5. Heroes 

Another show that could be irreparably damaged by the writer’s strike after having a hasty ending to what many, myself somewhat among them, considered to be a disappointing sophomore season for one of television’s most popular shows last year. Yes, the show has problems. Yes, the writing is sometimes bad and the acting exacerbates things but I’m still holding onto hoping that creator Tim Kring will right the ship and make this show a must-see again.

4. The Office  

The only thing I don’t absolutely love about The Office is that it is no longer airing new episodes. Everything about this show is pitch perfect, clever and well done. There have been a complete recent pitfalls for me (the last episode before the show went dark was really bizarre) but I love this show and know that when the show comes back on, it will be equally brilliant as it has been in its first three seasons. Let’s just hope that’s sooner rather than later.

3. Boy Meets World 

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that few television shows that I loved as a kid are anywhere near as good as I remember them. Saved by the Bell and Thundercats come most readily to mind but Boy Meets World is a show that I enjoy every bit as much as 24 as I did when I was 12. What I love most about the show, above all else, is its authenticity and its heart. Far more than any sitcom of its sort, you really believe that these people are a family and really care about each other and it gives the show an endearing warmth. Sadly, the show is no longer airing on syndication on ABC Family and the Disney Channel, let us hope that is only temporary.

2. Scrubs

Really sad to see this show go this year but it has been an incredible run for what I feel to be the best medical show, comedy or drama, in the history of television.  If there is ever a day that I pass on watching Scrubs, I hope someone has the decency to kill me. It will break my heart if this show ends without a proper series finale, as rumor has it. A show that has been this strong for this long really deserves an ending with some closure, both for those involved in the production and those who have loved the show for the duration of its run.

1. Sportsnight 

My steadfast rule when I started making this list is that whatever lands on my list, or particularly at the top of the list, I wanted it to be shows that I’ve watched and love to watch and will watch again and the discontinued Sportsnight is the epitome of that philosophy. I’ve seen every episode of Aaron Sorkin’s pre-West Wing dramedy about life on a Sportscenter-esque late night sports show. The show really introduced the world to Peter Krause, who had previously done a few bit roles including the role as a white supremacist handler on Seinfeld and Felicity Huffman. It would have been so easy for this show to be hokey and terrible but it is tremendously well-written, well-acted (save Sabrina Lloyd who plays Natalie, who has since been found stinking up Numb3rs and Ed).

I like…

Chef Traci Des Jardins prepared recipes for a Thanksgiving menu with wine parings for Epicurious and in return she wants to ask homecooks to request that their diners donate money to America’s Second Harvest, a national food bank that helps 9 million families annually.

Entertainment Weekly’s Jeff Jensen gives the Heroes graphic novel collective a B-.Glad I didn’t buy it.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tony Barnhart thinks Georgia fans would be crazy to hope that Tennessee makes the SEC Championship to practically guarantee the Dawgs a trip to a BCS Bowl.

The AJC also has a good piece on UGA coach Mark Richt transforming into the football version of Bruce Pearl.

ESPN’s Todd McShay has a list of the top 10 freshmen in college football.

StarChefs.com has released their book of Chefs to Know.

I don’t like…

The writers’ strike may cause the final season of Scrubs to air without a series finale.

New York Magazine’s Vulture blog has some disturbing information about NBC’s “Create a Hero” feature on the Heroes site.

So I watched last night’s episode of Heroes, “Four Months Ago,” the much-anticipated rewind episode and I would have to agree with Entertainment Weekly’s Marc Bernardin when he says that had this episode been the season 2 premiere, the show wouldn’t have been put on sharkwatch. The episode is far from perfect but it’s done more to advance the plot and the character’s storylines (save the wondertwins, Maya and Alejandro, who we’ll get to in a minute) in an interesting way than any episode we’ve seen so far.

