sherri's blog

Everday the local and national news brings us continuing stories of the escalating costs of food, fuel and other cost of living expenses causing many to throw their hands up in frustration. Wondering if there is any end in sight to these constant increases which seem to be spiraling out of control.

If those high costs weren't bad enough, Comcast cable customers in Huntsville, Alabama will  have to dig even deeper to pay for the higher cost of the most simplest and what used to be one of the cheapest forms of entertainment, TV. Comcast, a giant in the cable industry has seen fit to increase cable rates for their Huntsville customers. Effective August 1, 2008 customers will be expected to pay more for the "privilege" of having Comcast as their cable provider. Comcast basic cable subscribers can expect to pay as much as $2.75 more per month, while digital cable subscribers will see their monthly rate increase by as much as $4.00 per month.

With this latest increase perhaps it's time for Comcast subscribers in Huntsville, to revaluate the programming Comcast provides and question whether they are getting full value for their money. While Comcast has been around for awhile, they are not the only game in town. 

So, if you're tired of Comcasts offered programming and increasing costs then maybe it's time to check out Satellite TV. For those of you who don't know Satellite TV has over 95 national channels and a variety of programming packages sure to fit everyones financial budget.

Don't wait for another Comcast price hike. Take a few minutes today and see what Satellite TV has to offer. You'll be glad you did.  

The ABC Network premiered "Wanna Bet", their latest game show creation last night on Satellite TV. After seeing and reading numerous trailers and hype about the network giants latest gamble I thought the show would have little entertainment value and would just be a move on the part of the ABC Network to fill air time, rather then run repeats of shows already in their line-up.

As Gomer Pyle would say, Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! I was actually surprised that I enjoyed the show. While all of the contestants performed quite admirably only one of them really stood out in last night's premier show. It was the contestant who was able to tell the name of a band and their album title just by licking a CD. Mind you he was blindfolded (he actually wore some kind of goggles or glasses with cds attached to them). If that isn't an unusual talent I don't know what is.

The hosts of the show, British comedians Ant and Dec, without even breaking a sweat, were actually quite funny. These two were so spot on with their line delivery that they didn't even need to come up with any over the top jokes. Perhaps Ant & Dec could give lessons to John(Henson) & John(Anderson), the hosts of ABC's other madcap game show "Wipeout", whose commentary seems somewhat lacking in humor.

Anyway, if you missed the premiere of the show either because you weren,t home or were watching something else at the time, then be sure set those DVRs to record the remaining episodes. You don't want to miss out on all the quirky, zany and over the top tricks and challenges performed by the contestants.

Food Network Foodies who are fans of the Dinner Impossible show will be ecstatic to know (if you don't already) that the show is making a comeback. The show is slated to premier sans chef Robert Irvine, with new episodes on Wednesda,y August 20th at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

While the show will be hosted by a new chef and sporting a somewhat different logo the show's theme still remains the same. Create mouth watering, scrumptious and eye pleasing food for a varying sized crowd of people in a limited amount of time.

The new Dinner:Impossible will be hosted by Chef Michael Symon who besides being the owner of Lola & Lolita, 2 critically acclaimed restaurants in the Cleveland area has also garnered numerous awards for his culinary creations. Chef Symon is no stranger to the Food Network. He has hosted over 100 episodes of The Melting Pot. He has also appeared on Sara's Secret's with chef Sara Moulton and Food Nation with Bobby Flay. If those credentials aren't impressive enough Chef Symon also competed on The Next Iron Chef in 2007 and won the coveted title of Iron Chef.

On Sunday, July 20th I managed to catch Dinner: Impossibe with chef Symon and was pleasantly surprised. His entire persona is so different from his predecessor chef Robert Irvine. He comes across as easy going and fun loving. Two admirable qualities which make him fun to watch while he attempts to complete the impossible.

So if you haven't already seen Chef Symon in action, then be sure to tune in to the Food Network on Wed. Aug., 20th and watch a culinary master take on the mission of successfully accomplishing, Dinner:Impossible.

Actor William Petersen who is best know to many tv viewers for his portrayal of scientist &  forensic sleuth extroadinare Gil Grissom on the CBS crime/drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" will be packing up his insect collection and specimens when he closes his crime scene kit for the last time sometime during the shows 10th season, which begins in 2009.

Mr. Petersen has been with CSI since it's premiere back in 2000. While he has co-shared the lead  with all of his fellow actors he has always at least from my perspective been the glue that holds the book together. Being a big fan of the crime/drama genre I have always appreciated his Gil Grissom character, for his analytical and leave nothing to chance approach to solving a crime. While the story line is what draws a viewer in to a program it's the actors ability to give credibiltiy to his or her character and allow the viewer to idetify with it that keeps them cominmg back.

While executive producers of the show might feel that Mr. Petersens departure will have no real effect on the show, I'm sure that CSI fans will beg to differ. When there is a major shift in the dynamics of a show there is always some fallout. It's just remains to be seen how much when Gil Grissom (Mr. Petersen) takes his final bow.

Here we go again! It seems that there is a very distinct possibility that history might repeat itself once again, at least with regard to the tv and film industry. As you all know, last year we as a viewing audience were subjected to tv series repeats and an over the top (at least in my book) influx of reality shows (it would seem that these shows don't require much creative writing) due to the Writers Strike.

