CM Punk's Raw Promo

Simply awesome.

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Seeing the silver lining in Christian/Orton

When Edge retired and it seemed Christian might have a legitimate shot at becoming the World Heavyweight Champion, fans were cautiously optimistic. When he actually nabbed the gold at Over the Limit, fans were absolutely ecstatic. When he lost the title two days later (which was aired three days after that) to Randy Orton, fans wanted to boycott.

I tend to take the "wait and see" approach, because I want to see how everything plays out before judging. But even I was pretty upset. I didn't understand why Christian couldn't just get the three week reign and lose it at the PPV. This seemed like a slap in the face. But once I actually saw the end of that particular episode of Smackdown, my outlook changed.

The fact of the matter is that this entire feud -- and, to a lesser extent, all of Smackdown -- has been entirely about Christian. When Christian lost the title, the emphasis wasn't on Orton being the new champion, it was on Christian's defeat. That Smackdown ended with a shocked Christian walking backstage in despair. And from that point forward, every single video promo they've put together was about Christian's journey to reclaiming the gold. Or about his heel turn and the lengths he'll go to in order to win the title back. Christian has unquestionably been the focus of the feud.

Nonetheless, you'll have people out there saying, "Great, but he's still not champion." Fair point. But remember when Chris Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship, yet the show STILL focused on Triple H? People were furious. Well, you can't really have it both ways. Christian may not be champion, but he's the show's attraction, even if they're not doing it intentionally. Every week they're showing videos in order to get people to watch Smackdown, and each video is centered on Christian, not Orton.

You'll also have people saying that Christian is yet to win a match against Orton. This is true, and it's a sore spot for me too. But, again, consider the fact that while Christian has never won, he's also not being portrayed as out of Orton's league. In each of their encounters, Christian has been close to winning, but one swift RKO has changed that. As a comparison, consider that Austin has won, I believe, all but one singles match against The Rock. It doesn't mean they weren't in the same league.

For that matter, I don't recall Christian ever being pushed so strongly. He's always been jobber to the stars, right? Now he's beating big lugs like Mark Henry and Sheamus cleanly. Even this past Raw, he pinned Orton and outlasted the rest of his team (including recent Champion the Miz and flavor of the month R-Truth). That's not too shabby.

I'll admit it, this all still hinges on how it plays out. If this Christian/Orton feud ends with Orton yet again beating Christian clean, and then Christian being shto to the middle of the card, they will have dropped the ball. But let's see if that happens before writing off this feud.

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Judging Ryan Dunn: Is it too soon?

One of the big news items this week centered around the unfortunate death of Jackass star Ryan Dunn. Perhaps just as newsworthy as his death was the very public response to it. Notably, film critic Roger Ebert tweeted that “friends don’t let jackasses drive drunk.” In response, many of Dunn’s friends from Jackass (and Perez Hilton) chastised Ebert, calling him heartless and saying that it was too soon.

Given the circumstances of his death – and the fact that a passenger was killed – the question deserves some discussion: Is it too soon to judge Ryan Dunn?

This question was actually presented to me first, although not personally, on Twitter by Harvey Levine of TMZ. He noted that the crew was debating whether or not such a debate was “too soon.” My immediate answer was a resounding “No.”

If anything, I’d say that it was “too soon” simply because we didn’t have all of the evidence yet. Sure, Dunn posted pictures on Twitter of him drinking with friends (one of whom perished in the accident), but for all we know that was one of only a couple of drinks he had. At the time, we didn’t know if alcohol factored into the accident – so in that regard, it was a bit callous for Roger Ebert to so authoritatively condemn Dunn.

However, we now know that Ryan Dunn’s blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit and that he was driving nearly three times the posted speed limit. Knowing this, I don’t believe Ebert was out of line. If Ryan Dunn had died alone, it would have been regarded as a sad, stupid mistake that cost him his life. But that’s not the reality of the situation, as another human life was lost due to Dunn’s decision to drink and drive. And considering the reckless nature of his death, the potential for others to pay for his misjudgment was significant. I don't pretend to be self righteous. I'm sure many of us have made questionable decisions while impaired. But that doesn't excuse Dunn's actions.

