UPDATE:  I appreciate all the comments, guys.

I didn’t dig as deep as I guess I should have.  I DID try to contact Jeffrey Braverman at the number provided on the page, but didn’t get an answer there.  In the archived blog on the NUTS for Jericho site, they do discuss what will happen with all of those nuts:

I just received confirmation from CBS that the peanuts will be donated to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and possibly food banks, homeless shelters, and maybe even the Bronx Zoo.

I wish there had been something about that on the main page there, before you actually buy the nuts.  So, sorry for misspeaking yesterday.  Go buy some nuts.

ORIGINAL POST:
I’ve had a few people asking me why I haven’t done any coverage on the recent “NUTS for Jericho” campaign, so let me elaborate on that a bit.

‘Jericho’ was one of my favorite new shows of the season last year.  While I agree that it did hit a bit of a slump mid-season, which wasn’t helped by the ridiculously long hiatus that the show took, the show did manage to remain compelling virtually every week.  It didn’t pull in huge ratings by anyone’s standards, but it did as good a job as any show can do when up against a behemoth like ‘American Idol’.  And when the news came in that it was not going to be in CBS’s schedule next season, I was incredibly upset, especially considering the cliffhanger that the finale left us with.

The NUTS for Jericho campaign comes from a story that was told in the ‘Jericho’ finale.  In World War II, a U.S. general was surrounded by the Nazi army, who sent him an offer to surrender.  His one-word response:  “Nuts.”  This has become the battle cry of Jericho fans who demand that the show be picked back up.  The website Jericho Lives reads like a newsletter for a rebellion, with daily “Mission Orders” and inspirational quotes from the likes of Winston Churchill about never giving up in the face of overwhelming odds.

Taking it to the next step, several fans have entered into the NUTS for Jericho campaign, in which they purchase quantities of roasted peanuts to be sent to CBS headquarters.  At the time of this writing, the NUTS for Jericho site has sold 14,154 pounds of nuts, which will be sent to CBS in protest of the show’s cancellation.  That’s $19,377 worth of peanuts!  (Actually, at the time that this story was posted, I refreshed the page…the actual count is now 14,396 lbs at $19,707.)

Look, there are many things that a fan can do to protest to a network.  Sign a petition.  Write or call that network and express your feelings (civilly).  Find out who the biggest advertisers are on the show, and give them your business, then write them and tell them that you’re giving them business because of the show.  These are all things that I believe in, and have done in the past.

But don’t waste your money.  The sensationalism of thinking about 7 tons of nuts laying on CBS’s doorstep is, I’ll admit, kind of satisfying.  But at the end of the day, that’s a LOT of food that could have gone to feed the hungry, and a lot of wasted that could have done a lot of good elsewhere. 

I believe that we need to start a new campaign in which, rather than buying something that will be rotting in a landfill this time next week, we turn our efforts to something more substantial.

That’s where you, dear readers, come in.  What can we do that will send a message to CBS that we want this show back, but, at the same time, will allow us to be sensible with our money?  Maybe have some kind of set up where the money is donated to a charity, but have it known that it’s done in the name of protesting for Jericho? 

This campaign shows something that I’ve always known…when fans set their minds on something, they can have a tremendous impact.  But it’s time to show that we can have a smart impact, too.

*sigh*  It’s the first day of the post-finale blues.  A couple of bright spots shine through tonight. 

On The Lot - FOX - 9:30/8:30c

I am kicking myself…for some reason, I thought that the premiere was tonight, so I didn’t record the episode on Tuesday night.  My most anticipated reality show (there’s a phrase I never expected to say), and I missed it.  Tonight, the competitors continue their Hollywood Boot Camp.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - The Disaster Show - NBC - 10/9c

NBC says:

The show goes haywire when the propmasters and cue-card workers stage a last-minute wildcat strike.

Here’s something I’ve been waiting to say for three months now…new ‘Studio 60′ tonight!  It’s bittersweet, though, as we only have a limited number of episodes before it’s off the air for good.

