Reviews that should be posted elsewhere

Because my new side gig USA Voice.org is experienceing technical difficulties I have decided to repost the last 2 reviews that have gone unread at my trusty old blog.

Review 1: 24, season 6

24 Season 6 off to an explosive start.

Unless you have been living under a rock, the hit series 24 has been going on for five years with all of your friends, as well as certain political and sports talk show hosts telling you how great it is. Season six promises to be as good, or better than its previous seasons.

Star Kiefer Sutherland plays Jack Bauer, federal agent. Getting his orders directly from the president he sets out to quietly and covertly stop terrorists. Season six opens up with Jack being freed from twenty months in a Chinese prison. Obviously tortured and needing a Shave, Bauer is quickly sent into action as a terrorist in Los Angeles wants Jack’s life in exchange for information that could lead to the end of a series of terrorist attacks across US cities.

Jack Bauer is simply the American answer to James Bond. Rarely wearing a suit and tie, Bauer is seen yelling, chasing after bad guys and shooting to kill just a little more often. Oh, and Jack has a wife and daughter, so no affairs with sexy foreign spies.

24 offers a unique perspective on the serialized drama, with each episode happening in real time. Each one-hour episode tracks the events of that hour, with twenty-four episodes making up a season. Aiding in the storytelling is often a split-screen view showing simultaneous views of action in different settings.

Despite it’s praise from noted political figures such as Senator John McCain (R- Arizona) and conservative radio mainstay Rush Limbaugh, the show is not overtly political. Characters such as President Palmer are not given party affiliations, leaving you free to see your own political views in the character depending on their role as a protagonist or antagonist. Other shows that do promote a political agenda do so by taking an extreme side, while 24 sets up a character to be a political extremist but brings them back to a more realistic level rather quickly.

Despite its extreme praise from the right you don’t need to be a registered Republican to enjoy the show. Though heavy praise comes to this show from the political right, it is simply enjoyable as the most action-packed show on television. If you want to get into the politics of 24 the show depicts the war on terror the way we hope it won’t be. The terrorists are portrayed as Middle-Eastern militants trying to execute another 9/11 every week. Other TV shows and some movies dealing with the same subjects do their best to disassociate Islamic organizations with terrorism. 24 dares to go there and it seems to be a formula that works.

The first episode of the season is a great jumping-on point for new fans, and if you’re upset that you’ve missed the beginning of this season, fear not. Fox has released the season premier on DVD, containing the first four episodes of this season, just in time for you to catch up by Monday night.

Review 2: The Naked Trucker and T-Bone Show

Part skit comedy, part sitcom, all bad: The Naked Trucker and T-Bone Show

Tonight Comedy Central premiered The Naked Trucker and T-Bone Show. We’re eight minutes into the first episode and I’m already panning it.

Not since Ugly Betty Has a show’s title been a deterrent to viewers. But since Ugly Betty won a Golden Globe I suppose the big shots at Comedy Central decided to green light this monstrosity.
The show starts out with what appears to be two men at a diner discussing the literary value of a diner menu versus a John Steinbeck novel. One man appears to be suffering either a learning disability or severe brain damage. The other is a naked trucker who seems articulate and is reading The Grapes of Wrath. This might be funny in a Seinfield-like way if the T-Bone (the one with the severe brain damage) did not sound like his tongue was entirely too large for his mouth.

The show continues to a studio with a live audience. The duo introduces video segments through failed attempts at humor as it is obvious they did not have enough writing talent to write a sufficient plot device to link the disjointed video segments together.

One nearly high point, well as close as this show will have to one, was a guest starring appearance by Will Ferrell. Ferrell plays a hitchhiker who challenges the truck to a race in a segment called “Hitchhiker Of The Week”. Ferrell capable of funny and almost is, but T-Bone’s mush mouth and Ferrell’s rambling make me feel even more sorry for the trucker, beyond the fact that he’s naked and sitting on a leather truck seat on what appears to be a warm day.

Much like David Spade’s The Showbiz Show, Too Late with Adam Corolla, and the mortality of South Park’s Kenny, don’t expect this show to last very long.