6 Things I'm Not Going to Apologize For

It's the week between Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur. The custom is you're supposed to spend this time repenting for your sins and apologizing to people for anything bad you may have done to them during the year so that on Yom Kippur (which begins Friday night at sundown), you have a clean slate. But I'm not the apologizing type, so I'm not gonna do that. In fact, here are a few things I'm not sorry for:

I'm not sorry for giving up on the Red Sox last month. I'm no pink hat, but I know when something's a lost cause. And even though the team did win a few times in September, and always gave me a glimmer of hope when it did, I was never really fully on board.
That said ... I am sorry that the season ended with Terry Francona leaving the team. It wasn't his fault the team sucked this year.

I'm not sorry for eating that entire package of Triple Double Oreos all by myself. They were tasty, and downright addicting.
That said ... I am sorry that they weren't Triple Double Stuff Oreos. That would have made them really awesome.

I'm not sorry for playing my radio a little too loudly in the morning while I'm getting ready for work, not to mention the hour or so I spend hitting the Snooze button every nine minutes, which more than likely wakes up my neighbor upstairs before she'd like to be awake. I figure it's only fair after the annoyance she's caused me with her vacuuming and housework at odd hours.
That said ... I am sorry that the music playing is usually Britney Spears' "I Wanna Go," LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," or some other annoying song, because I don't like that stuff either.

I'm not sorry for liking a whole handful of female-centric new shows, including Ringer, Revenge, Pan Am, and New Girl. All are enjoyable and feature some very attractive women, and I hope they stick around. I'm also not sorry that I'm having second thoughts about choosing Person of Interest over Grey's Anatomy.
That said ... I am sorry that Rachel Bilson's show Hart of Dixie was really lame, 'cause I like me some Summer Roberts. And I'm also sorry I still haven't watched the first two episodes of Prime Suspect yet. One more missed episode and I just give up on it entirely. (That's the rule.)

I'm not sorry for putting out candy corn so early in the season. Yum.
That said ... I am sorry that ... no, actually, there's nothing to be sorry about here.

I'm not sorry for downloading James Morrison's new album The Awakening two weeks before it's released in the U.S., even though I knew it was illegal. As I've said before, if an album is going to be released in one part of the world, and I'm a big enough fan of the artist, then I'm going to find it. And now that I've heard The Awakening, I'm glad I did it. This is another very enjoyable album from the soulful British singer/songwriter, who I think is a mix of Ray LaMontagne and Paolo Nutini.
That said ... I am sorry that James Morrison hasn't found more fans here in the U.S. Maybe The Awakening will change that.

Lots to Watch

Many people look forward to the fall. They enjoy the cooler weather, the chance to start anew, and the return to normalcy after a vacation-filled summer. But not me. Each year around this time, the fall TV preview issues of Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide arrive in my mailbox and I'm reminded that for at least a couple weeks, I'm not going to have much of a life as I struggle to watch all kinds of new shows. And if I do try to have a life, then my DVR is going to get a workout and I'll be up late as I time-shift my TV watching.

I know, woe is me.

So allow me to continue an annual tradition of sharing which shows I'm going to try and watch this season. Thankfully, a couple shows have already debuted, so I've already previewed them. One made the cut (Ringer) and one was knocked off my list (Up All Night). But plenty of others remain.

Here's the list:

Monday: How I Met Your Mother, Two Broke Girls, Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie (welcome back, Summer Roberts!), The Playboy Club

Tuesday: Glee, New Girl, Ringer

Wednesday: The X Factor, Modern Family, Happy Endings (so happy this show is coming back), Revenge

Thursday: Community, The X Factor (results), Charlie's Angels, The Office, Person of Interest, Grey's Anatomy, Whitney, Prime Suspect

Friday: Thankfully, this is a night off (until Shark Tank comes back, that is)

Saturday: Saturday Night Live

Sunday: The Amazing Race, Pan Am

And of course, I also want to watch at least the first episodes of Two and a Half Men and CSI, just to see how Ashton Kutcher and Ted Danson do. Then there's Hawaii Five-0, which will feature John Locke himself, Terry O'Quinn, in a recurring role. So I know I'm gonna give that a shot too.

