RIP Davy Jones

Thanking God today for the musical & comedic legacy of Davy Jones (1945-2012).

Top 10 Christmas TV specials

1 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

2 - A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

3 - Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

4 - Frosty the Snowman (1969)

5 - The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

6 - Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)

7 - Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970)

8 - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1971)

9 - Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too (1991)

10 - The Little Drummer Boy (1968)

Honorable mentions:
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)
Jack Frost (1979)
Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Emmy Madness

This Sunday the Emmy Awards will be broadcast, presumably awarding television's best with little statues. But who cares?

I don't mind this sort of thing, and at times these awards shows can be far more entertaining than most television fare.

But it's hard to be excited at all when television's best aren't even nominated.

The best show on network television...by far...is ABC's Boston Legal. No other show comes close. Yet, it isn't nominated for Best Drama or Best Comedy. So, right from the start, the best series on TV will be ignored. This is particularly sad because one of television's best actors, James Spader, has been recognized in the past for his outstanding work as Alan Shore, one of Boston's most notorious attorneys.

To add insult to injury, the actor who gave probably the best performances in the previous season, Hugh Laurie of FOX's House, was not nominated for his excellent work. The demented Dr. Gregory House is, like Shore and his law partner Denny Crane (played by the legendary William Shatner), among the most bizarre TV characters in many years, and Laurie has been outstanding in a role that would be easy to overwork. Yet, despite the fact that House is nominated for Best Drama, Laurie was forgotten.

Other folks who deserved nominations but were ignored were Rene Auberjonois (Boston Legal), Julie Bowen (Boston Legal), Zach Braff (Scrubs), Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives), John McGinley (Scrubs), and (especially) Tony Shalhoub (Monk).

I don't know what gets into the people who nominate TV shows, movies, and music for the big awards each year. So often they seem either woefully out of touch, overly eager to make political statements, or ignorant of real artistic excellence and achievement. It can make for some boorish awards shows and missed opportunities to recognize some decent art.

American Idol finals

Tonight is the night that my boy Taylor Hicks faces off against pretty Katharine McPhee. Both are fine singers. Taylor is a southern bluesman; Katharine is a technical whiz. So many folks with whom I speak are rooting for Taylor. A gray-haired, hefty, white blues and soul singer from Alabama...the American Idol? It's a strange world in which we live. Both singers have the talent to pursue fine careers in music. It's sure to be an enjoyable evening of music tonight, and a suspenseful "results show" tomorrow night. Fun for our entire family!

Sitcom Endings

Last evening, the final episodes of That 70s Show and Will & Grace aired on television. I managed to watch both finales (surprisingly, considering I haven't seen a first run episode of either show in at least 2 years).

Will & Grace was on TV for eight seasons and in that time was usually a very funny television show. The writers/cast/directors/producers were obviously committed to pushing the boundaries of television, portraying homosexuals in non-threatening ways...focused on comedy. The show, while having clear stands on the issue of homosexuality and the related political tempests, was never too preachy, and this was its strength. Making people laugh at funny characters and situations was its mission...and that's good. When the series sometimes lost focus, spending too much time on the soap opera love lives of its main characters, it was relatively boring. Luckily, the show had two supporting characters...Jack and Karen...who were among the most dementedly funny characters ever seen on television and often saved the show from itself (BTW - there simply aren't enough Emmys to give to Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally, the two gifted actors who brilliantly portrayed Jack and Karen for 8 seasons).

The finale was unsatisfying. It was fairly dark for what had been a relatively "light" show. Will and Grace not speaking for years...Jack and Karen, for the first time, reduced to seriously supporting players. The highlight in an otherwise disappointing finale was the Mullally/Hayes performance of the Nat King Cole classic "Unforgettable".

The other finale last evening was That 70s Show. For most of its 8 seasons, this show was perhaps the "hippest" series on TV, and birthed several stars, including the excellent Topher Grace (set to portray Venom in Spider-Man 3). The final episode had an odd moment or two, but the fact that Kelso and Eric returned made up for any faux pas. The "old gang" was together one more time to ring in the new year. The series ended with a license plate display which showed the registration date of 1980. A good, relatively faithful ending to a very funny show.

