Alright, time for me to look longingly back at the week in TV. That's right. I said longingly. Because of Dollhouse, okay? It was the last one.... [tears]. But I'm getting ahead of myself....
Again, I'm not going to talk about EVERYTHING on here, because that would be ridiculous. And not everything will get equal love, but I will mix it up week to week. Basically, these are the things that stood out enough that I broke out the iPhone and put something in my notes.
GENERAL HOSPITAL: I put this only because this week in school we read Aristotle who taught in Poetics that a great Plot will have someone kill someone else who had been a friend, and then discover after the fact that it was actually his son/father/brother etc. Apparently the GH writers have been studying Aristotle! Good job, guys. Also, PLEASE get a new opening credits. Half of the guys at the end are either dead or gone! Annoying!
MASTERPIECE CLASSIC: EMMA: Oh yeah, that's right. We are classing up the joint this week with a PBS program because I have an English Lit degree and can make use of it while sitting on my ass in front of the television! This was the first 2 hours of a 4 hour adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, which I will admit is my least favorite of her works. I love Clueless as much as the next gal, but Emma is one of the most obnoxious self-centered heroines in all of literature! However, Romola Garai plays her with just enough modesty and humor that I fell in love with her, despite my prejudice. And Johnny Lee Miller.... swoon.
GREEK: Greek is back on ABC Family for what is threatening to be the last season. Two notes for the producers before it ends: 1- Get rid of the "Zetas burnt down the Gamma house" storyline. 2- Keep Cappie and Cassie together. Other than that... keep the cheesy ABC Family fun going til the end! (Side note: during this ep there was a commercial for the ABC Family movie The Cutting Edge 3. It has the slutty girl from The Secret Life and Booth's brother from Bones. I'm there!)
ONE TREE HILL: Good God almighty, Taylor is a whore. And David is stupid. I think that is enough said. Except, as much as I hate Alex, I cheered when Julian punched the director to stick up for her. That show does love to overdo the Hollywood stereotypes!
HOUSE: I really liked this episode of House. I can't always say that, because sometimes they are ridiculous. My two favorite, laugh out loud moments: House saying that everyone who hasn't slept together leave the room, and then Taub stays, waits a beat and then looks at Thirteen and says, "Oh, was that supposed to be a secret?" Also, House pretending his computer is a typewriter instead of a computer when trying to get Wilson to leave him alone. Oh, Hugh Laurie. You are a comic genius (because you are British).
DAMAGES: WOOOHOOO!! It's back! I love this show and it's twists a turns. First season I thought Rose Byrne was awful, but she has really grown into the role. And the guest cast this season--- it's a master class in character acting: Martin Short, Cambell Scott, Lily Tomlin, Len Cariou, Ben Shenkman and Reiko Aylesworth. Amazing! And poor Tate! [super sad face]
CASTLE: Seriously, are some of you still not watching this??? If Nathan Fillion isn't enough, Jon Huertas (from Generation Kill) should be. Double swoon! And those in charge of writing Castle and Beckett's relationship have obviously taken a page out of the Bones Handbook for Successfully Have a Working Relationship with Sexual Tension.
CHUCK: I heard Brandon Routh is taking his shirt off in the March 1 episode. Be watching by then. (Also, please let there be some sort of "wink, wink" Superman reference between Brandon and Kristin Kreuk who started her multi episode story arc this week)
LEVERAGE: Only comment: what's with the beads in Christian's hair?? Just saying...
WHITE COLLAR: Erik Palladino Alert! Love when he is on anything. Is it just me, or are Neal and Peter getting funnier and funnier together every week? Even got Stanford Blatch in on the fun this time. I keep expecting Sharif Atkins to be evil, because his name is in the guest credits as opposed to being a regular. Note to producers: If you think you are doing a good job of hiding just how preggers Tiffani Theissen is, you are sooo wrong!
HUMAN TARGET: This episode seemed especially far fetched to me. Specifically, Chance and the girl flying off a motorcycle, landing on a grassy knoll and she doesn't even have a scratch on her very exposed legs! Let alone a sprained wrist! BUT, they did guest cast out of the Whedonverse (Sean Maher) and left it open for him to come back, so bonus points to them! And another note to men: I mentioned in my 24 blog to never call a woman unstable to her face. Well in this show we learned never to say to a woman that you don't know "Sorry, I won't be needing a date tonight" then hand her $40. Women do not want to be accused of being a hooker, especially a $40 one!
BETTER OFF TED: This was probably the last episode we will see. I am sooooo sad. This show was incredibly funny. I can't even begin to describe because it is too bizarre. Portia De Rossi described herself as a fawn in the woods with a machine gun and wings. Trust me. It was funny.
THE INBETWEENERS: If you get BBC America and find obscene British humor funny, watch this!! Wednesday nights at 9:30, but it repeats often over the week. Sick and wrong. And HYSTERICAL! My comment about Polio on Facebook was from this show. Love it!
BONES: Oh, Bones. I thought I was going to have another week where I wasn't grossed out by the body and then you had to go and release thousands of spiders from the clay brick. Ew. Ew ew ew. But, the Union soldier that found the body was a Ghostfacer!! (Sing it with me Katie... Ghostfacers, YEAH!) The killer was obvious because the actor was too familiar to just be in the beginning of the investigation for 2 mintues. But the road to discovering he was the killer led to an all gay football team. It turns out that the DC area has a disproportionate amount of hot gay men who play football. I want to move there. In the personal life portion of the show: Jared is back with Padme (Rebecca from Greek) who apparently used to be an escort, much to Booth's dismay. I love that Bones pointed out that Booth told her she should love Max, despite being a murderer because he is her father and love conquers all, so there shouldn't be a difference with Jared and Padme. Bones stumping Booth in matters of the heart? That brain tumor sure did a number! Love Bones' toast at the end, and that EVERYONE knows those two love each other except the two of them! One last side note: Angela and Sweets not showing up until halfway through the episode is completely unacceptable!! (Long enough for you, Erin?)
VAMPIRE DIARIES: Is anyone in Mystic Falls NOT a Vampire??? Seriously!!!
THE DEEP END: I still am shaky on this one. Just one thing to point out: The end of the episode where Beth kisses Liam "just to see" and he says he felt nothing, and then sits down with a shocked look on his face and says "wow". Seen it before, almost exactly: Here
DOLLHOUSE: I will admit, I get a little misty just thinking about this episode. If you never watched Dollhouse, I'm sorry. And I hate you for getting it cancelled. Kidding. Kind of. It did start off shaky in the first season but Joss and Co got it together for season 2, and it was practically perfection the entire way to the end. But, the finale.... A Whedon masterpiece. First of all, a parade of Whedonverse faces to make me happy. Even Summer Glau on a computer screen. Adele and Topher proved to be the most interesting characters after starting out as the most polarizing. And there were deaths, of course, that actually directly corresponded to the deaths in the Buffy finale. Topher got the "save the world by blowing up" Spike death (though chances are it won't wind up materializing in a evil law office on another show next season). And Paul (NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I literally weeped in full on ugly cry) got the "heroic in battle" Anya death. Maggie (Felicia Day) turned out to be gay. Apparently all redheads are lesbians according to Joss! And Alpha turned out to be sane when needed. Good for him! But despite all the sadness, there was one happy ending (and still lots of tears): Tony (Victor), Priya (Sierra) and T living happily ever after. Thank goodness. I'm not sure how I feel about the Paul in Caroline's head thing. I'm still thinking about it. :) Because Whedon and his writers are known for their style of language, I'm going to end the blog with a few of my favorite quotes from the final.
Paul: (after explaining the first part of his crazy plan) This is where it gets interesting.
Maggie: It was dull?
Paul (to Zone): The world still needs heroes, kid.
(beat)
Everyone: [laughter]
Echo: Did you really just say that?
Paul: What? I was trying to be inspirational!
Echo: You're so corny.
Paul: You're so....... fat.
Zone: Super Butchers? Grand.
Victor: We were born ready..... well, not technically.
Alpha: Because we are not freakshows. Well, I am. And Echo. Topher's a little off. But Adele! She's a class act all the way!
I will miss you Dollhouse, I can't wait to see what Joss has next for us. Besides a sure to be awesome episode of Glee with (hopefully) NPH. And now with the extra time, maybe he can get more serious about Dr. Horrible 2. There are already songs written!! And now I'm going to go sing Freeze Ray to myself.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Psych: You Can't Handle This Episode
Psych is back!!!! Wooohooo!! There would have been more "o's" in that Wooohooo if I liked this episode better. My general reaction: it was funny. (Notice all the lower case and no excessive use of exclamation points). But I am happy to have it back.
The storyline - not a highlight. I didn't care. Briefly: A soldier is found dead from what is supposed to look like suicide, but even I would have walked into that murder scene and said, "murder!" so whoever did it is an idiot. Jules calls her until now unknown to us brother, Ewan, played by the kinda adorable John Cena. (I once read a description of John Cena that said he looks like Matt Damon ate Matt Damon. Good luck ever getting that description out of your head. I read that years ago and that is still all I see when I look at Cena). Ewan is some super spy army guy who comes to help. Until his mysterious boss (let's call him Charlie, because it was like an episode of Charlie's Angels everytime that guy was on screen) told him to cover it up. Blah blah blah, stuff happens. Shawn notices something fishy and says he thinks Ewan did it. Jules is very unhappy. Though I was happy that Gus pointed out that Jules accused both his parents of murder on Christmas! Hypocrite. (I say with love) Turns out some guy on base we met earlier in the ep did it because the guy saw him selling weapons illegally to some Asian guys. At this point I was hoping they would call Jack Bauer in to take care of things. Hello! Soldiers selling Asians weapons off an Army base - that is a season of 24 right there! Ewan sneaks the murderer away from the police so he can kill him. Shawn figures it out, Jules comes and arrests her brother as she Mirandizes him with tears in her eyes. But by the time the bus is supposed to be leaving with the prisoners there is no record of Ewan even being there. Charlie saved him. Sneaky bastard.
Also going on - Shawn and Abigail are on shaky ground with their relationship and it turns out it is because she is leaving for Uganda for 6 months! Bye bye Abigail! Glad to see you go. I like Rachel Leigh Cook, but I did not like Abigail. Shawn and Juliet forever! However right before she leaves she says she will be back February 24 for a few days - that's a wednesday. Guess which episode will have RLC again??
OK--- let's talk about some of my favorite moments.
-Cena asking if anyone would like to find the 11 other weapons he has hidden on his body. Yes, John. Yes I would. (I'd like to take this opportunity to address John directly, as I am sure he will be reading this. Dear John, You can be the next Rock with a relatively decent movie career. If this should happen to you, please oh please, continue to make "Man Movies." I'm glad the Rock found some success with kid movies, but if I see YOU ever making a movie where you are wearing a tutu and fairy wings, I will find you and smack you! Kthanksbye, Mel)
-The brief flashback with Corbin and his hairpiece. Let there please be more Dad next week!
- Major General. It does feel awesome to say it.
-I was happy to see that they didn't even show Shawn and Gus trying to sneak on base. Because really, it is 2010. Those fools wouldn't have gotten past the driveway leading up to the gate.
-"There's no way we're getting D'Onfriod"
-Ghee Buttersnaps. Poor Gus
-"I've never met a man who was so big he couldn't hide behind a plane" Yes they showed this line 1897389237 times leading up to the premiere, but it was still funny!