I know I'll never watch all of those shows, and believe me, I don't really want to. But for now, I'm overcome by curiosity, so I know I'm going to try to watch as many as I can. As with seasons past, the rule of three applies: If I miss three episodes of any one show, then I give up. So come November, I know I'll be watching only a fraction of the shows I listed above. Until then, I hope I have enough room on my DVR.

What about you? What shows are you making room for on your DVR?

Conan the Destroyer

Last year, when Conan O'Brien was (unfairly) fired as the host of NBC's The Tonight Show, he didn't take it very well. Viewers saw that in the days and weeks leading up to his last show, as he piled on the jokes at his soon-to-be-ex-employer's expense. And those of us who saw O'Brien's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour got a taste of that too, as each show included a few jabs at NBC and a bunch of self-deprecating jokes about the situation. But behind the scenes was an even angrier person, and in the new documentary Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, we get a chance to see a little more of that side.

Thankfully, though, Conan — who says at one point early in the film, “Sometimes I’m so mad I can’t even breathe" — decided to funnel his emotions into something positive. As it turned out, the 32-city tour was not so much about Conan venting and getting his fans to rally behind him (unlike a certain former Two and a Half Men star's tour was). It was more like live therapy in front of his fans, and a way for Conan to laugh and exorcise his frustration and disappointment (in himself as well as NBC). In Can't Stop, we get to ride along as Conan's mood and outlook change, and he sees just how much love there is for him across the country.

Of course, like any comic, there's a constant need for approval. That's nothing new. But in Conan's case, there's also a never-ending need to entertain. Here, we watch as Conan and team put together the tour, and then take it from Eugene, Ore., to Atlanta, going practically nonstop for those few months. He does his show. He doesn't take actual days off. He greets hundreds of fans along the way, even at times when making pleasant chit-chat is the last thing Conan feels like doing. No, Conan doesn't stop, and the film seems to imply that he just doesn't know how to stop.

You may get whiplash from the speed and quick editing employed here; there are lots of quick cuts and no long scenes. That means you get to see a lot, but you don't see much of each thing. Thus, as a document of the tour, this is hardly comprehensive.

On the other hand, there are some really nice, and revealing, backstage moments. I particularly enjoyed watching Conan interact with his assistant, Sona. Despite her being constantly put-upon, and often the butt of Conan's jokes (including when he makes her speak into a banana during a meeting), it's clear there's a great deal of mutual affection there, and that's really fun to watch. And it's cool to see Conan give so much of himself to his fans, even when they turn him off (as in the anti-semitic fan who drove for hours to a casino to see Conan, only to be told he was too young to get in).

Conan deals with nearly every situation with a laugh — after all, that's the best defense. That means that even though Conan's quips often do carry more meaning, there's maybe not as much of the "off" Conan as we may want. But I'm not complaining: This entertaining collection of raw footage shows a man going through a real professional rough patch, and coming out smiling. As someone who's been through similar (though not identical) frustration, I felt a kinship with Conan at the time, and watching Conan O'Brien Can't Stop I have to say I like the guy even more now. This is a film for (and in many ways, a tribute to) the fans, but I suspect those who don't watch his show will like it too. I'm giving Conan O'Brien Can't Stop a B+.

2010's Entertainment Stays with Me

A couple nights ago, I re-watched the series finale of Lost for the first time in about four months. I'm happy to report that I enjoyed it as much, if not more than, I did when the episode first aired in May, and the last time I watched it back when the DVD was first released in August — and that's not just because I'm still blown away by how great Evangeline Lilly looked in that black dress. That's a relief, because when the finale aired, I was lamenting the end of one of my all-time favorite TV shows. The last episode of Lost not only lived up to the hype, but it endures and continues to be great.

Good entertainment does that: It stays with you and doesn't lose its appeal over time. 2010 had a handful of those kinds of things. In addition to Lost, I got immense pleasure from watching Community, Modern Family, and Glee (the second season, not the second half of the first). I'm still really enjoying Jamie Cullum's latest album (it's even better live in concert), as well as the new release from Maroon 5. I was excited to see American Idiot the week it opened on Broadway, and I even finished a book I really enjoyed, The Accidental Billionaires.

