Show #20!

Well, we finally got a break in our busy (and FUN) summer vacations to put together a show for you. It's show #20...comin' at ya!
This time we talk about what we have been up to during our summer vacations. Jamie (and his wife) celebrated a 10 year anniversary, changed jobs and went to family camp with the wife and kids. Doug had family in San Diego from Virginia and Minnesota, picked up a Wii and even had time to see a few movies (in a theater!). While Doug is heading off on a two week camping trip to Oregon with his family, Jamie will be holding down the fort on Summerhill Drive and learning the ropes at the new job.

We have much pop culture goodness for you...in TV, we discuss more Summer Reality TV, including The Next Best Thing, the World Series of Pop Culture, The Singing Bee, Don't Forget the Lyrics and Who Wants to be a Superhero? Plus, we talk about the return of Psych and discuss shows that are new to us like The Closer, Damages, Saving Grace and My Boys. Our Movie segment covers many of the big summer movies that have been released in the last month including Ratatouille, Evan Almighty, Harry Potter, Transformers and The Simpsons. We also review DVDs of Bridge to Terabithia, The Guardian and more Battlestar Galactica. As always, we have a new Pop Culture Confessional for you where we confess the children's TV show themes that get stuck in our brains.

C'mon in, put your feet up and enjoy a nice, tall glass of pop culture goodness...

Show Links

This week's commercial is brought to you by Hunt's Ketchup. This commercial aired in the 80's and was a special promotion that Hunt's did with the Walt Disney Company. The tag line is "The Perfect Taste for the Perfect Place". We don't know how Roy Clark (Hee Haw) fits in, but we thought it would be a fun clip to share. Check out the video below...


Also, Doug mentioned a commercial contest that he had heard about. It turns out that it was not for Hunt's, but for their biggest competitor, Heinz. You can check out more on the Heinz Top This TV Challenge and also watch YouTube videos of the contest entries over at the contest website.

TV

• Did you happen to catch The Next Best Thing: Who is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator? If not, you missed out on some amazing cheesiness. But, you also missed out on some great performers. Check out the website over at ABC. Also, watch the video below to see the winner, Trent Carlini, and his impersonation of Elvis Presley.

• Have you watched either of the competing karaoke game shows? NBC has the deliciously cheesy show called The Singing Bee that is hosted by Joey Fatone of N*SYNC fame. Meanwhile, FOX is airing Don't Forget the Lyrics which is hosted by Wayne Brady and looks an awful lot like Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Bee is regularly beating Lyrics in the ratings, but we are split on which show is better.
  
• If you are looking for cheesy and goofy with a superhero flair, the SciFi channel has what you are looking for. Check out this year's collaboration with Stan Lee over at the website for Who Wants to be a Superhero? With character names like Mindset, Hyper-Strike, The Defuser and Basura, how could you go wrong?
  
• The USA channel has brought back one of our favorite shows with new episodes this summer. Psych, starring James Roday, Dule Hill and Corbin Bernsen is funny, witty and entertaining. What more could you want in a summer TV show?
  
• We mentioned one of our favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan, in show #18 and have recently discovered that he is co-starring in a 1/2 hour comedy over on the TBS channel. Check out information on My Boys and stay tuned for a review in our next show.
  
• Cable TV channels like FX, USA, and TNT seem to be stepping up their games when it comes to high quality shows that debut during the summer. This year we have noticed a trend towards high quality dramas with leading ladies from the world of big screen movies. TNT has Kyra Sedgwick starring in the 3rd season of The Closer and has also debuted a new show, Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter. Over at FX, you can see Glenn Close starring in a very interesting law drama called Damages. We hope the trend continues!
  

In other TV news: Drew Carey has been chosen as the new host for The Price is Right, stepping in for recently retired Bob Barker. Also, CBS decided to pull the low-rated Pirate Master off of the air and show the remaining episodes on their website.

Movies
The summer movie season is actually starting to wind down. Most of the big releases are now out in theaters and have made millions of dollars. We reviewed the following movies that we have seen:

• Ratatouille - It was Doug's least favorite Pixar movie, but he thought it was good with fantastic animation. Jamie liked it more than Doug, but thought it was definitely less interesting for kids than previous Pixar movies like Cars and The Incredibles.
  
