The UBS Evening Television & Movie News 09.10.2009
Posted by George H. Sirois on 09.10.2009
Some great news to start off the report, and then after that we have some actual news about new releases, the trailer for 2012, a glance at recent news about the miniseries coming back to television and a special look back at my own top 20 Super Bowl champions. All this and Andy Critchell in The “Sustained Excellence” Edition…
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of the UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and if you're on Twitter, you can find me HERE! And don't forget, for all of you who are new to 411Mania.com, make sure you check out all of our zones. We have some of the best writers on the Internet right here, and we love to hear from all of you! So keep coming back to read what we have for you, make us your homepage and if you have Facebook, make sure to join our group HERE!
I have some unexpected great news to report. By this time last week, I was so sure I would be working on the second draft of my novel all the way until the end of the month. That wound up not being the case because on Friday evening, at 5:45pm, I put the finishing touches on this draft and sent the last six chapters to my editor that very night. And I was thrilled to hear 5 very special words from her several hours after sending her my work: "I think we're almost done." The next step is to wait until the edited chapters come back to me, and then comes the fun part. My editor, my wife and I get to sit down together and read the whole book cover to cover.
However long that procedure takes is to be determined, but I want to thank you guys for putting up with the past several editions of this report. Now that I'm actually finished with the draft, I can take a couple steps back from it and go back to my main priority as a writer for 411Mania, and that's to deliver the best work I can for you. With that in mind, we have a great edition here today. The Mad Prophet rant is back up and running, and once again Andy Critchell has brought the goods for your eyes.
And now, on with the news…
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
9: A computer-animated fantasy about a rag-doll creature who struggles in a post-apocalyptic wasteland to survive against alien creatures bent on their destruction.
When I first laid eyes on this trailer, I was immediately mesmerized by it. Each time I've seen it since, I continue to be mesmerized. Can't wait to see this.
Whiteout: U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) tracks a killer in Antarctica, as the sun is about to set for six months.
I've seen this commercial many times already, and the puns the critics have put in made me yearn for the subtlety of the late Joel Siegel. "Kate Beckinsale is white hot in the summer's most chilling thriller?" Ucchh. And these commercials aren't doing a good job in making me want to see this.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: 2012
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S THE HONEST TRUTH DEPARTMENT
Damn, I was hoping for a different "Dream On": Mandate Pictures has picked up the teen dance drama script "Dream On" from Jason Ubaldi for Laurence Mark to produce.
Project revolves around an aspiring Olympic gymnast who discovers the underground hip-hop scene in Atlanta.
Ubaldi is penning "Treasure Hunters" with Broken Road Prods., and "The Lowenfish Party" for Cheyenne Enterprises.
Mark, who most recently produced "Julie and Julia," and "Dreamgirls" before that, will produce "Dream On" with Rachel Miller, who conceived the idea. Tamara Chestna and Mary Lee will co-produce.
Mandate president Nathan Kahane will executive produce the pic with David Blackman, for the company, which is readying to bow "Whip It," the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, at the Toronto Film Festival on Sunday.
Fox Searchlight, which also distribbed Mandate's "Juno," releases the pic Oct. 2.
It's funny, just a couple weeks ago, I re-discovered the HBO show "Dream On." You remember that one, right? With Brian Benben and Wendie Malick? I always got a kick out of it when I was younger and my Dad and I laughed our asses off watching the "Angst for the Memories" episode. So of course, imagine my disappointment when this is just another dance drama featuring kids' first exposure to the underground hip-hop scene. (Is there one anymore?)
Just wait for Step Up 3D to come out, and don't be surprised if this movie takes the 3D concept as well. Oh well, I'm not exactly in their demographic anyway, so they won't feel bad if I skip this…
Credit: Variety
Nice! Just like the 80s!: L.A.-based producer Alive Entertainment has pacted with Fireworks Intl., the distribution arm of U.K. sales and rights holder of ContentFilm, to finance, produce and develop drama series and miniseries.
The first fruits of the tie-up are shows based on the life of T. E. Lawrence, the British soldier immortalized in "Lawrence of Arabia," and legendary Spanish lover Don Juan.
"Lawrence and Bell: Lions of Arabia" is a miniseries based on the turbulent relationship between Lawrence and Gertrude Bell, the British writer, traveler and administrator who in 1921 drew the boundaries for the country that became Iraq.
