The 88 degree temperatures and green trees are a sure sign Fall is here. That means it's time to huddle around our TV sets and other entertainment devices and sample the new entertainment offerings.

The Office 9/27 - "I think this is gonna be a great year," said Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch manager Michael Scott (played by Steve Carrell). He then bounced one of his employees off the hood of his car. This may be a harbinger of what we're really in for. It gives me no pleasure at all to say the first episode of The Office really stunk.

Though this opening scene showed great promise, the episode promptly lost direction. It felt like a lot of random dialogue that was typed up the day before shooting. That was then edited into a one-hour episode that felt like it was going for three hours in spots. The plot went from the employee being hospitalized to Michael Scott deciding the office was cursed and a voodoo cult should be established to fight the evil power. This turned into one of the longest scenes, where several minutes were spent with Scott deciding what the voodoo idol should look like. Then it left-turned into a charity run for rabies that none of the employees wanted to be involved in. Sprinkled inbetween were subplots about Pam's identity being stolen when she bought a celebrity porn tape online, and Dwight Schrute killing his girlfriend's cat. Thirty-five minutes in I felt like joining some of the employees on the sidewalk where they were depicted having some beers instead of hanging with this endurance test of an episode.

Afterward I checked out some forums to see if anyone else thought it was as weak as I did, and I seem to be in a minority. The particular chat page I visited was filled with people who seem to think this was on the same level of the Phyllis wedding episode, or the racial discrimination episode -- it wasn't!

Van Halen Charlotte, NC 9/27 - On the other hand another Fall premier that took place Thursday night has exceeded my expectations. The exit of David Lee Roth from Van Halen 21 years ago has become a pop culture touchstone that has been mentioned everywhere from the Adam Sandler movie "The Wedding Singer" to a song by some band called Bowling for Soup. So I joined the rest of the 30-50 year old white males in the civilized world who watched the Internet for news on how the reunion of these three 50-somethings (minus bass player Michael Anthony) would go.

Rehearsal video that was posted on YouTube last week was encouraging, even revealing Diamond Dave doesn't flinch when kicking a much younger and more steroided-out rocker, Zakk Wylde, off his stage. The band sounded great in an airtight rehearsal environment in front of a bunch of Hollywood insiders, but how would they sound in the real world of a Charlotte, North Carolina basketball arena when they made their public debut on September 27th?

Great! I still miss Michael Anthony's stage presence and his vocals, but he's getting paid better and treated nicer with Sammy Hagar, so that takes some edge off. Meanwhile the other three original members sound pretty much as good as they did back in 1981, and better than they did `82-`85. Dave sounds a bit like Grandpa Simpson when he tries to do a vibrato in his smoked-out voice, but then on old bootlegs he always breathlessly talked the lyrics in concert so even an attempt at real singing is appreciated. Eddie Van Halen sounded like shit just three or four months ago when unveiling his new $26,000 Fender Frankenstein replica, but the new video clips show he's back on his game. Only the "Mean Street" intro sounded a little sloppy, and I couldn't play one lick of it so he gets a pass.

I understand there are other entertainment offerings, but I don't know what they are, and I think you're tired of reading now. Hope you liked what you read.

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