Jack Frost

1. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - The ULTIMATE viewing experience. Luckily this is always on TV during Christmas. And it never gets old.

2. Frosty the Snowman - A cute cartoon from 1969 but always seemed more modern to me. So it’s weird to realize now that it’s from ‘69!

3. The Year Without a Santa Claus - Mickey Rooney voices Santa Claus in this one, like many other Rankin & Bass specials (maybe all). The infamous Heat Miser has his very own bobble head. Okay, so does his brother, the Snow Miser. Veronica Mars was a big fan of this movie. I watched this last week.

4. Miracle on 34th Street - There is the original Miracle on 34th Street (Special Edition) from 1947, but I also love the version with Mara Wilson (the girl from Mrs. Doubtfire): Miracle on 34th Street (1994).

5. Jack Frost - The story is told by a groundhog voiced by Buddy Hackett! Um, what is better than that?! Also, there is a short 1934 cartoon about (a kinda creepy) Jack Frost that I always remember, which you can view on YouTube.

White Christmas

6. White Christmas - A musical from 1954 that was nominated for an Oscar. Ads for it proclaimed: “Joyous entertainment for every season, any year!!!!” So why not this year, eh? It stars Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. I remember seeing it when I was younger and being mesmerized by the singing, costumes and sets.

7. How The Grinch Stole Christmas - The 1966 TV movie, NOT the movie from 2000. You shouldn’t mess with a classic.

The Nutcracker Ballet

8. It’s a Wonderful Life - What could I possibly say about this? It’s just a great film.

9. Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July - Oh yeaaaah.

10. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - The future Mrs. Claus is named Jessica! This tells the story of how Santa came to be - even why Santa lives at the North Pole. This was already on TV this year and I watched it.

11. Pinocchio’s Christmas - Here is a link to a YouTube clip. I love it.

12. Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey - Well, he’s just adorable. Nestor was mocked for his long ears - he probably would have gotten along with Dumbo. But he lived during the Roman Empire. I’m told this is usually on ABC Family during this time of the year.

13. The Little Drummer Boy - From 1968. Sweet movie.

14. The Nutcracker Ballet - Every version, ever! Why has Barbie taken over this? My favorite version is the one that is always on PBS which is from 1977.

Babes in Toyland

15. Babes in Toyland - I love the one from 1961 which has Annette Funicello with her perfect hair and yellow dress. It also starts memorably with a goose! The one from the 30’s is both more comedic and also way more creepy. Skip it for the kids or they honestly might get scared.

16. Home Alone - So very fun.

17. The Velveteen Rabbit - Reminds you to be grateful for what you have, especially your toys.

18. Madeline’s Christmas/Madeline and the Toy Factory - Madeline is the French girl with the orange hair, you remember?

19. The Santa Clause - Admit it, it’s cute.

20. I forget the name! What is it…what is the movie with an elf and he runs away to invent things in ‘the big city’ and there’s two children - one is a homeless boy, the other is a rich girl… Wait, is it… Santa Claus: The Movie?  IT IS! Patch the elf!

Jack Frost clip:

White Christmas clip of the finale:

While doing my YouTube searches I came across two clips I wanted to share.

The first is a cartoon called ‘The Moth and the Flame‘ that I remember from childhood.

The second is something I’ve never seen before but looks cute if you like mermaids! (Which I do.) It’s a stop motion animation movie called The Daydreamer with a song ‘Wishes and Teardrops‘.

The Daydreamer

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If you aren’t already watching Samantha Who? then it’s time to do it - okay? Okay. How do you know if the show will appeal to you? Okay, do I have to do everything? No, no, it’s fine. I’ll help convince you. Listen, if you liked Friends and/or Sex and the City - I’m certain you’ll like this show. If you like monkeys I think you’ll like the show, although that’s really for no reason for that…it’s just a feeling.

I have let my TV schedule revolve around too many dramatic shows that depress me. There are scientific studies out there - in the universe somewhere - that talk about how sitcoms and laughing is really good for your body, mind, soul, and singing voice. I always feel so happy after watching Kath & Kim, The Office, and 30 Rock on Thursday nights on NBC.

Samantha Who? is a show much like this in that it’s happy and shiny and pretty and oh yea, makes me laugh! I love it and I think that if I keep managing to forget it or think I should skip it - other people are thinking the same. But then I watch an episode and go ‘oh man, how am I not telling all of you guys how great this show is?’  Which is why I am now. Watch the pretty, preeeeeetty show. *Hypnotizes* What? That isn’t illegal unless I’m using my powers to make you do something bad like steal diamonds. Although if you could just hop on over to Tiffany’s…

>>>> Samantha Who? is on ABC on Monday’s at 9 p.m., and new episodes begin in January. You can watch Samantha Who? online at ABC.com for free.

