Although not as numerous as Christmas themed programs, there quite a few Thanksgiving specials and movies worth a look. Aside from some NFL football, Thanksgiving always makes me pull out some old favorites to watch. There are two things I make time to watch every Thanksgiving. The first is a very special episode of WKRP and the second is Home for the Holidays. Here’s a little about them and some other Thanksgiving themed fun you might enjoy.
Category: Essays
The nerd who became a spy. I’m talking of Charles Irving Bartowski. Chuck is set to begin it’s fourth season next week (not bad for a show that’s faced possible, even probable, cancellation every year!). So today we take a look back at the ten best Chuck episodes (at least so far).
Cutting down the list to ten left of several key moments and characters off the list including love interests Kristen Kruek and Rachel Bilson, the first performance of Jeffster, John Laroquette as the perfrect spy, the tango, the not-so-perfect spy couple of Fred Willard and Swoozie Kurtz, Captain Awesome’s night as a spy, Chuck’s red test, Casey’s daughter, Ellie and Awesome’s wedding, the giant jug of cheese puffs, and Chuck and Sarah finally getting together in Paris.
Okay, that takes care of what didn’t make the list. Now let’s take a gander at what did…
TV’s new Fall Season seems to be upon us. There are plenty of new shows. There are also more than a few who were dragged out back and unceremoniously capped in the back of the head and dumped in shallow graves. I’m still a bit bummed with the fact that both Life and Pushing Daisies got the chopping block, but there are still plenty (at least ten) which are returning and are worth watching (including a couple returning tonight). Is this a top ten you are sensing? I think it is.
Before we begin let me take a moment to give a shout out to NBC’s Chuck which only misses the cut because his return won’t happen until Spring of 2010. Damn you NBC!!!! (And you wonder why you didn’t get a single show on the list) Okay, having gotten that short rant out of the way, now on with the list…
10. Dollhouse
The year was 2002 and the 20th Bond film Die Another Day was a hit at theaters 40 years after Bond first picked up his Walther PPK in Dr. No.
There was much discussion about where to take the character. Many were in favor of bringing back Pierce Brosnan who had some early misgivings about returning for another Bond film, but instead the franchise decided to move in a new direction by allowing Die Another Day (which had paid homage to several of the previous films) to be the swan song of the old Bond flicks and reboot the entire franchise with a new rougher and less sophisticated Bond.
Who says seven is lucky? Seven is a dangerous number. The seven deadly sins, the seven evil dwarfs (um…maybe I’ve got that one wrong). As part of our continuing Bond Week, today we give you the seven deadliest and most memorable villains of the Bond series.
Here are seven of the deadliest and most memorable Bond villains. Did your favorite make the list?
Timothy Dalton left the franchise after two films in the midst of MGM’s legal and financial nightmare that threatened to end the series for good. But that was not to be. Much like Dalton before him, Pierce Brosnan had been offered the role of Bond years before. but could not accept because of his starring role in Remington Steele. Fast-forward a few years, and again like Dalton, Brosnan was given a second chance.
With GoldenEye Bond was relaunced with some subtle differences. Bond was no longer the hot-shot top spy, now he was “a relic of the Cold War” who seemed out of place in the current world events. M was also given a drastic makeover as Judi Dench took over the role, the first woman to do so, with a particular flair and wit. The movie was a huge success and Bond and Brosnan continued for three more profitable films, making Bond not only relevant to the modern world, but worth the ticket price as well.
After several years of threatening to leave the franchise Roger Moore finally bid farewell to Bond with A View to a Kill. For the first time in over a decade the series needed a new actor for the role. Sam Neill and Pierce Brosnan were two of the names on the list, but the role went to British stage actor Timothy Dalton.
Dalton had be offered the part twice, in 1968 and 1970, but turned the role down, not wanting to step into, and on, the legacy he felt was Connery’s alone. After Moore retired however Dalton was approached again and this time he finally accepted.
There are so many beautiful Bond Girls you would think it would be easy to make such a list, but whittling down to a number as small as 13 is a bit of a chore. We’ve got both the very first Bond Girl and the latest to earn the honor, but our list has some notable absences of beautiful actresses (no Halle Berry or Denise Richards) and some beloved characters (no Pussy Galore or Holly Goodhead).
We cut the list down to 13 so not everyone’s favorite made the cut. The Bond Girls are listed in chronological order of the Bond films. Sit down with a vodka martini (preferably shaken, not stirred) and see if your favorite is included!
After Sean Connery’s one film return, Diamonds are Forever, to keep the franchise alive, producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman needed to find a new leading man to keep the Bond saga alive. Jeremy Brett, Julian Glover and Michael Billington were considered (Glover and Billington eventually showed up as Bond villains).
In the end the role went to The Saint star Roger Moore who had briefly been originally considered for the role before it was given to Connery. Moore would go on to star in seven of the now 22 Bond films, the most of any actor to play the role in the series (discounting Connery’s late remake Never Say Never Again). Fleming hardliners and die-hard Connery fans were upset with Moore’s lighter touch and more humorous and suave version of 007. However the fans, and money, still rolled into the box office, and Moore found his own niche as a different, but still enjoyable, Bond.
When Sean Connery retired, the first time, from the role of James Bond after You Only Live Twice, a new face for the franchise was needed. The role, like Connery before him, went to an unknown.
George Lazenby was offered a seven picture deal with the Bond franchise, and if he had accepted who knows where Bond would have ended up today. Instead he took his agent’s advice to refuse the deal and his time as Bond was short-lived spanning only one film, On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Fans reaction to Lazenby’s Bond were mixed, finding him physically able to perform the role but emotionally distant and lacking the charm of Connery. The choice was purposeful to paint Lazenby’s Bond as different from Connery and to cast him more in the image of Fleming’s novels. Although he only performed in a single film, he was, if only for a short time, Bond. James Bond.
