Sep 2006
Support the cause
09/29/06 05:10 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
The Dallas-based Susan G. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation will benefit in full from limited
edition "Warrior Mugs" being sold throughout October
on ABC's The View.
The show's hosts, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and newcomer Rosie O'Donnell, will use the mugs during the show, with viewers able to purchase them for for $25 apiece. All proceeds go to the Komen foundation, founced by Nancy Brinker in 1982 in memory of her sister, Susan, who died of breast cancer in 1982. For more information and to purchase a mug, go here.
The show's hosts, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and newcomer Rosie O'Donnell, will use the mugs during the show, with viewers able to purchase them for for $25 apiece. All proceeds go to the Komen foundation, founced by Nancy Brinker in 1982 in memory of her sister, Susan, who died of breast cancer in 1982. For more information and to purchase a mug, go here.
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It's Back!
09/28/06 04:46 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Unclebarky.com's daily analysis of
D/FW TV ratings has returned after technical
difficulties. You can find highs and lows from
Wednesday's locally aired programming at Dallas-Fort Worth TV.
New wave ratings
09/28/06 09:11 AM Ed Bark | Permalink
We're going to try a new feature here
at unclebarky.com. Compiled from Nielsen Media
Research are the Top 10 ratings charts on the most
popular prime-time programs nationally among total
viewers, 18-to-49-year-olds, African-Americans and
Hispanics (both English and Spanish language shows).
Cable's top 10 also will be included. Check it out on
the Network News & Reviews page and
please indicate in the comments section whether
this is something you'd like to see each week.
Otherwise it's a lot of data-inputting for naught.
Ed Bark
Ed Bark
Emmitt: Spared after a scare
09/27/06 07:56 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
By ED BARK
Terrell Owens by day, Emmitt Smith by night. Change partners and dance with the one who brung ya to three victorious Super Bowls.
Stuck with the previous night's lowest score, Emmitt and partner Cheryl Burke seemingly teetered near the brink of elimination on Wednesday's Dancing with the Stars. But combined scores from judges and viewers instead sent a crestfallen Harry Hamlin home while his pro partner, Ashly DelGrosso, sobbed speechlessly. Boo hoo. Some in the crowd just booed while Hamlin's wife, previous competitor Lisa Rinna, looked suitably stunned by what host Tom Bergeron called "one of the most surprising eliminations ever."
Emmitt had been left dangling with Hamlin and Jerry Springer while six other celebs and their pro players were told they'd be back next week. Then again, Bergeron kept emphasizing that the eventual bottom two -- Hamlin and Springer -- were the only competitors that actually had the lowest overall scores. The other seven pairs were spared in "no particular order," which means Emmitt might have fared much better than appearances suggested. Still, he was made to sweat in the service of "good TV" after skating through the first two rounds.
Emmitt and Cheryl (shown doing the tango Tuesday in the above ABC photo), were roundly panned by the judges Tuesday night.
"You drop an egg...You gotta clean it up," he said in the very padded run-up to the actual verdict. Wonder what Emmitt thought of The Scissor Sisters' male lead singer, who wore an outfit that made him look like The Riddler channeling David Bowie. The show accommodated two performances by the group, plus a bunch of other unnecessary stuff.
Much, much later, or so it seemed, co-host Samantha Harris asked Emmitt, "Were you robbed?" with a measly 19 score for what in fact was an off-putting tango.
"At gunpoint," he said, smiling.
Now he'll have another chance to swing and sway the judges, although his rhetoric is still a bit robotic.
"I want my dancing experience in this competition to be just like my football career," he said -- again. "I'm going to compete to win."
Relax, guy. Try to be a more urbane Cowboy.
Terrell-o-round
09/27/06 04:53 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Maybe an NBC 5 online poll said it
best about Wednesday's saturation TV coverage of
Terrell Owens. Take a look on Dallas-Fort Worth TV.
Hansen style
09/26/06 10:39 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Channel 8's Dale Hansen devoted his
entire 10 p.m. sportscast Tuesday to the death of
legendary golfer Byron Nelson.
Hansen, an avid golfer himself, clearly put this heart into this extended tribute, which included interviews with golfers Ken Venturi, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Watson. It was a splendid sendoff that bears repeating. Nelson deserved it, and Hansen delivered in full measure. As sports journalism goes, it was an eagle on a par 5. Hansen captured the man, the athlete, the philanthropist. Well stroked.
