I think Season 4 could go in a number of different ways.

8. (9) “Walking Dead” – It’s difficult to really get a good feeling for a show in only six episodes. It’s also surprising that is the usual length of seasons for British shows. (Fun fact: British shows call the seasons of shows, “series”) I really enjoyed the premiere season of this show and will be very excited when it returns. However, I still have my doubts for how long a show built on simply surviving a zombie attack won’t soon get to be too much of the same thing over and over.

9. (8) “Fringe” – I’m a little sad the two Olivia’s have returned to their respective worlds now. I’m also a little nervous the show won’t be as strong without that dynamic involved. It was a great ride while it lasted though and I am sure the two will meet again. Sadly, this show will be relegated to Friday nights soon and that’s not a timeslot that spells big time hit.

10. (10) “The Event” – I have fallen back a bit with my enthusiasm for this show. I think I am only a fan of learning more about the back stories of where the aliens have been for the last 40 years. I still have very little interest in anything related to Sean and Leila, but perhaps finding out her father is an alien will change that for me when the show returns.

11. (12) “Family Guy” – It’s difficult to really go to in depth reviewing this show since the characters never change. I just feel like this season’s been particularly strong as I am laughing out loud a lot more frequently.

12. (11) “How I Met Your Mother” – I think this season’s been a lot better than the previous one, but I still don’t think it’s rebounded back to the form of the first two seasons. They are still having those dud episodes where too much is going on and I am not laughing enough. And I don’t think Zoey is the mother anymore, so now I’m just waiting for them to get through her storyline because at this point I only want Ted to be with the mother. Finally, it really pains me to say this, but Jorge Garcia’s performance as the Blitz made me realize why I didn’t see much of him before “Lost” and now don’t expect to see him much after. I still love you Hurley.

13. (13) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – I was disappointed with this season as a whole. I also don’t like how the season finale is the Christmas episode I already bought on DVD a year ago. I feel like I got screwed somehow with that. I’d say the lone bright spot from the season was when Charlie and Dennis got drunk with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. They seemed like nice enough guys.

14. (15) “The Office” – I have to say, the Oscar-Michael China debate really brought the show back a little bit for me. I was getting used to ripping the show in the rankings every week, but I can’t rip what I’d loved. The Tour De France joke was probably my favorite.

15. (X) “Glory Daze” – Ok, there was some chatter among the masses for this show to be added so I decided to give it a shot. The show seems to be “borrowing” a lot of subject material. The scene in the pilot when Reno hits on the teacher in the supermarket is reminiscent of Otter hitting on the Dean’s wife in the supermarket from “Animal House”. I liked Kevin Nealon’s appearance as the weird townie who the guys visit at his house better the first time when Will Ferrell did it on “Undeclared”. The “Guy who’s close to 30 and is still in school” character is in almost every college movie, and the one in this show looks like Tom Green, who played that type of character in “Road Trip”. I also felt I recognized the Republican main character from something, but couldn’t remember what. Well it’s from a music video he did with Selena Gomez they played at my gym all the time and it’s awful (go to the 2:15 mark, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4UPO9lmmYc ). Now despite this show having all this going against it, I really like it. I know that sounds silly, but I don’t care that I’ve seen this stuff before or if one of the actors is a Canadian pop star (the male version of Robin Sparkles), I just like the show.

16. (16) “Cougar Town” – Hasn’t been on since the last time I did a rankings, but my opinion stays the same. It’s not horrible, but I feel like it’s taken a step back and have been very disappointed with its sophomore season.

17. (17) “Raising Hope” – I was waiting for when “My Name is Earl” star Jason Lee would make an appearance on this show. Now that he has, I wish it had been a character that had more potential to pop up again. Maybe that’s still something that can happen, but I don’t see why an aging rock star would revisit this small town or odd family anytime soon.

18. (18) “Glee” – I’m strongly leaning towards chopping this down to 15 shows once I return and this is one of the reasons. I have nothing to say about this show anymore. Last season, I really enjoyed the jokes the show had, I liked Sue, I tolerated the characters I didn’t care for and I knew most of the songs. This season, there are less jokes, Sue’s become like a cartoon character villain, I can’t stand whenever Mr. Schuster is on the screen and I know one song an episode. I don’t even know why I keep watching it at this point.

19. (19) “Survivor” – I disagreed with people who thought it was corny that the prize they got one week was to watch “Gulliver’s Travels”. These people haven’t had anything to do for a month except swim, stare at each other, crap in the woods and be hungry. It wouldn’t surprise me at all that they’d welcome a movie, ANY movie, as an escape from what they would be doing without it. Having said that, from the standpoint of someone who is well fed, uses a toilet and watches so much TV they write a rankings column, that movie looks like terrible.

20. (20) “Parenthood” – Whenever I see Michael B. Jordan, it just makes me wish “Friday Night Lights” was currently on instead of shows like “Chase” or “The Defenders”. And that’s why “Parenthood” is #20, because I use the space for it to discuss my fondness for other shows.

21. (21) “The League” – I didn’t think it was possible, but this show is starting to ruin my enthusiasm for fantasy football.  

Remembering My Godfather of Slapstick

I think as people grow up we are introduced to the different genres of movies by the actors who frequent them. For many people they will always equate any action movie to the work of Arnold Schwarzenegger. For others, there will never be a leading lady in a romantic comedy that will top Julia Roberts. These actors define these types of movies and when you think of that variety of movie, you think of that person who portrayed those characters so adeptly.

One of the actors who defined a genre for me growing up sadly passed away this week. Leslie Nielsen was 84 when he died on Sunday night and to me he will always be the face of slapstick comedy. The first time I saw “The Naked Gun” I thought how I had never seen a movie like this before, and didn’t know they made movies like that. Up until that point, my comedy taste focused mostly on Scooby Doo and the Mupper Babies, so this was a major part of the puberty for my comedic tastes. The jokes were so ridiculous but Nielsen spoke them all with such uncanny delivery. Even though I probably understood about 25% of what was said, I still laughed until I could hardly breathe.

As I grew older and I rewatched “TNG”, I picked on even more of the subtler jokes I had missed. I also picked up on the ones that were too mature for me to get, specifically one regarding a stuffed beaver, and the genius of Nielsen continued to grow for me. When I saw “Airplane” for the first time I immediately got excited when I saw him step on screen (this was before imdb, so if you weren’t paying attention to the credits you wouldn’t know who was in the movie until they appeared). His performance didn’t disappoint and it could be argued it’s even better than “TNG”. Nielsen’s presence didn’t always translate to laughs though. I remember being disappointed in him as The Captain in “The Poseidon Adventure”, and being frightened throughout that whole movie. Still, I never gave up hope on Nielsen’s presence in a movie delivering the goods and I followed his work throughout my teens.

There was another reason I followed Nielsen’s work so closely and it’s also why I’ll never forget him. As a kid I remember always wanting to make my father laugh and I loved watching him find something hilarious. The first person I remember my father laughing at was Leslie Nielsen. My father is by no means a stern man, and laughs quite frequently, but there was still something special for me to see him smile so broadly whenever Nielsen told someone not to call him Shirley. I continued to watch Nielsen’s movies not just as a fan, but also knowing each one was something new my father and I could share. We watched both “Naked Gun” sequels as they came out, and then made sure we rented “Dracula: Dead and Loving It”, “Spy Hard”, “Mr. Magoo” and “Wrongfully Accused”. Now none of those movies came near the level of the original “Naked Gun” or “Airplane” but they still made us laugh for 90 minutes each. Laughing at Nielsen’s antics together was one of the first bonds my father and I shared and while there have been plenty more since then; this one will always be close to my heart.

