Slopmaster4001

Jeremy Clarkson was recently asked by Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes "What do you look for in a car?" and the response was "soul" and I believe the same question and answer can be applied to Top Gear USA. This show has no soul, no x-factor or enthusiasm. In a word, it's just dull or boring if you will.

I'm a big fan of Top Gear (UK) and no matter how open minded I tried to be, instinctively I was going to compare TGUSA to TGUK. In spite of my bias I really did want to give it a chance. But it was so boring, I had to fight the urge to watch something else but I said I would get it a chance.

The first episode was very hard to get through and I hope the second will be better but I'm not planning on holding my breath because I have some serious doubts it can improve. I'm hopefull this show will improve because doing Top Gear in North America has great potential but it will never reach that potential if there is no soul, x-factor or enthusiasm.

What makes "St. Elsewhere" stand apart from "E.R.", "Grey's Anatomy" or any other medical show in the last twenty years is a simple and yet timeless theme. The theme being people who are basically good, well intentioned but screwed up their personal lives. These people are also working in what is considered to be a second-rate hospital but you quickly realize they are first rate professionals and human beings.

Since in the twenty-plus years since "St. Elsewhere" Aaron Sorkin has mastered the basics that made this show a pleasure to watch. Personally, I like watching a group of people who care in a difficult situation. That's the essence of good drama and something that's been seen less and less on networks in the last two decades. I won't spoil the end of the series but let me say this "aren't we all?"

I was suffering from a bout of insomnia a few nights ago and was flipping through some of the cable channels. I landed on Showtime and found this documentary "I Am Comic" and it had me hooked. While I loved Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedian" it was a bit lite on the life of a stand-up comic. However this one is darker but in a good way and even before the aforementioned "Comedian" I've always been intrigued by the mechanics of stand up comedy.

"I Am Comic" definitely digs deep into the world they inhabit and what they put them selves through to make us laugh on a regular basis. I thought the interviews of every kind of comedian were done very well but some faces were obviously missing but if they included every big name comic in the US it would probably be about three hours long. Anyway, if anyone accidentally stumbles across this movie, take sometime out of your day and give it a look.