Farewell, TV Season!

Wednesday officially ended the 2006-07 TV season. And while I settle in to a summer of all baseball, all the time, I thought I'd review some of the highlights and lowlights of my favorite shows.


Lost- Many fans were disappointed with the season, and while I'll admit that it started off slowly, what a great last few weeks! And the explosive season-finale was fantastically done, and left me literally on the edge of my seat. As is always the case with "Lost," many questions answered, and many more created. And now we have to wait till February of '08.


24- Jack, Jack, Jack...Now, I want to be clear, I am still one of 24's most devoted fans, and Jack Bauer is one of the best characters on TV, hands down. But this season..well, as Mari would say, "the worst season ever!" It would have been a great season if we hadn't seen it 5 times before. Most of the year, it was predictable, and I found myself continuously saying, "Yup, this happened in Season(insert 1-5 here)." My great hope was that the finale would be outstanding. Nope. Producers are telling us that Season 7 will be completely retooled with a whole new plan for the show. Let's hope so.


The Office- Another solid season put in by TV's funniest comedy. And good news for next year- there will be 30(!!) episodes instead of the normal 22 to cut down on repeats. I'm very excited. (I know, Michael, "that's what she said.")

Other shows that are honored by my watching:
Family Guy- B+ Too many repeats, not enough flashbacks.
Simpsons- C- Time to let this show go out with some dignity.
Studio 60- B+ RIP Studio 60, we hardly knew ye. Yet Prison Break gets another year. What a world.
My Name is Earl- C+ Too many repeats, and too many serious shows. Let's get back to comedy next year.
30 Rock B Best new comedy, by far. Alec Baldwin creates the funniest character on TV.

So there you have it. Now enjoy the last 6 episodes of Studio 60, and Rescue Me in June, as I will, and I'll see you in September.

My Kind of Town...

...Chicago is. Staci and I had a great time in the Windy City over the weekend. We met up with Steve and his brother-in-law Jason as well. It was an action packed few days, as we hit Wrigley Field Thursday afternoon for a Cubs-Pirates game. Later that evening we got to see a funny, funny show at Second City, home to such alumni as Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Will Ferrell.

The following day we went to the top of the Sears Tower to overlook the entire city. Then we proceeded to the famous Giordano's Pizza to try our first stuffed crust pizza. Fantastic and filling, and probably the only time in my life where I would only eat two slices. Then it was on to US Cellular Field to see the White Sox take on the Royals. It was no Wrigley, but definitely nicer than I thought it would be. So now I have 20 Major League parks under my belt(19 active), with 11 more to go.

Ten Years

There are two events that will happen this year that will make me feel extremely old. One is my daughter Abby turning 10 years old later this summer. The other occurs tomorrow, the tenth anniversary of my college graduation from Mansfield. How is this possible? How could time have gone by so quickly? It seems like just yesterday that one of the greatest weekends of my life was taking place. Friends and family started arriving on Friday, May 9th, and the prelude to the "Party of the Century" on May 10th was pretty damn good. And May 10th, 1997, ranks as one of the 5 best days of my life. I have never, before or since, been surrounded by so much positive and loving energy.

The bright side to this particular anniversary is that as much as things have changed over the last ten years, the important things have stayed the same. I am still very close to most of our core MU group, and the fact that the majority of them are in my wedding this fall is a testament to the strength of our friendships. And driving into Mansfield is still a religious experience. It is a small town with two lights and very little to do. But it's MY town, the place where I really grew up, where I learned more in 3 years than I have in the rest of my life combined. And it's still the place I can go when life is overwhelming and find a little peace. Ten years that seem like a lifetime ago, yet seem like just yesterday at the same time.

The Clemens Debacle

I'm obviously not happy that Roger Clemens has announced his intention to go back to the hated New York Yankees. It stinks that I have to go back to rooting against him. Two things are worse than this, however, for me. The first is that because he is going back to the American League, I will most likely not get to see him pitch. As many games as I have been to, I have never seen him pitch, which is unbelieveable. We missed him by 2 days last year when we were in Houston. And he didn't pitch in DC the last two years either. The second thing is that he will make 3 minor league starts before joining the Yankees' rotation, and guess where one of them will be? That's right, Scranton, PA, my hometown of fair-weather fans who never gave a damn about the team until it became a Yankees' affiliate this year. And now 12,000 of them, who probably couldn't find Lackawanna County Stadium on a map before this year, will get to see the greatest pitcher of the last 50 years pitch in their backyard. First they get Dunder Mifflin, now this. There's no justice sometimes.

The Funniest Video Ever!

Or at least the funniest I have seen in a long time. Further proof that Will Ferrell is pure genius. And FYI, the "landlord" is his daughter. Guess comedy runs in the family!