Dave's of Our Lives: Reflecting on David Letterman's Retirement and Other Rued Endings

Later tonight--though already taped as I type--David Letterman will say good night to a brilliant run on late-night television stretching 33 years--initially on NBC and since 1993 on CBS.

If Variety is to be believed, when he signs off for good, the Indianapolis native will have presided over 6,028 broadcasts.

During Dave's time on the air, there has been no late night host I've liked more--save perhaps Johnny Carson at his best, and his Tonight Show was never on opposite Letterman--nor watched as often.

I exponentially preferred Letterman to Jay Leno, and attending a taping of The Late Show on January 25, 2007--an episode celebrating 25 years of Dave in late night, with frequent guest Bill Murray--is something I'll never forget. (As it was right before the Bears played Dave's hometown Colts in Super Bowl XLI, I submitted my own Top 10 List that I assume was roundly ignored.)

So it is not being disingenuous to say that I truly like David Letterman, his ingenuity, his irreverence, his wry monologues, his Top 10 lists, his patter with Paul Shaffer, his oft-bemused interviews, his taste in musical guests and his consistent presence.

And that I will miss him.

With the caveat that I didn't really watch him all that often.

Though I routinely enjoyed the shows I did catch, tuning into Letterman--whether at 11:30pm Central or 10:30pm since August '93--never really became habitual, at least not until the past month or so. 

And of 6,028 broadcasts, I would guesstimate that I've seen no more than 300 full shows, if that.

Yes, that's less than 5%.

Of course, since the advent of the internet and online video, I've also seen a good number of clips of Top 10 lists, newsworthy interviews and cherished or heralded musical guests.

But even if we're talking simply parts of shows, I'm guessing my intake has still been considerably less than 10% of Letterman's Late Night/Late Show output.

This relative sparsity has never been due to dislike, active disinterest, the late hour (especially after Dave moved to CBS and 10:30 Central) or preferring competitive programming with any consistency.

It would be too blanket a statement to say I haven't frequently cared about Dave's guests or whatever they were promoting--especially as part of his charm is that he often, quite obviously, didn't either--but for one reason or other, I only tuned in rather sporadically.

So while I will definitely miss having the option to watch The Late Show with David Letterman, and perhaps hearing about it the next morning, I can't forthrightly suggest my life will be acutely altered or my day-to-day enjoyment actively much diminished.

Incidentally, I have similar feelings about Jon Stewart, who will be exiting as host of The Daily Show on August 6. I think Stewart is brilliant, hilarious and almost universally "right on!" and have greatly relished each time I have caught him on the 10pm (Central) broadcast--or more often, snippets posted to Facebook the next day.

But he's been on The Daily Show for 4 nights per week since early 1999, and I've maybe seen 50 full episodes--which is again probably an overestimate.

I realize I may sound like a lummox who doesn't support the things I like, or just is lackadaisical about liking anything with a passion.

Hopefully those who peruse this blog with any frequency believe otherwise, but to share that since 1999 I've likely seen Bruce Springsteen live in concert--involving in places like New Jersey, London, St. Louis, Detroit, Columbus, etc.--more times than I've tuned into Jon Stewart from the comfort of my bed doesn't really abet my rebuttal.

Nor will my admission that I never really "got into"--beyond watching a handful of episodes each--universally acclaimed TV series that many hold sacrosanct, including The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Mad Men.

But I really do love entertainment and culture and television and those increasingly rare creations and artists and personalities that unite us in the ever-more-fractionalized "zeitgeist."

Like David Letterman.

And Jon Stewart for that matter.

Still, while I often write--or just verbally kvetch--about the seeming erosion of transcendent artistry that bridges demographics and provides common touchstones to the masses, I find myself pretty accepting when a treasured performer or practitioner decides to call it a day.

As George Harrison sang on the title song of the 1970 album he released in the wake of the Beatles' breakup, "all things must pass." And maybe I'm a "glass half full" kind of guy, but I find it better to appreciate what's been given than bemoan what's been taken away.