Ed Bark
Hansen, an avid golfer himself, clearly put this heart into this extended tribute, which included interviews with golfers Ken Venturi, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Watson. It was a splendid sendoff that bears repeating. Nelson deserved it, and Hansen delivered in full measure. As sports journalism goes, it was an eagle on a par 5. Hansen captured the man, the athlete, the philanthropist. Well stroked.
Ed Bark
Emmitt watch: "Twinkletoes" stubs 'em
09/26/06 08:39 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
ABC photo
By ED BARK
Held to no gain and then piled on, Emmitt "Twinkletoes" Smith fell to the ground floor on Tuesday night's third episode of ABC's Dancing with the Stars
His stiff, stern, Frankenstein's monster rendition of the Tango had the show's judges in a tizzy, or whatever they get in.
"The tango did to you what no linebacker could, stopped you in your tracks," opined Judge Len Goodman.
How bad was it? Even Jerry Springer was judged Emmitt's superior. A measly score of 19 for Emmitt and partner Cheryl Burke put them in last place for the night. They had been among the hit show's top scorers in the previous two weeks.
"Emmitt, the rock is starting to crumble tonight...You didn't shine as you usually do," said judge Bruno Tonioli.
They danced to "Simply Irresistible," but simply weren't. Emmitt tried to flash some fire in his eyes while doing the tango, but instead came off as kinda menacing. The grinning, good time hoofer of previous shows looked like Robocop this time out.
Emmitt said he was a bit pooped from traveling. Besides the weekly commute from Dallas to L.A., he made a pit stop in Virginia, where his wife, Patricia, a former Miss Virginia, was hosting the state's beauty pageant.
"C'mon, Twinkletoes," Patricia said, introducing him to the pageant crowd in an opening taped segment. OK, let's give that one a rest, even if the headline for this dispatch still won't.
"Obviously we have to work harder, and we'll get it done," Emmitt said after the judges gang-tackled him.
Tuesday's top scorers were veteran actress Vivica A. Fox and High School Musical star Monique Coleman, each with 27 points. Emmitt's 19 points left him two shy of Springer, who said he wants to go home after learning the waltz next week in time for his daughter's wedding.
Wednesday night's results show will evict the contestant with the lowest combined score from judges and viewers, with each counting 50 percent.
For the first time, there's possible trouble afoot for the former Cowboys star. That's what he gets for having a Springer in his step.
Lost in Space?
09/26/06 06:51 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Wow, are Lost episodes really that interchangeable?
ABC announced Tuesday that Season 3's second hour, on Oct. 11, will be "The Glass Ballerina" instead of the previously announced "Further Instructions," which will move back a week to Oct. 18.
Scheduling moves like this are made all the time with "self-contained" dramas such as the Law & Order franchise, where the order of episodes often doesn't matter that much. But in a serial, especially a complex one like Lost, you'd think that the sequence of events would be pretty much locked in.
"No comment. Just a change in airdates," ABC's principal Lost publicist, Jeff Fordis, told unclebarky.com Tuesday.
Here's ABC's episode synopsis for "Further Instructions:" The fates of Locke, Eko and Desmond are revealed after the implosion of the hatch, while Hurley returns to the beach camp to tell the tale of what happened when he, Jack, Kate and Sawyer encountered "The Others." Meanwhile, Claire is shocked to find Nikki and Paulo in Jack's tent.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves all of a sudden. Here's the tease for Oct. 11th's replacement episode, "The Glass Ballerina:" Sayid's plan to locate Jack places Sun and Jin's lives in grave danger. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer are forced to work in harsh conditions by their captors, and Henry makes a very tempting offer to Jack that may prove difficult to refuse.
So the switch is on, but not until Lost makes its much anticipated return on Oct. 4. For now at least, a six-episode arc will be all she wrote until the February "sweeps." Lost is scheduled to give way on Nov. 15 to the 13-episode Taye Diggs serial Day Break before returning with an interrupted string of 16 new episodes to close out the season.
As we've learned, though, some things on Lost already are subject to change.
Ed Bark
New Season: Ratings Blues and Coos
09/26/06 04:19 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
National Nielsen ratings for Week 1 of
the fall season are in. See how they ran on the
Network News & Reviews
page.
Prison Break Episode 6: "Subdivision"
09/25/06 10:46 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
By ED BARK
Someone supposedly is going to die on next Monday's Prison Break. It had better not be one of the two pictured above. Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper) and David "Tweener" Apolskis (Dallas native Lane Garrison) continue to bust through the screen as the North Texas-filmed drama's standout escapees.
