West Wing & the Simpsons & the Office

I think I've mentioned in this forum before that I am a big fan of the West Wing; my wife is, too. We watch the daily reruns on "Bravo" and never miss the Wednesday night edition. It's fallen out of favor with most people, I guess; I never hear anyone talk about it, and I'm sure it gets creamed by the American Idol results show in the ratings.

Nevertheless, West Wing remains for me one of the most intelligent shows on television. What has amazed me recently, though, is the sheer star power of the show. In addition to the excellent cast of regulars, including Martin Sheen and Stockard Channing, the following persons all play recurring characters on the show: Alan Alda, Jimmy Smits, Ed "Al Bundy" O'Neill, Gary Cole (Office Space), Stephen Root (Newsradio; Office Space; O Brother Where Art Thou), Ron Silver, Oliver Platt, Tim Matheson, Patricia Richardson (Home Improvement); Teri Polo (Meet The Fockers), Jay Mohr, and John Goodman, to name but a few. Save for declining ratings, I don't see why the series couldn't continue on indefinitely and just change characters periodically.....like E.R.

I also love The Simpsons; who doesn't? Their run has been truly amazing and you hardly ever hear or read anyone knocking the show, except for evangelical outfits. It surprised me, then, to read the following in the TV listings of this week's Entertainment Weekly: "The Simpsons....sucks now. There I said it." Uh-oh.

As for NBC's Americanized version of The Office, I was underwhelmed by the pilot episode, but I'll give it another chance. The British version is hysterical; Carrie got me the complete series on DVD for Christmas and I spent an entire weekend watching it. I watched most of it again during a BBC America marathon last week.

just wondering

He saw it at the deli counter as he was getting turkey - and he wondered to himself, " Does anyone actually eat this stuff they call 'Souse?' "

Random Again

I held out for awhile, but now I have DSL (I had my reasons for sticking with dial-up....). Since I've had it at work forever, it's not that revolutionary to me, but it is still pretty cool. Maybe I'll post more now?

* I can't get worked up about the Schiavo matter. Go ahead and throw things at me.

* I don't particularly care what happens to Michael Jackson.

* I find myself thinking about what should happen to the perpetrators in the two recent incidents where young girls were kidnapped from their homes, sexually abused, and murdered. The thoughts center on getting them out of police custody and torturing them beyond belief. Just a thought, though.

* My favorite tune right now is "I'm Not Okay" by My Chemical Romance. Papa Roach's "Scars" is pretty catchy, too. And for the first time in a long, long, long time, I kind of like a Toby Keith song. "Honky Tonk U" is so reminiscent of Waylon, it is hard not to like. Doesn't mean I like him, though.

* The band is playing a bar for the first time in a long time in a couple of weeks - WE AREN'T READY! (We are a lazy bunch....)

*B.B. King, Brave Combo, Hank Jr., Black Crowes, and even R.E.O. Speedwagon - Riverfest is sounding pretty good this year. The Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis sounds a lot better, though.

* Jerry Falwell is critically ill. No further comment there.

* I haven't watched the show The Starlet, but it seems ironic to me that Faye Dunaway from Network would be on a reality show. Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, isn't it?

Weird

I heard the Violent Femmes' classic "Blister In The Sun" on FM102 yesterday amidst Avril Lavigne and John Mayer. I don't recall EVER hearing that song on a pop station before. Weird.

50 Cent

I don't really get the appeal of 50 Cent. His style is not all that distinctive and I don't hear a lot of substance in his songs. I REALLY dislike "Candy Shop."

What am I missing?