Or, looping into these thoughts on retirement the far grimmer finality of death--and gauchely quoting myself--"weep for all that's been lost, smile for all that's been gained" is a philosophy I try to espouse, especially when the deceased has clearly lived a long, estimable and memorable life.

Bringing this back to being strictly about retirement, I also admire when people are able to go out on their own terms. This was the gist of an article I wrote when Doug Sohn announced he would close his inordinately popular Chicago sausage emporium, Hot Doug's, last year. (Incidentally, though Hot Doug's has arisen in 2015 for two temporal special events, I haven't been interested in partaking, partly in the name of letting the past stay past.)

So in the same vein, I'm glad Dave is heading off into the sunset, whether to devote more time to his son Harry, become a competitive cliff diver or to pursue anything else he may wish to do.

Thank you, David Letterman, for all the years and all the laughs.

Even when I wasn't watching.  

---
There are articles galore about Letterman's denouement, but two I recommend are Paste's compilation of 25 Top Musical Moments from his shows and this Salon interview with R.E.M. Mike Mills, who memorably performed on the show and publicly broke the news of Dave's retirement.

---

Inspired by David Letterman, here is my list of the...

Top 10 Retirements and Other Endings I've Most Rued (Not Including Deaths)

Unlike the Late Show's Top 10s, this list isn't meant to be humorous, but rather to recall the artists and creations I've truly missed after they came to an end. This won't include reference to anyone I've known personally nor endings due to death (e.g. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Williams, Nirvana).

Citations include only people/things that I've acutely enjoyed in real-time during my lifetime, and which have ceased to exist, typically due to retirements, though in some cases because of breakups or cancellations.

And while I miss all of the following--notwithstanding reruns, YouTube, recordings, etc.--it may not quite be accurate to say I've "rued" their endings. This isn't just because of the outlook I cited a few paragraphs up, but because their "time" had appropriately run its course. (This logic is why I don't mind leaving off R.E.M., The Kinks, Cheers, etc.) 

10. Johnny Carson
9. Hot Doug's
8. Beavis & Butthead
7. Tower Records (and all large record stores)
6. The Replacements (though they've kinda come back) 
5. Seinfeld
4. Steve Dahl & Garry Meier as a radio duo
3. Michael Jordan, retirements #2, 1 & 3 in order
2. The Far Side - Gary Larsen 
1. Calvin & Hobbes - Bill Watterson

---
I obviously look forward to watching the last Late Show with David Letterman in less than 3 hours--with appreciation and wistfulness but not too much chagrin. Though the guest list hasn't been officially shared, it's been revealed that the Foo Fighters will be the last musical act, fitting as Dave loves them and had them play on the show following his return from heart surgery in 2000.

But as I'm all about the Boss, and as Bruce Springsteen was Letterman's hand-picked "most wanted guest" for his last NBC show in 1993, I'll end this with my favorite song about leaving the past behind...and looking forward. (From a concert I attended, to boot.)

Saluting A 30-Year Letterman in Late Night Entertainment

On February 1, 1982, Late Night With David Letterman debuted on NBC. It was on at 11:30pm in Chicago, and being just 13 years old at the time, I'm pretty sure I didn't stay up to watch it. But I've seen clips of Bill Murray as Dave's first guest--now readily available on YouTube--and this week have enjoyed watching Letterman and crew celebrate their 30th anniversary. 

Bill Murray guested once again on Tuesday night and for the actual 30th anniversary show last night, Howard Stern, who also goes way back with Dave, was the only non-musical guest.

Of course, Letterman's show--as it has been since August 30, 1993--is now titled The Late Show, broadcast by CBS and airs an hour earlier. But Dave, bandleader Paul Shaffer, the CBS Orchestra and all involved have been remarkably consistent in delivering quality entertainment for 30 years.

