HOUSE OF CARDS Season Three Premiere

Article originally written for Seat42F.

 

WARNING: This review contains spoilers from the first two episodes of the third season of HOUSE OF CARDS. Also, if you haven’t watched the first two seasons yet but plan to, don’t read this article.

Netflix’s HOUSE OF CARDS return was highly anticipated, and thankfully it comes back strong. With thirteen episodes available immediately for streaming, many will binge watch their way through in a weekend, unable to wait to see what happens next. Hampered as I am by my wife, who loves the show but detests the binge, it may take me a few weeks to see how things end. But beginning with the first two hours last night, I’d say this season is off to a good start.

The premiere, “Chapter 27,” is very heavily about Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly). When season two ended, Doug is beaten up in the woods by Rachel (Rachel Brosnahan) and left for dead, and many viewers, myself included, feared he had passed. “Chapter 27” shows us that he is not dead, but is going through a months-long recovery process to heal his mind and body, only to find out that Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey), now President of the United States, doesn’t want him anymore.

I know, that’s not what Frank says, but it’s clear to both the audience and to Doug that that’s what has happened. Frank doesn’t do weak, and by allowing Rachel to get the best of him, Doug has proven himself inadequate for the task at hand. Frank hopes that tossing a few sweet words will pacify his former closest advisor, and Frank does have his press secretary, Seth Grayson (Derek Cecil), keep an eye on Doug. But this is likely more because Frank is protecting himself than any lingering concern for Doug.

For a while, it looks like Doug may go the way of reporter Zoe Barnes, a major character who is killed in the season two opener, though Doug seems likely to go by his own hand or drug use, murdered by Frank’s inaction rather than Frank’s action. But Doug has surprising self-control for an addict, measuring out very small doses of alcohol, and he has surprising optimism for someone who so intimately knows Frank, holding out hope he will be called upon again. Maybe he will.

It’s actually a little frustrating that HOUSE OF CARDS devotes so much of its first hour back to Doug Stamper. I like Kelly’s performance, of course, and his story is very engaging, a good way to skip over a few months without abandoning them all together. But as the installment goes on, I can’t help but wonder what HOUSE OF CARDS’ leading couple is up to, something we see only sparingly.

The second hour takes the teases we get about Frank and his first lady, Claire (Robin Wright), and develops them much further, with the leads taking back the spotlight. Claire is trying to be ambassador to the UN, something Frank’s Republican opponent, Mendoza (Benito Martinez) says he won’t block, but he sort of does. Frank, meanwhile, is trying to push through a massive jobs bills that guts entitlements while fighting a DNC leadership that doesn’t want him to run for election in 18 months.

Claire deserves something more than the ceremonial First Lady position, but I don’t know if she can handle what she dreams of, the first time we’ve really seen her limitations. Mendoza does test her, but he doesn’t seem to be malicious towards her, though the civility could just be a cover, as it is for Frank. Instead, Claire kills her own chances, and I’m surprised the vote ends up being as close as it is, especially with the DNC upset at Frank. Claire is the sympathetic of the two, and I feel bad for her when she fails, but by getting the job in a back-door move by Frank, doing an end run around Congress, I feel she is leaving her husband vulnerable and setting herself up for more negative criticism and likely failure.

Frank is also in dire straights for most of “Chapter 27” and “Chapter 28.” He is blocked at every turn by the opposition and his own party, something he doesn’t understand. The thing is, though, we’ve watched Frank for two seasons at lower levels of government. He recruits pawns; he doesn’t make friends. He also makes plenty of mistakes (does anyone else assume a reporter will run up to get a picture of Frank’s dad’s grave and find the urine after the season-opening scene?). Frank is a very smart operator, and he does find a path forward by the end of the second episode that feels momentarily triumphant (what a great speech!), but I think much of these two hours expose his weaknesses that will lead to his eventual downfall.

It’s bizarre to think that Frank is a Democrat given his lack of empathy for the people, his disregard for social safety nets, and his obsession with jobs. I believe HOUSE OF CARDS may put him in that party purely to keep Republicans from dismissing the show and to do something surprising. Sure, there are calculating, jerk left-wingers serving in government, but his personality and values so much more lines up with the current GOP. This disconnect feels wrong in “Chapter 28,” the first major misstep HOUSE OF CARDS seems to make in three seasons. Well, that, and the fact that they show Stephen Colbert (himself, or his on-air persona from The Colbert Report’s version of himself) still being on the air in 2015, which is very regrettably not true.