-Shawn saying he didn't respect the Coast Guard because of the movie The Guardian. It's funny on it's own, but even funnier if you know that Dule Hill was in the Guardian.
-"You are right. Eve Plumb did do three episodes of the Love Boat." Seriously, Shawn and Jules FOREVER!
There were more one-liners, but not as much as I would like. Plus I don't need more wedges getting put between Shawn and Jules. Here's hoping next week is better. And despite some of the negative - this is still one of the best shows on TV. Love it!
The storyline - not a highlight. I didn't care. Briefly: A soldier is found dead from what is supposed to look like suicide, but even I would have walked into that murder scene and said, "murder!" so whoever did it is an idiot. Jules calls her until now unknown to us brother, Ewan, played by the kinda adorable John Cena. (I once read a description of John Cena that said he looks like Matt Damon ate Matt Damon. Good luck ever getting that description out of your head. I read that years ago and that is still all I see when I look at Cena). Ewan is some super spy army guy who comes to help. Until his mysterious boss (let's call him Charlie, because it was like an episode of Charlie's Angels everytime that guy was on screen) told him to cover it up. Blah blah blah, stuff happens. Shawn notices something fishy and says he thinks Ewan did it. Jules is very unhappy. Though I was happy that Gus pointed out that Jules accused both his parents of murder on Christmas! Hypocrite. (I say with love) Turns out some guy on base we met earlier in the ep did it because the guy saw him selling weapons illegally to some Asian guys. At this point I was hoping they would call Jack Bauer in to take care of things. Hello! Soldiers selling Asians weapons off an Army base - that is a season of 24 right there! Ewan sneaks the murderer away from the police so he can kill him. Shawn figures it out, Jules comes and arrests her brother as she Mirandizes him with tears in her eyes. But by the time the bus is supposed to be leaving with the prisoners there is no record of Ewan even being there. Charlie saved him. Sneaky bastard.
Also going on - Shawn and Abigail are on shaky ground with their relationship and it turns out it is because she is leaving for Uganda for 6 months! Bye bye Abigail! Glad to see you go. I like Rachel Leigh Cook, but I did not like Abigail. Shawn and Juliet forever! However right before she leaves she says she will be back February 24 for a few days - that's a wednesday. Guess which episode will have RLC again??
OK--- let's talk about some of my favorite moments.
-Cena asking if anyone would like to find the 11 other weapons he has hidden on his body. Yes, John. Yes I would. (I'd like to take this opportunity to address John directly, as I am sure he will be reading this. Dear John, You can be the next Rock with a relatively decent movie career. If this should happen to you, please oh please, continue to make "Man Movies." I'm glad the Rock found some success with kid movies, but if I see YOU ever making a movie where you are wearing a tutu and fairy wings, I will find you and smack you! Kthanksbye, Mel)
-The brief flashback with Corbin and his hairpiece. Let there please be more Dad next week!
- Major General. It does feel awesome to say it.
-I was happy to see that they didn't even show Shawn and Gus trying to sneak on base. Because really, it is 2010. Those fools wouldn't have gotten past the driveway leading up to the gate.
-"There's no way we're getting D'Onfriod"
-Ghee Buttersnaps. Poor Gus
-"I've never met a man who was so big he couldn't hide behind a plane" Yes they showed this line 1897389237 times leading up to the premiere, but it was still funny!
-Shawn saying he didn't respect the Coast Guard because of the movie The Guardian. It's funny on it's own, but even funnier if you know that Dule Hill was in the Guardian.
-"You are right. Eve Plumb did do three episodes of the Love Boat." Seriously, Shawn and Jules FOREVER!
There were more one-liners, but not as much as I would like. Plus I don't need more wedges getting put between Shawn and Jules. Here's hoping next week is better. And despite some of the negative - this is still one of the best shows on TV. Love it!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
24 8:00pm-9:00pm
Soooo...I apologize to Renee. She didn't cut that guys whole hand off. Just his thumb so she could take his lo-jack off. Mea Culpa, Renee. Please don't cut my thumb off for my horrible mistake. I like having thumbs.
Anyway, let's get to the rest of the show. Chaos has broken out in Iran in what appears to be seconds. News travels fast in the internet age. Actually, Farhad (the Iranian president's little evil bro) has people on his side working for the government back home and they are staging a mini-coup (which is different than a mini-cooper, btw) and Omar (the Iranian pres is forced to decide if he wants to declare Marshall Law back home). Madame President is none too excited to hear that, since they are in the middle of peace talks and all. Nothing says peace talks like declaring Marshall Law on the fine people of your home country. Especially when you refer to it as "purging enemies." Don't use the word "purge" when describing the killing of your countryman, Omar. It sounds vaguely Nazi-esque! Needless to say- peace talks get put on hold by the end of the hour. Meanwhile, Farhad gets to wait out the delivery of his Uranium with two Russian whore. He got two because he couldn't decide which one he liked better. See - indecision has its benefits!
In our seemingly unrelated side story - we found out tonight that Dana is an ex-con who was jailed along with the classy Kevin for manslaughter. But Dana got out first (she says because she was a minor when it happened) and Kevin thinks it is because she ratted him out to get early parole. He blackmails her into coming home where she finds him with Nick, his equally classy friend. They want her to use CTU computers to get info on something. She says no, he says do it. I bet she does. Please give Katee something better to do, 24 producers!!
Back to Jack. He calls Renee unstable in one of my favorite moments of the episode. There are certain things you should never call a woman to her face, Jack, and "unstable" is one of them. Even if it's TOTALLY true! Besides, this unstable girl was right - Zia the one-thumbed Russian agrees to take Renee to his leader, Vladimir. By the way... Vladimir?? Really?? Could they come up with a MORE cliche name for a evil Russian guy? Obvious, much? Apparently Renee and Vlad have a past - cue Jack getting Chloe to get on looking that up. We find out Vlad was super violent with Renee and obsessed with her. Jack realizes Renee is probably doing this to put herself in danger. "Dammit Renee". (I need to start keeping track of how many times Jack says Dammit) Renee has Jack feed her info to prove her "evilness" to Vlad, but of course Chloe didn't provide one vital piece of info so she came this close to blowing it. Didn't matter anyway, because at the end of his interrogation he throws Zia and Renee in an armored truck which means Jack can't talk to Renee. Of course.
While all this is going on, Sark from Alias or in this case, non-radiation-poisoned-brother gets Papa to let him take his brother to their nice country house to die. Instead he finds his nice Jewish doctor friend and threatens him and his nice Jewish family if he doesn't cure radiation poisoned brother. Way to keep it under control buddy.
Anyway, back to Jack and his crazy girlfriend. Turns out the car Jack was following was a decoy car. But, by the time he realizes it, Vlad has taken them to the riverfront and Jack is too far away. Vlad shoots Zia in the head at which point Jack sits helplessly in his car and listens to Renee beg Vlad to shoot her and end her miserable exisitence. Sucks for Jack. Of course this proves to Vlad that Renee is actually crazy and therefore evil, so he lets her up so they can do whatever evil he has planned. Whew. That was close? (Question mark on purpose)
The episode went really fast after the last two being in two hour blocks. Next weeks looks difficult to watch.
In the words of John Mayer, "If I were on 24, I'd make sure to be in the bathroom during the last 5 minutes of every hour. Good things do NOT happen then!"
Words to live (or die) by!
Psych tonight, kiddos. Hopefully have the blog up tomorrow!
Anyway, let's get to the rest of the show. Chaos has broken out in Iran in what appears to be seconds. News travels fast in the internet age. Actually, Farhad (the Iranian president's little evil bro) has people on his side working for the government back home and they are staging a mini-coup (which is different than a mini-cooper, btw) and Omar (the Iranian pres is forced to decide if he wants to declare Marshall Law back home). Madame President is none too excited to hear that, since they are in the middle of peace talks and all. Nothing says peace talks like declaring Marshall Law on the fine people of your home country. Especially when you refer to it as "purging enemies." Don't use the word "purge" when describing the killing of your countryman, Omar. It sounds vaguely Nazi-esque! Needless to say- peace talks get put on hold by the end of the hour. Meanwhile, Farhad gets to wait out the delivery of his Uranium with two Russian whore. He got two because he couldn't decide which one he liked better. See - indecision has its benefits!
In our seemingly unrelated side story - we found out tonight that Dana is an ex-con who was jailed along with the classy Kevin for manslaughter. But Dana got out first (she says because she was a minor when it happened) and Kevin thinks it is because she ratted him out to get early parole. He blackmails her into coming home where she finds him with Nick, his equally classy friend. They want her to use CTU computers to get info on something. She says no, he says do it. I bet she does. Please give Katee something better to do, 24 producers!!
Back to Jack. He calls Renee unstable in one of my favorite moments of the episode. There are certain things you should never call a woman to her face, Jack, and "unstable" is one of them. Even if it's TOTALLY true! Besides, this unstable girl was right - Zia the one-thumbed Russian agrees to take Renee to his leader, Vladimir. By the way... Vladimir?? Really?? Could they come up with a MORE cliche name for a evil Russian guy? Obvious, much? Apparently Renee and Vlad have a past - cue Jack getting Chloe to get on looking that up. We find out Vlad was super violent with Renee and obsessed with her. Jack realizes Renee is probably doing this to put herself in danger. "Dammit Renee". (I need to start keeping track of how many times Jack says Dammit) Renee has Jack feed her info to prove her "evilness" to Vlad, but of course Chloe didn't provide one vital piece of info so she came this close to blowing it. Didn't matter anyway, because at the end of his interrogation he throws Zia and Renee in an armored truck which means Jack can't talk to Renee. Of course.
While all this is going on, Sark from Alias or in this case, non-radiation-poisoned-brother gets Papa to let him take his brother to their nice country house to die. Instead he finds his nice Jewish doctor friend and threatens him and his nice Jewish family if he doesn't cure radiation poisoned brother. Way to keep it under control buddy.
Anyway, back to Jack and his crazy girlfriend. Turns out the car Jack was following was a decoy car. But, by the time he realizes it, Vlad has taken them to the riverfront and Jack is too far away. Vlad shoots Zia in the head at which point Jack sits helplessly in his car and listens to Renee beg Vlad to shoot her and end her miserable exisitence. Sucks for Jack. Of course this proves to Vlad that Renee is actually crazy and therefore evil, so he lets her up so they can do whatever evil he has planned. Whew. That was close? (Question mark on purpose)
The episode went really fast after the last two being in two hour blocks. Next weeks looks difficult to watch.
In the words of John Mayer, "If I were on 24, I'd make sure to be in the bathroom during the last 5 minutes of every hour. Good things do NOT happen then!"
Words to live (or die) by!
Psych tonight, kiddos. Hopefully have the blog up tomorrow!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Week in Review
As you all know I watch way more than the few shows I've chosen to blog about, so here is a "week in review" about some (yes, only some. shut up. I do so have a life. ok, maybe not.) of the other shows that I watch.
Chuck: Swoon. Brandon Routh. I know he is a spoiler to the Chuck/Sarah thing and I will inevitably hate his character but he is dreamy and so far, pretty interesting. And can use guns even if he doesn't like them (remember this, cuz it's important later in the blog) I find the "Chuck as handler/Captain Awesome as noob" storyline to be entertaining. But at some point poor Ellie needs to find out what is going on, right? Proof that Chuck has finally hit its stride with the spy stuff: I couldn't care less about the Buy More stuff. Sorry Morgan.
HIMYM: Congrats on a well directed episode, NPH. However if you directing episodes means that Barney is going to run out of every scene after the first 15 seconds, than I would prefer you leave the directing to someone else. Kthanksbye.