After seeing the trailer and read the tease on the NBC website for next week, we have been assured of two things:  1) Agendas will clash and 2) A hero will die. In the interest of pure speculation (and hope), I’ve assembled a small list of the characters this show needs to kill off in an expeditious manner.

Nikki/Jessica/Gina - Ali Larter

In a show where people can travel through time, heal instantly, fly and move things with their mind, someone with multiple personality disorder isn’t really going to seem all that interest. And it hasn’t. This character is one of my whipping boys from season 1 and with the introduction of a third personality, I can only roll my eyes that Nikki/Jessica/Gina hasn’t kicked the bucket yet. This character is profoundly uninteresting and whenever Larter appears on the screen, I go somewhere else. I also thought *SPOILER ALERT* DL’s death in this week’s episode was a TERRIBLE way to send off a character that has been at the center of this character arch. It was fast, easy, and cheap.

Elle - Kristen Bell

I get where the writers and Kristen Bell are trying to take this character and I’ll have to disagree with Bernardin when he says that Bell is missing the mark by “this much.” She’s missing it by a whole lot more than that. This character is probably the most cliché, trite character on the show. I also disagree that Bell’s Elle is fun to watch. It’s anything but. It’s like being electrocuted, slowly.

Maya and Alejandro - Dania Ramirez, Shalim Ortiz

I almost feel bad about this one because it’s too easy but the writers have really made me do this. For weeks now, since we were introduced to the death-tear crying Maya and her sponge of a brother, Alejandro, we have wondered what the story was with these two and for weeks, the writers have refused to tell us. But that hasn’t stopped them from showing us — over and over — what the pair can do. I’m wondering when the payoff is coming. Unfortunately, it’s not soon enough.

Sylar - Zachary Quinto

I thought it was really a regrettable decision when the show opted not to let season 1’s villain die in Kirby Plaza at the end of the season. The early part of this season has really reinforced that opinion for me. NBC bill’s Sylar in its promos as the hero America loves to hate. What about those of us who are indifferent and have moved on? There is so much going on in the show right now and so many character arches intersecting that to have Sylar crawl out onto the highway that the aforementioned Wondertwins happened to be driving on was really awful television. I wish they hadn’t brought Sylar back but now that he is, I guess viewers get to endure Quinto sneering like an idiot at the camera and his fellow actors for the next three weeks or so.

Mohinder - Sendil Ramamurthy

This character is kind of Heroes’ perfect storm. Awful writing meets really heavy-handed acting to make for one of the most gut-wrenchingly bad characters in the history of television. That may be a bit strong but I think no one would be sad if the hero to fall next Monday was the junior Suresh. Suresh’s flip-flopping about whether he was for or against The Company and the moral ambiguity of it all should have been interest but fell terribly flat. I know the show will have to find someone else to do its pseudo-profound voiceover narration at the beginning and end of every episode but this character needs to go.

The Office shutting down production… Lost may not come on until February 2009.. now this…

I like…

A hardcover, 240-page book of the Heroes graphic novel was released today.

Seth Myers and other Saturday Night Live cast members have joined the picket line for the WGA strike. While the strike spells trouble for shows that I love like Heroes, Lost and Pushing Daisies. Myers and the rest of SNL’s cast and writers can remain on strike indefinitely. That show is awful right now. I tried to watch it when Seth Rogan was hosting and the show was borderline unwatchable. Take your time out there, fellas, really. 

Heroes creator Tim Kring called Entertainment Weekly to apologize to fans for the show’s stagnant season 2 start.

I don’t like…

Our sister paper, the Northwest Florida Daily News, lost its sports editor Perry Ballard yesterday. Ballard, 52, was found dead at his Fort Walton Beach home and his passing has left many in the Florida Freedom family grieving today. Our hearts go out to Ballard’s wife, his friends and his extended family at the Daily News. He will be sorely missed.

