He said “Let There Be Chuck”, and there was. (Scrubs, too)

If Chuck was cancelled, it would’ve been the most disappointing television event of last year. They ended up giving it another 13 episodes. Now, they just gave them 6 more. 19 episodes… that’s almost a full season. If it were on FX, that’d probably count as 7 seasons.

Scrubs is back on December 1st, too. I’ve said my +good byes to SCRUBS. I’ll have to judge the new season as a new show.

Info about CHUCK and SCRUBS

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=60461

My previous SCRUBS rant

http://jayallard.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-scrubs-sitcom-version-of-brett-favre.html

Zach Braff isn’t dead!

http://jayallard.blogspot.com/2009/10/moment-of-silence-for-zach-braff.html

New Phone Number

[BEGIN TRANSMISSION]

[28-OCT-2009]

[RE: PHONE # UPDATE]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jay Allard (tm), a wholly owned subsidiary of planet earth has, after a lengthy negotiation process with AT&T (Nasadaq:ATT), obtained a new land based telephone number.

"While the old phone number was sufficient in some ways, it didn't read well. A phone number should not only be functional, but it should roll off the tongue as if it were poetry." said Jay Allard, in a recent interview with himself.

Financial analysts, who were alerted of this change prior to the public release despite multiple SEC laws and regulations, have responded with mixed sentiments. While most agree that this change will ultimately affect the gross value of Jay Allard, the magnitude of change and the timing thereof remains to be seen. In the end, it will be difficult to discern the actual affect of this monumental change due to all of the parallel projects (such as his new shoes) of similar significance.

Said one analyst, who is also named Jay Allard:

"There will be a certain adjustment period as we transition from the old inferior phone number to the new superior phone number. There will be times that we use the old digits simply out of habit. When we receive the "out of service message" from the phone company, we may at first respond negatively by hurling the phone through a window. But then we will remember that we were duly notified of the change and the fault is ours, not Jay Allard’s. We will then calm down and dial the correct number. Then we will replace the window.".

It has been rumored by Jay Allard industry specialists that the new phone number cannot be entirely attributed to desire for a finer rhythmic quality when saying the number out loud. Behind closed doors, it has been speculated that the new number was more in response to poor Comcast (Nadaq:SUCKS) service. Jay Allard may not say such in a public forum, but a strong possibility exists that, in an effort to save money for his parent company, phone service was bundled with internet service resulting in a lower bill and a phone that never worked properly. But, such rumors cannot be confirmed. Such negative public comments are not the style of Jay Allard, so it is more reasonable to expect them to say "We didn't like the old number" rather than "Comcast really sucks and if I had an opportunity to strike one company with a Texas-sized meteor, Comcast would be it". Maybe future generations will look back upon then unclassified documents and learn the truth, but we of the 21st century can only speculate.

This media outlet has learned that the new phone number will be announced tomorrow at a news conference scheduled to conflict with your favorite show. We have obtained a copy of the 337 page announcement, and have learned that the new rhythmic number is:

561.xxx.xxxx

A keen eye may observe the presence of periods rather than dashes between the major segments. This is not by accident as people generally emphasise things differently when confronted with the less-oft used period. 3 out of 5 dentists agree that this reflex reaction contributes to the desired rhythmic quality of reciting the number, once again demonstrating Jay Allard's commitment to pleasing his callers world wide.

The new number has been secretly broadcast to http://aaaa.com, and to the Lotus Notes aaa directory. Jay Allard really wishes he didn't have to use notes, but he is so excited about the new working phone number that he will decline further comments. (Its called email... not "a memo").

[END TRANSMISSION]

Confessions of a Sony Hater

I’m currently celebrating my 17th year of not buying any SONY products, with the notable exception of the PS3.

As previously blogged, I didn’t want to buy a PS3, but I did want' a blu-ray player. The PS3 was the only logical choice. It was among the cheapest blu-ray players, plus its a gaming system. No brainer. Today, you can get a blu-ray player for $100 less than a PS3, but that still seems cost ineffective to me. (Unless, of course, you have 0 interest in gaming or any of the other features of the PS3)

My primary gaming system has continued to be the XBOX 360. But, lately I’ve had a lot of opportunity to use my PS3: Resistance, Resistance 2, Uncharted, and the trial of BIG LITTLE PLANET (or something like that).

As a SONY hater, I’ve had to come to terms with certain facts.

#1: I’m not afraid of the PS3. Every time I turn on the XBOX, I hold my breath and hope for the best. With the PS3, I just turn it on.

#2: No matter how you look at it, things just look better on the PS3. This one isn’t really a fair comparison, though. The PS3 is hooked up to my computer monitor via HDMI. The XBOX is on a 7 year old 61 inch Toshiba with a component connection. We’re not comparing apples to apples here, but even that considered, I think the PS3 just looks better

#3: This is the latest realization that prompted this blog entry. I had been saying that the PS3 is a better machine, but I thought the software for the XBOX was better. Last night I hooked up the PS3 to my router and downloaded all of the updates. I gotta say, its a very nice interface. Its crisp and professional looking. Maybe I like it because its different, but I think I like it because its very good.

