Series of Tubes: Reaction to “Desperate Housewives” Season Six Premiere

Like I wrote in my earlier post, I’m still catching up with TV. Last night, after watching FOX’s animated shows, I got through the season premiere of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives”.

Now, over the past five years, this show has given us a series of plot twists and turns that would make your average daytime soap opera writer blush. But I’ve dealt with them, because, well, I honestly can’t really finish that sentence anymore. Watching this show last night, I found myself questioning why I still do.

A couple things:
-I HATE Lynette’s current plot. The idea that she doesn’t love her unborn twins is just awful, and honestly very out of character. Also, considering how much time she spent complaining about how many kids she had, where the hell were they in this show?
-Katherine needs to get over Mike (and with as feisty as Dana Delany was looking in that episode, it shouldn’t be hard for her to find another man). It’s not like she has long-term attachments to men, considering somewhere between season 4 and season 5, Nathan Fillion’s Adam just completely disappeared and has never been mentioned again -- even though Katherine kept his last name.
-Remember a couple seasons ago when Gaby tried to be a modeling coach for a bunch of kids? She seemed to actually enjoy it. So why didn’t she jump at the opportunity to mold her niece into a model? I feel like sometimes the writers forget what the characters in this show have done in the past.

On a related note, the new family in town, with Drea de Matteo’s mysterious scar and the creepy kid, feels like a re-hash of a bunch of characters from the past. de Matteo’s mother seems a little too much like a mix of Katherine and Betty Applewhite. The husband seems like an Adam Mayfair/Rex Van de Camp mashup and the kid is the worst of Paul Young and Matthew Applewhite combined.

Oh, and if you think it was the new kid in town who strangled Susan’s daughter Julie (who is back in town after a season of living away from home), you’re probably mistaken. Mysteries on “Desperate Housewives” are never that easily solved. Of course, in the past, I actually cared.

I don’t intend to sound so negative, but this show was once a must-watch for me every week. Now, after five years on the air (and a five-year jump into the future that I think let a lot of creative air out of the balloon), it all feels like old hat -- and that’s without getting into the most off-putting plot in the entire episode, the Bree-Orson-Karl love/hate triangle. I see myself watching this show as long as its on the air, but right now, it’s moving up the drop list.
SCORE: 6 (out of 10)

Series of Tubes: Reaction to Animation Domination Premieres

I was in Las Vegas on Sunday and spent all day Monday traveling back, so I’m a little behind on TV shows. Yesterday, I started to get caught up by watching everything on my DVR from Sunday. That included FOX’s Animation Domination block, which was all season premieres. My quick thoughts below.

THE SIMPSONS

OK, this is one of those episodes I enjoyed mostly because I feel like it was made for me. Skewering the comic book industry and Hollywood with a series of improbable scenarios and insider-y jokes? Yes, please. The episode kind of slowed down in the second half, but the first 12 minutes or so were fantastic (I loved the scene where Bart made Comic Book Guy pass out by feigning ignorance about Spider-Man).

THE CLEVELAND SHOW

I expected this show to be pretty bad, and I don’t feel like the pilot did anything to change that opinion. The opening minutes of the show were hilarious, but they also were the only minutes of the show that involved the “Family Guy” cast (Cleveland’s riff on Peter’s absurd schemes over the years had me laughing so hard that I had to rewind the video because I missed the next line). I’ve never really been a fan of the Cleveland character, and the supporting characters they’ve surrounded him with are bad Griffin Family knockoffs (Cleveland Jr. is Chris, the daughter is a hot Meg and the young kid is an older Stewie). I’ll give this show a couple post-pilot shots, but so far it seems pretty lame.

FAMILY GUY

I thought last season was pretty disappointing as a whole, so I wasn’t sure what to expect for this episode. This ended up reminding me a lot of a Season 4 or 5 episode -- some great jokes, some really funny bits, a musical number (that went on a bit too long) and a last five-to-eight minutes that just dragged.

Also, I feel like someone on the writing staff must be a “Sliders” fan, because so much of the plot of the episode seemed lifted from early episodes of the Sci-Fi cult classic, including the random jumping from universe to universe, the design of the device itself and one Stewie eventually helping another solve the problem at hand.

I definitely laughed more than I did at most of last season’s episodes, but I still feel like there’s room for improvement.

AMERICAN DAD

I hate Roger. His entire subplot was stupid, and I didn’t care what happened to him in the end at all.

Putting that aside, I LOVED the Vietnam War Reenactment plot, putting Steve in the primary role while skewering all sorts of Vietnam movies (“Apocalypse Now”, “Platoon” and even “Rambo” showed up, which was pretty damn cool).

Hartford to Las Vegas and Back in 43 Hours - The Full Recap

Back in August, I decided I had to be in the audience for Britney Spears’s final U.S. show on The Circus Tour, so I bought tickets and booked an overnight trip to Las Vegas. Sunday, the day finally came, so let’s recap the entire trip in super-long form, because it was half-awesome and half-ridiculous.

FLYING TO VEGAS

So the trip really started Saturday night, when I went to bed relatively early, because of my early flight. My alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. (playing “Make it Rain” by Fat Joe, which was a coincidence, I swear). As I walked out the door, I had a last-minute change of heart. I was wearing my Sean Taylor Redskins jersey, but I was pretty convinced the ‘Skins were going to lose and I didn’t feel like getting ridiculed all day, so I switched to my Champ Bailey Broncos jersey (Champ was one of my favorite ‘Skins back in the day).

After changing jerseys, I left the condo again, and decided to check my flight status on my iPhone. Unfortunately, it was delayed. My original flight plan was to fly down to Atlanta (leaving at 7:15), then catch a connecting flight an hour later to Las Vegas. I figured the delay would probably make that connection tight. Turns out, it would have made it impossible.

My flight was delayed two hours, which means I would have missed the Atlanta to Las Vegas flight completely. When I arrived at Bradley, Delta was already aware of the issue, and had me head straight over to customer service. When I got to the counter, the woman told me “You’ve been automatically rebooked on a flight to Las Vegas arriving at 5:15 p.m., but I’m gonna try to get you there earlier.” Truthfully, since the concert was at 8 p.m., I would have been OK arriving at 5:15, but after a couple minutes of typing away at the computer, she had me rebooked through Minneapolis and arriving in Vegas at 1:00 local time.

After the minor scheduling delay, my flights turned out to be relatively uneventful. I watched “The Hangover” on the flight to Minneapolis, then one of the “Hellboy” animated movies and last week’s episode of “The Vampire Diaries” on the second leg. I’d intended to do some writing, but small leg room+15-inch MacBook Pro+guy in front of me deciding to recline fully=no writing for Adam.

ARRIVING IN VEGAS

For some reason, we had to taxi on the runway once we landed for about half-an-hour, which is pretty standard fare in Las Vegas actually. Then the shuttle that I was taking from the airport to Mandalay Bay decided to make every single strip hotel stop before ending up at Mandalay Bay, so that trip actually took an hour (an hour during which I listened to Britney Spears’s “Circus” album).

My room at Mandalay Bay was phenomenal -- which was semi-useless since I wasn’t spending much time in it. I was thinking about taking a nap, but instead I took an incredibly relaxing bath while watching the Chargers-Dolphins game on the in-bathroom TV (a feature I really want in my own bathroom now).

THE SPORTS BOOK

After getting dressed and having a quick drink, I headed down to the Sports Book, rocking my Broncos jersey (they were killing the Raiders at the time, so I felt pretty safe in wearing it).

Now, a Sports Book is a pretty amazing place, but I forgot about one thing -- smoke. I’m pretty sensitive to cigarette smoke, but I haven’t had to deal with it in years, thanks to laws banning smoking in pretty much any building on the East Coast. But in Vegas, you can smoke almost wherever you want, which meant the Sports Book was a smoky mess. I dealt with it, though, because I really wanted to watch some football and place some bets.

Football was a good idea. Betting? Well, that could have gone better. I really wanted to bet on the Colts-Cardinals game, so I solicited some advice on the over/under. I had people telling me both sides, so I went with my gut and bet the over (48.5). The Colts won, 31-10. That adds up to 41. That’s under 48.5. Whoops. Fortunately, I did also bet on the Colts to win (I bet the money line, since for some retarded reason, Indy was actually giving 3.5 points to the Cards on the board).

I also placed the most important bet of the season:



Now, let’s see if things go better this postseason than they did last year.

DINNER WITH JEN

Now, if you’re a regular AdamReisinger.com reader, you know I bought an extra ticket for the concert and I was giving it away. A few days before the concert, my sister got in touch with me to let me know that her friend Jen, who now lives in L.A., wanted to go. Now, I hadn’t seen Jen since she was about 12 or 13, but any friend of my sister’s is a friend of mine, so she was good to go.

