Channelup

Leslie is such a active member of the the Pawnee landscape that she literally has started a community garden in the vacant pit. Can you blame someone for growing pot in said garden? I cannot. The Stakeout was an interesting episode for Parks and Recreation . I liked it for a couple of reasons. for starters, it featured considerably less Leslie Knope. This is a positive move considering the writer's seeming over reliance on her character. Tonight's episode spread the wealth in such a way that I didn't feel The Stakeout was about any particular character but instead about the cast as a whole. It was about everyone and no one all at once. Mark and Ann's date, Tom's idiocy in the name of racial profiling, Ron's hernia, and Andy's decent into the literal pit of hell. I liked The Stakeout for it uniformity. A couple of other notes on the episode. It isnt easy making a guy just sitting totally still and doing nothing funny. Damned if Ken Tremendous and the...

The name just rolls off the tongue doesn't it? Watched this tonight mostly because I didn't want to just watch the first half hour of Flash Forward (thoughts on this show coming tomorrow). I have a few, non too original thoughts on this SNL in primetime format. In all honesty I'm surprised Saturday Night Live hasn't tried this sooner. Their product is more than viable evidenced by the show having been on television and fairly relevant over the last 150 years. Considering NBC decided to chuck Leno on five nights a week, having the SNL cast out there for a half hour on Thursdays leading up to Parks and Rec and The Office seems totally logical. They aren't reinventing the comedic wheel, but what NBC is obviously going with a low cost (and possibly low return) solution for primetime. It makes perfect sense. Why develop a whole new show, hire new staff, film, promote and whatever else goes with a new show when the talent is already just sitting around 30 Rocke...

This week Fox announced that they had picked up Glee for a full season run. This is huge news in Fox’s commitment to a show that has gotten progressively better each week. Tonight’s episode “Preggers” was not only Glee’s best (by far) but a testament that a show can mix music, humor, drama, high school, and real world issues into a perfect mix of television. Click here to continue reading at CinemaBlend

A couple of years ago I thought about getting a second job to earn some extra cash. After some careful deliberation I decided on getting my real estate license. Man do I wish Sons of Anarchy had been on at the time because I could have saved myself some time and effort by just making a living running some guns (or at least gone legit and financially backed a porno studio). So goes the life of SAMCRO. Click here to read the rest at CinemaBlend.

This summer Mrs. Channelup was dying to see "The Nightman Cometh," Its Always Sunny's broadway-esque rendition of the Charlie's season 3 ending play. I balked, but now regret it to some degree. The gang would have probably made a fairly hilarious spectacle. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is like Curb Your Enthusiasm for the young, drunk and stupid crowd. I mean this is the best possible sense. The formula of Ridiculous premise + inane ranting dialogue + actors and actresses that can pull it off = comedy fucking gold. There aren't many funnier shows on television. Consider tonight's season premiere where Dee strives to become a surrogate mother strictly for the cash and residual benefits while the rest of the gang exploits a family foreclosing on their home. Does any other show make so much light of two topics more unfunny? That the gang is too stupid to pull either ploy off makes the show that much better. I always wonder how much of Its Alwa...

I love a good rumor. I love spreading said rumor. I like embellishing it and I especially enjoy telling everyone within earshot. In this way I can 100% identify with one Mr. Michael Scott. Everyone hates being the last to know. Jim and Pam are pregnant. We discovered this at the end of season five (a truly great moment of television). They have decided to not tell the rest of the office in an effort to avoid the annoying questions and inevitable over emphasis on the situation. I can identify with this thought. I dreaded telling my coworkers about getting engaged to be married. It wasn't that I didn't want to share the joy. I just knew the next couple of months would be an incessant barrage of wedding questions and comments. It will be the same when Mrs. Channelup gets knocked up. I'll never hear the end of the oooohs and aaahs. Michael strives to become the center of the rumor mill. Unfortunately, he sits around the periphery of the office gossip. But when he...

Leave it to Leslie Knope to unwillingly stick herself right in the middle of the gay marriage debate just by doing something as innocent and cute as marrying a couple of gay penguins at the zoo. She has always been a champion for gay antarctic animal rights. Parks and Recreation returned tonight picking up somewhat where it left off in the ridiculous factor but without many ongoing storylines. Sure we have the Leslie as a political wanna-be powerplayer but beyond that what is there? Where The Office always had the running Jim/Pam will they or won't they debate, Parks and Rec lacks much of the week-to-week questioning. Instead it relies much more on the characters' (read: Leslie's) individual antics to carry the storyline. This isn't bad persay, as Parks and Rec is a pretty funny show, but it isn't a formula for long term success. We need more than "Leslie wants to be popular" as a reason to tune back and in. I don't think the Ann and Mark possi...

Before I get to this week’s Sons of Anarchy recap I wanted to take a second to applaud FX. Too often networks spend time leading up to a show by half-ass promoting it, throwing a few commercials here and there during primetime, teasing the audience only to show three episodes, move the time slot, stop promoting it all together and promptly cancel it. Not FX. No boy. Click here to continue reading this recap at CinemaBlend .

Yesterday Fox announced that Ellen Degeneres would be the new judge replacing 1/3 of the Idol panel that makes me want to punch babies. (Simon is safe. The other three should have been voted off at the end of last year). Ellen is an interesting, and not totally unappealing choice to replace Paula. I am not the biggest Degeneres fan in the world. I don't hate her persay. I am just generally ambivelant to her brand of humor. But in all honesty, Fox could have gone a lot worse that her. Hell they did it last year when She-who-Shall-Not-Be-Named took as over as a Paula insanity buffer. If anything the removal of Paula as judge was weird to me because Kara seemed to steal a great deal of the stupidity spotlight away from her fellow female judge. Alas Paula gets bounced in favor of the fast talking, and occasionally funny Degeneres. Look, we all know you don't need a Amadeus Mozart-like ear for music to judge this competition. It either sounds good or it doesn't. The so...

The true highlight of Glee is Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch). Anyone who has seen The 40 Year Old Virgin or Role Models knows Lynch is a true scene-stealer. Her deadpan delivery of the most inane and contemptuous lines make her one of the main reasons Glee is so enjoyable. It is a show making fun of itself. Her seeming life goal of destroying Glee Club by any means necessary only enhances her comedically-menacing character. Continue reading this recap at Cinemablend.

Season two opens with the gang taking target practice while the rest of Charming goes about its merry business. One of my favorite things about Sons of Anarchy is the dilemma the gang causes in the town (they are its biggest threat and biggest protector) as well as the inner turmoil among many members as they struggle with their day-to-day family and work duties along with maintaining the outlaw life. Click here to continue reading at CinemaBlend .

Last year Sons of Anarchy was one of television’s true surprise gems. The FX drama focused on the members of a violent (and very mafia-like) motorcycle gang. With story arc, action, deception and suspense that very closely resembles a Shakespearean play (with a lot more booze and guns) FX proved it can continue to turn out hard-hitting dramas. Click here to continue reading at CinemaBlend television.