Danny B Goes To College. Oh Wait, No He Doesn't ...

Buisness is beginning to pick up again.I know, I know, it's been a while. But here ya go - more blogified goodness, cholesterol free, baby.

Depressingly, this week marks the beginning of The Post College Years: Year 2. Pretty amazing, huh?

STAR WHORES: EPISODE II - RETURN OF THE PAGE:

Work was getting really SLOW during the Tonight Show's hiatus, and after a brief hiatus of my own, I returned to the swing of things today by working at one of the first new episodes of Ellen of the fall season. Pretty good times, and it was nice to see all of the staff at the show again. Tommy Lee was on the show today, and this time, unlike when he last appeared on Leno, I was excited to see him since I have since become a big fan of Tommy Lee Goes To College. And, I know it's kind of pathetic, but today I was really psyched to witness his performance of his new solo-album single (Take Me Away, I believe it's called), because the song has really grown on me each time I've heard it, as it is also the theme song for Tommy Lee Goes To College. And this is despite the fact that I deemed this song incredibly lame when I first saw it performed a while back on Leno. Oh well, goes to show you the power of TV, or more specifically, of TV theme songs. I mean, would I have such a fondness for The Dandy Warhols "We Used To Be Friends" or Aimee Allen's "I'd Start a Revolution" or that song from Party of Five if I hadn't first been exposed to them while awaiting a new epsiode of a beloved TV show? (ok, in the case of Birds of Prey and Aimee Allen it was a pretty bad TV show, but that themesong did friggin' rock ...).

Also on Ellen today ... saw David Spade, who was pretty durn funny. Also, I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed Jeff Foxworthy's appearance, despite not being a fan of his comedy. His talk with Ellen about the nuances of doing standup was pretty interesting, and he seems liek a genuinely really nice guy. We were also treated to another appearance of the six year old science genious, who I saw last time he was on the show. This kid is a total nutball, but holy lord is he funny. What a character. Overall, it was a great change of pace to see Ellen - a comedian who can work so spontaneously and on the fly, as opposed to the much more predictable and played-out style of Leno on the Tonight Show. And hey, gotta love those catered Ellen dinners on Thursdays.

P.S. - Ellen got a surprise phone call from none other than THE ROCK! But nobody realized it was him until he said so, since he was talking in a weirdly non-Rock sounding wimpy old regular voice, and not his Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment Rock voice.

Well, I guess it was KIND OF like having a first day of school ...

- Now since I was last at NBC all kinds of crazy stuff has happened. For one, 7 new pages have started, none of whom I've actually met yet. I guess tommorow I'll meet some of 'em, but it's kinda be kind of weird officially being the Old Kid on The Block in what I am officially labeling PHASE 2 of my time in the Page Program. Now, it would be NICE if Phase 2 actually included going on assignment at NBC. But fate and the NBC gods seem determined to keep me away from doing anything other than giving tours and escorting guests to the bathroom. Turns out I did not get the development assignment I had re-applied for a few weeks back, and now I am applying for a few more assignments, most notably in the programming department which along with development was one of my top choices to work in. Will I get it? Who knows. At this point I know that nothing is guaranteed and everything is up in the air. All I can say is, stay tuned ...

What else?

TV STUFF:

Ok, first of all ...

I HATE ALL THE NETWORKS!

WHY?

- WHY -- Why was Veronica Mars moved to fall oppossite the juggernaut that is LOST? Why are TV's two best mystery shows on at the same time? DAMN YOU, UPN!

- WHY -- Speaking of UPN - WHY UPN are you putting a potentially great show, EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS - on at the same time as a show that appeals to the same younger viewers you want to attract - THE OC? And WHY, OH WHY, is the WB's top-rated teen-oriented show, SMALLVILLE, on at the same time as FOX's top-rated teen-oriented show, THE OC? GAHHHH!

- WHY -- FOX, why are you putting Arrested Development on Mondays, and not conveniently placed after The Simpsons, as it should be? Speaking of which, SCREW FOX for prematurely KILLING one of the best sitcoms of all time, MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE, by placing it on Fridays. That sucks.

THE OC SEASON PREMIERE:

- Quickly ... losing ... interest ...

