View User: markrabo

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Powers That Be, The - TV Shows
What a shame that NBC couldn't see what a potential hit they had and give it a regular day and time on its schedule. Maybe if Brandon Tartikoff hadn't left NBC in '91 (he was their programming head in the '80s), he would have done so. Even a regular run on a bad night (like Saturday) would have been nice. Benson (another sitcom with a political setting) ran for seven years; The Powers That Be could have gone on for at least a few years. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on November 19, 2009, 6:25 am

Miss America Pageant, The - TV Shows
In the fall of 1990, Bert Parks (who hosted the pageant from 1955 to 1979) was invited back to sing "Here She Is, Miss America," the song he had made famous. But he was overwhelmed and made a few mistakes, and never returned after that. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on November 19, 2009, 6:12 am

Burger King - Random Topics
I'd like to see the Duke of Doubt come back and knock off the King--for example, in that commercial in 2005 when the King picked off that pass and returned it for a TD, I wanted to see the Duke come off the sidelines to tackle him. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on November 3, 2009, 12:49 pm

McDonalds - Random Topics
I agree with TheTruth that McDonald's boned around 1991 when they did the following: Replaced the McDLT (the greatest sandwich McD ever, EVER made) with the McLean Deluxe (which itself ended up being replaced by another fish-boner, the Arch Deluxe); and they replaced the cheese in the Chef Salad with carrots. HELLO, a Chef Salad is not a Chef Salad without CHEESE, the three main ingredients in such a salad are lettuce, meats and cheeses!!! -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on November 3, 2009, 12:45 pm

Doctor Who - TV Shows
To quimbyt: I challenge you to watch the 2005 two-parter "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" and then tell me you hate British sci-fi. It was an extremely well-written episode and proof that Christopher Eccleston was an excellent choice to be the Ninth Doctor (as an aside, it was a shame he had to go after just one season). -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 25, 2009, 9:22 am

When Animals Attack! - TV Shows
One bit of trivia about this series: On the night that NBC aired the series finale of Seinfeld, Fox countered with "Farewell to When Animals Attack." (A year or so later, Fox aired a couple of shows called "When Good Pets Go Bad," which arguably could be construed as flip-flopping on the same level as Brett Favre.) -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 24, 2009, 11:44 pm

Quantum Leap - TV Shows
This show darn came near boning the fish once: I once remember reading in TV Guide (back in '92, I think it was) that an animated episode was in the works (in which Sam would have leapt into a cartoon character). No, I am NOT making that up--this web page also mentions it: http://stason.org/TULARC/art/anime-faq/53-What-S-This-About-Quantum-Leap-And-Akira.html -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 24, 2009, 11:26 pm

WCW Monday Nitro - TV Shows
FYI I also voted for the "Fingerpoke of Doom" because that undermined the credibility of WCW's creative team long before David Arquette came along. I'd like to add that WCW's high point came in September 1998 (the reunion of the Four Horsemen in Greenville, SC) when Ric Flair proceeded to shoot on Eric Bischoff, one of a number of greedy, selfish ego-maniacs who took his turn running WCW into the ground. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 24, 2009, 11:16 pm

3 2 1 Contact - TV Shows
It's a shame PBS hasn't found a way to revive this show; it did for science what Square One TV did for math, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego did for geography and The Electric Company did for basic English: It made learning about science fun. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 24, 2009, 11:03 pm

Boondocks, The - TV Shows
Racist, my foot. The show skewered Black Entertainment Television (BET) on a number of occasions, such as the Peabody Award-winning episode "Return of the King." Its main character (Huey Freeman) hated any media that pandered to stereotypes about African-Americans being materialistic, extravagant and/or ignorant. If you wanted me to point out a black-oriented show that was racist, I'd point out "Homeboys From Outer Space" and "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer" (both UPN sitcoms from 1996, both of which were severely and justifiably criticized). -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 23, 2009, 4:27 pm

Jeopardy! - TV Shows
I don't like how the "answers" increasingly give away clues as to what the correct "question" is. Like if the question is "What is Alaska?" then the answer will be something like "Sarah Palin, 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate, hailed from this, the largest of the 50 United States." As for Alex Trebek losing the mustache, as time goes by it's easier to understand. In 1984, a lot of people did (watch a tape of that year's World Series for proof). Today, who wears just a mustache anymore? Mainly people over 50 who got used to it when they were in their 30s. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 23, 2009, 4:17 pm

Tic Tac Dough - TV Shows
I agree that the Wink Martindale era was the height of Tic Tac Dough and his departure (to do a game show he created called Headline Chasers) pretty much left TTD with Texas-sized shoes to fill. I'll always remember how he said "yesss!" every time a contestant got a question right, and of course, the Friday hat days (I remember this one time he really hammed it up with this hat designed after the dragon from the bonus round). -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 23, 2009, 4:11 pm