The show will be written and produced by Kamran Pasha, whose credits include "Kings" and "Sleeper Cell."
"Don Juan" is a contemporary take on the life of the iconic lover.
Series will be scripted and produced by Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes, whose credits include "Star Trek: The Voyage Home."
Both projects will be produced by Alive Entertainment's Philip Von Alvensleben and Jimmy Veres, plus Mark Harris, who produced "Crash" and "Gods and Monsters."
Fireworks Intl. will handle international distribution; Alive Entertainment is responsible for U.S. sales.
Remember when there was always a different mini-series on television during the 80s? There were some pretty impressive productions back in the day, and with the television industry almost entirely selling its soul to Mark Burnett and his like, it would be nice to see them come back. And who knows? We could see something with the quality of the original V miniseries that could get turned into another television series that would get the green light to become a movie… kinda like what's happened with V.
Hey, whatever can steal airtime away from Fox's reality shows, right?
Credit: Variety
Just don't put it on Friday nights and you may have something: Fox has roped in a Western drama from "Chuck" executive producer Scott Rosenbaum.
The untitled project, from Warner Bros. TV and McG's studio-based Wonderland Sound and Vision, has landed a script commitment with a significant penalty.
Described as an epic Western with a sci-fi twist, the show will revolve around "a gunslinger caught between worlds" and will feature a nod to "Planet of the Apes," said Rosenbaum, who is executive producing with Wonderland's McG and Peter Johnson.
"What I'm really interested in is the revamping of the Western genre where you still have all of the iconic Western themes and iconic Western tropes but the idea is that it will feel incredibly contemporary and will introduce the Western to a whole new generation," Rosenbaum said.
Rosenbaum, who was under a blind script deal at WBTV, had been seeking to do a Western with sci-fi elements for years. He mentioned the idea in a passing conversation with Johnson, who also is an exec producer on "Chuck."
Johnson, in turn, had just met with Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly and exec vp Matt Cherniss, who had told him that they were looking to do a revamped Western this development season.
Now, this sounds like it could be a hell of an idea, and I'd be interested in seeing something like this. Western and Sci-Fi go hand-in-hand very well, as we've seen with past films and television shows. (Hell, Roddenberry sold his little show in the 60s as a "Wagon Train to the Stars")
HOWEVER, these shows have a tendency to come on during the Friday night lineup. And these networks need to realize that a timeslot like that is almost certain death since their demographic isn't sitting at home that night watching television. Hopefully it will come on earlier in the week, during a time when the intended viewers used to watch… say, Buffy? Having the quality work doesn't seem like a problem with these people. They just have to make sure people are watching it.
ANDY CRITCHELL'S INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
Hey kids, it's that time again, time for you to meet another of the lovely ladies that have caught my eye while searching the information superhighway. This week's choice is a model who simply goes by Danygirl! This 23 year old California girl has been modeling since she was 18 and has been seen in tons of bikini and lingerie shoots. She doesn't do nude (yet) but according to her Myspace page Playboy finally called her so maybe we'll see her take it all off in the future. Let's check out her pics:
You can see Danygirl on her MySpace or on her Model Mayhem page. She also has her own site HERE but as of yet, there is nothing on it other than a logo.
And that's it for this week. If you have a request, email me at andy(dot)critchell(at)gmail(dot)com.
MAD PROPHET OF THE AIRWAVES
I've been waiting to hear this well-known phrase since the Giants' season ended this past January: "Are you ready for some football?" I'm feeling good about this year, despite some lingering questions with our wide receivers and a couple unfortunate injuries on defense. And of course, there's the worry that the players and the new defensive coordinator might not be on the same page. Personally, I just wish Bill Sheridan would be on the sidelines instead of staying in the booth like Tim Lewis did. (I shudder when I remember how THAT turned out.)
Anyway, a great way to reflect on football at all times – especially during the very long off-season – is to check out NFL Network's show "America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions." This is an ongoing series that focuses on each of the previous 43 champions and how their season led them to lifting the Lombardi trophy, and each episode is narrated by an actor from film or television. (Jon Hamm narrated the 2008 Steelers episode, which premiered just last night. If someone saw it, let me know how it was.) Very quickly, the show became one of my favorites ever thanks to the Christmas gift Cheryl got for me a couple years ago: the 40-disc set that covers the 1966 Packers to the 2005 Steelers.