Like Dave himself, quite famously, I was a fan of Johnny Carson, but Letterman's run on late night television has now surpassed his mentor's. And certainly since Carson's retirement in 1992, if not before, Letterman has been the best in the talk show business and my favorite by a wide margin.

Jay Leno might get better ratings on the Tonight Show, but I can't watch him for a minute. And though I enjoy Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel to some extent, if my television is turned on and tuned to a broadcast station anytime after 10:30pm, 9 times out of 10 it will be to see the Late Show.

That said, I actually watch David Letterman far less than I like him. Sure, I'll probably catch him once or twice a week, but far from every night. So of the 5,433 shows cited in the graphic above, I doubt I've seen more than a thousand, yet I've always enjoyed the ones I have.

And I even had the good fortune, largely by coincidence, to attend a live taping--the only one I've been to--of his 25th anniversary show in 2007. The main guest then was, yes, Bill Murray (a bit ironic that it's Groundhog Day). It was quite a fun experience. At the time, the Bears were about to play the Indianapolis Colts--from Dave's hometown--in the Super Bowl, and I prepared a Top 10 list of reasons why the Bears would beat the Colts. Well, that didn't come true, and my list never made it to air--and probably not even to Dave, though I gave it to a staff member--but you can see it here. Wow, the Bears being in the Super Bowl sure seems a lot longer ago than 5 years, doesn't it?

So the fact that Letterman--who had a quintuple bypass in 2000 and will turn 65 on April 12--is celebrating 30 years of being a late night visitor in people's homes is rather astonishing and laudable.

In tribute, I recommend Paste Magazine's compilation of Letterman's Top 10 moments. However, even among shows and interviews I've seen and remember, I think they're missing a few great ones.

Famously in 1982, comic Andy Kaufman and wrestler Jerry Lawler got into an on-air brawl, even dousing Dave with coffee. The fight was later revealed, long after Kaufman's death, to have be staged, but it made for riveting television (and much conversation at school the next day). Beware that this YouTube clip is unedited and uncensored, which means there's a good deal of profanity (I can't find a clip of what exactly was broadcast).

As I cited in this post, Letterman was good friends with musician Warren Zevon, a frequent guest and occasional substitute for Paul Shaffer. After disclosing his having terminal cancer in the fall of 2002--he would pass the next year--he made a memorable last appearance on Letterman, including his final public performances (Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV). Also quite moving is Letterman's tribute after Zevon's death and for real archivists, this is Zevon's first appearance.

Correspondingly, along with all the humor Letterman has brought in his monologues and his interviews, one can't overlook the importance and influence his show has had as a showcase for myriad musical acts, including many making their initial television appearance. I enjoy finding such "time capsule" clips on YouTube, including performances by R.E.M., Dinosaur Jr., The Pixies, Screaming Trees, Bruce Springsteen (on Dave's last NBC show and a subsequent E Street Band reunion in 1995), Radiohead, Wilco, Amy Winehouse, Adele and perhaps most famously, Foo Fighters on Dave's first show following heart surgery.

Certainly, Letterman can be rather acerbic, which is probably why America as a whole tends to prefer Leno. But though he is at times notoriously harsh on his guests--such in this chat with Paris Hilton following her 2007 jail stint--he usually reserves his rancor for those who deserve it.

And as the clip below illustrates in showing what may be his finest hour, one of Letterman's best traits is honesty. Though far from depicting a typical Late Show, I believe the video also portrays why he has been such an important presence in our lives for the past 30 years. For that, and all the years of laughter, music and more, I say, "Thanks, Dave."

The Best of 2011: The TV Shows I--and My Friend Dave--Enjoyed Most Over the Past Year

I don't watch nearly enough television.

I mean, it seems like I do--especially if you count movies watched on TV--but despite having a handful of series I watch regularly and other shows I catch sporadically, I somehow seem to avoid everything that friends, critics and the general public seem to love.

I don't watch any reality TV or talent shows, despite my fondness for musicals I haven't liked what I've seen of Glee and I've yet to get into most cable dramas, such as Breaking Bad, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men.