Something interesting about last night’s two hour finale:  nothing really happened.  Don’t get me wrong, there were some BIG events that went down, with the Looking Glass being deactivated and all of that, but not two hours worth of events.  As a matter of fact, nothing largely significant happened in the first hour (when Idol was also on…coincidence?).  The value of the finale, though, doesn’t come from what happened, but what it all means.

If you’re here, then you have to have already seen the finale, so I’ll skip the step by step replay of what happened on the island (which can be summed up by saying that Locke lives, Charlie dies and the Losties are rescued) and jump to the important parts…the flashes (I’ll withhold from calling them flashbacks or forwards for the time being). 

Our time off the island is spent with Jack, who is in a very dark place in his life.  We open with him drunk on an Oceanic flight.  As the plane comes in for a landing in LA, he sees something that gets his interest in a newspaper.  Later, he stops his jeep on a bridge and makes a call, where he tries to leave a message, but breaks down and hangs up.  Jack crawls out of the car and climbs up on the railing of the bridge.  Whispering “Forgive me”, he is about to jump when there is a wreck on the bridge behind him.  He jumps down and goes to help.  Through the rest of his flashes, we find that he is a fraction of the man he once was…he can’t operate, he’s got a drug addiction, and he has some severe self-pity issues.

I’ll admit, I’m not the guy who is sitting through the episode trying to figure out where it’s going next.  But I did have a sneaking suspicion that something was not right.  When would Jack possibly have had time to take on the Tom Hanks in Castaway look, get hooked on drugs, then get offthose drugs again before he went back to the island?  And then comes the real twist…the flashes are in the future, or at least some variation of the future.  Our Losties have been rescued, and are going about their lives back in the real world.  At least Jack and Kate are, anyway.

So the first question, though hardly the most important…whose funeral was that?  The general consensus is that it is Ben’s, and I think I agree.  The thing that most people are pointing to is the fact that no one showed up…who would want to come to Ben’s funeral?  The thing that sold it for me, though was this:  when Jack made his first phone call, on the bridge in the first flash, I heard him say, “Annie, I just heard…”.  The name Annie should be familiar…that was Ben’s little girlfriend from his early days on the island back in “The Man Behind the Curtain”.  Could she have survived the purge that Ben wrought on the DHARMA workers, and then the two have met when they got back to the “real world”?  These two episodes were too close together for that to be a coincidence.

I’ve heard a few people saying that they expect that this was just a variation of the future, citing the fact that Jack mentioned his father a couple of times, and was using his father’s prescription pad for himself.  The latter can be explained away easily enough…he found an old prescription pad of his father’s, and just began to use it for himself.  As for the mentions that he makes of this father, it’s pretty obvious that he’s either delusional, or is just spouting some drunken ramblings.  I really feel like this is a definite vision of what happens in the future.

I think I’m going to cut the review off here.  This finale has enormous implications for the rest of the ‘Lost’ saga, and that discussion deserves its own post.  Check back for that later today.

I’m starting a rating scale, too.
Episode :  A-
Twist ending : A+

I’ll have the full review up in the morning, but here’s a quick thought about what I think the finale means for next season of Lost.

At the end of the finale, we find that what we thought were flashbacks were actually flashforwards, and that our Losties have been rescued and are back in the real world.  But the real world hasn’t been so nice to our boy Jack, and he wants to go back to the island.

So, my prediction…next season, the action will take place off the island, with the flashbacks occurring on the island, and what led up to where we saw Jack in the finale.

I have absolutely no basis for this…just pure speculation.  Man, what a mind-blowing finale.  See you guys in the morning.

American Idol - Finals Results - FOX - 8/7c - 2 Hour Finale

Last December, my wife and I went to a Christmas concert in Dallas.  During the concert, they had a trio come out and sing along with a few songs.  There was one person in that trio that stood out from the rest of them, and she received the biggest standing ovation of the night.  Flash forward a few months.  We’re watching the auditions for ‘Idol’, and, behold, this same girl that I had seen in Dallas was on screen.  Before I even heard her audition, I turned to my wife and said, “That’s Jordin from the concert.  She’s going to be the next American Idol.” 