And then there were the movies. As of this writing, I've seen 57 of the films considered 2010 releases. (Some films I saw in the early part of the year were considered 2009 releases.) Of them, I have my favorites. It should be noted that the list that follows is not a list of the best movies of 2010, and it's also incomplete because there are a couple films I have yet to see that may make this list. So with those caveats, here are the 10 movies I saw in 2010 that I enjoyed more than the rest:
1. The Social Network (which I've seen three times)
2. The Fighter
3. Inception
4. 127 Hours
5. The Kids Are All Right
6. Toy Story 3
7. Greenberg
8. Solitary Man
9. The Town
10. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work/Winnebago Man
Honorable mention: The Expendables, which was crap, but really fun crap.

And rather than list the 10 worst movies I saw, let's call this list the 10 movies I enjoyed the least:
1. Piranha 3D
2. Valentine's Day
3. Alice in Wonderland
4. Knight & Day
5. Secretariat
6. The Tourist
7. Shutter Island
8. Little Fockers
9. Due Date
10. Dinner for Schmucks

What were your favorite movies, TV shows, albums, etc.? Please do share your thoughts with me.

Happy Hanukkah, Greenberg's Delicatessen!

On this, the day of Christmas Eve, allow me to wish all my non-Jewish readers a very merry Christmas. My "gift" to you is this clip from Turner Classic Movies, which shows It's a Wonderful Life as it was originally intended: As a Hanukkah story. Enjoy, and ho ho ho!

It Wouldn't Be the Holidays Without Her

A few years back, I got into a discussion with a friend when I told her how much I love Christmas. "No," she clarified. "You love the Christmas season. You don't have to deal with the family and the religious stuff." She was right about all of that. I'm a huge fan of the season, with the pagentry and the lights and the deals and the happier mood and the lighter workload and the food and the celebrations and the traditions and yes, the music. Oh, how I love the music of the Christmas season.

As has been noted here in a previous blog post, my creation of a holiday mix each year has become as much of a beloved holiday tradition for me and those who receive it as the airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas or the all-day A Christmas Story marathon on TBS. And yet, as much as I love making and distributing my mix, one holiday tradition I enjoy and look forward to almost as much is the annual night-before-Christmas episode of Late Show with David Letterman.

On this particular episode, there are always two guests: comedian Jay Thomas and the great Darlene Love, brand-new inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jay comes on first and tells the same story every year, about how when he was younger, he did a gig with Clayton Moore, the former Lone Ranger, and how Jay and his colleague were "herbed up" and got into a car chase with someone who hit their car, while Clayton was still in the back seat. Same story every year, and it always gets the same laughs. Then Jay and Dave try to knock the meatball off the top of Dave's Christmas tree by throwing footballs at it.

Darlene then comes on and simply blows the roof off the joint with her classic holiday tune, one of my all-time favorites, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." Blows the roof off. Seriously. It's always great: Darlene is backed Phil Spector–style by Paul Shaffer's band, sax player Bruce Kapler makes a memorable entrance, there's snow at the end, and Darlene just nails it year after year after year. (Eat your heart out, U2.) The performance is such an annual highlight for me that I included her version from 2004, which was one of her best ever, on my 2007 Very Marty Xmas mix. The song is reportedly Dave's favorite holiday tune, and he once called Darlene's performance on his show "the best thing about the holidays." Couldn't agree more.

Oh, and as if those two things aren't enough to get you to watch ... throw in Paul Shaffer's impression of Cher, with her hands in a muff, singing "Oh Holy Night." Classic holiday TV indeed.

So tune in tonight at 11:35 and/or set the DVR for 11:35 and make sure you set it for an hour and 5 minutes, since the show always runs longer than an hour. You may have listened to A Very Marty Xmas a bjillion times already (like I have), but it won't officially be Christmas until you hear Darlene Love singing on Letterman. It's a tradition that really makes the holiday season complete.

Chatting About Culture with Mr. Crane

There's a pretty good chance that David Hyde Pierce won't see this. That's because when I interviewed him for Continental magazine a few months back and I asked him about whether he uses social media and is on Facebook or Twitter, the erstwhile Niles Crane responded rather quickly and tersely, "I'd rather die." Alright, fine. So that subject was a dead end. But thankfully, there was plenty else for us to discuss, and some of that conversation is now on planes and on the magazine's website for all to read.

