Last Comic Standing - Final 3

I've only been able to catch bits and pieces of this season, which has been so radically different from all the last, although this show does seem to morph a bit in some way every year. With the new format, we at home get more of a say, instead of watching comics try to knock each other out every week Survivor-style…

And every time I have tuned in or been able to catch it, one comic always seems to stand head and shoulders above the rest, and that is, of course, Gerry Dee. Now this could be due to a few things that have little to do with comedy itself, the fact that Gerry is a Canadian (I always support my countrymen, consciously or subconsciously), and also that this is his 3^rd or 4^th try through the LCS warpath, and his success, or lack of it, on this show, will determine his future in comedy…But that all being said, Mr. Dee is one funny guy.

Maybe its just his style, or the reasons I mentioned above, but it seemed like this guy was going to cruise to the end of this competition, grasp that cheesy LCS trophy and ride off to a ‘comedy club near you’. But…that just didn’t happen. Gerry was booted last night, in favor of a clichéd redneck and a clichéd, joke stealing black guy…and I’ll tell ya, I almost cried…well, not really, but it sure did suck.

Every season, it seems like the person that should win almost never does…and in the past, we could have blamed it on the Survivor format, but not this year, when we had full voting powers pretty much from the get-go…and we still get someone in the end that wasn’t the best or funniest from the competition.

John Reep, funny guy, really funny, but it all seemed like it was the same sorta thing, all about Hhhhhickorrrry, and Lavell is all about being black, or being fat, something that has worked for comedians, either fat, or black, or both, for a loooooooong time.

Gerry just seemed to bring something more, something quirkier, but maybe his brand of comedy wasn’t for everyone, I don’t know…but it damn sure worked for me…and Gerry, if you ever do visit a local comedy club near me, I’ll be there…

In terms of John Reep or Lavell Crawford, I think Lavell will win, but I think John has the funnier stuff…I guess we’ll have to wait with bated breath…or y’know, just regular waiting, with regular breath...either way...

The Red Star has returned...

Hello to anyone out in the interweb actually reading my little blog, because by all accounts, I appear to be back and raring to go on a new season of TV, a summer of TV and movies, and plenty more.

I've been away for a few months as some of our favorites went dark for the summer, and kept myself extremely busy, but did manage to watch Big Brother and Last Comic Standing, two of my only favs in the reality show gauntlet I wrote about before going on hiatus...

Just wanted to post a quick hello to anyone or everyone , and just throw it out there that the Red Star Review is alive and kickin' again...hope you enjoy...

Apologies

Sorry for not posting, for anyone that actually looks at this site, I don't think its even a soul, but if there is someone, somewhere, reading my little blog, than I'm sorry .

I've gotten a new job, which isn't going to leave me alot, if any, time to post new lil bits on here, I'll do my best to get a few books and movies out there, but the prospects aren't looking great...

Again, probably no one readin this, lol, but hey, a guy can dream...

Studio 60: Burning it Off

Oh Studio 60, such promise...

Loved this show, loved it when it came out, loved it when it got crammed in a crappy timeslot and I still loved it when it got put on a mega-hiatus.

Then the rumors started to fly that the show was done, canceled, that Matt Albie and Danny Tripp were not long for this world.

When the axe finally came down, I was disappointed, mostly because I felt this show had so much promise, even if it took itself waaaaay too seriously. Every week we were faced with these moral dilemmas that somehow dovetailed into comedy sketches. The heavy worked on West Wing, because what those characters were doing was actually important, running the free world and all. But on Studio 60, it just felt very contrived.

Last year, around this time, we all learned that there were going to be two behind-the-scenes comedy sketch shows. One run by Aaron Sorkin, Emmy winning writer and producer, the other by Tina Fey (who I love btw) who used fart and poop jokes on a regular basis for the last few years on SNL.

Seemed pretty clear cut that Tina was going to get her fifteen minutes in the primetime sun and be back to writing romantic comedies for the teenage set by now, but somehow, that didn't quite happen.

And it was because 30 Rock didn't take itself so seriously, it jabbed at everything in the right way, and Tina (God love her) made herself the butt the majority of the jokes, humanizing her even more than she already was.

So here we are, a year later, Tina's show has been picked up for a second season, and the sets of Studio 60 are sitting out back in the dumpster, the remaining episodes being burned off at a time when everyone is completely TV'd out.

A sad ending to a show that I still like, and a show I really wished they had tried to shift around the schedule and find a good place for. Monday at 10 clearly wasn't a good fit, but nothing else was tried. Kind of like Andy Barker, almost felt like they gave up on it before it even got started.

With the star power they had, the names behind the camera, and putting pen to paper, it could have been so much more. But maybe that was the whole problem, the money it took to make this show didn't pay off with ratings or ad buys...and that's what it really comes down to.

And I don't want to get into this too much, at the risk of offending people, but I honestly think on top of the money, the star power, the expectations it fell short of...Studio 60 was just too damn smart for popular consumption...

