Cra$h & Burn: Steve Bacic, Leela Savasta, Luke Kirby, Caroline Cave and Clark Johnson
Series name
Cra$h and Burn
Debuts
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 at 5 and 9 p.m. ET on Showcase, repeating Friday at 5 and 11 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m.
Regularly airs
Wednesdays at 5 and 9 p.m., Fridays at 5 and 11 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. (or at least for the first couple of weeks)
Premise
Insurance adjuster tries to do the right thing by himself, his fiancee and his clients, making a break from a harsh upbringing. If he can foil the Russian mob at the same time, bonus. Set in gritty Hamilton.
Primary cast and crew
Luke Kirby (Tell Me You Love Me, Slings and Arrows, Mambo Italiano) is Jimmy Burn, street kid trying to make a life with his fiancee
Leela Savasta (Eureka, Battlestar Galactica, Intellligence) is Lucia Silva, the fiancee with the big Italian family.
Caroline Cave (Saw VI, The L Word) is Catherine Scott, the firm’s recently divorced lawyer; she devours any man who gets between her and happy hour.
Clark Johnson (The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street) is Walker Hearn, Jimmy’s mentor.
Steve Bacic (Smallville, The Guard, Flash Gordon) is Korkov, mobster, body-shop owner, and now physio-type body-shop owner. You might notice his distinct fashion sense.
Malcolm MacRury (Deadwood, ZOS: Zone of Separation) is creator and exec producer.
Paul Gross (Eastwick, Due South) is producer.
But what do I know anyway? After having watched the first two episodes, I predict…
First things first: Showcase should not be showing this series at 5 p.m. (as it appears to be doing Wednesday and Friday) or even 7 p.m. on Sundays. The Russian mob storyline is mostly notable for its cliches but also delivers brief scenes of torture (on and off camera) that are not only a bit much and narratively unnecessary, but jarring departures from the general tone of otherwise mildly bleak comic drama. Not supper-hour viewing. Now then, the show: Insurance adjuster as hero? Hmm. Isn’t he the guy who refused to renew my home insurance because some punk broke into my apartment? But series protagonist Jimmy Burn puts a heroic spin on things. And while the show has problems, Luke Kirby is so likable as Jimmy, and the payout on his troubled-kid back story is mostly well played, I will give it a couple more episodes at least. Clark Johnson is very laid back as Walter, Jimmy’s mentor. The insurance firm’s lawyer, a rabid cougar going through a divorce, has a good simmer going, though many scenes present her as laughable. (Mystery in the unfolding of a character is good, inconsistency is not.) Biggest problem? The mobsters, apparently a long-term part of the series, are too cartoonish to take seriously. Also, the tone is uneven, which can be dramatically effective, but seems erratic here: bleak, slapstick, violent, pensive. And while I’m at it, some of the scenes are trying way too hard to be quirky. I direct your attention to a scene that will involve urine. Lots of urine. But there is appeal in the main story, about a guy trying to outrun his past and not lose what’s left of his soul in the only job he can find. Likewise, the drama in the small stories, like the final turn in the old man’s story in the premiere episode, is satisfying.
Other reviews
The Globe and Mail’s Andrew Ryan haaaaates this.
Official website
Um, is it just me and my lame little laptop (it is the older backup laptop, but still) or is this website unnavigable because of the sainted videos that start playing (and overlapping each other, which i LOVE) all on their own? The site looks interesting and I would like to have explored more. I want a website with options, but not options that all launch themselves all at once. Or maybe it’s just me and my lame little laptop?
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
This tip of the hat to Mad Men’s Season 3 finale, which aired on AMC last Sunday (Nov. 8), is a week late. Or is it? Depends when you watched it.
Well, okay, this is late because I’ve been writing and rewriting it for a week, not just because of the usual dithering, but for the sheer joy of rolling it over in my mind. Which of the blistering moments were the worst? Probably Don to Betty: “You’re a whore.” Which were there best? Probably the polite razor swipe of, “Very Good. Happy Christmas.” Most painful? Every moment on that sofa with Bobby and Sally the “you’ll have two Christmases” speech.
I have resorted to this because, well, directly after I watched the finale — Close the Door, Have a Seat — I beetled into work looking for the closest MM watcher. But he held up a finger and wordlessly shook his head, the international sign for “I haven’t seen it yet. Do not discuss in earshot.”
I turned to Facebook and got two more Mad Men fans launching best-defence-is-a-good-offence strategies: “Watching it later this week. No spoilers.” Another demanded “24 hours.” It was gratification so delayed as to be denied.
Oh sure, I got my fix. Alan Sepinwall at the New Jersey Ledger has made an art of Mad Men debriefing. His dispatches are brilliant, his readers’ comments almost as good. Have a look.It’s not as thought delayed TV viewing is a new thing. There are DVRs, possibly even VCRs (yes, I’m laughing at you, a little) and also network videoplayers and sites like Hulu, plus file-sharing sites where one can download and, increasingly, iTunes. Watch any time!Which is all great. But it’s not quite the same as when we all stayed home to watch the last season finale of Lost and swarmed each other the next day, going, “Kate? And Jack? And Juliet? And Sawyer? Oh my GAWD!” Not a Lostie? Then perhaps you can apply this heightened state of TV-watching euphoria to American Idol or even So You Think You Can Dance. It might only be people in the media who call this a watercooler moment. I’ve never actually had a conversation standing by a watercooler, so let’s update it and call these our waiting-at-the-printer moments. Well, I’m standing by the printer and I’m waiting. Hellooooo?
***
Yes, I will eventually get to the Mad Men finale, but before that, let me just detail my Mad Men procurement experience. Videotron and Bell continue to ignore the great value and, I think, demand for the AMC cable channel, which carries Mad Men but is not carried by either of these dominant TV providers in the Montreal area. CTV, then it’s sister A channel, then Bravo carried the first two season, but declined to carry the third.
I watched episodes on iTunes the morning after broadcast on my iPhone, an experience best described as intimate but ruined not a little by the inches-wide screen. It was however smoother than the herky-jerky playback when viewing the episodes on my laptop. Shelling out $2.49 per episode made me grumpy, but not as grumpy as the playback.
Judging by the comments on iTunes, I was not the only one plagued by jerky playback, but no one proposed a solution other than buying newer computer equipment. Thanks. I’ll get right on that. After I pay my exorbitant cable bill and top up my iTunes account and go to confession for even thinking about turning to a file-sharing site which, while I don’t judge others for resorting to, I still hold to be theft.
I do, however, have one good thing to say about iTunes other than, of course, that they at least make the episodes available. After trying to play back the third last episode and finding the dialogue audio track missing, I vowed to try once again to attempt to figure out how to reach an actual human or even find an email address to request help, but iTunes beat me to it. There was an email in my in-box advising that a problem in my last transaction had been detected (for me and others) and that I had a fresh download waiting for me at the iTunes store. So thanks for that, iTunes.