Turns out there's a bonus disc in the box set, which features the special that preceded the show. That show introduced the audience to the many different panelists that decided on which teams would be listed as the Top 20 Super Bowl Champions. When the show began, they counted down the list from 20-1 and then showed the rest of the episodes once the countdown was finished. It was an ingenious move on the NFL Network's part – specifically Steve Sabol – to have a list like this because this is a wonderful subject for football fans to debate. You have to literally leave your heart behind and think with your head, and come to your own conclusions about how right the collected group was when the averages were figured out.
So since the 2009 season is about to start, I figured this would be a perfect time to look at this list, break it down and see where I agree or disagree. Before I start, this is the main thing I look for in champion teams: sustained excellence. What do I mean by that? Well, any Super Bowl winning team can be looked at as great, since it is a tremendous accomplishment for the 43 teams to get through the 16-game season, get through the toughest opponents in the playoffs and finally conquer their opponent in the most-watched game in America.
But to be listed as one of the greatest of all time, the team has to sustain excellence in one way or another. They have to have either a high-powered offense, a suffocating defense or both. And most importantly, they have to get all or most of their losses out of their system early on – if they have losses at all – and save their winning streak for the remainder of the regular season and all of the postseason. I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "It's not how you start; it's how you finish." Well, that applies to sports and this phrase comes to mind when you think of the 2007 Patriots. (Sorry Pats fans, but it's true.)
So with this in mind, let's look at the teams that made the Top Ten cut.
01. 1972 Miami Dolphins
02. 1985 Chicago Bears
03. 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers
04. 1989 San Francisco 49ers
05. 1992 Dallas Cowboys
06. 1966 Green Bay Packers
07. 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers
08. 1984 San Francisco 49ers
09. 2004 New England Patriots
10. 1976 Oakland Raiders
Already, I have some issues. But before I go into my reasons, let's look at the rest of the Top Twenty…
11. 1977 Dallas Cowboys
12. 1998 Denver Broncos
13. 1986 New York Giants
14. 1991 Washington Redskins
15. 1971 Dallas Cowboys
16. 1996 Green Bay Packers
17. 1994 San Francisco 49ers
18. 1969 Kansas City Chiefs
19. 1999 St. Louis Rams
20. 1983 Los Angeles Raiders
MORE ISSUES! And since I'm a Giants fan, let's start with the 1986 team. During the clip on the "Countdown to History" special, there's a lot of talk about how there's an "East Coast Bias" when it comes to New York teams, and we see Mike Francesca talk about how he wouldn't have a problem if people didn't have this team in their Top 10. I disagree on both counts. How is there an East Coast bias if there are three San Francisco teams, three Dallas teams, two Oakland/LA teams and two Green Bay teams? Teams that are located in anywhere except the east coast dominated this countdown, and there were a couple that I think didn't deserve to be on this list, but back to the Giants.
The '86 team went 14-2, lost its last game in week 7, lost both games by a total number of 8 points, gave up only 3 points in the playoffs and had its MVP-winning quarterback setting a Super Bowl completion record of 22 for 25. And with all that, they're not even given a spot in the Top Ten?! Okay, yes this was the main reason why I thought of this rant and I could be labeled for being a bitter fan, but I'm not wrong here. I would move this team up several spots to, let's say…. Number 7.
Who is listed right above them? The '66 Packers, the team coached by the man who had the trophy named after him. Now, would it be blasphemy that I say Lombardi's team doesn't deserve such a high spot on the countdown? No. Because this was a team whose best days were behind them, four years specifically. Yes, the 1966 team only had two losses and they dominated Kansas City in Super Bowl I, but the '62 Packers were something truly special (At least, that's what people who lived back then told me), and if they played in the Super Bowl era, there would be no question they would be in the Top 5.
With that in mind, where do I put the '66 Packers? Well, considering their achievement of being the first Super Bowl winner, I'll put them in the figurehead spot, Number 10. And let's see who originally had that slot, the '76 Raiders. Again, what the hell was wrong with this panel? This season is the culmination of all of John Madden's work as head coach of that team, they had only one loss early in the year, they destroyed the two-time defending champion Steelers in the AFC Championship game and then dissected Minnesota in Super Bowl XI. My list would have them sent up several rungs up to number 3 or 4. Let's say 4.