And even though I enjoy sitcoms, between whatever else I do, I just don't seem to ever see
Modern Family, 30 Rock or How I Met Your Mother, to name some that I have enjoyed but not often or of late. And though Parks & Recreation and Community are getting a lot of love on "Best of" lists, such as this one by Paste Magazine, I think I've only seen one or the other once, years ago.

So now that I've told you why you really shouldn't much care what I think--for another more expert opinion, see this list by Maureen Ryan, the former Chicago Tribune critic who now writes online--here are my picks for:

The Best TV of 2011

1. The Good Wife - CBS

2. Friday Night Lights - NBC

3. Person of Interest - CBS

4. World Series Game 6 - Fox - One of the best baseball games I've ever seen. The last day of the regular season was also high drama, but I didn't see that much of it. For me, sports remains the best reality television. 

5. Homeland - Showtime

6. Ringer - The CW

7. Beavis & Butthead - MTV

8. Burn Notice - USA

9. Castle - ABC

10. Royal Pains - USA

I also wanted to give a shout out to the HD cable channel, Palladia. It shows all kinds of concerts and pop music movies and is my favorite "time waster" channel. If you have digital cable, you probably have it, so look for it.

In the months ahead, I'm planning to watch all the back episodes of Breaking Bad and Mad Men, the latter of which is returning with new episodes in March. But given my relative lack of breadth in viewership, I've enlisted the choices of my friend Dave.

Dave's Picks (not ranked)

Breaking Bad - AMC

Justified - FX

The Killing - AMC

Curb Your Enthusiasm - HBO

American Horror Story - FX

Modern Family - ABC

Downton Abbey - PBS

Dexter - Showtime

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - FX

Baseball - 9/28/11 - The last day of the regular season

These are in addition to some of the shows I cited, like Homeland, The Good Wife, Friday Night Lights, Ringer and Beavis & Butthead.

A Mother of a Blog Post -- My 11 Favorite TV Moms ... Now on Booth Reviews

Click here or on the image to access my latest Booth Reviews article.

Talking About the Weather--plus Helping Kids, Chasing Storms, Saving the Earth and Watching Jersey Shore--with NBC 5 Chicago Meteorologist Ginger Zee

Between last week's third-worst blizzard in Chicago history and this week's sub-arctic temperatures, the winter weather has been one of the hottest topics in town (and throughout the Midwest).

So it made for a nice excuse for me to reach out to Ginger Zee, the amicably engaging weekend meteorologist at Chicago's NBC 5 with amazingly aquamarine eyes.

Every bit as friendly over the phone as she appears on TV, Ginger certainly wasn't happy about the consequences of the 20.2" of snow that besieged Chicago between February 1 & 2. But she is proud to have been largely dead-on in her forecasts.

Yes, she foresaw the coming of the snowpocalypse
(and tried to warn us)

"Although meteorologists can see a major storm system up to seven days before it hits, it's not until four days prior that we that we really get a great idea of how it will take shape," she explained. "Once the storm hit land on Sunday [Jan. 30], I realized how big and impactful it would be."

Indeed, on her TV forecasts--she does triple-duty on both weekend days--as well as through her Facebook and Twitter feeds to a combined 10,000+ followers, Ginger was well out front about the vehemence of the blizzard. On Sunday, she tweeted, "At least a foot...potentially a foot and a half" and by midday Tuesday, she chided any remaining skeptics with this Facebook post:

While she won't second guess the decision not to shut down Lake Shore Drive--resulting in the situation I wrote about here--and notes that the accidents exacerbating the massive standstill could also have happened on the Eisenhower, Dan Ryan or other expressways, Ginger did note that at a 3:00pm appointment on Tuesday, Feb. 1, she advised an acquaintance against taking the Drive home.