Watched the first three episodes (again) of Heroes last night. The show is really incredible and entertaining. Is it a tad overacted? Yes. But it does have the feeling of reading a comic book in a way that isn’t the least bit heavy-handed or on-the-nose (see: the visually-stupifying but soul-sucking Sin City). The performances turned in by the cast are decent if not occasionally overreaching but the ensemble cast does something extraordinarily well — they don’t get in the way. The stories being told in the show are so enveloping and engaging that Olivier-like performances are unnecessary and thankfully missing.

__________

No, seriously…

Emus love Wal-Mart.

That’s news to me: VA tells woman she’s dead.

That’s assault, brotha: Schoolchildren in Colorado no longer allowed to play tag.

Woman makes it known that she’s paranoid and racist at San Fransisco airport.

British crooks try tunneling to ATM.

___________

Colorado QB Cody Hawkins on being “the coach’s kid.”

Hokies to honor shooting victims before Saturday’s game against ECU.

No favorites in Heisman race, says SI writer.

Gamecocks oft-arrested freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia gets redshirt.

ESPN takes over “Two-A-Days.”

Browns fans vote on Quinn’s coif, prefer it long.

Nice piece in the New York Times on Jets rookie linebacker David Harris.

A story in the Washington Post about the beasts USC has at linebacker.

Is the Big Ten overrated or did it have a bad week last year?

Hoosiers trying not to think about emotions as gameday without Hep approaches.

‘07 Gators have challenge ahead, say ‘97 Gators.

Georgia will be tested, says former Oklahoma State coach Les Miles.

Pac-10 has worst refs, coaches say.

Andy Reid should have stayed home to deal with family issues, Inquirer columnist says.

VT players prepare for rush of emotions Saturday afternoon.

Will Demetrius Jones start for Notre Dame Saturday?

Slate combs college message boards.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette picks the top college football games this year.

Ainge breaks pinkie, will start Saturday.

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart predicts the conference champions.

The Big 12 eyes a return to the top.

The Pac-10 needs to make a BCS stand.

UCLA, Cal poses biggest threat to USC’s Pac-10 supremacy.

Cal’s strategy is simple: get the ball in the hands of DeSean Jackson.

____________

Well-rounded news…

Trailer up for Steve Carell’s new movie “Dan in Real Life”

MTV bored enough to make reality television show about high school newspaper.

So why are Americans eating so much shrimp?

The producers of Lost sound off on Island’s new residents.

Is there a Magneto movie in the works?

Cinematical misses the pre-Earl Jason Lee.

Ok so I’m posting Wednesday’s Line on Thursday morning but hey.. it’s a week from the start of college football season. That is really the best way to diffuse any escalating situation. If you get in a fender bender with someone and the large gentleman you’ve just rear-ended going 80 steps out of his car armed with a hammer, just say, “Week from college football season!” And if that doesn’t work…. run?

___________

No, seriously… 

The cops in Oakland are mean.

Dog burglars on the loose in Seattle.

Boy ‘assaults’ elderly man with cocktail weiner.

__________

ESPN tries to make me hate college football with 25-hour pregame show.

Donovan McNabb blogs on the departure of veteran linebacker Jeremiah Trotter.

Stephen A. Smith will no longer be writing columns for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Stephon Marbury proves once and for all that he grew up under powerlines.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach with five predictions for the Big Ten.

Eli Manning and Tiki Barker are feuding over comments Barber made during the Giants preseason game on Sunday. New York Daily News.

USC’s Patrick Turner is ready for a breakout year at receiver.

TROT FALLOUT 

• Daily News’ Les Bowen
• ‘Shocked Trotter takes his release in stride,’ Ashley Fox
• ‘Trotter’s passage isn’t that shocking,’ Rich Hofman
• ‘Trotter grew into role as top Birds defender,’ Les Bowen

Eric Gordon and the other Hoosier freshmen in Kelvin Sampson’s sick’07 recruiting class have arrived on campus.. begin the countdown to Midnight Madness!

Michael Vick will not find a place to play in Canada.

