TELEVISION FATHERS

Many people dispute the fact that television plays a major role in our lives but due to the fact that most people grow up watching television and during the course of most of their adult life they continue to watch as much - it can be refuted. One aspect of this is the influence of television fathers on our role as parents to our own children. There are a few dispicable figures on television but overall there are more good guys than bad guys. We all want to be good father figures to our children - so who are those we can emulate to be the positive role model in our children's lives?

One of the good guys is from the hit teen drama - The O.C. Sanford "Sandy" Cohen is the moral center and true patriach of the Cohen family, guiding, supporting and protecting his sons, Ryan and Seth from what he can - while trying to be the loving and dependable husband his father never was to him and his mother. When we first meet Sandy he is a public defender trying to save as many children as he can, and when meeting Ryan in juvie he sees something of himself in Ryan and has to save him. Ryan instantly hits it off with Seth, the socially awkward son of the Cohens. During the four years we got to know Sandy - he proved his worth as a ageless hippie who loves to surf and would go to the ends of the earth to protect his family. He gets an 8/10 rating as a awesome father.

John Winchester is the next father I'm going to mention, as I feel he falls under both the good and bad guys category. Good because he is a fighter for the side of good and bad because he didn't always put his sons first. John started off as a decorated Corporal in the Marine Corps who returned home after the Vietnam war to marry - Mary. He became a mechanic and settled down having two children with her, Sam and Dean. After Mary's unexplained death, John went off the deep end - vowing to kill whatever got his wife, thus becoming one of the most feared hunters in the United States. But this also came at a price - as he traveled the country he took his sons with him, often leaving them for days on end in motel rooms to fend for themselves. As they grew up Sam wanted to make something of his life and went off to college - to the dismay of his father, while Dean continued to look up to and admire him. While on the road, John had an affair with a nurse which produced a third son, Adam who he never introduced to Sam and Dean and kept away from the world of the supernatural. He made a lot of mistakes, but even though these choices were wrong he did them for the good of his sons. He died to save Dean and returned from hell to help kill Azazel and then vanished in white light but has not been seen in heaven. His motto was - "shoot first ask questions later". I would give him a 5/10 rating as a influencial father.



Rupert Giles, is one of the best father figures around! He is portrayed as a mentor and father figure to Buffy, Xander, Dawn, Willow and Anya. Most of the time he is a calm and collected authority figure but he can let loose with the best of them. He comes from a troubled youth, rebelling against his father and his wishes of becoming a Watcher, but in the end realised that it was his destiny. He has considerable knowledge stating sincronized swimming is the only thing he didn't know anything about, also he has a affinity for magic with basic to moderate fighting skills. And his willingness to kill when no one else can - gives him that edge in the considered storylines. He is a talented singer and guitarist with a British supperiority complex as most Brits have (or are portrayed). During Buffy's Cruciamentum test - he reveals the plot to her and subsequently loses his position on the Watcher Council because as they stated: "he has a fathers love for the girl(Buffy)". After about three years with the Slayer, his paternal role increases and after Buffy's mother, Joyce passes in year five - he becomes the sole paternal figure in her life. When Buffy returns from heaven she becomes very reliant on Giles - emotionally and financially, so he pulls out allowing her to gain her own independance. Thus proving he knows whats best for her. He gets a 8.5 rating as a father.


Angel, the legenday vampire with a soul is one of the good guys and a inspiring father figure to all those fathers out there that complain they have to raise their children under though circumstances. Angel resigned himself to never having a family, as vampires can never have children - but thanks to some cosmic manuevering he gets a son by sleeping with his sire, Darla. Thus the birth of the "miracle" human child of two vampires - Connor. Angel did what he could with what he had to make sure his son was safe, but try as he might Daniel Holtz, Angel's long time rival kidnapped Connor and escaped to a another world through a tear in the dimensional rift. Angel tried every avenue he could to get his son back but could not get to the other dimension. A few weeks later Connor got back through - but as a teen (time moved a lot faster in the other dimension). Connor was on a path of destruction, trying as he might to kill Angel, but even through all that - Angel still reached out and protected his son. Eventually Connor tried to blow himself and Cordelia up, but Angel altered the dimension and took all Connors memories away and gave him new ones and a new family - all to protect his son. Eventually Connor's memories come back and he reunites with Angel and accepts his lineage - proving that never giving up on someone might just save them. Angel gets a 8/10 rating from me.


Luke Danes - is the last father I want to discuss. Luke was very close to his own father but sometimes those feelings weren't reciprocated. After his father died he turned the hardware store into a diner but kept the name and decor the same - to honour his father. Luke can be decribed as dependable, hard-working and square minded. He took in his teenage nephew when his sister could not cope with him, and try as he might he could not get through to the emotionally distant Jess, but he never gave up on him. He has also been a constant father figure in Rory Gilmore's life - always being there for her on important activities in her life. He learnt he had a daughter, April after she approached him. He instantly took to her and did all he could to get to know and increase his involvement in her life - much to the detriment of his relationship with Loralei. The words of Loralei Gilmore in the character reference letter she wrote says it best: "I'm a single mother, and I raised my daughter by myself, but once Luke Danes became my friend in this town, I never really felt alone. Luke and I have had our ups and downs over the years, but through it all, his relationship with my daughter, Rory, has never changed. He's always been there for her no matter what. He was there to celebrate her birthdays. He was there cheering her on at her high school graduation. Luke has been a sort of father figure in my daughter's life. With his own daughter, Luke wasn't given the opportunity to be there for her first 12 years, but he should be given that opportunity now. Once Luke Danes is in your life, he is in your life forever.” So I hope that sums it up!

