Just about a year ago I posted about my Sopranos addiction replacement – Dexter. When Dexter Season 3 ended I terminated my subscription to The Movie Network. Without Dexter, the movie reruns were like chicken soup without the noodles.

Last week I saw an ad that the noodle was coming back and the season 4 premiere was going to air at 11:00 pm Atlantic last night, Sunday September 27. I planned to call my satellite TV provider on Friday to add TMN back so I wouldn’t miss a minute of the show. Well, Friday was busy and I didn’t get to it. No problem, though, my satellite provider has a self-service page on their website that allows subscribers to upgrade their service with the click of a mouse. So, on Saturday I fired up the laptop and went online. Click click click. Double check…. my new channels weren’t showing up on my profile. Hmmm… well, the site does say that it may take anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours for the changes to register.

We were invited out to dinner so I figured I’d check when we got back.

We returned about 4 hours later and I ran to the TV. Nope… the channels weren’t there. No, problem. I’ll just phone the provider and update the service there. Ring ring ring. Shit… an automated attendant telling me that their hours are Monday to Friday 8 am to 10 pm, Saturday 8 am to 6 pm, and closed on Sunday. Current time: Saturday 10 pm. Damn, damn, damn. Wait… the nice automated attendant also says that I can use the phone for self service. Super! Press 1 for English, press 2 for technical support, listen to all the options, synchronize the programming. Presto! Done. All I have to do is wait 15 minutes to 2 hours for the changes to register.

Sunday morning. Run to the TV. Damn! No channel updates. Oh well. I’ll have to call on Monday and have the updates done then. I’ll miss the premiere, but maybe I’ll catch an encore presentation (that’s fancy talk for rerun) later in the week. Fast forward to Sunday evening 10:45 pm. If I had the channels, in 15 minutes I’d be watching my favourite show. Wait! WAIT! I have an idea! Maybe there’s an option on my satellite receiver to update channels. Click click click. This time on my remote control, not my mouse. Choose TMN. You currently do not subscribe to TMN. To add the channels select OK now. Woo HOO! I got it. All I have to do is select OK. Click click click. Thank you for choosing TMN. Your subscription update will take up to 24 hours to complete. What?!? Freakin’ WHAT?!? 10:54 pm. T minus 6 minutes to Dexter. And I missed it.

Dejected, I checked the channels anyway. It was there. It was really there! Dexter, dude, here we go. It’s gonna be a cool, blood-soaked winter.

Incidentally, the show was pretty good. However, it felt a little contrived. The time had shifted ahead several months and the plot of the premiere seemed focused on setting up all the new relationships and premises that will set up the rest of the season. Dexter has been married for several months, he has a new baby that won’t let him sleep, there are office romances going on that weren’t there before, there’s a new serial killer in town, and some old characters have resurfaced. I know, you are saying that’s what it is supposed to do, but it seemed a little forced. Hopefully next week gets us back into the Dexter groove.

Now we can all say “We knew her when…”

That’s right, Melissa Parrott… my niece… my wife’s twin sister’s daughter… my son’s cousin… has won the Country Music Television’s search for a summer host contest! She received the call yesterday morning at 1:30 am and by 6:30 am she was on a plane to Toronto to begin the exciting summer she has in front of her.

A big thank you to all my many fans (ahem) who took the time to log onto CMT.ca and vote for Melissa. It worked! Now just tune into CMT and enjoy the fruits of your labour…

Congratulations Melissa! Enjoy your summer!

Remember a few weeks ago I told y’all about my niece, Melissa, who applied to CMT’s Casting Call to be the face of Canadian country music for the summer? You do? Great. Well, thanks, I think, mostly to my wife’s obsessive voting every night for hours, Melissa made the cut and is among the final five.

You heard me.

She is in the final five candidates in a national competition to be a television music station host! As impressive as that is, it’s not good enough. We can’t rest until she is the winner. Same deal as before folks. Go to the CMT casting call website and vote for Melissa. And don’t vote just once… vote over and over again. Click that mouse until the fingernail on your index finger falls off. The voting window is from today, June 8, until June 29. There will be a finale show on June 29 at 8 pm Eastern Time Zone featuring all five finalists. The winner will be announced June 30 at 5 pm ET on CMT.

What are you waiting for? Go vote! My wife can’t do this one by herself!

In today’s economy, some car companies will fucking do anything for your business.

But not too small to be a CMT Veejay!

My niece Melissa, author of the blog I May Be Small…, has auditioned for CMT’s Casting Call and has been shortlisted as one of the final sixteen candidates for the job. She’s the only finalist hailing from Newfoundland, and in my opinion, the only choice for the job!

From the CMT website:

CMT is giving one lucky “Superfan” the chance to land the ultimate job and become our next summer host.

We’re searching for someone who dreams of interviewing country stars and attending the hottest events of the summer! Someone who’s a country music know-it-all and follows the latest news! Someone who has always dreamed of being on national TV and sharing their country passion! Who will it be?

There will be five finalists chosen from the sixteen by way of votes cast on CMT’s site. Those finalists then have their auditions aired on CMT for another round of voting by viewers. So, please, please, click the picture on this post and go vote for her. Vote as often as the batteries in your mouse will allow and then go out and buy more batteries and vote some more!

Television is the great babysitter for many. For me, I never know what shows to latch on to. Right now, among other special interest shows, my wife and I regularly watch “House”. We started five years late and are catching up via our handy dandy PVR.

Any suggestions for other shows?