In Five Minutes or Less 11

I do a little YouTube thing called "In Five Minutes or Less" or IFMoL. Here is the 11th episode.

IT'S OVER!

I just posted about "Law and Order" being on the fence between canceled and renewed. Well it is official. "Law and Order's" final episode will air May 24th as the season finale would have.

I am deeply saddened that "Law and Order" will not break "Gunsmoke's" record. While this seemed like the right move from a business stand point, I have to say they should have let go for that record-BREAKING season, instead of giving it the status of record-tying.

Once again, I don't think it is fair to cancel it when they didn't give it a chance to thrive in it's Wednesday spot. They put it against the 2nd strongest CSI and Castle, the program following DWTS. In that case, they should've put at Tuesday @8pm to kill it faster.

Goodbye Law and Order. You've been around one year longer than I have. I'll miss you. J out.
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EN: For those who say that it doesn't matter because "The Simpsons" have already beat Gunsmoke, that was for overall primetime show. This is drama. There is a difference because I don't find myself laughing at "Gunsmoke" and "Law and Order" like I do "The Simpsons."

There will be more to come on the forthcoming end to this venerable series.

Law and Order. . .On the Fence

So "Law and Order" is on the fence. There have been reports of NBC saying it will be back and there have been reports that it will be cancelled. This, of course, is very big because 'LandO' would break the "Gunsmoke" record. That is the longest running primetime drama, if it makes it to its 21st season. Ratings have been down lately, but NBC couldn't possibly carry LandO this long and NOT carry it over the finish line. It is NBC's fault in the first place LandO is in the perdiciment it is in now.

LandO killed at 10pm on Wednesday. By the 16th season it had dropped some, but still did well. However, NBC decided it would be best to move it to Fridays. It dropped to 73rd place from 36th. (Smooth Move Exlax!) They realised the mistake and put it back and it hoped back up into the top 40. Yet it wasn't to last long because they wanted to try revolutionizing primetime television with Jay Leno. They moved it back to Fridays, but at 8. It did well. Yet, we all know how Jay Leno went. So it is at Mondays at 10. Up against stiff competition, LandO has fallen.

CSI:Miami, perhaps the strongest of the CSI, is on CBS and Castle, with rating juggernaut DWTS(1) as a lead in, is on ABC. They are very strong against LandO and I think LandO should be moved back to Wednesday. The old way of LandO on Wednesday and SVU on Tuesday worked well. Currently, SVU has the Wednesday slot. It is usually in a steady race with CSI:NY. Either CSI:NY wins viewers and SVU the demographic or vice versa. SVU should move back to Tuesday, LandO on Wednesday. Parenthood (Tuesdays @10) should go to Monday or Thursday, or to the 9pm slot on Wednesday.

All I can say is LandO better be renewed. To cut Dick Wolf short before this record is just cruel. I mean I know he's getting a Los Angeles branch of LandO, but keep the flagship. We won't know until Upfronts for the major networks next week (post to possibly come). So here's to crossing our fingers. X J out.

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1. Dancing with the Stars

American Idol: Lights, Camera, Top 4!

So the top four go out after Aaron Kelly got cut last week. Now the four get to sing songs of the movies. A rich collection of songs that we enjoyed while sitting in a theater listening to quadraphonic sound. And away we go. . .

Lee DeWyze: B, Doing "Kiss From A Rose", he sounded a bit "pitchy" to quote Randy. He did the song and it sounded like. . .the song. Nothing popped out and said "WoW!" to me. If I could choose a song for him I would do "If I Didn't Have You" from Monster's Inc. I know it seems a bit cheesy, but I think it would of fit Lee's voice well.

Michael Lynche: B+, Big Mike did "Will You Be There" from Free Willy. I must say that I love that he brought the song back to my ears b/c I completely forgot about it. That being set aside, I think he did great, but once again not a huge "WoW!" factor. I love the fact that Simon had never seen or even heard of the plot of Free Willy, it was hilarious. If I had choose a better song from the movies, I would say "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder. That, I think, would have been great and more emotion would have been evoked as he sang to his wife.

Duet #1: Crystal & Lee. Doing "Falling Slowly"from Once, it really sounded like a record for that movie's remake. It was really good. Where was this Lee during his solo performance? We can only hope Crystal does just as good maybe better.