Chiefs running back Larry Johnson ends holdout, inks new deal.

Browns target unruly fans.

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart wonders if Alabama can shock the college football world this fall. I’m going with no.

Kevin Costner to fight to keep the College World Series in Omaha.

NFL will be fine after Vick, says Tim Cowlishaw.

Oklahoma quarterback race over; Sam Bradford named starter.

Redskins rookie LaRon Landry drawing rave reviews.

___________

‘Heroes’ mania is too much, too soon, says Boston Globe critic.

Slashfilm’s ten best movie endings.. kind of a curious list.

Christian Bale not approached for Justice League movie.

A Ferris Bueller sequel? Oh no..  Is nothing sacred?

Bottom Line fave Cold War Kids plan headlining tour, do support dates for White Stripes.

Having seen the girlfriend off to college, the weekend was a pretty eventful one that had me tethered to the couch for a majority of it. Having watched some football and a ton of TV. I have a number of things to rant about this morning. Let’s start chronologically.

I TiVo’d Friday nights Minnesota/Jets preseason game knowing full well that I was really only interested in the first quarter to see how rookie Adrian Peterson would do along with first year starter Tavaris Jackson for the Vikes. What I saw was Chad Pennington put in the worst preseason performance by a starter that I’ve seen in a long time. On the flip side, Adrian Peterson looked fantastic. He is a strong, quick runner that will be giving tacklers fits all season long. I am not sure that is a more dangerous runner in the open field than AD. The jury is still out on Jackson. Because of Pennington’s slip-ups, Jackson only saw 2 or 3 series of work and spent a great deal of time handing the ball off to Chester Taylor and Peterson. The Vikings could be a very interesting team to watch this year.

Saturday, I watched an absolute ton of Survivorman as it was apparently the wrong weekend to sign up for a season pass of the show. I think at last count, I watched 5 episodes of the program and 7 still remain unwatched on my DVR. It’s pretty incredible stuff. I’ve also become addicted to the travel/food show No Reservations with Top Chef guest judge and blogger Anthony Bourdain. A really fun watch.

Last night, I caught the first bit of the Giants/Ravens preseason game and shook my head at how ineffective Eli Manning is as a quarterback. The Peyton comparisons are warranted and inevitable but ultimately pointless. Eli is and never will be half the quarterback and leader his brother is. But forget Peyton for a second. Where does Eli list on the greater list of NFL quarterbacks? Top 10? Absolutely not. He’s probably one of the top 15 quarterbacks in the league. One could argue that he may be the 15th-20th best quarterback in the league given that he has not exhibited, so far, anything closely resembling leadership qualities. If the Giants are going to be successful this year, they will need Eli Manning to take control of the reins and make this his team. I just don’t see that happening.

__________

No, seriously…

The mayor of Cincinnati might be a little too sensitive.

Brazil to offer free sex changes.

A plastic cut-out cop shooting a radar gun is slowing drivers down in Tennessee (insert Tennesee joke here.)

___________

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach makes five predictions for the SEC this year/the power in the conference is moving east.

Nets forward Richard Jefferson gives $3.5 million to his alma mater.

Giants defensive end Michael Strahan expected to end holdout by this weekend.

SI’s Peter King is reporting that Falcons owner Arthur Blank feels deeply betrayed by Michael Vick.

The U.S. Open holds tryouts for “ball people.”

THE DAILY BIRD 

• Philadelphia Inquirer’s Ashley Fox: Team has questions to answer.
• Les Bowen has something similar.
• Inquirer’s Phil Sheridan: All is right with Eagles, McNabb

New York Daily News writer dubs Virginia Tech “America’s Team.”

Brady Quinn a “knockout” in Browns debut.

Alabama corner Simeon Castille arrested for disorderly conduct.

Former USC tailback Emmanuel Moody not blaming USC for this transfer.

Dan Hawkins names son starting quarterback at Colorado.