I didn’t follow Nielsen’s career very closely over the past few years. I knew he was in a few of the “(Blank) Movie”s, but I never checked them out. Nielsen’s passing is sad in it of itself, but what makes it even sadder for me is the state slapstick comedy is in right now. Those “(Blank) Movies”s seem to come out every six months, which makes me highly doubt their quality. Still, this was supposed to be something celebrating Nielsen and celebrating the joy his work brought to so many people like me and my father. So with that, I’d like to pass along a final thank you to Leslie Nielsen. For bringing me countless hours of enjoyment, for eliciting some of the biggest belly laughs I have ever shared with my father, and for being my Godfather of Slapstick Comedy. You will be missed.

Week 9 TV Power Rankings

1. (2) “Community” – Yep, that’s right. A new #1 for the first time ever. “Community” sadly doesn’t get the audience it should and I think its had an outstanding sophomore season (unlike “Cougar Town”). This week’s episode did an exceptionally good job at having a mysterious storyline involving night school classes that kept me as intrigued by where it was going as much as it made me laugh. The episode had plenty of references to pop culture throughout, but they weren’t as obvious as other episodes have been. Plus, the pillow and bed sheet fort Abed and Troy made could have been reason alone to elevate this to the top spot for the week. One final note, I read people felt this episode ripped off the J. Walter Weatherman storylines from “Arrested Development” but I didn’t see that at all. Double crosses and triple crosses have been in movies and TV for years, no one show can take credit for that and no show should feel like they’re ripping another off by using it.
2. (1) “Chuck” – Well here we are. Maybe if “Chuck” had tried a little harder this week we wouldn’t be in this situation. In all honesty, this episode wasn’t bad at all. It guest starred Rob Riggle (the cop who lets the kids taser the guys in “The Hangover”) as a spy trying to get Chuck to flash again. The issue is the episode was clearly the beginning of an arc and as such I felt I had to slip it down a notch. When the arc eventually wraps up, I like the chances of “Chuck” reclaiming the top spot again.
3. (3) “Modern Family” – I liked how Manny finally saw in himself how odd his behavior sometimes can be. Don’t get me wrong, he’s one of my favorite characters on the show. I would just think it would be lazy to not have him address how he clearly is very different from kids his age. I know they came close to doing this in Season 1 when he was supposed to hang out with Luke and instead hung out with Claire all day, but I thought this was a lot better. Now I am not saying I want this to happen with all the characters. I don’t need Gloria to all of a sudden notice how she seems to only wear clothes where her boobs bounce all over the place. No, let’s just keep that how it is.
4. (4) “30 Rock” – It’s funny how sometimes shows seem to just take seasons off. Maybe it’s that they tried so hard and came up with a great season, and so they can slack a little bit and it’ll still be pretty good. Who knows? But what I do know is a lot of shows have trouble rebounding from that, like “The Office” and much of this year of “How I Met Your Mother”. This hasn’t been the case for “30 Rock” as I keep being more and more satisfied with what a bounce back season this has been. This week really utilized Jack’s additional duties as Head of Microwave Ovens at GE. While it was a fitting ending to Jack being a member of GE, I am sad to see the loss of an aspect of Jack’s job that had so many potential laughs.
5. (5) “Terriers” – We finally got to see the case that caused Hank to be kicked off the police force and essentially ended his marriage. It was a particularly gruesome case, one that seemed more like something off “Law & Order: SVU” but the payoff of catching the guy was well worth it. Britt’s in a lot of trouble though for beating up Katie’s classmate. It’s going to be tough for the boys to get out of this one. Then again I thought the same thing when Landis died in Hank’s bathtub and that all worked out for everybody. Except Landis.
6. (9) “Boardwalk Empire” – I feel like I am going to be criticized for enjoying this episode more than most because of the action near the end. I realize the character building from the slower episodes that I ranked lower than this paved the way for this episode to be so good. Still, I am gonna ignore that because it makes me look semi-ignorant and just say this show is starting to fulfill the high expectations I had for when it began. I think my favorite part of the season so far was this week when the D’Allesio brother who tried to shoot Nucky asked Jimmy if he was going to kill him for mouthing off and Jimmy said “Well I wasn’t going to but now that you talked me into.” And then shoots him in the head. Awesome. Finally, was I the only one who thought that when Agent Van Alden had his first shot of whiskey he was gonna react like Doc Brown in “Back to the Future III”?
7. (7) “Sons of Anarchy” – Finally a little bit of closure to wrap up this uneven season. But there are still two episodes left and as much as Jax says he’s done listening to his father from beyond the grave, I’m sure the love letters stuffed in his bag will bring it all back again. I will say this, Salazar should kill Tara. It’s the only realistic thing to happen, but I know it won’t. I don’t want Tara gone, but she killed the guy’s girl and he has a gun and they are in the middle of nowhere. Come on.
8. (11) “Fringe” – Uh, oh. Peter knows he’s been sleeping with Fauxlivia, what’s gonna happen? The real shame will be if when Olivia goes back to her own world she gets rid of her red hair. That look is working for you girl!
9. (8) “Walking Dead” – Much better than the previous two. The only reason it slipped was because of how good the shows in front of it all were. I am very excited for these last two episodes.
10. (6) “The Event” – Here’s the deal, I don’t care about Sean and Layla. So when the plot deals with them I zone out. Plus, we found out early on in the episode that the VP was behind the assassination attempt and we knew Hal Holbrook was bad already too. So this “backstory” episode that was so supposed to reveal so much did nothing for me.
11. (14) “How I Met Your Mother” – I will never ever tire of Robin Sparkles. Nor will I ever complain about Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls being around. However, it was a bit of a stretch that she was from Canada, yet was living in New York as the organist for the Rangers. They have hockey teams in Canada, a lot of them.
12. (12) “Family Guy” – This week’s laugh out loud moment was when Brian leaves Stewie to take a cab and Stewie sees he has no money. He then says, “Well at least it’s not raining” and some guy runs up and stabs him. Typical NYC.
13. (13) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – Two back to back very strong episodes are keeping this from falling any lower. I feel like the show could do every episode focused solely on Charlie’s warped mind and I wouldn’t grow tired of it. Denim chicken is a sweet band name by the way.
14. (10) “The Challenge: Cutthroat” – This season isn’t going as well as it started as it has hit quite the lull. But Boston’s own CT is on next week! I will work you son!
15. (15) “The Office” – Ryan’s idea was actually not bad, but obviously he doesn’t have the work ethic to follow through on it. Dwight’s whole hay ride shenanigans weren’t funny and I guess the best part of the episode was Horn-Rimmed Glasses Guy from “Heroes” being Angela’s new love interest.
16. (16) “Cougar Town” – Eh, as previously stated this show’s not having the sophomore season I wanted or expected it to. I really don’t like Travis and I think that’s what is affecting my fondness for the show. I don’t see how these people like him. I know two of them are his parents, but even still, he sucks.
17. (17) “Raising Hope” – I do like this show, I do. There’s just not a whole lot to say about it and I run into this problem every week. It’s about a 6 or 7 every week, so if you are looking to kill 22 minutes (you should own a DVR at this point, you’re not Amish) every week then here you go.
18. (18) “Glee” – I have to admit, Gwyneth Paltrow REALLY impressed me. I was fully expecting all her scenes to be cringe-worthingly awkward, but she did a real good job and clearly has a stage presence I didn’t think she had. I still dislike a vast majority of the characters and now only enjoy about one song an episode.
19. (19) “Survivor” – How is Dan still on this show???? I gotta think if he makes it to the final three you’d have to vote for him simply because he literally “survived”.
20. (20) “Parenthood” – Why was Joel the director of a play his daughter wasn’t even in? I hope I missed that part because if I didn’t that made ZERO sense.
21. (21) “The League” – I think this will be the last season I watch this show
22. (22) “Running Wilde” – Wasn’t on