That's not the case with series leads Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell, particularly the latter. Miller's character, Michael Scofield, at least got a chance to rage at T-Bag in his first authentically emotional display this season. But Purcell, as Michael's brother, Lincoln, has made little impact in the second season's first six episodes. More on that a bit later.
Knepper again convincingly oozed slime in Monday's "Subdivision" episode, romancing an aging Utah tart with come-ons like, "Whiskey always makes me feel irascible."
"I don't know what that is, but I do like the sound of it," said ripe-for-the-taking Jeanette Owens (guest star Diana Scarwid), who implausibly had given her home over to a bogus con work force. They tore the hell out of her floor under the guise of repairing a ruptured power line or something. Actually they were digging for that $5 million stash of cash that's been the show's unholy Grail ever since the big bust-out.
Meanwhile, Garrison perspired like crazy while once more playing the older cons' gofer. In the only action scene of any consequence, he ran like the devil from dogged FBI agent Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner). Alas, he got caught, and now he's tipped the lawmen off. They were surrounding the cons' latest lair as the episode ended, with Tea-Bag holding Jeanette hostage at knifepoint.
T-Bag didn't much care for her anymore after she used him as a pimp. "That big guy, the strong guy that doesn't speak much," she said just when he thought he'd get lucky. "Would you go in there and ask him if he'd like to have a drink with me after he punches out?"
"The strong guy that doesn't speak much" is, of course, Purcell's character. An actor can only do so much as a "presence." We're at the point now where one wonders if the writers really know what to do with him, or if Purcell wants to do all that much with Lincoln Burrows. Surely he does. This is, after all, still a pretty hot show, even if the lately lackluster local TV ratings don't reflect it at the moment.
We can only wait and see if next week's episode indeed has "the season's most shocking twists and turns." The biggest shock of all might be Purcell getting more to do than just stare and occasionally grunt out a one-liner.
Saints Alive!
09/25/06 07:34 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
U2 and Green Day teamed Monday night
for a kick-ass reopening of the New Orleans
Superdome. The customized pre-game, mini-concert,
presented on ESPN's Monday Night Football, put
any and all Super Bowl pre-game shows to shame. Of
course, not just any sporting event is fortified with
such inherent drama.
Green Day lead singer Billy Joe Armstrong, accompanied by U2 guitarist the Edge and a hometown brass section, opened with "Wake Me Up When September Ends" from Green Day's mega-selling American Idiot disc. Then he shrieked "New Orleans!" before segueing to a reworked "House of the Rising Sun." It went like this: "There is a house in New Orleans. It's called the Superdome. It's been the ruin of many a poor boy, and God I know I'm one."
That sent a packed house into full roar as U2's buzz-cut Bono hit the stage. Armstrong and The Edge joined him in repeatedly singing "The Saints are comin'! The Saints are comin'! Then they closed the deal with U2's "Beautiful Day."
What a night, what a sight. You can check it out here. All downloading proceeds go to Music Rising, dedicated to keeping New Orleans singing and dancing.
Ed Bark
Green Day lead singer Billy Joe Armstrong, accompanied by U2 guitarist the Edge and a hometown brass section, opened with "Wake Me Up When September Ends" from Green Day's mega-selling American Idiot disc. Then he shrieked "New Orleans!" before segueing to a reworked "House of the Rising Sun." It went like this: "There is a house in New Orleans. It's called the Superdome. It's been the ruin of many a poor boy, and God I know I'm one."
That sent a packed house into full roar as U2's buzz-cut Bono hit the stage. Armstrong and The Edge joined him in repeatedly singing "The Saints are comin'! The Saints are comin'! Then they closed the deal with U2's "Beautiful Day."
What a night, what a sight. You can check it out here. All downloading proceeds go to Music Rising, dedicated to keeping New Orleans singing and dancing.
Ed Bark
Hello dollies
09/24/06 07:26 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Veteran Channel 8 reporter Brad Watson's Labor Day
dolling up of the Texas governor's race is still a
talker. Go to Dallas-Fort Worth TV to read how
and why he did it.
What a cute baby
09/24/06 03:14 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Unclebarky.com turned one-week old on
Sunday afternoon. And look, it's already walking.
