Simmering Hope

I am very disappointed. Although it does not come as a huge surprise considering how the network executives pick their winners, namely the Nielsen ratings.
I am still deeply disappointed that The Good Guys has been canceled. If I remember correctly, it started as a summer show, something without much expectations, designed to fill out the dead summer season. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a funny, innovative, well written and acted show. Kudos are in place for Bradley Whitford, Colin Hanks, Jenny Wade and Diana Maria Riva.

As well, I am sad to see Human Target let go and Fringe on the maybe-to-be-canceled position. I guess next in line is Lie to Me. It looks to me that as soon as you see two episodes in a row of any given show, you should take it as the harbinger of cancellation.

Just in case you were wondering what shows made the top of Nielsen rating, take a look and decide for yourself if it reflects or not the growing trend of an uneducated, trailer-park mentality crowd dictating what’s for us to watch.

Nielsen rating for the week of January 4, 2011, demographics 18-49. The numbers are in millions of viewers.

1. NFL Playoffs: Jets/Colts
NBC
15.5 millions
2. Fox NFC Wildcard Post-game
FOX
12.4
3. Simpsons
FOX
7.5
4. Modern Family
ABC
6.4
5. Family Guy
FOX
6.2
6. Two and a Half Men
CBS
6.1
7. Bob’s Burgers
FOX
6.0
8. The Big Bang Theory
CBS
5.8
9. Grey’s Anatomy
ABC
5.5
10. Desperate Housewives
ABC
5.1
* How I Met Your Mother
CBS
5.1
12. Wipeout (Thur.)
ABC
4.9
13. Mike & Molly
CBS
4.8
14. Cleveland Show
FOX
4.7
15. Rules of Engagement
CBS
4.5
16. CSI
CBS
4.4
17. Biggest Loser
NBC
4.3
18. Cotton Bowl: LSU/Texas A&M
FOX
4.2
19. The Mentalist
CBS
4.0

What stands out from the list? Top of the list: sport. Second most viewed: stupid shows like Two and a half men, featuring actors like Charlie Sheen, linked to domestic violence and porn stars. Good examples to follow?
The one notable exception is The Simpsons, which is a very smart and cynic show. I am quite surprised that it’s understood by the same people watching Charlie Sheen’s show and all that NFL games. Or maybe not.

Anyway, it looks like my other favorite show, Fringe, is feeling the wrath of cancellation. The move to Friday to make room for American Idol may not be quite beneficial. I can only hope that The American Idol will go tits up following the new format. I am not going to watch it for the simple reason that I can’t stand Jennifer Lopez. And because without Simon Cowell the magic is gone.

My last thought: Bob’s Burgers made the list and Human Target will be canceled… seriously?

Another good song from Garou.

What a night! I had a revelation when I realized why I was watching the show so relaxed. Because I did not have to worry about Danny Gokey being pimped out by everybody and even worse, about him winning.

Simon got dressed up. Well, sort of speaking. Considering that he was not wearing his regular t-shirt, everything else qualifies as ‘dressed up’ in my opinion.
Randy looked weird, Kara looked scared – probably in anticipation of the finalists singing her composition- and Paula was a dream in green. A little bit too much tan, but otherwise she was all right. That until she started babbling. But nothing new under the sun. I love Paula, as silly as she sounds sometimes. OK, most of the time.

A pleasant surprise: I saw Sir Anthony Hopkins in the audience. And Katie Holmes and Suri.
An unpleasant surprise: Ryan’s idiotic comment ‘The guy next door vs. The guyliner’. But why did I say ‘unpleasant’? it’s not like we are not used already with Ryan’s stupid remarks.

Now let’s review the songs. First song was picked by finalists. Second was handed down to them by Simon Fuller – the producer of the show, and the third one was Kara’s composition, the same for both of them. Probably to level the field somehow.

Adam
Because Kris won the coin flipping contest, he chose the second position. Note: I guess he was just a visionary for what is to come, right? Anyway, strategically speaking, in normal circumstances it’s better to be the second one in the competition hoping to leave the last impression that will be good enough to secure you the victory. But these are not normal circumstances, because you have Adam as opponent. A good, strong and very talented one.

Kris
He just rubs me the wrong way, regardless what he’s doing. His wife unit was as ugly as usual, even if she was dressed up. Some guys on various forums made the comment that she is already history.

That being said, here were the songs for Adam along with my rating:
1. Mad World- Very Good
2. A Change is Gonna Come- Brilliant
3. No Boundaries- Good (sucky song)

Songs for Kris along with my rating:
1. Ain’t No Sunshine- Brilliant
2. What’s Going On- Good
3. No Boundaries- Bad

Simon nailed it again while talking about Kara’s composition ‘No Boundaries’: “I’m not going to judge that song”. As in… it was bad. Seriously, it was. Kris could not reach the high notes even if he used a ladder. On top of that he seemed to have forgotten the lyrics at some point.
Kara tried to help… stick a knife into Kris’s back, by saying that he should not be judged for that particular performance, as in’ it sounded like crap, man!, but you tried your best honey’.