Still, it’s very easy to be drawn into this story, so well crafted and acted. Frank and Claire are far from the heroes viewers root for, and yet their enemies are frequently despicable themselves, and so you end up hoping the Underwoods will find success. I don’t think they will end season three on a high note. I’m guessing with no foreknowledge or without having seen the end that this will also be the show’s last, purposely designed as such, despite its popularity and critical acclaim. But I’m very interested to see how they will be taken down and by whom, assuming they are their own worst enemies. By the end of “Chapter 28,” all I wanted to do was watch “Chapter 29.”

The entire HOUSE OF CARDS third season is available now on Netflix.

Late Night Television's Losses

Article first published as LATE NIGHT TELEVISION'S LOSSES on Blogcritics.

This week, late night television lost two of its three best hosts, with only Jon Stewart remaining as one worth watching regularly. The Colbert Report, Stewart’s Daily Show spin-off, and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson both aired their series finales recently after nine and ten years, respectively. Given what they both bring to the overall landscape, this is a double-punch blow that will leave fans of originality on the small screen reeling.

First, let’s look at Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report. Perhaps the first character that has done a show like this, completely in character, Colbert took his correspondent persona from The Daily Show, and developed it into a full-fledged parody of Bill O’Reilly. That seems a good joke, but a four-times-weekly half hour series? It takes a very rare talent to pull something like that off and keep it fresh night after night.

Colbert did so much more than that. He skewered politicians with his brilliant satire, which led to politician from both parties boycotting him for an extended period of time, until they realized his lampooning could actually help them get the youth vote.

He ripped apart then-President George W. Bush to his face when the GOP failed to get his schtick and unwittingly gave him a forum to do so. Colbert’s endorsement became a valuable commodity, any product or charity he promoted sure to see huge contribution from his rabid fan base.

He created a Super PAC to expose a broken system. He ran for president as a joke, and polled higher than many of the real candidates. (Equally noteworthy, he knew to get out before it went too far.) He held a rally that drew hundreds of thousands of his followers (including myself, who never does things like that) to Washington D.C. He re-defined late night wars in his “feud” with Jimmy Fallon, got involved in the Olympics, made into the Smithsonian, and supported our troops time and again. That’s a lot for a short time, and I’m just scratching the surface.

Why did Colbert have such an impact? It’s hard to define his appeal, but he has a cool factor, an intelligence, and a harmless quality that captured the spirit of those frustrated with the power structure. He was our voice to fight back, orating in a way that said what we thought in a manner that we couldn’t. He was thoroughly funny, and completely committed to the bit. But we fans were in on the secret, even when those in power were not for quite awhile, and it felt great to be a part of that club. It also didn’t hurt that he premiered after the widespread adoption of the DVR, meaning I was able to watch every single episode he did without fail, never missing a minute.

His final episode, which aired this past Thursday, was the perfect capper. Beginning with a “typical show,” he spiraled into a bizarre cheating of death, ending with him forever circling the globe in Santa’s sleigh, accompanied by Abraham Lincoln (who is a unicorn) and Alex Trebek, meaning he gets to live on forever, always with us. He also included a tear-worthy sing-a-long with so many guest stars, actors, politicians, athletes, musicians, scientists, historians, and more, that it’s impossible to name them all without copious amounts of freeze-framing, the sheer number of famous faces taking part proving Colbert’s worth. Best of all, he finally tossed back to Jon Stewart, making the whole series one long segment for The Daily Show, giving due to Colbert’s creator and demonstrating Colbert’s humility and gratefulness. If there were only a way to thank him in return.

Colbert ends his run far too early because is being given Late Show, taking over for the retiring David Letterman. I’m just speculating on his reasons for doing so, having no personal insider knowledge of the situation, but it seems to me that comedians of Colbert’s age see that job as a career pinnacle. They grew up looking to Johnny Carson, and aspire to get either The Tonight Show or Late Show.

