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2010 TV Round-Up Part 7
February 15th, 2010
The Cleveland Show 01/31/10
Episode 12: Buried Pleasure
Holt (the diminutive friend of Cleveland) misses Stoolfest, the local carnival held in Stoolbend (including a great one-liner by Cleveland about people who work in these types of fairs) because of his overbearing mother. So Cleveland tells him to stand up to his mother and he does. But when Donna and Cleveland see Holt beating something and bringing what seems like a body to his car late at night, well, they think Holt took things too far. Cleveland sells him out to the police but it turns out that Holt really just buried his sex doll. Cleveland feels bad and sets up Holt with a woman who is even crazier than anyone expected. She beats the piss out of Holt, as well as Cleveland and all his friends. Donna doesn’t appreciate this and she takes on the new crazy bitch and with the help of the other significant others she is squashed and sent away. Holt does get his sex doll back which he’s happy about. The sub-story featured Cleveland Jr. drinking a fish that Raulo won at the fair so Raulo treats Junior like he’s pregnant and when he finally gives birth to the fish, well, it ain’t pretty and the fish is flushed. The main storyline was really good with a lot of funny moments here. There was a great YMCA reference tossed in here and this was a great episode after the craptacular last episode. A.
Family Guy 02/14/10
Episode 12: Extra-large Medium
This was a genuine dual-plotted episode for Family Guy. There were two main stories going on here. The main thing kicks off with Stewie and Chris getting lost in the woods. Chris swears if they live he will talk to the girl he’s been eyeing at school. Meanwhile, Lois goes to a medium who assures her that her kids will be found. Lois buys into this medium when her kids are found and keeps going back. Brian tries to show her the error of his ways by having Peter pretend to be a medium and generally making an ass out of mediums. Of course, in true Family Guy fashion, Peter actually starts to believe he is a medium and starts selling out shows to people. Joe buys into it, too, and he asks Peter to find a man who has been kidnapped, strapped to a bomb, and buried. Peter tries finding him but when the guy blows up Peter admits he’s not a psychic. The second story features Chris asking out the girl when he gets back at the urging of Stewie and the girl has Down syndrome. Yeah, it’s wrong, but it is Family Guy. So Stewie helps Chris get ready (in song, of course – and a damn good one at that) but the girl ends up being a bitch and Chris leaves her. There were some huge laugh-out-loud scenes here, especially the scene of Meg and Stewie in the tub. Stewie farts and laughs and Meg does, too. Then there is a far sound and the bubbles come out from the front of her. Stewie bails and it was some funny stuff. This was maybe the best episode of the season so far. A.
American Dad 02/14/10
Episode 11: May The Best Stan Win
Stan is acting very selfish and Francine has had enough. She relegates Stan to the couch after Stan reveals he won’t be buried with her but will be instead turned into a robot by the CIA. Stan tries making up to her the next day but fails when he again acts selfish. All of a sudden, the Stanbot shows up from the future! He tells Stan that he needs to work on electronics and all but this just enables Stanbot to get close to Francine. Francine actually starts falling for Stanbot and the two even go to Hershy (the way they spelled it) Park. Stan shows up, professes his true love to Francine, and bests the Stanbot in battle. There were two cool references to Willy Wonka and Terminator at the park that made the episode. The sub-plot starts off with the gang finding a sex toy in Yoshi’s house but thinking it is a mannequin and using it to film a movie. Roger becomes the director and screws the whole thing up. That sub-plot really struggled near the end. The funniest part of this was the scene with Klaus getting eaten by the Roomba robot. The other two episodes from Animation Domination really dominated. This, although it had a good idea, just fell flat at points. B-.
Olympic Mens Hockey: USA 3 - Switzerland 1
February 16th, 2010
The United States won its first game in the Olympics today, beating Switzerland 3 to 1. The US played a decent game and the Swiss team battled very hard. One thing that popped out to me was how lost the US seemed to be at times and that's something that will surely go away since now they have one game under their belt. These players have hardly played together before (though keeping Rangers Callahan and Drury together was a good idea) today and you can tell that passes seemed off, coverages weren't always there and the Swiss team got a few odd-man rushes going because of that. The talent of the US really won this game. The US dominated in the shot department, outshooting the Swiss 24-15, but the Swiss didn't exactly fade away against the US.