Your proprietor, the quintessential stranger in a strange land, is now semi-versed in RSS feeds, Rapid Weaver, links, hits, pasting, j-pegging and other Internet terms that mostly had escaped me in an earlier life as The Dallas Morning News' longtime TV critic. My Yoda is 20-year-old stepson Carl Morgan, who's been walking me through all of this with an amazing blend of patience and techno-savvy. Without him, I'm nowhere. So far it's been a head-spinning, brain-draining, bone-tiring, exhilarating experience.
The exhilaration comes from the many people who have emailed their support and hit on the site. Unclebarky.com had 31,038 page views in its first week in ether-land. People are telling me that's damned good, and who am I to argue with them. I've also learned that visitors have to click on those little google ads on the right hand side to generate a few pennies in revenue for Uncle B, alias Ed Bark. Consider yourself pitched.
I'm only one person, and I'm dancing as fast as I can to bring you a timely, readable mix of television news and commentary, both national and local. My feet still aren't quite under me, but it's getting better all the time. I hope you'll also read the music reviews from my son, Sam, and the dispatches from China via my daughter, Liz. We've had some still puzzling technical problems keeping their respective pages up, but they're back in view as of this writing.
So thank you most kindly for all the incredibly nice words, battle cries, suggestions and criticisms. I'll do my very best to keep your faith. And we'll be adding new wrinkles and pages to the site as it grows in small doses while hopefully growing on you.
The overall goal, though, is to keep the site simple and navigable. I think of it as more of a reporting site than a blog. So I'll be getting out and about more and more in the coming weeks and months. But please remember, I can't cover everything. It'd be nice to retain a semblance of a life while also giving my very best effort to make this site stick.
One more thing: You'll never have to pre-register or pay even the tiniest subscription fee. Unclebarky.com will always be free of that stuff.
Thank you again. You've been a great audience so far.
Ed Bark
Your proprietor, the quintessential stranger in a strange land, is now semi-versed in RSS feeds, Rapid Weaver, links, hits, pasting, j-pegging and other Internet terms that mostly had escaped me in an earlier life as The Dallas Morning News' longtime TV critic. My Yoda is 20-year-old stepson Carl Morgan, who's been walking me through all of this with an amazing blend of patience and techno-savvy. Without him, I'm nowhere. So far it's been a head-spinning, brain-draining, bone-tiring, exhilarating experience.
The exhilaration comes from the many people who have emailed their support and hit on the site. Unclebarky.com had 31,038 page views in its first week in ether-land. People are telling me that's damned good, and who am I to argue with them. I've also learned that visitors have to click on those little google ads on the right hand side to generate a few pennies in revenue for Uncle B, alias Ed Bark. Consider yourself pitched.
I'm only one person, and I'm dancing as fast as I can to bring you a timely, readable mix of television news and commentary, both national and local. My feet still aren't quite under me, but it's getting better all the time. I hope you'll also read the music reviews from my son, Sam, and the dispatches from China via my daughter, Liz. We've had some still puzzling technical problems keeping their respective pages up, but they're back in view as of this writing.
So thank you most kindly for all the incredibly nice words, battle cries, suggestions and criticisms. I'll do my very best to keep your faith. And we'll be adding new wrinkles and pages to the site as it grows in small doses while hopefully growing on you.
The overall goal, though, is to keep the site simple and navigable. I think of it as more of a reporting site than a blog. So I'll be getting out and about more and more in the coming weeks and months. But please remember, I can't cover everything. It'd be nice to retain a semblance of a life while also giving my very best effort to make this site stick.
One more thing: You'll never have to pre-register or pay even the tiniest subscription fee. Unclebarky.com will always be free of that stuff.
Thank you again. You've been a great audience so far.
Ed Bark
Hannity and Colmes do Dallas
09/22/06 11:37 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Fox News Channel's Hannity &
Colmes originated from the SMU campus Friday
night. Guess who got the better reception? Read the
complete story on the Dallas-Fort Worth TV page.
Ed Bark
Ed Bark
Grey's Anatomy vs. CSI: And the winner
is...
09/22/06 02:47 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
ABC sent its hot medical show against
CBS' entrenched CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
for the first time Thursday night. To see who won, go
to Network News & Reviews.
Oops, there it was
09/22/06 11:08 AM Ed Bark | Permalink
Irony of ironies
09/22/06 10:57 AM Ed Bark | Permalink
Missing in Action
09/21/06 10:21 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
By ED BARK
At least three new fall series already look like goners. The NBC serial drama Kidnapped had a dead-end opening Wednesday night, falling hard to a competing repeat of ABC's Grey's Anatomy and drawing less than half the viewers for CBS' frontrunning third season premiere of CSI: NY. That's a fatal blow for a series that wants to leave an audience hanging from week to week. You've got to have a big opening night crowd to do that. Otherwise you're the hang-ee.
