One and a Half Men?

In a year where we witnessed the NBC-Tonight Show debacle, I can't believe I'm saying this, but the recent news of Charlie Sheen announcing he is ready to leave Two and a Half Men is shaping up to be one of the most bizarre/fascinating TV related stories I've ever followed.

I've resisted the urge to speculate on the matter for 12 full days now, but just can't wait any longer.

First the facts:

- Everyone thought it was an April Fool's joke (including me) when the story broke from People.com that Sheen was ready to leave the show after this, its seventh season. According to People, "Charlie’s just done," says a set source. "And he’s quietly telling his friends he’s not coming back." The story went on to say that Sheen had very recently turned down an offer from CBS for the eighth season because “He wants to move on,” says a friend of the actor. “Leaving is 100 percent his idea.”

- Men remains one of the highest rated comedies on television, so losing one of the main stars would be a major blow to the series and potentially to CBS and its powerful Monday night programming block (Men has anchored the night from the 9 p.m. EST slot for most of its run). History suggests that a show is doomed when a lead character exits and, ironically enough, one of the best examples is when Sheen himself tried to replace Michael J. Fox on Spin City.

- Everyone (including me) instantly took Sheen's statement as a negotiations ploy since his contract was up at the end of this season. Apparently he has been making somewhere in the ballpark of $800,000+ an episode but reportedly asked for $1.5 million per ep sometime last year (Sheen's people have since said these numbers and demands are false).

- What makes the story all the more interesting is that just last year, CBS picked up the series to run through the 2011-12 season, so in my mind, this still feels like the perfection negotiation tactic. Your contract is up, you know the show can't carry on without you but needs to fulfill its contractual obligations, you say you're leaving and the network suddenly has to throw money at you. Makes sense to me. But Sheen and his representatives have repeatedly disputed this point. “Both parties have known the score for over a year,” Sheen said in a recent statement. “In no way, has this been a hasty or negligent eleventh hour surprise." “A negotiation ploy is something you do to get the best possible deal," Sheen's publicist Stan Rosenfield added. "Charlie told them what he wanted a year ago.”

- Men filmed its season finale this past Friday and according to sources close to the situation, it was "business as usual." Reportedly, Sheen didn't address the studio audience on the subject or make any teary good-bye speeches to the cast and crew (who were supposedly stunned by his recent "decision" to leave the show).

So... where do we go from here?

As much as I would love to believe that Sheen has actually grown a conscience and this could actually be the end of my least favorite show on television, I'm not going buy into any of the posturing until an actual decision is made and Sheen is no longer on the show.

While there may actually be some truth to his desire to move on with his career (to what?), I just can't see him - or anyone for that matter - walking away from the boatload of money I have to believe that CBS is going to throw at him in a few weeks.

Why just a few weeks?

Because the network upfronts are in May. And for those not familiar with the term, the upfronts are the dog and pony show where the networks announce their fall schedules to potential advertisers (it's worth noting Men has been commanding over $220,000 for a 30 second commercial spot. Not bad at all for a half hour sitcom and you can't see CBS wanting to lose that kind of cash).

One rumor that has been floating around that makes the most sense (if he is truly sincere about leaving the show) is to only have Sheen appear in a handful episodes. That way he could get paid more per episode like he wants, the show would be theoretically be able to continue and fulfill its contract, and CBS wouldn't be paying him much more over the course of the season due to his limited appearances.

In the words of Michael Scott, that feels like a win-win-win.

If I was a betting man, however, I would put my money on CBS buckling, giving him the close to the $1.5 mil per ep and him returning for at least one more full season.

I will leave you with one last thought: If CBS thinks it through, they don't necessarily HAVE to buckle in this case. As I've been combing over their potential pilot orders, they actually have some decent sounding comedies in the works that could step right in and help stabilize the CBS Monday night lineup.

Off of the top of my head, they could keep "How I Met Your Mother" at 8 p.m. EST, slide in "Livin' on a Prayer" (from "HIMYM" scribes) at 8:30, move the widely successful "Big Bang Theory" up to 9 p.m., and lead out with William Shatner's new "family" comedy, "Stuff My Dad Says" at 9:30 p.m.