***
And now to the episode itself. It is not only too late, but also too little to say Close the Door, Have a Seat was a great end to a great season of Mad Men.
First of all, special thanks to Matthew Weiner, exec and writer, for not leaving us with a cliffhanger. The future is still uncertain, but another show might have ended this season with merely the intent or threat to change. This finale set the pieces of Don Draper’s personal and business lives on a new board and the new game is ready. How will things change? And will they really change? And will I stop asking rhetorical questions?
The episode ends with wonderful, luxurious ambiguity with Roy Orbison’s Shahdaroba. It starts out promising “the future is much better than the past” and “in the future, you will find a love that lasts”, but ends with “When your dream dies, and your heart cries, Shahadaroba, fate knows what’s best for you.”
Let’s do a roll call:
Betty Draper (January Jones) is done with husband Don (Jon Hamm), jetting off to Las Vegas for a six-week “quickie divorce” with new friend Henry Francis (Christopher Stanley). But how will her unhappiness be eased by going from one man who sees only her glacial beauty and excellent hosting skills to another? Don’s philandering and the cigar-box evidence of his other life wounded Betty, but only aggravated her own need for … something. She will become liberated, but mostly from the idea that men are the problem.Henry urged her not to ask for any money from Don, promising to take care of her and her three children. It’s 1963. Oh dear. I pick politics as the pumpkin that will become her chariot ride to the ball. She dabbled this season to get close to Henry, she will continue as his covivant and it will not only transform her but put her in circles that will overlap with Don’s.
This episode is Don’s comeuppance. He is humbled by every woman in his life. Betty leaves him, Peggy refuses to jump at his offer to join Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and even daughter Sally scalds him when, after he explains he’s not really going, “just living elsewhere”, she screamed, “That’s going! You say things you don’t mean. You can’t do that!” All Don’s worst fears have been realized. His secret life is now known to his wife and at least one of his superiors-cum-partners and he has lost his surface-perfect marriage (though even Betty concedes “You will always be their father”). A man who lives by facade who loses the facade either seeks a new facade or faces himself unmasked. When Don gets surly after Conrad Hilton (Chelcie Ross) warns him of the impending sales, father-figure Connie (oh please bring him back) chastises Don for being anything other than self-defined, leading Don to a flashback of his hated father refusing to sell his wheat for too low a price. Galvanized, Don pitches the idea to buy Sterling Cooper by admonishing Bertram Cooper’s (Robert Morse) passivity: “Who the hell’s in charge? A bunch of accountants who want to turn a dollar into a dollar-ten? I want to work! I want to build something of my own!” More portents of real change follow when Don’s appeal to Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) describes the new post-JFK-assassination world: “There are people out there who buy things. People like you and me. And then something happened. Something terrible happened and the way they saw themselves is gone. Nobody understands that, but you do.”
Other characters are changed utterly: Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) finally gets to hang up on his now-furious viper of an ex-boss, Saint John Powell (Charles Shaughnessy) with: “Very good! Happy Christmas!”Unchanged but restored: Don makes peace of a sort with Roger Sterling (John Slattery), which is lovely because they work so well together.
And Joan (Christina Hendricks) is back. This show has always been about Don, the hollow man seeking first to hide his hollowness and now to fill it with substance and righteous action. But the backbone of the show is the women and their evolution. Betty is heading for a breakdown or a breathrough. This job grants Joan a reprieve from her also disappointing marriage to a failure of a doctor who’s now Vietnam bound. Peggy is standing on her own, has told Don she will neither be the dog he kicks nor, very amusingly, the girl who will get Roger’s coffee. Ever.
Speaking of Peggy, what of her new beau, Duck Phillips (Mark Moses) and his own aspirations? How will he take the news that he’s lost Peggy to his enemy? Moreover, what will become of the abandoned Sterling Cooper crew?
And what of those others who were so glaringly absent from the finale? What does it mean that in the raid on Sterling Cooper, the art department’s was the only locked door? The art department headed by Sal (Bryan Batt), let go because he was gay and was accused of hitting on the man who heads the cigarette account that Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce must keep? Don kicked in the door, but can that be seen as breaking down the metaphorical door? They need Sal (and we love Sal). But can they accept Sal?
Also missing was Don’s latest teacher squeeze, left outside in the car after he forgets her a couple of episodes back when Betty confronted him with the cigar box. And not only the teacher and her shades of Fatal Attraction, but her no-good brother, who has one of Don’s business cards. You know that card will turn up in a police station or a morgue.
Sing it Mr. Orbison: “Shahdaroba, fate knows what’s best for you.”
What did you think? How did you watch Mad Men? I’m a the printer and I’m waiting, but also checking comments here. – Denise Duguay
So let’s see. Highlight this week: A little vampire movie you might have heard of turns the promo machine to 11, with talk shows seeing a veritable parade of Twilight Saga: New Moon stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart or Taylor Lautner and sometimes all three at once (on Jimmy Kimmel on Friday)!!! OMG. I know I can’t stand it. Film opens Thursday night at 10 p.m. in Montreal. If you’re not so much impressed by such swells in the pop culture sea, you could take in Canada’s best talk show host in the person of George Stroumboulopoulos, or so he was crowned at Saturday’s Geminis TV awards in Calgary. Congrats to Strombo, who won the honours for his hosting duties on The Hour, which this week welcomes Glee’s Cory Monteith and author Stephen King. Other Gemini winners were: Rick Mercer Report as best comedy, Flashpoint as best drama and Diana Swain as best news anchor for CBC News at 6. To view other winners, click here. To get the talk-show dope, read on.
LATE NIGHT
Lopez Tonight (11 p.m. ET on TBS, aka TLN Videotron 250, Bell 700, Shaw 69 and 280)
Monday: Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men), Demi Lovato, Slash
Tuesday: Andy Garcia, Real Housewives of Orange County, Justin Bieber
Monday: Sharon Stone (Elton John AIDS Foundation Event), Seth Meyers (SNL), Wyclef Jean with Cyndi Lauper (From the Hut, to the Projects, to the Mansion)
Tuesday: Penelope Cruz (Nine), World Series of Poker champ Joe Cada, The Script
Wednesday: Stupid Human Tricks, Robert Pattinson (Twilight Saga: New Moon), Ray Davies
Thursday: Stephen Colbert (Colbert Report), John Mayer (Battle Studies)
Friday: Viggo Mortensen (The Road), Paula Poundstone (Stand-Up), Lyle Lovett (Natural Forces)
Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi are on Oprah today! And there’s a tapeworm on Tyra. One will make me naseated because of too cuteness and the other, well, how badly could you need to drop a few pounds (oh yes, it’s a tapeworm DIET). To balance that out, Tyra will also give away 100,000 coats. But still. I think my flu is back. Blech.
Hello chickens! If this is Friday, then it’s time for another poll.
Last week on Inside the Box, we asked: Who is your favourite new television character this season?
My vote went to Edie Falco’s junkie-nurse-philanderer in the Movie Network dramedy Nurse Jackie. And I was alone. Sigh. Not even Mother would stand with me on this one.