Jen got to Vegas about 20 minutes after the end of the afternoon NFL games, and after a few minutes of chatting and getting reacquainted, we decided to take advantage of the amazing dining choices at Mandalay Bay and have something to eat.

After walking around a little bit, we decided on Lupo, Wolfgang Puck’s Italian restaurant in the casino. Now, for those of you that know me well, you know I’m pretty much a low-key guy when it comes to dining, but I die for good Italian. I have to say, this was honestly the best I’ve ever had. I had the four-cheese ravioli with a Grey Goose martini (dry, dirty) and Jen had a green lasagna with Champagne. I’m not sure I can go back to average Italian food after eating that. Jen, being the sweetie that she is, offered to pay, but I have some sort of disorder that forces me to pay for dinner with a woman (I think they call it “chivalry”). We had a great time reminiscing about the old days in West Hartford, and she kept saying how excited she was about the concert.

That excitement was the main reason I wanted someone to attend the concert with me. It’s one thing to see Britney alone (something I’d done four times before on this tour), but it’s so much more fun when you’re there with someone, particularly someone who hasn’t seen Britney in years.

THE CONCERT

I already wrote about this yesterday (from the Las Vegas airport), but the show itself was incredible. The opening acts were cut by one-third (no more One Call, just Kristinia DeBarge and Jordin Sparks) and Britney herself did some costume changes from her last stop.

At the previous show I’d been to, in Boston, I spent literally the entire show taking video. I decided that I wasn’t going to do that for this show. I did take some video and some pictures, but I spent way more time just enjoying the experience. When I’m at a Britney Spears concert, and I’m not behind my camera, I have a tendency to turn into a “woo girl”. I screamed so much, my voice is still recovering.

If you want to know more about the concert, check out yesterday’s post, or my videos on YouTube. I’ll just wrap this section up, by saying it was incredible, and I’m happy Jen had as good a time as I did (at least, I think she did).

After the show, we had a quick drink (just Diet Coke this time, since she had a four-hour drive ahead and I had to get some sleep) at one of the casino bars, where there was a band playing. Then we called it a night.

I was still pretty wired from the show, so I didn’t get to sleep for awhile. I also had to wake up early to catch the shuttle back to the airport, so I only got four hours of sleep.

THE TRIP BACK

And this is where everything went to hell. First off, despite the lack of sleep, I couldn’t fall asleep on the plane. In fact, I’ve never been able to fall asleep on a plane. I think it’s mostly because I hate flying.

So the first leg of my trip was from Las Vegas to Los Angeles -- yes, fly me an hour in the wrong direction for some reason, stupid airlines. The wait in the Las Vegas airport wasn’t so bad, since they had free WiFi, allowing me to download a couple new games for my iPhone. The flight to L.A. wasn’t so bad, and I got to play some Tap Tap Revenge - Lady Gaga Edition on my iPhone (quick review: it’s fun and I’m not afraid to say I like her music).

Then, when I arrived in LA, I discovered I was arriving at Terminal 1, and my connecting flight was in Terminal 6. That meant I had to leave the terminal, take a shuttle to the other terminal and go back through security. The security line at Continental was insanely long, and I barely made my connecting flight. I almost wish I hadn’t.

The flight was from L.A. to Newark, which wasn’t completely awful, for the most part. I played some Madden ’10 for the iPhone (hey, and my Redskins are 3-0, 2 games better than the Zorn-led ‘Skins). Then we actually got to Newark. Only, we were about 40 minutes ahead of schedule, so we got put in a holding pattern -- in the middle of a storm. The turbulence was so absurd that they ended up sending us about 100 miles off course. When we did finally get cleared to land, we had to go back on course, and through the turbulence again. It was so bumpy that Diana, the NYU student sitting next to me, vomited twice. I felt so bad for her, and yet she was the one apologizing to me and the girl sitting in the window seat.

When we did finally land, it turned out that someone on the plane had suffered a serious medical issue and needed to be taken off the plane before anyone else could get off. I have no idea how bad the situation was, but it was a pretty dicey few moments there.

After that, I did manage to get off the plane, where I had to once again take a shuttle to a different terminal. At least Newark has an inter-terminal shuttle that doesn’t require a second security check. I figured things were getting better, but then I got to the gate. When the woman scanned my boarding pass, it came up with an alert that said I was already on board. Clearly I wasn’t.

Another agent took over and figured out it had to do with the rebooking of my original flight, but the original agent was still insistent that a woman with my name was already on the flight. I didn’t know whether to snap at the agent or feel sorry for the woman on board named Adam, but I just waited patiently as they figured it out and eventually they let me on board. Then I dealt with the crappy commuter jet on the 25-minute flight to Hartford. It was bumpy the whole way and felt like it was going to fall apart. I’m never flying on one of those things again.

I drove home and finally got in just before midnight, or about 43 hours after I’d left. In that time I flew across the country and back, made some legal bets on sports, had a great dinner with an amazing woman and saw one of the best concerts of my life. And somehow, I did it all with four hours of sleep.

Britney Spears Wraps Up The Circus Tour in Las Vegas

OK, first of all, I’ve had exactly four hours of sleep in the last 33 hours, so I’m probably not going to be the most coherent writer right now. Sleep deprivation aside (and, really, who needs sleep when you’re in Las Vegas), last night was incredible.

First up, I’ve got a send a shoutout to Jen Friel, who came up from Los Angeles to attend the concert with me. We had a great time (dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s Lupo, followed by the concert, and a little live in-casino entertainment afterwards) and she really seemed to be enjoying the show. A Britney Spears concert is always more fun when you’re there with someone else who likes Britney -- especially someone who hasn’t seen the show before.

As for this show, compared to the other four on the tour I’ve been to, it was pretty amazing. Britney changed up her costume at both the beginning and the end, and I really liked the new (or technically, original) opening act costume better than the gold-spiked outfit she’d be wearing for most of this leg.

Also, for “Breathe on Me”, normally they bring one of Britney’s dancers or crew out on stage, under the guise of it being a random person from the crowd. For this show, they changed it up though, and the “random” guest was actually Lance Bass (formerly of ‘N SYNC). You could tell by Britney’s reaction that she had no idea that was coming (in one of my photos, you can actually see her laugh when she’s supposed to be lip-syncing).

For “Womanizer”, Britney was back to her first-leg costume, ditching the police outfit. At the end, they sprayed the crowd with confetti (as they do at every show), which was the point at which Jen and I realized we were basically right under the confetti machine. We got covered in it, but it was just a phenomenal night overall.

The only bad part of the night was realizing at the end of the show that the tour was over. Yes, I’ve considered following her to Australia, but that might be overkill (plus, I still don’t have a passport). I guess I’ll just have to enjoy my YouTube videos (four new ones last night!) and hope for a concert DVD. Until that comes out, enjoy last night’s performance of “Circus” -- I’ll get the other videos up on YouTube as soon as I can.

This Week in Buffy History: September 27-Oct. 3

September 29
1973 - Brad Kane born (played Tucker Wells on Episode 3.20 “The Prom”)
1997 - Episode 2.03 “School Hard” airs on The WB (debut of James Marsters)
1998 - Episode 3.01 “Anne” airs The WB

October 1
2001 - Angel Episode 3.02 “That Vision Thing” airs on The WB
2002 - Episode 7.02 “Beneath You” airs on UPN
2003 - Angel Episode 5.01 “Conviction” airs on The WB

October 2
Unknown Year - Tom Kiesche born (played vampire in episode 5.01 “The Gift”)
2001 - Episode 6.01/6.02 “Bargaining” airs on UPN

October 3
2000 - Episode 5.02 “Real Me” airs on The WB
2000 - Angel Episode 2.02 “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been” airs on The WB

Ranking All 103 Britney Spears Songs: #1-20

After four days, we’ve finally reached the moment of truth. Here they are, my top 20 Britney Spears songs of all-time.

20. “(You Drive Me) Crazy” (“...Baby One More Time”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 10
Truth is, I goofed up when I made this list. I probably should have ranked the album version of this song and the popular “Stop Remix” separately. But I didn’t. If I did, the album version would have been in the 30s or so.

19. “Boys” (“Britney”)
As you’ll see shortly, I did rank this one separately from its remix. I’m a big fan of the bridge on this one. It has kind of a Broadway musical feel to it.

18. “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” (“...Baby One More Time”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 14
I never imagined this song would have the kind of staying power it did with me, but here we are 10 years later, and I still love it.

17. “Lucky” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 23
There have definitely been times in my life where I could relate to the words of this song. I still have “If there’s nothing missing in my life then why do these tears come at night” as an Away message option in iChat.

