A Long Time.

It's been quite a while since I've posted on IzzyTV, but believe its high time for a reboot.

Look for some write ups on Luck, Angry Boys, Californication and the newest season of The Challenge.


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Goodbye Mr. Scott

Last night was Michael Scott's final episode on The Office. After seven seasons, we bid farewell to the man who made the Scranton branch, for better or worse, what it is today.

When I first heard that NBC would be doing a remake of the British The Office, I had mixed feelings. I was from the camp that quickly decided that the British version was perfect and one of the greatest achievements of television I had ever seen. It had comedy gold, it had cringe worthy moments, but above all it had heart. I just couldn't see a major American TV network being able to pull off the same concepts so wonderfully as Ricky Gervais did on the BBC. So going into the premiere season of the US The Office, I immediately had my barriers up and really wasn't able to give it it's fair chance right away. I'm glad I came to my senses.

While it was a bit infuriating that newly adopted fans of the US version hadn't seen the UK original or had any idea of it's existence, I did appreciate the fact that the US version was at least being embraced. The first season (lasting only 6 episodes) was basically scene for scene remakes of UK episodes. Luckily, the executives at NBC had the foresight to let the US version find it's own voice and things took off splendidly in season 2 and never looked back.

And now here we are, 6 years and 148 episodes later. Steve Carell walked down the terminal last night to be with the one person we knew he was perfect for, Holly. But to be with her, he had to give up his real "family", those at the office of Dunder-Mifflin. We saw some great moments last night; Dwight feeling he was finally appreciated by Michael, Jim telling Michael what a great boss he had become and Pam tracking down Michael to say goodbye just as he was about to leave Scranton. The final episode for Steve Carell wasn't as much of a tear-jerker that I thought it would have been, but I was still satisfied in his send off.

Just like there will never be another David Brent, there will never be another Michael Scott.
Goodbye Mr. Scott.

First Look at Luck

HBO has released it's first behind the scenes of their newest original series, Luck. The show stars Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. Here's the video via YouTube:

Game of Thrones

Tonight, HBO premieres it's newest original series Game of Thrones. The series is based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels. Like all HBO series, you can expect no small detail left undone and a strong budget to back the production.

I'm curious about this show only because of so much promotion HBO has put behind it. I not quite sure what the show is about other than it will take on fantasy elements and appears to take place in medieval times based on the short previews I've seen. HBO never does anything half-ass and have known to support shows with gigantic budgets (Rome, Deadwood and more recently Boardwalk Empire).

I have high hopes that the show will be everything you'd want from the fantasy genre; sex, violence and the battle between good and evil. Going in with no knowledge may be a risk, but I'm sure I'm in the majority. As always, high hopes and fingers crossed.

An Idiot Abroad

On Saturday night, the Science Channel provided the stateside premiere of the documentary, An Idiot Abroad. The basic premise involves Karl Pilkington, a close minded Englishman, visiting the Seven Wonders of the World with only himself and a camera crew. Executive producers Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are so enthralled with Karl’s truly unique and hilarious vision of the world that they sent him on this expedition.

The first episode found Karl traveling to China to see the Great Wall of China. Karl’s observations on cuisine and bathroom etiquette in the Far East are absolutely entertaining. This premiere episode is part 1 of 8 in which Karl will travel around the world and experience a variety of cultures and traditions. If you haven’t heard of Karl, don’t be dissuaded from giving this show a try. I promise you will laugh and also think about things differently once you hear Karl’s view of thinking. Not only entertaining, but informative. Give it a go!

Mr. Show and others coming to IFC

Variety is reporting that HBO original series Mr. Show and Larry Sanders will be re-airing on IFC. Great news for anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing these ground breaking comedies.

Full story: http://bit.ly/fus3p7


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The Walking Dead

When AMC launched their newest original series,The Walking Dead, in October I had mixed feelings. Part of me thought we were getting another series that involved fictitious characters, like True Blood. And with that came the similar format and ensemble of characters. But as we approach the finale of this first season I am happy to say my initial thoughts are unfounded.

Unlike True Blood, the Walking Dead is a case study on the human behavior in dealing with the unknown. We are drawn into this zombie populated world with little idea how everything began and feel as helpless as our protagonist felt after waking up in an abandoned hospital.

The show's first season will come to a close this Sunday with plenty of questions still to be left answered. The show has already been picked up for a second season with more gore and zombie attacks to look forward to. While that aspect makes the show suspenseful, the true action comes from the daily interactions between the survivors. Continuing to build off these tensions is a recipe for success.


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