Ginger doesn't claim to be prescient, but with a Bachelor's degree in Meteorology from Valparaiso University--where she now serves as an Adjunct Professor--she is a scientist who prepares her own forecasts. Although she didn't specifically say it, she clearly enjoys disproving whatever archaic perceptions some may have of a "weather girl," and remains rabid about expanding her expertise.

Of the near-record accumulation, Ginger professes to have been enthralled by the intensity of the lake effect snow. "One lake effect band on Wednesday morning brought a 1-2" snowfall rate per hour, which is what really got us up over 20 inches." (20.2" was the official recording at O'Hare, but even more fell elsewhere, including 21.2" in Downers Grove.)

No, Zee isn't her real last name,
but Mary Ann could have been her first

Growing up near Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ginger--so named due to her Dutch father (she's also half Italian) learning English through a love of television, particularly Gilligan's Island--first became fascinated with the weather at age 8, when derechos (windstorms) and water spouts spiced up a summer spent with her family alongside Lake Michigan.

Her interest in studying Meteorology at Valpo was further inspired by her father's unique vocation: making tennis courts. "I noticed how upset people got whenever it rained when it wasn't supposed to. I guess you could say it [her chosen course of study] was a way of making daddy happy."

VU's meteorology program, in which Ginger began as a freshman, provided her the chance to embark on storm chasing excursions that greatly amplified her education. "It's such a great way to learn. You're able to watch your forecasts come true almost instantly," she imparted.

Without collegiate training in journalism, communications or broadcasting, a future in TV wasn't necessarily in Ginger's long-range outlook until an internship alongside noted meteorologist James Spann at the ABC affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama, proved quite enjoyable. While still in college, she was hired to deliver weather reports for WYIN in Merrillville, Indiana.

Coming to Chicago and WMAQ-TV in 2006 after stints in Grand Rapids and Flint, MI, Ginger is pleased with what she is able to provide to viewers.

Tomorrow's weather--and everything she says--remains entirely unscripted

"I hope to add to a little light in the middle of the newscast. Excepting days when the gravity of preceding stories or my forecast preclude it, I think it's OK to smile," she shared, while revealing that like most TV meteorologists these days, she doesn't script her weather segments nor use a teleprompter.

Although her talents have led to a guest stint on the Today show, in order to gauge how well she's heeding her abiding tenet for televised forecasts, Ginger admits to occasionally using a tried and true barometer: her mom.

"One thing I tell my students is to answer your viewers' main questions right off the bat. If I'm not quickly telling people what they most want to know, that's not good," Ginger remarked. "So sometimes I check with my mother to make sure I'm not overlooking the obvious."

As evidenced by my admission that I wasn't familiar with Ginger Zee until a couple months ago, a lot of people get their weather in ways beyond the local news. Rather than bemoan the new virtual reality, Ginger embraces both the benefits she brings to TV viewers and the advantages offered by the social media age.

"Especially in the case of extreme weather, an iPhone app can never provide the same sense of proximity and urgency that I can on TV. But with the Chicago vicinity being so vast, there's an inherent difficulty in giving each viewer a precise indicator of what they can expect, as weather can vary greatly over a 30-mile span and beyond. With Facebook and Twitter, I can provide more detailed projections, region by region. It's like a never ending broadcast."

Ginger recently donned a chocolate gown to benefit the
For The Love Of Chocolate Scholarship Foundation

She welcomes your feedback,
but please keep it clean
(and preferably not mean)

Although Ginger enjoys and appreciates her legions of online fans, friends and followers, and--as corroborated by her quick response to my request for an interview--reads and responds to all e-mail messages, some of the attention she receives is a bit untoward. As Christopher Borelli of the Chicago Tribune detailed in this 2010 article about her, Ginger is often the recipient of insulting, inappropriate, lewd, creepy and downright disturbing comments.

In the Borelli piece, she suggests that someday she'll "publish a book of crazy e-mails to meteorologists," but admits that it took awhile for her skin to thicken. "During my first two years in Flint, I cried every day. No one prepares you for getting ripped to shreds in e-mails and other online forums.