16. “Kill the Lights” (“Circus”)
Back when I first reviewed “Circus”, I knocked this song for the little opening speech from Danja, but I actually kind of like it now, and the song is just incredible. I wish Britney would perform it on tour.

15. “My Only Wish (This Year)” (“Platinum Christmas”)
This is one of two Christmas songs I will listen to year-round (the other being Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”).

14. “Boys (Co-Ed Remix)” (“Greatest Hits: My Prerogative”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 122
This song drops the bridge from the original, but replaces it with a slick verse from Pharrell. I would love to see him make a random guest appearance at a concert one of these days.

13. “Breathe on Me” (“In The Zone”)
Britney’s performance of this song has always been one of the highlights of her current tour for me. It’s definitely helped move this song up the rankings in the last six months.

12. “Womanizer” (“Circus”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 1
Somehow this has fallen to my third-favorite song off this album. That doesn’t mean I don’t like it (it is still No. 12 overall), but it really speaks to the strength of “Circus” as a whole.

11. “Piece of Me” (“Blackout”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 18
I fell in love with this song when “Blackout” came out. I’ve got a ton of remixes of it in iTunes, and it’s one of my go-to time-killing songs (that is, if I’m doing something boring and I need to pass the time, I’ll start singing this song in my head).

10. “Stronger” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 11
One of the true signs of my Britney obsession (aside from, say, this list) is my ownership of “Britney’s Dance Beat” for PS2 (the game is essentially a DDR clone that can be played with the controller or the mat). I kick ass at “Stronger” in that game.

9. “Ooh Ooh Baby” (“Blackout”)
For about three months, I had my iPod set to wake me up to this song. It’s still a staple of my workout playlist, and one of the few songs that makes me wish I had some kind of dancing ability.

8. “Everytime” (“In The Zone”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 15
Britney’s best ballad by far. I love hearing her sing this live (and yes, she actually does sing it live).

7. “Overprotected” (“Britney”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 86
Seriously, this didn’t even crack the top 40? America, you suck. This song rocks.

6. “If U Seek Amy” (“Circus”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 19
This song has been my ringtone for about three months now. I haven’t had it go off anywhere embarrassing yet, but I’m not sure I’d care if it did. I enjoy this song so much (and yes, it’s juvenile. I don’t care.)

5. “...Baby One More Time” (“...Baby One More Time”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 1
I still remember hearing this song for the first time. I was hanging out with my buddy Goose in her dorm room freshman year. It was a bonus track on the Backstreet Boys debut CD. I immediately fell in love with Britney. So, for all of my friends who think I’m crazy, you can blame Goose (but please don’t, because she’s awesome).

4. “Circus” (“Circus”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 3
I’m not sure this song has any chance of cracking the Top 3 in the future, but I didn’t think it would surpass “...Baby One More Time” when I first heard it either, and yet here we are.

3. “Oops!... I Did It Again” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 9
I may not have any dancing ability, but that didn’t stop me from learning at least the hand movements from the chorus of this video. No, I don’t remember them. I swear. Really.

2. “Toxic” (“In The Zone”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 9
I adore the video for this song. It has everything I ever wanted from a Britney Spears video. And the song itself -- along with all the remix versions I have -- has reached “never skip” status on my iPod, no matter what mood I’m in.

1. “I’m a Slave 4 U” (“Britney”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 27
When “Britney” came out, this song immediately became my favorite. I’m not sure that will every change. There’s a pretty big gap between I’m a Slave 4 U” and “Toxic”. If I had to rank this song out of the 12,000+ I have in iTunes, it’d probably be no worse than No. 3. Depending on how I’m feeling on a particular day, it might even be No. 2 or No. 1 (and no, I’m not telling you the other two songs in my top three -- that’s a different post for a different day).

Series of Tubes: Rapid Reaction to “Dollhouse” Season 2 Premiere

For those of you that follow me on Twitter (@adamreisinger), some of this is going to seem familiar, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the Season 2 premiere of “Dollhouse”.

Now, for those of you who are returning “Dollhouse” viewers but haven’t picked up the DVD/Blu-ray set, I highly recommend you do so, and watch the unaired episode, “Epitaph One.” A lot of what happened in the Season 2 premiere, “Vows”, lays the groundwork for the future we see in “Epitaph One”.

As for Friday night’s episode, we saw Echo used in an engagement where she was playing a dual role of FBI agent/wife to a terrorist (oh, and putting Eliza Dushku in a wedding dress... awesome! She looked INCREDIBLE!). The twist of the episode was that Ballard, now working for the Dollhouse, was also the client using Echo (“I’m not only a handler, I’m also a client!”). I can’t say I was a fan of that move -- or of the lack of Sierra (Dichen Lachman), but everything else in the episode was great.

I thought what carried the episode was the tension between Topher and Whiskey/Saunders, who now knows that she is an active who has been programmed with a modified version of the personality of the Dollhouse’s dead doctor. Amy Acker is an incredibly underrated actress. Her scene with Alexis Denisof in the “Angel” finale is still one of my favorite TV moments. Oh, and speaking of Denisof (aka Wesley Wyndam-Pryce), he shows up in a new recurring role as a senator launching an investigation into the Dollhouse.

Back to Saunders and Topher -- last year they were disappointingly one-dimensional as characters, at least through the first 7 or 8 episodes. Now, not only do they feel more fleshed out, but they feel more human than anyone else on the show (surprising, since Saunders even denies her own humanity in the episode, now that she knows she’s a doll). On some level, I find their story more interesting than anything that might happen with Echo and Ballard.

It’s hard to say through one episode whether Dollhouse will be episodic, like it was early in Season 1, or continue with some of the larger mythology stuff that came in late in Season 1, but it looks like things are leaning toward the latter (with a touch of the former, since that’s what the Dollhouse is built on). I really liked the last scene with Ballard and Echo, where she said she didn’t want to just find herself, but wanted to find the personalities of everyone in the Dollhouse. To me, that showed that some of Caroline is starting to shine through.
Score: 9 (out of 10)

Ranking All 103 Britney Spears Songs: #21-40

After three days of ranking mostly album tracks, we’re finally starting to get into some singles here on AdamReisinger.com’s rankings of all 103 Britney Spears songs. The best stuff comes tomorrow, but for now, enjoy No. 21 through No. 40.

40. “Outrageous” (“In The Zone”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 79
I still feel a little cheated that this song didn’t get a full video. The 40-second clip on the Greatest Hits DVD isn’t nearly enough.

39. “Don’t Go Knockin’ on My Door” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
This is one of the few non-singles that I’m guaranteed to sing along to in the car.

38. “Early Mornin’” (“In The Zone”)
I’m not sure why this song doesn’t get more respect from Britney’s fans. It could have easily slid on to “Blackout” or “Circus” and felt completely in place.

37. “Can’t Make You Love Me” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
True story: I once went to a Britney concert in the Pittsburgh area and held up a sign that said “I’m just a guy with a crush on you” (in reference to the opening line to this song). In a related story, I’m a huge dork.

36. “Get Naked (I Got a Plan)” (“Blackout”)
I hated this song when “Blackout” first came out. Some time in mid-2008, I started to change my feelings about it, and now I really, really like it.

35. “Gimme More” (“Blackout”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 3
I think part of the reason this is so low in my rankings is due to residual bad feelings about Britney’s VMA performance of this song. That may also be the reason this song got left off the set list for The Circus Tour.

34. “Me Against the Music” (“In The Zone”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 35
More on this song coming in, oh, about 11 spots or so. Stay tuned.

33. “Sometimes” (“...Baby One More Time”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 21
This song was a staple of Britney’s early concerts, but hasn’t aged well at all. I still like it, but no nearly as much as I did back in ’99. Also, this is the last song in the group of “songs I like” (33-68). Everything from 32 up can be considered “songs I love”.

32. “Break The Ice” (“Blackout”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 43
Just a really great dance song. Again, because of the bad VMA performance and Britney’s general everyday craziness, a lot of songs from “Blackout” got the short-shrift from the general public.

31. “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” (“Britney”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 102
I might be one of the few people in the world waiting for a Blu-ray release of “Crossroads”.

30. “What It’s Like To Be Me” (“Britney”)
Despite the lyrics that indicate scorn for a jealous boyfriend (penned by Justin Timberlake, ironically enough), I insist that this was a shot at Britney’s many critics in the media.

29. “(I Got That) Boom Boom” (“In The Zone”)
Given the amount of crossover between pop and hip-hop these days, I’m surprised this is still Britney’s only album track that featured a hip-hop artist (key word there being “album”... we’ll get to the other Britney/hip-hop collabo soon).