Fox's Justice, which had an early premiere on Aug. 30, sunk to a fifth-place finish Wednesday in the network's target 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Don't expect it to be back after baseball unless the network moves it elsewhere. It is, after all, a would-be hour of power from TV potentate Jerry Bruckheimer. And the pilot episode was well-executed.
Another Fox freshman, Standoff finds itself at a ratings standstill in a plush time slot following the on-fire House. In their latest Tuesday night pairing, the not-so-good doctor was No. 1 with 18-49-year-olds, even beating the first hour of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Standoff then plunged to fourth with younger viewers opposite Dancing and the season premieres of CBS' The Unit and NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Bet on a bye-bye after baseball, with Justice maybe getting a last-chance shot after either House or Monday night's Prison Break.
At least three new fall series already look like goners. The NBC serial drama Kidnapped had a dead-end opening Wednesday night, falling hard to a competing repeat of ABC's Grey's Anatomy and drawing less than half the viewers for CBS' frontrunning third season premiere of CSI: NY. That's a fatal blow for a series that wants to leave an audience hanging from week to week. You've got to have a big opening night crowd to do that. Otherwise you're the hang-ee.
Fox's Justice, which had an early premiere on Aug. 30, sunk to a fifth-place finish Wednesday in the network's target 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Don't expect it to be back after baseball unless the network moves it elsewhere. It is, after all, a would-be hour of power from TV potentate Jerry Bruckheimer. And the pilot episode was well-executed.
Another Fox freshman, Standoff finds itself at a ratings standstill in a plush time slot following the on-fire House. In their latest Tuesday night pairing, the not-so-good doctor was No. 1 with 18-49-year-olds, even beating the first hour of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Standoff then plunged to fourth with younger viewers opposite Dancing and the season premieres of CBS' The Unit and NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Bet on a bye-bye after baseball, with Justice maybe getting a last-chance shot after either House or Monday night's Prison Break.
Emmitt "Twinkletoes" Smith: Good to go again
09/20/06 07:45 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
By ED BARK
No sweat. Emmitt Smith and partner Cheryl Burke learned one-third of the way through Wednesday's live Dancing with the Stars that they'd be flooring it again next week.
The former Dallas Cowboys great joined country singer Sara Evans and onetime teen heartthrob Joey Lawrence among the top three finishers in combined votes from viewers and the ABC hit's three judges. Emmitt, shown above on Tuesday night's show, now must endure being called "Twinkletoes" by smitten judge Carrie Ann Inaba. She's nowhere near as vacuous as American Idol's Paula Abdul, but does seem ready to jump in the sack with ol' No. 22.
"Twinkletoes continues to perform at a level that's pleasing," Emmitt said during pre-taped interviews in Dancing's opening minutes.
Voted off was former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, who's also in the throes of a divorce from former Blink 182 member Travis Barker after they co-starred in an MTV reality series last year.
Many of the celebrity dancers otherwise stepped up their games in Week 2 of the whirling, swirling glitz-fest. "I'm going to have to work a little bit harder," Emmitt told Dancing co-host Samantha Harris.
"A whole lot," Cheryl corrected him.
Lots of people are watching. Last week's season premiere of Dancing drew 20.2 million viewers nationally to rank as prime-time's most-watched show for that week. Tuesday's 2-hr. performance edition dipped a bit to 18.2 million against much tougher first-run competition on rival networks. It won the 7 to 9 p.m. slot in total viewers, but was beaten by Fox's House in the first hour among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
Next week's required dances are the tango and the jive. Whichever one he draws, "Twinkletoes" has already shown he's got sole.
No more local ratings reports for now
09/20/06 04:24 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
By ED BARK
It turns out that Nielsen Media Research's ratings printouts for local TV stations are considered proprietary information for use only by paying clients. That means they can't be sent out unvarnished to non-paying reporters for the purpose of ratings analysis.
For now, that means an end to the daily ratings digest reports inaugurated on Monday in the "Dallas-Fort Worth TV" section of this site. So If you want to know how local newscasts and other programs are doing with viewers, you'll have to ask the stations themselves. But if they're not doing particularly well, you might not get much of an answer.
