I’m probably watching too much or too little Olympics; or, rather, like everyone else, grumbling about why NBC’s coverage is so… schizophrenic (yeah, I know, it’s to get that casual viewer; but must you keep switching from ski jump to snowboarding and then back to figure skating in a three hour stretch? The last 10 seconds of the USA v. Canada men’s hockey game on Sunday night, while MSNBC had to show the whole thing? Could you put a little time stamp – like “This occurred at 12:30pm PST” so that I can figure out that this was not live tv and still feel okay about it?).
Watching the women’s figure skating short program round was pretty cool. South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na taking the lead with her James Bond mix; that was a performance of energy and athleticism. Plus a whole country putting tons of pressure on her.
But, the real powerful watch was Canada’s Joannie Rochette, as she skated despite (or inspired by?) the passing of her mother only two days previously. The whole audience was trying to keep her going, and I admit that I felt teary watching her. Scott Hamilton, US champion/analyst, was all emotional in his voicing that this was not about points. Just reading the NY Times article about it made me feel sad again. Plus, Mike Starr of Newsweek is right: the appropriate word to describe what Rochette had was “fortitude.”
Seriously, I’d hate to judge the skaters – how do you do it when the human element is involved? Grief, strength, the weight of nations on their shoulders? It really isn’t just points or what trick you pull off.
Spoilers about this latest episode of “Lost” – turn away if you don’t want to see my comments… So, I still managed to catch “Lost” – Jack and his daddy issues! Alternate Jack kind of trying to resolve his daddy issues, with a heretofore unseen son (!) (who’s the mother? Well, I’d say maybe the ex-wife was Jack’s ex from the main universe, but who knows? Is it even important to know?). Plus, I kind of like the portrayal of the sideways alternate universe lives of alternate John Locke and alternate Jack. Not caring for the alternate Kate (who still seems like a crazy) or even alternate Claire. Meanwhile, main universe Claire is creepy crazy.
I’m still not sure how much I want answers from “Lost,” but I think I’ll accept a resolution of some kind. Seeing alternate Jack having hope – that was nice. If main universe Jack can get something positive – well, it’d be nice to see; whether we viewers will actually get to see it – that’s another story.
Did catch a few minutes of Craig Ferguson’s interview of Stephen Fry – without an audience! How cool; it was kind of like a funnier, wittier Charlie Rose (without the roundtable). Reactions by critics (Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly; David Bianculli of Television Worth Watching; and Dana Stevens of Slate) are that this was great tv and that maybe Craig should do it once in awhile to keep things cool on network late night tv. I sure agree!
Oh, and great post by Ken Tucker about that Old Spice commercial: how it got made and how that actor in the Old Spice commercial ought to be on more tv.