The Importance of The Daily Show

This could also be titled: Why I Went to The Rally to Restore Sanity

Each generation has their news man. (It's usually a man, sorry ladies.) A man that we trust to tell us the news in a fair and balanced manner. There was Cronkite, Rather, Brokaw... the Gumbels.

My generation has too many channels for there to be anyone to trust. It started with CNN, and that was a good idea. Sure, it helped keep us informed during the first Gulf War, 24/7...but then there came a giant flood of news stations. News stations have news stations. It's ridiculous, it's biased, it's sensationalized, it's hard to believe. But from this darkness a bright light shined, and it was hilarious.

A comedy program stepped up and became a news leader of the generation. Now, I'm not talking about The Craig Kilborn Daily Show - a lot of people don't even remember that. I'm talking about The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

It's purely satirical. It's an unbiased look at the news, because no one is spared being made fun of. Best of all, it brings important news stories to the forefront in a manner that isn't meant to cause panic, but informed action.

I'm absolutely not the first to realize the phenomenon that this show has become. But, I do feel it's important to call out that perhaps this show has become the Nightly News of my generation because the way we've been reporting news is so ridiculous. There was a reason it was called "The News Hour". Perhaps we don't need continuous reports every minute. If you wanna go 24/7 report local stories, not embellished stories full of fear and clashing opinions. It's frightening that 20% of Americans actually believe we'd elect a president that wasn't an American - and the story is being perpetuated by someone who isn't even American!

To stop insanity like this, and have my opinions be heard in a reasonable manner, I went along with some friends to The Rally to Restore Sanity. It was a long trip, full of hours of waiting, epic lines, and exhaustive walking to not even get near the stage. But it was fullfilling to see that there are a lot of people looking for calm discourse. For change without screaming, for news programs to return to news programs so comedy can just be funny again.

Speaking of funny, check out our signs...

In this photo left to right: Kambri Crews, Sharon Jamilkowski, Sue Funke, Jenn Dodd, & Will Dodd

The Best of Halloween TV

This year television seemed to be more into the Halloween spirit. There were several shows that put forth Halloween themed episodes. The following are ones that if you missed, are worth going back and viewing.

1. Community - Season 1's Halloween episode was by far one of the most trippy episodes I've ever seen on network television. This year, they took it to the zombie level and created an episode that had me on the edge of my seat, and rolling off that seat laughing. While some critics complained that it was derivative, I'd argue that Community takes popular themes and twists them every week. I think the end result was an absolutely hilarious episode.



2. Chuck - Not only does our hero finally see his mother, Linda Hamilton, but there's also a Freddy Krueger cameo. Buy More gets a 'haunted' makeover. It's a great episode.



3. Modern Family - I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. Every single character in this ensemble has a moment to shine this episode.



Honorable Mentions:

• Parenthood had a really nice episode about family celebrations and the hurdles for autistic children and parents that Halloween brings.
• Cougar Town this episode, like many this season, have been surprisingly funny. If you gave up on this show because of the name, give it another try. Also, for Scrubs fans Dr. Kelso comes in for a cameo as Courtney Cox's dad.
  

A Week of Breaking Bad

On Monday I walked by a Blockbuster Video (it was actually still open) and saw that they had all 3 discs of the first season of Breaking Bad. I had 7 hours to kill, so I figured - why not?

My first impressions: I get it. I get the hype. It's impeccably produced, it's exciting, it's bad-ass quality TV. AMC knows how to create a wonderful show with a creative premise and foster it, kudos.

What's it similar to: Part of my trepidation going into Breaking Bad is that it's a very similar premise to Weeds. Both main characters are parents in need of a way to take care of money and decide that drugs are the best way to make quick cash. The difference is that the main character, Walt, is nothing like Weeds 'heroine' Nancy Botwin. While they're both danger junkies, Walt's got brains and a bone to pick with the world. His anger, and it's escalation to erratic rage, reminds me of a favorite movie of mine, Falling Down.

Characterization: A good series is simple to spot because they've gotten it right from the very start. While pilots are often clumsy and somewhat offbeat, Breaking Bad season 1, episode 1 beautifully illustrates the pathetic character that is Walter White. A selfish wife, a low paying jobs, he's the pee-on for all around him - hell even his son with Cerebral Palsy thinks of him as a joke. But when Walt finds out about his cancer, he breaks down and finds within himself a bad-ass that was bubbling deep down. While he eventually becomes bat-shit crazy and obsessive - it's all fairly believable.

Walt's assistant, Jesse the lovable junkie, is pretty much a stalled, stubborn teenager. He's a great partner for Walt. Their relationship is a perpetual teacher/student back and forth. While Jesse seems to never learn, Walt finds it hard to give up his effort in trying to teach him. This makes for endearing moments, but more imbalance and madness that often make the show somewhat unbelievable, but hey, it's TV right?

What makes it great: Writing. The writing is excellent. I love the way they intertwine stories lines -even though at times it seems all too coincidental. In the world of Breaking Bad drugs are just as bad as cancer - once you've gotten into drugs it spreads into every part of your life until it literally and metaphorically kills you.

The casting is also amazing. I never feel like I'm watching someone act, which is helpful because the story pulls you into a world that's hard to pull yourself out of. The best casting call was putting comedic actor Bob Odenkirk into the dramatic world. While the character of Saul Goodmen is probably the best comic relief the show provides - his portrayal is noteworthy due to his ability to fast talk with the slime that he's written to be. (It would be obvious to say Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul are amazing. They won Emmys, we all know they're stellar.)

Best Episode: 'The Fly' - probably one of the best episodes of television.

Addiction: So, like I said this all started by me just having 7 hours to kill on a day off. I somehow ended up watching the entire series in less than a week. I couldn't take just one. I found myself tapping a friends computer desk nervously excited for the next hit... ahem, I mean episode. It's intense to watch so much of the show so quickly, and I started to feel like I was on meth towards the end of it all.

Verdict: I'm preaching with a giant choir, but watch Breaking Bad... Just don't do it all at once. I'm still feeling a little woozy.

5 Shows I am Loving Right Now

1. Modern Family - I want to watch every episode over and over again. Great characters, comedic timing, and it reminds me of 'Arrested Development' in a very good way.
2. Community - I'm glad to see America is catching on to this hilarious show.
3. Chuck - According to The TV Talk Podcast, season 2 ended in a game changer and newbies like myself (I only watched the pilot, and liked it, but was tired of agent stuff because 24 burned me out.) can jump in and enjoy. I followed their advice and have been really happy that I went for it. It's a really fun show to watch.
4. Parenthood - I have to admit, it's not on my regular rotation, but I really find myself falling for this show...OK Peter Krause has a lot to do with that. The writing on this show is stellar though, I mean they even make Dax Shephard look good.
5. Nurse Jackie - I watched season two's premiere three times already. I really miss Momo, but this season looks really exciting - I just hope the trailer they showed at the end didn't give too much away.