Is Ryan Dunn’s death sad? Immensely, and especially to those who knew and cared about him. Is it “tragic”? Yes, in the sense that any loss of life is tragic. But I’m more inclined to say that the death of the car’s passenger can be classified as “tragic” (don’t get me wrong – getting into a car with a drunk driver is almost as unwise as driving drunk yourself. And as you can see, the consequences can be just as dire).

I don’t blame Dunn’s friends for grieving and coming to his defense, but I do think their anger is misguided. It is human nature to fire back at Roger Ebert, but the more important message here should be that Ryan Dunn’s actions led to the loss of his life, his friend’s life, and could have very easily resulted in many others being harmed or killed as well. It saddens me to think that fans of Jackass will look at this situation and say, “Roger Ebert is a heartless bastard.” They should really see it and learn from Dunn’s mistakes.

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Top Ten Cases: Favorite [adult swim] Original Cartoons

I'm counting down my favorite [adult swim] original cartoons. This obviously excludes syndicated programs that air on the show, such as American Dad, Family Guy, and King of the Hill. Enjoy!

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A Star is Gone

So with last year’s television season coming to an end, and preparations being made for the next one, we’re seeing a lot of news about whether some big stars will be returning to their shows. We’ve already learned that Lisa Edelstein won’t be returning to House, Laurence Fishburne won’t be returning to CSI, and Christopher Meloni won’t be returning to Law & Order: SVU. These losses will undoubtedly impact their respective shows, but it got me thinking about instances where an actor leaving a show – due to contractual and unnatural issues – completely altered the landscape of the television series. Here are a few examples that come to mind – can you think of any other?

JOHN RHYS-DAVIES AND SLIDERS:
I used to be a big fan of Sliders, but right around the time that the beloved Professor died, the show never seemed to be the same. The central premise of the show shifted from a crew of group of people sliding from one dimension to the next, hoping that the next slide would be the one that brings them home, to a group of people tracking Rickman, and finally – believe it or not – an intergalactic war against the Kromaggs. By the end of it all, Sliders barely resembled the series it started off as, and to me it all began with the departure of John Rhys-Davies. The comrade was gone, and with the introduction of Maggie, Quinn and Wade (the emotional center of the show) drifted to such an extent that her “death” and his eventual departure barely seemed to mean anything to either character.

It was years later that I would discover that John Rhys-Davies left the show because of creative differences with one of the show runners. Therefore, his character’s death wasn’t an example of organic storytelling, instead it was a concerted effort to get the actor off of the show. I cannot help but wonder if Sliders would have descended so far from its original vision if the Professor had stuck around (for what it’s worth, rumors also circulated that Wade left the series because she didn’t get along with the actress who portrayed Maggie, who replaced the Professor).

ADEWALE AKINNUYOE-AGBAJE AND LOST:
When Lost introduced the Tailies at the beginning of the second season (and swiftly discarded of them within the same season), it seemed like Mr. Eko was the only one destined to make an impact on the show. He was seen as the Tailie Locke – the man who understood the island and its unbelievable abilities. And during Locke’s crisis of faith, Eko’s role was even more important, as the official avatar for the writers who could explain everything significant to the audience. Eko came in with a roar but left in a whimper (well, a Smoke Monster, tree bashing induced whimper) when he was suddenly and unexpectedly killed off in an early season three episode. The death of Eko actually had people considering the entirety of season two to be a waste, as it focused so much on the Tailies, yet by the beginning of the third season, virtually all of them were dead.

It would later come to light that Eko was written off because the actor was very difficult to get along with. Terry O’Quinn, who seems to be very professional and diplomatic based on what I’ve read about him, stated in an interview that he wasn’t sad to see the actor go. While, in the grand scheme of things, I’m sure Eko’s absence didn’t have a significant impact on the end game, but I can’t help but feel like the journey would have been dramatically different if Eko hadn’t died. How would he have reacted to the war with the Others? Or the time traveling? Or, perhaps most significantly, how would he have responded to the Smoke Monster/Man in Black/Locke Ness Monster? I don’t know if Eko would have survived to the very end, particularly when the series started to dwindle the cast down to the absolute essentials, but I have no doubt that there were bigger plans for this character had the actor meshed better with the rest of the cast.