The core problem here is that I love Microsoft and I hate Sony. I work with Microsoft products every day, and I am a die-hard fan. Despite that, the PS3 appears to be the better machine on all fronts. Maybe it doesn’t have as many good games, but the games it has are gorgeous. I downloaded the 1gig demo of LITTLE BIG PLANET yesterday, and was blown away by it after just a couple minutes. (I haven’t actually played it much yet, but the presentation exceptional.) The visuals on UNCHARTED are completely gorgeous, and I’ve been told that UNCHARTED 2 is even better. I didn’t care for MGS4, but I thought that was the best looking game I had played until that point.

People who know me well know how I feel about SONY. My position hasn’t changed. My problem isn’t with their products, it with how they support them. Well, at least, how they supported them 17 years ago. Now you can return anything to the retailer and not worry about it, but when I had the VCR incident, such conveniences had not yet been established. I was just a wee lad with nay a dollar in my satchel, and they robbed me of it.

So, will my grudge against SONY ever end? Sure. If they send me a check for $400 to compensate for the piece of crap VCR they sold me in 1992, then I can move on. Until then, my association is limited to this neat little thing called the PS3

Incidentally, my so-called “devoted wife” has recently demonstrated a decreased commitment to my clearly established ethical guidelines pertaining to SONY and SONY products. She bought a PSP because, apparently, we had too much empty space in our nightstand. Intense therapy got us past that. More recently, she bought a SONY digital card reader. Really? Ok, the PSP is a unique device. If you want to buy a PSP that you’re never going to use, then you don’t have a choice but to buy the SONY version since that’s the only version there is. But a card reader? There are so many to choose from… why choose that? It hurts.

A Word About Stargate Universe

In a word: Excellent.

Stargate SG1 is a classic. It ran a little too long, and it lost its creativity at the end. (Hey, we just defeated a race of false gods! Lets tackle another race of false gods!)

I enjoyed Atlantis, to an extent, but it was never able to cross over from “decent lightweight” to “serious contender”. I remember one season where they made a big deal about taking a different direction with it; I remember being of the impression that it was going to get more serious; more hard-core. But it didn’t. There were a couple good fight scenes, but it was same-old same-ole.

At the very end, I thought it’d be great if Atlantis came to earth in full view. It didn’t happen, but I hope they make a movie or such that finally reveals the stargates and Atlantis to the world.

SGU in no way diminishes the integrity of SG1. It brings it to a whole new level, though. Obviously influenced by Battlestar Galactica, its visually stunning. The sounds and music are great, and the characters are all excellent (if not a bit whiny).

The key to its success, as with all recent super hero movies (and BSG), is that they take the material seriously. Sure, there is comic relief, but the plot is serious and the characters are serious. Dr. Rush is a complete jerk. He’s not a misunderstood jerk with a kind heart that every one likes (ie: rodney); the guy really is a jerk. He gives you a bad feeling and you don’t trust him. This is perfectly demonstrated by the end of episode 4 where the captain realizes that Rush may have known about Destiny’s purpose to visit the sun all along.

I find every episode exciting and gripping. There are little things here and there that I could pick on, but I find the whole experience so rewarding that I don’t want to pick on it. I want to enjoy it.

This really is, so far, a great piece of science fiction. The first 4 episodes have been setting up the series. Now that everyone’s on board and they’ve worked out the power problems in destiny, it may now fall into a routine. Stop the ship; visit a planet; get back on the ship in 12 hours; move on. Let’s see how they keep that fresh and exciting. It can go wrong, but it started very strong.

A Moment of Silence for Zach Braff

No, he’s not dead. But, there was a period of about 3 minutes when I thought he was. ComingSoon.net had a headline saying he had killed himself, which I reacted too. A search for additional information quickly revealed that it was just a hoax.

But still… what a disappointing 3 minutes. Heath Ledger didn’t really bother me. That’s the risk of drugs. My usual response is “poor you and your millions”. That would’ve ultimately been my opinion of a Zach Braff suicide, but that wasn’t my immediate response. My immediate response was “holy crap”, as I replayed 7 seasons of scrubs in my head. Such a funny show; such a funny guy. Or, at the least, a very funny character. Zach Braff may be a jerk for all I know, though I’d like to think not.

I’m obviously glad that it was hoax. I’d hate to see JD go out that way.

Movie News to be Excited About!

I don’t actually get too excited about movies anymore. Transfomers? Sure. That’s exciting. Transfomers 2? Not so much. Transformers 3? That’s good news (July 1st, 2011), but exciting? Not really.

A few minutes ago I was catching up with my RSS feeds and came across a Quentin Tarantino interview on an Italian talk show. The interviewer asked him about prequels and sequels, but she did not ask about Kill Bill (perhaps because Bill has been Killed), so he lead her to ask. She asked, and he said there will be a Kill Bill 3.

Oh yes! Kill Bill 3. At long last, we have a film that is excitement worthy.

I’ll try to refrain from spewing my usual dribble about how fantastic the first one is. That was followed up by a good, but disappointing sequel.

It will take place 10 years after Kill Bill 2. The article read speculated 2014. The plot might be predictable; After The Bride killed Vivica Fox, she told her daughter “If you grow up and have a problem with this, then come find me”. But after 10 years, how old is the daughter? 16? 18? (that largely depends on how old she was in Kill Bill 1.) Is that enough time?

I’m not the biggest QT fan in the world, but when it comes to Kill Bill, I’m a believer. A lot of comments on said article stated that its a bad idea. I disagree. My only regret is that I may have to wait 5 years for it, but I’m eager to wait.