"Love to eat turkey cause it's good. Love to eat turkey like a good boy should cause it's turkey to eat, so good."-Adam Sandler
Welcome to the Thanksgiving week edition of the Entertainment Report. Despite it being a holiday week, this is a jam-packed issue.
First of all, I'd like to welcome Scott (@
ScottFellows23) to the staff. He will be helping grow the sports section with extensive soccer coverage. Today will be the debut of his Wave Weekly Report, and down the road he will covering the international side of the game as well. He's a huge soccer nerd and is proud to join up to provide his knowledge in the report.
#2, quick shout out to @
travlord and the @
eastcoastcast who continues to support the Report every week.
Finally a quick
Podcast Plug. On Friday morning the Tell 'Em Steve Dave crew put together a special premium
Christmas podcast. The proceeds from the sales are going to Hurricane Sandy relief.
Alright let's get into this issue...
Best Song: Greased Lightning
Worst Song: There Are Worst Things I Could Do (just the Cassandra part)
Wow Glee. Simply wow. This was unreal and alot of fun. This is how you do a tribute show. Just about every song made sense for the storyline or the person singing it.
First there was
Greased Lightning which looked like a stretch at first. But when they used the original cars from the movie, I lost it. Plus it helped put over that Finn knows how to inspire the Glee Club.
Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee worked to push the Kitty-Marley story. Also they did everything to make that room look like the bedroom in the movie down to the pictures on the wall. I admit I laughed at "Are you making fun of me Kitty?" "Some people can be so touchy."
Before I continue though, I really hated the whole story of Kitty convincing Marley that she has to throw up to "drop some weight". Maybe it's just too close to home for me. I know it's a huge issue in schools and whatnot, but it didn't work for me. At least it had a happy ending and it taught a good lesson.
And while I'm on stuff I didn't like, the whole Rachel-Cassandra-Brody story doesn't fit the Glee world. It feels like a 90210/Melrose Place storyline. Plus it ruined
There Are Worse Things I Could Do for me.
Okay back to the good stuff. We get on stage for Grease and get to see
Beauty School Dropout, which is my least favorite song in the original show. But it this case it was Blaine being able to sing and perform. I could watch performances like this for hours. To add to it, Sugar as Frenchy was amazingly accurate. Plus the slight interaction between Blaine and Kurt in the crowd was subtle but perfect.
Now despite my hatred for the storyline, having Ryder snap Marley back to reality was greats especially since it lead to the chilling rendition of
Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise) and then kissing right in front of Puck Lite. (That was for @
Mama_Mandabear.)
As for the non-Cassandra portion of
There Are Worse Things I Could Do. I felt bad for Unique, he deserved to play Rizzo, but it was a very Sue thing to try and screw Finn and the Glee club over by getting his parents to take him out of that spot. That lead to Santana bring brought in, and wow. Can I just version of this song just her? It fit her character so well, especially with Britney watching. But when Unique joined it, it made me smile.
Now finally the grand finale.
You're The One That I Want might go down as one of the best and most surprising group numbers in Glee history. It started normal with Ryder and Marley singing and showing off their new relationship, then through the ride and then we entered fantasy mode. Finn and Rachel came out the other side and we got a flashback to the first ever song they sang together in the pilot. Then suddenly all the couple were back together on stage, Finn & Rachel, Kurt & Blaine, Brittany & Santana and ever Tina & Mike with Artie, Mercedes and Sam doing back up. It was amazing and made me proud to be a Gleek.
But the happiness didn't lost because Rachel and Finn got into a big fight, ending them for good, right after Rachel found out about Cassandra and Brody.
Overall, that was a great episode. While not perfect, close enough for me.
Grade: A
This has been the most thrilling season yet. This week's semifinals was no different. So since there was only five couples this week, let's go through them in order.
Melissa & Tony
They opened the show with the "Caveman Hustle". I really enjoyed it even though the stupid dinosaur took me out of the moment for a minute. The Michael Jackson song they did was Dirty Diana, which they did an Argentine Tango. That was stunning and they totally deserved a perfect score.
Shawn & Derek
Their first dance was the "Knight Rider Bhangra" which was extremely entertaining and well done. The second dance was the Argentine Tango to MJ's Bad. I personally that this deserved a 30 as well. It was that good.
Apolo & Karina
As much as I love Apolo, I didn't enjoy the "Big Top Jazz". It was just not up to their standards. This was evident with their amazing Rumba to Man in the Mirror. That was just brilliant.
