So I’ve already told you how unusual it is for me (and my husband for that matter) to do such a complete about-face on a show like we did with the show Walking Dead, which is a zombie apocolypse show that has been upgraded in my book from a ho hum TV show to an all out great drama and horror show in the second season.

The first season had me doubting whether it was ever going to get good with ridiculous dialogue, plot lines and dismal acting. This season it’s almost as if someone has taken over the bodies of the actors in the show and the writing and breathed new life in to it.

I think the location change from the city to a beautiful country scape in the south has really helped the story as well. There is something that is inifintely more disquieting about zombies inhabiting such a peaceful landscape as opposed to inhabiting a city.  As my husband says, the country bumpkin zombies just seem so much more menacing as well. Not sure why that is, but it is so!

They are taking lots of chances with this season as well, going off in to the edgy darkness with their story lines. The big reveal at the end of the first part of season II was (SPOILER ALERT) that Sophia, the little girl they had been searching for so long, ends up being in the barn that housed all of farmer Herschel’s family member zombies.

This show did a great job of really making us care for these characters this season. Before, I felt like I hadn’t invested in any of them whereas now, if any of them dies or becomes zombies, I’m actually going ot have a problem with it.

They’ve successfully built up the characters, and the special effects are just off the hook. Complete with the well walker and the neighbor walkers found in the woods, which Herschel makes Rick help round up with head-loop things, there are some great edge of your seat moments and some excellent special effects.

Now we’ve gotta wait until February to see the conclusion to this awesome second season!

It’s hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh, who may be one of the most uninhibited comedians I’ve ever seen on TV.  This guy will say and do anything, and he’s ALWAYS funny when he does it. Just the expressions on his face sometimes will cause you to explode in laughter.

Here is the premise of the show Tosh.o.  It’s a show where they review web clips from Youtube videos over the past several years.  They cover pretty much every well known viral video you’ve ever heard of, and many more gems that you haven’t.  They make fun of everyone. They are irreverent, and often times could upset people who are too PC or easily offended.

But let’s face it, you’re not funny if you don’t cross the line like that.  The show runs clips, then has different things they do with them. One is where he has twenty seconds to say things about the clip that are over the top.  Another is where he picks apart the video, showing the various parts in slow motion, and often pointing out other absurd things that are in the background that you may not have noticed.

Then there’s the end of the show, where they have a “Web Redemption”. They pick someone from one of the videos, and they bring them back to re-enact their screw up. Daniel Tosh is always in the mix, many times dressed in a ridiculous outfit.  One example is when he dresses as a flamboyant play director in all black and a huge beret and french accent.

This guy is so funny too, because he’s not homophobic at all, and he is often ambiguous about his sexuality (although my husband thought he was gay, I think he’s straight, just extremely secure in his manhood, and doesn’t give a s about what people think, which makes him ten times funnier in some of the skits and lines).

This is one of the few shows, besides Sunny in Philadelphia and Curb Your Enhusiasm, that has made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to puke.  I’d highly recommend it if you love comedy.  Only thing is, you can’t find the show on DVD, only on demand, and I’m dying to buy this for my sister who doesn’t have cable!

I was tired of seeing and hearing “GTL” and other references and not knowing what the heck anyone was talking about, or who any of these people were that always were discussed. Of course Snookie is the biggest star of the show, and I now know why since she’s by far the most loveable/perplexing and entertaining one to watch.

I was most surprised by how much I enjoyed watching Snookie, and how she is actually the character I like best and could most picture myself hanging out with. Sure she’s wild and crazy, but she’s actually a really sweet and likeable girls, and she seems like she’d be hilarious to hang with.

But I digress.  This post is all about the infamous explosive relationship between two hotheads on the show, Sammy and Ronnie. They frustrated their room mates in the first season with their budding romance, and entertained viewers with their sometimes upsettingly explosive relationship.

Sammy and Ronnie seemed from the get go to really click, but relationships that start that quickly and are that passionate and all consuming are often destined for long term failure.  And apparently Ronnie and Sammy are no exception. The two reportedly split up and are totally over.

No reports on what caused the split, but apparently season two had these two getting into even more explosive fights, so it’s not shocking to say the least. Both of them, from what I saw in season one, had a lot of growing up to do. They talked about stuff without really “talking” like adults, and it seemed to me like puppy dog love. 

The gang is heading to Italy for the next season, so it should be interesting to see how these two interact, since they are reportedly both still signed on for the show.  I know that I’ll be watching!  The second season is currently on Netflix on demand, and my hubby and I are planning on watching it soon, before they take it away like they are so wont to do (shame on you Netflix!)

I’m really loving season 4 so far. This season has Don Draper, the anti hero, stumbling through a problem with drinking and depression, womanizing, and coping with being newly single while his wife is already married to someone else.  I think that all of the actors have really found their niche with their characters as well.

