Larry Hagman Dead in Dallas

I was watching BBC this evening when they announced the death of Larry Hagman. BBC emphasized his role as J R Ewing on Dallas to the exclusion of almost anything else. The Americans they interviewed were always quick to point out his role on I Dream of Jeannie, but the BBC kept returning to Dallas.

Above, I thought I'd point out his role as the President's interpreter in the classic Cold War flick Fail Safe.

Reddi-Made Gender Roles

Lots to chew on about gender roles in this short whipped cream commercial.

Whodunnits - TV in October 2011

I'm a real fan of detective shows on tv. Criminal Minds. CSI NY. The Mentalist. Rizzoli & Isles.

I've been enjoying a new one called Prime Suspect, with Maria Bello. Her character reminds me a bit of Kojak. Maybe it's the hat? To be sure, she's also got the attitude. Watch for Maria Bello to garner a nomination for her portrayal of a female NYPD detective struggling to solve crimes in a man's world.

I've also been watching Unforgettable, a new show with Poppy Montgomery, who used to be on Without A Trace. I've always had a bit of a crush, so I've been hopeful that her new series would succeed, but the jury is still out. I suspect the story line is too complex and gimmicky to last.

I read at Collider that Tim Roth is shopping for a new series since Lie To Me was cancelled earlier this year. I miss the cast of that show and hope they find new vehicles soon. My Tivo Season Pass Manager awaits.

Raccoon Mayhem In My Attic! My Current Favorite TV Commercial

I'm sorry, but I just can't enough of this Allstate commercial. Priceless!

Some Old Spice Silliness

This Old Spice commercial is among the zanier flicks I've seen in a while. Check out their other ads here.

Hiding In Plain Sight

Alex Marshall (Ashley Johnson)

I watch In Plain Sight on a fairly regular basis. An actress named Ashley Johnson appeared in a recent episode as an Amish woman who witnessed a murder. I was sure I'd seen her before but couldn't place her, so I looked her up on IMDB. Turns out that 11 years ago she played Alex, the radical teenaged daughter of Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson), in What Women Want.

When I dug deeper, I found she has guest starred in a number of my favorite tv shows. She played in an episode last summer of Lie to Me. She played the 1966 version of a character in an episode of Cold Case. And she was in an episode of The Mentalist, an episode of CSI, and an episode of Monk. Going back even farther, I found her playing roles in ER, Roseanne, Ally McBeal, Wings, Providence, and Touched By an Angel. She started out around age 7 playing Chrissy Seaver in the last 3 seasons of Growing Pains. (1990-92).

Wrecking Bunny

I love this ad.

Cablevision and Tivo Pass Buck on Tuning Adapter Issue

Cablevision's Cisco STA1520 tuning adapter and my Tivo aren't playing nice together. I keep getting the above message on my tv screen saying that my tuning adapter is connected. I receive the message several times a day and it interrupts any recordings in progress.  Cablevision has switched out the adapter twice with no result. The two companies are pointing fingers at each other, so the problem remains.

Tivo pretended not to know what I was talking about, but it is obvious from the online chatter that the problem is well known in the industry but not yet resolved. It seems to be a problem with something called Switched Digital Video (SDV).  Read the sad saga of another Cablevision customer trying to resolve this issue. Or this one. I'm sure there are many more tales of woe out there as well.

If anyone has a solution to this, I'm interested. Otherwise my next step is to write a formal letter of complaint to the FCC and copy the two companies.

Do Washingtonians Really Drive The 66?

I am a huge fan of Bones, but I was left totally disillusioned by their October 14th Beauty and the Bounty episode. The show is set in Washington, DC but the dialog seemed to be negatively influenced by some careless Angelinos. The episode gave me nasty flashbacks of monster traffic jams on The 5 and The 405 in Los Angeles after the actors kept referring to Washington's Interstate 66 as "The 66." I think I even heard a reference to "The 81." For shame! Washingtonians, like most people on the East Coast, refer to Interstates by their number alone, with no definite article, such as: I like riding on 95 and What a view today on 66!

Let's hope that the writers can clear that jargon from the script next season.

Opulence

MU Pollster Says Christie's 44% Approval Due to Begrudging Dem Support

Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray, a guest today on News 12's New Jersey Power and Politics, attributes Governor Christie's 44% approval rating to Democrats "begrudingly giving him credit for doing something that needed to be done, that is reign in state spending." Murray pointed out that Christie's disapproval rating is also 44%, which is in part due to unpopular budget cuts that "people are crying about." Murray says the lackluster numbers also have to do with voter reluctance to stamp their approval on Christie's approach before they see a cut in their property tax bills.

Murray and hosts Laura Jones and Jim McQueeny believe that the only thing voters want from their government is tax relief. Maybe it's true that many Jersey voters care only about the money in their pockets, but I suspect that results from fear in bad times. It's much like the run on the bank scene in "It's A Wonderful Life."



Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests that you can't think much about your quality of life when you don't have a secure roof over your head. But that doesn't mean quality of life issues aren't worth discussing and considering in our current situation; people are just distracted and fearful. Too few teachers, expensive public transportation, reduced public services, such as closed libraries and reduced public assistance to the poor, are quality of life issues that we need to be weighing, and not just in the context of how funding will affect our pocketbooks. If that's the reality, then God help us. Potter wins.

I don't know, maybe we can't expect quality assessments of our life in Jersey from a couple of news anchors, but Murray should certainly be able to muster more complex thoughts about what's happening in our state than what he offered today.

Allybank Tells Us Through a Child's Eyes

I absolutely love this commercial!