Week 8 TV Power Rankings

Couple notes

"Eastbound and Down"'s season ended, so it's gone

"Hawaii 5-O" is gone too because I never got around to watching it

1. (1) “Chuck” – Wasn’t on
2. (2) “Community” – It had the potential to claim the top spot for at least one week with “Chuck” not on, but sadly it couldn’t capitalize. I thought the episode had a decent enough premise that kind of gotten taken too far and it was one of the rare times I didn’t like Abed commenting on the episode as if he’s aware it’s a TV show.
3. (3) “Modern Family” – Wasn’t on
4. (5) “30 Rock” – This show is really firing on all cylinders was again. I know I said a few weeks ago that Kelsey Grammar’s appearance on the show might have been my favorite guest star of the year. Well, John Slattery from “Mad Men” blew him out of the water. Great episode and the show’s very worthy of being in the top 5 in the rankings.
5. (4) “Terriers” – The show’s been leading up to Gretchen’s wedding and I thought they did a really good job of the wedding always being present without anyone really interacting with it. If that makes sense, probably doesn’t but none of you watch this show anyway so who gives a sh*t?
6. (9) “The Event” – It’s gotten to the point where I almost feel guilty for how much I trashed this show during its first few episodes. It has made an amazing comeback for me and I thought the backstory on the Director of National Intelligence made the character infinitely more interesting and likeable. It’s becoming a much more character driven show and not so reliant on “The Event” which I think is a good thing.
7. (7) “Sons of Anarchy” – This season has been subpar and I want to think it’s because Season 2 was so good that nothing could compare. But I don’t think that’s the case. I think this slow has just been slow and dragged out the Abel-kidnapping storyline too much. I’m at the point now where I just want the last two episodes to be here so I can hope Season 4 is an improvement.
8. (6) “Walking Dead” – Continuing to fall here. Third episode was by far the weakest one as there were only two zombie deaths and very little action. I also thought the reunion of Rick and his family was poorly done and I felt very uncomfortable through most of it. Only three episodes left, so I am sure there is more action coming up, but the show needs to pick it up again if it wants to remain in the top 10.
9. (12) “Boardwalk Empire” – Jimmy’s back in AC and after the G man killed the witness he should have Van Alden off his ass. Good stuff, now let’s get Chalky White on the screen again and we’re in business.
10. (11) “The Challenge: Cutthroat” – To tell you the truth, I watched the newest one two nights ago and now I don’t even remember what happened this week. I know Brandon lost and so did Melinda. And Chet got sent home because he got a concussion. So the Red team lost three people that week. Sucks to be them.
11. (17) “Fringe” – This has probably been the best season yet and I think had it ranked so low for too long. My apologies. I know this show isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve ever been a fan of it, I’d suggest coming back because it’s at its peak right now.
12. (18) “Family Guy” – Two straight weeks of me gasping for air at a joke during the episode. This week was when Lois knocked out the girl and pulled her head up to say, “No matter what you do for the rest of your life, you’ll always be garbage.”
13. (13) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – Probably the best episode of the season if only for the extended clips of their movie “Lethal Weapon 5”.
14. (15) “How I Met Your Mother” – Much more of a classic HIMYM with everyone dealing with some pretty heavy things. Like Barney finding out who his dad is, Marshall realizing he has chosen financial stability over his ideals, and Ted possibly falling for the woman’s who trying to ruin his life. Plus all the monocle jokes were fantastic.
15. (8) “The Office” – I think I might hate this show. I really do. It’s Dominique Wilkins on the Celtics. You’re excited because it’s his last go (like Carell’s), but he really doesn’t have anything left (like Carell’s effort this year) and you get aggravated because you think of what he use to be but isn’t anymore (like Season 2). Plus the other Celtics were just as unlikeable as Jim and Pam are.
16. (16) “Cougar Town” – Wasn’t on
17. (19) “Raising Hope” – It is what it is. Just a straight 6 or 7 every week.
18. (20) “Glee” – I like this show less and less every week. It really is what Kelly on “The Office” said it is, irresponsible writing. Storylines and character arcs go nowhere.
19. (22) “Survivor” – Hahaha, suck it Marty
20. (24) “Parenthood” – Better. I will say I wouldn’t mind if the Lauren Graham character left the show though. I don’t liker he one bit.
21. (21) “The League” – Not a great episode and I don’t find Pete’s thinking he can get hot women to be believable at all. He’s a dumpy looking dude who dresses like crap.
22. (23) “Running Wilde” – Yeah they just need to cancel this show already. Tough break Will Arnett, but I’ll still tune in to whatever you do next, that’s my loyalty level to the Bluths.

Week 7 TV Power Rankings

One note, "The Challenge: Cutthroat" was added

1. (1) “Chuck” – What was billed as the best episode of the season kinda fell flat for me. I think it had to do with my expectations being so high for it. I still thought it was a really good episode, but I think I liked the season premiere better. Guest star was Timothy Dalton who was James Bond in a couple movies, and was the grocery store owner in “Hot Fuzz”.
2. (2) “Community” – When Troy entered the secret garden and saw the bright light I thought what he found was going to be a lot better than a trampoline. However, the payoff of the gardener being a racist at the end was well worth it. The storyline with Abed becoming a “mean girl” didn’t really do much for me. Neither did Hilary Duff as a costar, I think we can now safely say her poor acting skills is why she wasn’t bigger.
3. (3) “Modern Family” – I will say this now, I don’t like the idea of Phil’s business getting so bad he might lose his job. I don’t really wanna watch if that happens. It would just be too depressing because it’s not like it’s a job he hates and then he’s gonna become something that will make him happier. Also, did anyone else notice Haley’s hair was changing length throughout the episode? Lazy writing last week, lazy editing this week.
4. (5) “Terriers” – One of the most touching stories surrounding a murdered transvestite stories I have seen in a long time. I know I say it every week, but it will really be a shame if this show doesn’t get a second season.
5. (6) “30 Rock” – I thought this was another great episode that has continued this season’s return to the quality of Season 1 episodes. Jack telling Jonathan he had to cut off Jack’s pinky and bring it to his lawyer in order to be his mentee was one of the funnier interactions the two have had in a while. Jack’s phone call to Liz’s dad was also classic and I really enjoyed his identifying himself as a “corrupt cop, and my brothers are corrupt firemen.”
6. (4) “Walking Dead” – It was nowhere near as good as the pilot, but I think I still might have had enough of a Halloween hangover going to still be amped for watching zombie killing. This week’s episode didn’t disappoint with one dead guy getting an axe right to his head. Next week’s should be very interesting as the Sheriff should be seeing his son and wife, and his best friend who’s been nailing his wife, in the woods, from behind, count it!
7. (7) “Sons of Anarchy” – A lot more action than there has been in the past few episodes which was good to see. However, just as Jax is looking like he’s close to getting his kidnapped son back in Ireland, his pregnant girlfriend gets kidnapped back home. Let’s finish one thing at a time please, this season’s been exhausting.
8. (8) “The Office” – I found myself comparing this episode to the Wedding from last year and I think that is a bit unfair to this episode. While it wasn’t nearly as strong as the wedding (which was the best of last season), it wasn’t terrible either. I liked the people who only came to the after-Christening for the food, and I really liked the whole sequence with Toby not being able to enter the church (although why didn’t he have an issue going to Pam & Jim’s or Phyllis’ weddings??) and then asking God why he is so mean to him.
9. (9) “The Event” – Wasn’t on
10. (15) “Eastbound and Down” – See, now this is what I wanted. I get the idea of the journey throughout this season makes the return all the sweeter to watch. But I just felt like 2 or 3 of the Mexico episodes could have been taken out. I was so happy to see all the characters from last season again, and loved the scene with Cutler and Kenny in the car before he found April. HBO has picked it up for another season which would be at the least a year away, but I am hoping it won’t be all about Kenny in Myrtle Beach and then have him return to North Carolina for one episode again.
11. (X) “The Challenge: Cutthroat” – It was requested this show be added to the list, and I actually kicked myself a little for not adding it on my own sooner. So far it hasn’t been an all-time Real World/Road Rules Challenge, but there have been some great moments. The Vinny/Big Easy Gualag was riveting. There were too big die each player had to be on. They had to roll it, without touching the ground, onto a square with the number five facing up. Now as they are doing this, they cut to one of those candid interviews and Brad says something to the effect of, “I’m looking at both these guys and they are both so locked in and concentrated and you can tell things are about to get dicey” DICEY! I swear I don’t think he meant to say it either! Highlight of the season for me so far.
12. (10) “Boardwalk Empire” – Jimmy Darmody is heading back to AC. I have to admit, at this point I only really care about Jimmy and Chalkie so this makes me happy. I feel like the characters who aren’t constantly around Nucky don’t get as much attention and this will allow for more time spent on Jimmy.
13. (11) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – SNL cast member Jason Sudekis guest starred this week as an old member of the gang who had been kicked out. Literally, they kicked him out of a moving car. Had some funny moments and Charlie’s job interview was a highlight, as was Newsradio’s Dave Foley’s appearance as the principal. Still, this season is continuing to be a disappointment for me and this show might just be past it’s prime.
14. (12) “Hawaii 5-O” – I didn’t watch it. Don’t really care that I didn’t, nor do I plan to rectify that situation. Next week’s looks good though, I’ll watch that.
15. (13) “How I Met Your Mother” – I always think it’s stupid when “The Simpsons” Treehouse of Horror episode is on after Halloween, so I have to say the same about this week’s HIMYM. Now that’s out of the way, I didn’t really think this was a particularly strong episode either. I like Will Forte, and liked the first time he was on the show. I just didn’t like it the same this week. And I didn’t think you got a severance if you’re fired from your job due to incompetence?
16. (14) “Cougar Town” – I like anytime a show does an homage to “The Usual Suspects” and I thought it did it very well in this week’s episode.
17. (17) “Fringe” – It’s nice to see the kid who played Iceman in the “X-Men” movies is still acting, and he even has a twin who acts too!
18. (18) “Family Guy” – When Peter, Joe and Quagmire drove past Meg and her friends and yelled out “Ugly bitches!”, well that was about as hard as I laughed all week.
19. (16) “Raising Hope” – Wasn’t on
20. (19) “Glee” – Wasn’t on
21. (20) “The League” – Taco bringing a real gun to use as a starter’s pistol was pretty funny. I think he’s the only character I like. Fear Boners is a very good fantasy team name as well.
22. (22) “Survivor” – I feel like every week you can definitely see who’s going to get voted out about 20 minutes before the show ends. There are no real surprises this season and that’s why it’s so low here.
23. (21) “Running Wilde” – Wasn’t on
24. (23) “Parenthood” – Wasn’t on

