Suffering The Benz

1. My madpig brother (he of cloven hoof) recommended “Insomniac with Dave Attell” on Comedy Central. Attell, a standup comic, finishes a show in a given city, then sets off to investigate the local nightlife, taking the viewer along for the ride. Attell offers some great, often seedy, glimpses into the flora and fauna of that populate city steets after midnight. The San Francisco show was a scream. They’re all funny. Check it out. (Though the web site leaves a lot to be desired … typical Comedy Central overkill with some faulty Flash photo galleries and an annoying Smirnoff Ice rich media ad (who drinks this shit?).

2. “The Bernie Mac Show“: This is the best think I’ve seen on Fox in a long time. Well written. Well acted. And it’s funny as hell. Bernie Mac takes in his crack-addicted sister’s three kids. And the reluctant father figure has a tough time adjusting. My favorite episode is the Christmas show. In each show, there are segments where Bernie Mac speaks into the camera, addressing the audience as “America.” In this one, he’s drinking potent eggnog and is progressively drunker each time he addresses the audience in these asides. I was howling.

Most folks who know me know I love my Tivo. And my Tivo loves me. Here’s another reason that I love Tivo. As you watch shows, Tivo lets you give them “thumbs up” and “thumbs down.” Based on your input, it starts recommending shows that it thinks you might like. Sometimes, these recommendations are downright strange. For instance, I had a tough time convincing Tivo that I don’t like “The Jeffersons.”

But I recently expanded the hard drive on my Tivo (to a whopping 110 hours), and now Tivo has more room than ever to record suggestions for me. Recently, it found a gem.

There’s a show on BBC American called “Coupling.” After watching it once, I told Tivo to get a season pass (it will now be recorded whenever it’s on, without me having to do anything.). I’ve seen two episodes now and the show is hilarious. I highly recommend it. BBC America largely has been a disappointment, but “Coupling” is the best show I’ve found there since “British Men Behaving Badly.”

If more newspapers reported the news like this, we wouldn’t be watching circulation slip away …

A sample entry:

“4:17 p.m. Her neighbor keeps dinging her car door with his car door, she claims. Plus he’s being a dick about it.”