Thursday, September 22, 2011

Shots of Jame-O: September 22, 2011

Now that football season is in full swing, baseball playoffs are right around the corner, and the Fall TV season kicked off with new shows (and returning shows), I think it's time for another blog post.  I apologize to all of you who check this blog every single day and night hoping and praying for new posts to get you through the long weeks (McCarthy).  I AM BACK.

NFL:

2 weeks down and 15 to go in the NFL regular season.  Lots of exciting stuff happening, like the Redskins and Bills both 2-0!  (You thought I was going to mention a certain blue and silver team, huh?  Nope, no jinxing from me).  I'm not going to comment on my pre-season predictions just yet, as it is still way too early.  But clearly (and as someone was kind enough to point out on the blog) I was wrong on Peyton Manning and the Colts.  As Peyton goes, so go the Colts.  At least they will have Andrew Luck waiting in the wings to learn from Manning like Rodgers did from Favre.  I think that turned out ok for the Packers.  A few other quick observations:  the Patriots and Tom Brady look like world-beaters (he's on pace for 7,500 passing yards!).  The Seahawks look absolutely horrible, mostly because they gave the keys to Tavaris Jackson (sorry, Colleeeen).  The "Dream Team" is 1-1 with Vick already wobbling.  And the Redskins and Bills look like this year's "IT" teams (reverse jinx). 

Fantasy Football:

With the NFL comes fantasy football - and who doesn't love fantasy football?  Let me answer that - I don't!  Typical start to the fantasy football season for me.  I play in 4 money leagues.  In 3 of those, I'm 2-0 and either in 1st or 2nd place overall.  My teams look strong and ready to contend all year.  In my other league, I'm 0-2.  And yes, that is the league I care the most about.  It's year 7 for that league and I've never won a championship.  I thought with Arian Foster, Chris Johnson and Antonio Gates I would be stacked.  Instead, those guys have 0 TDs through 2 weeks.  And 0 double-digit point performances.  Awesome.  Some observations:  Cam Newton!  Wow.  Whoever has Arian Foster better hope they also picked up Ben Tate (I drafted him in that 0-2 league, wisely).  Don't forget that Ben Tate was supposed to be the #1 guy for the Texans last year before a season ending injury let Arian Foster run wild.  Ray Rice, LeSean McCoy and Darren McFadden all look poised to battle for the #2 RB spot behind Adrian Peterson this year.  Those guys are monsters in a point-per-reception league.  Oh, and guess who has 2 more TDs than Arian Foster, Chris Johnson and Antonio Gates this year?  KUUUUUUHHHHHHHNNNNNNN.  Pick him up and drop Foster/Johnson now!  (Only if you are in one of my leagues). 

Fall 2011 TV Season:

Last year there were some exciting shows that premiered...and I think they all were cancelled after one season.  I really, really liked The Chicago Code, a FOX drama about cops in Chicago and political corruption.  Of course, it was cancelled after an awesome season finale.  Some people I know got into "The Event" on NBC.  I watched for about 6 episodes or so, and had absolutely NO CLUE what "The Event" was.  Was that ever revealed?  That reminds me a little of the AMC show "The Killing", where all season long the tag line was "Who killed Rosie Larsen?", only the finale didn't really tell us who killed Rosie Larsen.  Anyway, this season there does not appear to be a lot of new shows that are worth watching...and even if they seem interesting, my advice would be not to get too attached; new network shows rarely make it these days.  That said, here are a few that I'll be checking out:

Person of Interest:  Debuts 9/22 at 9pm on CBS.  Centers on ex-CIA hitman and a scientist who team up to prevent crimes before they happen.  The scientist is the guy who played Ben Linus on "LOST" - one of my favorite characters.  And the ex-CIA hitman is the dude from Frequency who gets to talk to his dad back before his dad dies and tries to save him.  Looks pretty cool and got decent reviews.

New Girl:  FOX comedy that premiered on Tuesday night at 9pm.  Stars Zooey Deschanel (the girl from "Elf") who moves in with 3 guys after a bad breakup.  Critics seem to love it, and it opened with huge ratings.  But I thought it was just "eh."  Admittedly, I'm not a big standard sit-com guy.  But I'll give it another episode or two.

Pan Am:  Debuts Sunday at 10pm on ABC.  Period drama about the pilots and flight attendants who once made Pan Am the most glamorous way to fly.  I'll give it an episode or two - lots of buzz surrounding it.  But I fear it'll be Grey's Anatomy in the sky.

Homeland:  Debuts October 2nd on Showtime.  Centers on Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody, who returns home eight years after going missing in Iraq, and Carrie Anderson, a driven (and possibly unstable) CIA officer who suspects he might be plotting a terrorist attack on America.  I saw the pilot episode of this show, and it was pretty awesome.  Definitely the show I'm most pumped for this year. 

There are others I'll be watching, and if I think they are good enough to put into the rotation, I'll probably blog about them.  For now, make sure you are watching (or start watching) the following returning (or currently airing) shows:  Breaking Bad on AMC (best show on TV), Boardwalk Empire (HBO - 2nd season premiere this Sunday), Community/Parks and Recreation/The Office (all return to NBC Thursday).  For my money, Breaking Bad is the best TV drama currently on TV and Parks and Recreation is the best network comedy.  Yes, better than Modern Family.  And definitely better than a post-Steve Carell "The Office."

2 comments:

  1. here's a question for you regarding Breaking Bad: Who is going to die at the end of this season? Gus? Mike? Jesse is untouchable now, you'd think, but Walt is useless now, so... I can't wait for Sunday. Also, I will be checking out New Girl because Zooey is gorgeous. Another also, may I suggest Whitney after The Office? She's been on Stern a bunch of times recently and she is hilarious, I'm excited for her show.

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  2. Great question about BB. I won't give anything away on here just in case there are people reading who want to catch up on the show. And honestly, EVERYONE should catch up on this show. But I'll guess that someone major bites it at the end of the season...just not Walt or Jesse.

    I've heard mixed things on Whitney. I'll wait for the epsidoe to air, hear what peopel have to say and then maybe pick up on it. That's what I typically do with new shows.

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