Week 6 TV Power Rankings

Couple notes:

"Jersey Shore" is off because its season ended
"The Walking Dead" makes its debut
A bunch of shows weren't on because of the World Series

1. (1) “Chuck” – Still remaining at the top and even more likely to stay after I heard how next week’s episode is the best of the season. Guest stars from this week included Linda Hamilton from “The Terminator” and Robert Englund a.k.a Freddy Krueger
2. (3) “Community” – Last week I said this show would need to step it up in order to continue staying above “Modern Family”, and it did that 150%. I was wary when I heard they were doing a zombie themed episode as the show usually stays within reality. However, I was very pleased with the reasoning for why the students acted like zombies and even happier it didn’t turn out to be someone’s dream. I’d put this episode right behind the often mentioned paintball episode as my all-time favorites of the show.
3. (4) “Modern Family” – It’s really a shame “Community” did such a great Halloween episode because “MF” was also so good it deserved to move up in the rankings. Cam dealing with his past Halloween made me laugh the whole time. I thought Mitchell going down the pipe was really good as well. The only thing I didn’t care for was I felt the storyline about Gloria’s accent was something likely to happen in a show’s first season and almost seemed like lazy writing to bring it up now.
4. (X) “Walking Dead” – Here’s the deal. The rankings are based on the full season, and so far we only have the pilot of this show to go on. I realize a show about zombies isn’t for everyone and could easily get repetitive quickly. Having said that, I thought this was one of the best pilots I’d seen all year and that’s why I ranked it this high. Not sure if you saw my preview on The Alt Tab or not, but I was very excited for this show and it did not disappoint. Will it continue to rank this highly throughout its six episode season is another question?
5. (4) “Terriers” – Another solid episode and I am really enjoying how Britt’s old criminal lifestyle keeps interfering with his attempt to go legit. I didn’t want him to meet up with Hank, become a PI, and then never be dragged into his old ways again. Plus, I liked the furthering of the story between Katie and her professor, and especially Hank’s warning to the professor at the end. Great show, too bad no one watches it.
6. (6) “30 Rock” – Wasn’t on
7. (5) “Sons of Anarchy” – So they finally got to Belfast and what happens? Just more waiting around. I’m really hoping the way this season ends will make all the dilly-dallying throughout this year worth it. I’m hoping that, not expecting it.
8. (12) “The Office” – This was a fantastic episode. The first part was great with what Stanley wouldn’t notice and it reminded me so much of when they were able to get Creed to eat the potato without him noticing in Season 2. The Michael/Darryl and Jim & Pam/Danny storylines were kind of eh, but as I long as I get some Todd Packer in me I am a happy fan. I read about and agreed with the surprise there wasn’t some type of Packer & Danny interaction about potential competition between the two.
9. (13) “The Event” – Well look at this little engine that could. A couple weeks ago this one was in the 20’s and I was hoping it would be cancelled so I could get my time back. Let this be a lesson to all shows to always keep after it, it being my approval. The main complaint about “Lost” rip-offs has been too much focus on the mysteries and not enough on the characters. I thought this show fell into some of those traps early on, but has rebounded nicely and made a lot of these characters VERY interesting. The scenes this week of the federal agent’s past and him seeing the elderly woman he abandoned years ago was probably the best stuff the show has done this far.
10. (8) “Boardwalk Empire” – This show is kind of falling back into an old issue with me. I appreciate the detailed work that goes into the writing, the acting, the costumes and sets and the historical accuracies. I realize this is a good television show, one that will probably win many awards. I just can’t find myself super excited to watch it every week and if it weren’t for doing these rankings I’d probably save a bunch and knock them all out in a row over a weekend.
11. (7) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – This has been a disappointing season of “Sunny”. I had high hopea for the Halloween episode though. I had heard it had been screened at this year’s Comic Con and was received very well. I found it to be okay, but nothing special. The McPoyle’s presence is always funny and I was genuinely grossly amused at Dennis being the father of Dee’s baby. However, I thought the retelling of the night would be a lot funnier and I share the same level of apathy towards finding out who the father really is as the guys on the show did.
12. (9) “Hawaii 5-O” – This week was about surfing. The guy who played Ryan Atwood’s dad and Hercules was on it. Check out the picture on his IMDB page. That is classic!
13. (11) “How I Met Your Mother” – I didn’t really care for the baby talk episode. I find baby talk annoying. I didn’t like the way Barney looked in Marshall’s flash forwards either. Should “Lost” get credit for the term flash forward, because I never remember hearing it until the “We have to go back!” episode?
14. (14) “Cougar Town” – Still a disappointing sophomore effort from this show, but this episode was better than the past few weeks had been. Always nice to see Dr. Bob Kelso from “Scrubs” appearing someplace else too.
15. (16) “Eastbound and Down” – Getting back to where I like it and I am hoping next week we get to see April, Cutler and Kenny’s brother and family in the season finale. Oh and Cleg, he might be my favorite drug addict/dealer on TV right now.
16. (15) “Raising Hope” – I feel like this show’s kind of hit that rookie wall, but I also feel like it’s a little too soon for it to be doing that. I am going to keep watching because I like it, I just don’t laugh at it often.
17. (16) “Fringe” – Wasn’t on
18. (18) “Family Guy” – Wasn’t on
19. (19) “Glee” – I thought the Rocky Horror Picture Show themed episode was pretty good. I still think this season has been pretty mediocre.
20. (20) “The League” – Ghost Monkey would be a kickass band name. And the part about letting Ruxin set Pete’s lineup was one of the better fantasy related bits they’ve ever done. I think that’s totally something I’d be super confident about at first and then slowly drive myself crazy over throughout the week, and be inconsolable for months if I lost.
21. (21) “Running Wilde” – Wasn’t on
22. (22) “Survivor” – Smart play by Marty and where the tribes are merging next week he might be able to stay in the game a little longer. I also think if you played a drinking game where you drank every time someone said the word “game” on the show you’d be pretty effed up by the end.
23. (23) “Parenthood” – Better, not move up the ranks better, but better nonetheless.