Heroes: I really really really wish they would decide if Sylar is going to be good or bad. I'm fine either way, just make a damn choice. I think Samuel is good enough to be a villain all on his own - he destroyed a whole town! And I thought Renee cutting off a guys hand on 24 was bad. Kudos to Samuel for winning the Bat Shit Crazy contest on Monday night! Also: DAVID ANDERS AGAIN!! First 24 and then in Hiro's sub-conscious or whatever. Plus he got to object to Hiro using the opening of Quantum Leap in his own defence! (Kevin was very excited.)
Castle: Do any of you watch this? You should. If only because Nathan Fillion is possibly the most charming man alive. And somehow he was even more charming this week. I heart him. And once he wished me a happy birthday on Twitter, so we are close. Right? Isn't that how it works? Dammit.
White Collar: Hurray!! Peter isn't evil!! He was trying to help Neal figure out what was going on with Kate. Turns out she is the evil one. Or the indifferent one. But as long as Neal and Peter are ok, what does it matter? Speaking of my favorite bromance, these two were at their finest with this week's con. We also learned that despite not liking guns, Neal knows how to use one! See, I told you it would come back. Almost the EXACT SAME LINE on two shows within less than 24 hours on networks both owned by NBC. Awesome. (Also, watch Burn Notice!!! Fun fun fun!)
Leverage: A repeat line, for Kylene: Tune in for the con artist fun. Stay for the hotness of Christian Kane. Yum
Modern Family/Cougar Town: This is a great duo of comedy on Wednesday nights. Every character is fleshed out and lovable. Particularly loved the remote bit on Modern Family, if only because I can use the remote! And on Cougar Town-- who isn't turned on by the mix of rain, the smell of pine and the rock stylings of REO Speedwagon? Busy Phillips, you are a comic genius.
Ugly Betty: Not sure if the show will make it past the ratings dip that came from being put in the wasteland of Friday, even if it now has a cush spots on Wednesday nights, but it deserves another season. It's been on a creative high and whoever decided to flesh out the Marc/Amanda/Betty friendship is a genius. Best part of the show, particularly this week with Marc and Betty. Marc getting a promotion is long overdue!
CW Shows: Life Unexpected was sweet and takes place in Portland! I love Shiri Appleby. My one complaint: How did two very Jewish looking people with brown eyes and brown hair create a very Goyeshe looking blond hair/blue eyed girl?? It's been awhile since I was in a Bio class, but that's not how it works, right? It's a recessive trait! Anywho.... OTH was soapy goodness. Taylor is a whore. A WHORE. (You it is back. Damon is officially the Eric for teenagers. Or people my age that watch shows on The CW. Whatever shut up. He is fun and super hot. And we are unsure of his good/bad ratio. See - he' Eric.
Grey's Anatomy: Two Words: HOTNESS MONSTER!! Three more words: Suck it, Sloane.
The Deep End: It's ok. But if there was going to be one show about 20-somethings entering a high stress job starring one of the former stars of Veronica Mars, I would have rather it had been The Body Politic on The CW. Look it up. It would have been fantastic. Suck it Dawn Ostroff. You picked The Beautiful Life and it was so horrible you had to pull it after 4 episodes! But I digress.... The Deep End was OK, I'll give it another week.
Bones: Oh, Booth. I love you so. And they handled the JFK storyline VERY well. To be honest, I was nervous about it. Also - lots of points for Hodgins. Way to man up! Hearts!! (Carter who, Erin? LOL)
NBC Comedy block: Joel McHale is adorable, and that is all that matters about Community. Parks and Rec was friggin hysterical. Had possibly the best line of the week, "People in this town are just getting into Nirvana. I don't have the heart to tell them what happens to Kurt Cobain in 1994" - Tom (Aziz Ansari). Classic. The Office may have been a glorified clip show, but it had David Constabile from Flight of the Conchords!! Best montages: "That's what she said" was funniest and Jim/Pam the sweetest. 30 Rock had more annoying Boston accents, so no matter how funny, I couldn't get past that.
Fringe: Someone give John Noble an award for something. Anything. Please.
Hope for Haiti Now telethon: Sadly we have seen many a telethon in our lifetime. It's amazing the power of having a celebrity answer phones. And boy, did Clooney prove his Hollywood clout with the faces he managed to get to answer phones in a few days notice! Steven Speilberg was answering phones!! Fantastic. The stories were moving, of course. Wyclef Jean especially, as it meant more to him than most. The performances were great. Highlights, for me: Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Jennifer Hudson and Justin Timberlake. (I'd like to take this moment to confess I have a secret crush on Justin. And when I realized he was about to sing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, I almost died on the couch. One of the best songs ever written. Great rendition. Love him. Note to Ryan Murphy: Get him on Glee! Does Mr. Shue have a brother!?!) Overall: an AMAZING success by Clooney, who won me over even more at the SAGs when he was incredibly humble when singled out for this achievment.
I would talk about the SAG awards, but isn't that just like talking about the Golden Globes minus two (TWO!!!) of the winners?? I will say that Sandra Bullock and Betty White were hysterical!! (Betty White told my parents that I was a cute baby at the opening of the Koala House at the LA Zoo, so Betty White and I are old friends). Sandra also gave a great acceptance speech, especially about Jesse James. They are adorable. Mo'Nique and Christoph Waltz must be really great friends by now, huh? She even stopped to give him a smooch on her way up to the stage! Let's get them a movie together!
Ok.... that's about it. I watched some other stuff too, but nothing I felt like writing about. And I'm still getting through Caprica. I didn't watch most of Battlestar Gallactica, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be missing something with this show. But James Marsters is going to be on (Spike from Buffy/Angel, for you not knowledgeable in the Whedonverse), so I felt like I should watch.
Not sure if I will always do this blog, but I always have a lot to say, so it may be fun. Let me know! I'm talking to you Kylene and Erin, because you are the only ones I know read these for sure! LOL!!
Chuck: Swoon. Brandon Routh. I know he is a spoiler to the Chuck/Sarah thing and I will inevitably hate his character but he is dreamy and so far, pretty interesting. And can use guns even if he doesn't like them (remember this, cuz it's important later in the blog) I find the "Chuck as handler/Captain Awesome as noob" storyline to be entertaining. But at some point poor Ellie needs to find out what is going on, right? Proof that Chuck has finally hit its stride with the spy stuff: I couldn't care less about the Buy More stuff. Sorry Morgan.
HIMYM: Congrats on a well directed episode, NPH. However if you directing episodes means that Barney is going to run out of every scene after the first 15 seconds, than I would prefer you leave the directing to someone else. Kthanksbye.
Heroes: I really really really wish they would decide if Sylar is going to be good or bad. I'm fine either way, just make a damn choice. I think Samuel is good enough to be a villain all on his own - he destroyed a whole town! And I thought Renee cutting off a guys hand on 24 was bad. Kudos to Samuel for winning the Bat Shit Crazy contest on Monday night! Also: DAVID ANDERS AGAIN!! First 24 and then in Hiro's sub-conscious or whatever. Plus he got to object to Hiro using the opening of Quantum Leap in his own defence! (Kevin was very excited.)
Castle: Do any of you watch this? You should. If only because Nathan Fillion is possibly the most charming man alive. And somehow he was even more charming this week. I heart him. And once he wished me a happy birthday on Twitter, so we are close. Right? Isn't that how it works? Dammit.
White Collar: Hurray!! Peter isn't evil!! He was trying to help Neal figure out what was going on with Kate. Turns out she is the evil one. Or the indifferent one. But as long as Neal and Peter are ok, what does it matter? Speaking of my favorite bromance, these two were at their finest with this week's con. We also learned that despite not liking guns, Neal knows how to use one! See, I told you it would come back. Almost the EXACT SAME LINE on two shows within less than 24 hours on networks both owned by NBC. Awesome. (Also, watch Burn Notice!!! Fun fun fun!)
Leverage: A repeat line, for Kylene: Tune in for the con artist fun. Stay for the hotness of Christian Kane. Yum
Modern Family/Cougar Town: This is a great duo of comedy on Wednesday nights. Every character is fleshed out and lovable. Particularly loved the remote bit on Modern Family, if only because I can use the remote! And on Cougar Town-- who isn't turned on by the mix of rain, the smell of pine and the rock stylings of REO Speedwagon? Busy Phillips, you are a comic genius.
Ugly Betty: Not sure if the show will make it past the ratings dip that came from being put in the wasteland of Friday, even if it now has a cush spots on Wednesday nights, but it deserves another season. It's been on a creative high and whoever decided to flesh out the Marc/Amanda/Betty friendship is a genius. Best part of the show, particularly this week with Marc and Betty. Marc getting a promotion is long overdue!
CW Shows: Life Unexpected was sweet and takes place in Portland! I love Shiri Appleby. My one complaint: How did two very Jewish looking people with brown eyes and brown hair create a very Goyeshe looking blond hair/blue eyed girl?? It's been awhile since I was in a Bio class, but that's not how it works, right? It's a recessive trait! Anywho.... OTH was soapy goodness. Taylor is a whore. A WHORE. (You it is back. Damon is officially the Eric for teenagers. Or people my age that watch shows on The CW. Whatever shut up. He is fun and super hot. And we are unsure of his good/bad ratio. See - he' Eric.
Grey's Anatomy: Two Words: HOTNESS MONSTER!! Three more words: Suck it, Sloane.
The Deep End: It's ok. But if there was going to be one show about 20-somethings entering a high stress job starring one of the former stars of Veronica Mars, I would have rather it had been The Body Politic on The CW. Look it up. It would have been fantastic. Suck it Dawn Ostroff. You picked The Beautiful Life and it was so horrible you had to pull it after 4 episodes! But I digress.... The Deep End was OK, I'll give it another week.
Bones: Oh, Booth. I love you so. And they handled the JFK storyline VERY well. To be honest, I was nervous about it. Also - lots of points for Hodgins. Way to man up! Hearts!! (Carter who, Erin? LOL)
NBC Comedy block: Joel McHale is adorable, and that is all that matters about Community. Parks and Rec was friggin hysterical. Had possibly the best line of the week, "People in this town are just getting into Nirvana. I don't have the heart to tell them what happens to Kurt Cobain in 1994" - Tom (Aziz Ansari). Classic. The Office may have been a glorified clip show, but it had David Constabile from Flight of the Conchords!! Best montages: "That's what she said" was funniest and Jim/Pam the sweetest. 30 Rock had more annoying Boston accents, so no matter how funny, I couldn't get past that.
Fringe: Someone give John Noble an award for something. Anything. Please.
Hope for Haiti Now telethon: Sadly we have seen many a telethon in our lifetime. It's amazing the power of having a celebrity answer phones. And boy, did Clooney prove his Hollywood clout with the faces he managed to get to answer phones in a few days notice! Steven Speilberg was answering phones!! Fantastic. The stories were moving, of course. Wyclef Jean especially, as it meant more to him than most. The performances were great. Highlights, for me: Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Jennifer Hudson and Justin Timberlake. (I'd like to take this moment to confess I have a secret crush on Justin. And when I realized he was about to sing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, I almost died on the couch. One of the best songs ever written. Great rendition. Love him. Note to Ryan Murphy: Get him on Glee! Does Mr. Shue have a brother!?!) Overall: an AMAZING success by Clooney, who won me over even more at the SAGs when he was incredibly humble when singled out for this achievment.