While Blake did a passable job last night, Jordin swept the floor with him.  Say what you will about the show being rigged, Jordin is one of the best talents that the show has ever seen, and when it comes to her and Blake, she has to win tonight.  And I’m so proud that I called that.

Lost - Through the Looking Glass - ABC - 9/8c - 2 Hour Finale

I hate that this is going up against ‘Idol’, but thank God for dual tuner DVR’s.  Following a repeat of last week’s recap episode “The Answers”, we’ll dive headfirst into what I think is the most important finale of the season.  This season has been very rocky, and it absolutely hasto go out on a high note, or risk having the remaining fans just giving up hope on it.

The good news is, it sounds like the finale is on track to do just that.

Kristin at eOnline writes:

How many boxes of Depends will we need when watching the finale of Lost?!
If you haven’t been reading spoilers (and for your sakes, I really hope you all haven’t!), I’d hit up Costco and bring a truckload of ‘em. The format of the show is a-changin’…Yeee! I’m also hearing that one of the three main actors might not be in every episode next season. I’ll let you know more as I hear it.

TVGuide’s Ausiello has this to say:

At the risk of overhyping it, the game-changer (aka the “snake in the mailbox”) will go down in the history books as one of the coolest TV twists of all time.

So, at the risk of raising expectations to unacheivable levels, tonight could be huge.

Are you a newly elected regional manager of a paper distributing company suffering unmotivated employees?  Fear not!  Now, you too can have the tried and true Schrute Buck, a sure-fire way to whip those employees into shape.

Remember, only 1000 Schrute Bucks for an extra five minutes at lunch.  Or, when all else fails, you can collect 10,000 of them and get $100.

Or, if you are looking for a lower denomination, you may consider the Stanley Nickel, which is roughly equivalent to (1 Schrute Buck * 1 leprechaun) / 1 unicorn.

Either of these methods is guaranteed to get your subordinates back in line in no time.

Michael from Forever Geek had me on  last week to chat a bit about the season finales of ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lost’. 

In addition to the TV news we talk about, he and Dave cover a wide spectrum of topics, so head on over and check out my smooth southern drawl.  (FYI, you don’t realize you have that until you hear it for yourself.)

Entertainment Weekly has a first look at the highly anticipated new SCIFI series, ‘Flash Gordon’, with a few exclusive pics and an interview with Eric Johnson, who takes on the title role.

One surprising note is that, at least for the first few installments…no spaceships.  I think that ‘Flash’ and spaceships seem almost synonymous, but the heroes will depend on a wormhole to move between Earth and the distant planet of Mongo.

From the article:

What about Flash in this series is a departure from the comic?
There’s definitely certain changes. It’s not like we’re portraying Flash in the 1930s. When Flash first came out, he was an internationally renowned polo player, which probably wouldn’t be appropriate now. He’s been football players, and NBA stars, and swimmers I think, so now he’s a marathon winner and just much more of a regular guy.

Head on over to EW to read the full interview.  Thanks to Forever Geek for the heads up.

Click here to get caught up on last week’s installment. 

Chapter 34

The Death of Hana Gitelman
Part 2 of 2

As the fate of the heroes is revealed, Hana Gitelman learns that she too plays a vital role in these stranges of days.  The mysterious man in horn-rimmed glasses has given her an cominous challenge, one which could prove to be the death of her…

We begin with a flashback to Hana’s childhood.  Having just lost her mother and grandmother, she is standing on the roof of her house in Tel Aviv.  She genuinely believes that the umbrella she is holding will allow her to float to the ground when she jumps, which, of course, it doesn’t.  She has flashes of, after the fall, her father telling her to be careful, her teacher telling her to be respectful, and her drill sergeant telling her to be obedient.  So now, having done all of those things, she still has a gun in her face in present day China.