The ex Mrs. Draper, played by January Jones, is still cool and calm, almost sociopathic in her demeanor, and we know that a depressed and unhappy woman lurks beneath the surface. We see her turbulent relationship with her daughter Sally take a turn for the worse as we just want to give the little girl the hugs and love she isn’t getting from her cold mother.

Betty has remarried, and very quickly, another man named Henry, who is a really nice guy that is starting to see his new wife may be a tad bit on the frigid side when it comes to certain emotions. 

Don is bedding every woman he can, taking his womanizing ways to a new low when he has a last minute quickie with his new secretary in a drunken stupor, making it a very uncomfortable situation for the impressionable young woman at work.

We also see him go back to visit Anna, the only woman alive who really knows who Don really is, his humble beginnings, and still loves him for it.  We also find out (SPOILER ALERT) that she has cancer and we get to see how much she really means to the usually cool on the emotions Draper.

This season has really started to show the changing times too. The hippy movement is just beginning. Free love, demonstrations and the newer, more forward thinking is starting to edge out the old school, more rigid school of thought, and Draper’s fledgeling new ad agency is struggling to cope with the quickly changing times and attitudes.

This season is just awesome so far. I thought the show might have had a bad season by now, but it has kept up with solid writing, acting and producing. Let’s hope it makes it a few more seasons!

Now that we’re both in our thirties, we wondered if the stunts and crude tricks would still be amusing to us, and they are, much to our surprise.

We did however find it funny that some of the guys really seemed hesitant to do that same stuff they’d be chomping at the bit to do when they were younger, so it’s funny to see that the cast has grown old with us.

Definitely nostalgic, and I highly doubt that anyone else in any age group other than their thirties or early forties really “gets” this any more.  The team of carefree hipsters still consists of the main core, Steve O, who is off drugs and looks a lot better, but seems wary of the whole thing now.

Chris Pontius, aka Party Boy, who I was disappointed not to see in Jackass 3D, is still pretty much the same, although his physique isn’t as appealing as it used to be (yeah I’m a girl, and I used to think Pontius was hot). 

Bam Margera still looks the same and acts the same pretty much, and he took his parents April and Phil along for the ride. They appeared in one prank where a giant gorilla, which was Pontius dressed up, scared the shit out of Phil – literally.  It seemed a little forced and set up, but it was still pretty funny.

Some of the crude jokes were pretty disgusting, and no matter how much a fan of the show you are, they seemed to go a little over the top. One example is the volcano of feces – one of the guys stuck his painted green butt up through a landscape scene and must have just had an enema judging from the volanic eruption that occurred.  Use your imagination. You may want to skip that part, that one really grossed me out.

One of the funnier scenese was one where Steve O and Tyler went into a pen with a ram, a horn, and a tuba.  You get the gist.  There was also one where two guys dropped into a huge inflatable tube, with one on the other end, serving as a launch pad into a huge lake. Hilarious.

One of the best practical joke scenes featured Johnny Knoxvilled as the old man. He goes into a moped store and ends up going through a window.

All in all, if you’re a fan of the Jackass show, then go ahead and see Jackass 3D. I thought it was better than Jackass 2.

The problem with that? This particular female version of Michale just wasn’t funny.  Her antics and silliness just were no match for Michael’s more honest, less forced brand of awkwardness and innate embarrassing behavior.

As a matter of fact, many times when they were interacting, it was uncomfortable to watch because it just was that bad.  And let me be clear, I actually really like the actress who plays Holly. She was great when she was in The Wire on HBO, and she’s been in several movies where she was great.

This character just fell flat and dragged the season down. Now, in the final season for Steve Carell, Holly is back.  We haven’t seen any of the episodes yet because we just finished season six on DVR, but I’ve seen ads for it and it already seems like it’s not going to be as funny as season six, which in my opinion is one of their funniest.

Hopefully I’m wrong and the last season with the delightfully uncomfortable Michael Scott will be great and fresh, but I’m seriously doubting it after seeing season five go downhill with the Michael/Holly dynamic.

The rumor is that Will Ferrell will take his comedic talents as a guest star replacement for Steve Carell in at least a few episodes in the next season.  I could see that working – as long as he plays either a straight guy or a total goofball believably.

It’s going to be hard to get the same dynamic that you have now with that show’s character, that’s for sure.  Hopefully we’ll still be fans of the show that “Parks and Recreation” borrowed heavily from. By the way, if you love the Office, you should REALLY check out the original British version of the show starring Ricky Gervais. 

It is a lot funnier, in that way that only British humor can be.  David Brent, who is Michael Scott’s inspiration, played by Gervais is absolutely one of the best comedic characters of all time.  I would LOVE if he could guest star on the show!

The Women of SNL special was a two hour long marathon of the some of the best skits SNL has ever done with it’s talented female comedians.  They went all the way back to the days of Gilda Radner and Jane Curtain, and there was not a bad skit on the show. From some of my favorites that I’ve seen again and again, to some of the newer stuff that I never got a chance to see since I stopped watching it thanks to a huge dive in the show’s creativity and talent in the past few years.