Yet, in the current, fractured age, those stalwarts aren’t what they were. I’ve outlined the impact Colbert has made. I can’t believe he’ll get to do half of that on CBS. Though, it has to be tempting for Colbert to finally get to be himself, having retired the character on the show that made him famous. I mourn deeply for the loss, and hope for his seemingly inevitable return in some, likely limited, fashion.

One reason I have a small hope that Colbert won’t turn into a cookie-cutter host, which seems the obvious thing to do, is that CBS has shown itself willing to take chances at night, surprising given its boring, safe prime time lineup. Letterman has long been followed by The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, and as Craig constantly tells us, he’s not like any other show on television. With a “band” too shy to show itself, a gay robot skeleton sidekick, and two guys in a horse suit that dance, Ferguson has longed thumbed his nose at the genre and made the series his own. He ignored the pre-prepared interview, preferring just to talk to people, and routinely improv-ed large segments of his hour. He didn’t follow any norm.

While I enjoyed Ferguson on The Drew Carey Show many years ago, I first discovered his brilliance during the Writer’s Strike of 2008. Curious to see how the various late night personalities would handle things on their own, I sampled them all and found Ferguson to be, by far, the funniest of the broadcast network guys. That has to come because he does so much of his stuff on his own anyway. But it made me a fan, and while I did not watch every minute of every episode of The Late Late Show, as I did The Colbert Report, I checked in periodically and was never disappointed. Craig is leaving to pursue other projects, tired of staying in a single format.

Craig delivered a semi-tame finale. After a huge opening number with almost as many celebrities as Colbert’s, though Ferguson’s were almost all Hollywood-types (with The Newsroom‘s Jeff Daniels being the only participant on both shows that I spied), he settled into a very routine formula. He had Jay Leno as his final guest, someone I personally have little respect for, but who seemed appropriate given his own recent departure from the genre, and who was very enjoyable in this instance.

Where Craig departed the most from his formula was at the end. After revealing Bob Newhart as the head of the horse on the show, Craig woke up in bed next to Drew, reprising their roles from the earlier sitcom while paying tribute to the series finales of The Newhart Show, St. Elsewhere, and The Sopranos. It was zany, unexpected, and rewarded long-time fans. It was perfect for him.

It’s also worth noting that Craig brought the voice behind Geoff the robot up on stage in the penultimate hour, a treat that felt very, very right.

Ferguson is being replaced by a British comedian and actor named James Corden, who also doesn’t seem likely to be “normal.” With a Colbert / Corden team up, will CBS finally do what only Comedy Central has been doing for years and deliver a late night lineup worth watching on a daily basis? Only time will tell, but for now, I mourn the loss of the two heavyweights, both quite different, but both bucking what amounts to “typical” fare in their field. Without them, the evening will get a lot more dull.

Colbert’s replacement, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, premieres January 19th. The Late Late Show will have a series of guest hosts for the next couple of months before Corden takes over in March. Letterman retires in May and Colbert will be back on TV in August.  Ferguson is expected to next do a 7 p.m. half hour syndicated comedy talk show, with robot and horse in tow, in 2016.

Sports Show With Norm Macdonald like extended Weekend Update

     It looks like Comedy Central is trying to expand its talkshow lineup. With the success of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report dominating one hour four nights a week, Comedy Central tries to put other shows like them, but not too much like them, in the ten thirty slot from time to time. The highest rated so far is Tosh.0, which has run for several seasons. The Onion SportsDome isn't as timely, but still pretty funny. Now, comedian Norm Macdonald tries his hand with Sports Show With Norm Macdonald, which in its debut episode, proved it can hang with its peers.

     Rather than smash other series in at 10:30 on weekday nights, though, wouldn't it make more sense to build a solid Friday nights eleven to midnight? That way Comedy Central could run original, fresh programming five nights a week. Norm could easily be a weekly thing almost year round, like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are, with The Onion filling in the ten weeks or so a year Norm takes off, as its episode can be aired any old time. Tosh.0 could probably put up reruns on weeks it doesn't have fresh material, and a whole new must-see hour is born. Unless you don't like Tosh.0, because it is admittedly a terrible show. But it's popular, hence the suggestion.