Emmitt & Cheryl
I was openly laughing during their "Espionage Lindy Hop". Maybe it was the song, Secret Agent Man, but I was thoroughly entertained. Their Tango to Leave Me Alone was really good, but not their best.
Kelly & Val
Obviously I enjoyed their "Surfer Flamenco" more then the judges. Then again, I also don't know the difference between the Samba and the Flamenco. Their Rumba to I Just Can't Stop Loving You was also really good.
Judge's Scoreboard
Shawn & Derek-59
Melissa & Tony-57.5
Apolo & Karina-57
Emmitt & Cheryl-54
Kelly & Val-54
Eliminated: Emmitt & Cheryl and Apolo & Karina
Wow. It is now a all female final. I'm sad to see Apolo & Emmitt go, but I'm definitely looking forward to the Finals next week.
Episode: The Running Dead
This week's show was really good. It was mainly centered around Mike & Ming running a 5k zombie run representing the Wayne Foundation. Watching Bryan "train" them was hysterical, especially the hokey video montage. The race itself was actually pretty awesome. It was more like a crazy obstacle course with crazy people dressed like zombies.
Meanwhile at the Stash, they got fun items. First there was a baseball autographed by a bunch of cast members and guest stars from the 1966 Batman TV series, which was just really cool. There was also an unopened box of Batman cereal from 1989, which Ming decided was a good idea to have a bite of it, a copy if Sheena #2 and House of Secrets #92 featuring the appearance of Swamp Thing.
One final note, is it bad I really hoped the guy who crab walked out the door for $5 got hit by a car when he got outside?
Results:
Pre-Show Match: 3MB (Jinder Mahal & Heath Slater) vs. Zack Ryder & Santino
Brodus Clay, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara defeated Tensai, Primo & Epico and the Primetime Players (Titus O'Neil & Darren Young) in a traditional elimination match
- Tensai pinned Brodus Clay
- Justin Gabriel pinned Tensai
- Tyson Kidd pinned Titus O'Neil
- Tyson Kidd submitted Epico
- Rey Mysterio pinned Primo
- Rey Mysterio pinned Darren Young
Survivors: Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel
Eve pinned Kaitlyn to retain the WWE Diva's Championship
Antonio Cesaro defeated R-Truth to retain the United States Championship
Sheamus defeated The Big Show by DQ, The Big Show retained the World Heavyweight Championship
Team Ziggler (Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow, Alberto Del Rio & David Otunga) defeated Team Foley (Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, The Miz & Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) in a traditional elimination match
- Kane pinned Damien Sandow
- Dolph Ziggler pinned Kane
- Daniel Bryan submitted David Otunga
- Wade Barrett pinned Kofi Kingston
- Alberto Del Rio submitted Daniel Bryan
- The Miz pinned Wade Barrett
- Alberto Del Rio pinned The Miz
- Dolph Ziggler pinned Randy Orton
Sole Survivor: Dolph Ziggler
CM Punk pinned John Cena to retain the WWE Championship after Seth Rollins, Ramon Reigns and Dean Ambrose attacked Ryback after hitting the Shellshock on both Cena and Punk
Thoughts
This was a pretty show overall. I could say that because we ordered it, our first PPV buy since Mania.
The opening elimination match was a nice surprise. Why aren't Gabriel & Kidd, Rey & Sin Cara and Epico & Primo and even the Primetime Players in more matches like this where they could show off their skills? If one thing came out of this, it gave hope for the tag team division.
It was nice to see that they finally ended the Eve-Kaitlyn-Aksana storyline, but Kaitlyn deserved to win the title.
The Cesaro-Truth match was kinda just there. It happened and then it was over. Not much to note.
I really enjoyed the Sheamus-Big Show match. The two of them have amazing chemistry. While the ending was cheap and didn't make much sense, it did set up their Chairs match at TLC.
As for the main event elimination match, it was really good. The storyline of the match was that both teams just didn't get along and I thought they told it well. The fact that came down to Orton & Miz vs. Ziggler and Del Rio was a fitting idea. Miz is going to be a great face when they are ready to turn that page. Seeing Ziggler win with a super kick really shocked me. I haven't seen someone win with a super kick like that since HBK retired.
