Welcome back, Coach!

I have very little and very much to say about this beautiful season four premiere. Let’s see whether my talky or taciturn side wins, shall we?

When we left Dillon, Coach had been screwed out of his position by Joe McCoy’s machinations, banished to the newly reopened East Dillon High as both consolation and punishment. Despite promises of large state grants to both schools, the best talent and lion’s share of the money have been diverted to Dillon.

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GROUNDBREAKING CHILDREN’S SERIES YO GABBA GABBA!

KICKS OFF FIRST EVER U.S. TOUR

YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE: THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY

ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14 IN LOS ANGELES

SPECIAL GUESTS WILL JOIN THE PARTY ON STAGE, ROCKING THEIR FAVORITE ‘DANCEY DANCE’ MOVES

ADVANCE TICKETS FOR AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARDMEMBERS

BEGINNING WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

PUBLIC ON-SALE BEGINS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9

BEVERLY HILLS, CA & MIAMI, FL — (September 24, 2009) –W!LDBRAIN, the award-winning animation and entertainment company and S2BN Entertainment are proud to announce the launch of YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE:  THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY, the first live U.S. touring show for the hit children’s program Yo Gabba Gabba!. The show will feature DJ Lance Rock, and everyone’s favorite cast of characters– Brobee (the little green one), Foofa (the pink flower bubble), Muno (the red Cyclops), Plex (the magic robot), and Toodee (the blue cat-dragon) as well as lots of surprise guests.  The tour comes on the heels of the first YO GABBA GABBA! CD release YO GABBA GABBA! MUSIC IS AWESOME, hitting the shelves nationwide on October 20.

The tour will kick off in Los Angeles on Saturday, November 14, at the Shrine Expo Hall. YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE: THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY will also appear at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on Saturday, November 21, and the Rosemont Theatre outside of Chicago on Saturday, December 5.  There will be two shows in each city — in LA and Chicago they will be held at 11 AM and 3 PM and in NY 11 AM and 2PM.

Tickets will be available to American Express Cardmembers from Wednesday, September 30, at 9 AM through Thursday October 8 at 9PM.  There will also be a special pre-sale for Gabba Mail members on Tuesday, October 6^th at 10AM EDT.  The public on-sale will begin October 9 at 10AM.  Tickets will be available via Ticketmaster.com and YoGabbaGabba.com.

A one-of-a-kind live event, YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE: THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY will feature music, animation, games, singing, dancing, and special musical guests.  Favorites such as “Party in My Tummy” “Hold Still” and “Get the Sillies Out” will be featured in the show. Special guests will also join the party on stage rocking their favorite ‘Dancey Dance’ moves.  Presented using state of the art production elements, YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE: THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY will offer audience members of all ages an unparalleled experience.

YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE: THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY

Los Angeles, CA

Shrine Expo Hall               Saturday, November 14, 2009 11AM and 3PM

New York, NY

Beacon Theatre Saturday, November 21, 2009 11AM and 2PM

Chicago, IL

Rosemont Theatre Saturday, December 5, 2009 11AM and 3PM

YO GABBA GABBA! premiered on Nick Jr. in August, 2007. Since its debut it has garnered extensive critical acclaim including being hailed as one of the best new television series of 2007 by TIME magazine, winning the BAFTA for International Children’s Programming in 2008 and in 2009 it won the award for best children’s programming from the Television Critics Association.  Currently the number one show in its time period among kids 2-5, YO GABBA GABBA! has also captured a broad appeal among parents, teens and adults who love the program with its contemporary musical appeal and retro feel. The hit show has featured a variety guest stars like Jack Black, Rachel Dratch, Jimmy Eat World, Melora Hardin, Jack McBrayer, Andy Samberg, Amy Sedaris, Amare Stoudemire, Tony Hawk, Elijah Wood and popular bands Sugarland, The Ting Tings, The Shins, MGMT and The Roots.

YO GABBA GABBA! toys, apparel and other merchandise are sold in stores nationwide in the U.S. and have skyrocketed in popularity.  The series is currently shooting its third season in the U.S. and airs in several major international territories, including Australia, Canada, Israel, Latin America, New Zealand, South Africa and the U.K.

Visit www.yogabbagabba.com

I’ve been dealing with a few matters in the real world and they’ve caused me to trim a little of my writing. Here and Sketch War have been the hardest hit of late. Sorry.

I hope to get back on track in the next week or so, catching up on the summer shows I review and prepping us for the fall schedule. I’ll even try backfilling the reviews I’ve skipped but I make no promises about that.

And if you don’t hear from me before Monday with a preview of Greek…suffice it to say TheWife and I have become huge fans, always should have been fans, and have inhaled the first two seasons. The premiere is this coming Monday on ABC Family: don’t miss it.

Good news to fans of the con! More crime-y goodness. More below.

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If season two of Mad Men was about long-term bonds and understandings coming to an end, this season looks to be the chaotic aftermath of that. Under conditions of extreme pressure and energy, novel forms blink into and out of existence, quantum states superimpose, and out of the soup new structures crystallize. This is true of societies and communities in the macro world as much as it is true of particles in the subatomic world. Don is doting husband and father/seducer. Joan is counting down the days till she’s gone/manipulating the office with her usual aplomb. The Brits are in charge/are hopelessly out of their league.

First, let’s get the big mystery out of the way…based on the way Betty’s belly looks I’d say we’ve jumped forward about eight months from the end of season two. Enough time for Don and Betty to have come to yet another in their long string of accommodations, for things at Sterling-Cooper to still be in flux, for Harry to be much more important, and for Bert to have acquired a lovely piece of tentacle porn to keep his Rothko company. But just little enough time that we can watch as the new world order begins to emerge.