     Norm begins the show by delivering fast-paced one-liners, a la Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update. Norm once held the Update chair, and he has not lot his touch at the job at all. He is witty, and only having to do it once a week, he can keep things fresh and exciting. This is the strongest segment of his show, running for the first ten minutes or so. The one-liners can be broken up with occasional longer bits, such as his "Wait, What?" where he shows a polar bear getting in the way of a skier, or his trivia contest where viewers are supposed to guess which one of six dancers is about to be hit by an ice-cream truck. The answer is obvious, but the humor still sails across just fine.

     In the second section, Norm left the studio to do a bit, much like The Daily Show often does. This week, Norm 'had makeup put on him to look like NBA star Blake Griffin'. It began with Norm in a makeup chair, then Norm provided voice while the real Griffin stumbled around looking foolish. Strange, yes, but also effectively funny. Griffin is a good sport, mouthing whatever words Norm wrote for him to mouth. The payoff at the end of the sketch isn't necessary, but works as a capper.

     The third portion consists of Norm standing in front of a screen like Tosh's opening or The Soup. This isn't quite as good as the first act, but does allow Norm to do longer jokes, such as "What the H". This week's topic of the bit is Tiger Woods. While the content may be slightly dated, as everyone got tired of making fun of Tiger months ago, Norm can be forgiven for doing it because his series has just premiered. It doesn't feel like Norm arrives late to the party, as he takes a different stand than almost any other comedian, siding with Woods. By the end of the joke, many audience members may have been swayed to agree with him. However, this could be in the first segment as well, so perhaps he should try doing an interview in place of a second run of short quips.

     The show ends with Norm doing 90 seconds of 'garbage', which is an apt term. The ending needs work. But not too shabby. While Norm's stand up may not be so fresh any more (his recent special is nearly unwatchable), he has proven he can still do something well. Hopefully, Norm will soon become a more permanent part of the Comedy Central lineup.

     Sports Show With Norm Macdonald airs Tuesday nights at 10:30 p.m. ET on Comedy Central.

For frequent mini-reviews and occasional TV news, follow Jerome on Twitter.

 

Click here for an alphabetical list of all of Jerome's Current Season Reviews.

The Next Late Night War: Stephen Colbert fueds with Jimmy Fallon

    The latest round of The Late Night Wars has begun. And already ended. On March 2nd, Ben and Jerry helped Jimmy Fallon celebrate the second anniversary of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon by presenting him with his own flavor of ice-cream, Light Night Snack. By Thursday night, Colbert was ranting on his show, The Colbert Report, that there was only room for one late night host inspired ice-cream, and his Americone Dream was the one. Fallon appeared on Colbert's show, and the two faced off.

      Fallon and Colbert argued. Among the best insults were Colbert's reference to Fallon's tendency to crack up during his sketches on Saturday Night Live, which almost made Fallon crack up, and Fallon reminding people that Colbert was in the movie Bewitched. Not exactly an insult, just a reminder. Then both called for their lead-ins to assist in the battle. Jon Stewart readily showed up with a baseball bat, but Fallon received only a phone call from Jay Leno (presumably; we didn't hear his voice) saying he couldn't make it. Not surprising, since Leno films his show in Los Angeles, and the other three hosts are New York City based. Stewart sulkily backed out of the fight, not having his own flavor, leaving Jimmy and Stephen to settle their disagreement by having an ice-cream eating contest.

     Predictably, this did not go well, as they were both soon overtaken by brain freeze, and transported to a cartoonish Ben and Jerry-themed world. The actual Ben and Jerry appeared in a cloud to save them from a killer ice-cream cone, and the hosts sang a song of friendship, effectively ending the feud when they agreed to be BBFSM - Best Friends For Six Months (Colbert didn't want to commit to forever). The lyrics were sweet (sic), full of puns, and a bit dirty in one verse. At the end of his show, Colbert congratulated Jimmy for his flavor.

     OK, so obviously their feud was fake. A stunt for late night television. But what in late night is not a stunt? I don't care if their beef was settled in ten minutes. What is important is that two really funny late night hosts got together (three, with Stewart's appearance) and made something worth laughing at. Stewart and Colbert had previously done bits with Conan O'Brien, which were fantastic, so I was pleased to see a return to that intermingling. Besides, it's more fun when the guys involved are actually enjoying themselves, rather than really fighting.