I would talk about the SAG awards, but isn't that just like talking about the Golden Globes minus two (TWO!!!) of the winners?? I will say that Sandra Bullock and Betty White were hysterical!! (Betty White told my parents that I was a cute baby at the opening of the Koala House at the LA Zoo, so Betty White and I are old friends). Sandra also gave a great acceptance speech, especially about Jesse James. They are adorable. Mo'Nique and Christoph Waltz must be really great friends by now, huh? She even stopped to give him a smooch on her way up to the stage! Let's get them a movie together!
Ok.... that's about it. I watched some other stuff too, but nothing I felt like writing about. And I'm still getting through Caprica. I didn't watch most of Battlestar Gallactica, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be missing something with this show. But James Marsters is going to be on (Spike from Buffy/Angel, for you not knowledgeable in the Whedonverse), so I felt like I should watch.
Not sure if I will always do this blog, but I always have a lot to say, so it may be fun. Let me know! I'm talking to you Kylene and Erin, because you are the only ones I know read these for sure! LOL!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
24 Day 8 - 6:00pm-8:00pm
Well, things do not seem to be getting any better for Jack as his day goes on. Are any of us surprised? This episode started with Jack on the hunt for the real assassin, because he and Chloe watch the show and know that it's never the first person accused (in this case, the Iranian president's mistress, Meredith Reed). Jack follows a lead to what looks like one of the outer boroughs and finds out where the Russian has gone by buying a new pair of kicks for a nice boy on the basketball court. When he goes in the house the Russian was seen entering, he find two dead people. Oh Jack, how do you get yourself in these silly situations? Aaaand cue New York's finest!! One of them seems willing to hear out Jack's "I'm from CTU and these guys were killed by an assassin" story. The other - well, not so much. He would rather tie Jack up in the basement and beat on him for awhile.
Meanwhile... back at CTU: The Nightclub. Arlo is so close to cracking the encrypted file on Meredith's computer. Chloe knows it will be nothing useful, because, again, this isn't her first rodeo. Chloe also notices that Dana seems to be having some drama. Turns out her ex, Kevin (heehee), is a bit of a psychopath. He's also really gross. What the hell was with the "say my name" bit?? Much to my dismay, instead of kicking his ass, Dana gave him a key to her apartment for "just tonight". Ummmm.... Dana? That's not going to work out!! I'd really love to know what she is hiding because right now it looks like her only mistake is having really bad taste in guys when she was younger. I'm hoping there is more because otherwise this entire storyline is useless.
Over in the interrogation room, after a lot of annoying questions from Hastings, the idiot head of CTU, Meredith finally gives up that she and Omar, the Iranian Pres, are doing the nasty. He doesn't believe her, because why would Omar want a white girl?? He gets hold of Omar, who despite his brother's urgings, confirms Meredith's story. (Way to man up, Omar!) This really upsets little bro, who we know is behind the whole assassination plot. BUT, Hastings doesn't think that this means she ISN'T the assassin (because she really seems the cold ruthless killer type), so when Arlo discovers the encrypted file is plans to bomb the UN he has the building evacuated.
Cut back to Jack. He's still tied up, but cliche NYPD guy doesn't realize that Jack spent a lot of time in a Chinese Prison being tortured, so this stuff is a walk in the park. Jack goes all badass and attacks the guy and breaks the chair he's tied to on a wall. Good cop comes in, calls in the situation and finds out that yes, this is all part of a plot to assassinate Omar, just like Jack said. Duh. Just in time, Jack gets hold of Cole who stops the president from getting blown up, and gets a manly cut on his ear. So we take him more seriously as a badass CTU agent.
This is where things get REALLY fun. Cole spots the assassin and follows him in to a building. But assassin surprises him from behind with a gun (Ruh-roh Scoobie. Get it? Cuz he's Fred. Whatever. Shut up.) and tells him to call in that the area is clear, but when Cole instead says the assassin is with him, Jack magically shows up and shoots assassin dead before he can shoot Cole. (Told you he was bottom of the evil ladder) Cue Cole needing a new pair of pants.
Meanwhile, the brother finds out Omar is fine and goes BAT SHIT CRAZY! He runs out on Omar's wife and daughter and then stabs his CTU escort in the neck with a pen! Way to keep it together Jason Schwartzman wannabe! Guess who was sad to hear this.... poor Omar. First he has to dump his mistress to keep peace talks from going into the crapper and then it turns out his bro is trying to get him killed. Omar is a good man - he will not make it through the season. He's the President Palmer of Iran!
Back at CTU they are examining the tattoos that were all over our Russian assassin. I guess he is part of some Russian mob and this is all about a plan for the Russians to bomb us because it turns out, along with tattoos, he is also covered in residue from Uranium. Awesome! Is this the Red Dawn remake I've been hearing so much about?? Guess what? It turns out a familiar face was deep undercover with this Russian mob ---- Renee! (Cue my husband paying more attention to the show!) Speaking . So now instead of leaving to go meet Kim in LA, Jack needs to go along with Renee undercover as part of some suicide watch program. Oh Renee....
(PS Remember how I said Dana giving her key to Kevin was a bad idea? It was. He is also Bat Shit Crazy!! Seriously - kill him and lets move on! Four hours in and I'm already sick of this storyline)
Brother (I'll get his name eventually) is at a fancy restaurant with an old Russian guy, and his two sons. One son is Sark from Alias (WOOT!) and the other is dying in the kitchen pantry from radiation poisoning (aka proof the Uranium exists). I'm pretty sure this is some sort of health code violation. They conspire to sell things to blow other things up. Bad stuff. Where's Jack?
Oh, that's where Jack is - in my favorite scene ever on 24. I like to call it "Hello Dr. Frankenstein. I'd like you to meet your monster." It turns out when Jack forced Renee into torturing people last season it flicked some crazy switch in her head causing her to think it was a good idea to SAW A GUYS HAND OFF!!!!! When Jack thinks you've gone too far..... well, let's just say you are beyond going too far!
And that's where we left it. Jack's got a one way ticket to crazy town on the Renee express. I am excited to see where it goes. Jack is never the voice of reason.
Sorry for the somewhat crap blog this time. Massive headaches equals very little creativity! Better next time when I only have an hour of show to sort through!
Meanwhile... back at CTU: The Nightclub. Arlo is so close to cracking the encrypted file on Meredith's computer. Chloe knows it will be nothing useful, because, again, this isn't her first rodeo. Chloe also notices that Dana seems to be having some drama. Turns out her ex, Kevin (heehee), is a bit of a psychopath. He's also really gross. What the hell was with the "say my name" bit?? Much to my dismay, instead of kicking his ass, Dana gave him a key to her apartment for "just tonight". Ummmm.... Dana? That's not going to work out!! I'd really love to know what she is hiding because right now it looks like her only mistake is having really bad taste in guys when she was younger. I'm hoping there is more because otherwise this entire storyline is useless.
Over in the interrogation room, after a lot of annoying questions from Hastings, the idiot head of CTU, Meredith finally gives up that she and Omar, the Iranian Pres, are doing the nasty. He doesn't believe her, because why would Omar want a white girl?? He gets hold of Omar, who despite his brother's urgings, confirms Meredith's story. (Way to man up, Omar!) This really upsets little bro, who we know is behind the whole assassination plot. BUT, Hastings doesn't think that this means she ISN'T the assassin (because she really seems the cold ruthless killer type), so when Arlo discovers the encrypted file is plans to bomb the UN he has the building evacuated.
Cut back to Jack. He's still tied up, but cliche NYPD guy doesn't realize that Jack spent a lot of time in a Chinese Prison being tortured, so this stuff is a walk in the park. Jack goes all badass and attacks the guy and breaks the chair he's tied to on a wall. Good cop comes in, calls in the situation and finds out that yes, this is all part of a plot to assassinate Omar, just like Jack said. Duh. Just in time, Jack gets hold of Cole who stops the president from getting blown up, and gets a manly cut on his ear. So we take him more seriously as a badass CTU agent.
This is where things get REALLY fun. Cole spots the assassin and follows him in to a building. But assassin surprises him from behind with a gun (Ruh-roh Scoobie. Get it? Cuz he's Fred. Whatever. Shut up.) and tells him to call in that the area is clear, but when Cole instead says the assassin is with him, Jack magically shows up and shoots assassin dead before he can shoot Cole. (Told you he was bottom of the evil ladder) Cue Cole needing a new pair of pants.
Meanwhile, the brother finds out Omar is fine and goes BAT SHIT CRAZY! He runs out on Omar's wife and daughter and then stabs his CTU escort in the neck with a pen! Way to keep it together Jason Schwartzman wannabe! Guess who was sad to hear this.... poor Omar. First he has to dump his mistress to keep peace talks from going into the crapper and then it turns out his bro is trying to get him killed. Omar is a good man - he will not make it through the season. He's the President Palmer of Iran!
Back at CTU they are examining the tattoos that were all over our Russian assassin. I guess he is part of some Russian mob and this is all about a plan for the Russians to bomb us because it turns out, along with tattoos, he is also covered in residue from Uranium. Awesome! Is this the Red Dawn remake I've been hearing so much about?? Guess what? It turns out a familiar face was deep undercover with this Russian mob ---- Renee! (Cue my husband paying more attention to the show!) Speaking . So now instead of leaving to go meet Kim in LA, Jack needs to go along with Renee undercover as part of some suicide watch program. Oh Renee....
(PS Remember how I said Dana giving her key to Kevin was a bad idea? It was. He is also Bat Shit Crazy!! Seriously - kill him and lets move on! Four hours in and I'm already sick of this storyline)
Brother (I'll get his name eventually) is at a fancy restaurant with an old Russian guy, and his two sons. One son is Sark from Alias (WOOT!) and the other is dying in the kitchen pantry from radiation poisoning (aka proof the Uranium exists). I'm pretty sure this is some sort of health code violation. They conspire to sell things to blow other things up. Bad stuff. Where's Jack?
Oh, that's where Jack is - in my favorite scene ever on 24. I like to call it "Hello Dr. Frankenstein. I'd like you to meet your monster." It turns out when Jack forced Renee into torturing people last season it flicked some crazy switch in her head causing her to think it was a good idea to SAW A GUYS HAND OFF!!!!! When Jack thinks you've gone too far..... well, let's just say you are beyond going too far!
And that's where we left it. Jack's got a one way ticket to crazy town on the Renee express. I am excited to see where it goes. Jack is never the voice of reason.
Sorry for the somewhat crap blog this time. Massive headaches equals very little creativity! Better next time when I only have an hour of show to sort through!
Monday, January 18, 2010
24 Season 8 4:00pm-6:00pm
****WARNING - if you have not seen the first two episodes of 24, and plan to watch them, DO NOT READ THIS. In fact - that's a general warning for all of my blogs specific to any show. It's kinda impossible to write them without spoilers. So, please keep that in mind for future reference. I'll remind you again as I start other shows too***
It's finally season 8 of 24, and so begins another craptastic day in Jack Bauer's life! Well, it doesn't start out so craptastic. He's hanging with his granddaughter, Terry (named for his late wife), and is planning to move back to LA with Kim and Steven (or, Stefan. Run Kimmy! It's a Vampire!!). Everyone is happy until Aceveda from The Shield, (or in this case, some old informant, Vinnie) comes shot in the arm to Jack's door. Turns out there is a plot to assassinate the President of Iran (host of India's Who Wants to Be A Millionaire!!) who is in NYC meeting with the President of the United States to work out a peace treaty. Vinnie knows the deets, but at spilling until Jack takes him to CTU to work out a deal. And we all know Jack can't ever turn down thwarting a good assassination attempt!
