"Las Vegas" without James Caan?

The NBC guilty pleasure Las Vegas will be back next season but WITHOUT James Caan, who runs the Montecito (the fictional casino that is the focal point of the show).


Although it is an ensemble cast, James Caan is the absolute best part of the show, and I have an awfully hard time imagining it being nearly as funny without him. We'll definitely give it a shot, but I predict a huge drop-off.

Line Leader Laugh

Kindergartner Being Groomed For Line-Leader Position

Crowning my four-year-old the Line Leader is often one of the few ways to get her to go along willingly with certain activities, so I found this Onion piece quite humorous.

Nashville Star-less

Nashville Star is the official family program in our house - all four of us watch every (DVR'd) episode. We all love country music. It's 99% family friendly. The musicians are actually talented and the judges are trying to get the best out of them and not just score zings or upstage the hosts (like American Idol).



With only one episode to go this season, it's clear that the brother-sister finalists will definitely be around for a while, however this NY Times article points out that Nashville Star is missing a bona fide breakout star to really put it on the map. I thought for sure last year's winner, Chris Young, would've been huge by now, but for some reason he hasn't cracked the country music rotation. I'd like to think that this season's winner might get over the hump, but somehow I don't think they're the polished package Nashville is looking for.

Guest Directors for The Office... Why?

The last two weeks have featured Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame) and J.J. Abrams (director of Alias and Lost) directing episodes of The Office. While I realize that a) every episode needs someone to direct it and b) a guest director might be a nice promotional thing, this seems to go against the very nature of The Office. It is supposed to be a documentary, and every clip we are shown is supposed to be captured by a real film crew working with the folks at Dunder Mifflin. SO, if we buy into this premise, every episode should LOOK exactly the same (as far as camera angles and the production goes). So, bringing in someone to guest direct just seems kind of silly. Now, having someone come in to write an episode would be interesting, but even then there are so many story arcs to consider there's little leeway in doing anything major (you can't have Dwight get his hand chopped off or anything like that).

Personally, I think guest directors can have the best impact on procedurals (i.e. Law and Order, CSI) where they can shake up the presentation of what is a pretty stale formula at times (Law and Order: CI seems to have been doing this lately and it has definitely enhanced the quality of the show).

What's With the Sugarland Dude?

Sugarland used to be a trio, then one of the members left, leaving Jennifer Nettles (lead singer) and Kristian Bush (guitarist/mandolinist) to carry on and make many big hits and lots of money. Nettles might not have the most range, but she IS Sugarland at this point. I could see the value of Bush if they sang true duets or he was playing some mean guitar, but as the video for their latest single "Settlin'" clearly shows, the guy is barely playing rhythm guitar and his vocals are rarely all that audible.

I imagine that even if he's writing most of the songs that Nettles will tire of splitting all that cash with Bush and she could easily go solo without missing a beat. It's time for him to start adding some value or step out of the spotlight and sit back with the rest of the uncredited backup band members.

Everyone Looks Bad in Aqua Teen Aftermath

Last week's hysterical/sad/alarming Aqua Teen Hunger Force ad campaign gone horribly wrong (or right, depending on your objectives) has since made pretty much all parties look bad. Turner initially wimped out with a meaningless statement, then eventually ponied up $2 million to cover the costs of the over-zealous reaction by the Boston-area authorities. The artists are starting to look pretty bad, now that it's come out they were filming the chaos instead of alerting someone that there were not any bombs (while it is comical, it also did cost a lot of money, a lot of stress, delayed many people trying to go about their business and someone could have been hurt during the "disarming" process). And, of course, the city of Boston comes off looking completely humorless in this whole endeavor, not to mention the aura of paranoia.

Time for a New Sheepskin

My older daughter has been sleeping on a sheepskin for most of her four years. She is extremely attached to it, and twirls it with a moderate level of ferocity while she is sleeping, and during other passive moments. (The more portable Moomi will get his own post in due time). However, lately her sheepskin has literally been falling apart. Small fuzzy bits abound, sticking to your clothes, etc., a huge chunk fell off the other day.

I approached the inevitable demise of Sheepskin - and make no mistake, Sheepskin is anthropomorphized every bit as much as any doll or stuffed animal - with a bit of trepidation. However, my daughter surprised me by being totally open to the idea as long as Sheepskin II was bigger - because she can't get her toes on the current model now that she's a whole 38" tall.

So, this weekend we will head off to the land of IKEA to fetch a Ludde (apparently IKEA-an for sheepskin). Hopefully he will become as much a part of the family ensemble as his dear, crumbling predecessor.