     The ice-creams themselves actually sound pretty similar. Both have a vanilla base with caramel swirled in. Colbert's edition contains chocolate covered pieces of ice-cream cone, while Fallon's boasts chocolate covered clumps of potato chip. Fallon's is likely to be a bit more salty. I'll have to check it out.

     Either way, kudos to both men (and Stewart) for providing some quality entertainment. The Colbert Report airs Monday through Thursday at 11:30 p.m. ET on Comedy Central, while Late Night With Jimmy Fallon can be found weeknights at 12:30 a.m. ET on NBC.

Article first published as TV Review: Stephen Colbert Fueds With Jimmy Fallon on Blogcritics.

For an alphabetical list of all of Jerome Wetzel's Current Season Reviews, please click here.

For frequent mini-reviews and occasional TV news, follow Jerome on Twitter.

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear Inspired

      I'd like to tell you what it felt like to be at the Rally to Restore Sanity and / or Fear, but it's difficult to convey in words. I'm sure by now many of you have seen the bad reviews. As I had a hard time seeing and hearing things at the rally, I watched my TiVo recording of the entire thing last night, and was disappointed by much of the content. Yep, it was boring, at times awkward, and mostly music. I could give you the rundown on everything that happened, but you can find that elsewhere. Suffice it to say, if you were judging on the event only on what went on onstage, you would be disappointed.

     But as usual, the truth is far more nuanced, and this was one of those occasions where you just had to be there. To be packed in with 215,000 other people was amazing. The excitement was thick. Everyone was smiling. No one was shoving. People were polite and reasonable, as the Jon Stewart asked them to be. Some people brought signs and stickers that they were passing out free to others. It was a big feeling of community. You really got the sense that the attendees were there because they believed in the Sanity message, not Fear, and certainly not some overly radical political agenda.

     Sure, that number of attendees has been debated. Estimates range for 200,000-250,000, though 215,000 seems to be the number most media outlets have gone with. I'm sure FOX puts it at much lower number. Their reviews talked about 'political radicals' and 'backlash against the tea party'. Sure, I only saw a small fraction of the crowd, but I can assure you, most signs were not politically motivated on either side. Most were just plain fun. Throughout this article, you'll see some of the pictures I took, and they are much more representative than what you may have heard from that famously-biased news network. Ok, let the negative commenting below begin.

     I can tell you, the spirit of hope was everywhere. It was like the best days of President Obama's campaign. Eating the provided continental breakfast at the full-booked hotel outside of D.C. (from which it took nearly an hour to get downtown), people all around me were talking about heading to the Rally, and what it meant to them. From first thing that morning, there was already something in the air, and it was coming from that far away.

     What was happening onstage wasn't all bad, though. Jon Stewart gave out medals for Sanity, and he made some really great choices from recent news stories. One went to the young man that took the Koran from the guy who wanted to burn it. Another went to the pitcher who lost a perfect game to a bad call from an umpire.
 

     As some have said, Stephen Colbert's place, and Fear itself, was for comic relief. While there have been complaints about the reduced, unbalanced role, it was definitely appropriate. Colbert's show, which I love, is one big joke. He is a satiric pundit, whose purpose is to make one side of the aisle look ridiculous, and play a character with a huge ego. He served that purpose just fine at the rally. Colbert certainly has his place, but if he had been given too much focus, and his character's opinions (Colbert's opinions are much more sane) allowed to be legitimized, it would have undermined what was going on there.

     Finally, Jon Stewart's speech was beyond mesmerizing. He really captured the spirit of not only the people gathering in D.C. to see him, but a whole lot of Americans out there fed up with what's happening. Below is part of the content of that speech, to give you an idea of what his message truly was. After you've read it, I'm sure there will be little doubt what Stewart is about, and why the Rally needed to be held at all:

     “I can’t control what people think this was. I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith or people of activism or to look down our noses at the heartland or passionate argument or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies.

     But unfortunately one of our main tools in delineating the two broke. The country’s 24 hour political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator did not cause our problems but its existence makes solving them that much harder. The press can hold its magnifying up to our problems bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected dangerous flaming ant epidemic.