Who should win?
Adam- hands down.
He is a roundup artist, nice and humble, graciously giving thanks to the band that helped him during the competition, politely listening to judges’ comments without making that ‘yeah, yeah, shut up already’ face as I have seen more than I would have liked, even on Kris.
He is awesome and I would agree with Paula: he is iconic. He has an aura of good energy around him and he remained true to himself from the beginning to the end.

I am not going to watch the show tonight because I can’t stand Carrie Underwood. I never liked her, never will. She is above annoying. And honestly the outcome it does not really matter anymore. Adam has a wonderful career ahead regardless what the result will be tonight. And I don’t really care about Kris. He is going to fade into obscurity because he is not bringing anything special.

Let’s start with a recap of yesterday’s performances (Note: I am still upset over Allison’s elimination):

Danny
Song picked up by Paula: ‘Dance little sister’ by Terence Trent D’Arby
Second song was Danny’s choice: ‘You are so beautiful’ by Joe Cocker

I had to try to like him but I failed. I did not like any of the songs. Second one sounded better than the first one, but this is all I could say positive about Danny. I still find him annoying and still believe that he does not deserve to be in the top three. I will not buy his CD for sure.

Kris
Song picked up by Kara and Randy: ‘Apologize’ by One Republic
Kris’s choice for the second song: ‘Heartless’ by Kanye West

Now, this is what I call a nice surprise. I had mixed feelings about Kris and at times found him boring. True, not annoying as Danny is to me, but without much spark. Everything changed yesterday and I can see him now as the dark horse of the competition.
That being said, I must admit not being familiar with any of the songs. But I really liked the acoustic guitar version of ‘Heartless’.
Randy made an interesting comment saying that he liked Kris’s version more than the original version. So, I did my homework and looked for the original one. And the verdict is…. Kris was better indeed.
Judge for yourself.

Heartless by Kenye West

Heartless by Kris Allen

It was entertaining to watch Simon bashing Kara and Randy over their whining regarding Kris’s lack of imagination while interpreting the first song. As in being too close to the original. Simon said something along this line ‘You can’t blame him; you picked up the song without getting involved furthermore in the arrangement’. Should I say again that I really like Simon?

Adam
Song picked up by Simon: ‘One’ by U2
Adam’s choice: ‘Cryin” by Aerosmith

Simon gloated over his request addressed directly to Bono (U2) to give permission for the song to be sang in the competition. Naturally Bono accepted, especially because it was to be sang by Adam. As much as I like Simon, I disliked this particular comment. I wonder is U2 is in dire need of publicity?
Moving one to my comments: Adam was Adam. And that pretty much is a summary of what happened. ‘Cryin’ is my favorite Aerosmith’s song and I would rather prefer the original version.

I like Adam because he is true to himself and always polite and pretty humble. Huge difference between him and Danny, who should take some lessons in how to be a little bit more humble.

Predictions:
Tight competition between Kris and Danny to secure the second position. I hope from the bottom of my heart that Danny goes home. If not, I would not bother watching the final show because it would not matter. It was bad enough that his fan base won over Allison’s one, to watch him another week is something I can’t stand.
I hope as well that people won’t assume that Adam is safe and still vote for him, although I does not really matter. He has a brilliant career in front of him with or without winning this competition.

Update: Kris and Adam are in the final!!!

We are approaching the end of the current season, with most of our favorite shows on their season finale going to be seen next week.
How many of them are going to return in the Fall?
If you want to see which ones are safe and which ones have been cancelled, please check the list, courtesy of Vancouver Sun.
I am happy to see that my favorite shows are safe. Namely: NCIS, Fringe, The Mentalist, The Amazing Race and House.

SAFE
The Amazing Race
American Dad
American Idol
America’s Next Top Model
Being Erica
The Big Bang Theory
The Biggest Loser
Bones
The Border
Brothers & Sisters
Criminal Minds
CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York
Dancing with the Stars
Deal or No Deal
Desperate Housewives
Dragon’s Den
Family Guy
Flashpoint
Friday Night Lights
Fringe
Ghost Whisperer
Gossip Girl
Grey’s Anatomy
Heartland
Hell’s Kitchen
Heroes
House
How I Met Your Mother
Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU
Lie to Me
Little Mosque on the Prairie
Lost
The Mentalist
NCIS
90210
Numb3rs
The Office
One Tree Hill
Private Practice
Rick Mercer Report
The Simpsons
Smallville
Supernatural
Survivor
30 Rock
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
Til Death
The Tudors
24
Ugly Betty

STILL NOT SURE
Castle
Chuck
Cold Case
Cupid
Gary Unmarried
In the Motherhood
Medium
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Parks and Recreation
Privileged
Rules of Engagement
Samantha Who
Scrubs
Southland
Surviving Suburbia
The Unusuals
The Unit

CANCELLED OR ABOUT TO BE
According to Jim
Boston Legal
Crusoe
Dirty Sexy Money
Do Not Disturb
Dollhouse
Eli Stone
Eleventh Hour
ER
Everybody Hates Chris
The Ex-List
Kath & Kim
King of the Hill
Kings
Knight Rider
Life
Life on Mars
Lipstick Jungle
My Name is Earl
My Own Worst Enemy
Prison Break
Pushing Daisies
Reaper
Sit Down, Shut Up
Sophie
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Wild Roses
Worst Week