28. “My Prerogative” (“Greatest Hits: My Prerogative”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 101
After including a high-profile cover on each of her first three album, Britney’s stuck mostly to original material since then. This was a notable exception, and it was great. Who knew Britney+Bobby would be a formula for success?

27. “Shattered Glass” (“Circus”)
I’m still a huge fan of the faux-80s sound of this one.

26. “Hot as Ice” (“Blackout”)
The medley she does live with this song, preceded by “Ooh Ooh Baby”, on The Circus Tour is one of my favorite parts of the show.

25. “Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
Did you know this track was co-written by Shania Twain and her ex-husband Mutt Lange. I’d bet if Twain sang it herself, most people would respect it more. Listen to it closely; it’s actually a very poignant song.

24. “Me Against the Music (Rishi Rich’s Desi Kulcha Remix)” (“In The Zone”)
This is the only remix that was ever included on a standard Britney Spears U.S. album release, and I actually like it better than the original version (thus the higher ranking). This remix was actually co-produced by Spears herself, and has a loose uptempo feel that the original lacks.

23. “Born to Make You Happy” (“...Baby One More Time”)
Some people thought this song -- particularly its title -- sent the wrong message to girls about their role in a relationship. I always thought it was more about the kind of emotion you feel when you’re truly in love with some one.

22. “Lonely” (“Britney”)
This is probably the closest Britney’s ever come to rapping herself, and it’s probably a good thing she hasn’t done it more often. Aside from that verse (which isn’t entirely terrible), the rest of this song is incredible.

21. “Radar” (“Blackout”; “Circus”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 88
Britney must really like this song if she included it on two albums. I don’t blame her. It’s fucking awesome.

Coming tomorrow: No. 1-20, and if you’re a longtime AdamReisinger.com reader, you probably already know what No. 1 is.

Friday Five - Eliza Dushku Roles

Back in February, before the series premiere of “Dollhouse”, I picked my Fave 5 Eliza Dushku roles. Well, fast forward seven months, and it’s time for the Season 2 premiere of “Dollhouse” tonight, which means it’s time for me to revisit the topic. And yes, there have been some changes since February.

5. Shaundi (voice) in “Saints Row 2”
I’m not sure there’s a non-sports game I’ve ever played as much as I played this game. Of all the supporting characters, I got the most enjoyment out of Dushku’s Shaundi, the gang-banging stoner. Most people don’t appreciate the work that goes into a voice role for a video game, but bad voice work can ruin the whole experience, so I applaud Eliza for her work on this one.

4. Dana Tasker in “True Lies”
Yes, it’s a relatively small supporting role, from back when Dushku was just 13 years old, but she holds her own against a group of talented actors and actresses. And I reiterate my sentiment from February that a sequel, in which Dushku has to team up with her dad (still played by Schwarzenegger) to save her mom from terrorists would be awesome.

3. Echo/Caroline in “Dollhouse”
For most of Season 1, I felt a little let down about how the show was using Dushku in the lead role. But as things went on, the role got so much better. Things really turned with “Echoes” and just got amazing with “Omega”. Also, if you haven’t seen the unaired season finale “Epitaph One” (available on the DVD/Blu-ray), Dushku does some amazing work with her character, despite limited screen time.

2. Missy Pantone in “Bring It On”
I still get shit from my friends for owning this DVD. I don’t care. I bought it back in college, because I was casually dating a cheerleader at the time and she loved it. I turns out I loved it too. “I transferred from Los Angeles/Your school has no gymnastics team/This is a last resort.” Still makes me laugh.

1. Faith in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”
For anyone who tries to claim that Eliza isn’t a good actress, I would point them to the four-episode, show-spanning arc that consisted of “This Year’s Girl” and “Who Are You” in Season 4 of “Buffy” along with “Five by Five” and “Sanctuary” on “Angel”. Her breakdown in the alley at the end of “Five by Five” is some of the best acting done in the 12 combined seasons of the two shows.

Series of Tubes: Rapid Reaction to “FlashForward” Premiere

Yes. Yes. Everything about that, yes.

“FlashForward” was easily my most anticipated new show of the 2009-10 TV season. A serial sci-fi drama with time distortion elements and a sprawling ensemble cast? It’s the “Lost” formula all over again -- hell, it’s even got Charlie (Dominic Monaghan, though he wasn’t in the premiere).

The first episode did a great job setting up the premise quickly, then moving into the meat of the story. If this had been like some of the other premieres this year (I’m looking at you “Eastwick”), we would have spent the first 34 minutes of the show meeting all the characters and setting up their back stories, then the blackout would have happened right before the last commercial break.

Instead, the blackout happened about 10 minutes in, and we actually got immediate glimpses of one character’s flash forward right away -- of course, it was the one that drove the rest of the plot, so that made sense. Also, I liked that we found out the content of a lot of the other characters flash forwards in this episode too. Remember back a couple years, when ABC debuted a new serial drama, “The Nine”?They decided to show a new clip from the bank robbery each week -- but that was the only clip we got each week. It was a horrible decision, and the show failed. With shows like this, we need lots of info quickly, then start adding layers. If you think back to Season 1, that’s actually how “Lost” worked. It didn’t get super murky until Season 2.

To make another comparison, this episode reminded me a lot of the premiere of “Heroes”, which not only set up the characters, but the outline for the entire story in Season 1. The cynical side of me wants to spend time worrying that “FlashForward” will be good for a season like “Heroes” then suck, but I’m not gonna care about that now. Instead, I just want to think about how good this episode was, and how good the rest of the season could be.

A couple of specific moments I really liked:

-Seth McFarlane’s role. Actually, just him playing a role. It was completely random to see the creator of “Family Guy” in a sci-fi show on ABC
-One of the flash forwards consisted of a character sitting on a toilet reading the sports page. He said he remembered reading that the Rays just completed a sweep of the Red Sox (not actually possible, since Boston is at Toronto on the date in question) and Kobe Bryant tore his knee and is out for the season (possible, but would have to happen during the NBA playoffs). If Kobe does suffer a knee injury this season, a lot of Laker fans are going to be pissed at “FlashForward”
-John Cho did a fantastic job as the character who didn’t see a future. I wonder just how far his character will go to prevent the future everyone saw (for example, if he just kills his partner, well, then that changes the future, right?)

I’m definitely sticking with this one.
Score: 10 (out of 10)

Ranking All 103 Britney Spears Songs: #41-60

A refresher for those of you who missed the last two days: leading up to Sunday’s Britney Spears concert in Las Vegas, I’m ranking every Britney Spears song of all-time. These are simply my opinions. There’s no scientific formula involved. If you disagree, well, leave a comment.

OK, on to today’s rankings...

60. “Mannequin” (“Circus”)
A lot of people were disappointed when this song -- which Britney performed live in Europe -- wasn’t on the set list when she came back to the U.S. I wasn’t one of them.

59. “Phonography” (“Circus”, deluxe edition)
I think I liked this song better when the album came out. It’s solid. Not great.

58. “I’ll Never Stop Loving You” (“...Baby One More Time”)
Yes, it’s a cheesy love song. I might sound like a girl, but I still like those.

57. “I’ve Just Begun (Having My Fun)” (“Greatest Hits: My Prerogative”)
This is the second-best song of all-time with “just begun” in the title (“We’ve Only Just Begun” by The Carpenters still holds that crown).

56. “Mmm Papi” (“Circus”)
Just a fun party song.

55. “Freakshow” (“Blackout”)
This is another song that I have a better appreciation for now that I’ve seen it live.

54. “When Your Eyes Say It” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
Diane Warren is an incredible songwriter.

53. “Trouble” (“Circus”, iTunes bonus track)
I kept trying to think of something witty to write here, playing on the name of the song, but instead, I’ll just say I like this song.

52. “Anticipating” (“Britney”)
This is a great song to drive to. It’s so fun and bouncy.

51. “Unusual You” (“Circus”)
This is one of those weird songs that’s caught between being uptempo and slow, but somehow it works.

50. “Showdown” (“In The Zone”)
I love the provocative lyrics in this one.

49. “Heaven on Earth” (“Blackout”)
Ya know, because Britney was in her full-fledged craziness mode, “Blackout” didn’t get the respect it deserved. This was one of a number of really good songs on the album.

48. “Touch of My Hand” (“In The Zone”)
I’ll be completely honest: I was pretty turned off by this song when it first came out. I don’t need to hear about Britney masturbating. But it’s actually a really good song.

47. “What U See (Is What You Get)” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
I like this song, but I hate that it has the fake phone call intro to “Lucky” tacked on to the end of it. I have to wait through it every time, just to keep my iTunes play counts accurate.