While I can't see them kicking "Men" of the night entirely (regardless if Sheen leaves or returns in limited duty), my point is that if this was NBC, they would have to give in to actor because they don't have any thing in the works to replace a hit.

But CBS does.

They already have more than seven potential comedy pilots being developed for next year. It remains to see how many - if any - actually get promoted to the schedule, but that's a huge number for one network regardless.

My humble advice to the Eye would be to call Sheen's bluff, proceed as if he (and possibly the show) aren't going to be around and wait him out until you are actually walking out on the stage to present your fall lineup to the advertisers.

Maybe he comes running in and takes whatever you're offering, maybe he really is choosing to move on with his life and career. Either way, CBS needs to realize it holds all the cards and they shouldn't give in to yet another potential greedy actor.

Which means they probably will.

American Idol Top 9 Power Rankings (Again)

WOW!

A couple quick thoughts from the American Idol performance and results shows:

- I personally didn't care for Big Mike's performance on Tuesday night but there was no way I would have put him in the bottom three, let alone had him on the chopping block. Once he was, however, there was no doubt in my mind that the judges were going to save him. So, the moral of the story is that even though the talent this year is less than stellar, at least it seems to be pretty even across the board. Last night's results proved that anyone can head home over the smallest slip-up. Looking forward, you gotta believe Mike returns to form next week - which will only complicate things more now that two contestants will be leaving.

- For some reason, I was really glad Katie didn't fall to the Bottom 3. You can see her improving each week and she may be starting to peak just at the right time (maybe I'm just pulling for her because I had her as the female favorite after Hollywood Week. Whoops!)

- The biggest surprise of the night was that Tim Urban wasn't even in the Bottom 3! While Tuesday night was one of his "better" performances, all of the contestants should be very aware (and alarmed) that he is only gaining steam as the show continues (congrats to VoteForTheWorst.com. This is an epic run for them).

- Hate to say it, but Andrew seemed to take a major step backward after taking a necessary, albeit small step forward last week (I just wanted to use the word, "albeit").

- I was glad to finally see Aaron in the Bottom 3. I didn't think it was possible, but he is actually somehow finding a way to get more boring and generic each week. I flipped the channel and watched the commercials during Lost while he was singing and was way more entertained.

On to the Power Rankings!

1. Crystal Bowersox (no change from last week) - still the most consistent, solid performer of the group. I don't know if she will hang on for the wire-to-wire win but she is the only "professional" singer in the group so far.

2. Lee Dewyze (no change) - despite his Eeyore personality, Lee is getting better every week and has really started to grow on me. I could actually see myself going to one of his concerts someday (as long as the tickets were free).

3. Casey James (+1) - HUGE night for him. It was good to see him stretch himself a bit and prove that he can be a legit singer in addition to a solid entertainer.

4. Siobhan Magnus (-1) - There is nothing technically wrong with Siobhan and I still think she will be a major player down the stretch, but it does seem like maybe she peaked a little too early in the competition as there has been increasing Siobhan backlash on the message boards lately.

5. Katie Stevens (+3) - Best night for her so far this season. I agreed with Simon that her performance had a strong country/Martina McBride-ish element to it (in a good way). She needs to keep picking songs that mean something to her because that's where she is showing to be the strongest.

6. Michael Lynche (-1) - Even though his neck was on the line, I still like Mike to return to form next week and make some more (good sounding) noise down the stretch.

7. Tim Urban (+2) - Tim definitely seems to be gaining steam somehow and he makes it hard to nail down a specific spot for him. Had to move him up a bit this week by virtue of the fact that he finally escaped sweating it out in the Bottom 3.

8. Aaron Kelly (+1) - With his appearance in the Bottom 3, I'm hoping that proves that people are starting to tire of his generic offerings as much as I am. I just don't know if he has the self awareness and experience to know how to turn it around. Hope I'm right.

9. Andrew Garcia (-3) - With two people going home next week I already think Andrew could be in trouble no matter what he does. Hope I'm wrong.

Triabetes Documentary Premiere

From www.insulindependence.org:

Join Insulindependence for the viewing of the Triabetes Documentary, "The Science of Inspiration" on Friday, April 9 at the Oriental Theater in Denver. The full-length documentary was recorded and produced in high definition (HD) digital format by an Emmy-winning video production company, and reveals the magnitude of Ironman training first-hand, from the perspectives of people living with diabetes.

