The Five: Shows that are better than the movie
There aren’t many TV shows made from movies that are actually better than the movie version. I’m not talking about TV shows that they made a big-screen version of (like X-Files or Charlie’s Angels), I’m talking about a big screen flick that came first, and then they made the TV series. There aren’t many that are better (and there are several that are worse: Ferris Bueller, My Big Fat Greek Life, War of the Worlds, to name a few), but I’ve come up with five I think are better. What’s on your list?
- Buffy, The Vampire Slayer: This is a no-brainer as #1, right? The movie is entertaining in it’s own right, but Joss Whedon really ran with it when he brought it to TV.
- The Odd Couple: Sure, the movie version is very entertaining, but while Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon played Oscar and Felix very well, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall were Oscar and Felix. Once they got past the odd, stagey first season of the show (no studio audience), this became laugh out loud funny, very smart, very New York City. Can’t wait til it comes to DVD.
- Highlander: God, did the movie suck. But when it came to TV, it provided a practically endless supply of plots for the character, and the villains/love interests for MacLeod were always interesting. Killing off Richie has to rank up there as being one of the stupidest decisions in TV history, but still, this was way better than the movie (any of the movies, actually).
- M*A*S*H: Sure, a very good movie, but the show had more time to really dig into the war and get into the heads of the characters more. Did it get a little preachy towards the end? Maybe, but this was uncommonly well-written and very well-cast, whether you’re talking about the Henry Blake/Trapper John years or the Col. Potter/B.J. Hunnicut years.
- The Pink Panther: OK, OK, I’m stretching things here. I understand that. But same title, character based on the title animation. I loved this show, and while a couple of the Pink Panther flicks are funny, I find most of them to be rather tedious.
Gnarly Maneuver
Let's hope this won't turn into "Paul Is Dead" all over again.
Gnarls Barkley is giving away a backwards version of its new album, The Odd Couple, completely gratis.
The aptly titled elpuoC ddO ehTget out your mirrors, kidsis available for free download through the site fronttobackbacktofront.com.
Lost Redux: If You're Not a Series Regular, Get Back Inside!
Warning: If you haven't yet seen tonight's episode of Lost, "The Shape of Things to Come," please don't read another word and get back in the house!
If you have, well then, schmooze past the guard, pick the Penthouse elevator lock, punch in code 14J, and get your booty in here, 'cause we have much, much, much to discuss…
WHAT WE LEARNED
Benjamin Linus and Charles Widmore Are Ex-Lovers! OK, so that's probably a bit of a stretch, but among the 4,815 reveals in the final scene of the evening—in which Ben breaks into Charles' penthouse to deliver the news he's going to kill Penny—it seems perfectly clear that:
- These two have known each other a very long time. (Ben to Charles: "Since when do you sleep with a bottle of Scotch next to the bed?")
- They've had some sort of major falling-out that has led to all-out, daughter-slaying war. (Charles to Ben: "Everything you have you took from me.")
In the divorce, maybe Charles got the money and Ben got the Island? Or were they roommates—an Odd Couple gone madly awry after too many quarrels over spilled milk?
Ben Is Hunting Penelope, and Charles Is Hunting the Island: Awe. Some. What do you wanna bet that the series finale will be Ben and Charles and Penny and Des all meeting up on Lost Island for the ultimate showdown? Booyah!
Ben Says He "Can't" Kill Charles Widmore: Perhaps this is a "rule" set up by Jacob/the man behind the curtain. Or perhaps…Chuckie-boy physically cannot be killed, just as with Michael.
LOL Moment of the Night: Sawyer screaming at everyone to "Get inside!" as every non-series-regular in sight was immediately shot down, rapid fire. Turns out employment contracts are better than bullet-proof vests or invisibility cloaks. Yay!
Claire Is Alive! So, the blast leveled Claire's house but left her looking totally unscathed without so much as her wig off-kilter?! Awesome! Somebody's looking out for our little Claire-bear.
Alex Is Dead: Wow. Wow. Wow. Was anyone anticipating Widmore's thug would actually pull the trigger and shoot our little Scrappy in the head? Clearly, Ben was not. Alex was so sweet and beautiful and full of future-storyline potential, you'd think the "Island" would protect her à la Michael and make the trigger jam or the bullet a dud! But alas, Alex is indeed dead, as confirmed by future Ben's future words with Charles. Sigh.
Ben Does Have a Heart: Who knew?! I pictured his innards all hollow and moldy, like a bachelor fridge. But those were real tears he shed over Alex, and they came when no one was looking. Henry Gale is the Tin Man, after all!
Let's Get Our Geography On! First, you should know that La Brea and Santa Monica Boulevard, where Nadia's assassin was spotted via traffic-light cam, is an actual place with an actual traffic cam. I know this because I personally have received a red-light ticket from that very camera. (I also got pulled over while leaving the Lost set two weeks ago, but that's another story for another time.) We learned tonight that Nadia was killed three blocks from La Brea and Santa Monica, which just so happens to be the very area in which Joss Whedon was shooting Dollhouse today! Coinkydink? You bet!
