I don’t know why everyone told me this was not a good book.  I almost didn’t read it because I didn’t want to waste my time.  And while this isn’t my mostest favoritest series by my mostest favoritest authors (for those, see my PNRUFy list), I’m still glad I picked it up.

SPOILER ALERT – If you’d like to remain blissfully unaware of any events in the book, please stop reading now, go check it out, peruse it, and then come back.  We’ll still be here.  For the rest of us who’ve read the thing or for those of you who like to read the back page first (gasp!), soldier on…

This is the tenth book in Harris’s popular Southern Vampire series, and I must admit that the last couple haven’t really floated my train (yes, I know that train’s don’t float, as a rule, but imagine how good something would be to make that happen!).  I’m not really sure why I’m not in love with Sookie and her world, but the books usually just leave me flat.

This one, however, I thought was better.  There wasn’t one big plot device that Sookie and pals had to overcome.  It was more of a regrouping after the last couple of death-defying endings.  I enjoyed seeing the characters go about their everyday lives for a change.  After all, you don’t have to have an apocalypse in every book, right?

It was good for Bill to get some page time – even if it wasn’t under better circumstances.  I have to say, True Blood has redeemed Bill a little bit in my eyes, but I am still an Eric girl at heart.  Which means, I’m very glad Sookie and Eric got to spend a good chunk of time together.  They still have a few issues to work through, but I am keeping my fingers crossed for those two crazy kids.

Ok, fellow PNRUFy freaks, here’s my call on this one.  Not the best book you’ll ever read, but definitely worth the couple of hours it will take you to get through it.  When you’ve finished, treat yourself by checking out a few episodes of True Blood (We just got in season two! Woohoo!). 

Happy Sookiefying (Sookiesizing?)

Amanda

NCIS

I love my mother.  She is, in my humble opinion, the best mother in the world – except that sometimes, she watches weird things on TV.  For the longest while, my mom loved to watch Law & Order.  She even mastered the esteemed Da Duh sound effect and would use it in every day conversation.  Then one day I noticed she was watching a new show.  A show that she said was better than Law & Order.  Well Da. Duh.

So what show toppled L&O from its mighty perch?  Why NCIS, of course.  My Mom and Dad now know these shows so well that they can watch the first segment – before the credits – and tell you how it ends.  In their fervor, somehow they managed to addict me to the show as well, and NCIS (pronouned NIN-sis) is a part of my every day life.

Thankfully, NPL has the first six seasons on DVD.  When I first started watching on TV (on USA), I didn’t watch from the beginning, so I was very confused about how things came to be (it doesn’t help that I can be kind of OCD about reading/watching things in order).  Once I went back and got a more complete history of events, I enjoyed the episodes even more.

Who doesn’t like watching Abby outsmart McGee?  I thought Mark Harmon was the bees knees when he was on Chicago Hope, but his Leroy Jethro Gibbs is my favorite of his characters.  Also…I must admit, I have a teeny, tiny, almost miniscule really, crush on Tony.  But I’m smart enough to know that he’d totally break my heart, plus I like him and Ziva together, so I must find a way to soldier on without him (seriously, though, Tony, call me…).

NCIS is the number one show on TV for good reason.  Good writing, good actors, good fun.  Maybe my mom’s taste in TV isn’t quite as bad as I thought.

Oh wait, no.  She used to like Quantum Leap.*

Amanda

* Ok, I apologize to folks out there who actually liked Quantum Leap.  However, I’m still undecided if I’m apologizing because I don’t want to hurt your feelings or just because I feel sorry for you…

Glee

Attention all Gleeks!  Are you missing your musical slushiness?  Are you going into withdraw from not getting to enjoy all new Glee songs each week?  Summertime means no new episodes (boo), but to tide you over until next fall, NPL has teamed up with freegal to bring you lots of free (that’s right, I said, free) downloads – including…drum roll please…the entire Glee selection (cymbals crash randomly in the background)!  Yeah!