46. “Bombastic Love” (“Britney”)
This song is probably 10 spots higher than it should be, on the strength of the beat. It’s a really good Max Martin/Rami production.

45. “Lace and Leather” (“Circus”)
“French fingertips, red lips, bitch is dangerous.” Everything about that first line, yes.

44. “Brave New Girl” (“In The Zone”)
Completely random fact: back in 2003, this song was offered as a single on a mini-CD as part of a promotion with Sbarro’s. I worked at a mall at the time, where there was a Sbarro’s. I kept checking with them every day until they got the CD in. Somewhere in my basement, I still have that mini-CD.

43. “Do Somethin’” (“Greatest Hits: My Prerogative”)
U.S. Chart Peak: 100
Yes, this is the lowest-ranking charting single in my complete rankings. If I’d done these rankings a year ago, this song would actually be lower, but since I’ve seen Britney perform it live, I’ve come to like it more.

42. “Everybody” (“Blackout”, international edition)
I still can’t believe this song (with a sample from The Eurythmics) was left off the standard version of the album. It’s such a damn fun song.

41. “One Kiss from You” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
Another one of those cheesy pop songs from Britney’s early career, but it just works.

Coming tomorrow: No. 21-40, where we’ll finally get into some songs that casual Britney fans would recognize.

Series of Tubes: Wednesday's Premieres (Modern Family, Eastwick)

OK, so I totally intended to watch “Modern Family” and “Eastwick” last night, but I ended up watching Phillies-Marlins instead.

I finally caught up with them today, so here’s my “less-than-rapid” reaction.

Modern Family (9 ET on ABC)
This show was super-promoted on ABC. It’s got a ton of people who were in stuff I liked before. I figured it couldn’t be that bad. It was.

The best jokes (and I use best as a relative term) were already used in the commercials. The characters are incredibly one-dimensional, and I’m not sure there was a plot.

The only saving graces were the lovely Sofia Vergara (who was on “Knights of Prosperity”, which should have never been canceled), and Ed O’Neill being Al Bundy with a hotter wife (at one point, he called his adopted Vietnamese granddaughter “the little potsticker”).
Score: 3 (out of 10 -- 2 for Vergara’s rack, 1 for O’Neill’s dry humor)

Eastwick (10 ET on ABC)
A couple weeks ago, when “Vampire Diaries” premiered on The CW, I complained that it was too much “Diaries”, not enough “Vampire”. Then, the next week, things got better.

I’m hoping “Eastwick” is the same. This episode had a TON of set-up, but not nearly enough payoff. I guess with character introductions, that’s usually necessary, but as someone who’s seen “Witches of Eastwick”, I didn’t need that much character introduction.

I really like Rebecca Romijn in her role, though she reminds me a little bit of an older version of Phoebe Halliwell from the early seasons of “Charmed” -- complete with the premonitions. Also, she’s a HUGE upgrade from Cher.

Paul Gross, playing the Jack Nicholson role, is solid, but he’s no Jack. Also, I was sort of enjoying Lindsay Price, until I made the connection that she played Cathy the overtalker in “How I Met Your Mother” a couple years back. Now she just annoys the hell out of me.

Still, this show has potential.
Score: 6 (out of 10)

This Week in Comics - Amazing Spider-Man #606, Spider-Woman #1

What was once "Comics I Bought This Week" has a new title: "This Week in Comics". Yeah, I'm not that creative. Still, you can click the "twic" tag to get to all the past ones, so enjoy.
Amazing Spider-Man #606 - Marvel Comics
You know when "Spider-Man" is at its best? When the problems Peter is dealing with are more interesting than the problems Spider-Man is dealing with. I always like it when Spider-Man serves as Peter's escape from the craziness in his real life -- and then of course, things get flipped on their head, which is exactly what happened here.
It's not enough that Peter's roommate and his friend Norah are feuding (oh, and yes, Norah was being semi-racist in that scene, and it was kind of uncomfortable), but then MJ showed up. On top of all that, Black Cat is back in town, and of course, she kisses Spidey at the end of the issue. It's all captured on the big screens in Times Square, and MJ sees it happen. D'oh.
I loved Peter's internal monologue during the final Black Cat scene. We've all had that one crazy girlfriend who we know is no good for us, but for some reason we keep letting her back in. That's Black Cat for Spidey/Peter. He knows he'd be better off with Michelle, Norah or MJ, but somehow he lets himself slip back into Black Cat (not like that… not yet, anyway).
This issue was funny, light and enjoyable, plus incredibly well drawn (the J. Scott Campbell cover was AMAZING, and the internal artwork by Mike McKone and Andy Lanning is top notch.
Spider-Woman #1 - Marvel Comics
Everything that ASM 606 was, Spider-Woman 1 wasn't -- and that's a good thing. Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev have come together to create a book that's incredibly dark, both visually and in tone. Jessica Drew has always been one of Marvel's most screwed-over characters, and the first half off the book actually covers that history very well, as she throws herself something of a pity party (and if any character deserves to do that, it's her).
I was very impressed at how easily I was able to jump into this story. I've never been a Spider-Woman reader, and haven't been following the motion comic available on iTunes, but the way the book was written, I felt like I'm all caught up. More impressively, Bendis was able to accomplish this without making the book feel like a complete refresher or introduction to the character.
What caught my eye the most though -- and this is rare for me -- was the art. From the cover to the final panel, Maleev's style managed to completely draw me into the book (no pun intended). The panels were very dark, which I'd assume was an intentional art decision to reflect the emotional state of the character. Also, I loved what he was able to do with the fight toward the end of the book (I won't spoil who the fight was with, or how it ended).

Ranking All 103 Britney Spears Songs: #61-80

A refresher for those of you who missed yesterday’s post: leading up to Sunday’s Britney Spears concert in Las Vegas, I’m ranking every Britney Spears song of all-time.

Before we get to today’s list (No. 61 - No. 80), let’s hit the breaking news of the day. On Nov. 24, Britney will release a compilation of all her singles, including a new song -- “3” -- which will hit airwaves on Sept. 29.

To answer your questions:

-yes, I will be buying the ultimate fan boxset, despite the fact I already have multiple copies of all these songs
-no, I’m not re-doing my rankings for “3”, since it’s still not out yet.

OK, on to today’s rankings

80. “That’s Where You Take Me” (“Britney”)
This is my lowest-ranked song from the standard edition of “Britney”. “Britney” is the only album that placed all of its standard tracks in the top 80.

79. “Get Back” (“Blackout”, iTunes bonus track)
I’m kind of surprised this wasn’t included on the regular edition of the album. It’s a solid track, and fits with the sound of the other tracks that were included.

78. “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” (“Britney”)
I like this song a lot, just not when performed by Britney Spears. Gimme Joan Jett any day of the week.

77. “Blur” (“Circus”)
This song has grown on me since “Circus” first came out.

76. “Toy Soldier” (“Blackout”)
Ditto for this one, which at one point might have been in my bottom 10, but gets better every time I hear it.

75. “Where Are You Now” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
Easily the worst of the six Max Martin-penned tracks on this album.

74. “I Run Away” (“Britney”, iTunes Deluxe Edition)
This song was the B-side to “Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know”. I really liked it when it came out, but it hasn’t aged well.

73. “Perfect Lover” (“Blackout”)
The same foursome that wrote this song also wrote “Gimme More” and “Break the Ice”. It’s pretty clear that this is the worst of that trio of tracks.

72. “Rock Me In” (“Circus”)
I think I liked this song more when the album first came out than I do now. It’s moving in the opposite direction of “Blur”, and if I redo these rankings in a year, they may have flipped spots. But for now, “Rock Me In” gets the nod.

71. “Mona Lisa” (“Britney and Kevin: Chaotic”)
To reiterate yesterday’s sentiment, I hate Kevin Federline.

70. “Autumn Goodbye” (“...Baby One More Time”, international edition)
This song was the b-side to the single of “...Baby One More Time”, so I definitely played it a lot back in ’98 (when I actually had the cassette single of “...Baby One More Time”).

69. “And Then We Kiss” (“B In the Mix: The Remixes”)
The original version of this song was supposed to be on “Britney and Kevin: Chaotic”, but got cut. To this day, the only official version that’s ever been released is the Junkie XL Remix. I kind of wonder what the original version sounds like.

68. “Out From Under” (“Circus”)
I have to be honest. I end up skipping this song way more often than I should, because it’s a slow song in the middle of a great run of five up-tempo songs on the album. At least it marks the next line of demarcation, between songs I’m not crazy about (69-88) and songs I like. Again, I’ll let you know when we get to the next level.

