I am constantly amazed at the decisions network executives make over shows they air. These people are slaves to numbers that often times mean little; ratings and polls only give a narrow view, if they give an accurate view at all, of what the people these networks serve are interested in, and, as we all know, numbers are like Silly Putty, they can be made to look like anything.

Entertainment history is full of examples of how shows that struck a cord with a vocal public were resurrected from obscurity. Star Trek is a classic example; the Show limped along for a few seasons with poor ratings until it was finally cancelled only to be recreated years later and become one the biggest TV franchises ever. The same is true for Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who and others.

There are some shows that just never got a break no matter how hard the public fought. Of course I’m talking about shows like Firefly, that was practically stillborn on Fox yet managed to grab the attention of a dedicated group of fans who, along with the efforts of the show’s creator, Joss Whedon, managed to get the series to DVD, which sold like ice water in the Mojave, and got the attention of Universal Studios. Serenity, a movie based of the TV show was created, but that was pretty much the end of it. Even Mr. Whedon threw in the towel after the movie was done.

So it will be interesting to watch how the CBS series Jericho fares in the coming months. CBS planned to cancel the show after just one season, but fans wouldn’t stand for it. In the show’s season finale, which was to be the real end of the show, one of the characters, in response to an�offer of surrender, said, "Nuts." Fans of Jericho used it as a battle cry and literally sent over 5000 pounds of peanuts to the executive offices of CBS. The execs got the message and a new season of Jericho was hurriedly created.

In case you’d like to know what the commotion over Jericho is all about, you can find the pilot episode free at the iTunes Store. I’ve watched several episodes of Jericho and I liked what I saw. Good acting and a good story that doesn’t deal with doctors or courtrooms are hard to find these days, Jericho has both. Check out the Season 1 Pilot episode and see what you’ve been missing.

OK, time to get serious.

Tell me if you’ve heard this one: How many Latinos does it take to screw in a light bulb?�

If you’re looking for that kind of humor don’t bother with Latino Laugh Festival, but that does not mean that the show isn’t funny, quite the contrary. Latino Laugh Festival is interesting because it shows that Latinos can laugh at themselves. It seems that we’ve gotten so ethnically sensitive in this country that one wrong word unleashes a firestorm of protest. It’s good to step back every so often and see just how ridiculous we are and stop taking ourselves so seriously.

Latino Laugh Festival features a variety of Latino comics doing stand-up and sketches. It’s similar to some of the other comedy shows that have been or are on the air. Shows hosted by Dave Chapelle and Richard Pryor both come to mind, except they were largely focused on one person. Add a few more comics and you get the idea of the Laugh Festival.

Is it funny? I honestly thought it had its moments. The jokes aren’t so ethnically exclusive that you don’t get them, but you may not see the humor in everything that’s said or done. Still, it’s an interesting examination of cultural diversity as seen through Latino eyes.

So, you might want to take a long, hard look at Latino Laugh Festival, if not for the laughs, then for the exposure to something outside your norm.

(ahem!)

Moving right along; If you are fan of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn then you’re going to love this: There’s a video Podcast featuring some clips, and commentary on the upcoming DVD release of the series that aired (or is that ’cabled’) on HBO ten years back. Currently there are only 3 episodes.

Epsiode 2 shows how the first Spawn episode matches the story board. Good stuff!

I was aware of Spawn back in my comic book days, but I never got into him until the movie came out. The movie was fun to watch, but it was more like eating a cookie and discovering how hungry you really are. I never did get a chance to watch the animated series on HBO, but those who have tell me it’s really good.

Those of you not familiar with the story of Spawn, it goes something like this: There’s a coming war between Heaven and Hell and both sides are recruiting from the pool of souls here on Earth. Elite assassin, Al Simmons, has a heart, which he freely gives to his main squeeze, Wanda. But when Al is duped into slaughtering the innocent, then is killed, his soul heads south to warmer climes, as in he is recruited to lead Hell’s army. Al just wants to get back to Wanda, but he discovers the master plan that caused his death and endangers other innocent folks including Wanda. So, he chooses to use his death-shroud and necro-fantastic armor to protect the innocent. �

There’s a lot more to the story of course, which is why it has been so popular. Hopefully more Spawn video podcasts will appear.

Okay, that’s a wrap for this week. Make sure you check out the other freebies at the iTunes Store including the excellent song, Estelar, from Capitan Melao.

Estelar from Captan Melao

More freebie at the iTunes Store:

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.