Aaron Sorkin will be back, somewhere, sometime, so will Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, so will most of the rest, but for Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan and the gang over at 30 Rock, this was kind of their only shot, and they nailed it.

I'll enjoy watching you burn off Studio 60...hopefully something like you comes along again, but the next time, I hope people are ready...

After the Seasons are through...

Well all the major finales have come and gone, some were absolutely stellar (Lost, The Simpsons 400th episode special) and some were not so stellar (Heroes, Grey's Anatomy).

Either way, the schedule is clear until at least September, and for Lost (sob), February. We are about to be run through the gamut of reality television for the next few months, with the only really appetizing shows being, in my opinion at least, Last Comic Standing and Big Brother. I will most likely be reviewing both, but I did try to make a pledge not to watch BB this year, as it generally ends up completely overtaking my life in the summertime, but we'll see how that goes.

What this really means though is that I'll be diversifying things a bit here, adding more book and movie reviews, as well as any crazy ramblings fir for public consumption.

To anyone that has been to this page (all one of you lol), hopefully you like the changes and are still interested by what I have to say.

Lost: The Lack of Locke

John Locke is by far, I think at least, the most central and important character to this show.

So the fact that we saw all of about 5 minutes of him in the last 2 episodes of the season was a bit of a tragedy. But he did the 'work' that WALT, yes WALT told him he had to do. Was this Jacob, the Smoke Monster, actually Walt? Who knows.

Anyways, Locke buried his trusty knife right into Naomi's skull, but not before the satellite phone begins to dial. It was the showdown we had been waiting for, and Jack won, defying the (completely right) opinions of Locke, and Ben, seeing nothing else but escape.

Locke had the gun pointed at Jack, and as much as many of us wanted him to pull the trigger, you knew he wasn't going to. If he couldn't kill Anthony Cooper, after all that man has done to him, he's not going to kill Jack.

He could walk, but he was still holding his side, so we're not sure if Walt/Jacob/Smokey actually healed him, or his legs were just the power of positive thinking.

After he couldn't pull the trigger, Locke just went back into the jungle, sad, alone, defeated, as he has been for much of his life. He is such a tragic, conflicted hero, doing what he thinks is best, and finding all he has done means nothing.

Who knows what next season holds for any one of the castaways, but for Mr. Locke, it may be more complicated than the rest, no matter what the last few minutes meant for the path this show is set to chart.

Lost: Through the Looking Glass: Review

Seeing how the last post was kind of a restless rambling, I'm going to give this episode a more thorough blow by blow type of review.

There was three major storylines and one MAJOR twist. I wish i could write major in even bigger letters, and even then it wouldn't really do it justice.

First, The Looking Glass.

Freakin' amazing to see Penny show up like that, and Des was so close, yet so far, once again. Charlie died, semi-needlessly, although he did shut the door to stop the flooding. If that equipment is waterproof, They could theoretically repair the window, open the door, let the water out and use it, but, that's besides the point of everything I mentioned in the previous post. Who even knows who will be there next year. And what was that, like 3 deaths for Mikhail now? And don't really know if he is dead again anyways. Looks like it, but the guy took a spear to the chest and kept rollin, so who knows. Thought one of the women in the Looking Glass might have been Annie, but seems like they were just dispensable Others.

The Beach

We had to know that plan wasn't going to go down well. I was surprised that it was Jin that missed the shot, as he's supposed to be ex-military, and as Rose said, all Bernard did was go hunting. I was also surprised that they did put three shots into the sand, but like Tom said, they're starting to think Ben is out of his mind. Hurley coming out of nowhere to redeem himself was pretty cool, and the Dharma van, which he just had to get running, played the pivotal role, nice. Juliet seems to actually be with the Losties, and although you can never be sure, everything seems to point to Juliet actually turning on the Others.

The Tower

I haven't liked the Jack character in a long time, but tonight I really did. Although as we found out in a jaw dropping, stunning last few minutes, he really did make the wrong decision, and Ben was right. Rousseau and Alex seemed to bond pretty quickly, having their first 'awww' mother-daughter moment when Danielle asks her if she'll help tie Ben up. Awww. I disliked the lack of Locke, which I will get back to in a full posting later on, but he proved yet again that he wasn't a killer, even though I was yelling at the TV for him to pull the trigger.

The Twist

My god, did this change everything. Obviously we were meant to believe this was sometime after Jack's divorce, when he was teetering on alcohol and pain pill addiction, but wow, it sure wasn't. This was an absolutely fantastic idea, and I applaud Lindelof and Cuse for taking such a step. Matthew Fox played this brilliantly, and it was by far the best Jack flashback (or I guess it would be forward) there has been to date. When Kate stepped out of that car, my jaw dropped further than I think it ever has with this show. Too bad they didn't get into who Kate had to get back to or exactly who was in the coffin, but it could easily be Sawyer on both accounts.

Amazing episode, mostly amazing season, can't wait for February.