Here is a convenient chart for a typical Monday in your life:

9 a.m. - Wake up, you are so late! Make a fruit smoothie, call your work.

11 a.m. - Finally arrive at work after your manicure. What pretty nails you have. You certainly can’t type with them. Go talk to the cute ‘Jim’ in your office.

11:30 a.m. - Decide to change the screensaver on your computer from hopping frogs to a castle made of legos.

12 p.m. - Lunch time, mmmm, yum. Have a salad with strawberries and walnuts. You can eat a piece of cake later tonight.

1 p.m. - You’ve been tasked to go to the zoo and feed baby goats. Do this and let them nurture your soul while you nurture their bodies with milk or whatever they eat. Don’t let them eat your scarf if it was a present from your Grandma. Grandma won’t believe ‘a goat ate it’ as an excuse. Trust me.

5 p.m. - What a tiresome day. Do some yoga. Shop online for stained glass windows, Hello Kitty socks, and garden gnomes. Eat dinner at some point.

9 p.m. - SO EXCITING - time for Samantha Who! You’re taping or DVR’ing whatever other shows you like on Monday’s, so it’s all good.

12 a.m. - Insomnia has gotten the best of you, go to your old typewriter and begin typing a great American novel. Quit your job tomorrow, move to Ireland, write your good friend, Jessica Rae, a postcard.

—

I just watched an episode online:

Official Episode Recap for “The Park” 2×08 - “Samantha struggles with trying to be the environmentalist she is not in order to impress philanthropist boyfriend Owen (James Tupper). Meanwhile, Andrea discovers that she’s not first draft in pro-basketball player Tony Danes’ lineup for potential dates.” - ABC.com

My favorite quotes from Samantha Who? - The Park are as follows:

“You turned out fine.” - Regina Newly
“I turned out mean and soulless!” - Samantha Newly

“Wise up, man. Women talk!” - Samantha Newly

“What if me likes meat? Me likes wearing leather? Me likes long showers? …and I’m talking like a muppet…” - Samantha Newly

“If someone described your father to me I’d think they were talking about a Saint Bernard.” - Regina Newly

“I’m not gonna fake my own death - I can barely fake sick!” - Samantha Newly

“It’s not you, it’s me…because of you.” - Samantha Newly

“Am I a better person than who I was before?” - Samantha Newly
“You’re so disgustingly sweet I’m surprised you don’t live with seven dwarves.” - Andrea Belladonna
“I’d even let you babysit my dogs, and that’s the biggest compliment I can give anybody.” - Dena

—

In some of my real life woe-is-me, my external harddrive - Maxtor One Touch III - doesn’t register on my computer anymore so I’ve lost files upon files and I’ve also spent way too much time looking for an answer to fix this thing. Where is the Nerd Herd when you need them? I need my very own Chuck. Sigh! I hate Maxtor now, they are evil How convenient that my one year warranty just ran out!

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30 Rock Online Webisode Review - B

The Outburst part 2 is also ready to view! To summarize: Angela never gossips. Kevin keeps bathroom doors open at inappropriate times. Toby’s voice is sad. There’s a bounty out for info? YES. Oscar quotes Jerry Maguire? YES. Kevin never took acting classes. Who knows!?

The Office Webisode Review: A+

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THE STARTER WIFE will premiere as a two-hour episode on Friday, October 10 at 9/8c on USA Network.
The Emmy Award-winning hit original, THE STARTER WIFE, starring Debra Messing returns this Fall focusing on the post-divorce adventures of Molly Kagan (Messing) as she begins a new chapter in her life. On the heels of its stellar ratings and awards success, USA has brought back the hit miniseries of 2007 as a series with ten exciting episodes, with Emmy Award-winner Messing returning to star and now serving as executive producer. Reprising their roles are three-time Emmy Award-winner Judy Davis (”Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadow”) as Joan McAllister and Chris Diamantopoulos (”Behind the Camera: Mork & Mindy”) as Rodney Evans - Molly’s two best friends. Also returning this season as a special guest star is Joe Mantegna (”Criminal Minds”) as Lou Manahan, former studio head and former boyfriend of Molly. This season, the series is being filmed entirely in Los Angeles. Visit the official website and join other fans on the official Starter Wife Fan Page on Facebook

1 Grand Prize Winner Will Recieve The Starter Wife Weekend Gift Bag:

• Custom Sujean Rim Shoe Bags (Set of 2)
• Sujean Rim Signature Starter Wife T-shirt
• Boy Shorts (2 pairs)
• Six (6) Makeup Brushes with Branded Case
• Three (3) Piece Revlon Makeup Set


To enter, use a valid e-mail address and leave a comment by Tuesday October 21st telling me what you’ll be dressing as for Halloween and what you think the character of Molly should dress as. USA and Canadian residents only, and no P.O. boxes.

