Thursday, October 21, 2010

USA - The Best Shows on TV, Overall

I can't get enough of USA and their own shows that they have created.  The ones I like are White Collar, Covert Affairs and  Burn Notice.  The rest I can do without.  I wish they would bring Alias on during the day, instead of playing endless episodes of NCIS.
    White Collar is very good, unique enough to be good, and failed only in the season 1 finale and season 2 premiere. They should have played off of the respect that Peter the FBI agent had gained for Neal Caffrey after he decided to stay and work with Peter in the finale.
     Covert Affairs needs to toughen Annie up.  They have only showed one episode where she focuses on getting tougher, when fights is where she has her biggest weakness.  They could have this be the development part for her character.  She should feel week because of her lack of fighting ability, and then be able to overcome this through out the show.  They could get some ideas from Nikita for how to develop her physically.She starts the show out being so good at so many things, but they don't show her thinking of herself as having a serious weakness when it comes to fighting. I really like the set for the FBI headquarters, and liked the unattached and alone nature of the character, please just don't hook her up permanently, it will ruin the mystique of the show.
    Burn Notice is the best action show on TV.  I love all the spy tips Michael Weston (Jeffery Donovan) gives and have even grown to like his mother's (Sharon Gless') role on the show.  At first I couldn't stand her, but once I realized she is just like a normal person in the show, and has to act like an idiot in tense moments, because that's what normal people, especially parents do.  Bruce Campbell is fantastic, he gives Michael a pivot point to keep from going off the deep end. I hope the romance between Fiona and Michael is kept low key for at least another season.  The character of Jesse I don't really like to well, but I do think a usable 4th character now and again is a good thing.

Chase - Great Show, but conveniently unrealistic.

I really like the new show Chase with the US Marshals who track down and capture fugitives.  I enjoy the main character Annie Frost (Kelli Giddish), because I always enjoy a strong female action oriented character, much like with Alias, Covert Affairs and Nikita.  I really take issue with the two  episodes, in the endings for these episodes Annie goes up against the villain without getting any gunfire against her, when these same villains have shot people throughout the show.  Conveniently they do not have their guns at the ready at the finale, how anti climactic.  No other heroin show has these obvious absurdities in their plots.  Please fix this, as a realistic heroin with realistic danger is what I expect. 
     I liked Jennifer Johnson's work with Cold Case Files, and I hope this show does well, but please make your finales more realistic.  

Nothing But Respect for Juan Williams

Juan Williams has always seemed to me to be a very intelligent Democrat that can defend his position without rhetoric that most Democrats use when facing the likes of Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity.  When I use to listen to NPR several years ago, I always enjoyed listening to Juan because of his very good explanations for why he thought the way he did.  He always made sense in his beliefs, even if I rarely agreed with him.  I am so excited to hear that he will be working full time for Fox News.  I have wanted this for a long time.  Fox needs more Democrats that can hold their own.  If the Democrats were smart, they would get the intelligent Democrats that can hold their own and get them on their financially defunct news outlets.  Until then, FOX will continue to attract the best and brightest of both parties and have them on their networks.
       I wish nothing but the best for Juan with FOX, and would highly encourage FOX to give Juan a radio show to attract the many people who listened to him on NPR.  I would enjoy thoughtful discussion about Juan and the coming elections and who the best up and coming Republican candidates might be.  I have my favorite, but I want to wait and get more outside opinions before I voice my favorite.  Could the Tea Party actually put forth a serious candidate?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I hate not being warned about fees.

I just did a transaction for the sale of a chiropractic table on pay pal for the first time, and I should have expected a transaction fee.  There was absolutely no mention of any fees for the transfer of money from the buyer to me.  It turned out that on a $2000 transfer they took out $59 in hidden fees.  I wish they had made this clear before the transaction was made, but then they would get a lot less first timers like me.  I'll just have to use pay pal as a last resort for any money transfers.  I also have avoided ebay because of their extravagant fees, I'll stick to my local classifieds that are free.