     If we amplify everything we hear nothing. There are terrorists and racists and Stalinists and theocrats but those are titles that must be earned. You must have the resume. Not being able to distinguish between real racists and Tea Partiers or real bigots and Juan Williams and Rick Sanchez is an insult, not only to those people but to the racists themselves who have put in the exhausting effort it takes to hate - just as the inability to distinguish terrorists from Muslims makes us less safe not more. The press is our immune system. If we overreact to everything we actually get sicker. And perhaps eczema.

     And yet, with that being said, I feel good—strangely, calmly good. Because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false. It is us through a fun house mirror, and not the good kind that makes you look slim in the waist and maybe taller, but the kind where you have a giant forehead and an a** shaped like a month old pumpkin and one eyeball.

     So, why would we work together? Why would you reach across the aisle to a pumpkin a**ed forehead eyeball monster? If the picture of us were true, of course, our inability to solve problems would actually be quite sane and reasonable. Why would you work with Marxists actively subverting our Constitution or racists and homophobes who see no one’s humanity but their own? We hear every damn day about how fragile our country is — on the brink of catastrophe — torn by polarizing hate and how it’s a shame that we can’t work together to get things done, but the truth is we do. We work together to get things done every damn day!

     The only place we don’t is here or on cable TV. But Americans don’t live here or on cable TV. Where we live our values and principles form the foundations that sustains us while we get things done, not the barriers that prevent us from getting things done. Most Americans don’t live their lives solely as Democrats, Republicans, liberals or conservatives. Americans live their lives more as people that are just a little bit late for something they have to do — often something that they do not want to do — but they do it - impossible things every day that are only made possible by the little reasonable compromises that we all make...

     [People must get along when traffic merges.] ...And they do it. Concession by concession. You go. Then I’ll go. You go. Then I’ll go. You go then I’ll go.Oh my God, is that an NRA sticker on your car? Is that an Obama sticker on your car? Well, that’s okay—you go and then I’ll go...

     ...If you want to know why I’m here and want I want from you, I can only assure you this: you have already given it to me. Your presence was what I wanted.

     Sanity will always be and has always been in the eye of the beholder. To see you here today and the kind of people that you are has restored mine. Thank you."

     Hearing those words, it was impossible not to be moved. No matter what your political views, most of us are reasonable, and want to find ways to get along. Most of us are willing to work with the other side of the aisle, and most of us do not demonize the people who disagree with us? How can we? They are our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncle, cousins, siblings, friends. My family was almost perfectly split down the middle in 2008. I'm sure it wasn't the only one.

     No one can tell yet what effect the rally might have on today's mid-term elections. Likely, that effect will never be known. Will Stewart have mobilized millions of people to go out and vote, based on his audience, mostly young liberals? Will he have reached people on both sides to bring the candidate who they feel will most likely bring a real American spirit of compromise? I think the Rally definitely inspired many, although to what extent, I can't be sure.


For frequent mini-reviews and occasional tv news, follow Jerome on Twitter.


Article first published as Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear Inspired on Blogcritics.

Stephen Colbert Welcomes Home the Troops

     This week brought two very special episodes of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. They were titled "Been There, Won That: The Returnification of the American-Do Troopscape." In them, Stephen Colbert welcomed home our U.S. Armed Forces from Iraq. Airing with live feed to Iraq and Afghanistan on Wednesday, and with feed to Afghanistan and Walter Reed on Thursday, the audience was made up entirely of active duty military and veterans. Colbert served them hot dogs and beer, and brought in grass for them to put their feet on, as they had been in the desert.

     The half-hour episodes were basically a love fest for the troops, and I'm not complaining about that. If anyone deserves praise heaped on them, it is our men and women in uniform. Among the guests Colbert had on were Vice President Joe Biden, singer John Legend, General Ray Odierno, and soldiers Brent Cummings and Josh Bleill. Bleill lost both legs in Iraq, and after less than two years of recovery, can run and waterski on his new legs. He wrote a book about the experience titled One Step At A Time. Odierno was the man who shaved Colbert's head when the latter took his show to the Middle East last year.