Win THIS!

A scene from the premiere where Molly discusses her identity with her friends (very enjoyable!):

Brand new to the show? Catch up in under two minutes:

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Find out more details about each of these crazily-fun characters from their MySpace-eque pages. If everyone is this fun and wacky in Britain, then I’ll have to go live there (finally, people who will understand me!). I’ve been big on wanting to live in Canada, but who knows…

The website has a handy glossary of British phrases that are used in each episode - meaning you get cultured while you get entertained. Brilliant!

The next episode of Skins airs on BBC America on August 31st at 10/9c. I especially like the character of Cassie, and that seems to be a common thought. The below YouTube feature showcases the character of Cassie. If you want to watch more (I watched several clips) the official YouTube channel is here.

For as much as we can hate high school, and hate being a teenager - there’s something amazing about shows with teens in high school. We love these shows, and we watch them no matter our age. Although, not all teenage dramas are created equal. Some are dull, predictable, and not worth watching (*cough* The O.C. *cough*), while others are excellent (My So-Called Life). People are comparing Skins to Gossip Girl, but I think it looks a lot better than Gossip Girl. That’s just the easiest comparison. But even if you don’t like Gossip Girl, I’m betting you’ll like Skins. And if you DO like Gossip Girl, I still think you’ll like Skins.

If you’ve missed the first two episodes you can purchase them on iTunes. Don’t let this be a show that becomes ‘one of the best shows on TV you aren’t watching’. Get on board, start watching.

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Sudden Death focuses on Detective Julio Sanchez (Raymond Cruz) and what occurs in the wake of the unexpected and sadly fatal shooting of his brother. This is the kind of TV episode that occurs in niche shows (crime, hospital, or uh…beet farming) where everything you know is knocked to the wayside because personal attacks hit a group of people differently. I know that sounds vague, because how could a personal attack not affect someone differently. Honestly?  I’m not sure how to anymore specifically phrase this. What do I mean by ‘differently’? Well, more intensely for sure. But other than that it varies by as many individuals as there are involved. The only common thread that I’m (fairly) certain is there is that it’s different than how you feel about other cases for your job.

Raymond Cruz and Kyra Sedgwick

I guess that’s what they mean when they say something hits you close to home. Only, it’s not just close to your home - it’s in your home on your favorite chair, and what are you gonna do about it now? Well, objectivity is a difficult skill, and it is one that you will see struggled with in this episode. Without the ability to detach from the case, things get messy. A leak in the department and the methods used by Sanchez to find the killer both become problems. Plus, an unfriendly face with their own motives becomes salt in the wound.

Brenda (Kyra Sedgwick) is once again smooth with her interrogation techniques, and every time I watch this show I feel pretty wowed. Put it this way: I would not want to be in a room with her if I had a major secret. But it is the grief-ridden performance by Raymond Cruz as Julio Sanchez that particularly wowed me this time. I have one other name to drop, and that is: Kevin Bacon. Bacon, Sedgwick’s real life husband, directed this episode. And very well, I’ll add. But would you expect any less?

The entire episode is chock full of talent. My one real complaint? Much as I love the costume design work in general (especially for Brenda), Brenda does wear a dress in this episode that screams ‘I’m a pilgrim’. Pilgrim fashion never caught on for a reason.

G.W. Bailey as Det. Lt. Provenza

My favorite quotes for this episode:

“I finally get to be the witness who didn’t see anything.” - Julio Sanchez

“People maybe be created equal, but they don’t die that way. Murder isn’t fair.” - Brenda Leigh Johnson

“I know I didn’t do it by the book. But the book doesn’t cover this.” - Not telling you who says this, it’ll tell you too much.

Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon on the set of The Closer

Pictures are courtesy of TNT, they are by Karen Neal

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With the end of summer comes the summer finale of the comedic and cute TBS show My Boys. It’s Bobby’s wedding, so you know things won’t go smoothly! Tune in on Thursday (this Thursday!) August 7th at 10 p.m. to see John, Cougar, Newman Camp. (Let’s all admit that’s a pretty cute title, okay?) Series creator Betsey Newman directed this episode.

Here is a clip from the finale, along with the episode summary:

Synopsis from TBS: It’s the day of the wedding rehearsal, and with Jack missing in action, Bobby decides to make Mike, Kenny, Brendan and PJ his “best men,” while PJ is determined to set things right between the Newman brothers.  Kenny and Stephanie try to keep a secret from the rest of the gang.  Mike finds out that Maggie (Mimi Rogers), the woman he stayed with the night before, just got divorced.  And the entire gang confronts the reality that with Bobby’s marriage, they will be entering a new phase in their relationship with one another.

