It’s going to be a rough one tonight, folks. We’ll be pouring extra large beers at the Lounge tonight while Two and a Half Men is on the TV over the bar. I have a feeling that we’ll all going to need that little extra boost of courage to deal with the trauma. Charlie’s fiance might have to get a breast reduction.
I know. It’s too terrible for words. I can’t go on; here’s the promo -
It’s Sunday and the football games are getting started for the afternoon. If you’re at home you’re probably settling in for an afternoon in front of the TV. Here in the lounge we’ve all claimed our stools, the drinks are poured and the bowls of chips and pretzels are spread out on the bar.
But if you’re lucky enough to actually be at the game you’re either craning your neck for the overpriced beer guy or standing in line for the overpriced hot dog guy. Or, if you’re smart, you’re checking out the tailgaters; better yet, you’re tailgating yourself.
Tailgating is the perfect marriage of two of American’s great loves – sports and eating. Joe Cahn, the self described Commissioner of Tailgating, describes it as the “last great American neighborhood.”
Recently the Food Network aired Tailgate Warriors, a judged cook off between tailgating fans of the Buffalo Bills and the Chicago Bears when the teams met in Buffalo, NY earlier this year. The show was hosted by one of our favorite bowling shirt wearing celebrities, Guy Fieri.
Most of us probably think of tailgating as a combination of clever cooler packing and grill mastery. But after watching these two cooking teams face off, I now know these hardcore tailgaters are both gadget-heads and alfresco-gourmands. From motorized spits and spinning beer-can chicken cookers on the Chicago side to the over seven foot long, custom built, charcoal fired combination grill, griddle and oven – yes, oven – on the Buffalo side, these were some serious outdoor kitchens.
But it wasn’t all about the gadgets. There were some really great looking recipes, seared scallops, pork loin stuffed with Buffalo style chicken, and even a sundae. Check out the show page for links to the recipes themselves.
There are still plenty of excuses for tailgating coming up this year so keep your coals hot and grill on, baby!
Last week some jackass wandered into the Lounge and suggested that perhaps we spend a little too much time on Two and a Half Men and not enough on sports, this being a sports bar and all. Naturally, I had him thrown out. This was all made especially traumatic by the fact that that Lounge doesn’t actually exist except as a fictitious bar in my head. I’m still trying to figure out how he got in.
Nevertheless, we – yes, all of us here in the Lounge, and you can stop looking at me like that – are excited that once again we’re getting a new episode of the greatest sitcom in the history of man tonight. (Preview below.) But, for those of you without the taste and sophistication for the comedy stylings of Charlie Sheen and Co. and who might be looking for some sport, we definitely do football here in the Lounge.
Right after THM, the Washington Redskins will be playing the Philadelphia Eagles on ESPN. The TV over the bar will be promptly switched over at 8:30 ET.
Now, when you get to the Lounge tonight you might find the place a bit of a mess. During the games yesterday afternoon someone brought up the topic of football movies. This turned into a conversation about which is the greatest football movie of all time and, naturally, that turned into an all out brawl as everyone each defended his or her choice. A few tables and the mirror behind the bar were broken and I won’t have time to fix everything before tonight.
But there’s no need for further “discussion.” I’ve already decided what the greatest football movie of all time is and I’ll be revealing that on Wednesday. In the meantime, if you think you have a worthy candidate, let us know in the comments section. I’ll consider your choice then I’ll go ahead and post the movie I’ve already picked here on Wednesday.
We had the third episode of the season of our favorite show last night. Alan’s ex-step mom, played by Annie Potts, was left in charge of the baby that he and, apparently, no one else think is likely his daughter. With her having been previously kicked out of rehab for prescription drug abuse and well on her way to another round of rehab thanks to booze, Alan found himself playing baby sitter to the baby sitter. Between her boozy randiness, the normal caretaking of a baby and frequent calls from his ex, he definitely had his hands full
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Charlie Sheen accidently ran over his fiancé’s lost cat. Jake managed to snap a picture of it and used it as blackmail. Jake recently got his learners permit and so was using the picture to force Charlie to let him drive his car. Then the lost cat returned; so whose pet did Charlie run over?
Honestly, it doesn’t sound all that funny when boiled down like this. But trust me, it was. Check out the entire episode here.
Did you know that you can watch entire episodes of our favorite sitcom online?
It’s becoming more common all the time for movies and tv shows to be available on the Internet. The companies that own rights to them realized that it was impossible to catch, convict and ultimately stop illegal pirate sites so, as the cliché goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Sites like Netflix.com, Hulu.com and CBS.com now regularly make both tv shows and complete movies available. In some cases, one has to pay a subscription fee, in others the viewer has to sit through a few commercials – far fewer than air on regular tv.
The later is true for Two and a Half Men. CBS.com makes entire episodes available on the show’s section of the website. Besides recent episodes – which are usually posted just a day or two after they air on TV – there are also promos of upcoming episodes, compilations of previous clips, actor interviews, etc. They are also available for sharing with friends and even embedding in blogs which is how I post clips here.
It’s another Monday and, believe me, I’m truly sorry about that.
But, one good thing about this current set of Mondays we’re enduring, new episodes of Two and a Half Men come of the end of the day.
Tonight’s episode is concerned with that growing crowd of roommates joining Charlie in what is supposed to be his house. Last week we got a hint of things to come when Alan’s girlfriend was doing everything involved with living there – sleeping, showering, even going grocery shopping. But, Alan continued to insist that she hadn’t moved in. This week it looks like things will even get worse when the new roommates throw a party. Oh, and a ventriloquist dummy is somehow involved, a little detail that, if I were Charlie would send me over the edge.
Here’s a taste of what’s to come:
Ah, summer reruns are finally over. It was nice to get a fresh dose of Charlie Sheen and the rest of the gang last night.
The show wrapped up last season’s cliff hanger ending. After showing up, innocently at first but with growing intent to win Charlie back, Mia asked for his help in kick starting a singing career. Naturally she can’t sing at all.
Charlie began to realize, or was told by his intestines in the form of constipation, that spending time with Mia while living with – and being engaged to – Chelsea. Which brought him to his psychiatrist. (Played by Jane Lynch which is always a treat. Can anyone condescend quite as well as she can?)
In the end he told Mia that he couldn’t see her anymore. It’s unclear whether this was because he loves Chelsea or he just couldn’t take her awful singing. Let’s believe it’s the former, shall we?
In the meantime, Alan’s girlfriend, Melissa, has moved into the house. Charlie forbade it but apparently the plan is to fool him by continuing to insist that she hasn’t.
A few notes from the show – Will Sasso, another favorite of mine, had a role. And Eddie Van Halen showed up for what can only be described as a puzzling cameo.
Usually we keep the TV over the bar tuned in to the game or a Shamwow infomercial. But there are a few shows that we try not to miss here in the Lounge and increasingly Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is one of them.
Now, don’t go thinking that we’re getting endorsement money or anything like that – we aren’t. We just like the show. The food always looks good and Guy Fieri, the host, is pretty damn entertaining. He’s not like the other hosts on food shows. This is a guy that likes to eat, likes to eat with other people and, though he probably doesn’t mind cooking from time to time, really just seems to enjoy being handed a plate of deep-fried goodness and having a good conversation.
Our kind of people.
Haven’t seen the show yet? Check out this clip where he visits Farnham’s Famous Clams in Massachusetts. Now, tell me you don’t want to go eat there right now!