The Swiss started out very physical and it was a physical game all throughout. Neither goalie was really tested in the first period until Bobby Ryan (of Anaheim) scored on wicked wrister over the glove of Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller (also of Anaheim) with just a minute remaining. The US took that lead into the second and really out-worked the Swiss in the second. Miller made a spectacular save and David Backes picked up the puck from his end, skated down the side and brought the puck through the crease and to his fore-hand and past Hiller for the 2-0 lead five minutes into the second. Ryan Malone converted on a power play opportunity about 3 minutes later, tucking in a rebound off a Ryan Suter shot. That gave the US a 3-0 lead. The Swiss battled the rest of the way through the second and by the third period they were flying. They constantly attacked the US and goaltender Ryan Miller and even converted on a power play opportunity halfway through the first when Wick centered a pass that happened to deflect in off a US defender. The US managed to suppress any other attacks and when the final period ended the US had picked up their first victory of the games and three points in the standings.
The US definitely have a lot to work on, especially if they want to contend with the talent-laden Canadian team, but this was a positive first step. They don't have the time together that the Swiss team did, but they still managed to come away with the big win. The Swiss only had three NHL players, which allowed the rest of their team to practice and work on a specific gameplan. The US will now have time to work together before their next game (against Norway on Thursday) and they should gel as a team. I really liked the top line of Kane/Stastny/Parise and the goaltending of Miller was very strong. Let's hope the US can keep this momentum going well into the medal rounds.
USA! USA! USA!
February 21st, 2010
I love the Olympics and I try to watch it whenever I can. Thankfully, I was off this week and I loaded up on a lot of the events. Let's start with US Dominance, shall we? Evan Lysacek was amazing in the men's figure skating and he deserved the gold, though he barely beat Plashenko and honestly, I wouldn't have been suprised if the Russian won. Both guys were clearly the top two and it is nice to see that Lysacek had the skates of his life when they mattered most. I've been watching the skiing and the speed skating and I think Vonn, Ohno and Shani have lived up to expectations. I think they have like 6 medals between the three of them and Ohno has become the all-time leader in medals for the US in winter Olympics history. I don't know if that will be challenged considering how most people don't even get to two Olympics and it just doesn't seem that there are that many opportunities to medal as there is in the Summer Games. Finally, Shaun White was just amazing in the half-pipe, blowing away all his competitors. I love the competition and heart in this guy. He didn't need the last run but he went out and did it anyway, even tossing in a trick never seen before and besting his own score!
I'll talk now about what I do know; hockey. The women's hockey has been incredibly boring as usual. There is just no parity in the sport! The Canadian and the US teams are just so far above the rest, outscoring their opponents 72-3, which is ridiculous considering it is a span of only 6 games. What's the point? I'll just wait for the US/Canada finals unless one of these other teams pull off a miracle. Finland has the best shot but I don't think they can stop Canada. I think this sport may go the way of softball in the Summer Games.
On the other hand, the men's hockey has been really exciting. I missed the US win over Norway since I was out of the house all day that day but it seemed like a solid victory. The Canadian team is feeling the pressure though, almost losing to the Swiss in a game that went to a shoot-out! Luckily for the Canadians, Sid the Kid converted on his second shoot-out attempt and Broduer stopped all four shots he faced to secure the win. This set up their monumental meeting tonight. I was eagerly anticipating this game! I noticed right away that the US jerseys looked a LOT like the New York Rangers jerseys and I thought immediately, I just hope they don't PLAY like the Rangers. The first period went very well for the US, despite getting outplayed and outshot by the Canadians. They took an early (very early) lead 41 seconds in on a shot by Rafalksi that was deflected in front by a Canadian. The Canadians kept the pressure on the US team and it paid off with their first goal at 8:42 by Staal, who deflected a point shot past Ryan Miller to tie the score at one. The US came right back and scored just 18 seconds later on another goal by Rafalksi. This time he intercepted a puck that was batted out of the air by Brodeur and somehow Rafalksi found space past the diving pad of Brodeur to give the US their one-goal lead back. The first period ended with the Canadians controlling the action and they outshot the US 19-6 in the first frame.
