It's interesting that an actor would use a musical analogy to talk about modern politics, but John Turturro presented a pretty intriguing visual on 'Real Time with Bill Maher' (Fri., 10PM ET on HBO). You could also interpret his statements as support for musicians being so vocal about politics.

The way it should be done is something they're inherently familiar with. "Musicians have to listen to each other to create harmony and the melody," he said. "Otherwise it doesn't work. And that doesn't happen in the political arena. People really don't hear the other point of view."

Of course you can extrapolate the analogy further and talk about what happens when the members of any band start getting their own unique vision and ideas that perhaps differ from other members. Usually, when that happens, the band breaks up.

A few more questions about the Monk finale before it disappears into TV immortality. Just some niggling thoughts that weren't really addressed in the two-part wrap up.

1. Why did Joey Kazarinski choose to kill Monk with poison?
Joey was a killer for hire. He used a bomb to kill Trudy, but shot Dr. Nash. They never said how Wendy Stroud was killed, just that she was buried under the sundial at the judge's house. So, when the judge offered Joey another payday -- killing Monk -- why didn't Joey choose a direct approach and shoot Adrian? Or he could have blown up Monk's apartment. There were any number of ways to kill him, but poisoning the wipes was perhaps the most complicated. And a ricin derivative? How did he manage to acquire that? If it had been arsenic or something, that could have been bought at a hardware store. They never really explained the poison or the reason for that method of murder.

Most people watch the Super Bowl, airing Sun., 6PM on NBC, for the football game.


In its four-decade-plus history, the Super Bowl has had its fair share of these moments: the Budweiser frogs; Michael Jordan and Larry Bird shooting outrageous hoops to win a McDonald's Big Mac; Apple's '1984'-inspired Macintosh commercial, shot for $1 million and directed by Oscar-nominee Ridley Scott.

This year promises to continue the tradition with ads featuring celebrities, soda and -- you guessed it -- beer. According to E!, the celebrity lineup includes Conan O'Brien for Anheuser-Busch, will.i.am, who will sing Bob Dylan's 'Forever Young' in a commercial for Pepsi, action star Jason Statham for Audi and John Turturro's second commercial for Heineken.

(S01E11-15) "Are you making fun of me." - Alex

Laura:
So Paul is now sleeping in his office. It kind of gives you the impression that his profession is interfering in his personal life doesn't it? This show is about as subtle as John Turturro in Miller's Crossing.

The more I watch this show, the more I'm convinced that Paul is the worst therapist ever. Not only is he still seeing Laura after she's made it clear that she's obsessed with him, now he's begun talking to her like some passive-aggressive Svengali. What the fuck the does he care if she's late. Is he her shrink or her father? Freud much?