No surprise, the man folks know from his TV, film, and stage roles is not much different from the man I "met" on the phone back in August. He was well spoken, even-keeled, polite, and calm, and happy to chat about subjects as varied as Alzheimer's research and the difference between theater audiences in New York and London. I thought he'd be turned off by a question or two about Frasier, the show on which he starred for 11 years, but instead he told me he's always happy to talk about it. "I have only been blessed and not been cursed by 11 years of Niles," he said of the role for which he won four Emmy awards.

Pierce and I conducted the interview so he could promote his role in the current Broadway revival of La Bête, which opened in mid-October and is scheduled to close in early January. In the play, Pierce plays a sophisticated director who clashes with a boorish performer, and that gave me the perfect opportunity to ask him for his thoughts on the current state of pop culture. I figured he'd have something to say about the gap between silly reality shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians and more substantial fare, and I was right:

"There’s always going to be a large market for crap, and there’s always going to be a smaller market for high art. And the really great works of theater are the ones that manage to bridge the gap. Shakespeare did that. He had his clowns smack in the middle of Hamlet because he understood not only the theater, but that life is a mixture of extreme comedy and extreme tragedy. Life very seldom separates itself into one or the other. The things I’ve been drawn to, Frasier included, are things that mix both the high art and low art, or comedy and seriousness."

It was truly a pleasure to speak with David Hyde Pierce. If you'd like to read my article, just click here.

What's the Story?

Morning TV news programs get a gentle tweak in Morning Glory. In the film, Rachel McAdams plays Becky Fuller, an ambitious television producer, who's hired to breathe life into Daybreak, the fourth-place network morning show. Her solution is to hire gruff veteran newsman Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford), who begrudgingly takes the job of sitting alongside the show's longtime host, Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), even though he wants nothing to do with the silly antics and lightweight stories. But when the show is threatened with cancellation, all must do whatever it takes to keep Daybreak on the air.

Morning Glory was written by Aline Brosh McKenna, who also penned the screenplay for The Devil Wears Prada, and there are plenty of similarities between the two films. For example, both feature a perky, go-getter heroine who puts work ahead of her personal life, and both feature winning performances by their lead actresses. In this case, McAdams deserves all the credit for why Morning Glory is enjoyable to watch, even when the rest of it isn't. McAdams helps the screenplay seem better than it is. She's playing such a peppy, high-spirited person — and she does it so well — that I half-expected Ford to bark at her the famous Lou Grant line, "You've got spunk!" (Instead, he tells her she's got moxie.) But it's true. After starring in Wedding Crashers, McAdams stayed away from the breezy, lightweight romantic comedies she was offered, and she held out for a decent one. I couldn't help but think that if Katherine Heigl, who starred in another McKenna film, 27 Dresses, had played Becky, this would have been a much worse film.

Which is not to say that Morning Glory is a masterpiece, or even on the same level as Prada. The first half of the film is better than the second, and other than McAdams, none of the other leads have much to work with; they can't save the one-note characters they're playing (Ford especially). And, it should be noted, it's hard to take a film too seriously when it's centered around a television network with the unfortunate name of IBS. Yes, Becky saves the show and manages not to lose her boyfriend (Patrick Wilson) in the process. But the fact that she makes Morning Glory watchable is her real triumph. I'm giving the film a B.

Tough Decisions Will Be Made

It's Wednesday, which means we're halfway through one of my least favorite weeks of the year. What? You thought I'd actually be happy about the start of the new TV season? Well, you're wrong. This is the time of year when there's too much on, and my DVR gets an extra-good workout. It's the time when I have to make some really tough decisions about what to watch, what to commit to, and what not to bother with. Most every year I post something here about which shows I'm going to try and watch, but it's always with the expectation that I won't stick to the plan. Which is fine, of course; there are movies, and sports, and, well, life to keep me busy otherwise.

So that's why I generally have a two-strikes rule: If I fall two episodes behind, chances are good I won't catch up on that show, so I don't even bother. Unfortunately, I'm already behind: I forgot to record Lone Star Monday night, so I'm hoping I can watch the pilot before episode two is on (thankfully, the pilot's re-airing over the weekend).