67. “Let Me Be” (“Britney”)
I probably moved this song up and down the rankings more than any other. It ended up here, which still feels low to me.

66. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
I actually feel bad about liking this cover as much as I do. My apologies to the Rolling Stones, but I’ve definitely played this version more than your original.

65. “Someday (I Will Understand)” (“Britney and Kevin: Chaotic”)
I’m not sure we’ll ever understand why Britney married K-Fed.

64. “Shadow” (“In The Zone”)
This is the first song from this album to show up in the rankings since “The Hook Up” at No. 84. In fact, eight of the 15 tracks from “In The Zone” show up my top 40. I would not have expected that.

63. “The Beat Goes On” (“...Baby One More Time”)
This is the highest ranked of the three classic covers on Britney Spears’s first three albums.

62. “Cinderella” (“Britney”)
Like “Let Me Be”, this song moved a lot in the rankings. I feel like it ended up in the right place.

61. “Deep In My Heart” (“...Baby One More Time”, international edition)
I always have to remind myself that this song wasn’t on the U.S. “...Baby One More Time” release for two reasons. First, it’s pretty good. Second, on the Australian version of the album (which I have), it’s track 9, which is a weird placement for a bonus track. It was also the b-side for “Oops!... I Did It Again” (and yes, I do have that single, but on CD, not cassette).

Coming tomorrow: No. 41-60, including the lowest-ranked of the 24 songs that have charted in the U.S.

Tuesday Countdown: T-Minus 126 Hours to Britney Spears

It’s that time again. This Sunday, I’ll be in Las Vegas to watch the North American finale of “The Circus Tour Starring Britney Spears” -- and yes, there’s still time for you to join me.

I’m taking entries for the Britney Spears Ticket Contest up until the very last minute. I haven’t received one yet that made me say “I have to give this person the ticket”, so you’ve still got a chance. If you’ve already entered, e-mail me again and state your case. I’m open to anything (even bribes, though I’d much rather prefer to just give this ticket away to someone who deserves it).

In advance of the concert, I’m going to be ranking every Britney Spears song of all-time, starting later tonight with #81-103.

To do this, first I had to determine exactly what constituted a Britney Spears song. I have 377 tracks in my iTunes Library where Britney Spears is listed at the artist. Some of these are flat-out duplicates, and many of them are dance remixes that don’t really deserve classification as their own song. I’ve also got an entire album of Pepsi commercials, which doesn’t really count.

So, after evaluating all my Britney albums -- including all international bonus tracks -- and some EPs and other randomness, I came up with a list of 103 songs. I counted the two versions of “Boys” as separate songs, as well as the two versions of “Me Against the Music” that were included on the standard version of “In The Zone”. I didn’t count the Darkchild remix of “Overprotected” as a different song, since I had trouble separating it from the original version when I did my rankings.

I don’t want to give away too much, but my rankings turned out pretty balanced. In my Top 20 Britney Songs, there were three songs from “Baby One More Time”, three from “Oops!...I Did It Again”, three from “Britney”, three from “In the Zone”, two from “Blackout” and four from “Circus” (and yes, I’m aware that only adds up to 18... you’ll just have to wait until Saturday to find out where the other two songs came from).

Ranking All 103 Britney Spears Songs: #81-103

And so it begins...

For those who missed today’s earlier post, let me quickly explain this project again.

In advance of Sunday’s Britney Spears concert in Las Vegas, I’m going to be ranking every Britney Spears song of all-time, starting later tonight with #81-103.

After evaluating all my Britney albums -- including all international bonus tracks -- and some EPs and other randomness, I came up with a list of 103 songs. I didn’t count every single dance remix, nor any of the Pepsi commercials. If you think I missed a song, just shoot me a message about it, and either I’ll fix my rankings or explain why I left the song out.

So, let’s start at the bottom and work our way up to No. 1, which will be revealed on Saturday.

103. “Soda Pop” (“...Baby One More Time”)
Some song has to be her worst, and this is it. I called this song out as terrible in my review of “...Baby One More Time” back when it first came out, and 10 years hasn’t changed my opinion.

102. “Rock Boy” (“Circus”, digital bonus track)

101. “When I Found You” (“Britney”, iTunes Deluxe Edition)

100. “You Got It All” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”, European Edition)

99. “Before the Goodbye” (“Britney”, iTunes Deluxe Edition)

98. “Outta This World” (“Blackout”, Target Special Edition)

OK, at this point I feel the need to chime in. Sometimes “bonus track” is music industry code for “crap we didn’t think was good enough to make the cut for the album”. That happens a lot with Britney Spears, which is why so many of these are filling my bottom 20+. There are some good ones, and we get to them eventually.

97. “Over to You Now” (“Britney and Kevin: Chaotic”)
I hate everything that has to do with Kevin Federline.

96. “Quicksand” (“Circus”, European iTunes Edition)

95. “Don’t Hang Up” (“In The Zone” DVD Exclusive)

94. “I Will Be There” (“...Baby One More Time”)
There’s a lot of crap from Britney’s early albums hanging out down here. Some of the stuff before she got control of her own career is pretty bad.

93. “The Answer” (“In The Zone” DVD Exclusive)
Apparently I’m not a fan of the music CD that was packaged with the “In The Zone” DVD. I can see why these songs were cut from an otherwise strong album.

92. “Dear Diary” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”)
Do 19-year-old girls still keep diaries? And even if they did, would they sound like 12-year-olds? Note: this is my lowest-ranked song from the standard edition of “Oops!... I Did It Again”.

91. “Why Should I Be Sad” (“Blackout”)
I’d call it an automatic skip, but it’s the last song of the album, so it’s more like an automatic stop. Note: this is my lowest-ranked song from the standard edition of “Blackout”.

90. “Walk On By” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”, Australian Edition)

89. “Chaotic” (“Britney and Kevin: Chaotic”)

88. E-Mail My Heart (“...Baby One More Time”)
This is pretty much the line of demarcation between songs I dislike (89 and lower) and songs I’m just not crazy about (starting with 88). When we hit the next line, I’ll be sure to let you know. As for this song itself, it’s actually sweet, but the title is so cheesy, it’s hard to get past that.

87. “My Baby” (“Circus”)
Note: this is my lowest-ranked song from the standard edition of “Circus”.

86. “Heart” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”, European edition)

85. “Thinkin’ About You” (“...Baby One More Time”)

84.“The Hook Up” (“In The Zone”)
Note: this is my lowest-ranked song from the standard edition of “In The Zone”.

83. “Amnesia” (“Circus”, Britney.com bonus track)
With all the digital version, international versions and deluxe editions, there are 19 tracks on “Circus”, not counting the two remixes on “Womanizer”. That might be just a bit too many.

82. “Girl in the Mirror” (“Oops!... I Did It Again”, European edition)

81. “I Will Still Love You” (“...Baby One More Time”
This is a duet with Don Phillip. Who is Don Phillip? I bet Britney Spears would respond with that same question if you told her she did a duet with Don Phillip.

Series of Tubes: Rapid Reaction to Monday’s Premieres

This year I’m going to try something different for “Series of Tubes” (which, if you don’t remember, is what I call my TV wrap-ups). Instead of waiting for the end of the week to write about what I’ve watched, I’m going to do quick posts the next day.

For today, I’m going to focus on the three season premieres I watched last night (sorry “Gossip Girl”, you get screwed because you premiered a week early).

How I Met Your Mother (8 ET on CBS)
The teases about the still unknown mother are getting old, but that was the only bad thing about this episode. I love Barney and Robin as a pseudo-couple, and anything that gets Robin into a Canucks jersey is fine by me. Ted’s initial failure at teaching was pretty funny (though not as funny as the vision of Barney popping up in his class and pointing at the hot blonde’s breasts).

It also must be mentioned that the no-longer pregnant Cobie Smulders and Alyson Hannigan were looking phenomenal.
Score: 8 (out of 10)

Heroes (8 and 9 ET on NBC)
So wait, this year’s villains are carneys? What is this, “The Simpsons”? Look, I’ve put up with a lot of shit from this show just so I could get my Hayden Panettiere fix, but this two-parter was just awful.

I am now actively rooting against every character with the exception of Claire (I still heart Hayden) and Peter, who seems to have embraced his powers and is going around New York saving lives under the guise of being a paramedic. It’s the most comic-like storyline this show has had since season 1. Focus on that, drop the government crap, kill Parkman, and maybe, just maybe, this show won’t completely suck.