The second period started where the first ended, with Canada controlling things. Heatley scored a beauty of a goal by just shoving the puck into an empty net after some really good pressure by the Canadians at 3:32. Canada was firmly in control of things but the tide seemed to change when Team Canada had three players collide in their own end, with Corey Perry getting up with a cut and heading to the locker room. This seemed to stun the Canadians and the US was able to convert on a goal at 16:46 when Chris Drury found the back of the net with Marty Brodeur out of position. This was a really interesting goal. Brodeur is usually very calm in net but his own actions turned against him this time. He was bumped by a US player (who was shoved into him by Pronger) and Brodeur took a dive looking for a call. He didn't get it, he was out of position and dove for a puck that he missed and Drury was able to bang it home for the third US goal. Staal took a penalty near the end of the period giving the US a power play to start the third. This was only the third penalty assessed in the game and I really like how the refs have let these two rivals play. The action has been hard and heavy and there has been some SERIOUS checking going on.
The second period ended with the US in control of things, despite getting out shot 31 to 19. It's been the play of Miller and timely plays by the US that has kept them in front. The usually cool Brodeur has made some real bonehead plays that has put his team behind. The US came out surprisingly strong in the third period and their strong play led to two early power plays and the US cashed in on the the second one, scoring a nice goal when Langenbrunner defelcted a Rafalski shot past Brodeur. That gave the US a nice two-goal cushion with 13 minutes remaining. The Canadians really kicked it into high gear at that point and they were rewarded with two power plays of their own. Team Canada cashed in on their second powerplay when Sid the Kid tipped home a Nash pass that somehow found its way past Ryan Miller. The crowd was crazy and they were feeling it, and Team Canada was pumped up, having cut the lead to one with only three minutes remaining. Canada kept pressing and after that goal they were on the attack. I don't know how Miller kept the puck out of the net but he did. The Canadians pulled Brodeur with about a minute left and the US took that opportunity to clear the puck and Kesler came out of nowhere to knock the puck into the empty net for the 5-3 lead and Team USA pulled off an upset. Canada far outshot the US (45 to 23) but Miller was just that much better than Brodeur tonight and that made the difference. The US showed that it isn't always the team with the most talent that wins but the team that plays like a team the best. It helps to have a World-Class goaltender behind you, too. This paves the way for the US to have a bye to the semi-finals while the Canadians have to play Germany in the next round. Let's hope the USA keeps up the strong play and can carry this into the medal round! For what its worth, the last time the US beat Canada in the Olympics was 1960 and they went on to the Gold that year.
The other pools seem to be according to script. The Russians got their bye into the semi-finals at the expense of the Czech's, besting the Czech's 4-2. It was a very tight game and Ovechkin was one of the big stars, scoring and laying into Jagr with a monster hit. I love Ovechkin's game and this showed why. He doesn't shy away from the physical stuff but can score with the best of them. Sweden and Finland look to obtain a bye into the semi's and we'll see how that pans out.
Wow, with all this Olympic talk I forgot about today's review! It is the newest Star Wars spoof from Seth and company; Family Guy Presents: Something Something Something Dark Side. It is an awesome disc and program and you should read the review. Reviews are going alright for the upcoming week. I fear that TPL will be delayed (let's put it this way, it is Sunday night and I haven't even picked up the books yet!) but with more free time thanks to the Yearbook being done, it isn't impossible to complete by Tuesday night. I finished another DVD review this weekend (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and started the WWE: Hulk Hogan's Unreleased Collection and I'm stoked about going through it. I finished two Marvel Masterworks collections this weekend with a third not far behind. Finally, Cleveland and American Dad were new tonight but I didn't watch them because of the Hockey game. Luckily there's nothing on tomorrow night so I should be able to fit in the 50 minutes I need to watch them on Hulu (maybe even at work?) so you can expect that here tomorrow night.
