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Monty Python's Eric Idle and John Cleese Deliver a Spam-Free Show at Cullen Hall

By Pete Vonder Haar
Nov 30, 2016

It's impossible to overstate the influence of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Debuting almost 50 years ago, and running a mere four seasons, it's still arguably the most influential TV comedy series of all time, and its impact is still felt — for better or worse — to this day. Pythons...
Don't Look Back in Adder: Revisiting Snakes On A Plane

By Pete Vonder Haar
Oct 13, 2016

Ten years ago, America was a markedly different place: immigration and privacy were two political hot button issues, Hollywood was abuzz with talks of a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and a young Beyoncé stole our hearts. As Dylan from Beverly Hills, 90210 once said, "The times, they are a-changin.'"...
There’s No Reason to Be So Mad About Remakes

By Jef Rouner
May 26, 2016

I’ve been wallowing in the mantrum over the all-female Ghostbusters remake coming out soon for a week or so (if you want to see some top shelf dude-vapors visit my professional Facebook page). Annoying the fragile masculinities of those guys is both my job and hobby, but through all of...
Where Game of Thrones Has Been, and Where It's (Possibly) Going

By Pete Vonder Haar
May 16, 2016

Season 6 of HBO's Game of Thrones premiered on April 24, and for the first time, the televised adaptation of George R.R. Martin's sprawling fantasy series has almost completely moved beyond the books (the exception being the doings of the Greyjoys, which we'll talk about later). The "leave the source material...
Farewell to Banshee, the Most Unhinged — and Best — TV Show You Never Watched

By Pete Vonder Haar
May 12, 2016

Long celebrated as the premium cable destination for soft-core pornography and third-run Marc Singer movies (which is perhaps redundant), Cinemax has taken steps in recent years to shed its "Skinemax" past by following its more accomplished brethren like Showtime and parent company HBO into the realm of original programming. Previous...
Pop Rocks: NBC's Friday Night Monster Mash Could Be Sleeper Hit of the Fall TV Season

By Jeff Balke
Oct 28, 2014

The latest ratings have been released and it is good news for NBC's Friday night lineup featuring a pair of creature features that could be consistent winners for the network. Despite going up against the World Series, ratings for Grimm grew 15 percent over the season finale and the series...
Pop Rocks: My New Fall Shows Update and a Night-By-Night Rundown of the Fall TV Season

By Jeff Balke
Oct 21, 2014

In September, I gave a rundown of the five new fall shows that were locked into my DVR and the chances they would remain in the DVR for the entire season. Just about a month in seemed like the right time for an update and to note a few shows...
Pop Rocks: My Five Favorite TV/Movie Clowns

By Jeff Balke
Oct 14, 2014

I think we all know that clowns are creepy. Even when they weren't supposed to be, in the days where they had their own TV shows and piled out of tiny cars at the circus, we all knew the truth. It took only a few decades of exposure to clowns...
Pop Rocks: Where the Ladies of Twin Peaks Are Today

By Jeff Balke
Oct 7, 2014

David Lynch's twisted noir crime drama set in the Pacific Northwest will return to television on the 25th anniversary of the series finale with a special batch of episodes on Showtime in 2016. Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost will helm the new show which will update the series a quarter...
Pop Rocks: ABC Turns Thursday Nights Into Must-See Shonda With Trio of Rhimes Dramas

By Jeff Balke
Sep 30, 2014

Let's be clear, there are few things as ridiculous as a Shonda Rhimes plot. Her wildly successful shows, Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and the talk of the new fall television season, How to Get Away with Murder, are part soap operas and part romantic dramas with some Aaron Sorkin-like holier-than-thou speech-making...
Pop Rocks: TV Fall Premiere Week Gets Rolling With Gotham

By Jeff Balke
Sep 23, 2014

Monday night not only marked the first night of fall, but the first night of the new fall television season. My DVR was loaded with three new shows by the end of the night along with the season premiere of a favorite from last year, The Blacklist, which did not...
Pop Rocks: 5 New Fall Network TV Shows Already Locked Into My DVR

By Jeff Balke
Sep 16, 2014

With the fall comes cooler weather, fewer hurricanes -- a worry for those of us along the Gulf Coast, especially -- and new TV shows. Television has become rich with quality programming over the last decade, for all intents and purposes surpassing films in practically every way. Now that cable-only...
Pop Rocks: Prince William and Kate Expecting Again...Yawn

By Jeff Balke
Sep 9, 2014

I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. I tend to view such things through the lens of what my father often referred to as a "finely tuned bullshit detector." But, if I were going to believe in things like faked moon landings and second shooters, I might look for ways...
Pop Rocks: Latest Celeb Naked Photo Leak a Reminder That Data Is Never Truly Safe

By Jeff Balke
Sep 2, 2014

It was revealed over the weekend that compromising photos of numerous celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence, Rhianna, Kate Upton and others had been swiped and posted online, mostly on the 4Chan message boards. Hackers managed to get into victims' iCloud accounts through some type of vulnerability. Prior to the latest version...
Pop Rocks: It's a Miracle Any Celebrity Marriage Survives

By Jeff Balke
Aug 26, 2014

When I read recently that Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon were separating, my first thought was, "I'm surprised they made it this long." If more than half of marriages end in divorce, my guess is that celebrity marriages are skewing that towards the upper end. It's frankly a miracle any...
Pop Rocks: Binge Watching Scandal Is Not a Good Idea

By Jeff Balke
Aug 19, 2014

I had heard a lot about Scandal, the ABC political drama starring Kerry Washington as a D.C. fixer who is involved in an affair with the President. I was never certain if I wanted to watch it, but there it was staring my wife and me in the face on...
Pop Rocks: The Seven Emerging Genres of 2014 Fall TV Shows

By Jeff Balke
Aug 5, 2014

Like all forms of entertainment, television can get locked into some patterns. Often times, those simply follow what has been successful recently. And while you might think that means cop shows and hospital dramas, that isn't always the case. This new fall season, as it turns out, is virtually devoid...
Pop Rocks: Bruce Campbell Might Be the Coolest Dude Ever, the Twitter Proof

By Jeff Balke
Jul 29, 2014

I did not come to know actor Bruce Campbell until I started watching the show Burn Notice, the popular USA Network Miami Vice-meets-The A-Team spy show that ended its seven-year run in 2013. Cambell played Sam Axe, a former FBI agent and Navy Seal who loves beer, the ladies and...
My 10 Favorite Moments from The Simpsons in Honor of the FXX Marathon

By Jeff Balke
Jul 22, 2014

Next month fledgling network FXX, which purchased the rights to all 25 seasons of The Simpsons, will air the longest marathon in TV history when it shows nearly two weeks of episodes of one of the greatest sitcoms ever 24 hours per day culminating in the release of all episodes...
Pop Rocks: The Only Thing Worse Than Bachelor/Bachelorette TV Is America's Obsession With It

By Jeff Balke
Jul 15, 2014

Standing in line at H-E-B the other day, I remarked to my wife that I had no idea who any of the people featured on the covers of various gossip magazines were. Now, granted, I'm a dude who doesn't pay that much attention to celebrity news, but still, I have...

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