Some TV studio bosses are full of baloney

In this week's issue of TV Guide the heads of eight television studios were asked a number of questions, such as "What would you say is your new sleeper hit?" and "Which actor is poised to become a superstar?"   I have no problem with their answers to most questions - even though for those two questions they're just guessing - but the one question I sense some B.S. with their answers is "What would you be doing if you weren't in the entertainment business?"

The most honest answer was from Jamie Erlicht, president of programming and production at Sony Pictures Television. His reply was "Trying to get back in."   Honest and funny.

But the two ridiculous answers were from Kevin Beggs, chairperson of Lionsgate Television Group, and Peter Roth, president and chief content officer of Warner Brothers Television Group. Their response?  "Teaching."

Really? I'm supposed to believe that these guys would give up their six or seven - or maybe eight - figure salaries and work as teachers?  They would actually work at a difficult job such as teaching, for fifty or sixty thousand dollars a year?  If they were not working in the entertainment business? Come on.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since they're really in the bullshit business, so they're trying to make themselves feel honorable by saying they'd be teachers if they weren't in entertainment.  I'd like to see some of them spend even one day as a teacher. Actually they probably wouldn't last two minutes in a classroom, let alone a day.

Come on Beggs and Roth. I could do your jobs better than you, and I've never worked in the entertainment business. At least I'd pick some quality shows to be on TV instead of junk that lasts one episode.

Vikings out-coached in loss to Browns

For the second week in a row the Minnesota Vikings defense made a number of big plays, yet the team still lost the game. While the Browns played well, the Vikings coaching staff was outsmarted by their Cleveland counterparts on a few occasions.

The most glaring example would be the fake field goal attempt that resulted in a Browns touchdown. Minnesota has 23 assistant coaches, and not one of them saw Cleveland's Jordan Cameron standing alone near the sideline?  Come on. Coaches spend hours in their offices drawing X's and O's, and then during a game they miss something like that? Pathetic. On the other hand, the Browns coaches deserve some credit for coming up with the idea and for having the guts to try to it.

Even though Christian Ponder doesn't have a cannon for an arm, and still again made some costly mistakes, this is a game the Vikings could have easily won. Hopefully Minnesota will play at a higher level when they meet some of the tougher teams on their schedule later this season.

At least Frazier takes blame for latest Vikings debacle

Minnesota Vikings' fans ought to be used to losing games like Sunday's last second loss to the Chicago Bears. Even with a number of big plays, the Vikings still managed to lose somehow.

Jared Allen's sack and forced fumble of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler led to Brian Robison scooping up the fumble and racing down the field to score a touchdown. What a great play. Almost as good as Carl Eller and Jim Marshall of the old Purple People Eaters.

Letroy Guion's stripping the football off Bears running back Matt Forte was another awesome play. Cordarelle Patterson's 105 yard kickoff return to start the game was magnificent. Harrison Smith's interception of a Cutler pass was a thing of beauty, as he leaped into the air and snared the ball in front of the receiver. Just like Bobby Bryant and Paul Krause used to do.

Yet the Vikings still lost the game. Head coach Leslie Frazier told reporters afterwards, “That last two-minute sequence I could have done some things different. I told our players after the game, as a staff I don’t think we could have asked for any better preparation, any better fight from our team. But personally I have to do a better job in guiding our team in that last sequence and I wanted them to know that. At the end of the day, there were some things that I didn’t do in my role that could have helped our football team."

Frazier declined to get into specifics, but he said the personnel on the field for the Bears’ last meaningful drive wasn’t the problem.

“There were some things we could have done differently strategically and that’s my fault,” Frazier said.

OK.

The thing I'll never understand is, with a team like the Vikings, they have 23 assistant coaches. They practice and prepare for a week.  Then on game day the coaches don't make the right decisions?  Maybe having 23 assistant coaches is too many. What are all these guys doing?  Maybe there's so many X's and O' floating around out there that everyone is too confused to act.

