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The Salvation Of Seinfeld

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

SeinfeldI don’t think Jerry Seinfeld is worried about his salvation

I’m not talking about Jerry Seinfeld the man. It’s hard to say if the current Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee host thinks much about his eternal future.

I’m talking about Jerry Seinfeld the character from the classic show Seinfeld which turned 25 years old this year.

While I imagine Jerry Seinfeld is a kind, generous, thoughtful and loving person in real life, his television counterpart was nothing of the sort.

Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer were self-centered, egotistical, perverse, and sometimes downright despicable. And for 9 hilarious seasons the world loved them for it. Continue reading →

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What Friday Night Lights Gets Right

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

FNL_S2_DVDFriday Night Lights was a well-respected, Emmy Award Winning drama series that ran for 5 years on NBC. But you might have completely missed it.

During it’s original run it was bumped around the schedule and nearly cancelled multiple times. The show was always a critical darling, but mainstream audiences were slow to catch on.

It’s become one of those shows everyone tells you that you should go binge watch ASAP, like Breaking Bad or The Wire. And rightfully so.

Friday Night Lights is far more than a football show. It’s a realistic drama about a Texas High School coach and the down-to-earth problems his family and team face over the course of a career. It’s gritty, it’s funny, it’s relatable. It’s a pretty great show.

Except for the 2nd Season. The 2nd Season of Friday Night Lights is downright awful. Continue reading →

Live Like It’s Live

/ Alex Doriot / 2 Comments

SNL-imageLive From New York, It’s Saturday Night!

For 40 years, those 7 words have been uttered from studio 8H in Rockefeller Center announcing the most exciting 90 minutes of television comedy every week.

The most important of those 7 words is the first one – Live.

“Saturday Night Live”, despite what you may think, airs LIVE. It does not air on tape delay. It does not air 3 months after it was recorded. New episodes air live at 11:30 pm Eastern Standard Time Saturday nights.

There’s no getting around this. If the sketches aren’t ready or the actors aren’t prepared the show cannot be postponed. There’s a contract with the network and with the viewers. The show must go on no matter what. Continue reading →

Fire The Coach

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

** FILE ** This is an Oct. 11, 2008 file photo showing Georgia head coach Mark Richt gesturing on the the sidelines during an NCAA college football game against Tennessee in Athens, Ga. Judging from the chatter on Internet message boards, Georgia fans are fretting a little more than usual, clearly bothered by the perception that their program is starting to lag ever so slightly behind the other elite schools in the powerful Southeastern Conference. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

Last year saw marks the launch of the SEC Network, the latest in a line of 24 hour sports networks. It joined the relatively new Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network as well as the already established ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, and about 100 other “all sports, all the time” channels.

Sports dominate the American culture like nothing else. You could say sports rule the day because of fantasy teams, or because of geographical rivalries, or because live sports are “DVR-proof”.

You might even say sports rule the day simply because of the thrill of victory. But I think it’s the opposite. Continue reading →

Prioritize Like Leslie Knope

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

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It’s Friday. The weight of work is overwhelming. You haven’t had a real weekend in months. You have a better relationship with the stapler on your desk than you do your best friend.

It’s time to rethink your priorities. Maybe you should prioritize like Leslie Knope.

Leslie Knope seems like she works 25 hours a day, 8 days a week to keep Pawnee running. But even a hyperactive workhorse like Leslie keeps her priorities straight.

Your work should not define you. Your job should not own your spirit. Take a minute to recognize what’s important today. Put work last for a day. Call a friend. Have a waffle.

When was the last time you made a 2 AM Waffle House run? Or the last time you skipped work to go see a movie? Do something today to make you smile. Your soul needs it. Recharge your happy meter. Ignore the calorie count. Enjoy this day as the unique individual gift it is.

Happy Friday.

Skip Work And Watch These Office Bloopers

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

dwight laugh

What did you think of “The Office” series finale last night? Was it everything you ever hoped for, or did it make you want to toss the series aside like a worthless piece of paper?

Whatever your thoughts, let’s celebrate what “The Office” gave us over the past 8 years. Let’s follow their lead in these blooper reels and laugh off all the mistakes and shortcomings. Let’s remember the good times and rejoice in this new day with an hour’s worth of giggles: Continue reading →

The Office and The Quest For A Happy Ending

/ Alex Doriot / 2 Comments

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Not every story gets a happy ending.

After 8 years and nearly 200 episodes, I’m worried “The Office” will become one of those stories.

After dismissing the show when it first premiered as yet another soulless remake of a British series, I fell in love with the Dunder Mifflin drones through DVD  marathons of the first 3 seasons.

My friends and I watched and rewatched Jim’s slow and subtle courtship of Pam, Michael’s tasteless jokes, and Dwight’s beet-loving eccentricities over beach trips and long afternoons when we should have been studying instead.

Now with the finale airing tonight on at 8 PM on NBC, “The Office” comes to the end of its story. For diehard fans, this comes with disappointment and with relief. Continue reading →

30 Rock and The Two Things You Need To Succeed

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

30 Rock“30 Rock” should have been cancelled after six episodes.

The odds were against it from the start. Most people remember “30 Rock” debuted during the same season and on the same network as another show set behind the scenes of a fictional sketch comedy series, “Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip”.

“Studio 60” was a big budget drama from the mind of “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin and featured one of the biggest tv stars of the past decade in Matthew Perry.

It was the centerpiece of NBC’s fall lineup that season. If any show was going to succeed that season, it was “Studio 60″.

It lasted 22 episodes.

7 years and 138 episodes later “30 Rock” took its final bow, running laps around the competition and being hailed as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time in reviews like this one.

How did that happen? And how can you find the same level of success?

By not being afraid to make a change. And by being on a network with a lot of grace to give. Continue reading →

The Two Things Ron Swanson Hates Most

/ Alex Doriot / 2 Comments

There’s only one thing Ron Swanson hates more than liars: skim milk.photo-16

Don’t lie about what you are today. Be the person God created you to be. Embrace your quirks and your flaws. Quit trying to be something you’re not. You have a savior who loves you just the way you are. In fact He made you that way.

Don’t be like skim milk.

Happy Friday.