I may be able to report some ratings "highlights" obtained from individual stations. But that's not the best or most accurate way to do it. And unclebarky.com presently doesn't have the funds to be a Nielsen client.
Anyone want to chip in?
It turns out that Nielsen Media Research's ratings printouts for local TV stations are considered proprietary information for use only by paying clients. That means they can't be sent out unvarnished to non-paying reporters for the purpose of ratings analysis.
For now, that means an end to the daily ratings digest reports inaugurated on Monday in the "Dallas-Fort Worth TV" section of this site. So If you want to know how local newscasts and other programs are doing with viewers, you'll have to ask the stations themselves. But if they're not doing particularly well, you might not get much of an answer.
I may be able to report some ratings "highlights" obtained from individual stations. But that's not the best or most accurate way to do it. And unclebarky.com presently doesn't have the funds to be a Nielsen client.
Anyone want to chip in?
Dancing with the Stars: Emmitt Watch
09/19/06 09:06 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
By ED BARK
He's in a zone. Emmitt Smith gamely juked his way to another solid 24 score on Tuesday's Dancing with the Stars, which there's a MAN LAW against watching.
So I watched it in a dress, heavy makeup and high heels. In that guise, the ex-Dallas Cowboys hero looked like a brawny lad, even though judge Carrie Ann Inaba dubbed him "Twinkletoes" after first asking permission. Emmitt and partner Cheryl Burke (shown above on last week's show) danced the required Quick-Step to the tune of KT Tunstall's "Black House and the Cherry Tree." He wore a black tux and white bow tie, keeping his back rigidly and unnaturally vertical after lowering his shoulders all those years as the NFL's all-time leading ground-gainer. Judging from his expressions, he genuinely enjoyed himself.
Judge Len Goodman pronounced it good enough for government work.
"I don't think this was quite as good as your cha cha last week," he said. "But it was still a great performance. Well done."
The 24 score put Emmitt and Cheryl in a third-place tie for the night with Vivica A. Fox and pro instructor Nick Kosovich. The leader board is topped by -- Whoa! -- former kid star Joey Lawrence, who nailed a near-perfect 29 with partner Edyta Sliwinska. In second are High School Musical star Moniquue Coleman and Louis van Amstel. By the way, I need an Amstel Light.
Emmitt noted that "everyone has brought their A-game here tonight," although the comedy stylings of Jerry Springer and semi-injured partner Kym Johnson were strictly from a B-movie. Jerry has a Springer in his step, but not much of a spring. He's last with 19 points, but should be kept around a while for laughs. During their routine together, Kym feigned kicking him in the nuts, which you can say on the Internet. He then ended the dance with a fake collapse.
I'd vote out stiff Harry Hamlin, although cocksure C-list rocker Willa Ford ("I'm tough, I'm dirty, I'm raw") is getting more than a bit wearisome. Meanwhile, last week's opening night top dogs, Mario Lopez and Katrina Smirnoff, irked judges with their free-form, throw-out-the-book version of the Two-Step.
"This was the Quick Step gone berserk. Stop booing me. Shaddup!" brayed judge Bruno Tonioli.
(Uncle Barky insider note: I've been to a live Dancing with the Stars show. The warmup guy encourages the audience to automatically boo any negative comments from judges. So host Tom Bergeron was playing it more than a bit dumb when he said after the night's first dance, "The stars take the criticism better than the audience.")
Wednesday night's results show, in which viewers' and judges' votes are weighted 50-50, will send home another of the show's original couples. Emmitt and Cheryl look good to go to at least the Final Four. The winner gets a ridiculous-looking trophy and perhaps a chance to kiss one of Emmitt's three Super Bowl rings. But if the Cowboys legend goes all the way...well, he should brandish his Dancing with the Stars spoils at his future Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Technical dude weighs in
09/19/06 06:26 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Hi, Carl Morgan here, stepson of Uncle
Barky. I'm the one working behind the scenes, and
it's nice to meet you. Anyway, we've just enabled RSS
on the site. Now you'll know when "Ed" posts
something new on his site. I'm using Safari, and I
have a nice button on my address bar to get it to
load up. Also on the right side of the page you'll
notice a "RSS Feed." It's just another way to get to
it. Be sure to bookmark it and hopefully we're done
messing with it. Another question that I bet many of
you are asking: Where are the permanent links to the
posts? I hear you and I'm on it. In the meantime, the
RSS feed provides you with one while I work on that.
