For about a week last year I was really into the idea of making a reality show called "Dad House." It would consist of a bunch of dads watching TV together, puttering in the basement workshop, and constantly taking out the trash. Even when the producers would try to create drama through clever editing, the show would be hilariously boring and awkward.

My friend Nat latched onto the idea of a house full of fathers as well. Behold: dadhouse.org.

I've been reading a few comedy and pop culture blogs lately, and while people are quick to condemn Cavemen (with what sounds like good reason) and give the obligatory (and well-deserved) hat-tip to The Office, there's an eerie silence when it comes to Carpoolers. "People!" I want to yell. "People! This is Bruce McCulloch! This is one of the men…may I say, quite possibly the best man? Who changed our comedic lives on The Kids in the Hall!" But nobody who I read regularly is making a peep. So I will.

And I'm disappointed.

It pains me to say that. It's like sticking a little knife into my comedy heart. Bruce McCulloch is one of my top three favorite comedians. But I've watched two episodes of Carpoolers so far, and while I can see bits of Bruce shining out, the plotlines have been stale. For example (spoiler alert), in the second episode, one of the characters is caught sneaking into a motel room instead of going to his office. Why Bruce, why? Are you going to be daring? Are you going to figure out how to really turn the whole "I'm-having-an-affair" piece on its head in an exciting new way? Nope. The guy is sneaking to the hotel room to have alone time. A plot necessity? Yes. Funny? Not really. It's a twist, but a pretty predictable one.

I don't mean to bash the whole show. When Bruce shines through, he really does. There are some absolutely brilliant bits of comedy, and I "LOLed" more than once. But I was really hoping that the man I loved so much for his brilliant sketch ability could easily parlay that ability into an equally brilliant plot-driven show.

The second episode was better than the first, so I'm hoping that maybe Carpoolers will continue chugging forward until it's full-speed at the end of the season. And I do suggest watching. I mean, come on people. It's Bruce.

It's a bit silly, but I do get a little offended when TV shows and movies feel like they always have to pair nerdy guys with buxom "normal" women in order for a nerd show to be enticing to anyone*. Ken Levine, who has written for a plethora of TV shows, has a pretty funny entry on his blog about the hypothetical conversation between TV execs and writers that spawned this season's nerd shows. For example:

WRITER
You want a nerd who's also a superhero?

NETWORK EXEC
Ooooh, I like that. But he can't have powers that conflict with any of our other superpowers.

WRITER
So that leaves what, he can open a checking account without standing in line?

NETWORK EXEC
What if he's super-smart? You can’t do that with a cheerleader. Super-super-super smart. Like he knows everything that's in every computer in the world. Yeah. There's this program and it gets incorporated into his brain. No wonder the smoking hot chick finds him a catch.

WRITER
There's a smoking hot chick in this one too?

Read the whole entry here.

*The only show that's done a good job with this recently is the IT Crowd in Britain. Jen is amazing.

There is a new TV show coming out called "Dirty Sexy Money." The billboards look like this (thank you to Nat for the photo):

Now please tell me, have you noticed what I've noticed? That EINSTEIN is in the show?

I mean, look at that guy. White beard, messy white hair. How is he not Einstein? Ladies and gentleman, what I believe we have here is a show about a Nobel-prize winning physicist getting caught up in the hot world of sex and crime. I imagine the first scene of the first episode goes something like this:

Fade in.

Einstein lies in his underwear on an unmade hotel bed. In front of him stands a woman in black lingerie and thigh-high boots. She has her back to the camera.

WOMAN (yelling): You want it? You want it, Albert? Fine, take it!

She throws a fistful of money at Einstein. It flutters down on him.

WOMAN: But Albert, dear Albert. As brilliant as you are, you didn't figure it out. E doesn't equal MC squared. E equals MC dead.

She levels a gun at his head. Einstein gulps.

Cut to black.

EINSTIEN (voice over): It wasn't always this way. It wasn't always this way…for Einstein.
Opening credits.

Easily the best TV show ever.