Casey James: B+, So he survived a disastrous Sinatra week and came back with "Ms. Robinson" from The Graduate. I liked the fact that he did a laid back version of the song. It sounded sort of like IZ's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The problem was, once again, it wasn't a "WoW!er". Something important on a big night like this. I would have done "Footloose", but it may have been difficult to pull an original version for tonight.

Crystal Bowersox: A-, She was the first (and only, by default) one tonight to make me go "WoW!" Doing "I'm Alright" from Caddyshack, she blew it out of the water. Simon didn't watch movies on his way to being record executive b/c he didn't know what Caddyshack was about either. I would have chosen "Let the River Run" by Carly Simon.

Duet #2: Casey & Michael. They did "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?" and Casey started out shaky, but Mike got him back on track and they flew away with it. I loved Ellen's quip at the end.

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Overall it would have been a "WoW!"-less night had it not been for the duets. I think there were better choices for everyone to take and blow something out of the water. Lee was the weakest tonight. Could it lead to his demise? I'm unsure b/c it is so hard to pick at this stage. We'll have to see what happens 24 hours from now. J out.

Who's Afraid of Betty White?

I know I'm not and I'm really looking forward to her performance on Saturday Night Live about 24 hours away.

After a very successful Facebook campaign, Betty White was given the honor to host tomorrow's show, a Mother's Day special which will include appearances by past ladies of the show. That includes Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, and Molly Shannon.

For the first time in a while Betty White is on fire. This was following her appearance in a Snickers Super Bowl Commercial this year. First off, I love the Snickers campaign that you aren't you when your hungry, and their follow up featuring Aretha Franklin and Liza Minelli. Second off, seeing Betty White get tackled full on (and Abe Vigoda) was hilarious. After being in that commercial she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actor's Guild (unrelated to her rise) and before people were in demand for Ms. White she appeared in "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock.

I have always loved Betty White. I've been watching her on the Game Show Network for a long time and on Mary Tyler Moore and The Golden Girls. She is just comes across as the sweetest person ever. It will be a pure pleasure to look at her as she becomes the oldest host of SNL ever. The teasers have been hilarious.

The highest rated SNL in a while and of this season was the show hosted by Charles Barkley, who had some funny promos himself, and it garnered 10.4 million viewers. I think with this hyped up show that mark will be surpassed.Also, if The Lonely Island doesn't come up with a Digital Short this Saturday I would love it if they replayed MotherLover from last year. I can't wait for Betty and GSN will have a Match Game marathon of Betty's best to get people hyped up (I can't watch cause I don't get it here. . .grrr.) Here's me saying, WATCH SNL! J out.

American Idol: The Sinatra 5

So the top 5 go out with Sinatra on the brain. This comes after we lost Siobhan last week and only leaves Crystal as the sole woman on the show. Another guy-guy finale on the way? I say NO, but we'll have to see how everyone did tonite.

Aaron: B, It wasn't his best, it wasn't his worse. It was okay. "Fly Me to the Moon"

Casey: B-, He unfortunately was a very shaky affair. He sounded like an on-key lamb who was having an off night. Obviously this was not his forte. He's a rocker and tonight showed us that he isn't as dynamic as some thought. I loved how Simon made a joke and it fell flat and left like 5 seconds of silence. "Blue Skies"

Crystal: A-, she finally made tonight's show sound better. The problem though was that at times I felt the band drowned her out and she was engulfed. Something didn't click. "Summer Wind"

Mike: A, I though that his performance was great. He brought out the meaning of Sinatra tonight for the first time. I think he was the best of the night. "The Way You Look Tonight"

Lee: A, He performed my favorite Sinatra song and was great. Between him and Mike, they closed out the show the way it should have been. I didn't have Lee in my top 3 at the beginning of the 12, but as this season has gone on he has really impressed me. "That's Life"

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All in all this was, IMO, a great night. I loved the fact that Harry Connick Jr. (the mentor) played the piano on stage. However, I think the band being there and creating such a loud atmosphere was too much of a challenge for the contestants to out sing. So if you sang a song that was band heavy (Aaron, Casey, MamaSox), it would affect them greatly. If I had to put an elimination hit on anybody I would say Aaron or Casey. Aaron because he's become bland and Casey because of his shakiness with Sinatra. The thing is though I don't think Casey's fans will hold that against him. We shall see tonight. J out.