According to you louts, the most favoured new character this season was…
John Lithgow, all creepy and occasionally naked (very naked) as the evil Trinity Killer on Dexter, evil as opposed to the “good” avenging title killer, played by Michael C. Hall. Lithgow took home just over half the votes.
The remaining vote getters were:
Julianna Margulies as the lawyer/mom in The Good Wife with 19 per cent,
The evil vampire brother on The Vampire Diaries, played by ex Lostie Ian Somerhalder, with 14 per cent, and
The wierd kid on The Middle and the vampire queen on True Blood, with five per cent apiece.
There were, however, a couple of glaring oversights in last week’s poll options. The first was pointed out by a Facebook friend Pat S.: “Sue Sylvester, coach of the Cheerios on Glee!” Chapeau to you, Sue, you demented blonde. (And thanks to you, Pat.) The second was pointed out by fellow Gazetteer Jordan Zivitz, who offered: “Robert Knepper’s carnival weirdo on Heroes”. Perhaps if I have a poll on which male characters make the best use of smudged eye liner, I’ll include Knepper. Thanks for the tip JZ.
Now then, this week’s shameless self-indulgence is this question: Which show deserves to be cancelled next?
Acclaimed L.A. cop drama Southland has been saved from certain death now that TNT, a U.S.-only cable outlet, has confirmed it will carry the show that NBC killed before airing any of the second season THAT IT ORDERED LAST SPRING??? (Details yet to be revealed about how or if Canadians will see it since TNT is not available except to computer eggheads).
Otherwise this season, the new show death tally is pretty low so far: The Mischa Barton modelling “drama” The Beautiful Life was exterminated after just two episodes.
Trauma, about the melodramas among emergency responders, has been sacked, although NBC will air all 13 episodes initially ordered.
But surely, you have other shows you’d like to see die. And I’m not limiting it to new shows. I haven’t heard a single good word about Grey’s Anatomy yet this season. There’s a handful of other options in this week’s poll, which you’ve already seen up top.
Vote and vote as many times as you like. And if you don’t see a show you’d like to see die, you can add it youself.
Bon weekend! – Denise Duguay
I have a bit of news and a bit of, well, not nudity, but… Yes, that Chelsea Handler on the cover of Playboy’s December issue in all her Xmas glory. On her blog, she confesses she ate nothing but turkey and grapefruit for a few weeks before the photo shoot. Talk about a testimonial.
And now to the news: This weekend, Wanda Sykes starts her Saturday-night Fox talker, filling the spot left by Spike Feresten. She’s on Leno on Thursday to talk about it. Also next Monday, Nov. 9, George Lopez starts Lopez Tonight, his weeknight talk show for TBS. And finally, if you like my other boyfriend, he’s starting a new Sunday-night music show on CBC. That would be The Strombo Show, hosted by The Hour’s George Stroumboulopoulos, Sundays from 8 p.m. to midnight on CBC Radio 2.
Debuts
Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo (premiered the previous Friday on U.S.-only cable station USA)
Regularly airs
Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo
Premise
Con artist talks his FBI stalker into springing him from prison in exchange for helping catch other con artists. Sorta Catch Me If You Can without the running. Or The Mentalist in rat-pack attire. And ankle-bracelet tracking device. And very rich, charming widow who takes in con artist cum FBI consultant.
Primary cast and crew
Matt Bomer (Traveler, Bryce in Chuck) is Neal Caffrey, art thief, bond forger, prison inmate… oh wait, actually he’s just escaped … aaaaaaaand he’s back. Until he charms …
Tim DeKay (Tell Me You Love Me, Carnivale) is Peter Burke, FBI agent who is as strait-laced and rule-bound as Caffrey is self-indulgent and rule-averse. But they share a love for their work, although that work falls on opposite sides of the line called The Law.
Tiffani Thiessen (What About Brian?, Beverly Hills 90210) is Elizabeth Burke, Peter’s very understanding soul mate and sounding board.
Willie Garson (Sex and the City) is Mozzie, Neal’s old pal.
Diahann Carroll (Grey’s Anatomy, Back to You) is June, the wealthy widow who takes Neal in to her life, but not in a cougar kind of way. You are terrible!
Alexandra Daddario (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, All My Children) is Kate, Neal’s ex and his biggest weakness. Is she how he got into the criminal life? And where is shenow? And is she in trouble? And shouldn’t he just forget her, as Peter advises?
Jeff Eastin (Held Up, Shasta McNasty) is the creator/writer/producer. Shasta McNasty?
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I declare …
You know how most times the promo for a TV show completely misrepresents a show? Usually by making it look more fun/interesting/engaging than the show really is? Well this is the exception to that rule. The pilot episode reveals a show that hits the ground running, and hits it very, very confidantly and without breaking a sweat. Neal, the con, and Peter, the FBI agent, are the two poles in this opposites-attract scenario. But the playfullness and, yes I’ll say it again, style (both visual and narrative) raise it above the often unimaginatively rendered “buddy” setup. Thiessen and Diahann Carroll don’t get much screen time in the debut episode, but they make very second count and left me hoping and expecting they will be bigger parts of coming episodes. As for quibbles? Well, I watched the pilot after a very jolting espresso and that tends to make me gullible. I did pause for a second in the opening escape scene: A recent beard and a more recent shave render an inmate of four years unrecognizable to his guards? Well, maybe it’s the espresso, but I’ll give them that one. And besides, realism is moot in TV. It’s all about believability, right? I believe that smile of Neal’s. I believe he gets almost anything he wants. Except, according to his deal with Peter, freedom from the ankle tracking bracelet for at least four years, which hopefully translates into four seasons.
Other reviews
On Metacritic, an aggregator of reviews from professional (ahem!) critics and “regular” viewers, puts the show in an A-plus category: the critics gave it an average of 79 out of 100 and the regular types gave it 9.2 out of 10. (Clearly professional (ahem!) critics must have 100 points to play with, as opposed to the lowly 10 alotted to the plebes. Clearly.)
Official website
The USA site (the U.S. broadcaster of the show) has the usual character and actor bios, a quiz in which you can find out if you’re a con artist or an FBI agent (“Denise: You’re an FBI agent to the core!”), and an FBI white-collar crime training program. The Bravo site is notable only because it links you to the video, in case you miss the Friday-night broadcast.
Twitter
Basic promo of the show with links to personal accounts for Tiffani Thiessen and show creator Jeff Eastin. Tiff looks like a real tweeter. That still sounds a bit dirty, doesn’t it.
Facebook
Click on “White Collar” to find their decent fan page (including the Con Dictionary link to the USA page) and … oh wait, a promise of “watch full episodes” that gives no love to Canadian computers. What a con!
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
V! Coming before the Nov. 3 premiere.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
This could be interesting. Ricky Gervais (The Office, Extras, The Invention of Lying) will host the Golden Globes gala on Jan. 17. It says here that this will make the 2010 event the first time the Globes have had a host since 1995.