Choose from Mercedes favorites like “Hate on Me” or “Bust the Windows.”  Or maybe you’re a Rachel fan?  How about “Hello” or “Don’t Rain on My Parade”? So many choices so little time.  And how can we forget about Sue Sylvester’s reimagination of “Vogue”…I want to go listen to it right now.  Hold on a minute…

Strike a pose…

Ok, I’m back.  Vogue-ified.  Now to access freegal:

1. Simply visit the library website.
2. Go under Books Movies Muisc.
3. Use the freegal linkl.
4. Enter your library card number and PIN to log in.
5. Download!

That’s it.  No need to create a new account with new log in info – which is awesome because I already have, like, 453 passwords for things.  And each week, you get 20 free songs.  20!  2. 0.   Each week.  So after the first two weeks - once you’ve downloaded all the yummy goodness that is Glee, you can move on to other great artists, like Beyonce or Journey! Is this cool or what?

Now for those of you who aren’t computer savvy – you can still enjoy all the great Glee music by checking out the old-school CDs.  Still cool(ish).  Still free (but please don’t copy the CDs because that violates copyright laws and I’m contractually obligated to tell you this otherwise the RIAA will come in and punch me*…and who wants that?).

Some of you might be asking, what, exactly, is this Glee of which you speak?  You guys need to go right now, get the DVDs from the library (or at least put them on hold) and sit in front of a TV until you’ve seen every minute of the first 13 episodes.  Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

It’s a long time until we get new Glee (sigh), but somehow, fellow Gleeks, we’ll make it.  Don’t stop believing…

Amanda

*Umm…so the RIAA probably won’t come punch me, but it’s still illegal to copy CDs, just FYI.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

As I’ve mentioned before, I am a fan of the TV show Dexter (if you missed my previous thoughts, feel free to catch up here).  I’ve only got one more season to go before I am caught up with the general viewing public – so don’t spoil it for me.  (Yes, I heard what happens, but I’m still going to be surpised when the dark deed occurs.) 

While I’m waiting for the latest season to emerge on DVD, I thought I’d give the novels a chance.  I’m always curious to see how close the show/movie comes to the author’s original vision.  So to begin at the beginning, I picked up Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.

Lindsay’s style of writing is good – narrative with just a hint of sarcasm.  It’s written in first person, much like the show is narrated with a Dexter voice-over.  We get all of the wonderfully macabre thoughts that flit across his brain.

Plotwise, the story is pretty similar to season one.  Bad guy is the same.  End result is slightly different – one character dies in the book that doesn’t die on the show and Deb has a different level of involvement with our villain, but the main objective is still acheived.

Since the endings were slightly different, I’m interested to see where book #2 goes, compared to season 2.  in fact, I may have to read all four books in the series (a fifth is coming out in September 2010). 

TBR pile: 429-1+4…  Will it never end?

Amanda

The Closer (on TNT)
Great little police procedural.  Kyra Sedgwick takes the lead as a southern belle deputy who is a little out of her element in LA, but who always gets her perp. Thank you.  Thank you so much.

Burn Notice (on USA)
I must admit that I have only seen the pilot of this show, but I have really REALLY wanted to watch it for a while now.  Michael Westen (Jeffery Donovan) plays a spy who was disowned by the government, and he now uses his talents to help others in trouble. The library has just ordered this series, so get your hold on a copy today!

Mad Men (on AMC)
This show was the inspiration for this whole three week series.  Written about Madison Avenue ad executives (hence the Mad in Mad Men), this show is about anything but advertising.  Although it is interesting to get the 1950’s perspective of products.  Great cast, solid writing.  What are you waiting for?

All right, Off-the-Shelfers.  That’s it for me a cable shows (for now).  I think I’ve given you plenty of ideas to get you started until the next batch of outstanding dramas (or comedies) emerges.

Happy watching!

Amanda

• Battlestar Galactica – if you haven’t watched BSG (the new series), you’re in for a wild journey.  Like Lost with great characters, intriguing mythology, mystery and suspense, but in Space!

• Are star-crossed lovers Sun and Jin or Desmond and Penny the reason you like to get Lost?  Read The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger or watch A Very Long Engagement starring Audrey Tatou.

• Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy – if you especially enjoy the philosophical side of Lost, Pullman’s novels will definitely fill the void.

• Rose and Bernard, although minor characters of the cast, have a huge following among Losties! For more retired persons/senior citizens on adventures, read The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian, or watch the Oscar-winning animated movie Up.

• The Prisoner – this amazing British TV series from the late 1960’s starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan will satisfy your need for deep intrigue and mystery.

• The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher – if you especially like Sawyer’s biting wit (and those nicknames!), you’ll dig this fantasy series featuring Chicago’s only wizard in the Yellow Pages, Harry Dresden.

• One of my favorite scenes on Lost occurred when Hurley declares a desire to write the script for The Empire Strikes Back and send it to George Lucas.  For more hilariously geeky conversations and lovable characters, don’t miss The Big Bang Theory.

• If you enjoyed Charlie’s flashback story about his band Drive Shaft, read about real rock stars in books like Hammer of the Gods, or watch music documentaries like The History of Rock n’Roll.

• My personal favorite suggestion to overcome Lost grief, and one I hope to someday achieve: travel to Hawaii and visit locations where Lost was filmed.

The Tudors
I’m not Henry VIIIth, I’m not.  But Jonathan Rhys Meyers is.  The show is full of court-intrigue, lust, violence.  Well-written and well-acted, if you can stomach a few beheadings here and there, this is the show for you.

Californication
A show about what you think it’s going to be about. David Duchovny stars as a man who is hopefully nothing like Duchovny in real life.  I haven’t made it through all of season one yet, so if you start now, we can watch it together.  Say it with me…awwwww…

Weeds
Another show about exactly what you think it’s about  And yet, this one has a heart buried underneath all that smoke.  Mary-Louise Parker is a down-on-her-luck mom who has to find some way to support her family.  What else was she gonna do?

So that’s the Showtime round-up.  Two weeks down.  One more to go.  Next week, we discuss shows on regular cable.  Same bat time.  New bat channels.

Amanda

Who here could stand to save some money?  That’s what I thought.  The NPL solution – get your cable TV shows here on DVD.  Why pay premium prices for premium channels when – with a little patience – you can get caught on up your all your favorite shows for FREE! (Unless, of course, you forget to turn them in on time – then, my friend, you are on your own.)

Don’t have any favorite shows, you say?  Well, then let me suggest a few from HBO that I’ve found enjoyable:

True Blood
Big shocker, I know, me being the PNRUFy fan that I am.  Very different from Charlaine Harris’s book series, but close enough to still be fun.  If you like your vampires with crawfish and murder, then check this one out.

                                        Entourage
Yeah. Oh yeah.   This half hour series follows fictional superstar Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his buds as they transverse the trappings of Hollywood life.  Come for the cute guys, but stay because Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is one of the best scumbag agents ever.

Rome
Ok, who doesn’t want to watch a show with 500 characters who have very similar names?  All kidding aside, once you get worked out who’s who, these two seasons are filled with intrigue, lust, and betrayal.  Et tu, Brute?

So those are my HBO thoughts.  Tune in next Saturday, when I discuss Showtime and it’s viewing options.  (Then if you can wait 2 whole weeks, you get to hear what I think about shows on basic cable.  Awesome, right?)

So much TV, so little time.  Happy watching!

Amanda

Give me a whoop whoop if you love sketch comedy!  Yikes! Now people are staring at you…Oh well, perhaps it’s apropos to start a review of an absurdist, deadpan comedy show with an awkward moment.  Without any further ado, allow me to introduce Big Train.  Big Train was created by Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, whom you may know from the brilliantly funny Father Ted.  You won’t exactly be laughing out loud upon viewing any of the twelve episodes of Big Train; rather, you’ll think of one of the sketches days later and laugh maniacally in an inappropriate place (like the intense study area of your library!)  Standout sketch characters include the evil hypnotist,  foul-mouthed Florence Nightingale, and Dracula, who has an aversion to the sight of blood.  My personal favorite is the boss who diverts his employees’ tough questions with magic tricks and puppies.  Keep in mind this is Comedy 401, not 101.  I’d recommend a visit with Monty Python before you catch the Big Train.