The doors will open at 6:00 PM and the documentary screening will begin at 7:00 PM.

The Triabetes Documentary is the ultimate story of triumph over adversity. 12 people, ranging from experienced ultra-endurance athletes to the average couch potato, make a year long commitment to test their mind and body in an Ironman Triathlon...while testing their blood sugar.

"The Science of Inspiration," shatters preconceived notions of what people with diabetes can do, revolutionizing the way people approach diabetes through inspiration, education of the patient and medical communities about diabetes and exercise, and expolration of the physiological and social foundations of successful diabetes management.



The Oriental Theater
4335 West 44th Avenue
Denver, CO 80212

Admission: $3.00

Directions: Click here for directions to the Oriental Theater.

Parking: Street parking is plentiful surrounding the theater.

Food and Beverages: Popcorn and beverages will be available for purchase on site.

To learn more about Triabetes, or to view the video trailer for "The Science of Inspiriation", visit Triabetes.

Seating is limited and you don't want to miss it. "Give it a shot," and REGISTER YOUR SEATS TODAY.

Take Me Out to the Theater

Thin Air Theatre Company presents
Rounding Third
By Richard Dresser

For all of you baseball fans that just cannot wait for the regular season to get underway on Sunday (or Monday, depending on your personal rooting interests), let me suggest taking a road trip down to Cripple Creek, Colorado for the Thin Air Theater Company’s presentation of Rounding Third.

Simply, Third is the comedy featuring an odd-couple pairing of fathers who have joined forces (albeit reluctantly) to coach their sons’ little league baseball team. But there is so much more to it than that.

Mel Moser plays Don (never “Donald” ), the gung-ho, win at all costs, experienced coach who runs his team like a military unit. Mickey Burdick takes on the role of Michael (never “Mike” and certainly never “Mikey”), the passive, having fun is all that matters, completely inexperienced assistant coach who is just there to spend some time with his boy.

I’ll be completely honest: since I tend to skew toward Don’s mentality as a die-hard sports fan myself, I was nervous that this was going to turn into a modern era, politically correct story that ultimately waters down the competitive component of sports.

Fortunately I was wrong.

Dresser’s script does a great job of showing that both characters are at times right and at times wrong. More importantly it shows how to deal with those issues in everyday life, even beyond the playing field. The story successfully weaves Don and Michael’s personal problems throughout the course of the little league season and ends with a refreshing, mature perspective on our interactions with others as we travel through life.

I’m always interested/cautious when it comes to a two man show, only because there’s more of a burden on the actors to fill the space and time. Once again, all fears were relieved after watching Moser and Burdick’s individual and collective performances. Both were perfectly cast into their opposite-end-of-the-spectrum roles, yet displayed the necessary depth to grow and change as the story progress. Both roles demanded broad, comedic moments as well as subtle dramatic points and both actors proved capable – a task that could have been a wreck in lesser hands.

If nothing else, since I am still relatively new to Colorado, the show provided an excellent opportunity to get away to a fun, new destination for an evening. I was thoroughly entertained by Rounding Third in the intimate, comfortable setting of the Butte Theater and am now even more excited for Opening Day.

Play Ball!


Contains mild adult language. Some material may be inappropriate for Children under 13.

Show times are Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 1 and 7 p.m., Sundays at 1 p.m. (no show on Easter Sunday, April 4th)

Tickets are $15.75 adults, $13.75 seniors, call for group rates.

The Butte Opera House is located at 139 E. Bennett Ave., Cripple Creek. For information or for reservations, call 719-689-3247 or 719-689-6402.

For more information or to book on line, visit http://www.butteoperahouse.com/

American Idol Recap and Top 9 Power Rankings

I expect that there's going to be some minor outrage over the fact that anyone but Tim Urban was voted off of American Idol last night, but here's my question: does it really matter? Was there any way Didi was ever going to beat out Crystal or Siobhan? Lee or Casey? Big Mike, Aaron, or even Andrew?

I personally don't think so, so the results really didn't alarm me too much (we will have credibility issues if Tim starts lasting beyond most of the names listed above).
The real issue with Tim is that while he is bad, he's not outrageous-Sanjaya bad. You can understand why little girls and grandmas might vote for him and do not ever rule out his VoteForTheWorst.com following. I can even see him lasting another week (Katie) or two (Andrew) or maybe even three (if Aaron just bombs one week), but I can't see him cracking any of my Top 5 (new rankings listed below!)

