Will Kelly

Leverage

I got to catch the new TNT show Leverage while on a recent business trip to Boston. It was a fun and exciting show and I liked seeing Timothy Hutton again. This is a show to watch after a stressful day dealing with dysfunction because the characters challenge all that is wrong in today's corporate world and come out on top. It's purse escapism.

Californication to head to Season 3

Friends told me about Californication on Showtime a while ago. However, I don't subscribe to Showtime as part of my cable package.

I downloaded Californication from iTunes a few months ago and absolutely loved the show. It is so well written and David Duchovny is a riot as Hank Moody, a burnt out and hedonistic novelist turned blogger.

Now the news is out that Californication has been picked up for Season 3. I can't wait until Californication Season 2 hits iTunes.

Sling.com as TV on the Web

Sling.com has entered the streaming Web media fray.  You may already be familiar with the Sling brandname from their line of Sling box players that enable you to watch your TV from any Internet connected Macintosh, Windows PC or other supported mobile device.

Here is a look at the Sling.com user interface:

The Web as TV

One of my favorite parts of my new job is learning about the company's market and trying to find a vision for the future of our converged services offering.

With my new employer's product offerings spanning PC, telephone, TV, and mobile devices I've had a  lot to research and think about in regards to our current and future and product offerings. Mobile devices are old hat because I wrote about mobile device topics when I was a freelance writer.

The Wire Season 5 on DVD

The Wire was the best show on television and I was a big fan of the series. My  Mom got me The Wire - The Complete Fifth Season on DVD for my 40th birthday.

The DVD set was well done and the extras really add insight into the making of the 5th and last season of what perhaps was the best show on television.

The X-Files Movie

I was a huge fan of the X-Files back in the day. It was my favorite TV show once upon a time. Now the movie is due to hit the theaters tomorrow.

It's been a while since I've seen a movie in a real live theater and I want to see this movie without sacrificing my nostalgia for the series.

What I've been watching lately

There has been a noticeable uptake in my DVD consumption as of late due to the TV writer's strike. Here is a sampling of what I've been watching or listening to in the background when I've been writing:

• Season 1 and 2 of Northern Exposure courtesy of NetFlix.
• Season 2  and 3 of Miami Vice.
• Battlestar Galactica reruns served up from my Tivo.
• MI5 Season 3 on DVD

I've never been one to work in silence although I do like to control the noise. So even during the day in my home office, iTunes is playing one of my favorite podcasts or a mix of music.

After hours, I like the TV on in the background so as the TV writers strike drags on means I am playing more DVDs.

The Last Season of the Wire Comes to a Close

Down to 'The Wire': It's a Wrap for Gritty TV Series (from Washingtonpost.com)

It was early still -- about 10 p.m. on Friday -- and somewhere in Columbia, David Simon was giving a tour of the sights: There, he said, pointing, was the Baltimore mayor's office. Over there? The city's Western District police headquarters, and there, that little closet of a room, "that can be the visiting room at Jessup." Pause. "Or the jail. Depends. We just redecorate."

Rescue Me Season 4 Now on iTunes

Rescue Me Season 4 is now a available as a Season  Pass on iTunes. Denis Leary and Peter Tolan are brilliant writers and have kept the fourth season to the same high standards as the previous seasons.

It is one of my favorite TV shows that makes me stop what I am doing to sit down and watch.

Burn Notice

I spend a lot of working and writing so I rarely stop to sit down and watch a TV show even though I have a Tivo. Burn Notice quickly caught my attention. The show is smartly written, acted, and uses Miami and South Beach to their maximum effect as a backdrop for the series.

Rescue Me Returns June 13th

There are few shows I will stop what I am doing to watch and Rescue Me is at the top of the list. The new season premieres on June 13th. I am so looking forward to the new season!

The Season Finale of Lost

The latest season finale of Lost restored my faith in the show and its creative team. The show nearly lost me as a fan because of the frequent repeats,  long hiatus between original episodes, and the general impression that the writers may not have had an overarching plan for the plot of the show.

Amazon Unbox Tivo Downloads

I signed up for the Amazon Unbox Service and began taking advantage of my $15.00 credit over this weekend. As I typically break from the good Irish boy trend and stay at home on Saint Patty's day because it is an amateur night I wanted to catch up on my movie watching and clean off my Tivo.

So this weekend, I watched Miami Vice (the movie) and The Break-Up while staying off the road.

One of My Favorite Magnum PI Episodes: Home from the Sea

Magnum PI was one of my favorite shows as a kid.  In fact Magnum PI was the first season pass I set up when I got my Tivo.

Over the weekend, I got to watch Home From the Sea.  It is one of my favorite episodes because the story includes the unspoken power of strong friendships and father/son relationships.

What Jack Bauer Learned...

The January 2007 issue of Esquire Magazine includes What I've Learned: Jack Bauer (as in Jack Bauer from 24) that includes such useful advice as the following:

Actions speak louder than words. Though shouting can also be effective.

If you shoot a man's wife in the knee and he still doesn't give you the information, he's bad.

Revenge is the cruelest trick. I've seen it taken out on others, I've been victim to it, I've even done it myself. But it doesn't change anything, and it doesn't bring comfort.

Trust is the key to survival. And by trust, I mean getting out of the way and letting me do what I need to do.

The only thing harder than racing to stop a madman from releasing a deadly virus that will kill thousands of people is doing it while simultaneously trying to kick heroin.

I've been beaten, kidnapped, gassed, and shot at, but the most terrifying thing I've ever been through was facing my daughter after I made her believe I was dead.

I eat a lot of bananas. They're a good source of vitamin B and potassium. They're also easy to take on the move.

Love is a privilege.

If you have to trust someone, make it a quirky computer genius.

Rescue Me Renewed for Season 4

It was announced today that Rescue Me has been renewed for Season 4. This is great news coming on the heels of Denis Leary's Emmy Nomination.

Rescue Me Season 2 on DVD

The Rescue Me Season 2 DVD set greeted me when I returned home from Spinning Class the other night.

Denis Leary, a lapsed Catholic attacked Tommy Gavin's faith in such a unique and funny way that somehow was never a blip on the Catholic Church's radar screen like the DaVinci Code. While it is Cable TV, some of Tommy's visions of Jesus and Mary Magdalene were interesting to say the least.

I am also happy that Season 3 of Rescue Me is set to debut on May 30th. This is one of the few TV shows I stop what I am doing to watch.

Rescue Me Season 3

Season 3 of Rescue Me debuts on May 30th. Rescue Me is one of the few shows, I will actually stop to watch. The writing is excellent and the characters explore some of the darker elements inside all of us.

Season 1 of the show captured my attention, and I enjoyed Season 2 even more as they explored Tommy's faith in God.

I am looking so forward to Season 3.

Battlestar Galactica

When I was a kid, the original Battlestar Galactica TV show caught my young imagination. Fast forward to my adulthood, when every remake of my childhood TV shows like Wild Wild West, Mission Impossible, and other left me disappointed and but still waxing nostalgic.

When Battlestar Galactica debuted on the SciFi Channel, I was already jaded and cynical on remakes of my favorite childhood TV shows. So I shot down the miniseries outright because they made Starbuck a female and Boomer an Asian female/Cylon agent.

24 Season 4 on DVD

I got 24 Season 4 on DVD for Christmas. While I find 24 good escapism, the 5th season prequel included on the DVD set is nothing more than an extended Toyota commercial. I got more spoilers about the upcoming Season 5 from 24 Weblog.