After you click the "read more" option in the RSS
feed -- that's the permalink. It'll lead you back to
whatever post you're wanting to link to. Any more
questions or feature requests? Leave it in the
comments.
Friday Night Lights sweepstakes
09/19/06 03:13 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
By ED BARK
NBC's series version of Friday Night Lights won't be on conventional home screens until Oct. 3. But hey, high school kids, you can enter a sweepstakes and download passes to a free North Texas screening Thursday night, Sept. 21. Go here.
Otherwise, the site will be the Studio Movie Grill, 4721 W. Park Blvd in Plano, where a screening of the Austin-made series pilot episode begins at 7 p.m. I've seen it. It's terrific.
Seating is on a first-serve basis, with registrants eligible for a grand prize that will fly five friends to Austin for a cameo appearance on Friday Night Lights and a $50,000 contribution to their high school football program. Four second-prize winners each will receive $25 grand toward their schools' football programs. Hopefully, some of that money will find its way towards arts education as well. Fifty communities will be competing for these prizes. You must be between the ages of 14 and 18 to participate in this Toyota-sponsored sweepstakes.
NBC's series version of Friday Night Lights won't be on conventional home screens until Oct. 3. But hey, high school kids, you can enter a sweepstakes and download passes to a free North Texas screening Thursday night, Sept. 21. Go here.
Otherwise, the site will be the Studio Movie Grill, 4721 W. Park Blvd in Plano, where a screening of the Austin-made series pilot episode begins at 7 p.m. I've seen it. It's terrific.
Seating is on a first-serve basis, with registrants eligible for a grand prize that will fly five friends to Austin for a cameo appearance on Friday Night Lights and a $50,000 contribution to their high school football program. Four second-prize winners each will receive $25 grand toward their schools' football programs. Hopefully, some of that money will find its way towards arts education as well. Fifty communities will be competing for these prizes. You must be between the ages of 14 and 18 to participate in this Toyota-sponsored sweepstakes.
Prison Break, Episode 5: "Map 1213"
09/18/06 08:07 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
By ED BARK
Somehow they're still pulling it off. Prison Break's second season, being filmed entirely in North Texas, continues to work as both drama and dreamscape. Monday's fifth episode, subtitled "Map 1213," depicted downtown Elm Street (with a very visible Majestic Theatre) as one of Chicago's main drags.
Cons on the lam later made their way through mockups of Las Vegas (with an obviously digitized Stratosphere hotel dropped in) and Cache County, Utah, where $5 million in buried booty is supposed to be waiting. Stern but shaky FBI agent Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner) also name-dropped a real-life North Texas city, Mesquite, while trying to map out the fugitives' game plan. He earlier picked up a new stash of whatever drug he's on, with the Dallas Arts District serving as an attractive drop-off point. Wiser heads reading this will nail down exactly where Mahone met his pusher man.
Last Monday's surprise gundown of mob boss John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) shows that just about anyone is expendable, except of course heartthrob series star Wentworth Miller as "Snowflake" Michael Scofield. Maybe this is heresy, but I'm still waiting for a really good scene from either Mr. Miller or principal co-star Dominic Purcell, who plays his older brother, Lincoln Burrows.
For me, the two standout characters in the early going are despotic Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper) and stray cat David "Tweener" Apolskis (Dallas native Lane Garrison). Both bring a jittery, offbeat intensity to their roles. They finally had their first 2nd season scene together Monday night, with T-Bag strong-arming the kid with his good arm.
"Get your grubby paws off me," said Tweener, also upset at having to part with his "St. Louis University" hitchhiking babe after cops blew his cover.
One preposterous sidetrip at last ended. Were we really supposed to believe that fugitive Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) blazed on a motorcycle from Bedford-Stuyvesant, NY to Vegas in less than two days? I guess it's possible, but not with a big price on your head. Where were the speed traps?
Fernando was bent on stopping his previous fiancee from getting married, but instead got ratted out in what amounted to The Graduate from bizarro world. So now he's back on his bike again, ready to rejoin fellow escapees in pursuit of a big chunk of change that now turns out to be buried under a new housing development.
There goes the neighborhood.
Somehow they're still pulling it off. Prison Break's second season, being filmed entirely in North Texas, continues to work as both drama and dreamscape. Monday's fifth episode, subtitled "Map 1213," depicted downtown Elm Street (with a very visible Majestic Theatre) as one of Chicago's main drags.
