Whitney Houston Dead at 48

RIP to another music legend, Whitney Houston has died at the age of 48. She was found dead in her hotel room around 3:30pm in Los Angeles. Currently no cause is known, but in recent years she struggled with drug addiction along with ex-husband Bobby Brown, who many blame for introducing her to drugs. I'm assuming she never kicked the habit. Whether it's street drugs or prescription drugs, its just not worth it. Its a shame when talented people can't kick their bad habits, such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse & Kurt Cobain. They all succumbed to their addictions. She had such a powerful voice, and was a natural talent who didn't need any auto-tune. One of her better songs was 1985's "How Will I Know."

You could really get a feel for her powerful voice when she performed The Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXV on January 27, 1991 in the midst of the Gulf War. The rendition reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ten years later reached #6 after September 11th: 

Her last album, I Look To You, was released in 2009 and was certified Platinum. While not a massive success like her previous albums, it still did well in a climate where albums don't sell as well as they used to. She recently completed filming of a movie titled Sparkle, which is supposed to come out in August 2012 and it is rumored she was contacted to become a judge on The X Factor alongside Simon Cowell and LA Reid. I'm sure it would have led to a career comeback, so you must wonder if and why she went back to drugs when her future seemed so bright. Anyone out there battling drug and/or alcohol addiction needs to seek help.

This news comes just one day before the 2012 Grammy Awards. I am sure they will be scrambling to conduct a fitting tribute in some way.

Lindsay Lohan better take note and get herself healthy or she will end up going down the same path.

More New Fall TV

I previously posted about Sarah Michelle Gellar's new show on The CW, Ringer. (The second episode was solid, by the way) There are a few other shows that I enjoyed and a few I will check out.

First, Up All Night, the new NBC sitcom starring Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph & Nick Cannon. I liked the pilot, but didn't love it, though that is usually the case with sitcoms when you're first introduced to characters you've never seen. However, the second episode this week was much better and featured plenty of laugh out loud moments. Particularly the scenes with Applegate & Arnett trying to impress their new hipster neighbors. Sitcom fans will want to check it out.

Revenge is a new ABC drama about, you guessed it, revenge. I enjoyed the pilot, and it's over the top premise of how a daughter is getting revenge on the people who framed and destroyed her father when she was younger in the backdrop of the Hamptons. The show begins right off the bat with a murder, but then moves to five months earlier. The whole pilot does a fine job setting up the rest of the season, leaving you win many questions on how Emily VanCamp's character will evolve and if she'll succeed.

Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul are back with The X Factor on FOX. Not much to say about this, you know how these singing shows go. You either like it or you don't. I missed Simon telling it like it is and his witty remarks about the performers who suck, so I'll watch early on. This is  a little different from American Idol in that there is no age limit, a group of people can perform together, and there is a 5 Million Dollar prize. Also, the judges have Pepsi cups instead of Coke ones in front of them. Clever!

Two shows I'm looking forward too, and you should be as well, are Terra Nova and Pan Am. I'm looking forward to Terra Nova, which starts Monday September 26 on FOX, because it's like Jurassic Park for the small screen. Dinosaurs and Action! That is reason enough. Now when will we get Jurassic Park 4, Spielberg? As for Pan Am, early reviews have been stellar for the historical drama and it could be the breakout new series of the Fall. And it's set in the 1960s. Who doesn't love the 60s? There's also some espionage thrown in, which could be interesting.