What else am I planning to watch this fall? Here's my week at a glance:

Monday: How I Met Your Mother, Lone Star, Gossip Girl, and Hawaii Five-0

Tuesday: Glee, No Ordinary Family, Running Wilde

Wednesday: Undercovers, Modern Family

Thursday: Community, 30 Rock, $#*! My Dad Says, The Office, Grey's Anatomy

Fridays and Saturdays: These are nights for catching up on what I've missed, if I'm home

Sunday: The Amazing Race, Brothers & Sisters

I know what you're thinking: That's a lot of TV. I wasn't kidding when I said my DVR gets a good workout; I couldn't have a life without it. The good news is I'll never watch that many shows, so check in with me a month from now and ask me how closely I've stuck with the plan.

Welcome Home, Old Friend

The crowd was justifiably loud when Conan O'Brien took the stage Friday night at the start of his first Boston show on the Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour. This was the former Tonight Show host's first paying gig in his hometown (he grew up in Brookline, if you didn't know), and after more than three months off the air, we who love Coco were eager for some of his goofy Irish charm. Conan brought that and more in a show that was eager to please, even if it maybe ran on a little too long.

I won't even begin to quote Conan's jokes, but suffice it to say, he knew his audience Friday night and filled his show with lots of local humor — there were shout-outs to New Kids on the Block, Kelly's Roast Beef, Eagle's Deli, Chet Curtis, the Kennedys, and other area institutions. Plus, Conan ran through a long list of local towns during his monologue. The Dropkick Murphys made a surprise appearance to sing (what else?) "I'm Shipping Up to Boston." And yes, Conan made his entrance wearing a Paul Pierce Celtics jersey, and went on a tear about what would have happened had there been a game on at the same time as his show.

Joining Coco on this tour are other old friends, such as Andy Richter, LaBamba and other members of the Max Weinberg 7 (now, without Max, known as the Legally Prohibited Band), Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and even the Masturbating Bear. There have been lots of other surprise guests on the tour; in New York earlier this week, Conan, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert had a dance-off. At Friday's show, in addition to the Dropkick Murphys, Ed Helms (from The Hangover) made an appearance.

The nearly two-hour show had a lot packed into it — there was even a hashtag in case people wanted to tweet before, during, or after the concert. It's safe to say, though, that with so much going on (a mix of jokes and music and clips), the show was bound to run out of steam every now and then. Some jokes kinda fell flat, and some songs just seemed unnecessary. For example, after all this time, I think it's safe to say that despite our loyalty, most of us are not still obsessed with the fact that Conan got a raw deal from NBC. I think he can kill a lot of those references and make the show in its remaining weeks more about his comeback than his frustration.

Still, it's hard to deny that it's great to see Conan back doing what he does best: entertaining his fans. The guy worked tremendously hard Friday night — the finely styled pouf of hair on his head was a sweaty mess by show's end — and it was hard not to walk out of the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theater with a smile on your face. So I say Welcome back, Conan. I'm still with you.

Faith Rewarded

At the start of every new TV season, viewers like me have important questions to answer: Which new shows will be good enough to invest our time, energy, emotion, and precious DVR space in? Which will be worth watching after a good (or bad) pilot, and sticking with for the years to come? In some cases, it's a difficult choice between two shows on at the same time, and in other cases, the choice is made for you. Such was the case with Lost in the fall 2004. Coming from J.J. Abrams, the creator and executive producer of Alias (and Felicity), watching Lost was a no-brainer for me — and after watching the brilliant pilot episode, I was hooked instantly.

Six years later, it's bittersweet to say that my leap of faith (confident though it was) was rewarded many times over. Bittersweet, of course, because Sunday night the journey ends with the series finale. Not since the finale of Friends have I been this excited and sad to see a show end its run. It's been a good one, to say the least. I didn't always follow what was happening, and I didn't always pick up on the details and Easter eggs, but I sure did love the narrative and the characters (John Locke especially) and the acting and the production quality and the music (by Michael Giacchino) and the writing. I loved how watching the show gave me an instant bond with fellow fans, who were always ready and eager to discuss the show as soon as you told them you watched it too. I loved going back and watching old episodes in retrospect and discovering new things. I loved the mystery, the anticipation, and the excitement that always came with the show's premiere and finale episodes each season. I loved Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond and Titus Welliver as the Man in Black. I loved discovering the elaborate websites that were built to increase the show's mythology. And I loved that the writers and producers were always surprising me and exceeding expectations, continually raising the bar for how good a TV show could be.