Also, for a show that’s always had a lot of product placement, yesterday’s episode was just over the top. Sprint and Nissan can go fuck themselves. Oh, and in one scene, Claire’s creepy clingy new friend is describing a forensic experiment. Claire asks how she knew about that stuff and she said she saw it on “Crossing Jordan.” Now, for those of you that don’t know (and judging by the ratings, that’s pretty much everyone), “Crossing Jordan” is an NBC show. I have no idea what it’s about, but given the context of the conversation, I’d assume it’s some kind of CSI clone. So why didn’t the character just saw “I saw it on ‘CSI’”? Because CSI’s on CBS, and Heroes isn’t.
Score: 4 (out of 10)

Castle (10 ET on ABC)
On a related note, ABC’s “Castle” actually made reference to “CSI”, which immediately puts it ahead of “Heroes” in my book.

While I enjoyed the episode, I’d like to see more of Castle’s family, and less of the two quipping cops that work with Beckett. Castle’s daughter -- who saved his relationship with Beckett at the end thanks to some timely accidental advice -- is a good character. Also, she actually acts like a teenager most of the time, as opposed to say, for example, the kids on “Gossip Girl”, who are really depicted as mini-30-somethings.
Score: 7 (out of 10)

Happy Anniversary Sarah 'N' PooZ

It's hard to believe it's already been two years, isn't it. But it was two years ago today that Sarah Victor officially became Sarah Puziak (and, as an aside, I still think PooZ should have taken her name. Christopher Victor -- isn't that a great villain name?).

They're off doing who knows what today, so I'm going to use the little slice of the Internet I share with PooZ to wish them a happy anniversary in video form. I'm sure they'll recognize the song. Enjoy.

This Week in Buffy History: September 20-26

September 20
1977 - Charlie Weber born (played Ben in Season 5)

September 21
1961 - Serena Scott Thomas born (played Gwendolyn Post on Episode 3.07 “Revelations”)
1999 - Episode 3.18, “Earshot”, airs on The WB (delayed from original date due to sensitive content/Columbine shooting)

September 22
1997 - Episode 2.02, “Some Assembly Required”, airs on The WB

September 23
1947 - Caroline Lagerfelt born (played Anne, Spike’s mother, on episode 7.17 “Lies My Parents Told Me”)

September 24
2001 - Angel Episode 3.01 “Heartthrob” airs on The WB
2002 - Episode 7.01 “Lessons” airs on UPN

September 25
1954 - Randy Thompson born (played Dr. Kriegel in Season 5)
1977 - Clea DuVall born (played Marcie Ross on Episode 1.11 “Out of Mind, Out of Sight”)

September 26
2000 - Episode 5.01 “Buffy vs Dracula” airs on The WB
2000 - Angel Episode 2.01 “Judgement” airs on The WB

Towson Tigers Give Rob Ambrose Win in Home Debut, 21-17

TOWSON, MD -- First-year Towson head coach Rob Ambrose got his first win in his home debut, with the helped of a dropped pass. Sort of.

"He didn't get his hands on there," Coastal Carolina head coach David Bennett said of wide receiver Akeem Wesley, the intended target on the Chanticleers final offensive play. "He's I'm sure a little nervous, a redshirt freshman, so what he tried to do, he didn't drop the ball. It hit off his pads."

Ambrose, himself a former Towson wide receiver, sympathized with Wesley.

"That's one that, as a player, I can remember that would haunt me," he said. "It won't be the play itself, it'll be how [Wesley] responds that pretty much determines where they go."

Coastal Carolina fell to 1-2 on the year, while the Tigers improved to 1-1 in 2009. They also snapped a six-game overall losing streak. Towson is 12-1 in its last 13 home openers, but the previous 12 of those games came under Gordy Combs. This was the first home opener for Ambrose, and he acknowledged the importance of the win after the game.

"For the first time in a long time, we believed," he said. "We believed. And I'm going to congratulate the players, the staff, the town, the university, the students, all the fans, all the businesses that helped us out. Because, I told the players, there's a vibe here."

For the first time in more than a year, that vibe included multiple forced turnovers on defense. Towson had only three interceptions all of last season, but picked off two passes Saturday night, including a key grab of a deflected pass by Ollie Thomas in the fourth quarter.

"This year, we're focusing on squeezing the ball, making plays on defense however we can get them," Thomas said.

On the other side of the ball, Towson overcame three turnovers while rotating freshmen Peter Athens and Tommy Chroniger under center. After using Athens almost exclusively last week, Ambrose unveiled the quarterback rotation he'd been promising throughout the preseason. The two freshman alternated series for most of the game, though Ambrose rode Athens's hot hand through most of the second quarter.

"We knew they were both going to play," Ambrose said. "I've been saying that forever, but no one believes me. So they both played."

Athens finished 13-of-18 for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Chroniger hooked up with tight end John Godlasky for the Tigers first points, but finished the game just 4-of-7 for 45 yards. The two quarterbacks combined for three interceptions -- two by Chroniger and a one by Athens late in the fourth quarter that set up the potential go-ahead drive for Coastal Carolina.

Earlier in the quarter, Athens put Towson ahead by 11 points with a perfectly placed pass to David Newsom, who broke free from coverage after a pump fake by Athens caused the defensive back to bite on the route. Newsom himself had already made an adjustment on the play, even before the fake.

"It was supposed to be a double-move, but since they were in press coverage, I had to change the route," he said. "That was part of the play. If it was press coverage, change the route."

After splitting carries two weeks ago against Northwestern -- and early in the game Saturday -- Tremayne Dameron emerged as the Tigers feature back, finishing with 21 rushes for 84 yards. The redshirt freshman also caught seven passes for 61 yards.

"He grew up during the week," Ambrose said. "As young guys tend to do, he got a little complacent in his role. We decided to undo that. We put [Paul] Stefanik in there, we moved [Dominique] Booker and let him carry the ball a little bit. And all of the sudden, Tremayne got smarter, tougher and more consistent."

Ambrose hopes his young team will continue to get smarter as a whole, overcoming some of the mistakes that led to 12 penalties Saturday.

"They're wrapped up in the win, so I didn't say anything about that after the game," Ambrose said, "but you go out to Chicago in a big game like that and walk away with three penalties and now you have 12. That's not us. How do I address it? Not with kid gloves."

The other issue Towson will have to address is its propensity for giving up the big play. Coastal Carolina QB Zach MacDowall, who replaced the injured Jamie Childers midway through the game, completed 11 of his 21 passes for 185 yards, including three completions of more than 20 yards. Childers was 9-of-13 passing for 110 yards, and had an 83-yard run called back due to a holding penalty. After the game, Bennett had high praise for Childers, who earned his first career start, coming back from a bout with meningitis in 2008.

"He's taller than Tim Tebow, he's faster than Tim Tebow, he might have a stronger arm than Tim Tebow," Bennett said, comparing the sophomore to Florida's Heisman Trophy winner. "I thought he'd be a guy like that, but when he got that meningitis, he went into a funk. He's slowly coming out of that."

Next up for Towson is a short road trip to Morgan State. The Tigers have beaten the Bears in each of their last four meetings.

NEXT-LEVEL PASSING ANALYSIS

Overall, Peter Athens and Tommy Chroniger combined to go 17-of-25 for 177 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. They were best on short passes, completing all 10 of their attempts to targets less than six yards downfield. The deep passing game was ineffective all game, resulting in all 3 Tiger turnovers.

Towson Passing by Down
1st down: 3-of-4, 33 yards
2nd down: 8-of-11, 87 yards, TD, INT
3rd down: 6-of-10, 57 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT

Towson Passing by Distance
Targets 5 or less yards downfield: 9-of-9, 78 yards, TD
Targets 6-14 yards downfield: 6-of-7, 62 yards, TD
Targets 15+ yards downfield: 2-of-8, 37 yards, TD, 3 INT
No Target: 0-1 (Chroniger hit while throwing)

Towson Passing by Direction
Left: 6-of-9, 75 yards, TD
Middle: 5-of-6, 54 yards, TD
Right: 6-of-10, 48 yards, TD, 3 INT

Postgame News Conference Audio
- Towson - 14:56, 7.2 MB
- Delaware - 5:42, 2.7 MB

September Comics Update

Hey, so it's been awhile since I did a "comics I bought this week" post, mostly because until this week, it'd been awhile since I bought a bunch of comics. It's not that stuff I usually buy wasn't coming out, I just kept finding other things to do rather than go to the comics shop.

So this week I finally made a run, and figured I'd share some opinions with you. I'm not going to run down everything in the last three weeks individually. Instead I'll do some quick hits.

Amazing Spider-Man #604 and #605 - Marvel Comics

OK, somewhere along the line, "Amazing Spider-Man" got good again. I really enjoyed these last two issues (and not just because MJ was a huge part of them). The explanation of how Peter survived Chameleon's acid chamber was satisfying, the hijinks of Peter dealing with the things Chameleon messed up in his life were funny, and MJ was awesome. I'd particularly recommend #605 to any MJ fans (the first half of the issue is an entirely MJ-focused flashback story).