"I don't mind criticism and will take valid comments to heart. But when people get really vicious, not just about me but in ways that demean others around me, I'm sure to share those comments with my colleagues."

The above event benefiting the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
took place last May

From the Green Screen
to the Green Scene,
with lots of charity work in between

In addition to her somewhat arduous weekend schedule on Channel 5--between working morning, 5:00pm and 10:00pm newscasts, napping is a vital weekend activity, especially as she is narcoleptic--Ginger does environmental reports for the NBC station.

Her "Green is Universal" segment airs Thursdays at 5:00pm and "Ginger's Green Scene" is a weekend staple. Having spent much of her adolescence on an organic farm, Ginger clearly conveys that her environmental concerns go far beyond a nice way to increase her air time.

"Our air is dirty, our water is dirty. We have to do something about that. We have to take care of the Earth," she stresses. "Though friends keep it light by calling me the 'recycling police,' it's really quite serious.

"Don't you want to breathe clean air?"

Something else Ginger is deeply committed to is putting her time off work to good use, not just for herself but for many others. Although she is proudly a TV junkie, happily watching everything from 30 Rock to the History Channel to Jersey Shore--"it's important for us be entertained," she posits--Ginger spends hours each week teaching Meteorology at her alma mater, talking to elementary school students and participating in (and often hosting) many charity events.

Tonight (Feb. 10) she will be at the Chicago Auto Show's First Look for Charity; on March 19, she will host the Spring Fashion Show for the Brain Injury Association of Illinois, where she serves on the board. She is also on the board of the Chicago's Children Choir--I neglected to ask if she herself can sing, although I've read she was quite a hit at past Newsapaloozas--and each year assists with the One Step Camps through which Children's Oncology Services allows kids with cancer to enjoy a variety of outdoor pursuits.

"I usually do 2 or 3 charity events per week," Ginger told me, saying that she has particular affinity for non-profits that provide very tangible and local support to affected individuals and their families. "If someone asks and I have time, I'm usually open to helping out."

Sorry guys, she's got a boyfriend
(and a big dog)

Photo from Discovery.com

Last fall, Reed Timmer, who like Ginger grew up in Grand Rapids and became a meteorologist, asked her to chase tornadoes with him for the Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers, in which he stars. Having loved storm chasing in college, Ginger leaped at the invitation.

"He's breaking into science in a way that's so exciting to me," declares Ginger, who is now dating Timmer. "We're learning much more about how exactly tornadoes work, and in getting a better read on the vertical wind of each twister, it will eventually enable more resilient structures to be built."

As Ginger shared on Facebook and Twitter, last Saturday, Feb. 5--National Weatherperson's Day, though she suggests the title should denote Meteorologists--she was delighted by visits to the NBC Chicago studio from two special guests: Timmer and her beloved black lab, Otis.

With some recent national TV exposure and an enthusiastic fan base, it's easy for me to imagine Ginger being in a position to significantly expand her presence in coming years. But she claims she is "thrilled and grateful just to be working." Like anyone, she'll weigh possibilities as they present themselves, but while she's not adverse to becoming a bigger TV star, even perhaps beyond the realm of meteorology, it's clear that her passion remains where it began: with a love of the science behind the weather. Particularly in the Midwest.

Some days are hot, some days are cold. But at the end of most of them, I imagine that Ginger Zee genuinely enjoys her life, and whatever effect her expertise may have on yours.

Even as I conclude this in the dark of night, with the outside temperature below zero and feeling much colder, I expect that Ginger's own forecast for all the weeks ahead will be nothing but bright, warm and sunny.

Just as she is.




Ginger Zee, NBC 5 Chicago Meteorologist
Saturday 6am-10am, 5pm and 10pm newscasts
Sunday 6am-9am, 5pm and 10pm
Facebook: facebook.com/gingerzeetv
Twitter: @ginger_zee

Friday Night Lights Completes Another Winning Season

TV Show Spotlight

Friday Night Lights
NBC/DirecTV

I've come to accept that it's probably a character defect that I have never been captivated by Mad Men or almost any of the other television shows that friends and critics seem to rave about (although I do enjoy Burn Notice).