• Evan Almighty - Doug enjoyed this movie starring Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman, but thought that there wasn't much depth to it. Both Doug and Jamie thought Steve Carell was hilarious in parts. Jamie joined Doug in his opinion that it was a decent movie to take the whole family to, but that it missed the "ark" when it came to catering to the Christian market.
  
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - The whole gang is back in the fifth movie based on the Harry Potter series from writer JK Rowling. David Yates does a great job directing and was able to condense an 860 page novel into a 2 hour and 18 minute movie without losing the important plot points. Jamie thought it was great movie and enjoyed it very much.
  
• Transformers - This is the movie that is battling Spider-Man 3 for summer blockbuster glory! Check out this story over at Variety on how Transformers made over $152 million in its first 7 days in theaters. Jamie saw it and thought it was a great popcorn eatin', action/sci-fi/adventure flick. Go see it if you haven't already, it is worth it. The transforming robots on the big screen are great fun to watch.
  

Of course, Doug has been talking up the premiere of The Simpsons Movie. It has been out for a whole week, pulling in over $70 million in its first weekend, and he STILL has not seen it. If you did not know that this movie was in theaters, where have you been? The marketing has been crazy with 7-Eleven stores turning into Kwik-E-Marts and a big Springfield challenge to see which town would host the premiere. You can watch the winning video for Springfield, Vermont over at the USA Today website.

In other Movie news:

• Indiana Jones 4 is currently filming in Hawaii and is set to premiere May 22, 2008. We read an article recently about Harrison Ford doing his own stunts at age 65.
  
• JJ Abrams is currently filming the next Star Trek movie, set to premiere December 25, 2008. At the recent Comic-Con in San Diego, Abrams announced that Zachary Quinto (Sylar on Heroes) will be playing the young Spock and Leonard Nimoy, who made the role famous, will make a cameo in the film.

On DVD, we have watched the following:

• Bridge to Terabithia (2007) - stars AnnaSophia Robb and Josh Hutcherson in a movie from Walt Disney based on the book. The special effects in the fantasy scenes are pretty fun, but they are a small part of the movie. Jamie saw it and was somewhat disappointed by this as the advertising for the film played up the fantasy scenes. The movie ended up being a story about outcasts, friends, love and loss and was enjoyable, but not great.
  
• The Guardian (2006) - stars Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher about an aging Coast Guard veteran who teaches the young pups at an elite Coast Guard school. Jamie saw it and thought the story was awfully familiar (see Men of Honor with Robert De Niro). The direction by Andrew Davis was not consistently strong and the movie seemed disjointed. The acting was great and the rescue scenes are well-filmed.
  

Some pretty cool movie trailers have been hitting the Internet recently. Check these out:

• 10,000 B.C.
  
• Get Smart
  
• Beowulf

Pop Culture Confessional
The question from show #19 was: What is your current iPod dirty little secret?

Our friend Trevor wrote in to say, "This song was originally purchased back in May by my wife (Julie) after we heard it played at a wedding reception. I have to say I thought it was catchy at first, but definitely not in my usual genre of favorites. Alas, I have to confess that it's now on my iPod and I can't help but get into this song when it comes on. Alright, enough with the buildup...the song is called 'Escape' and it's by Enrique Iglesias."
Check out the video of "Escape" below:


This week's question is: What annoying song from a children’s TV show do you find yourself humming throughout your day?

Jamie's confession: One of my daughter Alison's favorite shows is "The Doodlebops". The opening song just sticks in my head. You can listen to it and other Doodlebops songs over at the Disney website.

Doug's confession: My son Zach loves the Noggin show "Max and Ruby". The opening theme song is so simple it sticks in my head. I hope it gets stuck in yours too. Check out more on Max and Ruby at the Noggin website.

Brian Regan does a great bit on children's TV show songs that inspired this Pop Culture Confessional. Check out the "Dorah the Explorah" bit over at Comedy Central's website.

New question: If you were stuck at home during the week, what daytime TV show would you stop and watch while flipping through channels?

Call or write to us with your confession about the daytime trash that you watch. We know you can't look away...

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