MENSA's Top 10 Smartest TV Shows

Jim Werdell, the chairman of Mensa International, the society of brainy intellectuals, that requires its members to have an IQ in the top 2% of the population, recently gave an interview to Fancast.com in which he picked the top 10 smartest TV shows of all time. Werdell said about his list, “They tended to be shows that dealt with issues in the world, and from my perspective that’s considered smart. Some sitcoms reach a higher level of intellect than others, and you can say the same about some of the dramas. The stories may be cliché, but the characters and dialogue are smarter.

Here is Werdell’s list (in no particular order):

1. “M*A*S*H”
2. “Cosmos” (with Carl Sagan)
3. “CSI”
4. “House”
5. “West Wing”
6. “Boston Legal”
7. “All in the Family”
8. “Frasier”
9. “Mad About You”
10. “Jeopardy”

So, what do you think? I’ve never seen “Cosmos”, but the name and host, imply smarts to me. Which show(s) would you add to the list? My personal entry would be “Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” Real news with a twist. Like their website says "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart -- it's even better than being informed."

Family Sitcoms: Gone the Way of the Dodo

In this age of crime and medical dramas, families have disappeared off the face of network TV, and along with them the family sitcom. The family sitcom which was a regular staple of broadcast television networks has gone the way of the dodo, rare and extinct. We no longer have a family hour of television, to sit down and enjoy a show together - as a family. In the 80's and 90's, we had such family fare as "The Cosby Show", "Full House", "Family Ties", "Growing Pains", "Roseanne", "Who's the Boss", "Home Improvement", and "Family Matters" to name a few. They were sitcoms about families for families, which drew the family as a unit around their TV screens to peek in on, an albeit fictional family, but one which might be sharing similar problems as them. Given the times, the families depicted on TV were as diverse as those you might have found in any town or city in America: upscale (The Cosby Show), working-class (Roseanne), merged, with children from previous marriages, (Step by Step), or single parent (Full House). Parents and kids could tune in and see subjects such as first day's of school, first dates, or first times (if you know what I mean) dealt with humor and tactfulness. Were the shows innocent and naive sometimes? Yes. Was the advice doled out during some episodes downright hokey? Yes, again. But if that's the worst criticism to offer, I'd take it. In truth, the real benefit of each show wasn't that it taught parenting skills or that it gave parents just the right thing to say for that first sex talk, it was that it brought the family together. During that half-hour to an hour, you might have laughed, cried, or maybe (hopefully) talked, but most importantly you shared time, together.

Need a "Heroes" Fix?

Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue. Awww, heck. Who am I kidding? It's a long wait until September, and I don't have much patience, so I went in search of some scoops on what to look forward to in the coming season. First of all, Heroes fans will have to wait until Monday, September 7th for "Heroes Season 3 - Volume 3: Villains" to return to NBC. Though the show isn't currently on the air, Heroes director Allan Arkush told TV Guide that taping for the new season was supposedly starting on May 1st (click here for the full Arkush interview). As fans will recall, last we saw our heroes, Nathan was shot while giving a press conference outing the heroes superpowers; Niki apparently perished in the fire saving Monica; Adam was trapped in a coffin by Hiro; and Sylar was back in action after taking the vaccine, with his final words "I'm back" uttered as the episode ended. So with that little refresher, here are some of the scoops I found for next season:


DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK



The latest news comes from Michael Ausiello of the Ausiello Report at TVGuide.com who reported in an exclusive that "Bruce Boxleitner, who played Scarecrow to Sabrina Duncan's Mrs. King in the mid-80s, has snagged a top-secret recurring role that was originally going to be modeled after Sen. John McCain. The character has since been reconceived, and now all I know for sure is that he'll be sharing scenes with a female series regular." (Read full scoop)

Kristin from Watch with Kristin on E! provided this scoop in response to a viewer request for some Season 3 news, "Look for a new villain named Joy. Her power is superspeed—she's lightning-fast, like the Flash. Hiro meets her in a museum. He asks her if she has powers and if she is trying to steal some art. She convinces him she's on the up-and-up...and then makes off with a bunch of paintings. She's described as a nymph-like character with the speed of a cheetah on, er, speed."

As a follow-up to Kristin's scoop, in an Ausiello Report exclusive, Ausiello confirmed that Brea Grant will be filling the role of Joy. Brea last appeared on "Friday Night Lights" as Jean Binnel, Landry's short-lived girlfriend, before he went back to who he rightfully belonged with, Tyra.

Jack Coleman (Noah Bennett) shared plenty of tidbits with TV Guide including these insightful little gems. When asked what's in the cards for Noah Bennett this season, Coleman told TV Guide, "I'm currently incarcerated and at the bottom of Level Five in the company facility. I think there may be an escape in the offing, but at a cost." Asked about Monhinder, Coleman stated "He's not as mild-mannered as he once was."

TV's Pit Stops

Love commercials or hate them? Whichever your response, they are a fact of life, as certain as death and taxes. Sure, they've tried to do away with them on TV with new gizmos like TiVo, but now we have them in movie theaters. So I say, embrace them. Instead of seeing them as a disturbance, treat them as a perfect little pit stop. An opportunity to take care of practical matters, like bathroom breaks or snack runs. In fact, I must admit, that some commercials are downright entertaining. When I was a kid, commercials looked like they were put together by the AV kids in my school. Nowadays, with big budgets and in some cases big name stars (like Justin Timberlake pitching Pepsi), ads have been revolutionized into teeny-tiny-movies. Granted, they're still teeny-tiny-movies reminding us every 15 minutes of the things we don't have, and maybe can't afford. All things considered, I like commercials, I just wish there were fewer of them. At this point in my life, my bladder is still strong enough to hold it for more than 15 minutes at a time. Maybe they could limit them to one commercial break during a one-hour show. No commercial breaks for 1/2 hour shows. What do you think?