Married with Children - TV Shows
Some of the earlier episodes of MWC were among the best comedy ever in the '80s (e.g. the one where Santa fell off the Bundys' roof, and the one where Buck, the Bundys' dog, got a credit card and Al proceeded to use it as if it were money). Then at some point, Al went dumb and got into depressing situations, Buck got a voice, and MWC depended far more on curvy women in short skirts or tight dresses for its ratings. I stopped watching the show long before that "Seven" kid showed up. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 23, 2009, 4:00 pm

Jackass - TV Shows
Jackass was at its best when the cast members did certain funny stunts (e.g. the BMX Joust with Brandon Dicamillo and Bam Margera, or the shopping cart stunts) or pulled pranks at each other's expense. When you involve other people, regardless of how much they dislike it or don't want to be involved (e.g. Johnny Knoxville loading up on beans and then farting in yoga class, or Knoxville going to a convenience store with no pants on in order to poke fun at the "no shirt, no shoes, no service" sign), then it's not funny. The "no pants at the convenience store" bit was when it boned for me. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 23, 2009, 3:43 pm

Hell's Kitchen (U.S.) - TV Shows
Initially, I couldn't stand Gordon Ramsay's berating his chefs, but once it became clear that it was how he most effectively got the best out of them, it was easier to sit back and laugh at some of his comments ("Even the dirtiest, scummiest Italian restaurant in Venice Beach cooks spaghetti to order, you donkey"). What I don't like is when certain people are cast more for their personality and/or probability of clashing with Chef Ramsay than for their cooking skills. Let's have an HK season where eliminations are tough from the get-go! I'd also like Scott Liebfried to get his own HK (I call him America's Culinary Cop because every time he gets on a chef's case, he sounds like he's about to arrest him for some "culinary infraction"). -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 23, 2009, 9:12 am

BattleBots - TV Shows
Comedy Central cancelled the show due to declining ratings, because it was becoming evident that two kinds of 'bots would win every time: The kind with the spinning blades (e.g. Ziggo, my personal favorite--I'll never forget how it trashed Scrap Daddy LW55) and the wedge-shaped kind with the actuated arm that could flip opposing 'bots (e.g. Vlad the Impaler, from the heavyweight division). After a couple of years, it was getting to be the same thing over and over. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 23, 2009, 7:36 am

MADtv - TV Shows
I'm split between "Will Sasso leaves" (his Kenny Rogers' Jackass skits were the ONLY funny skits in the history of that show) and "sucked from the start" (because I saw the first one hoping it would be like MAD magazine--parodies of TV and movies, animated and/or live-action reenactments of Dave Berg's and Don Martin's cartoons, and so on). The only parts worthy of the MAD name were the animated Spy vs. Spy cartoons) and the aforementioned Kenny Rogers' Jackass skits. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on October 23, 2009, 7:20 am

Kitchen Nightmares - TV Shows
Gordon Ramsay began taking on failing restaurants in the UK in 2004, and found chefs who were lazy and/or clueless, oblivious owners, food that was anything but fresh, dirty kitchens, out-of-style dining rooms, and more. After the success of Hell's Kitchen in the US, Fox decided to give Gordon Ramsay a US adaptation of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Yes, the formula is different, but I get so much pleasure when GR berates people who clearly shouldn't be in the restaurant business because the food they serve is hazardous to their customers' health (I've been poisoned by restaurants twice in my life). My favorite episodes to date: The Seascape, Dillon's/Purnima, Fiesta Sunrise and Hannah & Mason's. All featured chefs and/or managers who had no respect for food or for the customers they were serving it to. Not coincidentally, all also featured great bollockings from Gordon. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on September 29, 2009, 9:10 pm

Monday Night Football - TV Shows
Howard Cosell should never have been fired the way he was. He commented on Washington Redskins WR Alvin Garrett's elusiveness when he said, "That little monkey gets loose, doesn't he?"--but because Garrett was black, some idiots thought it was a racial remark. Ever try catching a monkey in your backyard? Other mistakes in MNF history: O.J. Simpson as commentator, Joe Namath as commentator (Howard Cosell is right, most ex-jocks suck as broadcasters; guys like Sean Salisbury and Trev Alberts are rare exceptions), and Dennis Miller as commentator. -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on September 29, 2009, 3:25 pm

TAXI - TV Shows
Another show that Tony Thomopolous (head of ABC's programming department from the '70s until 1985) killed by moving it from one night/time on the ABC schedule to another. Thank goodness that the show's first four seasons are on DVD (just for the sake of contrast, Life Goes On and Benson have had only their first season on DVD, but not subsequent seasons). What an eclectic set of memorable characters (my favorite was Christopher Lloyd as Reverend Jim Ignatowski). -- Submitted By: (markrabo) on September 29, 2009, 3:18 pm