“Not only is this the biggest Hollywood celebration of the industry which includes both film and TV, but also an environment where I feel I can get free reign as a host. I have resisted many other offers like this, but there are just some things you don’t turn down,” Gervais said in the announcement.
Not to be outdone: “We are delighted to have Ricky Gervais as the host on our show,” said Philip Berk, President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “He’ll bring his unique brand of humor and charm to what will continue to be a fast paced award show.”
As I said, it could be interesting. Will be interesting if he’s given free reign to be more host (Oscars: Johnny Carson, Billy Cristal) than circus ringleader (Oscars: Hugh Jackman).
I was initially charmed by last year’s Oscars, with Jackman and all the huge sets and productions numbers and themes and clusters of stars bumping into each other to group-announce the nominees for various categories. But I reconsidered. In the end, I just want a parade of dresses, somebody going off-script at least once an hour, a gorgeous tribute to the year’s deceased and some funny, snarky and emotional speeches. I don’t want song and dance or acting stars out to prove they can do song and dance.
Ricky? Are you my man?
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Nominees for the Golden Globes are announced Dec. 15 at 8 a.m. ET.
On the potential-OMG front, Artie Lange, Mackenzie Philips and Kate Gosselin are all making appearances this week. But I’m going to rise above the salacious and pin my biggest hopes on The Hour hosting Hugh Dillon. The former Headstones frontman has an album out (Works Well With Others) and is hotter than Saturday night’s chili on Flashpoint, with a third season of Durham County shooting now.
Monday: Carl Reiner (Just Desserts and Tell Me Another Scary Story … but Not TOO Scary, comicsHeather McDonald and Randy Sklar and Inside Dish’s Ross Mathews
Tuesday: Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel (Dancing with the Stars), comics Chris Hardwick, Hasan Minhaf and Arden Myrin
Wednesday: David Alan Grier (Barack Like Me: The Chocolate-Covered Truth), comics Chris Franjola, Sarah Colonna and Matt Braunger
Thursday: Mike Epps (BET Hip-Hop Awards), comics Brad Wollack, Natasha Leggero and Ryan Stout
Friday: Cory Monteith (Glee), comics Josh Wolf, Janet Varney and Ross Matthews
Since so many of you are so passionate about Southland, you might alreadyknow that rumours are still flying hot and heavy than TNT, the U.S. only cable company that produces The Closer, HawthoRNe and Saving Grace, will pick up the gritty cop drama that was cancelled by NBC in early October ahead of its Oct. 23 debut (leaving six episodes in the can, as we say in the biz).
What that means for Canadian TV watchers is unclear. Based on the availability of TNT’s current hits, could go either way: TNT’s acclaimed Kyra Sedgwick cop drama The Closer is still not widely available on Canadian cable (I think early episodes were on late a night somewhere but not even that now), but Saving Grace is currently airing Season 3 on Showcase. TNT itself is not carried by any Canadian cable or satellite company that I can find. Will CTV continue to carry it in Canada? I’m waiting to hear back, but suspect there will be no news unless TNT or some other saviour picks it up.
But when it does return — and it must, mustn’t it? — I will be especially looking forward to a new actor on the team, Clifton Collins Jr. (who’ll play Regina King’s new partner, replacing Prison Break’s Amaury Nolasco, who shot three episodes for Season 2 and then parted ways with the show). You can read an interview with Collins here, which includes his calm assurance (he’s not shaving the moustache he grew for the role) that a show as good and as well-backed (creator/exec is ER’s John Wells) will live on.
You might recognize the face. He’s done terrific work in Capote and Sunshine Cleaning and will be in the upcoming sequel Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.
Fingers crossed. – Denise Duguay
FYI I am not dating a member of my staff (okay, I have no staff, but full disclosure is required for everyone. Please confess in the comments section below.
Monday: Forest Whitaker (Where the Wild Things Are), Alicia Keys
Tuesday: Uma Thurman (Motherhood), Ivanka Trump
Wednesday: Minnie Driver (Motherhood), Colbie Caillat, Dr. Greg Yapalater
Thursday: John Cleese, Michael palin, Eric Idle, Mario Lopez
Friday: Ander Cooper co-hosts, Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl)
The View 11 a.m. ET, ABC and CTV) (and by the way, as of this writing on Monday, 6 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes and 56, 55, 54… seconds until Elisabeth returns)
Monday: Dr. Steven Lamm, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano
Tuesday: Kaley Cuoco (Big Bang Theory), Alicia Silverstone
Wednesday: Valerie Bertinellil, Alana Stewart, Five for Fighting, Jeff Kinney
Thursday: Kara DioGuardi (American Idol) co-hosts, Gilles Marini (Brothers and Sisters), Gloria Gaynor
Friday: Sela Ward (The Stepfather), Laurie Levin, Greg Proops
As Reuters and others are reporting, NBC’s cop drama Southland has been cancelled before its Oct. 23 Season 2 premiere on NBC (CTV was also airing it).
Too dark, apparently. The show, which premiered in the spring and was being groomed to replace ER, was being moved to 9 p.m. because the Jay Leno Show’s ownership of the 10 p.m. timeslot. I have to say I agree is was too intense for 9 p.m., but I had grown to like it quite a lot after its waaaaaay over the top premiere.
Let’s hope a home can be found on a cable network, as is being rumoured.
Had about enough of this David Letterman-having-sex-with-his-staff story? Yeah, I know. But it’s not going to die down (update: here’s Reuters on Letterman’s mea culpa to his Monday-night audience), on the news or on the talk-show circuit. Jay Leno’s already weighed in, having said on Friday that if viewers tuned in for sex with a talk-show hosts they had the wrong studio. Jimmy Fallon goofed on Dave’s sexual know how. And, according to Yahoo’s story on the reaction, even SNL’s Seth Meyers dubbed it a “stupid human trick”. Monday night, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Craig Ferguson will have their chances to weigh in. And will Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel, who gave Dave passes on Friday, take their kicks? Yeah I know I’m being lurid. It’ll be salacious enough without courting nasty funny comments. I’m ashamed. But I’m watching.
Premise
A medical drama set in Pittsburgh with a triple twist: riffing on the “three” of the title, it’s a transplant-centric medical drama, encompassing the perspectives of the team, the donor and the recipient.
Primary cast and crew Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight, White Out, August Rush) is Dr. Andy Yablonski, lead surgeon on the transplant team at Three Rivers hospital.
Katherine Moennig (The L Word) is Dr. Miranda Foster, hot-tempered surgeon with father issues.
Daniel Henney (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) is Dr. David Lee, who, well let’s just allow CBS’s own show website tell you: Lee is a “womanizing surgical resident who’s broken as many hearts as he’s replaced.” Perfection.
Christopher J. Hanke (theatre: Cry Baby, Rent) is Ryan Abbott, young and “inexperienced” transplant coordinator, CBS says. Because I think you want your coordinator to be learning on the job, no?