I know there are a lot more out there that I just haven't mentioned - but somehow they might just be too much to mention. I sincerely hope that one day I can be such a good father to my children as my tv heroes have been to their on screen children

UGLY BETTY

Ugly Betty is an Americanized version of the Columbian telenovella - 'Yo soy Betty, a fea'. One of the producers of the show is the actress, Salma Hayek, who also starred in a few episodes of the first season. The influence of this show reaches far and wide and just to prove that point - Time magazine, named America Ferrera as one of the 100 Most Influencial People of 2007.




The series revolves around Betty Suarez, an aspiring writer from Queens, New York who decides to take a assistant position at Mode Magazine - as the assistant to the womanizing Daniel Meade, the Editor-In-Chief. Her family life and business life come together as romances from the office stem to home and vice versa. Her sister Hilda, the pretty one in the family, her father Ignacio and Hilda's gay son Justin all support her and advise her during her four years at Mead. Betty goes from ugly duckling assistant to swan features editor in the four years she worked for Mode. Contrary to their opinions Amanda (super gorgeous) and Mark became two of her closest friends and together they fight and work at Mode - while also dealing with the power hungry and always scheming Wilhemina Slater.

The first season features more on Betty and Daniel's budding friendship and Betty's hard time at work -struggling against the beautifull people. Betty goes from dating Walter to Henry with quite a few consequences. While Wilhemina schemes with Daniel's brother turned sister Alexis to take over Mode Magazine. Hilda and Justin's dad reconcile only with him being killed off at the end of the season. Overall a relatively good season.
The second season features a bit more on Claire Meade and her trial, escape from jail and recarceration. Betty gets a new love interest - the sandwich maker Gio and his comparison to Henry. Bradford Meade dies and Daniel and Alexis fight over the company with Hilda starting a new relationship and Ignacio becoming a U.S citizen. Wilhemina uses some of Bradfords sperm to conceive and get her hands on part of the Meade fortune as well.
The third installment features mostly on Betty and Mark competing for the top spot at YETI - in order to become editiors in their respected fields. Also Betty gets a new boyfriend - Matt Hartley - a rich snob - very far from her comfort zone. Daniel falls in love with Rebecca - Connor's girlfriend, steals her from him and marries her. Unfortunatly she dies of cancer at the end of the season.
The final season - Betty has to deal with being a features editor. Hilda gets married and Justin comes out to his family as being gay. Amanda finds her father - eventually and Mark gets the promotion to creative editor as he has always dreamed of.

The show has won various awards and were nomitated along with that, quite a few times:
Golden Globe - Best Comedy Series in 2007
Golden Globe - America Ferrera for "Best Lead Actress in Comedy Series" in 2007
S.A.G Award in 2007 for America Ferrera as "Best Lead Actress"
The series won a Peabody Award for its storylines in 2007
Judith Light - Claire Meade won PRISM Awards 2007
Won award from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamition in 2007
Got 11 nominations in 2007 at the Emmy Awards and won three of those nominations
Got a further 6 nomination at the 2008 Emmy Awards - winning none
Vanessa Williams won the NAACP Award in 2007 and 2008 respectively
That is just to name a few - overall the show has received 162 nominations



The overall consensus for this program has been that it is awesome! The show has gone into syndication after only producing four seasons which just reinforces that fact. The only problem I have is with the finale to the show - everything was just too clean, I mean come on - Wilhemina stopping with all her schemes? I think just a twinge of dramatic twist was needed - leaving the viewer with a sense of wanting for more - and because there are rumours of a movie - what could have been better?!

ODE OF FOREVER - POEM

This is just a little something I decided to write when one of my aunts passed away - and I guess it can be dedicated to all those we have lost before their time.

You were always there when we needed
Now we praise the Lord on bended knee
Thank you for all the love you shared
And for the fact that you cared

You are the most amazing person
Who we will have in our hearts forever
And now we will keep on remembering
All those smiles we shared together

Thank you for all the wonderful memories
And the times we spent together
As a family we will all miss you
And as a person our love will go with you
Forevermore

When God is at work in our lives
Then we must never doubt His plans for us
And when God finally holds you in his arms
Then we will carry you in our hearts
Forevermore

GOING MENTAL WITH PATRICK

THE MENTALIST - another one of those police shows that everone loves to want to watch. With nothing really new and being compared to the likes of Monk and Psych, it has drawn in quite a following for itself. It works on the Sherlock Holmes based ideas of brain over matter and using an intelligent protagonist battling an evil antagonist much in the way Sherlock and Moriarty went at it - both being intelligent men with something to prove.