Television's 25 greatest catchphrases

A catchphrase is a way to build a character and give an identity to a television show. TV Guide recently released its list of the 60 most notable catchphrases on TV shows in the history of the medium. Here is one viewer's opinion of the best 25 catchphrases of all time, based on too many years of watching television...
 

25) "Dy-no-mite!" (JJ Evans, Good Times)

24) "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds." (Mission: Impossible)

23) "Resistance is futile." (Star Trek, The Next Generation)

22) "How you doin'?" (Joey Tribbiani, Friends)

21) "Yadda, yadda, yadda." (Elaine Benes, Seinfield)

20) "Baby, you're the greatest." (Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners)

19) "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." (Jim McKay, Wide World of Sports)

18) "You look mahvelous." (Fernando, Saturday Night Live)

17) "Danger, Will Robinson!" (The Robot, Lost in Space)

16) "To the Batmobile!" (Batman, Batman)

15) "Yabba Dabba Do!" (Fred Flintsone, The Flintstones)

14) "Eat my shorts." (Bart Simpson, The Simpsons)

13) "Live long and prosper." (Commander Spock, Star Trek)

12) "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" (Adventures of Superman)

11) "Good night, John Boy." (The Walton family, The Waltons)

10) "I'm listening." (Frasier Krane, Frasier)

9) "Come on down!" (Johnny Olson, The Price is Right)

8) "Book'em, Danno." (Detective Steve McGarrett, Hawaii Five-O)

7) "Make it so." (Captain Picard, Star Trek the Next Generation)

6) "What's up, Doc?" (Bugs Bunny, Looney Tunes)

5) "Let's be careful out there." (Sergeant Phil Esterhaus, Hill Street Blues)

4) "And that's the way it is." (Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News)

3) "Aaay!" (Fonzie, Happy Days)

2) "D'oh!" (Homer Simpson, The Simpsons)

1) "Heeere's...Johnny!" (Ed McMahon, The Tonight Show)

Bud Selig ought to take blame for steroids, performance enhancing drugs in major league baseball

The entire mess of baseball's latest fiasco with players using banned "substances" really lies squarely at the feet of former used car salesman Bud Selig. Bud and his fellow team owners colluded to keep free agent salaries down in the 1980's, which led to players trusting owners even less than usual in the early 1990's. The owners tried everything to force a new basic agreement onto the players, but the union stuck together, and Bud ended up cancelling the 1994 World Series.

Attendance was down when plays resumed in 1995, so when Mark McGwire, the now-vindicated Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, and others started using steroids and the baseballs started flying out of the parks, Bud Selig and his cronies looked the other way, in the name of money. Fans returned to the stadiums, television ratings went up, and revenue for owners and players increased.

If Bud, his fellow owners, and the players had really cared about the integrity of the game, they would have put an end to the steroids and other "performance enhancers" back in the mid to late 1990's. In 2007 many fans were outraged that Barry Bonds had somehow broken Hank Aaron's home run record - now six years later, baseball is still dealing with some of its players using banned "substances?" Wow.

Players, their agents, team owners, managers, coaches, and trainers are all still looking the other way. This is Selig's fault, as the commissioner of baseball, since fifteen years ago he saw no other way to save his sport than to look the other way.

More so than cancelling a World Series and allowing an All Star Game end in a tie, Bud Selig's legacy is one of letting steroids and other performance enhancing drugs tarnish a great game.

The 15 Greatest TV Kids of All Time

There have been many popular shows on television that featured child characters in both starring and supporting roles, and TV Guide recently released its list of the 60 greatest TV kids in the history of the medium. Here is one TV viewer's opinion of the 15 best television kids of all time, based on too many years of watching television...