2010 TV Round-Up Part 8
February 22nd, 2010
Cleveland Show 02/21/10
Episode 13: The Curious Case of Jr. Working at the Stool
Cleveland wants Junior to get a job and Cleveland wants to help him. He tries for a job at Webster’s slaughterhouse (with the W looking like the M) but failing when people think he’s a cow. Junior ends up with a job at the Stool (including some great stuff with Cleveland talking about the strange things he does at the bar). However, when Junior tells the owner how to make more money, he starts keeping the tab for the gang. The bar starts changing (becoming more high class) and Cleveland actually calls the owner to get Junior fired. Junior vows to get even and he does, cutting off a bit of his mustache, messing with his clothes and messing with his shoes. Junior even cuts the whole thing off! He messes with their drinks before finally making his appearance and teaching Cleveland a lesson. Meanwhile, Roberta wants to get out of this cow town because of her rival. Her mother tells Roberta she needs to one-up her! So Roberta pretends to adopt an African orphan (played by Raulo) and Raulo plays a good part to convince everyone. I don’t know this episode seemed flat to me. There weren’t too many laugh out loud moments and I don’t think Junior is the one to be carrying an episode. B-.
American Dad 02/21/10
Episode 12: Return of the Bling
Stan rips up a paper that Steve wrote about his hero, Legolas, because he’s not real. Stan shows his heroes, Reagan and the 1980 Miracle on Ice. (There’s a cool shot of Klaus in Family Guy regalia, too). Roger then reveals he was on that team! Stan is shocked to learn that Roger is one of his heroes! Of course, his whole world is turned upside down when he learns that Roger was on steroids during the games! He turns to his other hero, Ronald Reagan, and visits Nancy for a séance and she gives a little performance telling them to give the medal back. So they head off to Switzerland where the IOC is, only to have Roger crash the plane into a mountain. This leads to a little LOTR reference with Roger acting like Gollum going after the medal as Stan and Steve head toward the IOC headquarters. Roger betrays them and Stan gives up (until Reagan shows up telling he must destroy the medal by throwing it into the Olympic Torch) only to regain it and toss it into the Olympic Flame (which is not really a flame) and when he reveals it to the head of the IOC his reaction is appropriate (who cares about the winter games?) Plus, Reagan was in on it. Both of Stan’s heroes are frauds. Meanwhile, Haley starts falling for Reggie, the Koala, until Haley learns that Reggie is hitched with another woman. So she flashes him before heading off. The ending with Roger biting off Stan’s finger in reference to the movie was a nice touch and I really liked the forward thinking shown this episode, taking a movie spoof and adding to it the timely inclusion of the Winter Games in an all around great episode. A.
Olympic Mens Hockey: USA 2 - Switzerland 0
February 24th, 2010
Unfortunately, due to work, I missed the first two periods so I have no idea how the US played or how the Swiss played coming off their shoot-out victory against Norway. I did get home by the third period and I did see a strong US team. I know that the Swiss only had 8 shots going into the second so I figure that points to either a strong US defense or a Swiss team that didn't really press action. Parise scored a beauty of a goal to make it 1-0 and really the US should've been up 2-0 after that deflection goal was called off. Miller had a good game (not great) but he stopped what little the Swiss threw at him. The empty net goal really solidified things and the US is onto the medal round, playing the winner of Finland and the Czech Republic. I don't know which is a better match-up for the US, but regardless of who they play; if they win one more game they get a medal. One team that is really scaring me now is the Canadian team. Losing to the Americans seems to have lit a fire under their asses. They've scored 15 goals in the last 2 games, beating Germany 8-2 and then toppling the mighty Russians 7-3. The Germany game was one where I thought, well, it's Germany. They should kill them. The Russian game is another thing altogether. This was a STACKED team and that the Canadians embarrassed them was really impressive. It looks like the Canadians will be playing Sweden next (if the Swedes can advance) and if that is the case, will Lundqvist be able to stop the Canadian offense? I don't know. It looks like Canada's got the gold in their sight right now.
Olympic Thoughts Part II and a bunch of reviews.
February 25th, 2010
The Olympics are heading to a close this weekend and it does look like the US will win the medal race, something they've never done before if I am correct. One of those medals is the silver in Women's Hockey. That means that the US lost to Canada in the final game. It was a match-up that was really beyond doubt as everyone knew US and Canada would be the last two teams standing. This was easily the best game of the entire Women's Hockey portion of the Olympics, with some good action, a brisk pace and even some physicality (in a sport with no checking of course). The Canadians scored twice in the first frame, both by Poulin, and that would be all they need. The Canadian goalie stood on her head to stop the US and when the dust had settled, she made 28 saves for the shutout and the gold medal. The US stopped 27 shots but those two that got through made the difference. It was a good game, but I wish the outcome were different.