The series centres around Patrick Jane, a former highly successfully "pshycic", who assisted the police on a profile for a serial killer known only as Red John. Patrick went on record via television and antagonized the mental killer, who struck back by murdering Patrick's wife and daughter in a brutal fashion. This caused Patrick to crack, so he went to a mental institute for help with his breakdown. When he got out it is his sole mission to catch and kill Red John. Along his way he joins the CBI where he teams up with Lisbon and her team and together they become one of the most successfull teams in the agency. He uses his previously honed skills such as: cold reading, hypnotism, pickpocketing as well as keens skill of observation and his insight into the human behaviour as tools to help him solve cases.



Therese Lisbon is the team leader and normally is the one that has to deal with the fall out of Jane's pranks, which annoy her to no end, but she puts up with it because she knows without him - they would suck. She and Patrick share a close bond, which some speculate might even develop further than the friend stage. From her past we know her mother was killed in a drunk driving accident which caused her to grow up alot faster than she should have and also she might have inherited her mothers trait for the booze. Her mentor was Sam Bosco, who was murdered on the orders of Red John - bringing her and Patrick closer together.



Kimball Cho is one of the classic characters in the story - I personally enjoy his character. His deep seated fear of magic and tragic dislike of pineapple on pizza (which I wholeheartedly agree with) are only few of the traits that make this character so memorable. He used to be in a Asian street gang called the Avon Park Playboys - funky name I know, he had to steal a car while with them and got caught - so he was sent to juvie and from there turned his life around. He went and joined the military and from there went into law enforcement with the CBI where he has become the top interrogator they have. His nickname is Ernie (from Sesame Street). One almost gets the idea he is Jane's right hand man due to the fact they end up most of the time together as he normally plays along with Jane's antics even though they sometimes put him in precarious positions.



Wayne Rigsby is seen as best friends with Cho. He was secretly in love with Grace - or so he thought (everyone knew - he just didn't know, everyone knew). Eventually they hooked up for a few episodes but were split up due to governing policies at work. His speciality is arson and exceeds during arson investigations - duh. He dislikes bikers very much, mostly due to the fact that his father was a biker and treated him like crap. He is the eater of the show - always munching away at something during stakeouts etc - much to the sheergrin of his collegues - this is a running gag in the show.



Grace Van Pelt is the newest member of the team and the computer geek - that normally gets stuck with the research aspect of the investigations. She and Rigsby have dated but due to her choice of career over him - it didn't work out. She is deeply seated in her beliefs of religion and pshycics - as her cousin is a pshycic. She is normally the first person to disagree with Jane's schemes.



Those were just the key cast members but there are a few that recur and are just as important. The main focus has to be on Red John - as the look of this character has not been revealed, he is believed to be meticulous, intelligent and calculating sometimes even brutal in the killings. He has haunted Patrick since the death of Patrick's family and taunts him constantly - trying to bait him out.
Virgil Minelli was the Agent In Charge of the CBI until Red John had Sam Bosco's team killed - so he retired as he felt he could not loose anyone else. His comic element in the show will be missed no matter how small it was.
Madeleine Hightower took over from Virgil as the director of CBI and has a understanding with Jane and his antics - even though she and Lisbon ofter clash. Kristina Frye has also recurred and sparked rumours of a possible love interest for Patrick - even though as he believes she cannot be a pshycic, because there is no such thing as a pshycic.

The show has one numerous awards such as:
Favourite New TV Drama in 2009 at the People's Choice Awards
Simon Baker was nominated in 2009 for "Outstanding lead in drama" at the Emmy Awards
Simon Baker was nominated at the 67th Golden Globes also for "Outstanding lead in drama series".
Simon Baker was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding performance by male lead in drama series" at the 16th S.A.G Awards.

One thing is for sure - I cannot wait for the third and fantastic new season of The Mentalist

CHUCK: THE NEXT LEVEL

"Chuck" a new and exciting action-comedy television program that finally came to our screens on September 24, 2007 and had us all glued to our seats throughout the three seasons that have been aired and we are waiting for the fourth season with bated breath.

The story centres around Chuck, an average computer whiz who received an encoded email from an old friend - Bryce Larkin who was then thought to be a rogue spy who worked for the CIA. This email contained a neural supercomputer called the Intersect which uses digital encoding to embed the only remaining copy of all the worlds spy secrets into Chuck's brain - making him the human Intersect. This creates security concerns for both the NSA and CIA who have to work together to train and protect their newest asset.