Let me take a brief moment to point out, this is probably somewhere around 2016-2020 in 24 time. Between every season the period of time that was supposed to have passed has ranged from 6 months to 2 years - do the math. Where are my floating cars, dammit??
Well, instead of floating cars, we get CTU: The Nightclub. That place looks like there should be velvet ropes and two very large men standing outside only letting the pretty people in. As it turns out - they only seem to let the pretty people in. I should take a moment to apologize, but it will take me until at least tonight's show to get all the names down, but let's run through the newbies at CTU. There is secret keeping Dana/Jenny (the incomparable Katee Sackhoff). Can't tell if she is actually being helpful with Chloe, or just a bitch. I'm hoping she is not a bitch, because I love Katee! I also hope she gets out of The Nightclub and gets to kick ass, cuz boy howdy, can she kick ass. There is pretty boy, Freddie Prinze Jr, or Cole the Boyscout. If he wants to kick ass he needs to live up to his wife! Arlo the geeky obnoxious tech guy. I hold off on judging him. These characters can always go either way. And then the incompetent leader, Hastings (played by Mykeleti Williamson who once told me my kid is cute, so I will forgive him playing an idiot character). We all knew this character would be there! Why is the head of CTU always an idiot? Do they just pick names out of a hat? I miss Bill (**moment of silence**).
There are also a slew of other new character hanging around the Pres (glad to see you back, Cherry Jones! You Rock, lady!). Ethan Kanin is back in his rightful place of Secretary of Defense, and I suspect, maybe more. Cuz they looooove each other, am I right??? I'm right. She has a new Cheif of Staff, the amazingly funny, Chris Diamantopoulos (aka Mr. Becki Newton - Amanda on Ugly Betty). I like him, and I'm really hoping that he does not turn out to be the inevitable mole in the White House because if we have learned anything in 7 seasons of 24, it is that there is always someone dirty working in the White House! I mentioned Anil Kapoor as the Iranian president, and Jason Schwartzman as his brother/chief of staff. What? That's not Jason Schwartzman? Well, it's his Iranian half-brother then. The presidents wife (who I thought was a Disney Villain when she was looking in the mirror. She scared my inner child) and his overly sensitive daughter. Names to come, people. There is also the presidents booty call/reporter, Meredith Reed (Jessica Westfeldt aka the real Mrs. Don Draper).
Really, we don't learn much the first two hours. There is a plot to kill the Iranian president seemingly led by (but I'm sure there are at least 5 guys above him pulling the strings) Doug Hutchinson with a ridiculous Russian accent. He's made it look like Meredith Reed is in on the plot, but it's really the brother. And apparently he is a cop, because why not?! Hastings is a crap CTU leader and asked Boyscout to lie about it, but he said "hey, I'm a boyscout, I'll never tell a lie". Actually, he said "ok, but just this once, mister." Chloe for some reason can't figure out all the fancy new equipment at CTU so she is extra cranky. Jack just wants to go to LA, but a helicopter blew up in front of him and then right afterwards the informant dies before giving Jack anything useful except that someone close to the pres is in on the plot. Chloe asks for Jack's help at CTU, he says no, she says "DUDE! I was arrested for TREASON for you MULTIPLE TIMES you selfish son of a bitch!!!" Well, something like that. And in the best moment of the show....
KIMMY AND JACK BOTH GROW UP! I thought for sure Jack would just jump right back in to the CTU drama due to his extreme loyalty to do-gooding. Then Kimmy would throw one of her "you love the job more than me" hissy fits. But finally, FINALLY these two have figured out how to be grown ups and have a real relationship. I guess that near death experience was good for something! He said no to staying, because he wants his family, and she said to stay at CTU because it is who he is and he can fly to LA sometime after 4:00pm tomorrow, cuz these things always seem to last exactly 24 hours. (Cue my sigh of relief that at least one thing has changed on this show!)Because CTU is apparently the mob, just when Jack thought he was out, they pulled him back in.
So, that's it. Here are a few of my other random highlights/observations:
-Best moment: When Arlo said "Who's Jack Bauer?" and Cole and Dana look at him like he is on crack. THANK YOU! I hated the past couple seasons when people didn't know who Jack was!
-Second best moment: Jack saying, "I hate this place" in reference to CTU. I wonder why, buddy!
-Love that Chloe said the Meredith Reed discovery was too fast and too easy. Looks like SOMEONE has been watching all the previous seasons!
-Why when they do 2 hour episodes do they have the "Previously on 24" segment at the start of the second hour? Why?!?! I JUST saw it!!! My memory is not that bad!! Who starts watching at hour 2??
For the record: At the end of these two episodes 2 hostiles, 2 CTU agents, 2 cops, 1 informant, and 1 helicopter all died. I miss the helicopter the most.
Looking forward to the next 2 hours. And all the other stuff on Monday nights! (NPH! I can't go a blog without an NPH shoutout!) Thank goodness for my DVR!
It's finally season 8 of 24, and so begins another craptastic day in Jack Bauer's life! Well, it doesn't start out so craptastic. He's hanging with his granddaughter, Terry (named for his late wife), and is planning to move back to LA with Kim and Steven (or, Stefan. Run Kimmy! It's a Vampire!!). Everyone is happy until Aceveda from The Shield, (or in this case, some old informant, Vinnie) comes shot in the arm to Jack's door. Turns out there is a plot to assassinate the President of Iran (host of India's Who Wants to Be A Millionaire!!) who is in NYC meeting with the President of the United States to work out a peace treaty. Vinnie knows the deets, but at spilling until Jack takes him to CTU to work out a deal. And we all know Jack can't ever turn down thwarting a good assassination attempt!
Let me take a brief moment to point out, this is probably somewhere around 2016-2020 in 24 time. Between every season the period of time that was supposed to have passed has ranged from 6 months to 2 years - do the math. Where are my floating cars, dammit??
Well, instead of floating cars, we get CTU: The Nightclub. That place looks like there should be velvet ropes and two very large men standing outside only letting the pretty people in. As it turns out - they only seem to let the pretty people in. I should take a moment to apologize, but it will take me until at least tonight's show to get all the names down, but let's run through the newbies at CTU. There is secret keeping Dana/Jenny (the incomparable Katee Sackhoff). Can't tell if she is actually being helpful with Chloe, or just a bitch. I'm hoping she is not a bitch, because I love Katee! I also hope she gets out of The Nightclub and gets to kick ass, cuz boy howdy, can she kick ass. There is pretty boy, Freddie Prinze Jr, or Cole the Boyscout. If he wants to kick ass he needs to live up to his wife! Arlo the geeky obnoxious tech guy. I hold off on judging him. These characters can always go either way. And then the incompetent leader, Hastings (played by Mykeleti Williamson who once told me my kid is cute, so I will forgive him playing an idiot character). We all knew this character would be there! Why is the head of CTU always an idiot? Do they just pick names out of a hat? I miss Bill (**moment of silence**).
There are also a slew of other new character hanging around the Pres (glad to see you back, Cherry Jones! You Rock, lady!). Ethan Kanin is back in his rightful place of Secretary of Defense, and I suspect, maybe more. Cuz they looooove each other, am I right??? I'm right. She has a new Cheif of Staff, the amazingly funny, Chris Diamantopoulos (aka Mr. Becki Newton - Amanda on Ugly Betty). I like him, and I'm really hoping that he does not turn out to be the inevitable mole in the White House because if we have learned anything in 7 seasons of 24, it is that there is always someone dirty working in the White House! I mentioned Anil Kapoor as the Iranian president, and Jason Schwartzman as his brother/chief of staff. What? That's not Jason Schwartzman? Well, it's his Iranian half-brother then. The presidents wife (who I thought was a Disney Villain when she was looking in the mirror. She scared my inner child) and his overly sensitive daughter. Names to come, people. There is also the presidents booty call/reporter, Meredith Reed (Jessica Westfeldt aka the real Mrs. Don Draper).
Really, we don't learn much the first two hours. There is a plot to kill the Iranian president seemingly led by (but I'm sure there are at least 5 guys above him pulling the strings) Doug Hutchinson with a ridiculous Russian accent. He's made it look like Meredith Reed is in on the plot, but it's really the brother. And apparently he is a cop, because why not?! Hastings is a crap CTU leader and asked Boyscout to lie about it, but he said "hey, I'm a boyscout, I'll never tell a lie". Actually, he said "ok, but just this once, mister." Chloe for some reason can't figure out all the fancy new equipment at CTU so she is extra cranky. Jack just wants to go to LA, but a helicopter blew up in front of him and then right afterwards the informant dies before giving Jack anything useful except that someone close to the pres is in on the plot. Chloe asks for Jack's help at CTU, he says no, she says "DUDE! I was arrested for TREASON for you MULTIPLE TIMES you selfish son of a bitch!!!" Well, something like that. And in the best moment of the show....
KIMMY AND JACK BOTH GROW UP! I thought for sure Jack would just jump right back in to the CTU drama due to his extreme loyalty to do-gooding. Then Kimmy would throw one of her "you love the job more than me" hissy fits. But finally, FINALLY these two have figured out how to be grown ups and have a real relationship. I guess that near death experience was good for something! He said no to staying, because he wants his family, and she said to stay at CTU because it is who he is and he can fly to LA sometime after 4:00pm tomorrow, cuz these things always seem to last exactly 24 hours. (Cue my sigh of relief that at least one thing has changed on this show!)Because CTU is apparently the mob, just when Jack thought he was out, they pulled him back in.
So, that's it. Here are a few of my other random highlights/observations:
-Best moment: When Arlo said "Who's Jack Bauer?" and Cole and Dana look at him like he is on crack. THANK YOU! I hated the past couple seasons when people didn't know who Jack was!
-Second best moment: Jack saying, "I hate this place" in reference to CTU. I wonder why, buddy!
-Love that Chloe said the Meredith Reed discovery was too fast and too easy. Looks like SOMEONE has been watching all the previous seasons!
-Why when they do 2 hour episodes do they have the "Previously on 24" segment at the start of the second hour? Why?!?! I JUST saw it!!! My memory is not that bad!! Who starts watching at hour 2??
For the record: At the end of these two episodes 2 hostiles, 2 CTU agents, 2 cops, 1 informant, and 1 helicopter all died. I miss the helicopter the most.
Looking forward to the next 2 hours. And all the other stuff on Monday nights! (NPH! I can't go a blog without an NPH shoutout!) Thank goodness for my DVR!
Golden Globes... The Good, The Bad and Chloe Sevigny's dress (the ugly)
So the Golden Globes are over, and awards season has officially begun. Actually they started months ago, but since all those critics/festival awards are not televised, they don't count. Ok, The Critics Choice Awards were televised, but on VH1, so isn't that like saying they don't count?? Okay, they do, and I agreed with most of them, but again, on VH1 so they don't really count.
I'm going to break this up into sections to make it easier for my brain....
Ricky Gervais:
I love him. He makes me laugh if only because no one makes him laugh more than himself. He started off a little shaky, but the more he drank, the better he got. His Colin Farrell opener was cute, but nothing - NOTHING - made me laugh harder all night than his intro for Mel Gibson. In case you missed it he started by saying he apologizes for any bad stuff he says about people during the show and to blame it all on the booze. Then he says, "I love a drink as much as the next man, unless that next man is Mel Gibson." I'm still giggling. And while I am not a Mel fan, props for taking the joke well. Boob. Overall, good job Ricky. (Why wasn't it NPH???)
