“DO NOT DISTURB”

The season premiere of DO NOT DISTURB starts Wednesday, September 10 (9:30:-10:00 PM) on FOX. This all takes place at an Inn with Jerry O’Connell as the general manager who is part of the “upstairs” group – the classy, public people. The others work in the basement and always want to be upstairs while the upstairs people keep coming down to the basement where it’s more fun. This episode is entitled “Work Sex.” It seems that some hanky-panky went on and was written up in a New York magazine, so Rhonda (Niecy Nash), who is head of Human Resources, attempts to put a stop to any promiscuity taking place in the work place. The meeting takes place, but nothing is settled.

There are many funny lines in this episode, but it feels as if they are trying too hard and attempting to do too much in a half-hour show. Everything seems overdone to me with too much crammed into a short amount of time. It all just seemed rather silly, but possibly in the coming episodes things will settle down a little. I certainly hope so!

“BONES”

The two-hour Season Four premiere of BONES starts Wednesday, September 3 – 8:00-10:00 PM on FOX. I didn’t start watching BONES until the middle of the last season, and when I did, I was hooked! This show has Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), a forensic anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian Institute in Wash. DC, and Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) FBI Homicide Investigation Unit. Brennan is the expert with bones - really old bones - and Agent Booth helps with the homicide part of it. They have a team that works with them, and they are all very good. I like the ongoing commentary between Brennan and Booth which is always humorous. There is so much forensic gobbledygook talk that goes on, and I’m sure the majority of the audience hasn’t the faintest idea what they’re talking about. But it doesn’t matter at all as they make things so funny, and that’s what makes it good.

In the pilot episode, Brennan and Booth travel to London on business at Oxford University and Scotland Yard. While they’re in London, a murder takes place there and they’re drawn in to help with the investigation. And things are happening back at the Jeffersonian with the rest of the team. They’re helping the ones in London in a long-distance sort of way, and also dealing with their own personal problems. There are many shots of scenery in London which make this episode even more interesting.

This is a very fun pilot episode, and I found myself being drawn into it more and more. I hope they keep on with the great writing. This should be another hit for BONES.

“FRINGE”

“Fringe” is a new FOX show premiering Tuesday, September 9 – 8:00-9:30PM. I watched the pilot yesterday and again this morning. There was so much happening in this show, and I wanted to make sure I saw everything. It was exciting! It begins with a wild scene on an airplane coming in for a landing which is both shocking and horrifying. From there it deals with the cause of the plane incident which will not be easy. The three main characters are a pretty, female FBI agent, a scientist who was slapped into an institution (not a good institution) many years ago and his estranged son who becomes un-estranged as soon as he gets his dad released from the loony bin. They then go to work, trying to figure out why all the creepy things happened on that plane, but they end up finding out more than they expected. The female FBI agent is very pretty and smart, the scientist is brilliant and his son is no slouch in that department either. The three of them make a good team.

There is everything in this show – romance, mystery and humor which I like. It also has much action – buildings blowing up, wild car chases – lots of Kaboom!! Who could ask for anything more?

I think this show will be a big hit. I know I’ll be watching.

Stargate SG-l time at the compound!


Here is Harry, eyes glued to my television screen which is showing an episode of Stargate SG-l. Harry and his parents came to visit last Thursday, and the parents, Teri and Mark, left Friday morning for San Francisco. They returned Sunday evening. When Teri told me in advance that Harry would bring some Stargate SG-l episodes, I didn’t know that meant he would be bringing the whole season! I didn’t even know what Stargate was and thought maybe I’d watch a couple of episodes and that would be “bonding” enough. I never watch shows with creepy people from other galaxies, roboty people, people with strange marks on their bodies and dress in very weird outfits. I never watched “The Terminator” movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger simply because I don’t like that type of movie and I’m not wild about Arnold. I never watched any of the many “Star Trek” series and wouldn’t have even if someone had paid me . . . although it would have depended upon the amount. I like cop shows, crazy sitcoms and shows with real people dressed as real people. But Harry drew me into his Stargate world and we watched it all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday! He explained each episode to me as I lay on the couch in a sort of funk - I just couldn’t seem to take everything in. However, I did become acquainted with the main characters who were trying to save earth from all the weirdos out there . . . and there were a lot of those. Things were humorous at times, so that made it better.

I think I was a Stockholm Syndrome survivor by the time they left this morning. I found myself wondering what was happening in Stargate world, but all the DVDs were gone. I washed some clothes, changed the bed and shuffled around the house. I did introduce Harry to the “Craig Ferguson” show which I put on my DVR each night. We’d watch every morning before Stargate. Harry liked Craig which made my watching Stargate worthwhile. I think I accomplished something on this visit.

So I think we all had a good time – I know I did. And now I don’t have to fight Harry for the television remote anymore. What is it about men and boys who always want to have the remote and surf around while watching a program? I tried to explain to Harry that it was mine, but it never did sink in. Men can be so dense sometimes.