It’s worth noting that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje may very well be the only one-time regular to never once return to the show, if I’m not mistaken.

MIRA FURLAN AND LOST:
After appearing sporadically throughout the first few seasons of Lost, Danielle Rousseau finally began to play a larger role when she was reunited with her daughter at the end of the third season. Just when it seemed like this story was going to be properly resolved and we’d finally get a flashback Rousseau episode that would answer some very significant questions, the character was abruptly killed off in a very nonchalant, inconsequential fashion. It would later come to light that the actress requested that she be written off, as she didn’t wish to continue traveling to Hawaii to film her scenes.

Sure, we did essentially get Rousseau’s flashback episode the following season, through the magic of time travel, but I also can’t help but feel like aspects of the story were altered significantly due to Mira Furlan’s exit. Would Alex have been killed so quickly afterwards? If so, how would she have played into that tragic turn of events? And if Mira Furlan hadn’t decided to leave the show, would we have seen a proper character-centric flashback episode (which surely would have avoided that “did she recognize Jin?” question)?

NESTOR CARBONELL AND LOST:
Unlike all of the examples above, where an actor leaves a show and completely alters its plans, the case of Nestor Carbonell on Lost takes the opposite stance, where a twist of fate allows an actor to stay on the show. As you may recall, Nestor Carbonell, who plays Richard Alpert, was cast in Cane, which would have made him unavailable for Lost. As “luck” would have it, the writer’s strike shortened Lost’s season and resulted in Cane getting canceled. Thus, Carbonell was able to return to Lost.

It’s actually quite difficult to imagine what Lost would have played out without Richard Alpert. The fifth season focused almost exclusively on time travel – which was a polarizing decision – and that simply would not have worked so well if it weren’t for Alpert’s character. Quite simply, he was the glue that held the story arc together. Whether they were in the present or in the past, the characters’ ability to communicate with Alpert brought everything together. He unquestionably became one of the most intriguing (and popular) characters in the span of 17 somewhat episodes.

In fact, the Richard Alpert flashback episode was most likely the most anticipated episode of the last season, which is quite feat considering the significant episodes that were promised that season.

MICHAEL ROSENBAUM AND SMALLVILLE:
Thankfully, Smallville was able to recover from the loss of Michael Rosenbaum by introducing new villains like Doomsday, Zod, and Darkseid. And while Smallville was officially promoted as the story of Clark Kent becoming Superman, it was just as much about how Lex went from being Clark’s best friend to the Man of Steel’s sworn enemy. As such, Michael Rosenbaum’s departure surely impacted the show’s plans.

In the years that followed, the writers did a phenomenal job of completing Clark’s journey. And gratefully, Rosenbaum agreed to return for the finale, where some loose ends were tired up. But still, a whole lot of story had to be told in those few scenes, leaving some to feel a bit cheated, as everything felt rushed. You can’t but feel like things would have played out different – and more consistent with their original plan – if Rosenbaum hadn’t opted to leave.

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: Billy Ray's Neighborhood Dive

Onto June's Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt, and this month we visit Portland, Oregon. And as it happens, it's navy blue! I will say, this program does a nice job of mixing up the color scheme. Anyway, here's everything you need to know about this establishment! And hey, it's about time we get a haunted bar!

The sign on the front says Tavern so if you're looking for Billy Ray's you might get confused. They started selling burgers downstairs sometime in the first half of the last century. Then it became the neighborhood watering hole, and over the years it's seen major misadventures. A car crashed through the front of the building, and a few decades back a death upstairs started stories that it was haunted. Those stories survive. Just ask the people who work here. They say it's creepy. Almost a dozen years ago Billy Ray came along and wanted to make a grown-up place to play. He stripped out the upstairs residence and filled it with pool and pinball. The walls are an altered state of paint that goes great with giant mugs of beer and flipper frenzy. If you're hungry or just run out of quarters, they have homey options on the menu....Banquet TV dinners. You can take your feast out on the patio where Pacific breezes make cool promises, and ping pong offers another challenge. The regulars wanted still more action, so they started a softball team, the Dive Bombers. Portland is full of players and this place is a home run for truly spirited competition.