Alfre Woodard (My Own Worst Enemy, Desperate Housewives) is Dr. Sophia Jordan, head of surgery. Very demanding. No life.
Justina Machado (ER, Kath and Kim) is Pam Acosta, Andy’s devoted Gal Friday.
Amber Clayton (Rush) is Lisa Reed. All I can tell you is that she’s blonde. I guess she got on the publicist’s bad side.
Buzz buzz
I loved ER as much as anyone, but how many hospital series can even the most patient (get it?) viewer absorb? House, Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, Nurse Jackie, Scrubs (Novemberish?), Mercy, Trauma, and now Three Rivers. Get me a scalpel. And some Ringer’s lactate. … Stat?
Also, pilot was reshot to jam Alfre Woodard in where Joaquin de Almeida (Crusoe, 24) had been.
But what do I know anyway? After not having seen the pilot I predict…
I’ll watch a few, but won’t have much patience (okay, that’s the end of that joke theme). But I never got the appeal of Moonlight, so am immune to O’Loughlin’s appeal. Having said that, I used to be immune to the charms of Simon Baker (Smith, The Guardian) until I gave in and tried The Mentalist.
Other reviews
Alan Sepinwall at the New Jersey Star Ledger says the concept of a series focussed on transplants is great, but this doesn’t realize the full potential. Plus O’Loughlin is stiff.
Mike Hale at the New York Times says that the show is weak, but the star power of O’Loughlin from Moonlight and Hale from The L Word might buy it enough time to get its legs under it.
Official website
Lamest network show website ever. Actor bios, but not character bios. One paragraph about the show and it’s choked with purple prose. Extras, under Community, ask how “your” life has been changed by a transplant (they’re focussing on that demographic?) and what character we are most looking forward to meeting (Tell me a little more about the GD characters and I might have something to work with!). Show preview videos are not (sigh) viewable in this Canadian geographic area, but at least a couple of cast interview videos work. Alex O’Loughlin talks about his role and the series and sounds a little bit like he thinks he’s about to change the world. His younger co-star Christopher Hanke does a video diary entry about meeting the Television Critics Association during the fall-season preview in L.A. in August.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Battle of the Blades is Monday, but I’m not much of a non-fiction reviewer. You lemme know how it works out. Next new fiction-type series? Looks like the remake of V, Nov. 3.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Of course this David Letterman/extortion/sexual affairs with Late Show staff thing is all over everywhere.
Even Jay Leno took a crack at it Friday (Letterman’s show Friday was taped on Thursday): “If you came here tonight for sex with a talk show host, you’ve got the wrong studio.”
What is also everywhere are links to video of Letterman’s brilliant PR move to reveal all the details to his captive and unwitting studio audience Thursday. But most links I’ve found (try following the links here to part of the 10-minute clip, but no promises) have been hijacked by CBS news reports on the issue or are simply no longer available. If you find other, please share in the comments section below.
Now then, in case you’ve been asleep since suppertime on Thursday, the bases of the … shall we call it a scandal? … is Thursday night’s blockbuster that Letterman admitted to his Late Show studio audience that he was the victim of a $2 million extortion attempt and that the sensitive information at the centre of the attempt was “proof” that Letterman did, in the host’s own words, “terrible”, “creepy” things, specifically had sex with female staff on his CBS late-night show.
Since then: 48 Hours Mystery producer Robert (Joe) Halderman appeared in court Friday to plead not guilty to attempted grand larceny.
The Huffington Post is running a report from AP’s David Bauder that says Halderman was deep in debt, that part of the “proof” he was using to try to extort $2 million from Letterman were the diary, photos etc. of his former live-in girlfriend, former Letterman assistant Stephanie Birkitt.
You might recall her from a number of bits she did on the Late Show, photos of which you can find here, in another Huff Post story, that identifies Birkitt as one of the affairs and quotes a RadarOnline.com report that says she is “reportedly ‘mortified’ ” at the extortion attempt. People reports another so far unnamed staffer had an affair with Letterman.
In that same report is an assurance from an unnamed Late Show associate that long work days, and not predatory behaviour, are at the root of the issue:
“In politics it’s the same thing,” says the source. “People who live it, eat it, breathe it … [It's] not some sort of predatory, ‘Let’s hire beautiful women so we can feast on them’ kind of thing. That’s just not the way it works.”
You might see reports of Late Show bandleader Paul Shaffer and Letterman sitting down for an interview with CBS Sunday (Sunday at 9 a.m. ET on CBS), but it was taped before this all happened and likely will centre on Shaffer’s coming memoir.
Several of you have already weighed in on your feelings, in response to my previous post on the news, some of you jaded, others certain that Letterman is not a creep, just weak. It’s all just a little sad isn’t it? Tawdry? I liked having a Letterman who could so blisteringly and authoritatively mock the misbehavers in show biz and politics and other spheres of public life. Now he’s one of them.
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert: If you reveal yourselves to be less that perfect, I’m gonna be really peeved.
Here’s what you know, if you saw Thursday night’s Late Show with David Letterman or read the news story online last night, both of which I did:
After his usual monologue, Letterman told his audience that a man was arrested Thursday in New York after Letterman, having consulted with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, gave a bogus cheque for $2 million to the man, who had demanded money in return for not producing a screenplay or writing a book revealing what Letterman himself described to his audience as “terrible”, “embarrassing” and “creepy” things the talk-show host has done. You also know that Letterman admitted to testifing to a grand jury about all the “creepy things” he has done, specifically that, “I have had sex with women who work for me on this show.”
You might also know, from reports since then, that the man who has been indicted on charges of attempted grand larceny is (Robert) Joe Halderman, an Emmy-winning producer of another CBS show, 48 hours. In the statement, widely quoted by news agencies and bloggers, CBS also said: “Mr. Letterman addressed the issue during the show’s broadcast this (Thursday) evening, and we believe his comments speak for themselves.” Bill Carter of the New York Times reported just an hour ago that CBS is expected to have a press conference today.
What’s not yet known is how this has changed the way Letterman is regarded by his audience.
He had sex with female employees? He’s certainly not the first, but Letterman has always worked the decent, midwesterner angle, the publicity-shunning regular guy who just happens to have a talk show. The scandal-magnet public figures? They are the butt of HIS jokes.
Will this affect his position of authority — and his post 9/11 show and his recent interview with President Barack Obama are among the signs that he does indeed have that authority — from which to freely mock those who are now his fellow fallen public figures?
I suspect the bold nature of Letterman’s admission reveals he will bounce back.
Props to Letterman and Co. for an excellent damage-control strategy: Get the story out in front of a studio audience that laughs it all off because they are given no apparent notice or warning of the gravity of the situation. Watching reveals that audience members take Letterman’s (intended? nervous?) cues that the “little story” he wants to tell them is like many other self-mocking tales. There is vigorous laughter, then slightly nervous laughter and only a couple of gasps. It’s not until 8 minutes into the 10 minute segment — which came after a business-as-usual monologue — that Letterman gets sombre.