End of the vacation

Harry and I had quite a time while he was here. So much Stargate SG-1 – I was totally overwhelmed. Harry got excited each time he explained to me the episode he was going to play. We took breaks for peanut butter sandwiches, but most of the time it was all business. I was exhausted, but as long as I was by him on the couch and still breathing, he seemed quite happy.

This picture was taken of Harry and me the afternoon before they flew back to New York. Don’t we look happy? Could it be that I am extremely excited, knowing I will have no more Stargate to watch, and could it be that Harry is so looking forward to getting home where he can watch his show and not have to explain it to his partially brain-dead grandma? Or could it be that we really enjoyed each other and had a very good time on this visit? Who knows the answer? All I know is that I love Harry very much and hope he feels the same about me.

Bonding with Harry

My grandson, Harry, and his parents, Teri and Mark, are coming to visit this week from New York. I found this photo of Harry and Aunt Cindy taken when Harry was a new baby and very young and Aunt Cindy was very young. But now Harry is almost thirteen and Aunt Cindy is almost . . . I’m not quite sure. It’s a very sweet picture, and Harry adores his Aunt Cindy.

We thought this trip would be a good time for me to “bond” with Harry since I see him so seldom. I’m not quite sure what is expected of me except my recipe for baked spam which Harry loves and my chocolate cookies and whipped cream recipe which he also loves. Is there more to bonding than that? Teri said Harry is bringing his Stargate SG-1 DVD collection for me to watch with him. I am so looking forward to that! I’ll also have things for him to watch such as Craig Ferguson on his late-night show. I love Craig. He gets so silly and throws in many innuendoes during his opening monologues, but that’s why he makes me laugh. I put him on my DVR every night. I think Harry will like him – I will see to it that he likes him. That’s what grandmas are for – to get their grandchildren heading in the right direction, and I plan to give it my all.

Teri and Mark will be gone for a few days so Harry and I will be alone. They thought that would be a good opportunity for the bonding to really set in. During that time we’ll probably live on spam and possibly a trip to Subway. We’ll have a ball!

I went shopping today for “Harry” food. It was not as easy as I thought it would be. Who knew there were all kinds of different Frosted Flakes? Some have less sugar, fewer calories, and more vitamins and on and on. And peanut butter – some kinds have less fat, some are crunchy, some are smooth and some are really, really crunchy. It used to be you could go into a market and come out in 10 minutes with everything you wanted. Now it takes forever. I looked at the Klondike bars in frozen foods. I see ads on TV for them and find myself almost drooling. They look like a chocolate cookie and whipped cream dish I whip up only it’s already whipped up and just waiting for someone to find it! I opened the door and everything fogged up as I stood staring at them. I finally shut the door, but the fog on it kept me from seeing them as I pressed my nose against the glass. I didn’t get any as I already had the Oreo cookies for my recipe. I wish you could get just one Klondike bar instead of a whole package.

That was the end of my “Harry” shopping . . . for today.

Here’s Teri in one of the many first-day-of-school pictures I have of Cindy and her. Teri was eight years old and in the third grade. I found it in one of my mom’s photo albums this weekend, and it made me so happy. I think it made me happy because she looks so sweet and happy herself. And it made me feel better than I had been.

I had a really crappy week last week. I think I had the flu or something similar. Fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose, backache and everything else you could imagine. It hit all of a sudden and there I was, shuffling around like Mr. Tudball, a funny, little old man who played an executive with a Swedish accent on the Carol Burnett show – Carol played his incompetent secretary Mrs. Wiggins. I felt just like him as I shuffled back and forth to the bathroom in my feverish state -- grabbing hold of walls, counters and anything that would keep me on my feet. I was extremely unsteady due to the fever and it took me forever to get from one place to another, just like Mr. Tudball.

I tried different remedies for my cough and sore throat. I found an old bottle of brandy. It had a skinny neck and a big, round bottom. Sounds like someone I used to know. I had to bend my head way back to get the brandy out of the bottle and into my mouth, but I’d almost fall over so gave that up. I tried the same thing with honey – bending my head back and squirting the honey down my throat. But I almost fell backwards doing that. I decided to drink some “Sleepy Time” tea with honey and that seemed to help a little.

I had a big scare when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, all fevered up and bent over because of my back. I started to sit down on the toilet, and it felt like I was falling down, down, down. I wanted to scream, “Who lowered the toilet seat?” Who knew it would take two hands to get down to a toilet seat.

The funniest moment in my flu experience was when I got a glimpse of myself in a mirror one day. I had a blob of something white in my hair and immediately thought of the movie, “There’s Something About Mary.” Of course, that was nothing like my situation, but it sure looked similar. I had inadvertently gotten toothpaste in my hair at one point when I was attempting to brush my teeth. Doesn’t that happen to everyone?

Well, I’m feeling a lot better now and hope things stay that way. I wouldn’t want to go through that again. The toilet seat is back to normal, and I’m being very careful when I brush my teeth.