Movies:
A German movie won Foreign Language, T Bone won another award for a song from Crazy Heart and the guy that does the music for LOST won score for UP.... and now that that's out of the way, lets get to some awards that we care about. Up for Animated Film. Was it a contest at all? That could have been a contender for best picture! Screenplay went to Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, and with reason. The script was perfection. Only other choice would have been Inglourious Basterds, which despite being sold as a war movie, was really just a series of conversations. But UITA was beautiful, and Reitman deserves the accolades. Supports: Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique. Both are obviously very kind, lovely people. Both played characters that were scary as all hell - well deserved on both counts!! Um, I didn't see Crazy Heart, so I can't really comment on Jeff Bridges, but his speech was great and he's The Dude, so always happy for him. And how much does he look like Lloyd?? More and more every day! Robert Downey Jr - another performance I haven't seen, but I'm sure he was great because, really, when isn't he? He may be crazy, but he's a hell of an actor. As for the ladies - my picks won. Sandra is having her Julia Roberts' Erin Brockovich year. Finally made a movie worth the awards, so I hope she collects all she can! And Meryl --- there are no words for Meryl, are there? She is perfection, I don't care what she is doing. And then there is Avatar. I know some don't like it, (even if you haven't seen it, Kylene! LOL) but as a person who has spent my entire life in love with movies, I admit this one deserves the love, even if James Cameron is an SOB who does not need his head inflated any more! I could write an entire blog on this movie and how it changed my idea of what a film could be. Not all big movies have to be evil, and this one proves it. And on a related note, love the awkward moments between ex-spouses this award season. Hope Kathryn Bigelow can take something home Oscar night! My favorite award of the night: THE HANGOVER!!!!! That movie made me laugh harder than any other movie all year, hands down. Best comedy, indeed. And Mike Tyson got to go on stage to help accept a Golden Globe!! Is there anything better?!?!
And now for the good stuff.... TELEVISION:
First, the mini-series/made for TV movies stuff most of you don't care about. HUGE congrats to Drew and Grey Gardens. That movie was splendid. I don't like Jessica Lange, and while Drew is a wonderful person I don't always enjoy her performances in movies. She deserves the love for this one. It was fantastic from start to finish. And truly heartbraking. I couldn't get through Taking Chance, but I'm glad Kevin Bacon got some awards season love - he is so underrated! Now for the support by an actor or actress in anything that ever was on TV ever at all anytime all season. (Why oh why, Hollywood Foreign Press, must you combine these categories?!?!?!) Dexter is fantastic, and I'm sure John Lithgow was chilling as the Trinity Killer (I'm waiting for the DVD), but for the love of God and all that is holy if someone does not give Neil Patrick Harris an award for something soon I'm going to find these losers and beat them. And don't get me started on Supporting Actress. REALLY?!?!!?!?!? Chloe Sevigny!??!?!?!?! JANE LYNCH DAMMIT!!! JANE LYNCH!!! I think that sums up point. Let's move on. Actors: Alec? Really? We get it, he's funny. BUT, since he probably does make me laugh more than any of the other nominees, I'll let it go. Michael C. Hall - it's about damn time someone acknowledge that he is awesome. (Side note - proof that Hall is a truly classy guy: He didn't announce his battle with cancer until AFTER the voting deadline.) (Another side note - I get a little creeped out when he kisses his on-screen sister. Even if on the show they aren't really related. Still... weird) Actresses: Julianna Margulies is VERY good on The Good Wife. Don't always love her, but I'm good with this win. Honestly, as long as Kyra Sedgwick didn't win, I was happy. Bonus to Julianna winning: a 5 second Dr. Ross/Nurse Carol reunion when she gave Clooney a kiss on her way up to the stage. Swoon. Toni Collette - I love her, and I have never seen Tara so I can't judge her performance, but Lea Michele people, Lea Michele! Seriously. Now to the big ones: GLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! (ahem) So happy this one! I adore Modern Family, and it will get Emmy love for sure, but it's Comedy or Musical, and Glee is both!! And it is wonderful. Watch it if you don't already! Mad Men.... I'm so happy with this. True Blood and Dexter are wonderful shows. WONDERFUL. But Mad Men is beyond beautiful, and this year it deserved it more than any other. However, it's won several times now, so we can move on next year. I give you permission, HFPA.
Overall, I enjoyed the show. And I'm excited for the SAGs this weekend. But now it's time to leave the awards bubble and get back to our regularly scheduled programming. (24 blog to come....)
I'm going to break this up into sections to make it easier for my brain....
Ricky Gervais:
I love him. He makes me laugh if only because no one makes him laugh more than himself. He started off a little shaky, but the more he drank, the better he got. His Colin Farrell opener was cute, but nothing - NOTHING - made me laugh harder all night than his intro for Mel Gibson. In case you missed it he started by saying he apologizes for any bad stuff he says about people during the show and to blame it all on the booze. Then he says, "I love a drink as much as the next man, unless that next man is Mel Gibson." I'm still giggling. And while I am not a Mel fan, props for taking the joke well. Boob. Overall, good job Ricky. (Why wasn't it NPH???)
Movies:
A German movie won Foreign Language, T Bone won another award for a song from Crazy Heart and the guy that does the music for LOST won score for UP.... and now that that's out of the way, lets get to some awards that we care about. Up for Animated Film. Was it a contest at all? That could have been a contender for best picture! Screenplay went to Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, and with reason. The script was perfection. Only other choice would have been Inglourious Basterds, which despite being sold as a war movie, was really just a series of conversations. But UITA was beautiful, and Reitman deserves the accolades. Supports: Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique. Both are obviously very kind, lovely people. Both played characters that were scary as all hell - well deserved on both counts!! Um, I didn't see Crazy Heart, so I can't really comment on Jeff Bridges, but his speech was great and he's The Dude, so always happy for him. And how much does he look like Lloyd?? More and more every day! Robert Downey Jr - another performance I haven't seen, but I'm sure he was great because, really, when isn't he? He may be crazy, but he's a hell of an actor. As for the ladies - my picks won. Sandra is having her Julia Roberts' Erin Brockovich year. Finally made a movie worth the awards, so I hope she collects all she can! And Meryl --- there are no words for Meryl, are there? She is perfection, I don't care what she is doing. And then there is Avatar. I know some don't like it, (even if you haven't seen it, Kylene! LOL) but as a person who has spent my entire life in love with movies, I admit this one deserves the love, even if James Cameron is an SOB who does not need his head inflated any more! I could write an entire blog on this movie and how it changed my idea of what a film could be. Not all big movies have to be evil, and this one proves it. And on a related note, love the awkward moments between ex-spouses this award season. Hope Kathryn Bigelow can take something home Oscar night! My favorite award of the night: THE HANGOVER!!!!! That movie made me laugh harder than any other movie all year, hands down. Best comedy, indeed. And Mike Tyson got to go on stage to help accept a Golden Globe!! Is there anything better?!?!
And now for the good stuff.... TELEVISION:
First, the mini-series/made for TV movies stuff most of you don't care about. HUGE congrats to Drew and Grey Gardens. That movie was splendid. I don't like Jessica Lange, and while Drew is a wonderful person I don't always enjoy her performances in movies. She deserves the love for this one. It was fantastic from start to finish. And truly heartbraking. I couldn't get through Taking Chance, but I'm glad Kevin Bacon got some awards season love - he is so underrated! Now for the support by an actor or actress in anything that ever was on TV ever at all anytime all season. (Why oh why, Hollywood Foreign Press, must you combine these categories?!?!?!) Dexter is fantastic, and I'm sure John Lithgow was chilling as the Trinity Killer (I'm waiting for the DVD), but for the love of God and all that is holy if someone does not give Neil Patrick Harris an award for something soon I'm going to find these losers and beat them. And don't get me started on Supporting Actress. REALLY?!?!!?!?!? Chloe Sevigny!??!?!?!?! JANE LYNCH DAMMIT!!! JANE LYNCH!!! I think that sums up point. Let's move on. Actors: Alec? Really? We get it, he's funny. BUT, since he probably does make me laugh more than any of the other nominees, I'll let it go. Michael C. Hall - it's about damn time someone acknowledge that he is awesome. (Side note - proof that Hall is a truly classy guy: He didn't announce his battle with cancer until AFTER the voting deadline.) (Another side note - I get a little creeped out when he kisses his on-screen sister. Even if on the show they aren't really related. Still... weird) Actresses: Julianna Margulies is VERY good on The Good Wife. Don't always love her, but I'm good with this win. Honestly, as long as Kyra Sedgwick didn't win, I was happy. Bonus to Julianna winning: a 5 second Dr. Ross/Nurse Carol reunion when she gave Clooney a kiss on her way up to the stage. Swoon. Toni Collette - I love her, and I have never seen Tara so I can't judge her performance, but Lea Michele people, Lea Michele! Seriously. Now to the big ones: GLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! (ahem) So happy this one! I adore Modern Family, and it will get Emmy love for sure, but it's Comedy or Musical, and Glee is both!! And it is wonderful. Watch it if you don't already! Mad Men.... I'm so happy with this. True Blood and Dexter are wonderful shows. WONDERFUL. But Mad Men is beyond beautiful, and this year it deserved it more than any other. However, it's won several times now, so we can move on next year. I give you permission, HFPA.
Overall, I enjoyed the show. And I'm excited for the SAGs this weekend. But now it's time to leave the awards bubble and get back to our regularly scheduled programming. (24 blog to come....)
Monday, January 4, 2010
What I look forward to in 2010
Ok, I gave you my Top 10 (well, 11) of 2009, so here is what I am looking forward to in 2010. Again, no particular order. And again, the one exception is that Number 1 IS Number 1.
1. LOST: The Final Season. When this show first started in 2004 and I saw commercials, I convinced Kevin to watch despite his reservations (he thanks me!) because I knew it would be amazing. Boy howdy, was it. There have been some lows (I'm looking at you, Nikki and Paulo! Hoping the white light still leaves you buried alive in the sand.) but overall it has been an amazing ride that has kept me on the edge on my seat. I think Team Darlton have proved that they know what they are doing and that they have a plan, and I'm excited to just let these last episodes play out and see where it takes us. I know not everyone will be happy with what they have come up with, but I CANNOT wait to see what it is!\
2. Friday Night Lights. I have Comcast, not DirecTv, so I have not seen the season that is playing now, which is why this is on my "looking forward to" list. This show is amazing. Where LOST is genius fantasy, and Mad Men is beautiful art, FNL is heartbreaking realism. I don't think any show on TV is acted in a more genuine and realistic manner. This season is full of a lot of goodbyes for characters who graduated last season. I read a lot about Zach Gilford's final episode, and I am so anxious to see it. My tissue box is ready for me. If you have never seen this show - rent it, or be cheap and get it from the library like I do! How Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton have never been nominated for Emmy's is a mystery. Best married couple on TV.
3. True Blood. You all (or should I say y'all?) knew it was going to be on here! Last season was, well, insane, and I am intrigued to see how Alan Ball is going to transform Club Dead, the 3rd book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. There have been so many new additions in the cast. Most notably, Joe Manganiello as Alcide, the werewolf/new romantic foil for Sookie. The show is always so different from the books, and in my opinion, even better than the books. I look forward to each hour and spend my Sunday evenings counting down until it airs. So, bring it on Alan!! You haven't disappointed me yet. (Oh, and Eric. Lots o' Eric!)
