Monday, July 11, 2005

Changes

OK, gang, sorry for the confusion, but with luck, this blog will be up and running with all my silly ramblings soon.

The old site, pettigogy.blogspot.com will be for course announcements, information and so on.

Best as always,

t.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

The Bob Show

This is an ongoing project. The aim is to come up with 22 stories for an imaginary sit com where every episode is a story that's been done to death on TV.

Here's the current list. New episode suggestions are always welcome. Thanks to all who made suggestions.

The Bob Show Episode Guide

1. Pilot: Bob goes to his high school reunion

2. "Just the Gay it is": Bob learns that an old friend of his is homosexual.

3. "My two Bobs": Bob accidentily makes a date with two girls for the same night, but at different restaurants and frantically tries to keep them both.

4. "Bob Strikes Back": Bob is upset when he learns his sister has read his diary.

5. "Return of Bob": Bob returns to his home to find his kids have thrown a wild party in his absence.

6. "What Bobs Up Must Bob Down": Bob gets stuck in an elevator with strangers, one of whom is a pregnant woman.

7. "Was she Man Enough?": Bob's date turns out to have had a sex-change operation.

8. "All in Bob's Family": Bob's long lost brother Steven returns, claiming to have mended his ways, but he hasn't changed a bit.

9. "Caught with his Pants Down. Again."" Bob's date with a beautiful woman goes awry when Bob is caught in an embarrassing misunderstanding.

10. "Revenge of the Bob": Normally peace-loving, Bob is aghast when he loses his temper and punches another man. When he goes to apologize, Bob loses it again and hits his enemy a second time.

11. "Bob Mate": Bob's ego takes a pounding when he loses repeatedly at chess.

posted by pettigogy | 9:10 PM

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Friday, July 01, 2005

Some TV shows I love

OK, Pettrichordates, I know it's been a while, but hey, I did write a book and it won a prize, so I hope you will forgive me.

But if you've waited patiently, here is some more useless information about me.

10 TV shows that I love

1. Dharma and Greg: I've been rewatching these on Fox and this may be the best sitcom in history. Very funny and genuinely human.

2. The West Wing. Best drama TV has seen since I've been watching. Sure, it's had its ups and downs, but how many shows really address serious social issues like the West Wing. How many other shows can you name that have debated the merits of an international court? Seriously.

3. M*A*S*H. Like much great art, MASH defies categorization. Call it a sitcom if you want, but at its best it dared to go where no sitcom had gone before and none has gone since.

4. WKRP. This show was designed to feature tired stereotypes because the network thought they would be funny: ditzy blond, stoner, black dude, nerd, shy girl, sleazy salesman and so on. But the cast and rewriters refused to allow them to be the cliches and the result was a unique TV comedy.

5. Sportsnight. Though only on for 2 seasons, Sportsnight was doomed by its very intelligence. Women didn't watch because it looked like it was about sports and men didn't watch because there wasn't enough sports. Do yourself a favour, get the DVDs and watch, watch, watch.

6. The Greatest American Hero. This was one of my favourites when I was a kid. It had the best theme song ever (Look at what's happened to meee-eee...) and the funniest premise too: a superhero who's lost the instruction book to his own powers.

7. The White Shadow. Another friend of my youth, and I have a feeling that if I watched it today, I might cringe, but what can I say, I love inspiring mentor stories. A washed up pro basketball player takes a coaching job at a high school as a favour to an old friend and becomes a friend and mentor to his players (he's white and he's always behind them, get it?)

8. House. This is new, so if you haven't been watching it, tune in this fall. One of the best main characters in a show since Archie Bunker. Greg House is a brilliant physician burdened by chronic pain, drug addiction, and, oh yeah, a hatred of people. The genius here, though, is that the producers cast British comedian Hugh Laurie who somehow makes House likeable.

9. Monk. Tony Shalhoub is a genius. So there.

10. The Daily Show. Jon Stewart is the hope of the USA. First of all, he does what Mencken said good journalists must do: comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. He also does what great humourists must do: he holds the ridiculous up to ridicule.

I'm afraid no Canadian shows made the list. Sorry gang. Rick Mercer at his best might make it, but he does too many bits in too few episodes. Get some help, Rick! Also, I like Pop Cultured but only when Laurie Elliot is on it. And I don't know who the hell is watching Corner Gas.