Quick thought on Didi: I liked her a lot going into the season (and I still like her a lot as an artist), but she could never fully get control of her emotions, and I have to believe that definitely played a part in her departure this week.

Since I wasn’t able to post yesterday, here is a quick recap of the Tuesday night performance show before we get to the power rankings (written before I watched the results show last night):

For the first time all season, Ms. Magnus came back down to earth with the rest of the pack. She was a little too screechy on a boring song. Just never a good combination.

Have to give Casey James instant brownie points for finding a song that hadn’t been done on Idol before. It seems like he is finally starting to develop the (necessary) star persona to go along with his strong vocals. Thoroughly entertaining performance overall.

I was really looking forward to see what Big Mike was going to do for R&B night so while it was a solid performance, I was disappointed by the song choice. This was a night he needed to dominate and separate from the group, but was completely outdone by Casey before him.

I once compared Did’s inability to manage her emotions on a consistent basis to Donovan F. McNabb’s inability to throw accurately on a consistent basis. Didi let her emotions get the best of her performance and it was exactly like watching Don six-hop a pass to an open receiver on third down.

I respect and appreciate Tim’s positive attitude, but the dude’s gotta go. (*whoops!)

Welcome back to the show, Andrew Garcia. It took me a while to recognize the song and I mean that in the best way possible. It was a fresh take on a song that’s almost become a parody of itself (that youtube wedding video and The Office wedding episode certainly haven't helped). Hope that wasn’t too little too late.

Despite the judges’ praise (save Simon), the song still seemed too big for Katie somehow, which is confusing because she has one of the bigger voices in the competition. That doesn’t even matter because Katie’s main problem is that she still has absolutely no “star” vibe yet.

Lee’s performance was the perfect example of what I was just saying about Katie. At this point in the show, we know they can all sing. Now we need to be entertained. Lee has made one of the larger leaps (if not the largest) in that area so far this season.

I know I talk a lot about the contestants doing some of my favorite songs but Crystal did my absolute all time favorite song so there is no way I’m even going to try to do an objective review. I was actually impressed with Ellen’s thought: it was not only good to see her do something different, but do just as well as she normally does. Great point. I need to move on because I still have goosebumps!

I think I would have enjoyed Aaron’s rendition of “Ain’t No Sunshine” a lot more, if he hadn’t done it just one year after Kris Allen’s epic version. Just felt like a cheap knock-off even though his vocals were strong overall.

My Top 3 of the night: 1. Crystal, 2. Lee, 3. Casey AND Andrew (just because I've been waiting for Andrew to wake up for the past few weeks)

My Bottom 3 of the night: 1. Tim, 2. Katie, 3. Didi

What did you think of soul and R&B night and Usher as the mentor? ALSO, how about that backstage camera? Cool insight to the contestants off the stage or just another annoying TV gimmick?

On to the power rankings!

1. Crystal Bowersox (no change from last week)

2. Lee Dewyze (+2)

3. Siobhan Magnus (-1)

4. Casey James (+1)

5. Michael Lynche (-2)

6. Andrew Garcia (+2)

7. Aaron Kelly (-1)

8. Katie Stevens (+1)

9. Tim Urban (+1 by default of eliminated contestant)


Let me know what YOU think below!

I'm Your Handyman

Last week I mentioned that I inherited my impeccable sense of direction from my dad. On the flip side, however, I think the home repair gene must have skipped a generation.

It’s not that I don’t want to know how to fix things around the house. It just doesn’t come naturally to me. I’ve always been the creative thinker, the planner, the visionary. Execution and implementation have never been my strong suits.

Still, now that my Wife and I are on our own, I’m trying to be somewhat useful around the house.

It's the least I can do.

A few months ago, we were having a regular problem with our bathtub clogging up because my Wife sheds more hair than a German Shepherd. The first time around, we actually called our apartment office and had them fix it. Inwardly, I knew this was something I could take care of, so I volunteered my services when the drain got clogged again.

My Wife had to stop me short of throwing a parade when a simple cup full of drain cleaner solved the problem.