Happy Halloween Bitches!

It's that time of year again. Time for discounted bags of candy on November 1st! My diet is going out the window once I buy a big bag of mini-Butterfingers for $1!

Oh yeah, and it's also time for scary movies. Every cable channel this weekend will be flooded with prime viewing for any horror flick fan. "The Exorcist", "Halloween", "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" will probably be logging many hours in living rooms across the country over the holiday and rightfully so. Those movies are classics and should be viewed as such.

But here at Really Reel Reviews we like to dive a little deeper and we like to think our readers do too. We also feel perhaps some of the R3 faithful might be looking at the blog in hopes of a holiday recommendation they maybe hadn't seen or considered watching this weekend. Well, you're in luck because I present to you Really Reel Review's first Really Spooky Halloween Movie Treat: "Phantoms"

We don't want to give too much away as we're hoping this is a recommendation not many people have seen. The cast includes Ben Affleck (how great was "The Town" by the way? It's a good thing we were away when that came out because my review would have been borderline pornographic), Peter O'Toole, Liev Schreiber and Rose McGowan. The main plot is two sisters return to their hometown in Colorado to find all the people either dead or missing. What's really original and great about this movie is it just hits you right from the beginning. I think the first dead body is found within the first five minutes.

Like we said, we don't want to give too much away so that's all we'll say (rhyme!). So if you're looking for a new thriller to get the hairs on your arm to rise this Halloween, then check out "Phantoms". If for no other reason than to keep the Benaissance of Affleck going.

Week 5 TV Power Rankings

1. (1) “Chuck” – Instead of telling you guys you should watch this every week I am just gonna start listing the guests stars so you can see they get real good ones. This week was Eric Roberts, Batista from the WWE and the tall skinny guy from “Dodgeball” and “Avatar”.
2. (3) “Community” – I thought this was the weakest of the episodes of the season. If another one like this happens soon then it could be passed by the next show on the list very soon.
3. (4) “Modern Family” – I wasn’t thrilled with the preschool storyline, nor was I thrilled with the idea of Tom Brady being hurt on Phil’s fantasy team. However, I really liked the Jay/Gloria plot and I thought it was Manny’s best episode yet, continuing a very solid sophomore season.
4. (5) “Terriers” – This show’s really good and it’s getting better. It’s got great acting, great writing and the episodes are half stand alone and half serialized. I’d highly suggest people watching this week.
5. (6) “Sons of Anarchy” – I haven’t watched this week yet because next week’s is a 90 min episode and I’ve come so far that I just wanna watch them together. So yeah, deal with that.
6. (9) “30 Rock” – After the live episode was just so-so, I thought this show continued its resurgent season. Kelsey Grammar’s guest spot might have been the funniest on any show this year too.
7. (7) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”– I really liked this episode until the next day I was thinking about the stuff with the dog that wouldn’t die. I started to think it was something I’d seen before and then I realized I had, on this show. A few seasons ago they had an episode with a cat that couldn’t die. This realization really took some of the shine off this week’s episode.
8. (10) “Boardwalk Empire” – I finally got the payback from Jimmy Darmody I was looking for and I was highly satisfied. This show is good, though it’s still not one I simply can’t wait to watch every week.
9. (11) “Hawaii 5-O” – Another solid episode. This show is what it is, kind of like a 6th man who gives you 10 points every night. You’re usually happy with what you get, but you’re never thinking it will make it to the starting five.
10. (8) “Jersey Shore” – Another episode of The Situation being a dick and I will be completely honest and say I can use the break from this people for a few months.
11. (12) “How I Met Your Mother” – I am going to reserve judgment on this new arc until I see where it heads. I have heard rumors though that the woman who was protesting will be a major woman in Ted’s life. Could she be the mother? I don’t know but I’m getting tired of the chicks in Ted’s life not being the mother.
12. (14) “The Office” – I thought this was a pretty good episode, not a classic but decent. I thought it was one of Meredith’s high points and I always like when Ryan’s douche-ness is allowed to come out. I wouldn’t get too worried about the new guy being a potential Michael Scott replacement though because he has his own show on FX called “Justified” (which will debut on the rankings in February). The best thing from this week has to be the potential of a Todd Packer appearance coming soon!
13. (20) “The Event” – I can admit it when I am wrong and I was wrong. This show is getting really good and I am beginning to look forward to it every week. I still don’t really care about the young guy and his girlfriend that much, but I am loving the plots about the “aliens”.
14. (13) “Cougar Town” – Some good things this week, especially when they tried to convince Ellie she was just as dumb as everyone else. Still, this show isn’t nearly what it once was and Travis is kind of starting to creep me out.
15. (15) “Raising Hope” – Wasn’t on because of baseball
16. (18) “Eastbound and Down” – Now this was more like the E&B of last season. I really liked Don Johnson as Kenny’s dad (although not as much as his appearance in the LeBron ad). I think the show should continue on this upswing as Kenny returns stateside.
17. (16) “Fringe” – Wasn’t on because of baseball
18. (17) “Family Guy” – Was a repeat
19. (19) “Glee” – Wasn’t on because of baseball
20. (23) “The League” – Another strong episode and I can’t ignore the fact it was also another episode without a NFL guest. Also, the storyline was a lot more relatable than some of the weaker early season episodes.
21. (21) “Running Wilde” – I absolutely hate it when networks show episodes out of order. This latest episode seemed more like it should have been the second episode and wasn’t very good either. I’ve said it before, but I think it’s just a matter of time until this show is scratched from the lineup.
22. (22) “Survivor” – I’m glad they switched up the tribes and hopefully this season will begin to improve. At this point though, I just can’t wait for next season with a tribe led by Boston Rob and one led by Russell.
23. (24) “Parenthood” – This show just isn’t as interesting as it used to be and the payoffs for the moral victories of the characters aren’t worth the crap they had to deal with to get there. That’s why it’s in last place.