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In this, the seventh season, Monk will be marking the passage of a successful run with a fabulous 100th episode. Think you can’t become a fan of Monk now because there’s already been so many episodes? FALSE! From August onward, Monk will be airing 99 episodes that you can then vote for online to pick from. These chosen episodes will air as a marathon for the big 100th episode. If you’re marking your calendars (use a big, red, sparkly marker), the 100th episode of Monk will air on Friday, September 5th at 9/8 central.

Who is Monk? He is an OCD-ridden genius who was fired from the San Francisco Police Force as a homicide detective. That only cracks the surface of the character, but rest assured that Monk is an unusual character… You can catch up on previous full episodes HERE.

Are you a fan of Monk? You better subscribe to Sofachip, because I have lots to tell you about this and other great shows!

This is what USA has to say about the seventh season of Monk: (SPOILERS and pictures included!)

“As we kick off season seven, Monk is fed up with a noisy neighbor and decides to move into a new house, where - in addition to the usual pitfalls of home ownership that introduces him to empathetic handyman (Brad Garrett) - he encounters a murder; after the untimely death of his beloved Dr. Kroger, Monk reluctantly tries out a new therapist (Elizondo); when a television lottery hostess is murdered, Natalie takes her place and becomes a local celebrity, while Monk pursues the killer; a famous boxer’s (James Lesure) life is threatened so Monk takes the case and finds himself in the middle of a big championship fight…well, actually, in the corner with his manager (Robert Loggia); Monk finds himself on a submarine…five hundred feet underwater…enough said; Monk meets his match in a brilliant chess master (David Strathairn) who is suspected of having murdered his wife; Monk develops a crush on a model who is accused of murder and despite the overwhelming evidence – including her confession – he is determined to prove her innocence; after Monk seeks a new form of therapy (hypnosis), he finds himself reverting to his 9-year old personality; and then Monk solves his 100th case while being profiled by a news magazine show.”

And that all happens in the first 15 minutes of the premiere!!! ; )

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What is the show about? Very good question. I do indeed have the answer! The Cleaner is based on the true story of a man who is an “extreme interventionist”. Benjamin Bratt portrays him as William ‘The Cleaner’ Banks. Once his daughter is born, Banks finds himself at the lowest point he can imagine, the kind of desolate hell you like to imagine can’t be real. Choosing to believe in hope, he decides to tackle reinvention by making a deal with God. We all like to believe in second chances. He gets his. Turns out, that might be the easy part.

Banks has promised himself, and God, to turn away completly from his former addictions. As if that weren’t enough to deal with, he decides that he will aid others in doing the same. Fighting your own personal demons isn’t easy. As someone who has been in the same sort of shoes (maybe a different size - sure), Banks (and some newfound friends) work as agents of hope in a world that leaves too many people believing the concept of hope doesn’t figure into their lives.

Bratt has said this about the show:

“I am always looking for good material to work with and The Cleaner is one of the best scripts I’ve read in a long time. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to portray such a complex and multidimensional character. A&E is the perfect home for The Cleaner and I’m proud to be working with them on bringing this emotionally compelling drama to life.”

Two more official pictures for The Cleaner are below the jump:

Pictures are courtesy of A&E and Electric Artists

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First, look at the pretty widgets! Kyra Sedgwick looks all kinds of fabulous in that red shift dress, don’t you think? Plus, the hair? Very enviable. I more than approve, I covet the look! There is also a Rapid Recap for The Closer: and here it is!

I have to say, that the people involved in putting together these Rapid Recaps have impressed me. The way it all comes together with editing and sound and the way it’s actually efficient while looking pretty? Yea, that’s just about as awesome and made of win as it gets.

The fashion is very important on the show - which you know is something I’m also all about. In fact, there is a Fashion File written by Greg LaVoi (that name is phenomenal, and it’s real!) who is the costumer designer for the show. Check it out here to see some of the most buzz-worthy outfits that Brenda Leigh Johnson (Sedgwick) has worn.

Not into the show yet? There are a few quotes from the show that I think can persuade you:

Brenda: As hard as a secret is to uncover, it’s even harder to keep.

Gabriel: Well, I’d say the wife has a pretty airtight alibi.
Brenda: You know who needs airtight alibis? Murderers.

Provenza: I’ve waited my whole career to say this: The butler did it.

Brenda: If I liked being called a bitch to my face, I’d still be married.

Provenza: Ok. We all know what’s going on here. The smart move is to not get involved until the dust settles.
Flynn: Yeah. That’s the smart move, alright. What’s your idea?

The Closer - The Complete Third Season

The Closer - The Complete Second Season

The Closer - The Complete First Season

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