Dog Days of Summer

So it's summer time and I am working working working.

Yep, NBC is now giving tours on Saturdays, and yours truly is givin' them. So if you're in Burbank anytime and want to know all about the Tonight Show, Days of Our Lives, and the history of the NBC peacock logo, be sure to stop by, pay yor $7.50, and say hello.

All this walking in circles around the NBC Studios on weekends makes my life very busy. I hardly know what day of the week it is at this point. All I know is that I somehow put in all these hours at work amidst a really bad case of "flu-like symptoms" (that's what all the bigshot movie stars have these days I hear ...), a four day visit from my brother Matt, interviews for NBC assignments, at which I just can't seem to catch a break, a TICKET FOR NOT FULLY STOPPING AT A STOP SIGN RIGHT OUTSIDE MY APARTMENT (see last entry for angry rant ...), and more.

Still, I managed to have a pretty exciting weekend despite working on freakin' Saturday. Friday I went to my first ever Dodgers game, which despite a losing effort from the team was a great time - some quality bonding time with my fellow nbc pages. Then, Saturday, in honor of various birthday festivities, some of the pages and I packed into a LIMO and acted like the big deal showbiz peeps that we soon shall all be, cruising down to Hermosa Beach for a night on the pier done in style. Good times.

Because of all this work and other craziness I am now way behind on my movie viewing. Still have yet to see two highly anticipated summer films (Wedding Crashers and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and one less anticipated but still a must-watch for all True Believers (Fantastic Four). We'll see what can be done about that this week.

This week is an equally crazy schedule -- not only was I running the dreaded NBC ticket box all day Saturday, but I'm back for more tommorow AND Friday. Damn. Plus more work on Saturday, again. Ugh. This week also will bring word on the status of my assignmet application, which for various reasons I am holding out only the slightest of hope for actually getting. If I don't get it, then I may have exhausted my window of opportunity at NBC. And seriously, that sucks. This opportunity is why I dropped everything and moved to California on a week's notice, so I'd like to see some dividends. We shall see what happens.

Anyways, I'm sick of thinking or talking about work, so ...

INCONSEQUENTIAL OTHER STUFF:

- Holy crap, you want to know what one of the best shows on TV is? JUSTICE LEAGUE on Cartoon Network. I've been taping this badboy every week for the last few months, because it friggin rocks lately. This weekend's epic finale was simply awesome - I think this is the first TV cartoon drama to ever give me chills. Wow, what an ending to the five part story that's been running over the latter part of this season. If you are even slightly a geek, you owe it to yourself to watch this by any means necessary.

- Emmy Nominations: well they are getting it more right than usual, but there is still plenty of BS here. Desperate Housewives as a potential best comedy is just pushing it. Is it really a better COMEDY than say Arrested Development? Please. Now I'll answer your question: "Danny aren't you upset that there were no nominations for the year's best new show, Veronica Mars?" Yes, yes I am. Honestly I'm not sure if any particular dramatic performance on the show is worthy of an individual acting nomination, especially when looked at through the lense of what the Emmy awards typically look for. But come on, this was the easily among the best dramas on TV this year, so it should have been nominated. On the other hand, Lost got a lot of Emmy love, despite being a show that was occasionally brilliant but ultimately inconsistent. With Mars out of the equation, there's no question in my mind that 24, not Lost, was overall the best drama on TV. Nonethless, the one nomination that REALLY stood out above all others for me was Terry O'Quinn as best supporting actor for his AMAZING work on Lost. This guy has been a favorite actor of mine since his underrated, mysterious and creepy turn as Peter Watts on Millenium (note: how Lance Henrikson never won an Emmy for this show is beyond me). Anyways, O'Quinn provided Lost with many of its best moments, and Walkabout, the ep that focused on his character, was easily the best of the season and one of the best eps of any show this year. What other major omissions were there? Well, you can find much more fervent fans of the show than me to tell you that Lauren Graham is loooooong overdue for a nod for her quirky portrayal of Laureli Gilmore. Also, the most underrated show on TV is still the former critical darling Malcolm in the Middle, which is now off everyone's radar. This show should get more nominations, without a doubt. More on the Emmy's later ...

- Hogan Knows Best - not sure what to think. I think I'd rather see the Hulkster delivering his patented legdrop against the forces of evil than delivering his brand of parental guidance to his uninteresting kids.

- Who knew that Balki Bartokomus was a perv?

- On Friday saw Papa Roach play at the Tonight Show's summer outdoor concert series. Mostly pretty lame. But, next Friday, Robert Plant will be getting the Led out on the show ... daaaaaamn!

That's all for now, brutha.