Feeling the momentum from that achievement, I was ready for a bigger task.

Last week, I found one: hanging artwork.

When we moved from our old apartment to our new one at the beginning of February, I couldn’t help notice how many nail holes we had put in the old walls to hang pictures. To be fair, my wife had hung most of them by herself while I was at work and she was still looking for a job. But if you hadn’t known better, you would have thought that there had been gangland gunfire in our living room.

Wanting to reduce the amount of spackling we will have to do again at some point in the future, I agreed to be a part of picture hanging process. We had borrowed a buddy’s drill and measuring level, so we quickly (and successfully) hung up all of our pictures in each room. All that remained was one massive framed painting that was reserved for our bedroom.

I think this is a good time to mention that I get a little overwhelmed whenever putting up a picture requires anything more than one simple nail. This bad boy needs to be anchored to the wall and feels like it weighs a metric ton.

Even though I knew there was a better chance of the Raiders winning the Super Bowl, I had to try one last shot at negotiating the placement.

Me: So where do you want to hang this behemoth again?

(you have to emphasis the weight and size to plant seeds of an unnecessary impending struggle)

My Wife: Directly over our bed.

(not picking up on the emphasis at all)

Me: Are you sure? Because it looks pretty nice right there on the floor lying up against the wall.

(you HAVE to provide a viable, alternate solution)

My Wife: Ok, but let’s go ahead and hang the painting now.

(I didn't get the impression that she embraced the full spirit of the negotiations)

Again, this was not some flimsy frame that you can just slap up. There were a couple of cumbersome steps that had to be carefully followed.

First we attempted the very scientific procedure of trying to place it in the center of our bed. This entailed me standing on the bed, holding the picture while my Wife stood on the floor and told me where to move.

My Wife: Lower, just a little lower, now a little higher, and a little bit higher.

Me: WE’RE BACK WHERE WE STARTED!

My Wife: I’m sorry but it needs to be a little bit higher. And to the right. A little more, just a little more. Perfect! Now just a little lower.

After she was able to keep me from grabbing my car keys and driving straight to Mexico, we marked where the nails needed to go. After mining our way through the wall, we set in the anchors, hammered in the nails, hung the painting, verified the level, and did the always important eye-ball test from the floor.

Everything checked out.

Of course, I couldn’t live with that. I had never done anything “handy” on the first try so I knew something had to be wrong. I rechecked the nails and the anchors and even put a little pressure on the top of the frame to make sure it wouldn’t come crashing down on us in the middle of the night.

Once I felt completely comfortable, I began dialing the mayor to start planning the next celebratory parade only to have my wife interrupt the festivities. She said that since I did such a great job on the painting hanging project that I could now work on installing a shelf in the laundry room that has 10 times as many nails and anchors.

Where are my keys?


To get entertainment updates from Denver and around the world, follow us @INDT_popculture and you can follow Josh’s personal account @Just_Being_Josh.

American Idol Top 10 Power Rankings

Sorry I didn't post a recap from the performance show yesterday. I got home a little late on Tuesday night and when I went to watch the show on the DVR, I realized that I had lost half of the program due to snow that had built up on our satellite dish.

Gotta love technology.

After I was able to track down the remaining performances yesterday, I came to a concrete conlusion: no matter how you feel about Crystal or Siobhan as the favorites, regardless of your opinion on if Tim or Andrew is struggling more, Paige HAD to go home after that performance on Tuesday night.

It was going to become a matter of credibility after a while.

On to the power rankings!

On the Rise: Lee and Aaron are both keep quietly creeping up the list week after week.

Free Failing: I have Casey and Didi each moving down one spot but I think they can still turn it around at any moment. Poor Andrew just seems lost lately. Fortunately for him, there is still a few weaker contestants behind him... for now.

1. Crystal Bowersox (no change from last week)

2. Siobhan Magnus (no change)

3. Michael Lynche (no change)

4. Lee Dewyze (+1)

5. Casey James (-1)

6. Aaron Kelly (+1)

7. Didi Benami (-1)

8. Andrew Garcia (no change)

9. Katie Stevens (no change)









10. Tim Urban (no change)

To get entertainment updates from Denver and around the world, follow us @INDT_popculture and you can follow Josh’s personal account @Just_Being_Josh.