Summer Television

Are you one of those people who complain that there’s little on TV during the summer? Besides watching sports, Wipeout and VH1’s I Love Money, I might agree with you, although I would never complain about it. I have great respect for television, even the bad television, and am a loyal follower of The Washington Post’s TV writer Lisa de Moraes. However, if you are one of those complaining folks, I have a challenge for you and it has nothing to do with visiting your local grocery store.

I’ve written about the Alison LaPlaca television death pool several times over the past few years. The LaPlaca Open is a contest where you pick ten television shows that will be cancelled during the season. Unfortunately, the LaPlaca Open is no more, apparently because LaPlaca’s lawyers made it stop. Instead, the LaPlaca Open has been renamed The Ted Marshall Open. In my first year in this league, I was brilliant finishing in sixth out of over 100 entries. My luck was not as good for the 2007-2008 season. Although the results are not final, I am going to finish in the middle of the pack largely due to Scrubs and According to Jim returning this year. Scrubs seemed like an extremely safe bet since it was announced that this past year would be its last. Nope. ABC has picked up the show from NBC. Meanwhile, how According to Jim remains on the air is a mystery to me. It is a terrible show with awful ratings. Jim Belushi must have a secret video of Mickey Mouse and is using it as blackmail to keep the show alive.

So my challenge to you is to start studying the fall TV line-up and predict what shows will fail. Entries for the 2008-2009 year will be accepted in August, and I will be sure to announce it again here. I promise that you will see television in a different light and appreciate even the bad shows.

More Than Harry Potter

Although this may be hard to believe, there is more going on in the world than Harry Potter. For example, I’m going to work today and have an ultimate frisbee game tonight. Here are some other things going on:

I watched Victoria Beckham Coming to America last night. With Coming to America in the show’s title and Posh’s close relationship with fellow Spice Girl Mel B., I was waiting for Eddie Murphy to appear. It never happened. Actually, when Posh met with Perez Hilton (more on this momentarily), he asked her if there is a celebrity who she disliked. Eddie was the answer.

The show itself wasn’t terrible. Considering all the garbage on TV this summer, this is actually a compliment. Victoria was surprisingly likable. She confronted Perez Hilton for what he put on his website about her, but appeared to have an enjoyable conversation with him. Her trip to the DMV was also funny. The show ended with Posh throwing out the first pitch at a Dodgers game. Mike Lieberthal came across as a nice enough guy; Tommy Lasorda, however, seemed completely disinterested.
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The Emmy nominations are out featuring 15 nominations for The Sopranos. The Washington Post’s Lisa de Moraes has a recap, but here are my own observations:

* The toughest category may be Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series. Neil Patrick Harris receives a well-deserved nomination for his portrayal of Barney Stinson. The other nominees are Kevin Dillon and Jeremy Piven from Entourage, Rainn Wilson (better known as Dwight Schrute) from The Office and Jon Cryer for 2.5 Men.

* How I Met Your Mother received a nomination for the Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing For A Series category for the fabulous Robin Sparkles episode.


* Has there always been a category for “Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series?” In case you were wondering, the nominees are Dancing with the Stars, Deadwood, Desperate Housewives, Rome and Ugly Betty.

* Scrubs received two nominations for the Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics category. The show is up against Family Guy, SNL and MADtv.

* How did George (T.R. Knight) from Grey’s Anatomy receive a supporting actor in a drama series nomination?
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OK, I do have a few Harry Potter links:

A couple is getting married tonight and then going directly to Barnes & Noble. I’m guessing that there will be some upset 13 year-olds when the couple gets to cut to the front of the line.

Northern Virginia appears to have ordered more copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from Amazon.com per capita than any other area in America. Falls Church finished #1, Fairfax #3 and Vienna #4. Herndon (#28) and Alexandria (#78) also made the list as did Ithaca, NY (#80).