Thursday night, the show's executive producers, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, participated in a live Q&A that was broadcast in movie theaters across the country. I watched from the Regal Fenway here in Boston, and even though the event was taking place in New York City, it was hard not to feel a part of something special. You knew everyone in the theater and everyone in New York was a huge fan with tons of questions, and a passionate attachment to the show (many folks in New York were wearing themed t-shirts; one guy was wearing a full Dharma Initiative jumpsuit). As Team Darlton shared anecdotes, dropped hints about the final episode, evaded some of the audience questions, and gave insights about earlier scenes and plot points, I felt even more a sense of loss. These are two great, talented, smart, funny guys, and we fans have been so lucky to have them and their work in our lives all this time. (I don't know if you listen to Darlton's weekly podcast, but I think I'm going to miss that as much as the show itself.)

One thing Damon said in the Q&A was that writing the final episode was like preparing for your own wake, and being able to plan exactly how it will go, what people will say, and how you will be remembered. It was an appropriate metaphor, I thought. Sunday night, I'm blocking off the full five and a half hours to watch the recap, the episode, and then Jimmy Kimmel's "Aloha to Lost" special. With Carlton and Damon in charge, I know I will not be disappointed. I'll just be a bit sad when it's all over. Thanks for six great seasons, guys!

Everybody Loves Kristin

Kristin Chenoweth — the original Glinda in Wicked, the boozy April Rhodes on Glee, the Tony-winning star of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and an Emmy winner for her role on Pushing Daisies — is one of those actresses who everybody knows and everybody loves. So when I got the chance to interview her recently for Continental magazine, it was definitely a thrill. Chenoweth was just as sweet and nice and fun and bubbly as I'd expected her to be, and she gave me "good quote," which I used in the article I wrote about her, which is now live.

I interviewed Chenoweth because she's back on Broadway in the first-ever revival of Promises, Promises. If you've never heard of this musical, it's based on the Oscar-winning film The Apartment, which starred Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Chenoweth stars as Fran Kubelik (the MacLaine role), who is having an affair with an executive who will never commit to her. Sean Hayes, from Will & Grace, makes his Broadway debut as Chuck Baxter (the Lemmon role), a coworker of Kubelik's who has a crush on her. Baxter rises up the corporate ladder because he's gotten in with some horny executives, to whom he rents out his apartment each week so they can (individually) hook up with their mistresses. (Martin Lieberman fun fact: In high school, I was in a production of Promises, Promises, and I played one of those executives, a guy named Eichelberger.) Mix in a book by comedy God Neil Simon, great music from Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and an early 1960s Mad Men-esque setting, and you've got a fun, poignant, timeless and yet totally current musical.

As I learned during our chat, Chenoweth and I were both in productions of Promises, Promises when we were younger. "I was Fran, and I had a very limited understanding of what this girl was going through," she told me. "Now, I know." Regarding Fran, Chenoweth continued, "this is a woman who has spent a lot of time with the wrong man hoping it’s going to be different. And I don’t care who you are, I know just about every woman in my life has a story like that. It doesn’t even matter how old you are. You can be 19 or you can be 40. That’s something that stands the test of time."

Of course, I also asked Chenoweth why she thought Wicked has touched such a chord in so many people. "There is in every one of us a little bit of Elphaba and a little bit of Glinda," she explained. "Elphaba, who is green and is immediately outcast because of that, actually has quite a tough little exterior but is not so tough on the inside. Glinda is pretty on the outside, but what drives her? Insecurity. And then she grows into heartbreak. The show is about love and forgiveness and friendship, and those are the reasons why it has become a classic. Nothing makes me prouder than to have been a part of something like that."

So that's just a taste of what we discussed. If you'd like to read the whole article, go right ahead and click here. Enjoy!

An Entertaining Year

There was a lot to like this year, entertainment-wise. For example, it was inconsistent and frustrating at times, but when it was great, there were few shows I enjoyed as much as Glee. I didn't read as many books as I have in years past, but I thought Steve Knopper's Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age was very good. I picked the winner of American Idol as far back as February. Lily Allen, U2, Jamie Cullum, and John Mayer all released great albums. And of course, there were a bunch of impressive movies too.

As of this writing, I've seen 48 of the year's releases (down from 53 a year ago), and if pressed to rank my favorites (not necessarily the best ones), here are the top 10:
1. Up in the Air
2. In the Loop
3. A Serious Man
4. Up
5. Star Trek
6. Precious
7. The Girlfriend Experience
8. Two Lovers
9. Fantastic Mr. Fox
10. Where the Wild Things Are

What were your favorite movies, albums, TV shows, books, etc.? I'd love to know.

