duckyxdale: December 2005

The Straight-Edge Guy Loves Weed(s)...

So yesterday I ditched HBO for Showtime. Why you ask? HBO is done with original programming until March 2006 and when it returns it�s with "The Soprano�s" which I stopped watching in Season 2.

Showtime has �Masters of Horror� which I�ve been dying to see. If you don�t know what it is, it�s a 12 segment mini-series with 12 different horror directors each week (Tobe Hopper, Wes Craven, Dario Argento, etc.); �Huff� which I really liked when I saw two episodes last year; �The L Word� which returns in January with a new season � those lesbians are so much fun to watch!

That brings us to �Weeds� starring the always amazing Mary-Louise Parker as a widowed mother of two that�s taken to marijuana dealing to sustain her family�s financial needs. As a straight-edge guy I didn�t know if I would like this show. There are things in movies that I just don�t like to see and people smoking pot makes me cringe a little when I watch it on television. I don�t know why, it just does� Its kind of like when people chew on ice or when they pour liquid into a glass with ice, that noise just bothers me so everytime someone does that in a movie I cringe� it�s a similar sensation.

But, after all the hype and acclaim the show received, I felt I had to give it a try and I�m surprisingly happy to announce that it�s hands down incredible television! Mary-Louise Parker is a shoo-in for an Emmy nomination if not a win for her pushed to the limits performance. She�s just a struggling mother trying to provide for her kids and shelter them from the horrors of reality after her husband drops dead.

It�s a darkly funny show (watch Elizabeth Perkins as she says this about her teenage daughter after watching a video of her daughter flipping her off after exposing her father�s infidelity: �You little cunt� I should have had an abortion� it looks and sounds harsh but in context its quite brilliant!) that on occasion becomes almost unbearably painful in its portrayal of desperation and grief. This is a must-see!

Everwood - Dec. 8, 2005

Honestly this show gets better each week. I've always loved it, but for some reason they've really hit their stride in this 4th season. There's just so much emotional honesty and such history in each interaction that it has created this desperation and sadness to these characters lives that just fits without being melodramatic.

Now for the melodramatic... I bawled my eyes out for the last 10 minutes this week. When Ephram and Amy had their moment with the postcards I could barely see the screen. When he had no other choice than to tell her he still loved her, a single tear streamed down my rosy cheek and I sniveled... it was heartbreaking because in part for her, it was just a release. God its so good. And the tears weren't helped by the bookending of the episode with Devotchka's "How It Ends" - that's a weeper!

Veronica Mars - Dec. 7, 2005

So I was just telling my friend Donna yesterday that I didn't really miss Wallace and what made me tear up the most in last nights episode? When Veronica opened the door to find Wallace as her New Years Eve surprise. It just fit, it was just what she needed after such a harsh episode. She again is ostracize from the 09ers, she didn't have a winter break, and she just found out that her ex good friend just died after waking up from a coma pregnant and the father is Veronica's previous and current boyfriend Duncan Kane. Its a long week and a girl could use her Wallace. The Perfect Moment character wise.

Poor Dpt. Leo, I love him.

Poor Logan, god its amazing how Jason Dohring has made a character so evil be so incredibly sensitive on occasion.

Veronica Mars, I'll miss thee until January!

Gauntlet 2

I hope you know by now that I am a huge fan of the MTV Challenges (Battle of the Sexes, Inferno, Gauntlet) and each season they just get better and better as each of these has-beens tries to extend actually making a living by inching out another 30 seconds of not so fame. Tempers always flare and with each season comes ancient grudges and new hate because one cast members will inevitably be sleeping with another�s ex or some sort of bullshit � it�s so incestuous in that RW/RR world� the point here is that it�s Drama-Rama and I love every teeny-bopper second of it. Give me the Veronica and Katie duels, bring me the Coral�s of this world, serve me up a dish of testosterone that only MTV casting agents can find� oh and liquor them up beyond belief while putting them up mansion style in an exotic locale where bikinis reign supreme and nudity is all the better. Quite the recipe for success.

Episode 1 aired last night and this season it�s Veterans v. Rookies (sort of) as these Real Worlders and Road Rulers duke it out for $300,000. Gone are my guaranteed favorites Coral, The Miz, Abe, Tonya and Veronica (basically all of the trouble makers and stars of war) and I miss them so. Back is Katie, Beth, Julie and Ruthie who also like to stir it up a bit! The surprise of the night came when Joe, Puck�s replacement from RW-SF and reality tv escapee made the mistake of coming back to MTV after being away from the spotlight for over 10 years. She cracked within minutes of being surrounded by the mostly newbies and early 20-somethings who like to party hard and ugly. She fucking flipped!

Flipping Channels! OMG!!!

Omg, Is that Josh Ford from �Popular� banging Bruno Campos in the ass on Nip/Tuck?

That�s Hot!

Arrested Development - STill The Best Fucking Show On Television!

First can I honestly state that the cancellation of this amazingly brilliant show makes me fucking sick to my stomach? It�s without a doubt the dirtiest little secret on television that isn�t really a secret at all because it�s been a high profile critical darling for the past three years.

AD is a show that only gets better with time because 90% of the jokes within this show come from previous episode references. The loosest plot in history (its been 3 years and we�ve really not progressed at all with the Bluth scandal) is forgiven because its all about moving the inside jokes further along, not the story AND THAT�S FUNNY!

Last night Oscar darling Charlize Theron ended her multi-episode stint as Rita, the British MR.F (Mentally Retarded Female) that Michael Bluth fell for at the beginning of the season. From genius spy to quirky Brit eccentric all the way to MR.F we�ve followed the gullible and lovelorn Michael to the amazing reveal last night (with bonus George Michael Star Wars Kid footage)! There was plastic fruit eating, inside out clothes dressing, and even a genius aside related to Rita�s recent plastic surgery (including a pre-surgery pic straight from Theron�s film Monster which actually brought a tear to my eye).

How can this madness come to an end? HOW?

Veronica Mars - Update

MEG IS PREGNANT! Holy Crud! Was that a shocker or what? This show continues to shine in its second seasons! Logan is turning out to be even more intriguing and deep than last season and he scares me because he is so damn reckless; Duncan is surprisingly dull � well until we discovered he probably knocked up the not so comatose Meg � when did she wake up? The Casablancas are stealing the show (this past week�s showdown with Kendall and Trina Echolls was deliciously bitter and I loved ever second of it � can we hope for more) and could The Beav and Mac be cuter together? Love them.

Here�s what I am not missing: Wallace or for that matter his DB of a girlfriend. I love that Wallace had to �leave� for money reasons in reality. UPN had to scale back some characters episodes so that they could keep the show afloat this season. If you notice, Weevil�s role was reduced even though his size is growing. I didn�t realize Wallace was expendable until he was no longer there, then I realized I didn�t really miss him as long as Veronica has Logan to play with in the witty banter department!

And I have to say that this season�s double mystery is a great successor to last season�s Lily Kane incident. Felix�s death coupled with the bus accident is one hell of a way to come back after having Harry Hamlin schtupping and killing his son�s high school girlfriend. I also love that last years mystery didn�t just disappear and that the impact and consequences didn�t just fade away� everyone is still affected by it and they continue the storyline and ramifications slowly through each episode this seasons. Incredible writing and amazing acting is pushing Veronica Mars to the top of my must-see list!