Now the main event. I thought this was a great triple threat match. Seeing Punk & Cena team up to throw Ryback through the announced got me really excited. Also it was crazy to see Ryback hit the Shellshock on Punk AND Cena. When the NXT trio hit the ring, I recognized Seth Rollins right away, Dean Ambrose and Ramon Reigns not so much. It was a nice surprise and shocking to see them destroy Ryback. Everyone knew Punk would win but no one was sure how. This worked for me.
11/16/12-Admirals at Oklahoma City
The Ads continued their road trip in OKC to face the Barons. This matchup turned in a goalie duel.
Jeremy Smith made 24 saves, but was one-upped by
Yanni Danis who made 43 saves to lead the Barons to a 2-1 overtime victory.
Mark Ardobello scored the game winner 3:18 into the overtime period.
11/17/12-Admirals at Oklahoma City
For the second night in a row, the Barons beat the Ads, this time 5-2.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tallied two goals and an assist. But the story of the game was the 60 combined penalty minutes in the first period, including three fights.
11/20/12-Milwaukee at Chicago
The Wolves got their revenge on the Ads with a 5-3 win.
Brett Sterling lead Chicago with 2 goals and an assist.
Chris Mueller also tallied two goals and an assist in the loss. The Ads have now lost 7 of 11 road games this season.
The Ads continue their road trip in a three pack over the weekend. They head to Peoria on Friday night, back to Chicago on Saturday night and then an afternoon game in Grand Rapids on Sunday.
Cliché as it sounds, that is exactly the feeling that the
Baltimore Blast had this past weekend as they defeated the 6-Time MISL Champion Milwaukee Wave. Last March with only 46 seconds into the first overtime period,
Joe Hammes finished off the game winning goal to defeat the Blast in the MISL Title game. This was the second consecutive year in which the Wave was crowned league champions. Needless to say the Blast waited 8 months to get their opportunity to meet their arch-rivals once again, and they did not disappoint their loyal fans. Second year defender
Mike Deasel started the scoring off early with a 2-point goal. In the MISL goals are worth 2 and 3 points. Less than a minute later the Wave’s Veteran target forward
Giuliano Oliviero finished off a pass from Jonathan Greenfield to level the game at 2. Go ahead goals by
Tino Nunez and
Tony Donatelli pushed the Blast lead to 6-2. With just over 6 minutes remaining in the first half, a clear rookie mistake from goalkeeper
William Vanzela rewarded Milwaukee with a restart from the top of the box where
Evan McNeley finished it off to make it 6-4. For the first time in years, the Wave was held to only 2 goals. A 15-4 victory for the Baltimore fans was bittersweet not only for them, but for the players as well. Baltimore remains 5-0 while Milwaukee drops to 1-2. Up next for Milwaukee is Saturday December 1st at 6:00 pm Vs. The Chicago Soul at the U.S. Cellular Arena.
Wrestling Newsbytes
2012 NWA Hall of Fame Class Announced
The NWA announced their annual hall of fame class.
Paul Boesch (Promoter)
John Tolas
Mr. Wrestling II
Ricky Steamboat
Fabulous Moolah
Joyce Grable
Misty Blue
Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal)
Little Beaver (Midget)
Teddy Long (Referee)
Sputnik Monroe (Humanitarian Award)
Congrats to all the inductees.
Quick Hits
- The American Music Awards was Sunday night. Justin Bieber lead the night with three awards, Artist of the Year, Pop/Rock Male Artist and Pop/Rock Album. Nicki Minaji swept the Rap/Hip Hop categories, Taylor Swift, Luke Bryan and Lady A won the country awards, and Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Carly Rae Jepen capped out the bigger awards. The low tier category, Usher, Beyonce, Rihanna, Linkin Park, Adele & Shakira added to their trophy cases.
This is the second of their three albums coming out this year. Right off the bat this album had a different tone to it compared to Uno! with
Fuck Time. Also when compared to Uno! this album flows alot better plus the songs are better and catchier. This actually feels like a rock album instead of a pop/rock album.
Grade: A-
Favorite Song: Stray Heart
That's it for this week. Next week I will be posting a special edition analyzing the finals of Dancing With The Stars on Tuesday morning with my projected winner. Then in the next regular issue, there will be coverage of a brand new Thanksgiving night Glee, the results of DWTS and much more.
Finally jump on over and check out my
Week 12 NFL Picks, especially after my 12-2 Week 11.
Like always if you have any thoughts, comments or anything at all, shoot me an email at
entertainreport@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @
Reilly21106.
Till next week, hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving. I am very thankful to all my loyal regular readers.
As always, thank you for reading and see ya next week!