With all that said, there are three commercials in particular that I've seen in the recent past that I loved. One brought a smile to my heart, the second brought tears to my eyes, and the third made me laugh out loud. Here's a video clip of each.


Echo Gets Adopted (You see what I mean? Aren't you smiling?)


Budweiser 9/11 Tribute (This ad aired only once. It's beautiful in its simplicity and heartbreakingly moving.)


Bud Light Swear Jar (LOL)

Ronald's Metamorphosis

The other day I was chatting with a friend and co-worker about “Enchanted” and his little daughter’s newfound adoration of Patrick Dempsey’s Prince Charming-esque role in that film. The conversation automatically drew my wandering mind back to Patrick’s all-time best leading role in “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Who could forget Ronald or the final scene as Ronald and Cindy ride off into the sunset on his lawn mower? How had it happened I asked myself? How had my Ronald, the lawn-mowing nerd that had to pay Cindy, the popular cheerleader, to be his girlfriend so he could get into the in-crowd become this generation’s Dr. McDreamy? What a metamorphosis! Like fine wines, some people age well, and Patrick Dempsey is definitely one of those people. Of course, this revelation had me running to my old photo albums looking for any slight changes in myself. To be honest, I haven't noticed any changes, yet, but I’m hoping maybe by the time I’m 80 I’ll be absolutely stunning.

For those of you who have known Patrick Dempsey only as Dr. McDreamy, here’s a photo of him as I best remember him, when he was still Ronald, and the new sleeker model.

Summer TV (Fun in the Sun)

For all things there is a season, and for reality TV that season is Summer. Yes folks, the time has arrived. As networks wrap up the regular season for prime-time series, they also introduce their summer fare of reality TV favorites for our TV viewing consumption. As in most summer entertainment, the fare is light, titillating, and slightly addictive. At least addictive enough to keep you glued to the TV, in spite of sunny skies and warm weather right outside your front door. The recipe for a reality TV hit is simple: a tablespoon of fun, a teaspoon of drama, and a dash of sex. Mix it all together and you could have a winner. I could be wrong on the recipe, I'm really not much of a cook. The networks are hoping for that winning combination in their summer TV line ups.

ABC is looking for a one, two punch from "The Bachelorette" (5/19) and the return of "The Mole" (5/26). The bachelorette this season will be DeAnna Pappas, who was rejected by Brad Womack in last season's "The Bachelor". Viewers might recall Womack as the scoundrel that picked neither woman at the end of his season. In "The Mole" the object of the game for contestants is not to find true love, but to compete in challenges, win the most money, and uncover the identity of the "mole" or saboteur hired by the producers to work as a double-agent.

NBC is relying on a couple of talent-themed competitions as their winning ticket. "America's Got Talent" (6/17) is a talent show featuring everything from jugglers, tumblers, dancers, singers, comedians and other performers, including ventriloquists (like last year's winner), all competing for a cash prize of $1 Million. The aptly named "Last Comic Standing" (5/22), is a competition to find the "funniest comic in the planet" according to the NBC website. This year they have some NBC comedy stars, past and present, serving as scouts during the audition process. Scouts include Angela Kinsey aka Angela Martin of Dunder Mifflin on "The Office", George Wendt aka Norm Peterson from "Cheers", and Josh Gomez aka Morgan Grimes on "Chuck", to name a few. The last comic standing, chosen by call-in votes from the public, will win a $250,000 grand prize including an exclusive talent deal with NBC, a brand new Honda, and a starring appearance in Jubilee! at Bally's Las Vegas.

CBS is relying on its sure-fire winner, "Big Brother 10" (7/13) to carry them to victory. Big Brother is the epitome of summer reality TV. It's rarely boring, sometimes scandalous, and always entertaining. The shows puts a group of strangers (houseguests) into the Big Brother house and tapes them 24/7, without any privacy, for our viewing pleasure. In true Big Brother tradition, house guests know to expect the unexpected, as producers throw in twists and surprises to keep the houseguests guessing and the show entertaining.

FOX hopes that "So You Think You Can Dance" (5/22 and 5/28- 2 night/4 hr premiere) dances straight into your hearts and TV sets. The dance competition centers around amateur dancers from all over the country trying to make the top 24 and move on to the live shows where America votes for their favorites. As with American Idol, sometimes the more entertaining (and cringe inducing) performances are during the audition rounds at the start of the season.

I'll end with this message. It's summer, live it up, put off NPR's "All Things Concerned" and PBS' "Masterpiece Theater" until Fall, and instead enjoy a bit of fluff strictly meant to enliven your senses and dull your mind. You can make up those lost brain cells by watching a couple episodes from MENSA International Chairman's list of smartest TV shows of all time. The big cheese at MENSA provided the list during an interview with Fancast. Included on Mensa's list: Jeopardy, Cosmos (with Carl Sagan), and believe it or not, House.