Invincible Iron-Man #17 and #18 - Marvel Comics

After issue 16, I started to speculate to myself about where this Tony Stark memory erasing story was going. Were we ever going to see Tony actually become stupid, and how would they handle that in the book. Well, that played out over these two issues, and they handled it perfectly. I like how this storyline has slowly turned into a reverse Iron Man reboot, without forcing the issue. Also Pepper's plot to trick Madame Masque was awesome. I like this incarnation of Pepper was better than any previous version.

Fallen Angel: Reborn #3 - IDW Publishing

Can I get Peter David writing all my "Angel"-based books? No? Why not? The writing in this book is incredible. Illyria feels like Illyria, and Liandra has the right mix of witticism and profanity. And great job by J.K. Woodward bringing the arctic environment of this issue to life.

Angel: Only Human #2 - IDW Publishing

If Peter David can't write all my "Angel" books, then Scott Lobdell could certainly step in. First off, huge props for bringing back The Scourge, all the way from Season 1 of "Angel". An incredibly cool villain for Illyria and Gunn to deal with. Also, David Messina continues to be the best regular "Angel" artist. He manages to make Illyria look sexy and intimidating at the same time.

Angel #25 - IDW Publishing

After reading issue #25 -- the second part of the Drusilla story -- I actually like issue #24 even less. There weren't many answers here, and this doesn't impact the main Angel story in any way. What this was was a two-issue sendoff to a great character. On some level, Drusilla deserved some kind of send-off, an acknowledgment of her impact on the show and how great a character she was, but this was just weird and disjointed (kind of like Drusilla herself). The artwork was amazing, but I could really use more story advancement in the main Angel plot at this point.

For my review of Buffy #28, check AdamReisinger.com.

NEXT WEEK: The only regular book on my list is Spider-Man #606, which has the return of Black Cat, with an incredible J. Scott Campbell cover. My rule is when you've got a character inked on your arm, you get her cover appearances.

I'm also considering picking up the Bendis/Maleev helmed Spider-Woman #1. I've never been a Spider-Woman reader, but now would seem as good a time as any to get in.

Friday Five - Memorable Towson Football Games

Since I forgot to do a Tuesday Countdown this week, I figured I’d give my alma mater the spotlight in the Friday Five. So let’s take a trip down memory lane and run down five memorable Towson games I saw in person -- and yes, not all of these were wins, or even great games, but they were memorable to me for some reason or another.

5. Sept. 3, 1998 - Towson 15, Morgan State 10
This was the first game I ever went to, in my first week at the school. It wasn’t a particularly well-played game, but Towson opened up the track around the field to a standing-room crowd, and set a then-stadium record for attendance.

4. Nov. 17, 2001 - Towson 27, Georgetown 9
It was a disappointing senior season for me, but it ended on a high note. Sporty Evans scored a pair of touchdowns against Georgetown -- delivering on a pregame promise to score in front of his hometown DC fans -- and Matt Romeo had a huge game running the football.

3. Sept. 1, 2001 - Albany 14, Towson 10
This wasn’t a particularly good game by either team, and was a bad omen for the 2001 season. The reason I remember this game fondly is it was the first game I covered for the Baltimore Sun. I was an intern who’d been there less than a week, but when they found out I’d be at the game for my school paper, they asked if I’d write their game story too. Mostly, it was them being cheap (by having an intern do the story, they didn’t have to pay a stringer), but it was still cool for me to get a byline in a major paper at 21 years old.

2. Sept. 5, 2002 - Towson 49, Morgan State 28
Truthfully, it’s not the game I remember in this one. Having just graduated a few months earlier, I made the trip down to Maryland for the 2002 season opener, and had the honor of meeting Johnny Unitas in the press box. He had just started working for the school, and was very cordial. Unfortunately, he passed away six days later. I was lucky to have met him when I did.

1. Oct. 30, 1999 - Lehigh 44, Towson 39
Yes, Towson lost, but that’s not what people remember from this game, even 10 years later. Joe Lee had already put up some video game-like numbers in his only season as the starter, but this game was insane. Lee was 47-of-77 for 576 yards. Read that again. He threw 77 passes (at the time an FCS record). He had 30 incompletions, and his completion percentage was still above 60%. After the game, Lee was still heartbroken about a pick-six he’d thrown early in the game that ended up accounting for the winning points for Lehigh. Amazingly, all the Lehigh players and coaches wanted to talk about was Lee. They jokingly asked where Towson had been hiding him (Lee spent three seasons as Kevin Smith’s backup) and were amazed that anyone could have completed that many passes and thrown for that many yards against their defense. This was Ambrose’s spread offense at its most efficient, and even though it came in a loss, I’ll never forget that game.

Thoughts on Tamir Goodman’s Brief Towson Career

So the news crossed the wire that Tamir Goodman, who spent a season-and-a-half at Towson, announced his retirement from basketball. Goodman has been playing in Israel for the last few years, not a surprise for someone once dubbed “the Jewish Jordan.”

Goodman never lived up to that label -- nor did he ever particularly like it -- and his professional career wasn’t particularly special from an on-court perspective.

Still, his time at Towson happened to coincide with my two years covering the men’s basketball team and two particular moments stand out in my mind all these years later.

The first came in Goodman’s freshman season. He was starting for the Tigers, who weren’t having a particularly great season. Still, his presence brought fans out to the games (home and road), particularly Jewish fans. During winter break, I was at home in Hartford when Towson came up for a road game against the University of Hartford.

Sitting on press row for the game, I was struck by how much it felt like a Towson home game. There was a huge Jewish rooting section, there specifically for Goodman -- most of them had probably never been to a Hartford Hawks game before, and didn’t care at all about the home team. Hartford won the game, and afterwards, Goodman just wanted to get on the team bus, but he took the time to meet with the large Jewish contingent that stuck around to greet him. That was what struck me throughout that season -- as much as Goodman was singled out by the Jewish community, he just wanted to be part of the team.

Things had shifted by the next season, when Michael Hunt stepped in as the new coach, replacing the fired Mike Jaskulski. Coach Jaz had been the one who reached out to Goodman after Maryland rescinded its scholarship offer, and Goodman had worked well with him. Goodman never got along with Hunt from the beginning, as Hunt wasn’t willing to just hand him a starting job.

Early in the season, Goodman was backing up Brian Allen and had seen his minutes drastically cut, from 27 MPG as a freshman compared to about 12 as a sophomore (as an aside, both Allen and Goodman ranked among the national leaders in turnover percentage, which was Hunt’s biggest source of frustration every time I interviewed him).

After one particularly bad loss, Hunt went off on the team in the locker room. Though no one who was in the room that night has ever detailed exactly what happened, Goodman filed assault charges against Hunt, alleging that the coach kicked a stool at him, then held it over his head. The charges were eventually dropped. Goodman never played for Towson again, and Hunt was gone two years later.

I still vividly remember two things about that incident. The first was talking to the University Police department the next day. At The Towerlight, we had a good relationship with the police department and they’d always been forthcoming with information -- not in this case. This wasn’t because Goodman was an athlete -- the police once fed us details about a raid on a local bar in which more than a dozen Towson athletes were cited for underage drinking -- and we never found out whether Goodman’s side or the University itself put the clamps on the information coming out, but the lack of information itself was very enlightening.

The other came the next day, at Towson’s practice - which was already strange because it was being held at Burdick Gym instead of the Towson Center. I’d been to countless practices over my three-plus years at the school, and for about 99% of those, I was the only media member in attendance. Not at this practice. Reporters from the AP, The Baltimore Sun and The Washington Post, among others, were there. Towson’s SID was also there, making sure that no one was talking to Hunt or any of the players about the Goodman incident.

After the practice, Hunt didn’t want to talk to anyone, but he saw me there, and singled me out in front of the media. I can’t remember his exact words, but it was something along the lines of “Adam’s the only one of you who’s been to a practice before, so he’s the only one I’m talking to.”

I still wasn’t allowed to ask him any questions about Goodman (well, technically, I could have asked, but he wouldn’t have answered, and the interview would have ended right there), so instead I asked about the two other players who weren’t at practice that day (Allen, who had a family situation, and Mike Shin, who had a class that conflicted with that scheduled practice every week). Hunt answered, and proceeded to answer all my other questions too. You could tell he was pissed about the entire situation though, and on some level, he was glad Goodman wouldn’t be coming back.

Now Goodman’s basketball career is done and he moves on to the next phase of his life. I wish him all the best.