     Despite all the positive energy, the episodes were not without some pokes and criticisms. For instance, Colbert joked that we had won the Iraq War many times already, and since we still have nearly 50,000 troops over there, aren't they being asked to win it again? But most of those negatives were softballs, not the scathing rhetoric Colbert is known for. I'd say the most awkward moment came when Colbert asked Joe Biden to thank former President George W. Bush for his part in Iraq. Personally, I see no reason to thank him, but Biden said some very nice things and came out looking classy.

     At one point, Colbert was invited to Afghanistan, but seemed reluctant to agree to go, and sidestepped the request. I don't blame him. Whether he goes or not, tune into The Colbert Report Monday through Thursday nights at 11:30 on Comedy Central. It's always a laugh.  In Lexington, Comedy Central is channel 60 analog, 148 digital cable, or 249 satellite, although, unfortunately, we are still being denied the HD cable version of the channel.

Please visit www.whitehouse.gov/salute to share your own salute.

Article first published as Stephen Colbert Welcomes Home the Troops on Blogcritics.

Geek Out With Jimmy hits HotZoneRadio

Jerome Wetzel, er, me, is currently a contributing writer for HotZoneOnline.com, but I began my public foray into publicly covering entertainment news and reviews as a podcast host.  I co-created a podcast called The Good, The Bad, & The Geeky, and hosted it for nearly 100 episodes, most of which are still available on iTunes, though I don’t recommend any new episodes, as the podcast was continued, albeit differently, after I left, and unfortunately, retained the name, despite my request that it not.  Almost a year ago, having had a fall out with my co-creator, I launched my own podcast, Geek Out With Jimmy, as Jimmy is the name I was called by my former co-host.  Then I got married and moved from Columbus, Ohio to Lexington, Kentucky, and dropped the podcast in all the confusion.  When the dust settled, I began writing as the Lexington TV Examiner, and then for HotZone.  When HotZoneOnline announced they were creating a radio station, I was thrilled to bring back the hourly cast Geek Out With Jimmy for a new audience.
Though the episode running this week is listed as Episode 16: Why Did He Come Back?, you can jump in with no prior knowledge of me.  (I will try to put the first 15 back on iTunes in the very near future).  This week I discuss which shows have been picked up for next season and which are still up in the air.  I also cover other television news, such as upcoming guest stars and stars of new shows being made.  I talk about the shows 24, Lost, American Idol, Brothers & Sisters, Undercover Boss, The Colbert Report, Ugly Betty, and the Olympics.  There is also a song tucked in about Jack Bauer.
In the future, I plan on bringing GOWJ to HotZoneRadio every week, and hope to find a co-host for my newly revived show.  I will discuss current television news and reviews, and every once in awhile, stick in a parody song or (hopefully) funny skit.  I welcome all e-mails and suggestions for the show.  Send to me@actorsnightmare.com
Geek Out With Jimmy is currently slated to run tonight (Friday) at 7pm, Saturday at 1pm, and Sunday at 1pm.  Please tune in and tell me what you think.

Colbert scores high at the Olympics

    As most people know by now, Stephen Colbert urged his Colbert Nation to step in and sponsor the USA Olympic Speed Skating Team when they lost their top donor.  As such, Colbert was named the Assistant Sports Psychologist for the team and got to attend the games in Vancouver these past two weeks.  This week, he is airing his show, The Colbert Report, from the games, which special Olympic "Vancouverage".      On Monday's first episode, Colbert spoke with his brother about what he could and could not say to keep him from getting sued while covering the games, as NBC paid a lot of money to be the sole network at hand.  However, despite all the amusing restrictions, and his brother's insistence that pretty much anything he did would be met with legal action, Colbert already had a deal worked out in advance, so any controversy is purely contrived.  That didn't stop it from making good entertainment.
     Part of the deal must have included an interview with NBC lead anchor for the games, Bob Costas, who not only did an interview with Colbert, put sat on a moose to the delight of the massive live crowd.  (Note: Colbert also sat down with Bob Costas on NBC last Wednesday).  Among others, Colbert also spoke with Olympic athletes Scott Hamilton, Ryan St. Onge, Lindsey Vonn, and Shaun White, the latter two having already earned medals this year.  Colbert also showed himself fulfilling his duty as Assistant Psychologist, as well as partying at other countries's houses, especially Ireland.  Generally, Colbert seems to be having much fun with his usual trademark egotism, and Canada, despite his digs on them in recent weeks, loves him for it.  The crowds at his outside segments are immense.
     If you like The Colbert Report, you should love this week's episodes.  And if you have never tuned into Colbert, but are interested in the Olympics, tonight would be a good time to try him out.  Colbert's coverage will conclude tonight at 11:30 on Comedy Central (channel 60 analog, 148 digital cable, or 249 satellite here in Lexington) as he interviews Shani Davis and Seth Wescott.
     The best way to watch The Colbert Report, of course, is in High Definition, but Lexington's Insight Cable declines to air Comedy Central in HD.  To request that they start, as I have done several times, please go to this link.  While you're there, please also request the CW in HD.  It isn't even cable!  Most cities already have the CW in HD.