The Liar, the Which and the Wardrobe: Where the bejeezus did Ben go when he holed himself up in the wardrobe closet and conjured up the smoke monster? Given that he entered the closet squeaky clean and returned all covered in soot, can we assume he had to get the monster's engine started by shoveling coal into Smoky? Also, is it possible that there does indeed exist a whole underground web of tunnels that connect the hatches? Carlton Cuse did (jokingly?) tease to us last year, "There's a vast subterranean culture that we haven't revealed." Hmmmm!
Easter Egg Hunt: If you're into the TiVo moments of this show, and draft out the floor plans of the Dharma stations in your spare time, you're gonna wanna check out Doc Arzt's awesome Easter Egg slide show for this ep, which includes a look at the Orchid Station letterman's jacket, the Black Rock above Widmore's bed, the hieroglyphics on the way to the monster pen (paging Lost's Egyptologist fans) and the ever-morphing mystery woman on Ben's wall.
"Australia's the Key to the Whole Game": So sayeth Hurley during tonight's game of Risk, and I sayeth we listen! Flight 815 originated in Sydney, por supuesto, as did Aaron and Claire, who are supposedly integral to what Lost is all about…Not to mention Charles Widmore's obvious Aussie accent! (OK, that might be unintentional, since Alan Dale is from the Land Down Under in real life, but still.)
Also… Ben was doing his cute little Ben thing and bold-faced lying to Sayid about how he got off Lost island. Desmond's boat? As if! He rode the Dharma polar bear express to the Sahara, rode a pony from there into Tunisia and then it's totally unclear how he got to Iraq. See below for a little geography lesson brought to you by our fun pink crayon…
WHAT'S TO COME (Spoilers Within)
Jin is alive. In the future. But you know that already, right? And he has two good friends with him, who also have superawesome bullet-and-monster-proof contracts! Yay!
Jack is way sick. And my guess is that's what gets him off the Island.
Also in a few short hours, I'm interviewing Michael Emerson, so if you want to find out what Ben's going to do that rotten Charles bloke, or you have other questions for M.E., email me quick and check back tomorrow afternoon.
The Odd Couple: Password - VIDEO
(Originally aired Dec. 1, 1972)
Since CBS will debut a new, updated version of the classic game show Password this Sunday at 8, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about one of the great episodes of The Odd Couple, appropriately titled “Password.” (it’s also Jack Klugman’s favorite). It’s the one where Oscar is asked to go on the game show and he gets to choose his partner. Will he choose Felix, a nut for the show, or his girlfriend, who isn’t too, um, bright? The answer after the jump…
The episode opens with Oscar and Felix at a restaurant having dinner with their dates. Oscar is with the ditzy Mitzi, while Felix is with Miriam (who I really think he should have ended up with in the end, but that’s another rant). Password host Allen Ludden walks in with his wife (Betty White), and Felix is mad because he tried out for the show and didn’t get on. Oscar explains that it’s probably because he’s not a “normal,” everyday Joe, so Felix tries to prove he’s an everyday Joe by talking about ordinary things with Miriam (”So…do you suffer much from acid stomach?”). Oscar explains you never see Einstein on Beat The Clock. Ludden is actually a sports freak and comes over to talk to Oscar about his sports column. Ludden asks Oscar to be on the show, and Oscar first refuses, but when Felix tells him that the gig pays $750, Oscar changes his mind. The gang practices at Oscar and Felix’s apartment, and while Oscar first wants Mitzi to be his partner (probably to get into her pants), he finally agrees that Felix should be on the show with him.
What follows is a scene that is really a sitcom writing clinic. Oscar and Felix play the game against Betty White and another woman, and it’s hysterical (the scene is below, sorry for the bad sound). Felix keeps giving these esoteric, odd clues (”It’s a known fact that Lincoln loved mayonnaise!”) and they eventually lose. But the writing and acting and pacing of the scene is just pitch perfect and honestly funny. It’s great to see White in this role, as she’ll be coming back to the new CBS version too.
I’m really glad that The Odd Couple is being released on DVD, so people who haven’t seen it (I don’t think it’s syndicated that much anymore) can see how good it is. The show is sometimes left out of the “best comedy of all-time” lists that come out every now and then, a list that always include Seinfeld, The Simpsons, M*A*S*H, and I Love Lucy. This show deserves to be on such a list too.
Some quotes:
“Great clues? If Charlie Chan got these clues he’d be running a laundry!” - Oscar, to Felix
“I’m not average, that’s why I didn’t get on. It’s lonely having a high IQ.” - Felix
“He never even noticed me. I tried so hard to be an average Joe.” - Felix
“You know, I watch you all the time, Betty…you’re my biggest fan.” - Felix, to Betty White