- crystal

Top Ten Reasons to Revisit The West Wing

In honor of President’s Day, I thought we should take a moment and honor one of the best fictional shows about our government. So here now, my Top Ten Reasons to Revisit The West Wing.

10. The library has seven seasons and many of these discs are ready and waiting for you to check them out today!
9. Lisa Cuddy was a call-girl extraodinaire who dated Sam before moving to Princeton Plainsboro to corral Dr. House.
8. Toby and Sam and Will, oh my!
7. Agent Gibbs (pre-NCIS) shows up in season 2 as a Secret Service agent for CJ.
6. White House tours are free!!!  Oh wait, that’s the real West Wing…  
5. Dear Danny Concannon – congrats on the Pulitzer.  Good to see you grew out of that nerdy phase.
4. For seven seasons, Martin Sheen really thought he was president and I was ok with that.
3. Allison Janney and her 4 Emmy’s.  We love you, CJ, oh yes we do.  We love you, CJ, and will be true…ummm, sorry.  Little Bye Bye Birdie for you.  Sometimes it happens, what can I say?
2. Josh and Donna – will they, won’t they, will they, won’t they…wouldn’t you? 
Annnnnd…a drum roll please……..
1. This is some of the best writing for television, bar none.  Thanks Aaron Sorkin!

Pushing Daisies
Series created by Bryan Fuller

The 2000 – 2010 decade in American Network Television was full of crime scene investigations, court dramas, and way too much reality TV.  There were a handful of shows who dared to eschew those tired formulas.  Pushing Daisies was one of those shows.  Alas, it was canceled after just two short seasons, but you can treasure every episode on DVD.

Created by Bryan Fuller (who first cut his writing teeth on Star Trek Voyager), Pushing Daisies is a charming fantastical mystery series with timeless appeal.  Watch this show with your kids or your grandparents and everyone will find entertainment value.   The cast is amazing, especially the lovely and talented Kristen Chenoweth, who often steals the show!  The writing is clever, and full of biting wit.  Perhaps best of all, the show is narrated by Jim Dale, voice of the Harry Potter audio books.  The story behind the show is this: owner of the Pie Hole dessert restaurant Ned possesses the unique talent of being able to bring the dead back to life merely by touching them. However, the person or other living thing may remain alive only for one minute, or someone else dies in their place. A second touch will render the person dead again, unable to be revived. Through his connections with private investigator Emerson Cod, Ned revives his childhood sweetheart Charlotte (nicknamed “Chuck”) who was strangled while on a vacation cruise.  Now that Chuck is alive again, Ned must never touch her, or she will be gone forever.  Emerson, Ned, and Chuck, aided by Pie-Hole waitress Olive Snook, solve a quirky and unique murder mystery during each episode, by briefly bringing back to life the murder victim to ask for clues.     As the series progresses, the characters own pasts are slowly revealed, adding more layers to the intrigue and drama.  So grab a slice of your favorite pie (Pecan or Derby pie for me!) and enter the world of Pushing Daisies.

If you don’t enjoy the British or American version of  mockumentary sitcom The Office, read no further.  Stop reading! I’m not talking to you! If you are a fan of one or both versions of The Office, you should definitely check out the BBC sitcom The IT Crowd.

Computer nerds and social outcasts Roy and Moss work for Denholm Industries, as the IT department. They work from the basement (why are most IT departments located in the basement?), and their office consists of the stereotypical décor one might expect from computer nerds – collectibles, action figures, books, computer parts, and unhealthy snack foods. Roy’s stock answer when the phone rings is “Hello, IT, have you tried turning it off and on again?” Roy’s and Moss’s comfortable work life is turned upside down when an attractive woman is hired to run the department. Roy and Moss quickly find out new boss Jen knows absolutely nothing about computers!

The actors who make up the IT Crowd have great comedic chemistry, and company president Denholm is disturbingly hilarious. Why are workplace comedies like this so funny? If you’ve ever worked in a corporate setting, or office of any kind, you can identify with the characters and situations they find themselves in. Misery loves company, as the saying goes. Or at the very least misery loves a good satire now and again.