15) Laura Ingalls, Little House on the Prairie (Melissa Gilbert, 1974-1982, NBC)
14) Barbara Cooper, One Day at a Time (Valerie Bertinelli, 1975-1984,CBS)
13) Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, Leave it to Beaver (Jerry Mathers, 1957-1963, CBS/ABC)
12) Angela Chase, My So-Called Life, (Claire Danes, 1994-1995, ABC)
11) Steve Urkel, Family Matters, (Jaleel White, 1989-1998, ABC)
10) Will Robinson, Lost in Space (Billy Mumy, 1965-1968, CBS)
9)  Wesley Crusher, Star Trek: The Next Generation (Wil Wheaton, 1987-1994, syndicated)
8) Meadow Soprano, The Sopranos (Jamie Lynn-Sigler, 1999-2007, HBO)
7) Malcolm, Malcolm in the Middle (Frankie Munoz, 2000-2006, FOX)
6) Marcia Brady, The Brady Bunch (Maureen McCormick,1969-1974, ABC)
5) Danny Partridge, The Partridge Family, (Danny Bonaduce, 1970-1974, ABC)
4) Opie Taylor, The Andy Griffith Show (Ron Howard, 1960-1968, CBS)
3) Doogie Howser, Doogie Howser M.D. (Neil Patrick Harris, 1989-1993, ABC)
2) Bart Simpson, The Simpsons (Nancy Cartwright, 1988-present, FOX)
1) Kevin Arnold, The Wonder Years (Fred Savage,1988-1994, ABC)

The All Time Best Theme Songs for TV Shows

A television show's theme song can be an important aspect of the program, often setting the mood of the show. TV Guide recently released its list of the 60 best theme songs for TV shows in the history of the medium. Here is one TV viewer's opinion of the 20 best TV theme songs of all time, based on too many years of watching television...

20) Laverne & Shirley (ABC, 1976-1983)
19) The Sopranos (HBO, 1999-2007)
18) Star Trek (NBC, 1966-1969)
17) The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC, 1962-1992)
16) The Greatest American Hero (ABC, 1981-1983)
15) Sesame Street (PBS, 1969-present)
14)  Get Smart (NBC, 1965-1970)
13) The Flintstones (ABC, 1960-1966)
12) Dallas (CBS, 1978-1991)
11) The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS, 1970-1977)
10) Cheers (NBC, 1982-1993)
9) Batman (ABC, 1966-1968)
8) Happy Days (ABC, 1974-1984)
7) Gilligan's Island (CBS, 1964-1967)
6) The Andy Griffith Show (CBS, 1960-1968)
5) Welcome Back Kotter (ABC, 1975-1979)
4) Hawaii Five-O (CBS, 1968-1980)
3) M*A*S*H (CBS, 1972-1983)
2) The Jeffersons (CBS, 1975-1985)
1) Hill Street Blues (NBC, 1981-1987)

The 20 best comedies in TV history

TV Guide recently released its list of the 60 best comedies in the history of the medium. Here is one TV viewer's opinion of the 20 funniest sitcoms of all time, based on too many years of watching television...

20) Home Improvement (ABC, 1991-1999)
19) Will & Grace (NBC, 1998-2006)
18) Murphy Brown (CBS, 1988-1998)
17) The Jeffersons (CBS, 1975-1985)
16) The Big Bang Theory (CBS, 2007-present)
15) Two and a Half Men (CBS, 2003-present)
14) Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS, 1996-2005)
13) The Honeymooners (CBS, 1951-1956)
12) Happy Days (ABC, 1974-1984)
11) M*A*S*H (CBS, 1972-1983)
10 Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, 2000-present)
9) Veep (HBO, 2012-present)
8) Modern Family (ABC, 2009-2013)
7) The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS, 1970-1977)
6) The Simpsons (FOX, 1989-present)
5) Cheers (NBC, 1982-1993)
4) Seinfeld (NBC, 1990-1998)
3) Frasier (NBC, 1993-2004)
2) I Love Lucy (CBS, 1951-57)
1) All in the Family (CBS, 1971-1979)