So, what good shows are left on TV? My wife watches Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, which aren't great shows. The once-great Alias, starring the talented Jennifer Garner, is going off the air next week. I guess CSI and Lost are still on, and just about everybody watches American Idol. Boston Legal, starring the legendary William Shatner, is probably the best drama on TV right now.

But, you know, I don't get too many opportunities to watch TV. When I do, I often watch reruns of M*A*S*H or Seinfeld. There aren't very many great shows on nowadays, and very few funny sitcoms.

That's really too bad. We all need to laugh. Laughter is one of God's greatest gifts. Few things are as spiritually fulfilling or theologically profound as sitting in the arms of someone you love and laughing together at a movie, a TV show, a play, or other form of artistic expression. I hope that the TV networks don't focus too much on silly reality programming (which is relatively cheap to produce) and dark dramas (CSI is plenty) that we don't see any truly funny sitcoms. And, if they fail us, then M*A*S*H is on every evening at 11 PM on the Hallmark Channel.

"Idol" update, March 10

No big surprises. Kinnik gone (after an abysmal performance), Will gone. Those two were "givens".

I'm a little surprised that Gedeon left and Bucky stayed. Bucky will, barring unlikely brilliance, be the next to go. Also, Ayla left, which wasn't a real surprise (could have been Melissa or Ayla, and I think the right choice was made).

Of course, my boy Taylor Hicks is still there, and ready to go all the way.

"Idol" update, March 3

I liked David Radford, and, judging by their reactions to his dismissal from the show, so did the female competitors. He'll be missed. Sway Penala was good, but clearly a contender to leave. My hope is that soon both Bucky and Gedeon get the boot, as I found them both annoying.

Supermodel Heather Cox also left the show, which is a real shame. Brenna Gethers had to go, though, having become one of America's most obnoxious and unbearable reality TV stars (and that's really saying something). For the sake of television viewers everywhere, I sincerely hope that her 15 minutes are over.

"Idol" update, March 2

The guys overall did better than the ladies. Chris Daughtry was far and away the best of the evening, singing Fuel's "Hemorrhage", a perfect match for his voice and vocal style. Other than Chris, several other singers did well, though not spectacular. Among these were self-described sex symbol Kevin Covais ("I Heard it through the Grapevine"), fine singer but lifeless performer Will Makar ("Lady"), and my boy Taylor Hicks (the Commodores' "Easy").

The mediocre of the night...Bucky Covington ("The Thunder Rolls"), Gedeon McKinney (Sam Cooke's wondrous classic "A Change Is Gonna Come"), Sway Penala (Stevie Wonder's beautiful "Overjoyed"), David Radford (Frank Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight"), Elliott Yamin (the obscure "Mood for Love"), and Ace Young ("If You're Not the One").

No one was horrible, but few really took it up a notch. Almost any of the mediocre group could get the boot tonight, but I have to think that Ace is safe for the week. My guess is that David and Sway go home.

"Idol" update, March 1

I missed the show last night, as I was attending a meeting of our Bishop's Strategic Planning Team, which he hopes (as do I) will revitalize ministry in our Conference. I watched it on tape later (which is great, as I fast forwarded through all the commercials!). It was "Ladies' Night" on American Idol.

Katharine McPhee is probably the best singer of the group. Her performance last week dazzled; her song choice this week (Stevie Wonder's "All In Love Is Fair") was unfortunate (good song, but not for her), as her performance was fairly forgettable. It would be a tragedy if she went home this week; I hope she sticks around. She also seems to get prettier each week. Lisa Tucker, who sang "Who's Loving You" by the Jackson 5, is a great singer, but, again, the performance didn't do a whole lot for me. Paris Bennett, the third of four great female singers this year, was underwhelming singing one of the all-time sap classics, "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler. She should be safe for another week, but needs to do much better next week. Mandisa Hundley, who goes by just "Mandisa" now, didn't do a great job with Faith Hill's "Cry", but did well enough to get by this week (and shows the promise of excelling in future weeks).

