Read all about why Rocko Jerome wants to win the walk-on role on AMC's "Mad Men," and how you can help him make that goal a reality!

The channel of course is TVLand.  If you want to watch a sit-com that came out before Seinfeld, this was pretty much your only choice.  All of the other stations that run syndicated shows, UPN, WB, TBS, etc are content to all run the same shows.  Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, The King of Queens, Family Guy, etc.  These are good shows, but there’s so much more out there.  The same is true for dramas.  If you want to catch a good Crime Drama that predates the CSI and Law and Order franchises, TVLand was pretty much your only choice...

 Life is hard sometimes.

In the winter of 2006 I suffered a nervous breakdown which very nearly derailed my life.

This is the log I kept leading up to that event.

Sunday, February 12, 2006 

When you watch NBC they've got the figure skating and the long ski jump and that thing where the skiers go down the bumpy hill and then do a flip. On CNBC they have stuff like women's hockey, where the mullets are apparently mandatory, and hopefully later there might be something somehow fish related. Ice fishing. Whaling on whales. Maybe like "Ice Boxing" or kids under 12 sledding on hills. Old fashioned sleds you can cut yourself on. Give those kids some character. I'm just conjecturing, here.

    Dramatic comedies, comedic dramas.."dramedies"...they all live and die by the bite of their humor in my estimation.  A dash of theatrical excess is a plus.  Those are two things (biting humor and flamboyance) that made Ugly Betty appeal to me, as a first season viewer.  The show wasn't insanely funny or off the hook, but still surprisingly inventive and clever in the way it skewered a variety of targets.  Season two continues in that vein, but to lesser impact for this viewer.

Scot Eric gets Lost at CriticalMess!

Resident TV/Movie expert Scot Eric will be reviewing Season Three of the critically acclaimed head-scratcher in its entirety.  Check the Lost review page early and often for the latest reviews.

300 on DVD - This time the film really is better than the book!

I like it, I'm sorry now I didn't go see it in theaters. It was super hip at that time, everyone I knew seemed to be into it. They had a brilliant advertising campaign; MySpace made it so you could put 300 pictures of yourself on your profile (up from the previous 12) courtesy of 300. As a born hustler i found that to be fucking brilliant. Although less brilliant than being able to rent a movie from a vending machine outside McDonald's.

...watching it again right this second, even. Rented it from a machine outside McDonald's for a buck. The future is now. 

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE "MEH"… 

It's time to rewind the DVR and look back on the 2007 TV SEASON FINALES

Before I proceed…I have to confess --- I don't watch EVERYTHING. So anyone hoping to see any references to Ugly Betty or Grey's Anatomy…sorry guys, I don't watch them.

And since I tend to mention plot details when discussing the various TV shows, one should be aware that this column abounds with spoilers, so if you're waiting to watch a show in reruns or on an upcoming DVD box set…maybe you should be surfing for more versions of the Dramatic Chipmunk (Prairie Dog) and not reading this… 

Happy Life Day, Frizzies at 11:00.

The Star Wars Holiday Special is horrendous. But you already knew that. It's a well documented fact. Chewie has a family that's so annoying that you completely understand why he stays so far away from them. His dad watches virtual reality porn featuring Diane Carol. Art Carney, Roger Corman, and Bea Arthur are in it for some fucking reason. So is Jefferson Starship… before Grace Slick came back, so they really suck. Boba Fett is introduced in a herky-jerky cartoon segment that drops the word "friend" about 38 times in five minutes. Carrie Fisher is high on cocaine and singing a song about "Life Day...