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From the beginning, Ferguson breaks with the standard show format to warn that on this night they'll only be one guest and that subjects covered might prove too sensitive for some viewers. It was a fairly smart choice given that Stephen Fry is a fond and frequent visitor to the United States (lucky for us) but Ferguson (since 2008) is one of us... and doesn't get to fly home an ocean away. What followed is one of the smartest, fast paced, insightful and fun hours ever on a late night talker. The subjects flow effortlessly from the anniversary of Arthur Conan Doyle's birth, his (Doyle's) skills as a practicing physician, drug use, religion, travel, the rise of anti-gay law in Russia, and so much more. Fry, always know as a half Jewish, out gay, atheist has rarely if ever had the moment to show his other status as one of the sharpest minds in entertainment. Not just clever... for an actor, but as always rumored... legitimately a gifted thinker. He shares many beliefs and ideas that from a less skilled source would have proved more then worthy of Ferguson's preamble caution. A great hour of television.

To get the praise out front, I have nothing but positive thoughts about the casting, direction and even the quality of the writing that went into the episodes that aired. I watched, and would have continued to watch if it had continued.

I liked so much about the show, but I couldn't get past my nagging annoyance at the basic premise that a life long con man (Bob Allen) fell in love with two clueless marks at the same time. The morality of it doesn't bother me, part of the joy of fiction is to be able to root for the clever villain from time to time. It was the impracticality of it is what ruined it for me. I believe in love, and complicated tragic love is the best of all... at least in fiction. However, saying that this man lied on a near constant basis to both these women and came away calling it love over extended my suspension of disbelief.

The fix could have gone at least a couple of ways:

• "Dexter" style. A bit bold and dingy even for FOX. Own that this is a fundamentally damaged if not broken man in need of far more then just the love of a good woman. A man so "off" from human norm that he can't even begin to feel or identify something like love even thought he desperately craves to have it at any cost.

• "How I Met You Mother" style. Would have meant changing one scene in the premiere episode. When Bob Allen was asked at or near the end of the premiere, why? Regarding his choice to maintain the double life even as it was becoming dangerous. He answered (more or less), "Because I love them (the women) both." Had he answered, "Because I love one... and one can destroy me." I would have been completely hooked. Which one does he love? Can that same woman destroy him? Does she know what we know... or maybe even more? It's a cheesy gimmick, but season after season shows make the central plot mystery device work.

I was surprised that in the near universal critical praise the show received from professional media, that no one seemed to share my apprehensions about the show. And I was sorry that it left the air before the bodies started to stack up... "Dexter-style."

Watch out for the most absurd suspect, and that's your killer. A rule of thumb that almost never failed. From an elementary school aged thrill killer, to a married middle aged police detective who's homosexual crush on a suspect turned him into a serial rapist, to a criminal profiler who skins herself to death to better know her case subject. No motive was to thin or shallow for this series to whip out and under explain in the final minutes. To its credit although the plots were gimmicky in nature, the absurdity was darkly stylized and clever. And the rock solid acting was always a saving grace. It was a good weekly dose of dirty/weird fun that should never have been expected to catch on with a larger audience.

Recently I've developed a apatite for off beat and original mysteries, so I was intrigued by the basic concept behind this series. But in reality, this series is painfully derivative of the melodrama mini series that flooded the mid-80's airwaves (most notably: "Lace" and "Celebrity" both from 1984). Add to that a cast that fails to rise above a mediocre script, and a sound track that is filled to super saturation with period pop that long ago over stayed its welcome with people like me who've already heard "Time After Time" many times too many. It's actually daunting to think about putting in another 19 hours to find out who killed any of these cardboard cut out characters.

If I didn't feel like I'd already seen this one, and if I still had a tolerance for the tired hair bands of the 1980's, and if I just didn't find whiny little adolescent model based soap operas so annoying, I'd probably watch this series. Oh, that's right, I did. Many times, twenty years ago, when this was still a somewhat original idea.

From the start "The John Larroquette Show", was bright, literate, willing to touch on sensitive issues, and hilarious to boot. But its audience was marginal by network standards, and each year it received a makeover in hopes of boosting the ratings. Season launching episodes were not at all subtlety titled "Changes", "More Changes", and "Even More Changes" as fair warning to long time viewers. By the beginning of the fourth and final season "The John Larroquette Show" had in many ways become indistinguishable from the rest of prime time television. Still quite funny thanks to a very talented collection of actors and writers, but its rough edge was gone.

Most of all I remember being disappointed by this made for HBO movie. Diane Keaton, Ed Harris, and most of the rest of this cast are respected actors with long lists of well received works to their credit. It's shocking to see them all together in a movie that manages to come up just short in nearly every respect.

Adaman is an U.S. Army made robotic soldier with the mind and memories of a serial sex offender lose in a Latin American country. As the wife of the local dictator tries to escape the country with her ex-husband's help, Adaman kills the ex-husband. His (the ex-husband's) mind is placed in the body of Adam, Adaman's robot twin and sent out by the scientists who created them both to destroy their prototype error. The U.S. and local armies strike up a deal to capture them both.

Lots of back story, that serves no purpose. Lots of deal making and back-stabbing, confused by the fact that the lead characters are indistinguishable from each other. Action and sex, poorly shot around to meet broadcast television standards. These things make the story hard to follow.

Harsh gel filter colored scenes, intermixed with black and white or soft focused sepiatone brown shots makes it painful to watch.

This movie is so bad, it's not even laughable.

Essentially the same story Blake Edwards released two years later ("Switch" (1991)) told by a cast of B-movie actors, scream queens and ex-porn stars. In my opinion it's actually the better of the two movies. Deeply flawed don't get me wrong, but far better then Edwards' go at the same subject.

Written and directed by Chuck Vincent (also well known for his XXX origins), "Cleo/Leo" is far bolder then most gender switching comedies. I think it must have grown out of Vincent's need to have a late night premium cable friendly T&A showcase that he could sell more so then any artistic drive. But for whatever the reasons may be, sexists Leo, trapped inside the desirable body of Cleo, goes farther then most and as a result actually ask more questions of him/her self then most. Side by side against it companions in the vary small genre of reincarnated sex change centered comedies this little movie is at times surprisingly unflinching, and funny to boot.

Don't get me wrong, as I said its flaws are many, and worse still this seldom re-released video is very hard to find. So don't kill yourself looking for it, and more importantly don't kill me if you find it disappointing. But it is a cute B-movie and worth the watching time if you some times like your comedies cheesy, cheap, and adolescent.

"Ys Book I & II" in many ways is your standard RPG (Role-Playing Game) about a boy who would be hero (Adol), out to destroy the "great ancient evil" (Dark Fact) which has blighted his homeland for generations from atop Darm Tower. The story is as strait forward a cliché as it sounds and the graphics are standard late 80's simplicity, but as one of the earliest CD-ROM games it blazed some brilliant new trails in its use of fill in cinematic story telling and true voice narrations. It also shocks the first time player with the revelation that just when you think it's over, that's only "Book I". In a stylish revolution stolen by every "Zelda" game since, the first challenge (Book I) is followed immediately by a longer, harder challenge (Book II).