Their number 4 pick was the 1989 San Francisco 49ers, and this is a team other than the ‘86 Giants that I can confidently say was absolutely excellent. Why do I say that? Because I got to see their greatness for myself on television. Two of my best friends in Virginia were 49ers fans (they still are, God bless them) and that was during the time when the 49ers and Giants had such a great rivalry, so I was always keeping my eye on them. I would have loved to see the Giants play them in the NFC Championship Game that year, if it weren't for the lights-out touchdown the Rams scored against us in overtime, but thankfully I got my game - and bragging rights - the next year. But back to the 49ers. This is the team that EVERYONE remembers with the offensive superstars in the prime of their careers and a stifling defense starring legend Ronnie Lott and imports from LA and NY Matt Millen and Jim Burt. (I'm still a little pissed at you for that shot on Hostetler, Jim, but the way the game went, I know I'll forgive you eventually.) Of all the 5 Super Bowl winning teams from San Francisco, this one was the very best. So in my ranking, they get bumped up one spot to number 3.
The original number 3 spot was held by the 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers, who were a juggernaut in their own right. They had a terrific season, going 14-2 in the NFL's first 16-game season. But both of their losses took place in the middle of the season, when they should have been finding ways to win those games and they had to squeak by Cincinnati - in Pittsburgh - after their second loss, so it took them a little bit of time to get back on track. A better team would have likely beaten them and knocked their record to 13-3. So I gotta drop them a couple spots to number 5.
You can thank Rick Gosselin from the Dallas media for the 1992 Cowboys getting this high in the pecking order. He picked them as the number 1 greatest champion of all time. (No bias there, nooooo!) Looking back on their accomplishments, this is looked at as the greatest collection of players to come out of Dallas and they deserve a spot on the Top 20 list. However, if they didn't have such a memorable group of characters on both sides of the ball, the 1977 Cowboys would have been ranked a bit higher considering they only had two losses. (We'll get to them in a bit.) The team itself was outstanding, but their third loss of the season came late when they had a chance to clinch the NFC East and blew it against Washington. No team that wants to be on the list of the greatest ever would miss an opportunity to clinch, no matter who they're playing. So they get dropped several notches down to number 11.
Let's keep our eyes on the rest of the Top Ten before seeing who the 1992 team is replacing on the list. The 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers were just one notch too high on my list, so I dropped them from number 7 to number 8. And the 1984 San Francisco 49ers were not given nearly enough credit for their 15-1 achievement. They were only the first team to ever reach that, but when a team had already gone undefeated twelve years earlier, it's not quite looked at as a wondrous achievement. Besides, this team wasn't quite the powerhouse it would be in the next few years, but you can't deny what the ‘84 49ers accomplished before even getting a certain receiver named Jerry. So I bumped them up a couple notches to number 6.
And then we have the 2004 New England Patriots, who were given the number 9 spot on the countdown. Out of all three championship teams from New England, this was the one that was given a Top Ten selection. I think this was the panel's way of honoring the 2001 and 2003 teams, much in the same fashion that The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King got all the Oscars in honor of the whole trilogy. Now, the 2004 Patriots were a great team, but I think the 2003 team was better for two reasons.
1. The 2003 team got their losses out of the way early, in weeks 1 and 4. They never lost a single game for the rest of the year, and issued a beautiful piece of payback to the Bills by beating them 31-0 on the final game of the regular season. (They matched the score Buffalo put up on them during the first game in Buffalo.) The 2004 team got tripped up late in the season with a 1-point loss in Miami. 2. If the 2004 Patriots played the 2003 Panthers, they would have lost. The ‘04 team needed Donovan McNabb running on fumes, dry-heaving and wasting time on the clock in order to win. The ‘03 team went all out against the Panthers and each team pushed each other to the limit, putting Super Bowl XXXVIII on my list of Top 5 Super Bowls. So I would switch the 2004 team out and put the 2003 team in its place at number 9.
And then we have the two at the very top: the 1985 Chicago Bears at number 2 and the 1972 Miami Dolphins at number 1. These two can be literally interchangeable since both have their valid reasons for being the very best champion of all time. But I have to give the nod to Miami due to being forced to win with two quarterbacks and still not losing a single game. And I'll keep Chicago where they are despite losing their only game during the 14th week. Giving up only 10 points in the entire postseason allows for a little bit of leniency with my "sustained greatness" rule.