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As much as I love Holly Hunter, I never did get into Saving Grace. However, I know some of my readers are fans and will be saddened by this news.

TNT will conclude the fascinating journey of Oklahoma City Police Det. Grace Hanadarko in 2010, when the network’s groundbreaking original series SAVING GRACE will come to an end. SAVING GRACE will wrap up with a nine-episode run planned for next summer. The provocative drama stars Oscar® winner Holly Hunter (The Piano), who this year received the second of two consecutive Emmy® nominations for her no-holds-barred performance. Hunter also serves as executive producer of SAVING GRACE, along with show creator Nancy Miller (Any Day Now), Gary A. Randall (Any Day Now, Leaving L.A.) and Artie Mandelberg (Leaving L.A., Mr. & Mrs. Smith). For its current summer run, which ends Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), the show has averaged more than 3.5 million viewers and ranks first in its time period among viewers, households, adults 25-54 and women 25-54.

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This episode was all kinds of wonderful. From Hardison’s wig to Parker’s awkward interactions with people to the tongue-in-cheek homages to the great thrillers of the ’70s, from start to finish: fun. By switching up roles in an effort to allow Sophie to seek some comfort and excitement after her breakup, everyone got a chance to use some of the skills they’ve been developing in their ongoing effort to become more well rounded thieves and grifters. We’ve seen more of this, extending back to the latter episodes of the first season, and each time the writers have found a way to make it interesting. Sophie isn’t a master planner and never will be; it would be far more boring if she slipped into Nate’s role without some trouble. Likewise Parker scamming and Eliot playing computer geek.

If I were to complain about anything it would be that Eliot didn’t struggle enough finding information on Hardison’s interrogator and that Nate seems too comfortable in the midst of a grift. The weight rests on Beth Riesgraf’s shoulders to be the awkward, uncomfortable one when playing a role; I’d like to see a little more of that from everyone but Sophie.

That small grumble aside, this was good.

Edit: I wrote my review off the screener. I should have waited. During the episode, TNT had cross-promotion of Raising the Bar with *Nancy Grace*. An hour in which Leverage bashes her loosely fictionalized stand-in and they put her smug face right there in the middle of it!

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For two seasons, I’ve found myself in the awkward position of complaining when my second favorite event on the annual sports calendar comes around because USA would preempt Burn Notice for two weeks. When USA lost the broadcast rights to the US Open to ESPN, the knowledge that Michael, Sam, and Fi wouldn’t be interrupted was the only comfort. You see, ESPN does shitty tennis coverage whereas USA has done kickass work for twenty years.

And then I found out the summer finale was in August anyway. Aarrrrgggh!

Alright. That’s out of my system. The gang will be back in January-ish so tonight’s episode, the episodes I have saved on the Tivo, and seasons one and two are all I’ve got to tide me over. Will it be enough?

Tonight’s episode alone might do it.

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We talk all the time but it never feels like you’re actually sharing anything. As great as you are, there’s always a mask. I just don’t know who you really are, Katherine.

Bernie Goddamn Madoff. He takes our money, insults our legal system, makes the sick sicker, and the poor poorer. Turns out he (or someone just like him) also treats his stepson like crap and plots to kill hapless FBI agents. Special Agents Taggert and McSweeten return for their third appearance on Leverage and almost get killed for their efforts.

Tonight the team stretches itself thin as it steals a school. That’s a tough one but they succeed because Nate knows the one true rule of dealing with the rich and powerful: force them to doubt their mastery. By holding himself out as a recognized authority with a book and method that is well known and revered, he challenges the fuming parents to risk looking ignorant by standing up to him. It’s a basic trick of the conman, salesman, hustler, and writer and works best against the people who should be the least credulous. After that, the rest is gravy.

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I apologize again or my absence the past couple of episodes. But this was a pretty good one to come back to.

Michael’s existence has changed a lot over the past two and a half years. From a closed-off and guarded loner, he’s learned to trust and care about other people in ways that had long been submerged. He’s still broken. But who isn’t? His sexy flirtation with Fiona in the pilot wasn’t about compassion or concern: it was about the raw physical passion between these two lovers. His early interactions with Sam were awkward, even after Sam’s deal with the Feds was in the open. And let’s not forget his idiot brother and insane mother, right?

Except that’s not who those people are. Madeline loves her son, Sam is a loyal friend, Nate really does try, and Fi…well Fi wants Michael’s heart and soul. Have they all changed or is it that as Michael has changed, his perceptions of those around him - and the reflected perceptions we see - have changed? I’d argue for the latter.

I’m not implying this is the authorial intent. These relationships really have matured over time, as a function of the writing and the performances. But try looking at the show as if it is truly and completely Michael’s journey and we are merely passengers seeing the world unfold before his eyes. In that case, we should expect the world he sees/we see to change in ways both small and large. Miami might appear larger and less restrictive. Madeline more nuanced and human. Sam more loyal.

In The Last Temptation of Christ, when Lucifer shows Jesus the world he could have if he faltered - a long, happy life in a verdant world - he tells Jesus that Israel has always been a garden and he had failed to see it as such. On one hand, this is Lucifer’s attempt to tempt Christ, so we know he’s pumping up the saturation of the colors a bit. On the other, we know that Israel is a land of desert and of forest and of gardens and of beaches. Throughout the rest of the film, Scorsese shows us only the desert aspect. Even at the final Seder, in the GARDEN of Gethsemane, the land is dusty and sere. Our perception of the world is intentionally Jesus’ perception.

I suggest looking at Burn Notice in the same vein. See Miami as though we see it through Michael’s eyes. See his friends and family the same way. He is changing.

Which makes his deal with Strickler that much worse.

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