debtfull Reviews

Friday the 13th: The Series (1987–1990)

Good TV show ruined by the movie's bad rep

[22 October 2005]

This show had nothing to do with the notorious slasher movie's plot, except in name. Many talking heads of the era would bad mouth the TV series with elements of the movie-- clearly showing they never saw the series. Very spooky, atmospheric horror show. Robey, the redhead who played Nikki was gorgeous-- I remember commercials with her spinning around, hair flying to the music of Tone Loc's Wild Thang.

The plots were pretty straightforward. The trio had a prior standing with the old owner of an evil antique shop who sold magically "curse" items. The hero's job was to get the evil items all back. As the show progressed through the seasons, the characters were fleshed out pretty good and more supernatural elements were added as opposed to gore. Another great 80's series that is overlooked. DVD would be great.

The Daily Show (1996– )

Good but...

[31 July 2005]

Jon Stewart is good, this is not a Jon Stewart bash by any means. The talent is there.

However, the world seems to have forgotten that good old Craig Kilborn started the Daily Show and did an excellent job. I happen to be a big Craig Kilborn fan and think he deserves a little more credit for his stint on the original Daily Show. Considering that I never hear him get any credit, a little more wouldn't take much. They had somewhat different styles, a different flavor, if you will, but the short Kilborn years were very memorable.

Just my two bits for Daily Show posterity. :)

The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (1999–2004)

This show was great

[31 July 2005]

The Kilborn show was funny, topical, and had ironic class. I miss it a lot. Neither Ferguson or Conan are as good. Also, this was one of the few shows that captured a little bit of 80s nostalgia from someone of the "right" age. Mostly people who came of age in the 80s are skipped over, the media marketing went right from the baby boomers to generation Y and Z. Face it folks, gen x is in their 40s and we didn't even get a t-shirt.

Maybe, it's misplaced, but I kind of felt like this was "our" show and that there will never be another. Look at all those great early 80s bands he brought back-- and he understood them. I hope we get a DVD collection of the Kilborn show with some of his Daily Show material thrown in, too.