Week 4 TV Power Rankings

1. (1) “Chuck” – I thought this was probably the weakest episode of the season, but it wasn’t close to being weak enough to knock “Chuck” off the number one slot.
2. (2) “Mad Men” – The season finale wasn’t the best episode ever, but this season was probably the second best after Season 1. The day after a cable show ends always sucks because I know this won’t be back until next summer.
3. (3) “Community” – There’s been a lot of comparisons of this week’s episode to the legendary paintball episode. Those comparisons are ridiculous because the paintball episode is the best sitcom episode in the last five years besides the first “Office” Christmas party. This episode based on “Apollo 13” references was still damn good and this show has created even more distance among itself and the other comedies on the list.
4. (5) “Modern Family” – I was a little worried MF was gonna hit a sophomore slump the way “Cougar Town” has, but I have been very satisfied with this season. I thought the Phil MC storyline was great, I loved Haley saying she “invented McKenzie” and my favorite part was Mitchell thinking Cam wanted him to shave his shoulders. The bike shorts didn’t really do it for me, but I know some people enjoyed it.
5. (6) “Terriers” – After a long story arc that covered several episodes, this week’s was more of a stand alone piece. The stellar chemistry and humor between the two leads allows the show to have really dark and depressing storylines without becoming a total bummer. This was also a perfect episode for someone who’s never seen the show to sample to see if they approve.
6. (7) “Sons of Anarchy” – I’m starting to feel like I rank this show so high because of how incredible Season 2 was. Now I’m entertained by the season and am enjoying it, but it’s been a lot slower to develop than the previous two seasons. Long story short, the main character’s son was kidnapped in last season’s finale. Through six episodes they still don’t have him back and I am nervous they won’t until this season’s finale. I’m not in favor of the storyline stretching out that far, nor did I expect it to.
7. (8) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – Now that was the kind of Sunny episode I was looking for. This season hasn’t been great, but if they can take the momentum from this one we could be looking and a nice comeback story.
9. (9) “30 Rock” – They did the show live this week. I also feel weird watching live shows that aren’t SNL, like something’s wrong with my TV. It was good for a show that obviously was put on with a higher degree of difficulty, but I can’t say it was one of the funnier episodes they’ve ever done.
10. (10) “Boardwalk Empire” – I thought last week’s episode was the best of the season and so my expectations were high for this week’s episode. The result was I was pretty disappointed. Now it’s not a bad show or even a bad episode, but my attention span is not what it once was and I was looking for more action then build up and development, and I got the latter.
11. (13) “Hawaii 5-O” – The show is just good. I can’t believe I have stuck with it but the characters are top notch, the setting is beautiful in HD and I like the storylines.
12. (14) “How I Met Your Mother” – This episode made me remember how thankful I am to not still be living in NYC. Thank you HIMYM.
13. (11) “Cougar Town” – This ship is sinking and I am sadly going down with it after telling so many people to hop on with me. It’s just a little too real this year, when last season was more fun. Also, I never really took notice of it last year, but they drink A LOT of wine. And during the day!
14. (15) “The Office” – H – I – R – P – E – S. We can all agree that this season is gonna focus a lot on Michael and Holly ending up together, right? Also, I read this episode might have been showcasing Andy as a potential replacement for Michael and his Sex Ed class was a trial for how he’d run the office. I don’t think I’d be super thrilled or super upset with that decision.
15. (12) “Raising Hope” – I still like this show a lot, but I noticed this past week was more of an episode where I would say “That’s funny” rather than laugh. That’s not good.
16. (16) “Fringe” – This show’s having a very strong third season, but I also don’t think it’s a show you can just jump right into either. So the boat’s pretty much sailed for all of you except Matt and me.
17. (17) “Family Guy” – The NLCS was on instead.
18. (19) “Eastbound and Down” – Yeah, I don’t know. There are funny lines, but the genius of the first season was they took this douchebag guy and made him loveable. This season he’s more annoying and tough to take a lot of the time. Plus, I miss a lot of the characters they took away and am not loving the new ones. However, that’s Nash Bridges as his dad! I am excited to see where that goes.
19. (18) “Glee” – I’m starting to not even remember what these episodes are about. The storylines are just all over the place every week. There was a girl on girl scene between the two cheerleaders though, so it’s not like I am gonna stop watching.
20. (20) “The Event” – This just got a full season order, which means they will make 22 or so episodes and it won’t be cancelled (if it is at all) until after this year. This show isn’t the worst thing on TV by any stretch of the imagination. But I think they made a huge mistake advertising it as “24” and “Lost” combined. There’s really nowhere to go but down from there.
21. (24) “Running Wilde” – This show’s getting funnier, but sadly it doesn’t appear to be long for the TV world. It’s a shame, but I’ll take my 30 minutes back per week so I can spend more time on my Madden Franchise. 2012 season, Pats are 14-0, Brady has 55 TD passes and my running back is named Tiger Hawthorne. I also have a rookie WR named Sleepy Richardson who is NASTY!
22. (22) “Survivor” – I will confess I haven’t seen this episode yet. I know they mixed up the tribes and Tyrone got voted off and I can’t say I am a fan of either of those happenings.
23. (25) “The League” – Maybe the best episode of the season, still a terrible season.
24. (22) “Parenthood” – I want it to be known that I did enjoy this show’s first season. This season is just too boring and maybe a little too adult for me. I am just not enjoying watching it nearly as much and I don’t care about the plots either. That’s a bad recipe for getting enjoyment out of a TV show by the way.

Week 3 TV Power Rankings

1. (1) “Chuck” – Another very enjoyable episode with some main characters returning (Big Mike) and some guest stars returning as well (Stone Cold Steve Austin and Nicole Richie).
2. (2) “Mad Men” – Wow, American Tobacco just got Drapered. The only downside is Draper’s badass ad was essentially the nexus of those annoyingly self righteous anti-smoking campaigns.
3. (4) “Community” – Best comedy on TV right now, hands down. If you watched it this week and didn’t notice the Abed storyline occurring in the background, google it. Amazing what we sometimes don’t pick up on.
4. (3) “Jersey Shore” – The Situation’s at minute 14 of his 15 minutes of fame. I have a feeling Season 3 isn’t going to be something to look forward to after this season’s limp to the finish line.
5. (5) “Modern Family” – I was disappointed with the use of Nathan Lane as Pepper Saltzman. I thought there was a lot they could have done there and it was surprisingly underwhelming.
6. (7) “Terriers” – Well they got out of the huge pickle they were in. Now it’ll be interesting to see how engrossing the show will be without that specific story arc.
7. (8) “Sons of Anarchy” – Oh boy. I’ve been waiting all season long for this bubble to finally burst and I feel like it’s coming in next week’s episode.
8. (6) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – I don’t think this season has been one of their best. I expected a lot more from this episode and besides Charlie’s hockey wig I didn’t get much out of it.
9. (15) “30 Rock”– I haven’t thought the past few seasons of this show have been up to the standard of the first two. But these past two weeks have been classics, especially this week.
10. (16) “Boardwalk Empire” – I was too difficult on this show last week. Clearly, they were just setting up the characters in the first three episodes and now they’re taking off. I can’t wait to see what Jimmy does to the guy who cut up his prostitute girlfriend’s face.
11. (9) “Cougar Town” – Seems like a bit of a sophomore slump for this show. It’s still funny and I enjoy it, but it’s nowhere near the quality of last season. It’s also making me feel like kind of a jerk because I recommended it so highly to people.
12. (12) “Raising Hope” – I don’t really laugh out loud that frequently at this show, but I just find the way most of these characters are to be very amusing. I enjoy my weekly view into their warped world.
13. (10) “Hawaii 5-O” – Still liking this show. The only reason it continues to slip is I like other shows more.
14. (13) “How I Met Your Mother” – I thought the last episode was the best of the season so far and I liked how it set up the arc of Ted designing the building. And I also love jalapeno poppers, but with cheddar not cream cheese.
15. (12) “The Office” – Loved Michael doing a full “Law and Order” for his audition, but other than that I wasn’t head over heels for this episode and haven’t really been for this season yet either.
16. (X) “Fringe” – So I kept forgetting to put this in. I like the way they have set up this season where it’s almost two shows with one being in focus each week. I know Matt has voiced his displeasure with it previously, but I am into it and excited to see where it’s going.
17. (14) “Family Guy” – Pretty much is what it is at this point. I’m laughing, just not nearly as much as I used to.
18. (17) “Glee” – Pretty serious themes in this week’s episode. This season has been uneven to me for most of the year, but I thought their version of “What if God was One of us” was the best song they’ve done this season.
19. (18) “Eastbound and Down” – Geez, this sh*t’s getting heavy, huh? I know it’s the character and he’s supposed to act like that, but I don’t think April would put up with the way Kenny talks to Vida and her son at the carnival. If it’s just that she’s so desperate for a man to want to be a father figure to her son then that makes this really sad because we know Kenny’s fatherly inclinations are not gonna last.
20. (20) “The Event” – Ok, it pulled me back in a little bit with all the dead airplane passengers waking up at the end of this week’s episode. However, I’m aware it’s teetering on the brink of cancellation so I won’t be getting too invested.
21. (19) “Mike & Molly” – Usually the last show I watch and I don’t think that’s gonna change soon. But as I keep saying, a lot worse ways to spend 30 minutes.
22. (21) “Parenthood” – I feel like this show has just hit a comfort zone and is just plugging along. While I guess that’s kind of like real life, that’s not why I watch TV so I am not entertained.
23. (22) “Survivor” – I’d like to ask the audience since I’ve only watched Season 1 and last season of this show, is this a good season? I feel like it really isn’t at all.
24. (23) “Running Wilde” – I thought this was the best episode they’ve done yet, especially the stuff with Will Arnett being so into the cake celebrations at the office. It’s too little too late though, as I’m predicting this is the next show off the rankings.
25. (24) “The League” – So last week I complained about how it’s not relatable to guys in real fantasy leagues. This week, they responded by having a scene of graphic g@y s*x. Plus, I am not happy Rafi is leaving the league (and I assume the show), he’s had some funny moments. Way to go guys.

