"Fair? Who's the #$%&'n Nihilist around here?!?!"

Okay, some quick hits here:

WORK: Holy schneikies, already this is the work week from hell, and it's not even Thursday yet. Okay, so it hasn't been THAT bad. But why must there be so much melodrama and whatnot all the friggin' time? People need to just chill out, learn to have a sense of humor about things, and not treat every mini crisis that comes up like its friggin' Armageddon. Worked @ Ellen today, was okay but it made me ill to have to see hordes of smiling people walking away with literally hundreds of dollars worth of DVD players and other awesome giveaways, simply for showing up. I know, I know, quit complaining. But dayum it's just ... not fair. And yes, I WOULD like some cheese with that wine (sorry, heard some construction worker say that yesterday and thought it was funny in a really, um, cheesy way). On a positive, I must commend DJ Tony for his unusually awesome musical selections at Ellen today, which seemed to be all 80's rock themed and incleded Duran Duran's Hungry Like a Wolf and The Pretender's Back On the Chain Gang.

TV REVIEWS:

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT - Okay, what's the deal?I know I'm not alone in my disappointment that this show is getting the axe by FOX. So, what, is everyone just giving up on Arrested now? This Monday's episode, maybe one of the last ever, was easily my favorite of Season 3, and yet not one other person I know saw it. 'The hell? This episode was AMAZING, comedic GENIOUS. Every actor played their part to perfection, every joke was on the money, and the pace was a mile a minute. Watch NOW, before it's TOO LATE. My grade: A+

MY NAME IS EARL - Decent episode, though not as good as last week's either. The actor's continue to shine, and Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, and yes, even Jamie Presley are at the top of their games. But the scripts continue to slightly lag behind. My grade: B-

THE OFFICE - First, self-congrats to NBC for the huge rating this ep did. Second, it was once again pretty darn funny, though somehow it lacked the all out humor that the script had when I read it a while back. Still, a very good, very dark episode, almost too dark in that Michael Scott regressed back to being a total jerk after a few episodes of him becoming more sympathetic. My grade: B+

QUICK PREDICTION: On Thursday nights, the ratings for Earl and the Office will both go up from what they were doing on Tuesdays, but will begin to even out, with Office going up and Earl slightly down, and maybe The Office will even eventually eclipse Earl, ratings-wise. Earl is the immediate breakout hit, but The Office, if they can keep up the buzz and the high quality, has more overall potential to become an enormous hit.

VERONICA MARS - Well, not quite as good as last week's tour de force, but still some pretty cool moments, esp. Kieth Mars' investigation into the missing Aaron Echols' tapes. Overall this ep felt slightly off though. The jury duty stuff was a bit long-winded and hard to follow, and the Logan as buyer of the tapes subplot was just kind of weird. The ending cliffhanger once again delivered though, and hey, Wallace is back, and his return was a cool if predictable moment, that kind of redeeemed an otherwise slightly below par ep. But come on, a less that amazing Veronica Mars is still better than pretty much anything else out there. And oh yeah, kickass music, as usual. My grade: B

NOW FOR AN EDITION OF: "IF YOU LIKE_________, TRY ____________."

- If you like PRISON BREAK, try:
HARD TIME: Hard Time is a gritty, funny, and action packed comic book set in a prison, and you'll see when reading it that the Prison Break producers were likely fans. Hard Time follows the trials and tribulations of Ethan Harrow, a quiet teen who was involved in a Colombine-style school shooting and is tried as an adult. This comic, which just realunched with a new Number 1 issue, is available now and is a GREAT read. Check it out.

If you like BATMAN BEGINS, try:
BATMAN AND THE MONSTER MEN: This new limited comic series by legendary writer / artist Matt Wagner is a moody, psychological look at Batman's early years fighting crime that deals with the transition from a Gotham controlled by the mafia to a Gotham suddenly overrun by all manner of costumed criminals. Wagner's name may not be as mainstream as say Frank Miller, but he is one of those classic guys who just gets Batman, and with issue 2 hitting stores this week, this series is shaping up to be a great followup to the types of tales told in Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween, and Batman Begins.

If you like 24, try:
LA FEMME NIKITA: Before they worked on 24, that show's producers created this cult classic TV show. Nikita was filled with great characters, tons of drama, intriguing story arcs, and the best, most stylish action scenes you'll ever see on a TV show. While the DVD sets are somewhat pricey, make sure you don't pass up this underrated TV gem.

If you like DEADWOOD, try:
JONAH HEX - Alright, one more comic here. Since grim n gritty Westerns are all the rage these days thanks to shows like HBO's Deadwood, why not read some classic adventures of the original badass cowboy, Jonah Hex? DC Comics just launched a new series starring the character, who is famous for his grotesquely scarred face and his quick draw on the ol' pistols, and also for having his own unique moral code. The new book has great writing, amazing, digitally painted artwork, and is a danged cool new take on the Western.

Alright - I'm out. Once again I cannot believe yet another day is already on the horizon after I barely finished this one. But when sleep calls, well, the dude abides.

P.S. - I now am the proud owner of a swanky new, un-ripped, un-shredded, bright and shiny new model deluxe NBC page tie, and I couldn't be happier to rid myself of my old tie, because its retirement was long overdue.