TV and Burgers

I cannot stand commercials. I hate them. I hate them so much that I DVR all of my shows just so I can avoid them. So I have a difficult time understanding why people make such a big deal about the commercials that air during the Super Bowl. I want to watch the game. I don’t care about the commercials and I do not care about the halftime show. I just want to see the game. That said I did see some of the ads. I suppose the commercials are supposed to be humorous and/or intriguing, but for me they did not even bring a smile to my face. In other words, they sucked. Big time. This morning I tried my best to remember some of the commercials and you know how many I could actually recall? One. That’s right; out of all the ads I saw last night (other than the movie trailers) I could only recall one and I cannot say with 100% confidence what it was advertising. And I know exactly why I recall the ad and that is because it starred Amy Poehler; a comedian that I am ...

We have finally reached the end of our fall previews with a look at the offerings from Fox.  Now Foxx is only giving us three new shows this fall followed by two midseason programs.  Of the new fall series I can tell you that I have seen the pilot episodes for them all and two of them are brilliant.  However, before I get to those quality shows I want to start with what may be the biggest piece of crap this fall.  The Mob Doctor – Avid readers know that there are two TV genres that I despise: medical dramas and gangster shows.  This one hour drama unsuccessfully combines them into one dull and unwatchable mess.  Jordana Spiro (My Boys) stars as Dr. Grace Devlin, a brilliant surgeon in Chicago who puts herself, her friends and her loved ones in jeopardy due to a family debt owed to the mob.  Now if Dr. Devlin put her family and friends on Jeopardy to battle an evil Alex Trebek this show might have been interesting for a moment.  In...

"Ezekiel saw the wheel. This is the wheel he said he saw.  These are Unidentified Flying Objects that people say they are seeing now.  Are they proof that we are being visited by civilizations from other stars? Or just what are they? What you are about to see is part of a 20-year search." Those words, spoken by Jack Webb, were the introduction to each episode of Project U.F.O. which ran on NBC for two seasons beginning in February 1978.  The show was based on the files of Project Blue Book, which was a study of unidentified flying objects by the US Air Force between 1952 and 1969.  The show starred William Jordan as Major Jake Gatlin and Caskey Swaim as Staff Sergeant Harry Fitz as two Air Force investigators working on Project Blue Book.  In season two Jordan was replaced by Edward Winter as Captain Ben Ryan and the show suffered greatly.  Winter, who had been brilliant as Colonel Flagg on M*A*S*H*, was a dud here.  His presence and th...

As I have mentioned previously, we always like to try a local place for pizza when we travel.  On our recent trip to Franklin we had several choices and after a little research we chose Vito’s Pizza and Italian Tavern .  It was an excellent choice. We had driven by Vito’s a couple of times during the week so we knew where it was, but we still used the GPS because it’s just fun.  Vito’s is located in a strip plaza and when we drove up I was a bit surprised that it was smaller than I thought.  However, they had a fat chef statue outside which is always a good sign.  An even better sign was when we stepped inside and saw a guy tossing pizza dough in the air.  We were quickly seated in the dining room and I think they had about six or eight tables.  It was a little tough to tell as there were these yentas having some sort of party so some of the tables were obviously pushed together.  Our server, Robin, told us they had a special tha...

On a recent visit to Franklin, NC we had the pleasure of dining at several wonderful restaurants.  On one particular overcast day the Little Prince was in the mood for some trout fishing, but before we went we knew that some nutrition was vital.  So we found what was a small mom & pop restaurant known for its southern cooking and pies called the Sunset Restaurant.  Sunset is a fairly small place and when we arrived we were afraid we’d have to wait as there were very few parking spaces available.  However, when we walked in we were seated immediately.  The first thing we noticed was the aromas that filled the dining room.  The kitchen could be seen from where we were seated and the delicious aromas were wafting right to our table.  The restaurant was decorated in a very quaint and southern style and had a very homey feel.  The menu was quite varied and had several favorites that you would expect from a place that served home c...

I’d like to take this opportunity today to announce a new occasional series here at TV & Burgers.  Starting soon (which means whenever I feel like it and get around to it) I will be taking a nostalgic look back at some of my favorite shows from when I was just a kid.  In the days before Sir Griffin became an international sensation, he spent many a day sitting in front of the TV, mostly because sitting behind the TV was kind of pointless.  You could hear it, but that was about it.  Due to the fact that I spent countless hours watching TV I feel a certain obligation to my audience to share with you some of the shows that are long gone, yet bring back fond memories. Me and the Chimp Now I am not talking about going into to detail about the greatest hits of the past.  Gilligan’s Island may be the most brilliant show of all time, but that may be a little too mainstream for Sir Griffin to write about.  And yes, I loved Bewitched, My Three S...

On Saturday I had occasion to meet some old friends passing through the area.  For the sake of argument we will call them Sir Ben, Lady Rachel & Princess Jess, aka the Cannoli family.  They had asked if I could meet them somewhere not too terribly far off of I-75 that would meet the following criteria: • Easy access off and back on I-75 • Not too difficult for me to get to • Good food • Allows dogs So with that in mind I checked out some dog friendly places in the Brandon area.  There were several places to their liking, but ultimately they chose the Green Iguana.  I had never been there before, but I found the food and atmosphere to be quite to my liking.  Plus, they allowed dogs on the patio.  As far as I am concerned dogs should be allowed at any restaurant that has outdoor seating.  They allow smoking out there and that is way more stinky and disgusting than any dog I have ever met.  We were supposed to meet at 1:00 ...

Recently I was invited to attend an advance screening of the premiere episode of Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23.  The show will make its debut in April on ABC and frankly I am not sure what they will ultimately call it.  The promos they are running now replace Bitch with B, but sometimes it is often referred to as just Apartment 23.  ABC already has the god awful Good Christian Bitches, which they just call GCB, so it is unlikely they will keep the “bitch” in the title.  While I will not reveal any spoilers of the premiere I would like to tell you a little about the show and my opinion.  After all, that’s why I was selected to see it in the first place.  The Bitch in question is played by Krysten Ritter .  She is a beautiful and talented actress and former model that you have probably seen before, but may not know her name.  Krysten may be best known for playing the sarcastic sidekick to the main protagonists in films such as ...

Last fall I received from very disturbing news.  The Original Hooters in Clearwater would be closing for a few months to undergo major renovations.  How would I get by without my all time favorite restaurant?  Would I be able to get through this?  Well the answer turned out to be yes and I am here to report that the New Original Hooters is bigger and better than ever.  Welcome Back! Today, 2/13/12, was opening day of the New Original Hooters .  The first thing you notice is the expanded parking lot.  Parking could often be difficult and they have clearly solved that problem.  The next thing you notice is that from the outside it looks completely different.  There is a huge outdoor patio and the big plus with that is that you no longer have to walk through some yucky cigarette smoke to enter the building.  As has always been the case you enter the store being greeted by a beautiful Hooters girl.  To your right is...