Week 2 TV Power Rankings

FYI: "My Generation" was cancelled and thus removed from the rankings

Previous week's ranking in parentheses

1. (1) “Chuck” – I’m sorry guys, but I don’t think this one’s moving for a while
2. (3) “Mad Men” – This show is very good
3. (2) “Jersey Shore” – I’m surprised there isn’t more widespread love for Pauly D, he’s really the only character besides the Situation that I’d watch in a spinoff
4. (5) “Community” – Matt’s boy Drew Carey made a guest appearance this week, and this show has been the most consistent comedy so far
5. (4) “Modern Family” – I felt like it took a step back last week because it was pandering to the complaints all last season that we never saw Cameron and Mitchell kiss
6. (7) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – Those first two episodes weren’t really classic Sunny, but their buying of a boat this past week was more like the better episodes they’ve done. Dennis’ plan about the implications of being out on the open water and Mac’s reaction were great.
7. (10) “Terriers” – I think they may have gone too far with the plotline in the last episode, but it’s been an amazing start to a new series so far.
8. (8) “Sons of Anarchy” – Just so you know, don’t get used to this being down so low as these continue
9. (6) “Cougar Town” – This one falls a little bit because the second episode was more like one of those downer “Scrubs” episodes and that’s not what I look for from this show
10. (9) “Hawaii 5-O” – It’s unfair to this show that it went down one spot, but that is only because of how good “Terriers” is. I like this show a lot and as Brian knows, I don’t normally like crappy procedurals like this.
11. (14) “Raising Hope” – This is my favorite new comedy. The dad’s waiting for the mom to come have sex and how much information he was sharing with his son was hysterical. Matt and Aaron, the chick with the ukulele that Ted married on “Scrubs” was in this one with a dead tooth.
12. (15) “The Office” – Alright Office, I’m liking what I am seeing. I really liked the insight into Michael’s obsession with being a manager and Pam’s bit about becoming Office Administrator. Not top ten quality yet, but I got my eye on it.
13. (16) “How I Met Your Mother” – Still not getting a whole lot of laughs this season, but this week’s episode with Barney’s family was quite touching. And Barney trying to join the sing along was very enjoyable.
14. (11) “Family Guy” – I’m not a big fan of when the right bashes the left, or vice-versa. I just don’t care, so this week’s episode was a wasted half hour for me.
15. (19) “30 Rock” – The second episode was as close to classic “30 Rock” as it’s been in a long time. Jack’s video teachings for his son was just below the level of his commercial outtakes from season one.
16. (13) “Boardwalk Empire” – I like this show. I do. I just don’t love it. It does seem like it’s starting to pick up a bit more and I was very happy to see Omar from “The Wire” as the guy who coined the phrase “motherf*cker”.
17. (17) “Glee” – I liked the music a lot better in this Britney Spears themed episode. I’ve maintained for a while the Brittany whose on the show was the best dancer they had, but I didn’t know how hot she was until this one. It’s still not as good as last season though.
18. (18) “Eastbound and Down” – Surprisingly no movement with this show despite the return of Stevie Janowski. I do like the owner of the baseball team though. Quick question though, doesn’t his team suck? So how is a closer supposed to help turn them around?
19. (20) “Mike & Molly” – Do you have a half hour to kill? You could do far worse than this show. It’s just pleasant.
20. (12) “The Event” – This show is one part “Flashforward”, one part “V” and one part seasons 2-4 of “Prison Break”. That’s not a good thing. AT ALL.
21. (24) “Parenthood” – If Julie and I didn’t watch this together, then I’d probably stop watching it.
22. (21) “Survivor” – Goodbye Jimmy Johnson. Hello Jimmy T, why didn’t you tell me from the beginning you were a Pats season ticket holder. What do you think of the Moss deal?
23. (25) “Running Wilde” – Better. Still bad, but better.
24. (23) “The League” – This show is bad. Here’s the deal, the chemistry between the characters is good enough where they don’t have to constantly come back to them being put in ridiculous fantasy football related scenarios. It’s supposed to be about a regular fantasy league. Well first off, it’s eight teams, let’s change that right now. Instead of 2 out of towners, have 4, no big deal. Second, we’ve been playing fantasy football since we were in high school. How many NFL players have we met? If I’m not mistaken, I don’t believe it’s a new one every week. Show’s bad.

Week 1 TV Power Rankings

1. "Chuck" – A very enjoyable return to these characters with a good amount of laughs and action
2. "Jersey Shore" – Starting to get a little annoyed with a fight being advertised for the episode and then it doesn’t start until 10:57 and all the good stuff is the following week
3. "Mad Men" – I realize most of you don’t watch this, but it was a REALLY good episode and Jon Hamm was better than he was in “The Town”
4. "Modern Family" – “I don’t think I’d be a very inspiring disabled person”, “That was my Vietnam, and I was in Vietnam” and “Angela Lansbury was the Grand Marshall. Good time she wrote.” made this my #1 comedy of the week
5. "Community" – This is the funniest show you’re not watching and Betty White’s guest role this week was surprisingly understated.
6. “Cougar Town” – They play a movie game where you describe the plot of combining two movies with before and after titles. For example, Brian and I were playing and emailed each other almost the exact same clues for “Knocked Up in the Air” on Friday.
7. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – Good to see they tied up that whole Dennis being married thing in one week
8. “Sons of Anarchy” – Just so you know, don’t get used to this being down so low as these continue
9. “Hawaii 5-O” – Shocked at how much I enjoyed this. Will I continue to watch it on a weekly basis is the real question?
10. “Terriers” – Another solid episode from this show with one of the better, “Wait, what the hell was that?” endings I’ve seen in a long time. There’s still plenty of time to get into this show.
11. “Family Guy” – It wasn’t close to the funniest episodes they’ve ever done and the only really funny thing was the running joke about Quagmire’s date. The murder mystery aspect was really well done though and it was an entertaining and enjoyable way to start the season.
12. “The Event” – Am I intrigued? My goodness yes. Do I want “The Event” to be more than the plane disappearing? Yes. Do I think that’s what “The Event” was? Yes.
13. “Boardwalk Empire” – This show is amazingly written, wonderfully acted and beautifully shot. However, when I watch it I get the feeling I am only watching it because I’ve read how great it is and I don’t wanna miss out. Of course that could quickly change too.
14. “Raising Hope” – If you liked “My Name is Earl” you’ll like this. I liked “Earl” and they grill hamburgers on shopping carts turned sideways, so I’m in.
15. “The Office” – I think it’s so low because I’m still disappointed with the non-Wedding episodes of last season. There’s a lot of potential with Dwight owning the building though. Creed’s Twitter rant was good too, but I didn’t like the Luke stuff. I also don’t like Erin dating my old roommate from NYC Gabe.
16. “How I Met Your Mother” – We’re supposed to be getting answers and it still feels like we’re just getting dicked around. Long shot prediction: That’s Barney and Robin’s wedding that Ted is the best man for.
17. “Glee” – I like this show when I know the songs, the last two songs were ones I had never heard so I fast forwarded through them. I did like the Lady Gaga song in the ladies room and when Finn told Rachel he had to convince the rest of the Glee Club to not give her a Code Red.
18. “Eastbound and Down” – I think the next episodes are going to be funnier, at least I hope so. This one was just too much set up for me to rank it higher, but I do think him playing on the Mexican team has lots of potential. I also always enjoy Kenny just randomly flipping people off.
19. “30 Rock” – Matt Damon was funny, but there’s so much stuff that is just ugh, like the Tracy and Kenneth stuff.
20. “Mike & Molly” – an enjoyable 30 minutes, and will also be the first thing erased from my DVR if it gets too full
21. “Survivor” – I’m not sure I like ANY of these people except Jimmy Johnson. And JJ’s whole strategy of saying no one’s gonna give me a million dollars is genius.
22. “My Generation” – There’s potential for a good show here with characters that could be likeable and interesting. I have no hope this show will realize this potential and spent most of the hour just feeling bad for Todd from “Wedding Crashers”
23. “The League” – Are we sure we just didn’t get overly excited about a show about fantasy football here?
24. “Parenthood” – Boring, boring week. Though I read this week’s is supposed to be really good
25. “Running Wilde” – Not giving up hope here yet, not expecting much of a turnaround either though

Hey Remember Us!