CAST

Chuck Bartowski(played by Zachary Levi), is a normal, 20 something computer whizz, who works at the Burbank Buy More in the Nerd Herd division. He receives an encoded email which transforms him into a spy computer, this disrupts his day to day life and endangers all those he loves - so he makes it his mission for the first and second season to try and find Orion (his father and maker of the Intersect) who is the only known person who can remove it from his head and thus give him back his normal life. He succeeds in removing it close to the end of the second season, but when Bryce Larkin is killed and an imminent threat to the world exists, Chuck reboots himself with the Intersect 2.0 which also embeds not only secrets in his head, but fighting techniques, weapon expertise, music skills and many more. Throughout the third season he has to learn to control his emotions in order to control the Intersect and in so doing becomes a fully fledged spy. From the start he falls head over heels in love with his CIA handler Sarah Walker, who eventually reciprocates and moves in with him. The first time he kills is to protect Sarah from the evil rogue spy Shaw. The season finale sees Chuck retiring from the spy business to settle down with Sarah but his fathers dying wishes come to life and he now has to find his long lost mother. Who knows whats in store for Chuck?

Sarah Walker (played by Yvonne Strahovski) is part of team Chuck as the CIA handler who's sole mission is to protect him. She was romantically linked to Bryce Larkin and Daniel Shaw but revealed that she fell in love with Chuck after she dropped off her phone for repairs and before they disarmed a bomb together in the first episode. She posed as Chuck's girlfriend working across the quad from him first at Wienerlicious then Orange, Orange but ultimately Chuck's charms were too much for her and they ended up together for real and even moved in together. She is skilled in various fighting and undercover techniques which come in handy when trying to rid the world of evil. Throughout the seasons it has slowly been revealed that her real name is not Sarah Walker (and has not been released during the episodes) and that her father is a wanted conman who moved them around quite a lot while growing up. She can fly aircrafts and speaks fluent Polish. And it can also be determined that she has not been a fully fledged spy except for the past five years - because of the timeline concerning her "red test" where she had to eliminate Daniel Shaw's wife.

Major John Casey(played byAdam Baldwin) is the tough but fair NSA agent that is assigned to protect Chuck. Only scattered pieces of information has been revealed about John Casey's past such of which are- his real name is Alexander Coburn who faked his death and was given the new identity of John Casey when he joined a covert taskforce of specialized agents. He has a daughter he never was in contact with until the end of season 3 when her life was threatened by the new big bad agency known as The Ring. Casey hold a ranking of US Colonel, he can fly a Stealth fighter and is a world class sniper who has a eternal love for firearms. He joined Chuck's team as his neighbour and green shirt salesman at the Buy More in order to keep a better eye on him. He is the true American hero, who always puts his country first. He is also the proud owner of a Crown Vic - with a few modifications (like a missile built in).



Eleanor Bartowski(played by Sarah Lancester), she is the older sister to our hero, Chuck. She is a qualified doctor and until quite recently didn't know about her brothers after hours activities. Ellie gratuated from UCLA Medical School where she met her husband Dr. Devon Woodcomb. Because both their parents deserted them at a relatively young age - Ellie and Chuck have learnt to rely more on each other and create their own family. She has been the constant voice of reason and support throughout Chuck's life and she always urges him to make more of his life than work at the Buy More. After she witnessed her fathers murder at the hands of Daniel Shaw - she banded together with Devon and Morgan to save Chuck and his handlers from Shaw in the season 3 penultimate episode. Afterwards she asked Chuck to quit the spy business for her because her father made her promise to protect Chuck and she could not do that when he was off on his missions.


Dr. Devon Woodcomb (played by Ryan McPartlin) is Ellie's husband and is nicknamed as Captain Awesome because everything he does is awesome and he also quite frequently uses the word - awesome! He used to play football for UCLA and must now get his thrills from cardio - thoracic surgery and extreme adventures - but admitted the rush from the spy life was too much for him. He speaks fluent Spanish and French and knows how to Tango with the best of them. He was the first person to find out about Chuck's secret life and kept it as a secret until Morgan found out - but during that time he was starting to crack under the pressure and felt he could not handle it anymore. He is very laid back and has gone to Africa for Doctors Without Borders to try and help out and get away from Chuck's secret for a while.






Morgan Grimes (played byJoshua Gomez) is Chuck Bartowski's best friend, together they work at the Buy More. Morgan's mother and Big Mike started a relationship and with that Big Mike took him under his wing and made Morgan assistant manager much to his chargrin - as he was more than content to stay under the radar as he has done all his life. He has been romantically linked to Anna Wu - who also used to work at the Buy More and the lucky bastard got to spend a night with the fiery red head, Katrina. Morgan and Chuck have been best friends since they were six years old, and most of the time Chuck looked after and protected Morgan from bullies. When Morgan found Castle - Chuck told him all the secrets he had been keeping from him and in so doing pulled Morgan into "Team Chuck", were he has proved his worth on more than one occasion.


As season four looms, with the shocking revelation at the end of season 3 - with Chuck's mother out there and now it's up to Chuck to find her and protect her (i guess) who knows what's in store for us?

Stay tuned, I have a feeling we are about to find out..........

THE RULES OF LEROY JETHRO GIBBS

Te following are the rules mentioned during NCIS - that were created by the one and only Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He uses these rules to train his agents and help them save their own lives and helps them along their career path - and they were inspired by his first wife Shannon.



There are two rules for the first three as they will be distinguished between Gibbs and Mike Franks - Gibbs former boss.

