- Last night was another good episode for the new ABC Family series Greek, which makes the show three for three so far. Maybe this is a cynical way to view it, but if I’ve watched three episodes of a show and not once said to myself, “Hey, this kinda sucks right now,” then I’d qualify that series as successful. Aside from the continued hint, hint and wink, wink suggestions that Calvin, a friend of main character Rusty and a pledge for a rival fraternity, is gay and the fact that the show keeps going out of its way to drop heavy-handed hints and clues about it without any of the characters actually picking up on it, which is getting old quickly, I don’t have any gripes. Actor Jacob Zachar, cast in the role of Rusty, an uber-geek if there ever was one, is a perfect fit…….right down to the most pipe cleaner-ish, pasty white arms and legs I’ve ever seen. Seriously, the scene in this week’s episode with Rusty in the gym, trying to lift weights and hit on girls, was hilarious on several levels, not the least of which is the fact that his arms appear to be about two centimeters in diameter at most. The show is also aspiring to levels higher than the usual college show about sex, partying and slackers, attempting (successfully for the most part) to mix in interesting dramatic elements like the relationship between Rusty’s sister, Casey and her boyfriend Evan after he cheated on her. Also, the writers and producers are doing a good job of giving some depth to Rusty, keeping his geeky core while also making him funny, likeable and believable. His decision not to have sex with a girl his fraternity brother Cappie set him up with for the expressed purpose of having sex was somewhat predictable, but it still made him a more sympathetic character overall. With Traveler done for the summer, Greek is the lone show left that I recommend watching for the duration of the summer, so if you missed this week’s episode you can watch, tape or TiVo it on Friday at 9 p.m. on ABC.
- NBA Commissioner David Stern has spent years building as reputation as a smart, polished, smooth and slightly arrogant man, a man very much in charge of his empire. As such, it was jarring to see Stern at the podium today as he addressed the scandal involving former NBA referee Tim Donaghy and Donaghy’s alleged gambling indiscretions that may involve him shaving points and/or affecting the outcome of games he refereed. Stern tried to lay out the league’s policies in relation to gambling and their investigation into a series of misdeeds and misconduct by Donaghy over the past year, but clearly he was rattled and on edge as he spoke. The confident, poised expression was gone and he looked thoroughly overwhelmed as he attempted to pin all of the blame on Donaghy as one rogue, out-of-line ref who in no way an indication of a larger problem in the NBA. This stance does beg the question of how Stern can say this for sure when the league clearly had no idea that Donaghy was altering the outcomes of games prior to a few months ago. If they didn’t know he was doing it, why should we believe the league would know if other officials were as well? By Stern’s own admission, Donaghy was considered one of the NBA’s better referees, so if that’s the case, they thought he was doing a good job even as he was messing with point spreads, making intentionally bad calls and generally kowtowing to the orders of bookies he owed money to. The NBA needs to be honest and face up to the seriousness of the dilemma it’s smack dab in the middle of, because this isn't something they can just pin totally on Donaghy and wash their hands of. It’s bigger than that, so Stern and Co. need to deal with that reality.
- Memo to all candidates in the 2008 presidential election: If you want to win, one guaranteed in with millions of voters will be making sure that the new two-year plan formulated by American military commanders for Iraq doesn’t play out fully. In about 18 months, our new president will take office (thank God!) and if that new president can assure the American public that this buffoonish two-year plan is shortened and that American troops will be coming home prior to that two-year mark, that will win him major points with many, many voters (definitely with me). I realize that with the tool we currently have in office, our military needs to plan out for a future that includes their presence in Iraq, but just because they formulate a strategy for the next two years doesn’t mean we need to follow it out to its bitter end. W. is probably slightly pissed that it’s only a two-year plan; that idiot was probably hoping for a seven or eight-year plan at minimum. You suck, W., and the 2008 election can't come soon enough.
- File this under the heading of great cause, bad execution. Music legends Quincy Jones and Russell Simmons, along with fashion icon Tommy Hilfiger, are organizing a concert to raise funds for a Martin Luther King Jr. monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It’s a terrific idea, one that’s long overdue…..but when the headliners for your concert are the beefy, makeup-hawking Queen Latifah, Garth Brooks and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, exactly who are you honoring? MLK was a great man, a civil rights pioneer and someone we would all do well to emulate, so why get a portly, waaaay-past-her-prime female rapper, a country musician who’s even further past his prime and a guy who hasn’t had even a minor hit in the past five years? What, was Wilson Phillips not available? Could Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch or Vanilla Ice or O-Town not be secured for a performance? I sincerely hope this monument is financed and built very soon, but I can’t help but feel bad that such an amazing and powerful leader is being “honored” by such a crappy slate of performers.
- A big, heart yawn goes out for the announcement of Drew Carey as the new host of The Price is Right. I didn’t care about the show when Bob Barker hosted it, so I certainly don’t care about it now that a B-list, overweight actor whose main claim to fame is hosting an improv comedy show that’s a copycat of a British show from about a decade and a half ago. Seeing Drew and his trademark horn-rimmed glasses explain Plink-O and the giant wheel to contestants and challenge them to guess the price of laundry detergent and baked beans just doesn’t float my boat. I just wonder if like B. Barker, Drew has free reign to grope, flirt with and hit on all of the showcase models, or if that was a privilege reserved for the old man only. Congrats on the big break, I guess, just know that it’s pretty much a concession that you’re giving up on your acting career and admitting that hosting crappy game and comedy shows that require little or no actual talent is the best you can hope for.
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