We Are the World: 2010 Olympics open tonight, with Stephen Colbert

    Many people await the Olympics with great anticipation, and this year is no exception.  Every four years athletes gather to compete in the Winter Games (and in between, Summer Games), and the 2010 event has arrived.  The nearly two week contest will start with an opening ceremony, airing tonight at 7:30pm on NBC (in Lexington, WLEX, airing on channel 8 (antenna), 382 (satellite), and 906 (high def cable).  Details about the opening are kept mostly under wraps, but considering the awesome spectacle China hosted two years ago for the summer games, surely it will attempt to top that.


     One thing that will be part of the opening ceremony will be the premiere of the new version of "We Are the World".  Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie, who organized the original, along with the late Michael Jackson, have done it again with a whole new batch of celebrities.  Janet Jackson, Michael's sister, took Michael's part, and the celebrities participating in the remake include Barbra Streisand, Randy Jackson, Kanye West, Usher, Jason Mraz, Tony Bennett, Jeff Bridges, Katherine McPhee, Celine Dion, Vince Vaughn, and many, many more worth mentioning, but I won't for the sake of brevity.  The song will benefit the earthquake victims in Haiti.

     Many events will be feature the next two weeks including figure skating, cross country skiing, luge, bobsledding, hockey, curling, and speed skating.  The last has gotten much attention recently, as they lost their lead sponsor, and Stephen Colbert and his Colbert Nation stepped in to save them.  The host will be joining the team, and filming episodes the air beginning February 22nd.  He also graced the Olympic Preview edition of Sports Illustrated recently.

     This year's event takes place in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Portions of many events will air on NBC and their various affiliated channels, so check your listings for times.  Many events air in the middle of the night.  Other footage will be posted on their web site.

It's official: Conan is done with NBC

     It's a done deal.  Multiple news sites (like this one, this one, and even this one!) have reported that Conan O'Brien has accepted a $45 million severance package to leave NBC for good.  It had been reported that the major obstacle left to be worked out concerned what would happen to Conan's staff.  Under the final deal, Conan will take $33 million, and the rest will be split among his roughly 200 employees.

     Something else that needed to be negotiated was how long Conan needed to stay off the air waves after leaving NBC.  While he was still supposed to be under contract to the network for some time, this current deal will allow him to return to television as early as September 1st of this year, assuming someone else hires him.  ABC doesn't seem to be much interested, and Fox, which was willing to pay a heck of a lot a few short years ago, is playing coy.  Comedy Central is said to be a possibility, but how he would fit in with the very popular Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert remains to be seen.

     Conan will air his final episode as host of The Tonight Show tomorrow night, and will feature guests Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell.  You may remember that Farrell was on his first show, way back last June.  NBC will air reruns of the show next week, which had previously been scheduled, but there is no word yet on what will do during the last two weeks before the Olympics, during which Conan was supposed to film new episodes, but will now not.  NBC wasted no time in confirming that after the Olympics are over, Jay Leno will resume his previous job as host of The Tonight Show in it's customary time slot.  While Leno had better ratings than Conan ever achieved, popular support in the current fight has been mostly behind the Irish red head.

      The Tonight Show, no matter who is hosting, airs on NBC at 11:35pm Monday through Friday.