1. Never screw over your partner - Gibbs
1. Never let suspects stay together - Franks

2. Always wear gloves at a crime scene - Franks

3. Never be unreachable - Gibbs
3. Don't believe what your told. Double check - Franks

4. The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? Tell one other person - if you must. There is no third best!

6. Never apologize - its a sign of weakness

7. Always be specific when you lie

8. Never take anything for granted

9. Never go anywhere without a knife

10. Never get personally involved in a case

11. When a case is finished, let it go

12. Never date a co-worker

13. Never involve lawyers, things always turn nasty

15. Always work as a team

18. It's always better to seek forgiveness than to ask for permission

22. Never, ever interrupt Gibbs during an interrogation

23. Never mess with a marines coffee, if you want to live

27. There are two ways to follow - first way they never notice you, second way they only notice you

38. Your case, your lead

39. There is no such thing as coincidence

40. If it seems as if someone is out to get you, they probably are

44. First thing first. Hide the women & children (bit ambiguous)

51. Sometimes - you're wrong (Gibbs)

Now I know there are quite a few missing - but since there are no fully published set of rules these are taken from the episodes during the seven seasons as they are mentioned.

NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE

NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service which is an American police procedural television series based on the lives and cases of a fictional team of special agents working for the Navy investigating felonies for the major case responce unit - MCRU revolving around the U.S Navy and Marine Corps.



The show is distinguished by its comic elements, ensemble cast and character - driven plots. The show is the spin-off from the hit drama JAG and has currently gone into syndication in America. NCIS has also produced its own spin-off - NCIS: Los Angeles and even though none of the major cast members moved over, Pauley and Rocky guest star occasionally (side note - the spin-off is utterly crappy!!!).

The creative director of the show, Donald Bellisario also created JAG, Magnum P.I. and Quantum Leap of old. After the first season he was asked to step down after creative differances with Mark Harmon but has continually been credited as the executive producer of the show.

The show is based in Washington D.C. at the Navy yard. It follows the members of the MCR unit as they deal with terrorist threats and a couple from their own home front.

The leader is former Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs of the US Marine Corps where he was one of the best snipers they ever had. He was involved in two wars and has had a few wives - none sticking. His true love Shannon who was also his first wife was killed together with his daughter the year before he joined NCIS - some say this is the reason he joined NCIS. His mentor is Mike Franks, former lead agent for the formerly known NIS. He is tough on the men in his team and equally as tough on the women and has a set of rules that all need to learn and follow.



Anthony 'Tony' Dinozzo is the senoir field agent and special agent on the team who was a former police officer in Peoria, Philly and Baltimore before joining. He is a former fraternity brother and grew up around alot of chicks - which is probably why he is still single. His parents were very rich and when Tony went into law enforcement they cut him off as they didn't think it was suitable for him.



Abby Sciuto is the gothic and extremely hot forensic scientist on the team. She loves vampires and sleeps in a coffin. She has been romantically linked to McGee, but it did not work out even though they still remain fierce friends. She reveres Gibbs as sort of a father figure and is the only person that can get away with murder in Gibbs's eyes. She is very smart and loves to figure out puzzles and with her exentristic outlook on life - the sky is the limit for this scientist.



Donald 'Ducky' Mallard and Jimmy Palmer his assistant work on the bodies as the medical examiners. Ducky is the British storyteller in the show, he has been around for so long and has autopsied so many bodies - every new body reminds him of a previous one - which he liberally shares with the team at the most unopportune time. He and Gibbs come way back since Gibbs's inception into NCIS and once that we know off excaped on a boat with Gibbs and Jenny while fleeing from the French police.



Timothy 'Tim' McGee is also a special agent on the team who specializes in computer forensics. Tim is also known as Probie as tony so regularly calls him. He is a writer in his spare time and has penned to novels about L.J. Tibbs which has created a lot of publicity for him and has brought in a few dimes as well. He also had a tattoo but on his backside - in order to score some points with Abby



She was the liaison to Mossad and was put on Gibbs's team so he could train her. She killed her own brother after she found out he was the one who killed Cailtin. She is skilled in various martial arts and knife combats and speaks quite a few languages.



Ziva David joined the team after her brother Ari, killed special agent Caitlin Todd. Caitlin was a secret service agent who used to protect the president but due to a falling out with the agency, she joined with Gibbs for two successfull years before being killed.



Two other significant characters were special agent Paula Cassidy who died in a terrorist bomb blast and was a major crush of Tony





And former director Jenny Shephard who was also tragically killed.

Just three fast facts - NCIS became a top 10 program in America after the fifth season and has increased viewer ratings since then. The main theme is done by a band called - Numeriklab. And Michael Weatherly has done three songs featured in the show, one of which is called 'Bitter & Blue' featured in the seventh season.

A brilliant show and gets a 10/10 rating in my book!

WELCOME TO THE O.C, BITCH

The O.C is an American teen drama that aired from August 2003 to February 2007 in the United States on the Fox channel and has since then been syndicated and show on various other channels. The O.C was broadcast in more than 50 countries and was the most popular drama for 2003.