About further detail on his revelation of having sex with female employees, he says it’s “a decision for them to make, if they want to come public, if I want to go public and talk about these relationships, but what you don’t want is a guy who says, ‘I know you have sex with women so I would like $2 million or I’m going to make trouble for you.’ “
Letterman goes on: “It’s been a very bizarre experience. I feel like I need to protect these people. I need to certainly protect my family. I need to protect myself. I hope to protect my job and the friends, everybody who has been very supportive through this. And I don’t plan to say much more about this, on this particular topic. So thank you for letting me bend your ear.”
Then, he switches back to joke mode, and the audience roars in relief: “Now I know what you’re saying. ‘I’ll be darned. Dave had sex?’ That’s what the grand jury said…”
It was one of the wierdest 10 minutes of TV I have watched.
Debuts
Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Regularly airs
Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Premise
Life in the mediocre lane in middle America (Indiana), with an average family of children who will be neither the football star nor the lead cheerleader, lead by a mom shocked by the uninspired dullness that is her life and a completely zen father.
Primary cast and crew
Patricia Heaton (Back to You, Everybody Loves Raymond) is Frankie, mom and used-car saleswoman, trying to smile while she experiences a crisis of realization that neither she nor her family will ever live up to her former hopes.
Neil Flynn (Scrubs) is Mike, the unflappable dad and husband.
Charlie McDermott (Frozen River, The Village) is Axl, the grumpy teen son, who usually doesn’t remember to put on pants and so must be yelled at. Constantly.
Eden Sher (Sons and Daughters, Weeds) is Sue, an impressively perky, though so-far unskilled joiner whose bubble of “anything’s possible” is years from being burst, if there is a god.
Atticus Shaffer (The Class, My Name Is Earl) is Brick. Remember the youngest on Malcolm in the Middle? Brick is a little odder.
Chris Kattan (Bollywood Hero, SNL) is Bob. He works with Frankie at the car lot.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I predict…
Blah. Low-rent photocopy of Malcolm in the Middle. I appear to be in the minority, however, keeping in line with my 180-degree-wrong prediction mojo (although I might be over this hump, having completely ignored The Beautiful Life and, voila!, it was cancelled after two episodes). Heaton’s character is one-note. Her family’s quirkiness feels forced. (I did, however, laugh at the family dining images: a truth about television that I haven’t seen on much on TV.)
ew.com’s Ken Tucker likes it also, geez. “Remember how whiny Patricia Heaton’s Deborah got in (Everybody Loves) Raymond’s final seasons? Well, Heaton finds a way to make that abrasive persona work in this clever show.”
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Looks like the next new show is Three Rivers, starting Sunday, Oct. 4. I’ll be on that like my signature on the transplant card in my wallet. Or something like that.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
(Note: This trailer features the original child actors, who have since been replaced.)
Series name
Hank
Debuts
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC
Regularly airs
Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC
Premise
Manhattan family man, downsized from his CEO job, moves into more humble surroundings — Riverbend, Virginia — and tries to bond with his family without the aid of servants and the distraction of a job that takes up 20 hours a day.
Primary cast and crew
Kelsey Grammer (Back to You, Frasier, Cheers) is Hank Pryor
Melinda McGraw (Mad Men, Journeyman, Desperate Housewives) is Tilly Pryor, the wife.
David Koechner (Reno 911!, Curb Your Enthusiasm) is Grady Funk, Tilly’s brother. He loves seeing Hank brought down to his economic level.
Jordan Hinson (CSI: Miami, Eureka) is Maddie Pryor, annoying teen daughter. (Hinson is the third actress to tackle this role.)
Nathan Gamble (Babel, Marley and Me) is Henry Pryor, mildly eccentric son. (He replaces the original actor.)
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the first pilot, I…
The show is at least a little retooled, with new actors playing the children but that addresses only that weak part of the series (the original Maddie was prickly and unfunny, although the original Henry was quite sweet). The show’s site has many of the original scenes in its promo videos and so the main problem likely remains: The central character has all the stuffiness of Frasier Crane from Cheers and Frasier, but none of the (eventual) self-awareness that gave him warmth. And a starchier Frasier as a dad? Tough sell. The pitch that audiences will laugh off thier own financial stress as they watch this portrait of a well-heeled family brought down by the recession? Good idea on paper, but the characters have to come a long way from their original stiff, (unfunnily) condescending portrayals.
Other reviews
The New York Times says Grammer is still funny, but the concept is tired.
The Hollywood Reporter observes that if you want to hit the real-world note of recession survival, the series needs to have some elements of realism.
Official website
Basic character and actor bios, videos.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Premise
Staff at San Francisco City Hospital responds to all sorts of … traumas.
Primary cast and crew
Cliff Curtis (Crossing Over, Push, Whale Rider) is Reuben “Rabbit” Palchuk, daredevil flight medic. Nearly killed in a disaster.
Aimee Garcia (George Lopez Show) is Marisa Benez, Iraqi war vet, new pilot. Chip on shoulder? Check!
Anastasia Griffith (Damages) is Nancy Carnahan, an MD who decided to forgo internship in favour of becoming a paramedic. Father does not approve. Lost her partner in disaster that almost killed Rabbit. Existential crisis? Check!
Taylor Kinney (Bones, What About Brian) is Glenn Morris, rookie EMT and eager puppy new partner to Nancy, who is grumpy about it.
Derek Luke (Notorious, Madea Goes to Jail, Antwone Fisher) is Cameron Boone, paramedic who feels torn between family and work.
Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights) is Tyler Briggs, Cameron’s longtime partner.
Jamey Sheridan (Law and Order: Criminal Intent) is Dr. Joe Saviano, who runs the trauma show at San Francisco City Hospital, detached from patients but devoted to his staff.
Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) is exec producer.
Buzz buzz
Best, it is being said, of all the many, many new medical dramas.
But what do I know anyway? After not having seen the pilot I know this…|
Where Peter Berg goes, I will follow. Also, the man cast on this show covers both ends of the spectrum: Jamey Sheridan from the mature end and Derek Luke from I know he’s young enough to be my … neighbour end. So I guess that makes them the George Clooney and Noah Wyle of this show. And speaking of ER, I want medicine, I want tissue moments, I want humour, I want drama and I want it now. ER wasn’t always great, but it was always there. And doesn’t that sound like a backhanded compliment! I liked Mercy, NBC’s Wednesday-night medical drama, more by the end than I did at the beginning, but still not exactly embracing the main characters. Three Rivers (Oct. 4 on CBS), the transplant team drama, is getting lukewarm buzz at best. So I am coming to Trauma with high hopes. And, having just reread this, once again I am reminded of the need to investigate getting a real life.
Other reviews Rick Porter at zap2it.com says Trauma has one of the best-looking pilots of the season, owing to two spectacular action sequences, but notes there’s no way financially possible to keep that up on a weekly basis. And what the show boasts in visual dynamism it lacks in character development. But if it hits the ground running with better-defined characters in Week 2, it’s a comer.