The men's bracket continues to surprise. Slovakia knocked off a very good Swedish team leaving a Canada/Slovakia and USA/Finland Semi-Final. If you're looking at the match-up you can only hope for a Canada/US final and I think that's how it will turn out. I do think that Finland has a better shot at beating the US than Slovakia does of beating Canada. I can't wait until tomorrow to see what the Gold Medal game will be.
Let's end with the reviews I have for you. First is the delayed edition of the 02/23/10 TPL. I only got the books on Monday night so this was finished in just three (work) days and I'm not too upset it was late. Hey, it happens. I have the bi-monthly Classics.com review ready, with the September 14th, 1991 edition of Superstars being the episode I just watched and reviewed. Since this is the end of the month, I have the WWE Classics.com theme matches up and reviewed! It was Divas month this February and I was apprehensive at first but the WWE crew cranked out some great, rare, matches. Part of the monthly updates were two WWE themed videos, which I also reviewed. They were: Sunny - Behind the Scenes and Trish Stratus - Stratusfaction Guaranteed. One was good and one sucked, I'll leave it up to you as to which was which! I'm out for now, check back here tomorrow for the Hockey Thoughts, Saturday for the TPB or OGN review and Sunday for the DVD review.
Olympic Hockey - Men's Semifinals
February 26th, 2010
I was so happy that I got a snow day today so I could watch both hockey games today in full. First up was the USA/Finland match and I was expecting a very good match-up. The Finns have been very strong this tournament and even knocked out the mighty Swedes. However, this game was over 2 minutes into the game when Kiprusoff gave away the puck to Ryan Malone and he shot the puck into the empty net for a one-goal lead. That would only open the floodgates in the first period. Over the next 10 minutes after that the US would score 5 times. Parise converted on a powerplay goal after an amazing pass and shooting it into an empty net at 6:22. Erik Johnson would convert on a powerplay at 8:26 when Kiprusoff found himself out of position yet again. The Finns took a timeout but that meant nothing as the US would score at 10:08 when Kane scored. Kane would tally another one with a Finn player found himself out of position and Rafalksi fed him the puck. Kane was 2 on 1 with Kesler but he found room on the stick side of the Finnish back-up goalie, Nicholas Backstrom. Kiprusoff had pulled himself after the fourth goal but it was too little too late. Stastny would roof the puck on more heavy pressure from the US. Finland was totally outplayed by the US and I don't know if there were ever a more dominant period in any game of hockey, especially at this level. USA only took 13 shots that period but converted on 6 of them. The Finns managed only 4 shots on Miller, with no real good scoring chances.
The Finns started the second period on a power play and that was about the only highlight of the second. This was a very boring period. The Finns just put up token play and the US seemed to not want to wear themselves out for their Gold Medal Game on Sunday. The Finns hit the post and ended the period with 5 shots (a total matched by the US) and besides the lone Finn penalty it was a non-descript period. The third period was more of the same. The only notable thing that happened was that Miller was given the rest of the night off while Tim Thomas played some minutes. He gave up a goal on the Finnish Power Play but that was only to prevent the shut out. The US cruised to a 6-1 victory and a berth in the Gold Medal Game. The US will at least medal, which is great, but I hope they can win their first gold outside of the US. Their opponent would be decided in that evenings Canada/Slovakia game. The Canadians took a 2-0 after the first and it stayed that way for the most part. They'd add a third goal midway through the second and the Slovaks looked dead. They managed to come alive and scored twice in a 3-minute span late in the third. The last two minutes were played at a furious pace and twice Pavol Demitra had the game on his stick and both times he couldn't convert. This set up a very nice Canada/USA final. Even though the USA will be the "home" team because they are the higher seed, everyone in the arena will be backing the Canadians. Both teams are better than their first meeting so it should be very interesting to see how this game goes. As an American I really want the US to win, but I fear the talent of the Canadian team may be too much and this game will be decided by the goaltenders.