The music in this show was one of the main fixtures and sometimes drew in more viewers and helped out with the storylines as the main fixture for the music in the shop was the fictional place called the 'Bait Shop', where Seth worked and also fell in love and then where Lindsay got drunk and all the rest. With some big names like: The Walkmen, Modest Mouse, The Thrills, Rachael Yamagata, Death Cab For Cutie, Beastie Boys, U2, Beck, Coldplay, Gwen Stefani and The Shins all performing on the show to mainly promote their own music. Also the biggest hit for me was Hallelujah by Imogen Heap with Marissa's death and was a real tear jerker. The main theme - California performed by Phantom Planet turned the band into a household name.

The main story of the show is about Ryan going to live with Sandy and Kirsten Cohen in Newport Beach, where he befriends their son Seth. Ryan falls in love with Marissa, the girl next door and Seth falls for her best friend, Summer. The story revolves around their lives and loves culminating in the perfect ending - I think.

The O.C has won various awards and honours including: Teen Choice Awards, Logie Awards, People's Choice Awards and Kelly Rowan won for best actress in a drama series a PRISM Award. The tagline Luke Ward used after he beat up Ryan "Welcome to the O.C, bitch" was placed 83rd by TV land in its '100 Greatest TV Quotes And Catchphrases' in 2006.

Where has the Seth and Ryan time gone to, there was a huge upset to see the 'End of the Best youth Tv show'.

The four youngsters that crept into our hearts every week had to end prematurely. I though the College Storyline would have been interesting because I believe Seth would have met another sweatheart that would have stolen his heart from Summer.
What about the little sister in the Cohen house. Where would she have fitted in her older brothers lives. Ryan's story ended prematurely, taking in a runaway child like him is not the way the story would end.

Overall a brillaint and intriguing storie that will forever be in our hearts.

LIFE ON GREEK ROW

After the Successful "O.C." came Greek, probably not in the same level as the Ryan, Seth, Summer and Marissa quattro but close enough to keep us interested. The Cast for "Greek" brings a whole new meaning of " everyone differs" and can surely relate to every student of the fictional Cyprys-Rhodes University (CRU).



Greek, the highly successful teen dramedy set against the backdrop of the CR university going about the lives of a set bunch of students all belonging to differant fraternities on campus and their relations with each other.

The main fraternities featured are: Kappa Tau Gamma, with Rusty, Cappie and Beaver. Omega Chi Delta with Evan Chambers and Calvin Owens and then the hot female house Zeta Beta Zeta with Casey, Frannie, Ashleigh and Rebecca. Then there are other characters not in the fraternities like Dale, Rusty's close friend and a right wing liberal.

The series premiered in July 2007 and has been extended to four season - with the first three already having been showed, but the creator of the show Sean Smith has decided to end the show after the fourth season on his terms and ABC Family has given him that chance - lets hope it exceeds all our expectations!



Initially the thought was that the content was not traditionally considered as family conscious due to the sex, drinking and sometimes violence in the show but the producers and creator of the show had the intention of it creating a 'New Kind Of Family'. And if you watch the show and delve a bit dealer than the crude outer content you will realise it has a lot of deeper meaning - family can come in many differant shapes and sizes and you create your family where you go and live - with the main relationship in the series focusing on the two siblings - Rusty and Casey Cartwright.

A few fast facts - the house used to establish the ZBZ house is the same one used in the reality show Beauty And The Geek. Also the show received a score of 62/100 from the review aggregator Metacritic. A website was started called virtualrush.com but was ended after the second season.

This is an utterly fantastic show with complex storylines and comedy to keep you rolling on the floor. With a bunch of hot girls and smart guys the show has something for everyone.

KIM KARDASHIAN - DREAM DATE

FANTASY GIRL

Kim born 21 october 1980 is of Armenian, Scottish, Dutch and Native-American descent. She has two sisters and one brother - with her and Chloe receiving most of the recognition. Kim posed nude for Playboy magazine in 2007 and even made a sex tape with her then boyfriend, American rapper Ray J.

She started her acting career when she starred in four episodes of 'Beyond The Break', then she went on to star in two movies - Pink Panther 2 and the spoof Disaster Movie. And then for all the How I Met Your Mother fans out there you would have noticed she starred in Season 4 Episode 12 called 'Benefits' as she starred as herself talking from a magazine cover to Marshall as he goes to the bathroom to 'read a magazine'. She has also appeared in Dancing With The Stars and CSI: New York as well as America's Next Top Model but her stable show is Keeping Up With The Kardashians where the spotlight is on her and her family life.

She dated Christiano Ronaldo for a short while but it did not work out and is currently dating Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin. Lucky bastard!

On the activism front she has joined the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Whoopi Goldberg, Jason Mraz, Elton John, Cynthia Nixon, Clay Aiken, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne and Anna Paquin in the GIVE A DAMN campaign that deals with discrimination of the gay and lesbian community - and the goal of the campaign is to have the straight people of the world stand up with the gay and lesbian community and say its all right!