The Night the Jews Control the Town

Every year, I'm asked what I do on Christmas. After all, despite my love for the season, I don't officially celebrate the holiday. Invariably, my answer involves a movie and Chinese food, because that's what most Jews do on Christmas (there aren't that many other options available to us). So instead of giving the same answer again this year, and at the risk of repeating myself, let me share this classic Saturday Night Live clip with you to better explain what I and my fellow members of the Tribe will be doing after sunset this evening.

For all of you who do actually celebrate, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Singing Its Praises

It's a couple weeks into the TV season, and I'm happy to report that I don't watch as much TV as I thought I would. For example, I fell two weeks behind on The Good Wife and Cougar Town, and decided not to catch up. Eastwick I never gave a chance. And Community I gave three episodes, and then decided to switch to Flash Forward. Oh, and I never did work House into my viewing schedule. It's all good. I knew I'd never watch that much, and I never wanted to either.

That said, if there's one new show I've fallen for and never miss, it's Glee. I haven't gotten to the point where I'm scheduling my week around it, or refusing to go out because it's on, but I don't go to sleep on Wednesdays without watching that night's episode. And my iPhone is filled with the songs from the show. And it's topic number one at the office when I get to work on Thursday mornings. And I share clips and articles on Facebook all the time. And I've convinced other folks that they need to watch.

To be fair, Glee is not the best show I watch. But it's one of the most enjoyable, week-after-week, even when the episode is lackluster. Maybe I give the show a long leash, but a bad episode of Glee is still better than a typical episode of Community was.

So why do I like Glee so much? Here are some of the reasons:

1. The music. With one exception, every episode of Glee has featured the cast's performances of songs from the last three decades. Multiple genres have been covered, from rap ("Gold Digger") to rock ("Don't Stop Believin'") to country ("Last Name") to pop ("Halo"). Sure, some of the covers have been sung more theatrically than songs on American Idol, and the lip-synching hasn't always seemed "real," but when the cast nails it, they really nail it. Case in point: the cast's version of Queen's "Somebody to Love," which I am not embarrassed to tell you has been the most-played track on my iPhone in the last month. It's so good and definitely does the song justice. You can download it (and other songs from the first few episodes) and decide for yourself right here.

2. Lea Michele. Much of the credit for how good the songs sound goes to Lea Michele, who plays Rachel Berry on the show. Lea, a Broadway veteran who starred in the original cast of Spring Awakening, just outshines everyone else in the show's glee club. To put it simply, she's got an amazing voice. Lea is a small woman, but her voice is large and powerful and impressive. Any song she sings lead on is great. I'd be surprised if she doesn't put out a solo record before long. (Oh, and of course, she's damned cute too.)

3. The writing. Glee was created by Ryan Murphy, creator of Nip/Tuck, among other shows, and it reflects that kind of off-kilter sensibility. This show is not a squeeky-clean portrait of high school. The premise may sound like High School Musical, but Glee is not a show that Disney would ever air. The writing is sharp, sarcastic, good, and often, laugh-out-loud funny. Especially when it's spoken by ...

4. Jane Lynch. The undisputed VIP of Glee is comedian Lynch, who always gets the best lines and delivers them with such acidity and deadpan humor that you'll do a double-take to make sure you heard them correctly (and can remember them later). "I always thought the desire to procreate showed deep personal weakness." "I've got a satellite interview. That's lingo for an interview, via satellite." "That was the most offensive thing I've seen in 20 years of teaching — and that includes an elementary school production of Hair." Lines like these and Lynch's delivery of them are why DVRs were invented, and they are the stuff that great Facebook status updates are made of.

Glee is not a show for everyone, but it's a show for me, and maybe those reasons will give you an incentive to tune in tonight, Wednesday, at 9 p.m. on Fox. I hope you'll give it a chance to win you over too.

