TV I Shouldn't Have Been Watching

Ready Or Not-I know what you're saying. Jason, weren't you too darned old to be watching Ready or Not? The answer? Indeed. Ready or Not was a Canadian series that got play on PBS in the early '90s, well throughout all of its run. Even though I was past the years depicted so ably by both Laurie Beltram and Lani Billiard I'm a big fan of good acting. Good acting!



Good News: I did some frantic number crunching and my favorite, Lani Billiard was indeed 18 during the show's run.




"Oh really?"














Xuxa- Let's be real, Xuxa wasn't an ugly woman. In fact, she was quite fetching, such an enjoyable presence. Xuxa had a TV show in the early '90s, a kids show in fact. I was waiting her to hit the big, big time, but it seemed like something was just holding her back. While she was teaching childrens about the alfabet, she was teaching me about amour.








Baggage, Baggage, Tons O' Baggage- Upon my deft research, I found that the lovely Xuxa had another career besides being a life-sized clown for the pre-school set, Xuxa had an earlier career in porn.






California Dreams- This takes me back, the soundtrack of my life. Picture it, either waking up hung over or half crazy, the only sense of normalcy was that theme playing on Saturday morning. In fact, I teared up just hearing it again. California Dreams actually survived 5 or so seasons and most of the cast was flicked off and replaced.

Nostalgia Proof: California Dreams sucked.






City Guys- Another NBC gem. I'm not even going to front as the kids used to say, I actually liked City Guys. The sad part? I can't remember much about it besides the fact that it wasn't repugnant. If I'm not mistaken both cast members were about as old as me and by the end of the series run, they both were well over 35 and a half.




Providence- Well there's a show I never should have watched. I'll blame it on youth and peer pressure. While the show was fairly innocuous during its initial run on NBC, in reruns, it's lethal. Oh the plot contrivances, the silliness, not to mention the corniness, it's all too much, too much.

The Worst Part: The fact that I'm talking about Providence.

The Worst Shows I've Ever Seen (So Far This Year)

Needs no intro, dreadful stuff all around...

Woman Docs- The former hypochondriac in me can't resist this. It's like crack. Woman Docs is as advertised, but it's a reality show that did its filming in 2001 and apparently nothing beyond it. That fact is set in stone and it hasn't stopped Lifetime Real Women from showing all of the 10 to 17 shows over and over again.



Late Night Fun: I can imagine couples going to bed to "sleep" and young folks dreamin' and stuff. Me? I'm up at 2AM watching some old codger get a heart transplant and wondering if he's still "with us."



Gay, Straight or Taken-Talk about a show that has the chance to insult everyone. Gay, Straight or Taken is actually one of the worst shows I've ever seen. The premise is simple. A woman is matched with three guys and unknowingly, each guy is either gay, straight or taken. Oh, fun--where's Jim Lange when you need him. Sadly this train wreck has no host, just the most annoying women ever giving a voice to thoughts that should be a silent, inner monologue.

Big Dummies: Regardless of the orientation, the guys here are often dolts, idiots even. The women are no better. These oddly chatty, camera ready and ultimately annoying women should have gotten their dating licenses revoked in 1999. Rarely do they ever have a slight perception of their surroundings always pick the wrong guy. Heh, just like real life I bet.



Well, well, well, looky here. Here's a pic of another pic of Jenner Evans from the first installment of this ghasty half n' hour. By far she was the most interesting contestant.











Big Brother- Sad to see this solid entertainment in my "hate to watch" list. God knows what "season" this is, all I know is that it's dreadful. While it's certainly often not the best show on television, Big Brother used to be actually interesting. Not this trip. The season was rushed because of the strike, its been on for weeks and now one gives a heck about it. The funniest news? The strike is over and they've still got to play these shitty shows. It's karmic punishment for canceling Joan of Arcadia 15 long years ago.





Quarterlife- I don't know why I derived some much pleasure from the failure of this show. Here's the backstory. Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick did an online series about the lives of people in their '20s. Herskovitz and Zwick actually did two of my favorite shows, My-So Called Life and thirtysomething. Quarterlife debuted as an online series. Quarterlife was bad as an online series. NBC picked up the show, it imploded--lasted one episode. Here's a clip from the pilot of the online incarnation. Wow, it's so, so, ass....

The Year of the 8 Track

I just got off the phone with ET and I had to cancel the upcoming 3 year anniversary on my diary/blog. I don't like the publicity. In any event, I'm going to be busy with my new pet project. Of late I've been putting on my thinking cap, trying to dream up ways to "give back" and "pay it forward." That lasted all of 3 minutes and I was back to thinking about me. The good news? I finally found my calling: Buying 8 tracks. I'm so excited.


Here's part of the first haul:




Roberta Flack-Killing Me Softly (pink)
The 5th Dimension-Greatest Hits on Earth (Ampex)
Seals and Crofts-Diamond Girl
Jim Croce-Don't Mess Around With Jim (original)
Jim Croce-Life and Times (original)
Carole King-Tapestry (A&M)
The Carpenters-The Singles 1969-1973
Blood Sweat and Tears-BST 4
Blood Sweat and Tears-No Sweat
Chicago-VII, VI, III, Live at Carnegie Hall (Carnegie Hall? What the....)


How is that for a days work. Actually I had seen these tapes around for a while, asked about them, 5 dollars--nifty case included. Out of all of them, the Roberta Flack is the nicest. It's gorgeous--and looks playable. The 5th Dimension is right there too. The Chicago 8 tracks (like the ones pictured),well, they just aren't going to play. They look good--but there's no way these things aren't broken.


More Junk: For those times that I want to entertain a young lady, I also bought a few Ed Ames 8 tracks, Mantovani's Greatest Hits, Tom Jones's Best of and Andy Williams. Tell me I'm not ready.


I found that batch of tapes completely satisfying. So much so I had to buy a few more. Here's a look at the second haul.



The Who-Face Dances
Led Zeppelin-ZoSo (Ampex)
Led Zeppelin-s/t (Ampex)
The Beatles-Hey Jude
Eddie Kendricks-Vintage '78
David Crosby-If I Could Only Remember My Name (Ampex)
Graham Nash-Songs For Beginners (Ampex)



Oops, I did it again. These were a little more, 10 dollars total. Money well spent. It's not like I'm throwing money away on plastic/conversation pieces. The Who 8 track is a Columbia House edition, that means a different cover, nice. The Ampex tapes are all the originals, sturdy as always. They are the best bet The Eddie Kendricks tapes came from a lot I first saw 15 years ago. There was about 20 of them still sealed. I wasn't mature enough to buy them then. Now, I treated myself to two. I opened one and guess what? It's as tight as a drum! Woo hoo, recycle bait...


They're Everywhere!: I was searching eBay and saw that someone in my area had a sealed Eddie Kendricks Vintage '78 8 track too. What are the chances?