On the other hand, I'm somewhat proud of myself for never succumbing to shows like Jersey Shore, the Real Housewives of anywhere or any reality TV fare for that matter, including American Idol or Survivor. So I guess while I don't appreciate the most supposedly brilliant of television shows, I also don't get into the most tawdry.

But the show that I have found phenomenal ever since it debuted in 2006, and which I consider the best show on TV, is Friday Night Lights.

While FNL has long garnered critical support--the Tribune's Maureen Ryan has been an especially avid supporter--the show has never been much of a success in terms of viewership. In its third and fourth seasons, and up-and-coming fifth and final one, the drama has been relegated not only to 13-episode seasons but has aired exclusively on DirecTV in the fall, with NBC presenting it beginning in January in 2009 and May this year. Not being a DirecTV subscriber, it has been frustrating to have to wait so long to see new episodes, but the show is so well done that a delayed-season is better than none at all.

Although I imagine some people stay away from Friday Night Lights due to its football theme, you need not be anymore of a football fanatic to enjoy the show's deeply compelling human stories than one likely needs to be an advertising expert in order to enjoy Mad Men.

Take for instance one of this season's most moving episodes in which Matt Saracen (played by Evanston's Zach Gilford) had to deal with the death of his father in Iraq and grieve for a man he barely knew. As you can see from the clip below, this doesn't have anything to do with football, just life.


In Season 4, which concluded on NBC last Friday, Saracen and Tim Riggins (played by Taylor Kitsch) were holdovers from the show's first three seasons after graduating from the fictional Dillon Panthers last season. But other than that, the show has done a nice job this season of not stringing along stories of high school students into their college years (as many a teen drama has struggled to do effectively). Instead, several new characters and storylines were introduced as former Dillon coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) had to deal with starting up the football program at East Dillon High, a school that had fallen on very rough times.

In dealing with these issues like gang violence and teenage pregnancy, Friday Night Lights never feels false or comes off as preachy; rather it depicts people dealing with difficulties in a very real manner (even if they sometimes get resolved a bit too cleanly). And even the football scenarios are so well done that I truly couldn't guess which way the season finale would end, and was quite moved by the way it did.

It might seem strange for me to be hyping a show after it has left the air for awhile, but with video available On-Demand and at NBC.com, full seasons streaming on Netflix, syndication showings starting soon on ABC Family and the 4th Season DVD being released next Tuesday, there are plenty of ways for you to get into Friday Night Lights if you haven't already. And truth be told, I was planning on writing a post around the NBC premiere back in May, but as I imagine is the case with many fine shows that I haven't "gotten into," a single episode wasn't likely to win your devotion.

With only 63 episodes of Friday Night Lights yet aired, the show won't take you long to catch up on. So kickoff with the still much-praised pilot episode and discover why this has been the best show on TV. Even if you hate football.

'Vin'tage Voice Continues to Announce Its Virtuosity, Play-by-Play

As anyone who has paid attention to this blog, even sporadically, over the past 6 months, should realize, I have a great appreciation for people who are masters of their craft--in a wide variety of genres.

From Sonny Rollins to Stephen Sondheim, Raphael to Frank Lloyd Wright and Buddy Guy to Bono, I tried to share my passion for people I consider among my creative heroes.

Today I would like to use a few words to celebrate someone who remains better than anyone else at what he does, even after 60 years of doing it.

At 82, Vin Scully is still the best baseball announcer I've ever heard. And while I obviously haven't heard everybody who's ever called a ballgame, it is with tremendous admiration for late legends like Ernie Harwell, Jack Buck, Harry Caray, Harry Kalas and Curt Gowdy that I would presume Scully to be the best announcer who's ever lived.