Time to Tune In Again

The cooler temperatures and return of college students means one thing: the new TV season is here. Finally, I can stop wasting my evenings because I'll have something to do again other than watch Red Sox games and go out (said with all due sarcasm). I wonder if my couch and my Slanket have missed me. Anyway, it's become a quasi-tradition here, so just as I've done before, I thought I'd share what I plan to watch this season. Here's my weekly lineup:

Monday: How I Met Your Mother at 8pm, Gossip Girl at 9pm
Tuesday: The Good Wife at 10pm (maybe)
Wednesday: Glee at 9pm, Modern Family and Cougar Town at 10pm (recorded during the 9-10 hour), Eastwick (maybe)
Thursday: Weekend Update Thursday at 8pm (until October 1), then Community at 8pm (starting October 8), The Office at 9pm, Community at 9:30pm (until October 1), then 30 Rock at 9:30pm (starting October 15), Grey's Anatomy at 10pm (recorded during the 9-10 hour)
Friday: Nothing, catching up on anything I missed during the week
Saturday: Saturday Night Live at 11:30pm (if I'm home)
Sunday: The Amazing Race at 8pm, Curb Your Enthusiasm at 9pm (starting when the Seinfeld cast does, on October 4), Brothers & Sisters at 10pm

I know, I know: That's an awful lot of TV — and it doesn't count House, which I'd like to start watching this season, but I'm sure I won't have time for. The truth is, I'm sure some of the new shows won't live up to the hype or my expectations, and especially when there's a time conflict (as on Wednesday nights), I expect to fall behind on a few shows and not catch up. And, most importantly, I do still expect and hope to have a life outside of my apartment (that's what a DVR is for). Thus, by the time Lost and American Idol return in January, I expect my weeks to be a bit less TV-filled.

But enough excuse-making. For now, it's a new season, and I have more reasons to tune in. My TV is ready. Is my DVR?

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Update, 9/24 10:30pm: Forget what you read above. After watching the first episode of Flash Forward and the second episode of Community, I'm changing my Thursday at 8pm plan. I'll now be watching Flash Forward from here on out.

Listen Up

Tuesday was one of those big multimedia purchase days that I have every so often. The third season of 30 Rock was released on DVD, and David Gray, Mika, and Harry Connick Jr. all released new albums. When I was at Costco, I noticed that A.J. Jacobs had a new book out, so I grabbed that, and because I hadn't purchased it yet, I also picked up the third season of Brothers and Sisters on DVD. A mixed bag of music for sure, and maybe not your tastes, but I always enjoy new stuff from artists I like. (The David Gray album is particularly good. I'll let you know about the others when I hear more of them.)

Apparently, I'm going to have a few days like this in the next couple months because a bunch of my favorite singers and bands have new albums coming out, including Michael Bublé (October 9), Flight of the Conchords (October 20), the Swell Season (October 27), Train (October 27), Robbie Williams (November 10), Jamie Cullum (November 10), Jason Mraz (November 10), and John Mayer (November 17). There's also the Glee soundtrack (November 3), American Idol winner Kris Allen's debut (November 17), and others I'm sure I'll want when the times comes. (Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few on Jonny Ali's blog.)

Point is, I guess it's a good thing I got the 32GB iPhone after all, because I'm going to need all that memory to hold all the new music I plan to acquire between now and the end of the year. I'd better get my headphones ready now.

On the Edge

The Ledge at the Sears Tower in Chicago officially opens today. I totally want to go and check it out. I mean, when you've gone skydiving and taken a trapeze lesson, how scary can it be to stand in a 1.5-inch–thick glass box that's extended out 4.3 feet from the Sears Tower's 103rd floor, 1,353 feet off the ground? If I get to do it, I'll let you know the answer to that question. In the meantime, here's a clip about the Ledge from yesterday's Today Show.

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Oh, To Be David Letterman

As the ZZ Top song goes, "She's got legs ... she knows how to bruise them." (Or something like that.)

Jennifer Garner was on The Late Show recently, and David Letterman got the chance to play doctor for her. Suffice it to say, he made me really jealous. :-) Watch for yourself.

Feeling Glee-ful

Did you watch the pilot episode of Glee on Tuesday night? No? Well do not wait another minute: Sit at your computer and watch it right now, right here. It's funny, the music's great, and I really liked it. There's an instant-classic peppy cover of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" at the 28:30 mark that's worth watching. And let me just say that Lea Michele, the adorable actress who plays Rachel Berry, sure can sing (fast-forward to the 40-minute mark for proof of that). Alright, stop reading, click "play," and enjoy!