This year, just over the horizion looms the threat of yet another strike by those folks whose work is responsible for our tv and movie entertainment. As of June 30th the contract for the roughly 120,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild  had expired. Talks had been under way between the SAG and AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) prior to June 30th, but neither side was able to come to any agreement. It would appear that the biggest hurdle to overcome between the 2 groups is the amount or residual revenue actors are requestng from the sale of DVD's. If the standoff can't be broken anytime soon, we can once again be subjected to repeats and reality tv (perish the thought). Having been subjected to numerous mindless reality shows last season, can't say as I'm looking forward to history at least in this instance repeating itself once again.

Say it ain't so. Handsome hunk Chris Noth who portrays Dectective Mike Logan in the gritty drama series "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" will be leaving the show after just 3 seasons.

Fans of Law & Order are familiar with Mr. Noth as this is where his Det. Logan character first originated back in 1990. Mr. Noth had been with the show for 5 years before he moved onto to other things. Whether his reasons for leaving were of a personal nature or just creative differences the show lost an integral part of the cast.

Jump ahead to 2005 and Mr. Noth reprises the character role of Det. Mike Logan in the spin-off series Law & Order: CI. Sadly his reintroduction into the series was to be short lived. While I like Vincent D'Onofrio( Det. Goren) and Kathryn Erbe(Det. Eames) they just don't bring the same something! something! (hard to define) to their characters as Chris Noth does to his Det. Mike Logan character who will be sorely missed.

*Note: Actor Jeff Goldblum who has starred in such hit films as The Big Chill, The Fly and Jurassic Park to name a few has been tapped to replace the outgoing Chris Noth. He will co-share the lead with Vincent D'Onofrio as did Mr. Noth. There is no word yet as to the name of the character Mr. Goldblum will play.

Ready to Rumble. The movie, which was based on the now defunct World Championship Wrestling, stars David Arquette, Scott Caan and Oliver Platt. The movie which was released in 2000 proved to be a box office bomb grossing only $12,394,327 in the U.S.

Now I'll tell you, when I was no more than knee-high to a grasshopper I actually attended and enjoyed watching wrestling matches. Since my youth, I have not felt any desire or need to watch wrestling in any shape or form. When I first saw the description for Ready to Rumble I just gave the movie a pass. Don't know how many times I did this. One day however there was absolutely nothing worth watching on tv except for Ready to Rumble so I decided to give it a look-see.

The movie is about 2 sewerage workers Gordie Boggs (Arquette) and Sean Dawkins (Caan) who after watching their hero WCW World Champion wrestler Jimmy King (Platt) be dethroned (albeit underhandedly) are so distraught that they devise a plan to help him regain his title whether or not he wants to. It's at this point in the movie that a lot of the fun begins.

While this movie was most definitely not Academy Award material, (more suited to a Rasberry Award) as proved by the box office receipts, it was still a funny film. So the next time you're looking to be entertained why not watch Ready to Rumble.

They always say that at one point in your life you should always "walk a mile in anothe man's shoes". On the hit series Dirty Jobs, which airs on the Discovery Channel, That's just what host Mike Rowe does.

Each week on Dirty Jobs Mike tries his hand at various jobs, many of which most people probably never even new existed. He's been a "Micro-Algae Man", Avian Vomitologist and Skull Cleaner to name just a few of his more unusual occupations. While there is sometimes a gross out factor to some of the jobs Mike performs, the show is entertaing as well as informative. Doesn't get any better than that for a tv series.

Dirty Jobs airs Tuesday night 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on the Discovery Channel.

Folks in Arizona know they can expect to feel some discomfort as the temperature rises to higher levels during the summer. This summer however will be bringing some Tuscon residents higher levels in an entirely different area. Namely their cable rates.

Effective July 15, 2008 Cox Communications cable tv subscibers can expect to be paying higher rates for their cable. The rate increase will range from $2 - $5 dollars. Customers who subscribe to Limited Basic will now be paying $21.95 per month. Expanded Cable service will increase to $47.95 while Digital Cable reaches a high of %52.95. The prices reflected here are before taxes.

Over the weekend I had a little extra time on my hands (obviously housework could wait until later) and decided to watch one of the many movies I had recorded with my DVR. My pick for my viewing was the movie "I Know Who Killed Me" starring Lindsay Lohan. After sitting through the entire movie I can honestly say that doing laundry and dishes would have provided more entertainment then this movie did.

In 2008 this movie had the distinction of being able to accomplish single handedly what no other movie has yet to do. This film managed to garner 8 Golden Rasberry Awards, including Worst Actress and Worst Film. In addition this movie also managed to be the first recipient of an award in a new category, named the Worst Excuse For A Horror Movie. 

The plot, acting and dialogue in this movie was so bad, that I won't even bother to try giving a brief synopsis of it. Suffice it to say that the scipt for this movie should have been buried in a vault somewhere deep within the earth and never be allowed to see the light of day.

If you're thinking of giving this movie a look-see the next time it airs on tv, might I suggest that you find some other form of entertainment like watching grass grow, paint dry or even the dog scratching and gnawing at a flea on his back.

If however you have a penchant for really, really and I mean really bad movies, then this one might be to you're liking.