4. American Idol/So You Think You Can Dance. This is mostly about Idol, for a change. I'm still unsure about the Ellen Degeneres thing. I love her, I do. I'm just afraid of what will happen there. BUT, it will be a new voice, so that is good. I'm looking forward to seeing how she handles being mean to crap singers, and even more, how she handles Simon. I'm also excited for the leg of auditions where NPH is the guest judge!! WOOHOO!! As for SYTYCD, I look forward to that in general, but I'm really hoping Billy Bell makes it to the Top 20!! I'm still sad about Billy Bell.... I need to let it go.
5. Parenthood. I loved this movie. When I heard they were making a show, I thought, "OK, this may work". (Let's ignore the fact they already tried and it failed oh so miserably) I saw the cast: Peter Krause! Maura Tierney! Then Maura got sick (**super sad face**) and things started to look not so great. And then.... LAUREN GRAHAM!! For those of you who never watched Gilmore Girls (why??), you may not understand this, but I literally did a happy dance when that re-cast was announced. She is fantastic and may finally get that Emmy nod she deserved for all 7 seasons of GG. The scenes I have viewed look great so far. I'm anxious to see if it works out. Please oh please let it work!
6. USA Original Programming. This may seem like an odd one, but I genuinely enjoy every single original program on USA. Monk is gone (and not a moment too soon) but there is still plenty to love. Royal Pains is soapy goodness. White Collar is buddy-cop-style fun. Burn Notice is a sexy action movie every week. In Plain Sight is actually (shock!) an original cop show. And Psych - Oh sweet sweet Psych - is one of the funniest hours of television every week. And to top it off, each one is smarter than the one before. The only exception to this rule, Law & Order CI. I used to love it - but Vincent D'Onfrio, Julianne Nicholson and Kathryn Erbe are all leaving, and it just is not the same without them. So while I may watch, I can't say I'm "looking forward" to it.
7. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. To avoid major spoilers for those who are not there yet, I won't say anything more. But, ohmygodwhendoesseasonfourstart????
8. New HBO Programming. This season on HBO there is going to be a ton of new stuff. Mark Whalberg has a new comedy, How To Make it, starring Bryan Greenberg (an adorable Jewish boy). Treme is a drama about a neighborhood in New Orleans as it deals with the seemingly everlasting post-Katrina mess. Boardwalk Empire is produced by Martin Scorsese and he also directed the pilot. Nuff said about that one! And there is a lot of buzz around a pilot that they haven't even finished producing starring Sean Bean, called Throne. Plus there is the new mini-series, The Pacific, which is a follow up to the AMAZING mini-series, Band of Brothers. If there is one thing on HBO that you all must watch this year, it is this. I get you don't all love the vampire stuff, so I can't say the same for True Blood, but The Pacific is going to be great. (Side note only sort of related - I'm really excited to see Justified on FX. Stars Timothy Olypahnt and the creator is Graham Yost, who produced and wrote parts of the Pacific and BofB)
9. GLEE!!!!!! I added the exclamation points so you could "hear" the squee in how I said that word in my head. The show may be uneven, and have some of the most aggravating storylines/characters ever (Sorry Jessalyn) but dammit if it doesn't make me grin like a goof every week. And can they sing! If you've never seen it, you can now rent the first half of the season because it is on DVD. I dare you not to get tears in your eyes when Rachel sings Don't Rain on My Parade in the last episode, "Sectionals". Girl's got pipes. And when it comes back extra good stuff: Madonna episode, Kristin Chenoweth, Indina Menzel, Jonathan Groff! It's a Broadway lovers dream! In the meantime, we all know what is playing most often on my iPod.
10. Better Emmys. Now this is just a dream, really. Chances are I'm looking forward to something that will not happen. Last year's ceremony was great to watch because of NPH and the brief moment of Ricky Gervais (watch the Golden Globes, people!!) but the awards themselves?? Meh. I am sick of the same people every year - and I watch most of the shows that win!! How about some How I Met Your Mother, Friday Night Lights, Big Bang Theory..... anything!! Just change it up for goodness sake!! There should be a rule that you can not win more than twice in a row. It's getting to be like the years of Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond again! So please, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, for the love of Barney, Coach Taylor and Sheldon, mix it up this year, would ya??
Again, there is more I look forward to, but these are the 10 I thought of first.
And for the sake of symmetry, here is my daytime-themed number 11. (It's like Spinal Tap - this one goes to 11)
11. More familiar faces on General Hospital. Again, this could just end up being a dream.... BUT the powers that be at GH have been in talks to bring back Vanessa Marcil (Brenda) and Genie Francis (Laura). This time they have actually talked to both actresses and are not just saying their names in interviews to get people to buy those silly magazines. Storyline-wise it will make sense to have them back- especially Laura since the shit is about to hit the fan with that family. Please let them come back!!! They are two of the best the show has ever seen, and Port Charles will be a lot more fun to watch if they are there!!
1. LOST: The Final Season. When this show first started in 2004 and I saw commercials, I convinced Kevin to watch despite his reservations (he thanks me!) because I knew it would be amazing. Boy howdy, was it. There have been some lows (I'm looking at you, Nikki and Paulo! Hoping the white light still leaves you buried alive in the sand.) but overall it has been an amazing ride that has kept me on the edge on my seat. I think Team Darlton have proved that they know what they are doing and that they have a plan, and I'm excited to just let these last episodes play out and see where it takes us. I know not everyone will be happy with what they have come up with, but I CANNOT wait to see what it is!\
2. Friday Night Lights. I have Comcast, not DirecTv, so I have not seen the season that is playing now, which is why this is on my "looking forward to" list. This show is amazing. Where LOST is genius fantasy, and Mad Men is beautiful art, FNL is heartbreaking realism. I don't think any show on TV is acted in a more genuine and realistic manner. This season is full of a lot of goodbyes for characters who graduated last season. I read a lot about Zach Gilford's final episode, and I am so anxious to see it. My tissue box is ready for me. If you have never seen this show - rent it, or be cheap and get it from the library like I do! How Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton have never been nominated for Emmy's is a mystery. Best married couple on TV.
3. True Blood. You all (or should I say y'all?) knew it was going to be on here! Last season was, well, insane, and I am intrigued to see how Alan Ball is going to transform Club Dead, the 3rd book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. There have been so many new additions in the cast. Most notably, Joe Manganiello as Alcide, the werewolf/new romantic foil for Sookie. The show is always so different from the books, and in my opinion, even better than the books. I look forward to each hour and spend my Sunday evenings counting down until it airs. So, bring it on Alan!! You haven't disappointed me yet. (Oh, and Eric. Lots o' Eric!)
4. American Idol/So You Think You Can Dance. This is mostly about Idol, for a change. I'm still unsure about the Ellen Degeneres thing. I love her, I do. I'm just afraid of what will happen there. BUT, it will be a new voice, so that is good. I'm looking forward to seeing how she handles being mean to crap singers, and even more, how she handles Simon. I'm also excited for the leg of auditions where NPH is the guest judge!! WOOHOO!! As for SYTYCD, I look forward to that in general, but I'm really hoping Billy Bell makes it to the Top 20!! I'm still sad about Billy Bell.... I need to let it go.
5. Parenthood. I loved this movie. When I heard they were making a show, I thought, "OK, this may work". (Let's ignore the fact they already tried and it failed oh so miserably) I saw the cast: Peter Krause! Maura Tierney! Then Maura got sick (**super sad face**) and things started to look not so great. And then.... LAUREN GRAHAM!! For those of you who never watched Gilmore Girls (why??), you may not understand this, but I literally did a happy dance when that re-cast was announced. She is fantastic and may finally get that Emmy nod she deserved for all 7 seasons of GG. The scenes I have viewed look great so far. I'm anxious to see if it works out. Please oh please let it work!
6. USA Original Programming. This may seem like an odd one, but I genuinely enjoy every single original program on USA. Monk is gone (and not a moment too soon) but there is still plenty to love. Royal Pains is soapy goodness. White Collar is buddy-cop-style fun. Burn Notice is a sexy action movie every week. In Plain Sight is actually (shock!) an original cop show. And Psych - Oh sweet sweet Psych - is one of the funniest hours of television every week. And to top it off, each one is smarter than the one before. The only exception to this rule, Law & Order CI. I used to love it - but Vincent D'Onfrio, Julianne Nicholson and Kathryn Erbe are all leaving, and it just is not the same without them. So while I may watch, I can't say I'm "looking forward" to it.
7. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. To avoid major spoilers for those who are not there yet, I won't say anything more. But, ohmygodwhendoesseasonfourstart????
8. New HBO Programming. This season on HBO there is going to be a ton of new stuff. Mark Whalberg has a new comedy, How To Make it, starring Bryan Greenberg (an adorable Jewish boy). Treme is a drama about a neighborhood in New Orleans as it deals with the seemingly everlasting post-Katrina mess. Boardwalk Empire is produced by Martin Scorsese and he also directed the pilot. Nuff said about that one! And there is a lot of buzz around a pilot that they haven't even finished producing starring Sean Bean, called Throne. Plus there is the new mini-series, The Pacific, which is a follow up to the AMAZING mini-series, Band of Brothers. If there is one thing on HBO that you all must watch this year, it is this. I get you don't all love the vampire stuff, so I can't say the same for True Blood, but The Pacific is going to be great. (Side note only sort of related - I'm really excited to see Justified on FX. Stars Timothy Olypahnt and the creator is Graham Yost, who produced and wrote parts of the Pacific and BofB)
9. GLEE!!!!!! I added the exclamation points so you could "hear" the squee in how I said that word in my head. The show may be uneven, and have some of the most aggravating storylines/characters ever (Sorry Jessalyn) but dammit if it doesn't make me grin like a goof every week. And can they sing! If you've never seen it, you can now rent the first half of the season because it is on DVD. I dare you not to get tears in your eyes when Rachel sings Don't Rain on My Parade in the last episode, "Sectionals". Girl's got pipes. And when it comes back extra good stuff: Madonna episode, Kristin Chenoweth, Indina Menzel, Jonathan Groff! It's a Broadway lovers dream! In the meantime, we all know what is playing most often on my iPod.
10. Better Emmys. Now this is just a dream, really. Chances are I'm looking forward to something that will not happen. Last year's ceremony was great to watch because of NPH and the brief moment of Ricky Gervais (watch the Golden Globes, people!!) but the awards themselves?? Meh. I am sick of the same people every year - and I watch most of the shows that win!! How about some How I Met Your Mother, Friday Night Lights, Big Bang Theory..... anything!! Just change it up for goodness sake!! There should be a rule that you can not win more than twice in a row. It's getting to be like the years of Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond again! So please, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, for the love of Barney, Coach Taylor and Sheldon, mix it up this year, would ya??
Again, there is more I look forward to, but these are the 10 I thought of first.
And for the sake of symmetry, here is my daytime-themed number 11. (It's like Spinal Tap - this one goes to 11)
11. More familiar faces on General Hospital. Again, this could just end up being a dream.... BUT the powers that be at GH have been in talks to bring back Vanessa Marcil (Brenda) and Genie Francis (Laura). This time they have actually talked to both actresses and are not just saying their names in interviews to get people to buy those silly magazines. Storyline-wise it will make sense to have them back- especially Laura since the shit is about to hit the fan with that family. Please let them come back!!! They are two of the best the show has ever seen, and Port Charles will be a lot more fun to watch if they are there!!