Well, this special made me want to start watching it again, especially since one of the newer ones was a Betty White skit about muffins. Enough said. It was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.  This special just showcases how much talent they had over the years on this show, and how they were always on the cutting edge of comedy as well as of what’s “appropriate” for modern American television, getting away with a lot and in the process being awesomely irreverent, which of course if the best way to assure being funny.

It had what a lot of comedy today is lacking – heart. I laughed so hard my belly hurt and I started sweating (yes, I sweat when I laugh hard, it’s odd, I know).  I came home in a grumpy mood from work and went to bed, literally with a smile on my face. Great stuff. If it ever comes out on DVD, I will buy it, it’s that good.

Well, in there third season, which only happened because so many fans wrote in and begged for it not to be cancelled, they are definitely striking out on all fronts.  Even with the talented cast, who seems to be almost questioning why they have to say and do some of the ridiculous things this season has them doing already, they can’t pull off some very awkward, tired writing and “jump the shark” sorts of situations.

When I say jump the shark, I mean painfully badly written scenes and scenarios. Like the fact that now, the Buy More is a CIA operative center. I know the show is loosely based in reality, but come on, that one is really hard to swallow. Or the ridiculously forced scenes, like when Grimes gets flushed down the floor like a toilet (he’s dropped through a trap door in the floor, just a painfully bad scene).

Even Casey’s scenes have been cut, and his straight guy get me out here style is sorely missed during these first few episodes where nothing is funny, it’s just a chore to watch.  And let me say also that I think it was a colossolly bad idea to have Sara and Chuck be romantically involved now. It’s just taken some sort of fun spark out of the show. The sort of will they or won’t they that made characters like Sam and Diane (Cheers), Maddie and David (Moonlighting), and Ross and Rachel (Friends) work for so long.  They should have dragged this chemistry and excitement out a few more seasons.

Now it seems like they’re relying more on their beautiful cast to lure watchers than they are some seriously good and witty writing.  The same people who once adored this show will no doubtedly be disappointed in it’s lack of charm this season, and I’m willing to bet that if it continues on this streak, it may well be cancelled – for good – this time.

The previews for Boardwalk Empire look really promising, and the fact that Martin Scorsese is on board with it in any capacity, even though I think he’s only a producer, is a great sign that this will be a well produced, directed and acted show.  Nucky Thompson, played by Buscemi, is basically the king of Atlantic City with his political power as well as his gangster activities.

He no doubt will be a fan favorite, just like Tony Soprano was for his dual life as a ruthless mobster, as well as a family man.  There’s always a dichotomy to the characters that take root the hardest. Take Tony Soprano, who could violently murder someone without so much as a thought, but had a soft spot for animals and kids.

This is how these types of characters get into our psyche. They are the very illustration that no one is black in white, everyone is shades of grey.  Another aspect that has me excited about this show is the talented but little known actor Michael Pitt.

I would have never known this actor existed, except I saw him in a twisted and disturbing film where he pulled off creepy like no one else with Naomi Watts and Tim Roth called Funny Games. He was equally as memorable as a white trash kid who gets involved with the murder of a friend in the equally disturbing – I – need – a shower now movie “Bully”.

I think we’re going to see how talented this kid is in Boardwalk Empire. His character in this show looks like he might be with the law, I can’t figure out if he’s a straight guy trying to infiltrate Nucky’s inner circle or what, but it looks like he’s probably in over his head either way.  The show premiers on Sunday, September 19th, after True Blood is over.  Yay, we’ll have something to replace the void!

The actor who plays Alcide, the hottest werewolf this side of the border, Joe Mangianello, apparently likes the WWE, and the WWE must like him too, seeing how many zoom ups the camera did of him at a recent show in  LA.  My husband watches WWE matches, and he called me in the room to show me. He stuck out like a sore thumb, all handsome and dark, and all, and he seemed to really be getting in to the show, which is pretty cool if you ask me.

Most stars think they’re too cool to get into pretty much anything, so that won him some extra brownie points in my book – hey, it doesn’t take much, he is the hottest actor on the show this season I must say.

Speaking of True Blood, I’m so glad this season has been worlds better than the last one. Season two really disappointed me with the story on the maynad (the monster and the explanation for why she existed were both totally preposterous, and the dumb lines and ridiculous story lines were nauseating).  But season three has gotten back to being fun, fast and intriguing.

We’ve had a lot of racy scenes this season, and they’re really exploring a lot on the sexual front with different twists on that note.  The last episode where the awesome Russell Edgington, the vampire king of Mississippi, rips out a man’s spinal column on national television had everyone on the edge of their seat, and thanking the Lord that True Blood decided to add this character to the cast.

Eric’s story line has been a good one too, both steamy and unpredictable, and there’s been a lot of skin on the men this season, I must say, so it’s nice to have a show that has eye candy for both the ladies and the men, and love stories for everyone – hey, gay, lesbian, straight, both – they’ve got a little bit of something for everyone!