She makes quick work of the guards, taking them all down.  Suddenly, someone from the Chinese government comes in, apologizing to her.  She has used her manipulation of electronic data to forge herself some documents saying that she is an engineer from Israel, and is on the space flight as a method of renewing diplomatic relationships between the two countries. 

So, having made her way onto the into space, she finds herself able to communicate with the isotope tracking satellite in place.  She sends out a message for it to self-destruct, but it has defenses in place that she was not prepared for.  It sends out a virus that somehow crosses over into her physical body.  Knowing that she cannot take out the tracking system with her powers, she takes matters into her own hands, throwing herself at the satellite and knocking it out of orbit, sacrificing herself in the process.

We then flash forward two days later.  We are in Las Vegas, at the home of Niki and Micah.  Through their conversation, we find out that DL has survived the ordeal at Kirby Plaza, and is at the hospital, which is where Micah wants to return.  Niki tells him that the doctors are taking care of him, and that he will be fine.  Micah can’t sleep, though, and he gets up and goes online.  The chat goes like this:

MicahSanders500: “I don’t know what I would do if my dad died.  How did you feel when your mom died?” 
SAMANTHA48616E61: “Lost. Angry. And it did me no good.  It took me a LONG TIME to learn that.”
MicahSanders500: “Thank you for chatting with me.  What’s your name?”
SAMANTHA48616E61: “My name is Hana Gitelman.  But, you can call me Wireless.  And the truth is, death is never quite what you expect it to be.  It might seem like an ending, but really…”

And we close with this final frame, which I want as a poster:

I have GOT to learn to keep my expectations down.

Don’t get me wrong, last night’s episode was a great ‘Heroes’ episode, and an excellent hour of programming by regular television standards.  There were several moments where I couldn’t help but laugh out loud - and not a “ha-ha” laugh, but a “holy crap, that was awesome” laugh.  It was a great close to a fantastic season, but it didn’t leave me just clamoring for the next season to start right now like, say, the finale of the first season of ‘Lost’.

One thing that the finale did well…that the entire series has done well…was to present the numerous storylines in such a way that they all weave together to create a beautiful tapestry of a story.  Far too many serialized dramas have fallen into the trap of trying to tell so many stories that they eventually become disconnected from each other.  ‘Heroes’, it seems, has managed to avoid this pitfall, with each storyline directly feeding back into the broader saga.  This was never clearer than in last night’s episode.

Everything about Hiro in this episode was wonderful.  The showdown between him and Sylar in the apartment had a great old-western showdown at high noon quick-draw feel to it.  When he and Ando teleported back to Japan, I think that resulted in the best scene between them, and brought about my favorite line from the show…”Hiro, you look bad ass.”  I’ve got to learn how to say that in Japanese.

Our heroes paths have all finally led them to their destiny in Kirby Plaza.  While the scene turned out to be somewhat anticlimactic, I thought it did serve as a great showdown, and every hero contributed something to the fight.  We have been promised that we would find out why, in Peter’s vision of the future, all of our other heroes were running away from Peter while Nathan was running toward him, and the answer took me completely by surprise.  In some of the series’ best visual effects to date, with Peter unable to hold back his nuclear powers, Nathan flies in at the last minute, scoops him up, and flies away to a save distance so that he can detonate.

But fear not, Heroes fans.  Rumor has it that Peter and Nathan will indeed return in some capacity for next season.  The original script had Nathan dropping Peter into the ocean to detonate, but I think that the way it was handled was much more pleasing.

Let’s also look briefly at the “preview” for next season.  I can not wait to see more of Hiro in feudal Japan.  There have been many people who have speculated that Hiro may actually be a decendant of Kensei, the warrior that has been referenced repeatedly throughout the season.  Here’s a wild bit of speculation…what if Hiro is actually Kensei?  I’m just saying.

All in all, I think it was a great, if somewhat underwhelming, finale for an incredible opening season.