Cons on the lam later made their way through mockups of Las Vegas (with an obviously digitized Stratosphere hotel dropped in) and Cache County, Utah, where $5 million in buried booty is supposed to be waiting. Stern but shaky FBI agent Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner) also name-dropped a real-life North Texas city, Mesquite, while trying to map out the fugitives' game plan. He earlier picked up a new stash of whatever drug he's on, with the Dallas Arts District serving as an attractive drop-off point. Wiser heads reading this will nail down exactly where Mahone met his pusher man.
Last Monday's surprise gundown of mob boss John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) shows that just about anyone is expendable, except of course heartthrob series star Wentworth Miller as "Snowflake" Michael Scofield. Maybe this is heresy, but I'm still waiting for a really good scene from either Mr. Miller or principal co-star Dominic Purcell, who plays his older brother, Lincoln Burrows.
For me, the two standout characters in the early going are despotic Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper) and stray cat David "Tweener" Apolskis (Dallas native Lane Garrison). Both bring a jittery, offbeat intensity to their roles. They finally had their first 2nd season scene together Monday night, with T-Bag strong-arming the kid with his good arm.
"Get your grubby paws off me," said Tweener, also upset at having to part with his "St. Louis University" hitchhiking babe after cops blew his cover.
One preposterous sidetrip at last ended. Were we really supposed to believe that fugitive Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) blazed on a motorcycle from Bedford-Stuyvesant, NY to Vegas in less than two days? I guess it's possible, but not with a big price on your head. Where were the speed traps?
Fernando was bent on stopping his previous fiancee from getting married, but instead got ratted out in what amounted to The Graduate from bizarro world. So now he's back on his bike again, ready to rejoin fellow escapees in pursuit of a big chunk of change that now turns out to be buried under a new housing development.
There goes the neighborhood.
Cowboys-Redskins: Man laws
09/17/06 08:03 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
All right, gotta say it. Al Michaels
is by far the best football play-by-play guy in the
biz. He's proving it again on NBC's Sunday night
telecast. Loved the way he said, "10-zip, Big D" just
before a commercial break. Perfect intonation from a
guy who actually likes seeing the Cowboys win.
Sidekick John Madden, still a force, predicted before the opening kickoff, "I have a feeling that Drew Bledsoe's gonna respond well tonight." So far he's mostly right, but a flag-strewn first quarter slowed him down some. "Penalties knock the heck out of consistency," Madden opined.
Neither commented on noted football fan Pink's performance of the opening theme music. Madden wouldn't know Pink from punk anyway. Good for him. Gotta go now. It's been a long, long day launching this site. Please browse and let me drowse for a while.
Sidekick John Madden, still a force, predicted before the opening kickoff, "I have a feeling that Drew Bledsoe's gonna respond well tonight." So far he's mostly right, but a flag-strewn first quarter slowed him down some. "Penalties knock the heck out of consistency," Madden opined.
Neither commented on noted football fan Pink's performance of the opening theme music. Madden wouldn't know Pink from punk anyway. Good for him. Gotta go now. It's been a long, long day launching this site. Please browse and let me drowse for a while.
Prez-ent company accepted
09/16/06 01:00 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Jon Stewart's The Daily Show has a hot one
tonight (Mon., Sept. 18). His special guest on
Comedy Central's flagship newscast is former
President Bill Clinton. Likely topic: ABC's recent
and controversial Path to 9/11 miniseries,
which left the strong impression that Clinton's
dalliance with Monica Lewinsky and preoccupation
with impeachment left him short on resolve to
capture Osama bin Laden. Showtime is 10 central,
11 eastern.
What you won't see, what you won't get
09/16/06 12:25 PM Ed Bark | Permalink
Time Warner's recent takeover of
Dallas area Comcast cable systems turns out to be not
so hot for the "On Demand" channel. Lots of stuff is
missing, and it's lately gotten worse. A new CBS deal
with Comcast will let subscribers watch episodes of
eight new and returning series for free on the day
after their network debuts.
It supplants an old deal in which CBS charged 99 cents a pop to see certain shows any time of day or night. All three CSI series will be available, plus Survivor, NCIS, Numb3rs, Big Brother and the new Jericho.
CBS doesn't have any such deals with Time Warner, so for now we get nothing.
It supplants an old deal in which CBS charged 99 cents a pop to see certain shows any time of day or night. All three CSI series will be available, plus Survivor, NCIS, Numb3rs, Big Brother and the new Jericho.
CBS doesn't have any such deals with Time Warner, so for now we get nothing.