The Tino Standard

Wasn't the original plan on 24 last year to have Tony killed off in the blast with Michelle, rather than have him hang around pointlessly for a few episodes?

I don't know exactly when David Sahadi left or how much he had to do with WWE's television package production while was with the company, but WWE's promo packages are awesome now, and they have been for years. The company does a ton of things wrong, but if there's one thing they have going for them, they can make just about ANY match seem interesting with a three-minute hype package. That department has its shit together.

Perry Saturn has to get honorable mention for this, if for no other reason than his treatment of that jobber on the syndicated show about 5 or 6 years ago.

JR and King when Undertaker throws Mankind off the HIAC at KOR 98: JR: Oh, good God almighty! Good God almighty, he killed him! King (hushed tone): Oh my God. JR: GOD AS MY WITNESS, HE IS BROKEN IN HALF. Heenan during the Gimmick Battle Royal at WM17: "By the time the Iron Sheik gets to the ring, it's going to be Wrestlemania 38!"

"Please give my warmest regards to Kelly!" Phenomenal.

CBS.com lists Jan. 15 as a repeat of the "Brunch" episode. That's the thing I'm really starting to hate about the traditional network TV schedule: WAAAAAY too many repeats. We didn't get a new episode of HIMYM for what, three weeks? They roll out ONE new episode and now ANOTHER repeat? Take a cue from what Fox is doing with 24 and run a show straight through at the same time, same day each week for a full season. You have to wait longer to get through the "offseason" of the show, but it isn't nearly as frustrating as stopping and starting so much like they do now.

There is no chance in hell that the Great freaking Khali will be in a WrestleMania main event. NO WAY. I can't believe this is anything more than a time-killing program for Cena until his actual WM feud begins.

If he comes out next week and says Carlito's finisher hit "the lower lumbar region" or that one of Ric Flair's chops was "a blow to the solar plexus" or that Mickie James "is showing great intestinal fortitude" or someone getting hit in the head is "a shot to the occipital protuberance" or that "the roof is LITERALLY coming off this place!" after Cena wins, then we'll know JR is officially channeling Gorilla.

Anybody watch this tonight? My random thoughts... - I like some of the candidates, but you can tell they've still got the obvious gimmick people thrown in to screw with things (but have no shot in hell of actually winning). - Having a boardroom in Trump's house SUCKS. Are they going to the living room after the boardroom session and watching a game on TV and playing cards? Just looks wrong having this big dramatic "you're fired" scene, followed by somebody walking out the front door of a HOUSE IN THE SUBURBS instead of a business building in downtown New York. And it means no Robin in the lobby (although Trump getting on the intercom and saying "Get your asses in here" was kinda funny as a one-shot deal). - Speaking of missing usual suspects, I know Carolyn got dumped, but where was George? To me, Ivanka is fine (you can take that in multiple ways), but the whole "having the opposing project manager sit in on the boardroom session" reeks of "we don't have anybody out here to adequately fill this role." - "Tent City" is a somewhat interesting concept, but it's absolutely attrocious in execution. I don't watch the Apprentice to see people living on the lawn of a mansion in a tent, especially when most of it looks like surveillance footage in black and white. That's not what the show is about. Show me the tasks unfolding and the strategy and the plotting. - Before it sounds like I'm dumping on everything, I do like the wrinkle of having project managers stay in that role until they lose. Adds a different dynamic without ruining the game. - Finally, too soon to name a favorite, but if tonight's losing project manager lasts more than 2 more weeks, I'll be stunned.

Well that's what I get for trying to post on a message before my first cup of coffee for the day. Sounds like I have something in common with the NBC promo dept.: We're asleep at the wheel.

Um, Tacoma IS in Washington.

Jake Roberts is the Keith Richards of wrestling. If Jake Roberts dies, start saying your prayers because it is a sure sign the apocalypse isn't far behind.

HAHAHA. Flair doesn't really get the difference between on-screen characters and off-screen actions, does he? Having interviewed him for a feature I was writing a couple years ago, I can say with great confidence that you're damn right. The man is just always ON. It's uncanny. I talked with a couple other prominent figures that day, and you could tell they're very different people from what they portray on TV. Flair? Hell no. He lives the gimmick. He came strutting through the doors, hair fixed up, toothpick in his mouth, custom suit on and I felt like he was cutting a promo on me at times. Still have the interview on tape, and the "Woooo!" he gave me is easily one of the top two or three highlights of my career.