Although he's called over 10,000 baseball games and other sporting events, I haven't really heard him all that often, as he's the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers (and even during my three years in LA in the early '90s, I didn't watch or listen to many Dodger games).

But this past Monday, during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, when I was channel surfing during breaks in the hockey game, I came across a Dodgers-Diamondbacks game being carried on the MLB Network. Vin Scully was doing the play-by-play, and as seems to be his custom, was not accompanied by a color analyst. He was amazing to listen to, even for just a few minutes as he called a mundane middle inning.

Then yesterday, when I had already decided to write a tribute, I discovered the MLB Network was carrying another Dodgers-Dbacks game. I started watching in the 5th inning and, although I could really care less about the game's outcome, I watched until the scoreless tie was won by the Dodgers in the bottom of the 14th inning.

Listening to Scully was like listening to a symphony. He is just that good; always keeping you informed of the action on the field, while subtly yet meticulously painting the picture that surrounds it. And again, at age 82, he's calling 14 inning games with no partner and no breaks.

I can't find video that I can repost here, but here is a link to his call of yesterday's game-ending play. What happens isn't even all that dramatic, but there is just such an elegance to Scully's call. Similarly, here's his call of a walk-off homer from the night before.

According to his Wikipedia entry, Scully started calling baseball games in 1950--following Harwell into the Brooklyn Dodgers' radio booth, after Harwell left to work handle NY Giants games--and also spent 10 years broadcasting NFL games. (Scully gave this warm remembrance of Harwell after Ernie passed away on May 4).

Anyway, I don't have much to say about Vin Scully that he couldn't say much more remarkably. But after having the pleasure of hearing him a couple times this week, it seemed right that I say something. If you have a chance to catch him doing play-by-play, stop and listen. You'll never hear anyone do it any better.

The Final Countdown: Time Runs Out on '24'

While there seemed to be much more hoopla and press regarding the last episode of 'Lost' on Sunday night, Monday night brought an end to the television series that was my favorite of the past decade: 24.

The around-the-clock adventures of Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, may have been better during some of 24's eight seasons than others, and the last two seemed somewhat spotty, but even at its worst, 24 never made me not want to watch.

And that's saying a whole lot.

There have been a total of 193 episodes, including a 2-hour television movie prior to Season 7, and I have seen every one, almost always either on the night it aired or within a day or two.

Sometimes 24 had plot lines, or characters, that pushed credulity.  Sometimes Jack blurred the line between "doing what needs to be done" and outright criminality, either in torturing suspects to reveal needed information or in shooting those who got in his way, even if they were just following orders at times when he was disobeying them. Occasionally things became a bit formulaic and you kind of knew what was going to happen. And in several season, there were subplots that just wasted time without really going anywhere (most vivid in my mind is this past season's strain about Dana Walsh's past).

But 24 was never boring.

And while there were often clear delineations between good and bad characters, others, including most notably Jack Bauer himself, provided interesting character studies in the midst of crisis.

In fact, while it was probably a necessity of the show, rather than a weakness, that most supporting characters came or went within a season or two, and none except Chloe O'Brian (played by Mary Lynn Rajskub) lasted all eight seasons, some of the secondary roles were so well-characterized that I wished they didn't disappear.

But at the end of the day, Jack really was a lone wolf, and to complicate the show or his life with too much baggage probably wouldn't have worked.

While I'll miss seeing Jack saving the world 24 Mondays a year, and will assuredly see the 24 movie that is said to be in the works despite being unsure of its necessity, I have to say that ending now seems right. I think 24 had run its course, to the point that it sometimes felt like a parody of itself.

Yet beyond being a visceral thrill, I think the show did add something to the art form of television by working in real time (even if people often changed settings with unrealistic expediency) and heightening the idea that "every moment counts."

Of course, 24 will live on forever in reruns, on Hulu.com and on DVD. And with the film slated for 2012 (according to IMDB), Jack will be back.

But for now he's heading out of the country, hopefully for a well-deserved rest. I wish him well.

Time's up, but it's been quite a ride.