Supermodel Heather Cox did well, singing Mariah Carey's "Hero". Her performance was fine, despite a panning from the judges. Melissa McGhee turned it up a notch, and while her performance of "Why Haven't I Heard from You" by Reba McEntire was OK, she looked pretty sexy and seemed to really jazz it up a bit from last week. Of all the ladies, she improved her standing the most. Ayla Brown looked nice, but her performance was forgettable. Also, country girl Kellie Pickler didn't do a great job with Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About", but the "cute factor" might help her survive.

The worst of the bunch was the awful performance of disco queen Donna Summer's "Last Dance" by annoying and arrogant Brenna Gethers. Time to give her a pink slip. Kinnik Sky's country song made me very uncomfortable, for some reason.

So...Brenna and Kinnik should go home later this week.

"Am. Idol" update, Feb 24

I can't believe that supermodel Becky O'Donahue got the boot from "American Idol" last night! Surely, she deserved to stay a few more weeks. Too, too bad. Bobby Bennett and Stevie Scott were locks to go, but Becky surprised me. The fact that I can't remember the name of the other guy who left speaks volumes about why he's gone; he was completely forgettable (and Simon Cowell said as much). Can't wait for next week, when, hopefully, my boy Taylor Hicks will shine.

The Best 5: Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Lisa Tucker, Paris Bennett, and Ace Young.

"Am. Idol" update, Feb 23

This week, some of the competitors on American Idol were positively dreadful. Most were fair (or, in Randy Jackson's language, "aw-ight"). And that's too bad, because they all really ought to be taking it up a notch at this point in the competition.

So, here are my thoughts:

Going home tonight: Bobby Bennett (who sang "Copacabana") reminded me of the old Bill Murray sketch on "Saturday Night Live" in which Mr. Murray (one of history's funniest men) imitated a horrendously bad lounge singer (singing the theme to Star Wars, of all things). Terrible stuff; Bennett needs to go. If he does not, we have another Scott Savol phenomenon/disaster on our hands. Also going home will be opera singer Stevie Scott (the female Josh Grobin), who may actually have a good voice, but you'd never know that based on her performance this week. It was less than professional.

Those two are my locks to go home; after that, it's just a guess. Several singers failed to distinguish themselves. My hope is that sweet Kellie Pickler (whose performance of "How Far" I found exceedingly annoying, though not absolutely horrible) gets another shot, as well as supermodels Becky O'Donahue ("Because the Night") and Heather Cox ("When You Tell Me That You Love Me"). I fear that Kevin Covais ("One Last Cry") will go home, but I hope he remains, as this young singer (who looks like he could be the illegitimate son of Bill Gates) gave one of the week's better performances. I also worry that David Radford ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love") will go, because I disagreed with the judges and felt he did a fine job. I hope that Bucky Covington goes home; he was painful for both the ear and the eye.

The Best: Lisa Tucker is amazing. She could be the next Whitney Houston (I mean that as a compliment). Sixteen years old? Incredible poise for one so young. Paris Bennett is wonderful. She could record a Gospel album today and it would be great. Both Lisa and Paris captured the audience; they are not only wonderful singers, they are the best performers on the show. Mandisa Hundley (Heart's "Never") was very good, and I thought Ayla Brown ("Reflection") was quite good as well.

The real surprise for me was Katharine McPhee (Streisand's "Since I Fell For You"), who really challenged Lisa and Paris for the title of "Best Female Singer" in the competition. Her vocals were stunning, and she's cute as a button. If she learns to move a little more when she's singing, and become a performer and not just a fine singer, she could win it all.

Among the men, Taylor Hicks ("Levon") is my boy. Great, just great. A young, white, gray-haired bluesman. No one else in the competition seems to enjoy the music as much as Taylor. I hope he goes far and wins the title. Kevin Covais was good, and rocker Chris Daughtry ("Wanted Dead or Alive") did well. My twelve year old daughter is in love with Ace Young ("Father Figure"), and I think he'll go far. Elliott Yamin sang Stevie Wonder's "If You Really Love Me", which is a great song but I didn't feel a good choice; but Elliott can sing very well.

So, let's hope that Bobby and Stevie get the boot, with Bucky not far behind. And let's hope that Lisa, Paris, Katharine, Taylor, Kevin, and Chris do well, with Ace and Elliott surviving as well. I really hope the voters get it right.