The girl every guy dreams to date, specially me. Social lite, Model, Actress, Entrepreneur, American celebutante and television personailty - this girl has everything. She has great qualities and looks very exciting to be with - and that is just the positives. A woman like this demands a guy that is probably wealthy and freakin good looking, like all hot girls do. So if you aren't famous you better lower your expectations and stay with the girl from next door.

Some advice going to everybody regarding women of this caliber - for a guy to date her you have to be Cristiano Ronaldo as simple as that. Not to take anything away from all the other guys , even if you get to date her , you will feel insufficient and won't be able to handle her needs for eternity.

DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION

What can be said for this movie except - CRAP! DISGUSTING! REVOLTING! RUBBISH!

To start off the story is not even close to the Dragonball story - I cannot believe Mr. Toriyama approved the murder of his great Dragonball Z series! The following is all the faults I found that I think are worth mentioning but there are so many more that actually need to be mentioned but I don't want to waste more of my time.

The movie is supposed to encorporate the elements of the Dragonaball series thus in Dragonball, Goku's grandpa - Gohan died when he was a small child, he wasn't even ten.

Goku did not learn how to drive until he was old and married to Chi-Chi during the Cell saga.
Now this is a biggie - Goku does not have rage issues!!!!!!!!!!
Evil King Piccolo never worked with the Giant Saiyan Apes - the only Saiyan on earth was Goku and he didn't even know he could turn into an ape until Vegeta came to earth.
Dragonballs were created by Kami - Picollo's counterpart not by seven earth mystics who also trapped Picollo in the earth's core.
Goku never went to school
Goku as a Giant Saiyan Ape on the night of the full moon killed his grandfather unknowlingly - it was not Picollo.
There is only one good fight scene in the movie - during the party at Chi-Chi's house.
In the stupid movie Goku turns into the ape after his 18th birthday - but in the series he could transform anytime he had his tail in the full moon.
Since when does Goku see into the future when he touches the dragonballs - wtf??
Originally Goku finds Master Roshi during his quest to find the dragonballs when he helps out his new friend Turtle who then leads them to Roshi - and then Goku finds out Roshi trained his grandfather. Not like it is in the movie!
Roshi's island is somewhere out in the ocean - not surrounded by New York on all sides and Goku's granfathers house was out in the woods - in District 936 not miles from the biggest city in the world.



Bulma was never and never will be a fighter - wtf??
According to the movie version of Bulma - she wants the dragonballs to wish for a unlimited energy resource when in the series she only wants to find a boyfriend.
Master Roshi's look is classic - he has no hair just a long gray beard not shiny spiky black hair as in the movie.
There is no prophecy in the series - why do they put something like this in the movie?
WTF - the training in the movie - WTF??
Yamcha cannot talk to women - where is this coming from in the movie?
Since when can Picollo create monsters of his own?
The only true thing they kept is the blue of Goku's Kamehameha wave
Who is Shenlon - it's Shenron!!!
How the hell does Goku transform without his tail?
The Ozaru (Giant Saiyan Ape) is actually quite a few stories high not a pumped up teenager with hair
Shenron is a massive dragon - is supposed to inspire awe - not the short tailed pitiful version in the movie!

I cannot believe James Marsters would lend his name to such a piece of crap movie and for that matter of fact neither can I believe Chow Yun Fat as Roshi! Why even try to create a real - life movie if you are not going to do it correctly and stick to the story that has captured the hearts of so many viewers. It is not worth the film it was printed on!!

I give the movie a 1/10

SWEENEY TODD - THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

This is a review on the Sweeney Todd motion picture adaptation - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. This film is studded with stars big and small - creating the violent atmosphere that the broadway show made it out to be.

With stars like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall it is truelly a masterpiece to envision - okay I might be a bit biased because the last three mentioned are all major stars of the Harry Potter franchise. And the fleeting glimpse of Anthony Stewart Head from the Buffy saga really worked for me.



The story of the movie is of age old tradition - but the violence they have worked in and the musical numbers working together with that are just awesome. The only fault I can find is the accent - Cockney, and sometimes when they sing it becomes hard to make out the words of the song due to accent.
The violence works except for the part where they mince the people Sweeney kills and use them as the filling in the pies that are made and sold to the general public.

I thought the fictional wedding scene in Helena's head was hilarious but that was also the end of it, unless there are other scenes that I am too daft to catch.

I am giving the movie a solid 7/10

HIMYM - SEASON 1 EPISODE 6

I just thought it would be time to do another wonderful post on the show we all know and love - How I Met Your Mother. This episode is number six of the first season entitled The Slutty Pumpkin.



This episode centers around two stories - Ted & Barney's journey and the rest of the gangs antics.

Lets do Lily, Marshall and Robin's side of the story first - Lily and Marshall enter the halloween costume competion at the pub as a pirate and his parrot - although everyone mistakes him for a gay pirate because he is wearing eyeliner. Robin brings her date and learns the basics of being in a relationship from Lily and Marshall but in the end things just dont work out.