Official website
The usual stuff, plus a behind-the-scenes blog by Aimee Garcia (but only one post, from what i could tell), a Trauma Medical Dictionary in case the show’s lingo leaves you baffled (planning to baffle viewers? isn’t that just bad writing?), links to the real health agencies mentioned in the shows (like the Center for Disease Control), a 911 Trivia game that’s “coming soon”.
Twitter
Promotion only, but responsive to fan tweets.
Facebook
Many very enthuiastic fans, including one EMT who said he hopes they get it right.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Sometime before the Wednesday premieres, a look at Hank and The Middle.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Update Sept. 29: Above is the video of the Friday Tonight Show stunt, in which Conan O’Brien was injured. Ouch. Here are details. But he was back on the job Monday night, playing the video above and promising the audience that if they were good, he’d do it again last night. dd
Oh Conan! Looks like the merry prankster needs to start wearing a helmet. He bonked his head doing a skit Friday for his Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and was taken to a hospital. Concussion, but the NY Daily News and others are carrying a report that it couldn’t dampen his bent sense of humour: “”Last thing I remember I was enjoying the play with Mrs. Lincoln, and the next thing I knew I was in bed being served cookies and juice,” O’Brien is reported to have said. But is there any fallout? Although I’ve included below the guests as announced in a Sept. 24 press release, the show’s website did not, as of this early Monday morning writing have this week’s guest schedule up. So possibly, Conan and his noggin will be taking the day off? I’ll try to check and get back to you later today (Monday).
Debuts
Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox
Regularly airs
Sundays at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox
Premise
The softspoken Cleveland Brown from Family Guy gets divorced returns to his hometown with Cleveland Jr. and marries his high-school sweetheart and becomes step-dad to her two kids. The neighbour is a bear. Who wears a shirt and tie. So you’ll be glad to know it’s animated and that it’s not a real bear. It’s set in Stoolbend. Ha! Made you say Stoolbend! Just tryin to get in the spirit of this thing.
Primary voice cast and crew
Mike Henry (Family Guy) is Cleveland Brown, the star and Rallo, Cleveland’s snarky new young step-son. Henry is also a writer.
Sanaa Lathan (The Family That Preys) is Donna Tubbs, the new wife.
Kevin Michael Richardson (Family Guy, American Dad) is Lester/Cleveland Jr.
Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, FlashForward) is Tim the neighbour bear, as well as Family Guy’s Peter, Brian and Stewie. MacFarlane is also writer/producer.
But what do I know anyway? After not having seen the pilot I predict…
I’ll give it a try, but my relationship with the original series, Family Guy, is a tortured one. Or, at least, I’m tortured. The Family Guy jokes, although they can sometimes make me laugh and then hate myself, often appear to be motivated not so much by story and character as by the rule of Because I Can, so vigorously applied by Seth MacFarlane, show exec.
Other reviews
The New Jersey Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall observes that Cleveland, being a comedic straight man, might not be a large enough character to build a series on.
Official website
Basic, but with good video, including enough of the first episode to make me feel more encouraged to watch.
Twitter
The Cleveland character is guest tweeting on Fox’s Twitter account. Some but not all are search-marked #Cleveland. Sample tweet (in addition to some promo which involves tweets advising that Cleveland’s truck is in various cities with T-shirts to spare): “Cleveland says: Tried to call Donna “Shorty” today, but she didn’t appreciate it and now I’m sleepin’ on the couch.”
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Trauma, sometime before its Monday-night premiere.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Series name
The National Parks: America’s Best Idea
Debuts
Sunday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. ET on PBS
Regularly airs
Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009 through Friday, Oct. 2, 2009, every night at 8-10 p.m. ET (repeating at 10 p.m. ET; also each episode will be available online the day after broadcast through Oct. 9, 2009).
Premise
Ken Burns, who’s brought us massive, and massively good documentaries on the Civil War, baseball and jazz, now looks at the United States’ national parks. In addition to clocking the history of their creation, the 12-hour, six-night The National Parks looks also at the individuals — historical and contemporary — who helped create, and also later to save, the parks.
Primary cast and crew
Ken Burns (The War, Jazz, Baseball, The Civil War) directed and co-produced.
Duncan Dayton (Mark Twain, Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip) wrote and co-produced it.
Peter Coyote is the main narrator, with readings by Tom Hanks, Andy Garcia, Josh Lucas, Eli Wallach, Campbell Scott, Sam Waterston, John Lithgow, George Takei, Philip Bosco, Carolyn McCormick, Adam Arkin and Kevin Conway.
But what do I know anyway? After not having seen only the videos at pbs.org, I predict…
I predict without a shadow of a doubt that — while a ridiculous time committment, at two hours a night for six consecutive nights, Sunday through Friday — this will make my heart feel good. But — and you’ll want to know that more thana couple of critics have called this series a little too stuffy and ponderous — I’m in the mood for some contemplative TV-watching. Sure, there will likely be the “America!” moments that will have me momentarily grinding my teeth, as though natural beauty and its preservation were their very own inventions (the title, by the way, comes from the great writer Wallace Stegner, whose assessment I will not challenge), but I can deal. And to see what videos on the excellent website reveal to be excellent cinematography, on top of the usual outstanding archival finds, well that will be lovely. For a sample, I give you this video snippet on Hawaii, which starts with the words of Mark Twain in 1866, with contemporary footage: amazing to think that his words then still gorgeously, accurately describe peering into the fiery stops in what would become Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Amazing. And if six consecutive nights seems as daunting to you (and if the prospect of filling up the DVR with this series is as implausable to you during this crazy busy TV-watching season), remember that the series will also be online, but only until Oct. 9, and will be out on DVD Oct. 6. My quibbles? Why six consecutive nights? More to the point, why September? Why not wait for later fall months when there are not dozens of shows premiering and returning for new seasons?
Other reviews The New York Times’ Mike Hale says many will love this series, but says it’s a bit heady for his tastes, that the cinematography on Discovery channel is far superior than what we’ll find here and points out the almost complete absence of images of people actually using the parks. “It’s a brilliantly assembled and rigidly controlled artifact, voice after voice ringing small variations on a few themes (democratic ideals, American rootlessness, the rapaciousness of the white man). Along with the folksy music, it can have the effect, over 12 hours at a steady, unmodulated pace, of sucking the juice out of history, of embalming it rather than bringing it to life.” Interesting.
Levi Novey at the Huffington Post says if you watch only one episode, make it Wednesday’s, which covers the arrival of car travel and one couple’s pilgrimage via car and train through many parks.
Official website
Video, photos, teaching guides… Full deal, nicely done.
Twitter
Mostly promo about the start date, but also putting out invitations to get involved: Got a story to share?
Facebook
Links to recent interviews, including Burns visit to the Colbert Report, reminders to tune in, some other interesting conversations, and excerpts (one ranger saying he hopes for nothing more than to see Snoop Dogg around a campfire).