So for those keeping score, here's my take on the America's Game Top Ten…
1. 1972 Miami Dolphins
2. 1985 Chicago Bears
3. 1989 San Francisco 49ers
4. 1976 Oakland Raiders
5. 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers
6. 1984 San Francisco 49ers
7. 1986 New York Giants
8. 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers
9. 2003 New England Patriots
10. 1966 Green Bay Packers
And now let's start off with the aforementioned 1992 Dallas Cowboys. Instead of putting them at number 5, I dropped them down to number 11, taking the place of their fellow Cowboys from 1977. It's only right that I group them together since both were very much alike, and very few teams could match up well with either of them. So the 1992 Cowboys get number 11 and the 1977 Cowboys get number 12.
The panel's decision for number 12 was the 1998 Denver Broncos, one of only two Super Bowl winning teams to lose to the New York Giants during the regular season. (The 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers were the other team.) They looked very much like the 1972 Dolphins with a long winning streak and a second-string quarterback filling in for the injured starter. In both cases, the second-stringer emerged unscathed, but several weeks after Elway came back, the 13-game winning streak ended in the Meadowlands and the 5-8 Giants led by Kent Graham.
A team of true greatness would have shaken off that loss and decimated Miami. Instead, they lost to them and had to struggle in their final regular season win against Seattle, despite Terrell Davis getting his 2,000 yards. Good thing they had the extra week to get their heads on straight for the playoffs, although they almost lost their season altogether when they trailed the Jets in the AFC Championship Game. You want to be one of the greatest of all time, you can't allow something like that.
So Denver drops a couple notches on my list, from 12 to 15. And one team that nobody would expect from me rises a notch from 14 to 13: the 1991 Washington Redskins. Yes, this is a team that had its big winning streak at the beginning of the season, so they didn't finish quite as strong as you would think. However, looking at the two they lost, I have to excuse them the same way I did for the '85 Bears since they lost a close one to Dallas the year before they went on to win it all and lost by two points to Philadelphia in a game that didn't matter at all to the Redskins by that time. They had already locked up the division and home field advantage, so it wasn't anything for them to dwell on.
Combine a trip to the playoffs where the defense only gave up a total of 13 points with a very impressive early-season stat of three straight home field shutouts, and then throw in Mark Rypien's one-year-wonder of an arm and you just have to shrug your shoulders and say they deserve a spot here. So they get number 13 from me, just above the 1996 Green Bay Packers at number 14.
Now, there are a lot of people around here that wish Favre would just go away, but you have to look at the 1996 season with rose-colored glasses to recall just how great a season it was for the Packers. Not only did Favre enjoy one of his finest seasons, but he was surrounded by a group of players on both sides of the ball that accomplished a very rare feat. The 1996 Packers scored the most amount of points that season AND allowed the fewest. With a stat like that, you have to put them on this list, so like I said before, they get number 14, one spot above the aforementioned 1998 Broncos.
We're getting close to the end now, so bear with me here.
The 16th and 17th picks for me are two high-powered teams that injected plenty of energy into the league: the 1994 San Francisco 49ers and the 1999 St. Louis Rams. There are a lot of similarities in these two teams, and not just in their offenses. Both defenses had a very good habit of creating turnovers, which is always a good thing for Super Bowl teams. So it only seems right that they are paired so closely together.
The 18th pick – the 1971 Dallas Cowboys – almost didn't make the cut for me, but once I looked back at how their season went, I had to keep them in the Top Twenty. That team could have easily come unraveled while Landry went back-and-forth between Staubach and Morton as the starting QB, but once his mind was made up, the team was rolling and they're still the only team to hold their Super Bowl opponent to only 3 points. All this was happening during a season when the Cowboys played in both the Cotton Bowl and the brand new Texas Stadium, so with two stadiums and two quarterbacks, they still dominated during the second half of the season so they get a spot on here at number 18.
I really liked the 1983 Los Angeles Raiders, and I do think they're a great champion, but I took them out of my Top Twenty because of two losses to Seattle and a loss to the 8-7-1 St. Louis Cardinals late in the year. If you're going to be in this elite class, you better know how to beat a team that beat you earlier in the year. And I got a lot of admiration for Howie Long, but I don't buy his explanation of "we were bored" when he mentions games they lost that year.
So the 1983 Raiders drop off the list, and the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs fill that spot for me. They need to be represented here simply because – to paraphrase Jerry Izenberg – "they proved Super Bowl III wasn't a fluke." They also had the number 1 defense in the AFL and an offense that had to deal with two quarterbacks and a personal problem with Len Dawson late in the year. With all that, they dominated the Chiefs and tied the score with the NFL 2-2 for Super Bowl wins before the two leagues merged after the '69 season.