___________

Well-rounded news… 

The Federal Trade Commission is still trying to block the Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger.

Dickens World will make your bratty kids grateful for what they have.

Veronica Mars’ Kristen Bell will join the cast of ‘Heroes.’

Kanye samples Steely Dan on new record.

J.K. Rowling is reportedly working on a detective novel.

Yesterday was kind of a busy day here in Destin, ran around and had a bunch of interviews for Saturday’s paper so I didn’t get a chance to post a Line or an SEC preview. Today’s Line will be stories from yesterday as well as stories from today.

____________

No, seriously…

Pittsburgh hospital takes a stand against crocs.

AMC doesn’t carry nickels?

Apparently life is tough when you share a name with a boy wizard.

___________

Is this the last year for D-Nabb in Philly?

McNabb appears to be showing promise early in training camp.

The Ocho Cinco has some money set aside for fines.

More of the Fanhouses Big Ten preview:

• Most overrated players
• Coaches on the hot seat
• Key position battles
• The five best players
• The underdogs
• Toughest schedules

Penn State QB Anthony Morelli is confident but is he overconfident?

Virginia Tech hopes football season will mark a return to normalcy.

Joe Theismann says he urged Tony Kornheiser to stick with Monday Night Football.

Eagles fans crash Cowboys training camp.

The Colts are parting ways with defensive tackle Corey Simon.

Pro d-backs put Indiana wideout James Hardy through his paces.

‘Browns insider’ says Brady Quinn’s agent is the reason rookie QB isn’t in camp yet.

Wolverine players tell Jim Harbaugh where to go over academic criticisms.

SI’s Peter King says Brady Quinn is a fool for not being in camp.

What a dope Michael Strahan is.

Joe Paterno considers staying in the press box. Consider this — retire.

Wilbon on the death of Bill Walsh.

IU to pay tribute to Coach Hep on uniforms, helmets.

Big Ten commish Jim Delaney proving once more that he really is a complete idiot.

UCF is loving their new digs.

Baton Rouge Advocate talks some LSU football.

Vince Young proves that his low Wunderlich score wasn’t a fluke; punches teammate’s helmet with throwing hand.  The Tennessean.

Tech group files complaints against sports leagues over fair use.

Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio expects the Spartans to be bowl bound in ‘07.

A nice story on the rise of Michigan true quarterback Ryan Mallett. Expect to see Mallett some playing time this season in mop-up duty. In time, I firmly believe Mallett will prove to be a much better quarterback than his rival Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen. 

The State (Columbia, S.C.) ranks the SEC quarterbacks.

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart ranks the SEC best running backs.

The NFL to produce a Vince Lombardi biopic.
__________

Well-rounded news…

The University of Iowa could become the first university to name one of its colleges after a corporation following a $15 million gift from Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Disney has pulled the plug on its plans for a ‘Ratatouille’ wine.

Two-a-days are becoming a thing of the past in the NFL.

Even investment bankers love them some Facebook.

Blogger thinks new Bourne film is an attack on the Bush administration.

Wyclef says Lauryn Hill is the reason there hasn’t been a Fugees reunion.

Halo 3 to feature online multi-player co-op.

Tech blog Valleywag urges Facebook to stop counting its money and fix the site.

First season of Heroes to come out on DVD later this month. YES!

John Mayer, Dave Matthews and Nas set to play gig at Virginia Tech in September.

Cinematical reviews The Bourne Ultimatum, which I am excited beyond words to see tomorrow night.  Another review from Time Magazine.

Robert Downey, Jr. talks about playing Iron Man.

Rumors swirl over the title of J.J. Abrams’ new project. Some production stills from the set.

The Detroit Free Press interview Cold War Kids frontman Nathan Willett.

Not everyone was a fan of Rocco Dispirito’s cameo on Top Chef last night.

Entertainment Weekly wants to know who you like more: Bond or Bourne?

American Airlines will test in-flight broadband next year.