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Sometimes, too much hype is a harbinger of a dud to come. You know the kind, the trailers at every theater show all of the funny lines, and I mean all of the funny lines. Soon after opening, it's direct to video.

But when you start out on video, where is there to go? I really wanted to like this show. Seemed by the promos to be a little Dead Like Me meets a David Kelly comedy. That would have been nice, instead we get Disparate Housewives meets Saved By the Bell.

After watching the first episode, (we will give it a second chance)we couldn't figure how long they could sustain this story line. It's why we'll give it another try. Fortunately, we have plenty of DVRs and I suffer from insomnia, so I don't have to be selective yet.

For those who are fans of Deadwood, not only are some of the actors the same, but the same weird manner of speaking and timing are infused throughout the script.

The majority of the cast are good to better than good, but the weakest link (yes, pun intended) is Link, played by Luke Perry. Where Ian McShane embraced Al, the original bad guy on Deadwood, and made him the most interesting of all residents of Deadwood, Perry has yet to bring anything, never mind interest to his character. Al had a grand plan,saw the future of the Dakota's, wanted to get his piece, all the while wrestling with and exploiting with the weaknesses of those around him. Al was also willing to subjugate himself when necessary,or bully (and even kill) those around him to keep his plans on track.

We know Link has a plan, he hired Cassie to seduce Mitch, and he obviously wants Shaun. But to what purpose? What lengths is Mitch willing to go to reach his goal. With Al, we knew he grew up the hard way, and was first and foremost a surviver, and wouldn't let anyone take from him, at least in the long run. Al also knew how to make lemonade from lemons, running the long game. One feels that Link doesn't really have much of a plan or the ability to adapt to the circumstances when they change. But it may not be so much Perry's acting as it is the script. Though you got the sense that Ian McShane took Al further than the script originally called for, and we had the opportunity to see Al's complexity, and learn how Al's life was shaped by circumstances. And in the end, we ended up liking Al and cheering for him.

I enjoy the show and I'm looking to seeing how it all plays out. And it's nice to see David using a lot of the same actors he employed on Deadwood. It's also fun to see my old stomping ground IB, being the center of something again.

I started reading the book on the Thursday before a long weekend. From the time I picked it up, I couldn't put it down until I finished it. While I'd loved Salem's Lot, it paled next to The Shining. When I heard it was going to be made into a movie, and Stanley was directing, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I stood outside the theater hours before the tickets went on sale so I could be the first to see it.

Why Stephen King didn't encourage his fans to boycott this film remains a mystery. It's well known he was not pleased with the production. I'm with him. The book was about the Hotel and our own demons.

Unfortunately Jack Nicholson decided he need to take over the movie and make it about himself. While there are times and movies when Jack's over the top portrayals are amusing and spell binding, this was not the film he should have used or misused his talents.

Years later, Stephen remade The Shining, casting Steven Webber as the father. It was a much more interesting version, focused more on the story and less on one egomaniac's stealing of the spot light.