- Crystal

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

I need a t-shirt that says, “Joss is my King.” Why, you ask? Because I love Joss Whedon. That’s right, I heart him very much. I especially heart him when he does wonderfully witty things like Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

For those of you uninitiated with the Whedonverse, Joss produced the cult TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then Angel, of course, as well as a little known gem entitled Firefly which made it to the big screen as Serenity. Last year when the television writers went on strike, Joss got together with his equally zany brothers and created Dr. Horrible. Part satire, part musical, but all genius, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog tres enjoyable.

Striking out in the new world of free online video, Joss and crew released Dr. Horrible in the summer of 2008 in three different installments spread over a week’s time. When the first act was posted, Whedonites flocked to view the show en masse and the site crashed almost immediately – even though they’d taken special precautions to use a very large server to prevent this from happening. Once they got all the bugs worked out, everyone got to view Dr. Horrible to their heart’s content. I, myself, came into work on my day off just so I could see how it ended on the third day. Amazing, right?

Not so much, when you consider that the featurette stars Neil Patrick Harris in his second outing playing a doctor as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion also in his second role as a captain, playing NPH’s nemesis Captain Hammer, and Felicia Day as the third member of their love triangle, playing do-gooder Penny (most likely for the first time). Our story begins with Dr. Horrible trying to get into the Evil League of Evil and from there wackiness ensues. Together with his sidekick, Moist (played by Howard from The Big Bang Theory), you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you may even sing along. Whatever you do, don’t skip the extras on the DVD, including Commentary: the Musical, featuring Nathan singing, “I’m Better than Neil.” If you miss this, it’ll be curtains for you. Gently wafting curtains. Uh…sorry, you’ll just have to watch to catch that last one. Ok, I’m off to go watch it myself for the gazillionth time. AaaaAAAAAaaa (evil laugh and exit stage left)…

View the first episode on Hulu.

- Amanda

The Larry Sanders Show – Season One

5 of 5 Stars

I never appreciated Garry Shandling until I caught up with this show on DVD. Shandling stars as Larry Sanders a popular late night talk show host whose love life and work life are in a constant state of maintanence due to his addiction to objective gratification through laughter. Much to detriment of those around him, the only thing that matters to Larry is the his show. Ancipipating many shows to come, ultra realism equates stinging satire as the in-and-outs of the late night talk show circuit are exposed. The DVDs are worth it just to see the celebrity guest stars knowingly(?) making fun of themselves. Rip Torn steals most scenes as Arty, the show’s old school Hollywood producer. Largely based on real life Tonight Show producer Fred de Cordova, Arty is one of my all time favorite TV characters. “Larry Sanders” is obviously based on the real life Shandling and his obsessiveness over this show paid off in hardcore laughs and a wallop of pathos. For fans of the British The Office and Curb Your Enthusiam.

- Bryan

Dexter: The First Season

‘Tis the season to be macabre. Out of all the gory crime dramas on TV, along with films like Sweeney Todd in theaters, this Showtime series is by far and away the most bloody (yes it’s bloodier than Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the demon barber of Fleet Street). Adapted from Jeff Lindsay’s novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter, this show follows Dexter Morgan through his day to day life as a criminologist, whose specialty is analyzing blood spatters at crime scenes in order to determine how someone was murdered. The twist is that Dexter himself is an admitted monster – a psychotic killer who chooses to hunt down other serial killers (he never targets “innocent” victims), then murders them in his own calm, methodical fashion.

There is something about this show that intrigues me, but I can’t put my finger on what exactly. I’m not a huge fan of homicidal maniacs – maybe it’s just me – and I don’t really enjoy seeing mutilated, dead bodies in such graphic detail. But it’s morbidly fascinating, I must admit. I guess it also might be the layers of complexity that Dexter, portrayed by Six Feet Under’s Michael C. Hall, displays. His parents are dead (no, he didn’t kill them), but he has a sister and a family of sorts with his girlfriend (Julie Benz of Angel fame) and her two children. It is interesting to me how a man who professes to have no feelings can function so normally in society.