Ted and Barney's story is a bit more involved - Ted having met the slutty pumpkin on the roof at a party four years ago - returns every year to find her as he believes she might be the one. This year Barney tags along in various costumes - trying to get the number of the only hot girl at the party and secondly trying to get Ted to leave the party and go to a Victoria Secret party on a boat for which he got tickets.

Quote of the episode:
This quote I think just shows the love Lily and Marshall share
LILY: I think you won the dish - off tonight, baby. This steak totally bitch-slapped my pork chop.
MARSHALL: That might be true but your rice pilaf kicked my spinach in the crotch so hard it threw up a little bit
(Lily feeds Marshall some more food) awww!!!

Barney-ism of the episode:
Just a brief recap of Barney's costume changes and antics during Ted's party
Barney becomes a master of disguise in his attempt to score the hot hula girls number but fails until he becomes the penguin and she doesn't see who she is giving her number to. He starts in his fighter pilot suit as Maverick then changes into the horny devil and lastly the penguin. When he fails to get Ted to leave with him at the end of the night he does what ... flippers Ted off! hahaha!!!!

The costume listings for this episode are:
Ted - Hanging Chad
Lily - Parrot
Marshall - Gay pirate
Barney - Maverick, Devil and Penguin

And that concludes another brilliant episode! Cheers for now!

HP - JK ROWLING

Heyow another day has gone by - and once again I have something to say! This is more of a contiuation of my previous post regarding the Harry Potter series - but this post is going to feature more on the author JK Rowling and Emma Watson my favourite actress who I think tops the list in hottest women alive.

I recently watched the 45min documentary on the special features disc of Half Blood Prince called - A year in the life of JK Rowling. In which the documentary maker follows Jo around and asks her these very important and random question to gain some insight into the brilliance that is JK Rowling.

But before I start with my diatribe about Jo - I have one question which I just have to put out there for anyone to answer as I just cannot figure it out. In the special effects cut on the dvd they have a product that was designed as they say straight from the books - but what I cannot figure out is, which book? as I have read all seven - four times straight through in the last three months. My question is - where do the nose biting teacups feature?

On to Jo - she started off very humbly - after the completion of the Philosophers Stone no publisher would take her on and publish Harry Potter - little did they know until Bloomsbury picked it up and turned it into gold - which turned Jo into an overnight success. She used to stay next to the Forest of Dean which is also featured in the last book where she drew a lot of inspiration from. Also she uses her real life dramas and turns them into features of her books - like for example she used to suffer from depression after her first marriage failed so she created the Dementors to represent depression in the books - absolute brilliance.



As for the release the last Harry Potter book - The Deathly Hallows. The figures are in - 2.65 million books were sold within 24hrs of release which means 7000 copies a minute were sold on the day of release! Now that is hard core!

One very interesting tidbit she released which I for one did not know is that her intention is that Dumbledore is gay - even though it was never specifically mentioned in either the books or the movies which now that it is mentioned makes sense as to why at his old age he never married and in so doing one can also see his infatuation with Gellert Grindlewald in his young age as a precursor.

Another Harry Potter book that has been released is the Magical Beasts and Creatures volume in which Jo decribes all the beings and creatures encountered throughout the series and their function in the series. The last one she is currently working on is the Harry Potter Encyclopedia in which she is going to be closing all the open questions one might have about Harry Potter with all the places and people encountered.



And now onto Emma Watson - just a few question that were asked during the special features on the HBP disc that I think are brilliant.
She would change poverty and would like to learn some sort of martial art so she can kick everyones arses. She would take the Bible to a deserted island - which I think is admirable. Apparently Ice Age 1 & 2 make her laugh - which I find scary to say the least. If she wasn't acting she would most likely want to be a singer. Her favourite food is Nutella - weird also she would most like to meet Elton John as a music legend also weird choice but to each his own.

TOP 10 TV SHOWS

My listings of my favourite tv shows as I am currently enjoying them. My favourite is number one going to number ten

1. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
This show is about a super hot girl fighting nasties all over her town and saving everyone on a nightly basis and in so doing discovers herself



2. ANGEL
This show is a spin off from Buffy and follows Buffy's former beau in his fight agains all that is evil in Los Angeles with his trusty side-kicks at his side



3. GREEK
This is about a normal engineering geek going to univeristy and joining a fraternity and reuniting with his sister - hilarity ensues with a great cast



4. ALIAS
This is about super spy Sydney Bristow as she saves the world



5. CHARMED
This is about those ever popular witches who use their awesome powers to save the day



6. CHUCK
This is about nerd Chuck getting a goverment computer uploaded into his head and becoming a spy with a crush on the hottest woman alive



7. NCIS
Who does not know what this is about - Gibbs - there that should be sufficient!



8. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
Follows Ted as he looks for love with his legendary side-kick Barney



9. THE O.C
Follows the lives of the Cohen's as they adopt a ruffian who gives more meaning to their lives - awesome hotties



10. SUPERNATURAL
Dean and Sam travel across the USA and fight all sort of baddies and their own turmoil