Olympic Hockey - Men's Medal Games
February 28th, 2010
Well, the Olympics are over. It is only fitting that the Vancouver Olympics would end with the Gold Medal match in men's hockey. Before we get to that game, let's talk about the Bronze Medal game that came the night before. Finland took on the upstart Slovakia team in what I thought was a really well-played game. It was physical, and it had a great storyline. The Finns took a 1-0 lead going into the second period and the Slovaks, led by Marian Gaborik, responded with three goals in the second. Gaborik started it off with a beautiful wrist shot from outside the face-off cirle on the power play and Marian Hossa added another power play goal on a 5 on 3. When Pavol Demitra (leading scorer in the Olympics) scored a short-handed goal near the end of the third, I thought it was over for the Finnish team. The Finns fought back in the third and they got a power play goal to cut the lead to 3-2. Olli Jokinen took over, scoring two quick goals (including a beauty on a breakaway) to give the Finns the lead for good. Once again the Slovak team found themselves down by one with less than a minute to go and an empty net and once again they couldn't convert. They had chances but Kiprusoff was up for the challenge this time. The Finns won the bronze, and Teemu Selanne, the all time-leader in Olympic points, playing his last ever Olympic game can go out a winner.
The Gold Medal game was probably one of the most anticipated finals EVER, considering that this is Canada's whole goal in the Vancouver Olympics. They faced off in the 2002 Salt Lake Games but the pressure wasn't on the US team as much as it is on Canada now. This is Canada's national sport and to lose, especially to the US, would be catastrophic. The US already beat the favorite sons up north and they didn't want that to happen again. US and Canada had a great start to the game. It was physical, everything was hard-fought and both teams battled like they should in a Gold Medal game. Canada was able to capitalize first when the US won a face-off but couldn't control the puck. Richards took a shot that was saved by Miller but Toews was able to put home the rebound. The crowd was really into it, seeing as Canada has never lost when scoring first. It was also the first time the US has trailed in the series. The first period ended with that 1-goal lead.
The second period started with the same amount of passion that the first did. Both teams had power play opportunities but neither could convert. Canada earned a two-goal lead on a defensive breakdown by the US Team. Getzlaf tossed the puck right in front of Miller, Marleau was charging the net and met by a US D-man but the trailing Bobby Ryan was left wide open and was able to put it past Miller for the big two-goal lead. I thought the game was over there. One of the things that kept the US in the game was the iffy play of Luongo. To that point he stopped all shots he faced but he looked shaky in doing so. The US was able to cut the lead in half 13 minutes into the second when Kesler deflected a shot past Luongo. This really jump-started the US Team. They were firing on all cylinders at Luongo and it was only the strong defensive play of the Canadian defense that kept the score 2-1 going into the final period. The third period was as frantic as you'd expect. The Canadians twice hit the post in the early minutes of the second but they couldn't put the puck into the back of the net. They had their chances and Miller was always there to stop them. It all came down to the final minute. With Miller on the bench the US sent an innocent shot to the net that Luongo couldn't control. Somehow the US kept on it and Parise was able to tie the game with 25 seconds left in the game! It is appropriate that this game went to OT. It was a very tight OT. The US almost got a breakaway but it was just out of the reach of Parise. Pavelski almost it past Luongo after a Neidermayer turnover, but it would be Sidney Crosby who put it past Miller to win the gold for Canada. The Canadians become the all-time leaders in gold medals in a single Olympics Game with their 14th Medal. The US came up bigger than ANYONE imagined, but will have the sting of "winning" a silver with them forever. Despite the fact that my team lost you can't deny how great a game this was, and how great the US, with tournament MVP Ryan Miller, played.
It is Sunday and it is review day! I have a brand new DVD review ready for you. It is WWE: Best of SmackDown 10th Anniversary and it was one I finished just three weeks ago. I have to really get my ass in gear now because I only have one more DVD review fnished and I still have over one disc to finish for my next one. I hope I can get it done! With my training for the marathon and my basketball game in full gear, I may not have time in March for them! I'll try my best, folks! Also, TPL may be delayed again. I haven't picked up the books because I was snowed in the last three days! I wanted to go on Friday but 22 inches of snow will have a way of putting those plans on hold. I'll get them on Monday afternoon and try to plow through them ASAP but look for another delay. Besides that, the reviews will be as normal. Monday will have nothing because the Animation Domination shows are repeats and Heroes is done for the season. Tuesday well, I'll try my best. It looks like the next posting will be on Saturday with the TPB/OGN review and I do have a DVD review ready for next week. After that? We'll see.
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