I still love the overall tone of this show, but why are they continuing last year's trend of descending into self-parody, when the show is barely into its third season? Why is Seth Cohen, originally the show's breakout character, reduced to a walking punch-line? Why is Marissa still one of the most boring characters on TV? Why is Kirsten Cohen devolving into a walking ball of angst? Thank god for two people who are currently totally carrying the show. One is Peter Gallagher as Sandy Cohen, who is consistently great, and always makes the show worth watching. It is he who really elevates it past being a generic teens soap. And then there is Julie Cooper, who was vintage EVIL Julie Cooper tonight and whose scenes made me wake up from dozing off during the endless Ryan-Trey-Marissa saga part 354. Still too early to tell what Jeri Ryan's character is up to ... Hopefully the next episode will kick things up a notch, because The OC still seems to be in cruise control. My grade: C+

- Also watched REUNION, which I almost turned off after 10 minutes, but stuck with it and slowly got kind of intrigued by the premise, which you've got to admit is great. Every episode takes place a year after the previous episode, slowly unraveling a murder mystery revolving around a group of 6 high school buddies. Definitely has potential, but the plot and dialogue was pretty heavy-handed (it's 1986, we GET it, do we need a song or pop culture reference from 1986 every 5 seconds?), and the acting was kinda uneven. May give this one more shot before making a verdict, for now it's a B for a novel setup but lots of questions about how quality this will be from episode to episode ...

- Now, PRISON BREAK, on the other hand, has gotten better with each episode. I really like all the lead actors on the show, they give it a great, over-the-top, pulpy film-noirish feel. The intensity of the show is somewhat reminicient of 24, and I am hooked by the setup and am eager to see where the plot goes from here. A solid A- from me so far.

RANDOM STUFF:

- Congrats to one of my first friends from BU, Christine T (or is it W now ...?) who was married over the labor day weekend. Yes, married I say! The first of my friends to ever get married! And knowing most of my friends, that will probably be the last one for a long, long while.

POLITICAL RANT OF DOOM:

- Too tired to go into more detail now, but it's just amazing how the ball was dropped on New Orleans in the wake of the hurricane. One thing that just amuses me in a sickening way (if that makes sense) is Barbara Bush's recent comments about how some of the victims weren't all that unlucky for having to stay in places like the Superdome, seeing as how they came from bad conditions anyway. Oy, she is like one of those senile aunts whose sweet, grandmotherly veneer is just a facade for her horrible worldview. You know, to all those people who say "oh, George W Bush is just a regular Joe ..." let's just look at the family he comes from, which is anything but regular. I shudder to think that two of our supreme court justices will be chosen by this administration, which is on the verge of a full on global crisis. Between the botched war in Iraq, the botched relief efforts in Lousiana, the escalating gas crisis, and the possibilty of North Korea and Iran soon becoming nuclear threats, excuse me if I am not very optimistic right now about America's political outlook. And by the way, it is absolutely mind-boggling, in retrospect, that the democrats did not pull out of the last election with a win. And it speaks volumes about the weakness of John Kerry as a viable candidate for not getting the job done, and somehow making himself look like more of a joke than the idiot we have in the White House now. Please, John, do the world a favor and do not run for president in '08. Not that I am gung ho about Hillary either. Can we please get someone in the oval office who does not hail from a political dynasty? Someone new? Someone under 60? Someone who realizes what our country's priorities should be, and the realities of the grave threats we face as a nation? People, we are all in serious serious trouble right now. You don't (I hope) need me to tell you why GW Bush is f'ing things up right now. But hey, I'll tell you one thing, while I'm at it. WHY ARE WE NOT ACTIVELY SEEKING ALTERNATIVE FUEL SOURCES ON A NATIONAL LEVEL? THIS SHOULD BE ONE OF OUR ABSOLUTE TOP PRIORITIES AS A NATION! The fact that Bush is so blatantly in bed with the greedy an corrupt oil industry makes me sick. Who wouldn't want to live in a world where we were self-sufficient and off of oil, where we were not dependent on Saudi royals and Venezuela for our overpriced gas, an outdated fuel source we still cling to just so some jackass oil tycoon can get rich and some redneck jerk can drive his friggin' SUV 90 mph. I mean, we could be using like peanut oil or whatever. Think about it.

Well, that rant really tired me out. Time to get some rest and get ready for, um, wait - the weekend already? But my work week just started ... Oh, the wonders of vacation time. Hey, be my friend on myspace.com and remember: don't hate the playa, hate the game.

And ... what exactly did Steve Miller mean when he sang ... "I really love your peaches, want to shake your tree?" Hmmmm ...