Of all the fine print that appears in that small narrow sans-serif white print with black drop-shadow at the bottom of the screen during television commercials, my favorite has to be the one that, for various reasons depending on the activities being depicted, says, “Do not attempt.”

Sunday is the Super Bowl. Count how many of these examples you see during the course of the game.

You know, commercials where multiple cars are being driven through wide-open non-roads in the middle of the desert at 90 mph and then do 180-degree spins while passing each other in opposite directions. “Professional driver on closed course. Do not attempt.” Yes, because I have access to desert expanses of non-roads where I like to go driving my $60,000 luxury vehicle with my friends and their matching $60,000 vehicles. (Read more…)

William Shatner, who has been Priceline’s pitchman for the past 14 years (!), makes his last plea for customers to negotiate their best deal in his final ad for the company, which has decided to retire the campaign and move on to something new.

Like another one of Shatner’s iconic characters, he plunges to his death in order to save others.

And blows up real good.

It’s an odd end to an odd advertising campaign. Farewell, Priceline Negotiator. You will be missed.

Over the past few years, the stock value, figuratively speaking, of comedian Louis C.K. has been going steadily up. In a few years we might look back and say that 2011 is when it officially hit its peak. I hope it stays high for a long while. I suppose that depends how long C.K. can maintain it, and if he can continue building on the success he’s currently having.

In his latest (independent) stand-up special, C.K., in typical self-deprecating fashion, notes how well things are going but suggests it must be temporary: “It’s not gonna last,” he says. “It’s been about eight months, I’ve got a year left, and then I’m back to being just like you.” (Read more…)

Note: This post contains profanity. If that offends you, get the f**k over it already. And, also, sorry; I’m not trying deliberately to offend anyone.

Earlier tonight, Kathy and I were watching The Daily Show, and Jon Stewart had on guest Marion Cotillard, which right there led to a moment between me and my wife:

Me: “Oh, man, who the hell is that chick? She looks so familiar.” (Read more…)

I’ve posted reviews for the remainder of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 5.

Go read ‘em. Then post comments to the individual reviews over on the reviews themselves.

Just to reassure you: No, this is not an April Fools Day prank.

No joke. I’m actually doing this.

This is me finally making good on a promise I made — oh, I don’t know — about 15 times over the past 36 months.

Three years. Yes, it’s been three years since I posted my last reviews for season four of Star Trek: The Next Generation Inertia can be a real bitch, let me tell you. Granted, I partially put this stuff on hold because I was reviewing BSG and later Caprica, but my attempts to get back to this failed time and time again, and before I knew it, one, two, three entire years had gone by.

Is there still anyone out here? Anyone who believed that I would finally actually do this instead of offering up my promise of “I’ll get back to it eventually”? (Read more…)

As previously alluded to, I will not be individually reviewing the final nine episodes of Caprica as I did the first eight plus the pilot, but I figured I would at least offer up some belated closing thoughts of the defunct Battlestar Galactica prequel, whose final episodes showed that this indeed could’ve been a compelling series. Based on how the first and only season wrapped up, I’d have been back to see more, had it been renewed.

Caprica’s mob storyline reaches a turning point — one of several story strands that played out in satisfying fashion.

The single-season, 17-episode run of Caprica (not counting the pilot movie, which would make for a total of 19 hourlong episodes), to me plays like a compelling argument for the 12- or 13-episode run typical of many cable dramas. In this day and age, with so many choices out there, with so many mediums of content consumption available to audiences and with their attention divided and their attention spans shortened, does it really make sense to do a TV series — and even more so, a TV serial — that spans 20 or 22 episodes?

Granted, you could make the argument that season one of Caprica could really be called two seasons with two arcs, but that’s not what Syfy or its creators called it — and more to the point, the stories being told here just didn’t warrant as many hours as were devoted to them. (Read more…)

Since I’ve got nothing else right now, let’s talk a little bit about the Monday Night Football announcing team, shall we?

Ron Jaworsky, Mike Tirico, and Jon Gruden. That’s one HECK of a football announcing lineup! (ESPN)

I generally like the Monday Night Football booth lineup. Mike Tirico is a knowledgeable and excitable play-by-play guy. Ron Jaworski brings his quarterback credentials to the mix and is capable of being critical, especially of offenses (as is typical of former QBs turned color commentators). And Jon Gruden brings in the coach’s perspective. The three work well together and they have good voices that sound solid and football-y.

(Yes, football-y is officially an adjective for describing football voices. Bryant Gumbel doing play-by-play on NFL Network a couple years ago, on the other hand: not football-y at all. Terrible, in fact.) (Read more…)

The thing I like about Conan O’Brien is that he seems like a guy who wants to do good comedy and at the same time wants to be himself. His best quality is that he is genuine. His jokes don’t always land or feel polished (indeed, they can be incredibly stupid and/or bizarre), but that’s part of his charm. He’s got that shaggy-dog appeal. Take, for example, his Show Zero promo for his new TBS show Conan (premiering Monday), which features grade-Z production values and off-the-cuff silliness.

Here’s a guy having fun and just trying to do something different. Does this work as a web-based “minisode” or a gag? Well, kind of, I guess. I admire the spirit even more than the end result itself. Conan puts himself out there, because he wants to entertain. (Read more…)

Hello, fans of Jammer’s Blog & Reviews. Hopefully there are still some of you left out there. Long hiatuses can be bad for retaining your audience. One can at least partially ascribe the rating woes of Caprica to that reason after a mid-season break of some six-plus months. (Not to mention the very long time between the initial pilot movie’s release on DVD to when the series premiered in the first place. Syfy’s baffling scheduling of BSG and Caprica prolonged air dates at the expense of rational sense.)

So it was announced today that Caprica has been canceled by Syfy. (Read more…)