I thought he was referring to the Rock, because after he said "supposed Greatest In-Ring Performer of Our Generation" he followed it with "... I'm still waiting to get in the ring with THAT guy." Rock would fit there, because by all accounts, he refused to work with Shawn Michaels.

I have to side with the company for not allowing JR to go to the Oklahoma game. It's one thing if it's a worthless Raw or if he has a son on the football team or something. But he's basically just a fan, and his company, meanwhile, is putting on a match with a non-wrestling celebrity (I use that term loosely) that has been hyped for six weeks. They're going to have a higher-than-usual number of casual fans and non-fans tuning in, and it would look pretty bad if their No. 1 announcer decides he has better things to do than call the show.

I'm actually totally on board with this line of thinking. If they aren't going to present ECW in the way it actually worked back in its prime, then they might as well go this way. Nobody is clamoring to see it as an over-produced, directionless clusterfuck with a bunch of WWE castoffs yet still be presented as an almost-equal third brand like what we have now. Why not give it that dialed-down, primal indy feel and let the product actually get over on its own?

Anybody happen to catch the name of the patient with anger management issues (i.e. - the patient who reminded Dr. Cox of himself)? Mr. Slydell. John C. McGinley, who plays Dr. Cox, was also in Office Space. His character's name in Office Space? Bob Slydell. You can't tell me that was a coincidence.

Yeah, the long-term planning makes for much better storytelling. It's nice that they actually seem to have a plan in place.

I don't think Ken Doane will have that much trouble getting over the Spirit Squad debacle. He was the leader of the group, so he was always presented as being stronger than the rest. Plus he was looking to break away from them for a while anyway, as he was sick of their incompetence. Seems like he was kept above most of the mess. I'm not saying he should be brought back right away. I think the perfect time to call him back up would be the night after WM, which is when a lot of new storylines begin anyway. In the meantime, he could work on his new character.

How did you gather that? The line about how Ted said "I" when asked to split a cab instead of "we"? Other than that, it looked like they were still together. And as for Marshall calling Lily "the wife," I couldn't see her hand, but I saw his, and it definitely didn't have a wedding ring on it. Remember earlier in the episode where they pointed out the difference between singles and couples at a party? How singles have more energy and couples just try and find a good place to sit? Did Ted and Robin want to go home with the tired couple? They break up, but it is amicable and they stay friends. I hope that Wayne Brady wasn't a one shot deal, but I doubt it unless they do another episode about his wedding. Good catch. I'm still curious to see how the thing with Marshall and Lily plays out. If they have enough attention to detail to do what you just outlined with Ted and Robin, then they should have had Marshall and Lily wearing wedding rings unless it was actually a red herring.

Well, if nothing else, this gives Ken Doane a built-in feud when he returns in a few months. I can totally see DX doing their shenanigans in the ring when he and maybe one of the other guys come out of the crowd in normal street clothes and beat the shit out of DX as payback.

How did you gather that? The line about how Ted said "I" when asked to split a cab instead of "we"? Other than that, it looked like they were still together. And as for Marshall calling Lily "the wife," I couldn't see her hand, but I saw his, and it definitely didn't have a wedding ring on it.

Absolutely. And I'll be stunned if No. 5 is used up before the series finale.

Even though my dad was telling me it wasn't real, I was still scared shitless as a 6-year-old watching the Road Warriors taking one of their shoulder pad spikes and stabbing Dusty Rhodes in the eye repeatedly on Saturday Night. Blood everywhere. I couldn't watch wrestling for a long time after that.

I kinda like what WWE.com is doing with the Survivor Series page. They've got the interbrand 5-on-5 match listed, and then under it they have "Match to be announced Wednesday", then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, etc.... It's like a modern-day version of the control center on Superstars or Wrestling Challenge, where they'd announce PPV matches there. And when was the time they had an entire card put together three weeks before a PPV?