So who gets the last spot, the honor of being named my number 19 team on my list of greatest Super Bowl champions? The 2000 Baltimore Ravens.
I know, I know. A mere mention of this team brings up talk of Trent Dilfer being "the worst QB to win a Super Bowl" and a defense led by a man who literally "got away with murder." But you have to go back to what I said about sustained excellence. Once Tony Banks was on the bench and Trent Dilfer was made the starter, the team went to a very streamlined way of playing that was incredibly effective. The result was an 11-game winning streak and a 34-7 win in Super Bowl XXXV. Just like I said before, it's not how you start, it's how you finish, and these guys finished like true champions.
And if the not-incredibly-impressive offense keeps popping up in your mind, you have to remember what the defense did during this season. We'll boil it down to three simple stats: no 100-yard rusher allowed all year, four shutouts, the least amount of points allowed in any 16-game season. Does that help?
So here's my revised list of 11-20…
11. 1992 Dallas Cowboys
12. 1977 Dallas Cowboys
13. 1991 Washington Redskins
14. 1996 Green Bay Packers
15. 1998 Denver Broncos
16. 1994 San Francisco 49ers
17. 1999 St. Louis Rams
18. 1971 Dallas Cowboys
19. 2000 Baltimore Ravens
20. 1969 Kansas City Chiefs
This wound up being kinda close to what the panel decided during the end of the 2005 season. Only two teams on the list were replaced, and one of the two was just a different year for the same team.
If you have access to the "America's Game" series, you won't find a better way to break in the 2009 NFL season. And when you do take a look at this, I'd be thrilled to hear your feedback about my list. After all, that's what lists like these are supposed to do, right? Stimulate conversation and debate? I'm willing to hear what you got to say.
And I'll just say it one more time, as Hank himself sang many nights: "Are you ready for some football?" Hell yeah!
Oh, and Go Giants!
And that's a wrap for Chapter 129 of The UBS Evening Movie News! For Andy Critchell, I'm George H. Sirois and we'll see you next week!
I was going to talk shit on your Super Bowl teams list but I saw ya bumped up the Niners so I can agree with ya, good list.
Posted By: Butters4Prez (Guest) on September 10, 2009 at 12:56 AM
1989 San Francisco 49ers is number one in my book. Then again, I am bias.
Posted By: Porfirio Diaz (Registered) on September 10, 2009 at 02:43 AM
1989 San Francisco 49ers is number one in my book. Then again, I am bias.
Posted By: Porfirio Diaz (Registered) on September 10, 2009 at 02:43 AM
I agree with you about the 1989 Niners, but think the 1994 Niners should be higher.
Posted By: Peter (Guest) on September 10, 2009 at 06:11 AM
The Steelers are the greatest franchise of all time and have the hardware to prove it. Go Steelers!
Posted By: A. J. (Guest) on September 10, 2009 at 10:16 AM
"Fox has roped in a Western drama...described as an epic Western with a sci-fi twist..."
God fucking dammit. You had Firefly (Greatest. Sci-Fi. Ever.) and pussed out after barely showing 11 episodes. Fuck you, Fox. And Friday night? Fuck you again.
I think they're talking about the East Coast bias in general which is very real. Ever watch ESPN? Yankees and Red Sox top the list but they all definitely get preferential treatment.
But my own bias puts the Bears number one, even if I was only turning three when they won the Super Bowl.
Posted By: neverAcquiesce (Guest) on September 10, 2009 at 05:14 PM
I'd love to see a ranking of the best Super Bowl losers.
Hey . . . it's the best an Eagles fan can hope for currently.
Posted By: Will_Helm (Guest) on September 10, 2009 at 08:02 PM
I definitely agree about Firefly. I didn't watch it enough to declare it the best show ever, but it was a true piece of quality programming that got the shaft with its Friday timeslot.
I should have included the entire quote that Adam Schefter said in the segment on the '86 Giants...
"I followed the Giants when I was a kid, and then I moved out west. And I'm sorry to say it, but it's true, there is an absolute east coast bias when it comes to these east coast teams."
He basically put the Giants in the same boat as the Yankees & Red Sox, who I do agree get the lion's share of ESPN's attention.
Posted By: Sirois! (Registered) on September 10, 2009 at 08:53 PM