So we have been away for a while and I can't say when we'll definitely return to active blogging and podcasting, but I hope it's soon.

With that being said, I have started writing weekly television power rankings for my friends and thought I should share them with the masses of 3R fans who are clamoring for any content we can provide for them.

I am gonna put up all four right now so you can go back and see where my thought process has gone. I have to believe you're interested in things like that or my self esteem is just going to go in a nose dive and I don't have your weekly calls to the podcast to bring me back up.

Hope everyone's doing well and enjoy the rankings!

What's next for Megan Fox

Last night we reported on the podcast how Megan Fox will not be in the third Transformers movie (I almost wrote film and then I realized that's like calling the Twilight books novels). As Fox normally found herself in skimpy outfits and compromised positions in the two previous movies, this is terrible news for perverts everywhere. Now I won't lie and say I don't find Megan Fox attractive, unless my girlfriend is near me. She isn't, right? Now it's 11am, she's at work, we're good. Instead I am more interested in discussing where both of these franchises, Transformers and Megan Fox's body, go from here.

Megan Fox's career

Ever since Fox burst onto the scene it's painfully obvious she wants to be Angelina Jolie. However, you can't just get similar tattoos as someone and think that will also translate their talent. If that were so, I'd have arm sleeves like LeBron, and maybe a tramp stamp like Parvati from Survivor just for the added sex appeal. Sadly for Fox all that she shares with Jolie is an ability to stir a hatred among everyday women to the point they ignore Fox's obvious beauty (saying it's trashy) and holding it against anyone who does find the starlet attractive.

As for her career, well it hasn't really flushed out yet has it? Aside from starring in the two Transformers movies she's only starred in two other films, as the titular character in "Jennifer's Body" and a supporting role in "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People". Now think about that for a second. For the past three years, how long have you gone without seeing a magazine cover or something on the internet with Megan Fox? A couple days? And yet she's been in four movies in three years!

Her next two roles are in "Jonah Hex" with Josh Brolin and "Passion Play" with Mickey Rourke. You know what those two movies sound like five years ago? Straight to DVD. Take away "No Country for Old Men" and "The Wrestler" and those movies are winding up in the $5 bin at a gas station.

Whether it was Fox's decision to leave or not, I think her comments about Michael Bay kind of sealed her fate. I don't think she would have ever been a long term star if she'd stayed, but it would have been nice to pick up one more paycheck. Now I think we've just gotten closer to Fox and Brian Austin Green starring in Mr. and Mrs. Smith II. What a film that will be.

Transformers

As I already stated, the first "Transformers" was great in theaters, but the movie really declined after additional viewings. The second movie picked up right where it left off as it was almost as bad as "Batman and Robin" and the second "Pirates of the Caribbean" combined. So far on this third movie they are batting .500 by getting rid of the racist Transformers (RRR Award Winners) but also cutting Fox loose. I don't see where these movies can go from here and I fully expect to skip this next venture. However, as a marketing tool, I think Fox was the biggest live action star attached to these movies and losing her could prove to be a lot worse for these movies than Michael Bay thinks.

I don't know or care who to believe in this rift. Either Megan Fox quit or she was fired. But the end game is going to be bad for both parties in my opinion.

5 Reasons "UP" Should Not Be Nominated For Best Picture

For a list of the nominees for Best Picture or any other category, click here. And make sure to email us so you can take part in our Pick 'Em Oscar Tournament where you can win great prizes!

Alright, enough PSA. Let's get into this...

1. Lack of Imagination: So Up is about widower Carl Frederickson who is forced to leave his home. Instead, he ties a bunch of balloons to his house and sets flight to the mystical and mysterious land of Paradise Falls. Early in the movie this is supposed to be the land from another time, almost like stepping into Jurassic Park if you will. But when Carl gets there the “beast” he encounters is an overgrown emu with the features of Toucan Sam. I mean seriously? I bet if we went to the home of director Pete Docter we’d see this lackluster beast on his fridge.It’s probably some KinderCare color-by-number concoction of his kid. I can’t believe this is the best they could come up with. Even in movies like Bee Movie or A Bug’s Life there is a since of greater imagination and creativity; the viewer is presented with much a more interesting world…and those movies aren’t even that good!

2. One Trick Pony: I’ve said on our podcast before that there is nothing wrong with a one trick pony as long as that pony does the trick very well. Up is a pony that needs to be put down. Ugh, this movie – which is supposed to be comedic, especially for children – isn’t very funny. Sure there are the classic physical humor spots where the character gets whacked in the face or flung across the jungle, but isn’t that what bad movies like Deck the Halls and Christmas with the Kranks are for? Comedically speaking this film falls flat. And it’s not unfunny because it’s overly dramatic; it is unfunny because the writing team decided to put their eggs in one basket. And that basket was this punch line by the talking dogs: Squirrel! Ok, 1st time = funny. 2nd time = a little forced. 3rd time on = what the hell are we doing here?

3. Best Animated of the Year: Since Up is the only animated movie nominated the first question you naturally ask yourself is “is up the best animated movie of the year?” If you saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox or even the somewhat confusing, mildly disturbing Coraline then you would expect Up to be sensational. It isn’t. You know how rollercosters make you wait 60seconds while they trudge you up the track and then you get that 3minutes of awesome? Yeah, this movie is the exact opposite. The first 5minutes are amazing, beautiful, uplifting, and heartbreaking. The rest of the movie is a slow crawl to the city of Boredomstanzia. But I’m glad that the Academy is deciding to recognize animation among the year’s best movies, however that recognition should have gone to “Mr. Fox”…now if we could only convince them that comedies and Superhero/villain movies need to be considered as well.

4. Dug: First, I don’t know why his name is listed and spelled like this, but whatever. Second, I can’t stand this dog. Dug is the….well….let’s just say that he makes Jessica Simpson look like Einstein (are Jessica Simpson jokes still funny?). You know how Ashton Kutcher as Kelso on “That 70’s Show” on can be stupid and it’s somewhat funny. But then Tommy Chong came on as the exceptionally dumb stoner and got more and more airtime and it was just unfunny and sad? Yeah, that’s Dug. He’s too dumb and annoying to be funny...and his voice! He’s the pits.

5. Seriously?!: Did anyone in the Academy see Away We Go???!! I know I’ve talked about that movie way too much (and it won my 2009 Really Reels for favorite movie of the year), but I will defend it as one of the best movies of the year until someone can convincingly prove otherwise. Watch it. Even if you think I give it too much credit you’ll agree that it could take down Up 9 days a week.

I know people may say I am judging this movie too harshly because it’s a children’s movie. Ok, I get that. But if there is a guy who loves these “children’s” movies it’s me. I see most of them and in the last few years some of my favorite MOVIES include: The Incredibles, Wall-E, Over the Hedge, and pretty much any Wallace & Gromit out there. C'mon, I think we can all agree Up is overrated and does not deserve to be be nominated for Best Picture...even on a list of 10 nominees.

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