Friday, January 1, 2010
My Top 10 of 2009
Alright, 2009 is officially over (whew!). Happy New Year! So now that it's done, here are my Top 10 TV moments** of last year. They are in no particular order. Just how they came to me. Though I will say this - Number 1 IS Number 1. There is no better moment on television in 2009 than that moment. I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum, however most of these moments happened MONTHS ago, so if you haven't seen it yet, I'm sorry. I'll do what I can.
**In this blog, a "moment" can be many things. A scene, a character, an episode or some combination of the 3. It's just too much of a pain to limit myself!
1. Mad Men Season 3 Finale. Possibly one of the best hours of television ever to air. Ever. Viewers were rewarded for everything they sat through all season. All series, actually. I think the one word that describes how I felt when it was over was "elation". Not only for the characters, but for myself. That episode sums up why I [heart] TV. And if I were to pick one moment that captures the entire episode - and is hands down the best minute of television of 2009 - it is Joan Halloway's entrance into Sterling Cooper. Christina Hendricks deserves an Emmy for her walk alone.
2. LOST Season 5 Finale. The entire season was made up of WTF moments, and the finale brings them on full force in every act. "WHO is in the box??" "Did he really just throw him in the fire?" And most importantly: "What does the white light mean???? Did it work??" I get chills just thinking about that final sequence with Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet. And that white light.... I can not wait for February 2nd. I can not wait to know what Team Darlton has come up with. But I don't know what I will do without it anymore!! Thank goodness for number 3......
3. Alexander Skarsgard. Honestly, all of Season 2 of True Blood could be on here. There is a reason the premiere was the highest rated HBO program since The Sopranos finale, and that every subsequent episode grew in the ratings. By a lot. But Skarsgard's portrayal of Eric was by far the highlight. (Once we got past who was in the car) If I had to pick one moment - Eric and Godric on the roof of the hotel in Dallas. If I had to pick two moments - Eric and Sookie in bed. Holy yum.
4. Booth's Dream. Ok, I'll be honest, when this happened last Spring, I was annoyed. We were promised Booth/Bones love all season and it ended up just being a dream Booth had while under anesthesia while getting a brain tumor removed. Sure, we got some fun with Zach, but IT WAS JUST A DREAM!! Then in the Fall, Hart Hanson made it all better. Yes, it was just a dream, but it made Booth realize he was REALLY in love with Bones. So, all is forgiven Hart. I'm sorry I doubted you. Now if only Bones would figure it out!
5. So You Think You Can Dance. It seems this summer was when the rest of the world realized that SYTYCD is amazing. The talent is beyond outstanding and the host, Cat Deely, is the best in all reality TV (realize this, Emmy voters!). There are two standouts of the past two seasons of SYTYCD. First, Travis Wall. For those who do not know, Travis came in second during season 2 and came back this summer as a choreographer. He has done about 5 dances since. Every single one is fantastic. I can't pick just one, so I just pick Travis as a whole. The second, Mia Michael's Addiction performed by Kayla and Kupono. If you have seen it, you know why. If you haven't, youtube it. Most moving 3 minutes of dance you will ever see.
6. Neil Patrick Harris. This slot was originally going to be for the Barney/Robin storyline on How I Met Your Mother. I think that it allowed for some real growth with a character that could otherwise be one dimensional. And NPH played it amazingly. BUT, then I realized that just listing that storyline neglects to show just how great NPH was this year. The Tonys! The Emmys! Saturday Night Live! He hosted 2009, and I have to give him credit for the whole year. Is there anyone more charming? And I say this as an impartial viewer, and not someone who has had a crush on him since I was 9.
7. Adam. Lambert. (nuff said)
8. Jim and Pam's wedding. I feel sorry for the poor bastards that got married the same weekend that this aired. No matter how romantic the groom was, nothing will ever live up to Jim Halpert cutting off half his tie. And no bride will be as adorable/beautiful as Pam taking a mental picture of it. It had some of the most awkward Michael Scott moments (though nothing will ever be as awkward/awful as Scott's Tots) but they were worth sitting through to get to that montage at the end of their two weddings. When they do those specials about the best weddings on television, this one will be up there with Luke&Laura and Charles&Di.
9. Modern Family pilot. In my life I have seen countless half hour comedy pilots. NEVER in my life have I felt as connected with the characters right off the bat as I did with this show. Never. For a show with an ensemble cast of 10 (11 if you count Lily), that is quite an accomplishment. Each character was defined immediately, and each one more lovable than the next. Oh, and did I mention is was fall-off-the-couch-from-laughing-so-hard funny???? And each episode after is just as good? Better, actually. While Friends will probably always be my favorite comedy series, Modern Family has quickly taken a very close second. If you aren't watching this show - do it. I command it. (And while you are at it, watch Cougar Town too. so good!)
10. "Hey guys? I know Kung Fu!" Chuck is a weekly version of a great action movies. A funny/nerdy guy who is pulled into a life of adventure against his will. That just makes for fun stuff. Season 2 ended on a question mark - is it coming back or not? In one of the few good decisions they would make all year, NBC renewed it for 13 (now 19) more episodes. But this ending would have sufficed if it were to have been the last. Thankfully, we get it back, and I can't wait to see what Chuck does with the new intersect in his head.
There were many more, but those were my favorites.
Ok, I'm going to cheat and add a #11. But first a side note. When I was 12 years old I turned on the TV after school and saw Luke, Laura and Lucky Spencer escaping from a burning building. That was my first episode of General Hospital, and I was hooked. I have watched since then - for 17 years. I love it. Whatever.
11. Jonathan Jackson Returns! JJ is the original Lucky Spencer on GH. He left the show in 1996 and was replaced by Jacob Young and then several years later Greg Vaughn took over. While neither was terrible, neither ever felt right as Lucky. Then at the end of October 2009, JJ made his first appearance in 13 years on GH. And suddenly.all scenes with him made sense again. Especially any with Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth, Lucky's long time love) and Tony Geary (Luke). All was right again in Port Charles.... well, not really. But it's getting better.
**In this blog, a "moment" can be many things. A scene, a character, an episode or some combination of the 3. It's just too much of a pain to limit myself!
1. Mad Men Season 3 Finale. Possibly one of the best hours of television ever to air. Ever. Viewers were rewarded for everything they sat through all season. All series, actually. I think the one word that describes how I felt when it was over was "elation". Not only for the characters, but for myself. That episode sums up why I [heart] TV. And if I were to pick one moment that captures the entire episode - and is hands down the best minute of television of 2009 - it is Joan Halloway's entrance into Sterling Cooper. Christina Hendricks deserves an Emmy for her walk alone.
2. LOST Season 5 Finale. The entire season was made up of WTF moments, and the finale brings them on full force in every act. "WHO is in the box??" "Did he really just throw him in the fire?" And most importantly: "What does the white light mean???? Did it work??" I get chills just thinking about that final sequence with Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet. And that white light.... I can not wait for February 2nd. I can not wait to know what Team Darlton has come up with. But I don't know what I will do without it anymore!! Thank goodness for number 3......
3. Alexander Skarsgard. Honestly, all of Season 2 of True Blood could be on here. There is a reason the premiere was the highest rated HBO program since The Sopranos finale, and that every subsequent episode grew in the ratings. By a lot. But Skarsgard's portrayal of Eric was by far the highlight. (Once we got past who was in the car) If I had to pick one moment - Eric and Godric on the roof of the hotel in Dallas. If I had to pick two moments - Eric and Sookie in bed. Holy yum.
4. Booth's Dream. Ok, I'll be honest, when this happened last Spring, I was annoyed. We were promised Booth/Bones love all season and it ended up just being a dream Booth had while under anesthesia while getting a brain tumor removed. Sure, we got some fun with Zach, but IT WAS JUST A DREAM!! Then in the Fall, Hart Hanson made it all better. Yes, it was just a dream, but it made Booth realize he was REALLY in love with Bones. So, all is forgiven Hart. I'm sorry I doubted you. Now if only Bones would figure it out!
5. So You Think You Can Dance. It seems this summer was when the rest of the world realized that SYTYCD is amazing. The talent is beyond outstanding and the host, Cat Deely, is the best in all reality TV (realize this, Emmy voters!). There are two standouts of the past two seasons of SYTYCD. First, Travis Wall. For those who do not know, Travis came in second during season 2 and came back this summer as a choreographer. He has done about 5 dances since. Every single one is fantastic. I can't pick just one, so I just pick Travis as a whole. The second, Mia Michael's Addiction performed by Kayla and Kupono. If you have seen it, you know why. If you haven't, youtube it. Most moving 3 minutes of dance you will ever see.
6. Neil Patrick Harris. This slot was originally going to be for the Barney/Robin storyline on How I Met Your Mother. I think that it allowed for some real growth with a character that could otherwise be one dimensional. And NPH played it amazingly. BUT, then I realized that just listing that storyline neglects to show just how great NPH was this year. The Tonys! The Emmys! Saturday Night Live! He hosted 2009, and I have to give him credit for the whole year. Is there anyone more charming? And I say this as an impartial viewer, and not someone who has had a crush on him since I was 9.
7. Adam. Lambert. (nuff said)
8. Jim and Pam's wedding. I feel sorry for the poor bastards that got married the same weekend that this aired. No matter how romantic the groom was, nothing will ever live up to Jim Halpert cutting off half his tie. And no bride will be as adorable/beautiful as Pam taking a mental picture of it. It had some of the most awkward Michael Scott moments (though nothing will ever be as awkward/awful as Scott's Tots) but they were worth sitting through to get to that montage at the end of their two weddings. When they do those specials about the best weddings on television, this one will be up there with Luke&Laura and Charles&Di.
9. Modern Family pilot. In my life I have seen countless half hour comedy pilots. NEVER in my life have I felt as connected with the characters right off the bat as I did with this show. Never. For a show with an ensemble cast of 10 (11 if you count Lily), that is quite an accomplishment. Each character was defined immediately, and each one more lovable than the next. Oh, and did I mention is was fall-off-the-couch-from-laughing-so-hard funny???? And each episode after is just as good? Better, actually. While Friends will probably always be my favorite comedy series, Modern Family has quickly taken a very close second. If you aren't watching this show - do it. I command it. (And while you are at it, watch Cougar Town too. so good!)
10. "Hey guys? I know Kung Fu!" Chuck is a weekly version of a great action movies. A funny/nerdy guy who is pulled into a life of adventure against his will. That just makes for fun stuff. Season 2 ended on a question mark - is it coming back or not? In one of the few good decisions they would make all year, NBC renewed it for 13 (now 19) more episodes. But this ending would have sufficed if it were to have been the last. Thankfully, we get it back, and I can't wait to see what Chuck does with the new intersect in his head.
There were many more, but those were my favorites.
Ok, I'm going to cheat and add a #11. But first a side note. When I was 12 years old I turned on the TV after school and saw Luke, Laura and Lucky Spencer escaping from a burning building. That was my first episode of General Hospital, and I was hooked. I have watched since then - for 17 years. I love it. Whatever.
11. Jonathan Jackson Returns! JJ is the original Lucky Spencer on GH. He left the show in 1996 and was replaced by Jacob Young and then several years later Greg Vaughn took over. While neither was terrible, neither ever felt right as Lucky. Then at the end of October 2009, JJ made his first appearance in 13 years on GH. And suddenly.all scenes with him made sense again. Especially any with Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth, Lucky's long time love) and Tony Geary (Luke). All was right again in Port Charles.... well, not really. But it's getting better.
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