Dive Bar Shirt Club: http://www.divebarshirtclub.com/Default.asp

Dive Bar Shirt Club T-Shirt Gallery

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Bischoff's War

There was an interesting discussion over at Scott Keith's blog about Eric Bischoff's disdain for the Internet Wrestling Community ("IWC"), referring to them as a very vocal but insignificant portion of the audience (10%, according to him). Even today, Bischoff tweeted the following message:

What the 10%'ers and the dirtsites that feed them don't want to report: Per Spike TV, Impact Wrestling was the #1 cable show in its time period among M18-49 despite under-delivering its STD average among key demos and TNA increased from its Jail (rpt) lead-in by +129% in M18-49 (.78), with an additional +6% gain in the following quarter hour. TNA peaked in the 10:15p quarter with a .99 in M18-49.

Of course, this message is exceptionally flawed. Bischoff refers to the IWC as "10%ers" -- according to him, a meaningless sample of the audience -- yet touts his ratings success. How incredibly hypocritical. By definition, Nielsen ratings are a small sampling that attempts to measure the overall television audience. So while Bischoff goes off about how the IWC represents a menial 10% of the viewing audience, the Nielsen ratings represent (get this) approximately .02% of the overall audience. Yes, per 2009's numbers, Nielsen homes only represent about .02% of all American households.

So, yeah, completely isolate and degrade 10% of the audience (that is willing to talk about you, nonetheless), but toot your own horn about .02% of your viewing audience.

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The Hangover Part 2

So I finally managed to see The Hangover Part 2 this weekend, and my short review is: SEE THIS MOVIE! If you enjoyed the first one, you'll find this one utterly hilarious. Yes, the story is essentially the same, but the gags and jokes aren't simply rehashed from the original. I thought it was really, really funny and well worth a theater viewing. Also, how about Jamie Chung? The only time I had ever seen her before were the commercials for Sucker Punch, which I didn't see despite my crush on Vanessa Hudgens. But she appears in this movie as Stu's bride-to-be, and holy hell was she smoking! She alone might be worth the price of admission.

Click the link below for my only two complaints about the movie. They include some spoilers, for those of you who wish to go into the movie fresh.

Continue reading "The Hangover Part 2"....

My first complaint is a pretty simple one: they completely gloss over the fact that Teddy's finger has been severed and is missing, eliminating any possibility of reattachment. I don't know if the guy is just a terrible actor or if the character is just extremely awkward, but Teddy's reaction to his finger getting cut off was the same as his reaction to meeting everybody at the airport which was the same as his reaction to getting offered a beer on the beach. He was just constantly laid back and uncomfortable, no matter the situation.

But even if we excuse his non-reaction to bad acting or social anxieties, NONE of the characters seemed all that bothered by the fact that he no longer had a finger. Did his sister, the bridge, seem to care? No. And sure, his father mentioned it, but he was accepting Stu as a suitable groom seconds later.

I'd like to think that he couldn't handle the pressure of being a child prodigy, but even so, does that outweigh the negatives of living your life without a finger?

My second problem with the movie was that, to me, it couldn't end "happily." At the end of The Hangover, it seemed that their wild adventure resulted in some unique new friendships, as well as an appreciation for achieving our own happiness. So everything they went through seemed worth it. But at the beginning of this movie, we learned that the rest of the group completely wrote off Alan, and in fact they were quite traumatized by what had occurred in the first film. Alan was back to being a lone wolf, so it seemed like the only truly good thing that came from it was that Stu got out of an abusive relationship.

So, to me, it just felt like these trials and tribulations would not result in some deeper, character building appreciation for life and friendship. And that made their obstacles seem a little less enjoyable.

But, again, these two criticism (while lengthy in explanation) in no way really took away from the hilarity of the film. So, again, SEE IT!

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Smallville fans, I need your help! #Smallville

Now that Smallville has aired its finale, and everything has set in, I'm planning on doing a Top Ten Cases that will rank the most stand out episodes (I'm always reluctant to refer to anything as the "best"). With nearly 220 episodes under its belt, it's awfully difficult to narrow the list down to ten. So, loyal fans, I'm hoping that some of you might offer me a suggestion. Please e-mail me any episodes that come to mind, and I'll see if they warrant a place on my personal list.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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