I do take comfort in the fact that, since I, myself, am not a serial killer, I don’t have to worry about Dexter coming after me. Plus, he is a fictional character, so that helps me sleep at night. If you have a morbid and warped sense of humor, then this show’s for you.

- Amanda

Big Love

5 Stars

I never thought I would enjoy a show about polygamists, but Big Love has captured my attention. The acting is great, the characters are complex and the storyline could not be more complicated. This show has made me really appreciate Chloe Sevigny as an actress, but it’s Grace Zabriskie, who plays the crazy grandmother, that steals every scene she’s in.

- Kyle

Jekyll

Jekyll is a recent BBC television drama that takes the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson and reinvents the tale in modern day England. This cutting edge horror show has a complicated structure that takes you on a wickedly funny thrill ride. The show is filled with fresh original characters. But it’s Jekyll and Hyde, both played by the brilliant James Nesbitt, that hold the show together. Nesbitt’s portrayal of Hyde is astonishing because he creates the character using no prosthetics. So grab yourself a bag of popcorn, sit back with your favorite beverage, and enjoy!

- Bill

Six Feet Under

5 stars

I think this show is even better than The Sopranos. Not for the squeamish or prudish, this show explores love and death of all types. Excellent writing, characters, and acting.

- Jessica

SCTV

SCTV is a television series that aired in the early 1980’s. Its cast was formed with comedians out of the original Second City comedy troupe of Chicago, as well as Toronto Second City troupe members. Many comedy greats of the 70’s and 80’s came through the Second City organization, some going to the SCTV series and others graduating on to Saturday Night Live. SCTV cast members included Dave Thomas, Catherine O’Hara, John Candy, and Andrea Martin, John Belushi and Dan Akroyd. The many sketches in this collection hold up rather well despite their early 80’s time frame. Many politicians, TV stars, TV shows, and various celebrities were spoofed, which is what sketch comedy is all about. Some skits were truly inspired, such as a takeoff on Chariots of Fire which they renamed “Chariots of Eggs” and starred the pop duo Hall and Oates.

- Ric

Shades of Darkness

4 stars

Looking to watch something a little spooky, and Masterpiece Theatre is your bag? The Granada Television series Shades of Darkness is just the thing for you! This collection contains six mysterious tales based on the writing of Edith Wharton, CHB Kitchin, May Sinclair, and Elizabeth Bowen. Originally produced in the 1980’s, the creepiness still holds up. The acting is superb, and the locales totally add to the mystique. My favorite of this collection is “Bewitched.” Based on an Edith Wharton story, the tale takes place in part on the seaside, where a ghostly girl calls her former lover to come to her.

- Crystal

Flight of the Conchords: Season 1

3 stars

I just finished watching the first season of HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, and I think that I liked it. It’s kind of hard to tell because this pseudo-reality show is definitely an acquired taste – falling somewhere between Tenacious D and Napoleon Dynamite. Since I really like Jack Black, but am fairly annoyed by Pedro’s buddy, you can see my dilemma.

The show follows two guys from New Zealand named Bret and Jemaine (played by two guys from New Zealand named Bret and Jemaine), as they try to find success in the world of digi-folk music. Even if there were some weird “is this supposed to be funny?” moments, there were still some laugh out loud funny parts. For instance, in one of the episodes the duo gets mugged, but instead of giving up their bike, they morph into the Rhymnoceros and the Hippopotamus and start rapping in the bad guy’s face. That probably wouldn’t be my first response, but hey, they didn’t loose their bike. And not since Kevin Bacon have I so enjoyed the pointless angry dance break. I’m not saying which episode it’s in, you’re just going to have to watch and see for yourself.

If you like novelty musical acts like Tenacious D or are fond of awkwardly funny TV shows a la The Office then this series is for you. Bret and Jemaine are currently out on tour now as The Flight of the Conchords, but it looks like the show was picked up for a second season. Can I handle more zany New Zealand fun? Only time will tell, but I have a feeling that I’ll probably at least try.

- Amanda