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
The Beautiful Life has come to an end, winning the title of first series to be cancelled in the 2009 fall TV season, according to Reuters. Two episodes was apparently all the world could take of its look at the life of models in New York. Mischa Barton, who had that trouble this summer that led to a hospital stay, was one of the stars and Ashton Kutcher (Punk’d) was the exec producer.
Anyone laying odds on which will be next to go? Hank, kicking off next week and starring Kelsey Grammer, is getting good “trouble” buzz.
Debuts
Friday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox, repeating Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on Fox (note: one-hour premiere)
Regularly airs
Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox
Premise
Recently retired NFL star returns home to Houston to find his brother Chill is having a hard time keeping his restaurant afloat. Old sibling rivalry flares up. Parents try to get NFL star to stay for good.
Primary cast and crew
Michael Strahan (former New York Giant) is Mike, recently retired NFL star who has no intentions of moving back home.
Daryl Chill Mitchell (Ed, House Party, The Outside Man) is Chill, who runs (not very successfully) a resto-bar. He’s in a wheelchair after a car accident (much like Mitchell, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a motorcycle crash in 2001).
CCH Pounder (The Shield, Avatar, Law and Order: SVU) is Adele, mother and, soon, bartender.
Carl Weathers (The Shield, In the Heat of the Night, Tour of Duty) is Coach, the couch-lovin’ dad.
Lenny Clarke (Rescue Me) is Lenny. All I know.
Eric Tannenbaum (Sit Down and Shut Up, Two and a Half Men), Kim Tannenbaum (Sit Down and Shut Up, Two and a Half Men), Mitch Hurwitz (Sit Down and Shut Up, Arrested Development) and Don Reo (Everybody Hates Chris, My Wife and Kids) are exec producers and writers.
Buzz buzz
Kim Kardashian will guest star. Whoever she is. And Mike Tyson. I know who he is.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen only the trailer …
The bickering adult siblings gives me pause — not really interested in that — but CCH Pounder in a comedy? I might like that.
Other reviews
Robert Lloyd of the L.A. Times likes it, more or less. “Once you factor out the pilot’s worst tics — the old-folks-getting-busy-while-the-kids-are-out jokes, Weathers’ recurring observations on men shaving their pubic hair, and jokes about the gap in Strahan’s teeth — there is much to like.”
Kelly Woo at AOL.tv loves the cast, but wishes it were in another sitcom.
Official website
Basic: bios, some behind the scenes videos.
Facebook
Looks like straight promo. Not much fan or even “fan” postings in evidence. For what that’s worth.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Update Friday Sept. 25: After having watched Thursday’s pilot episode, I have three thoughts.
1. Despite what I’d seen in the preview, I had hoped the FBI agents in L.A. weren’t really going to attempt to solve this global crisis without contacting any other law enforcement agency, but that appears to be the silly case. And — this just in — they are going to save the world by creating a website. Lemme know how that works out. A series doesn’t have to be a slave to realism, but it does have to be believable. This save the world aspect was ridiculous.
2. However, I did mostly like it: the Oceanic billboard on a freeway overpass (iIn the dark? It’s a Lost thing. Get googlin’.). And Seth Macfarlane of Family Guy fame playing an FBI agent? Odd, but wth.
3. I was loving how the Boyfriend, called in to action to be a second dispassionate set of eyes, positively hated the entire thing. Some people! You ask them to be critics and it’s criticize this, criticize that. But the price you and I will pay for his assessment is that I have to write and you have to read the quote he has approved for publication: “If FlashForward is the future of TV, I’m getting a gym membership.”
Debuts
Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and A Channel, repeating Friday at 8 p.m. ET on same
Regularly airs
Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and A Channel
Premise
Not so much based on as inspired by the 1998 scifi novel of the same name by Canadian Robert Sawyer, FlashForward is about what happens after everyone on Earth blacks out at the same time, each seeing a vision of the future. Or “a” future. Ah, there’s the rub. The pivotal questions: “What did you see?” and then, “Now, what do you do, or not do?”
The difference between the series and the novel, which has just been re-issued:
Both are set in 2009. The series narrows the book’s time frame: Instead of the novel’s characters seeing 21 years into the future, the characters in the series black out for 2 minutes 17 seconds and see events six months hence, on April 29, 2010. Also, the series focusses on familiar film and TV action figures — law enforcement types and doctors — and appears to be mapping out their personal and professional responses to the event. The novel (thinly written, hilariously politically incorrect, but containing a great central story) is populated by brilliant but epically tedious, though remarkably sex-obsessed physicists and centres more on questions of fate (Is the seen future unchangeable? Is seeing the future, and acting on that knowledge, part of fate? Is your brain hurting yet?).
Primary cast and crew
Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) is Mark Benford, FBI agent (and recovering alcoholic) who is engaged in a high-speed car chase in downtown L.A. at the moment of the blackout.
John Cho (Star Trek, Harold and Kumar movies) is Demetri Noh, Benford’s partner, also in the car during the blackout.
Jack Davenport (Swingtown) is Lloyd Simcoe
Zachary Knighton (Related, Life on a Stick) is Bryce Varley, doctor with a new perspective.
Peyton List as Nicole Kirby
Dominic Monaghan (Lost) is Simon, who appears in episode 5 or 6.
Brian O’Byrne (Brotherhood, Oz) is Aaron Stark, who comes to dangling from his work harness high on an electrical pole. He is Benford’s sponsor and fellow-recovering alcoholic.
Courtney B. Vance (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, ER) is Stanford Wedeck, FBI boss, who’s is captured in several of the ABC site’s promos urging his L.A. agents to put the world at ease by finding out what happened.
Sonya Walger (Lost, ) is Olivia Benford, Mark’s surgeon wife, who is in the operating room at the moment of blackout.
Brannon Braga (24, Enterprise, Voyager) and David S. Goyer (Threshhold, Blade, Batman Begins, the Dark Knight) are creators/writers/exec producers
Buzz buzz
The next Lost, with less dense storytelling and so less viewer frustration and, fingers crossed, more viewers.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen only the 17 minute “first look” on the ABC site …
Well, I tried to get a copy of the entire first episode. I really did. Several email pleas to A Channel, as a matter of fact. In response, a copy of the book arrived on Tuesday (!), though I am almost done listening to the audio book anyway. Alas, I am as helpless as you poor schlubs in the face of the massive hype and promotion for this series. The promise that this is the next Lost? I’ll buy that. What I’ve seen of the first episode looks very Lost-ish: just as Dr. Jack woke up disoriented in the jungle and soon stumbled upon a plane wreckage on the beach while people and a large engine screamed, FBI Agent Mark Benford wakes up in a car and soon stumbles onto a freeway choked with screaming hysterics, exploding vehicles and destruction as far as the eye can see. Then, flashing back four hours. Dominic Monaghan and Wonya Walger on the cast list … So, definitely some similarities. There have been adamant promises of not allowing the story or storytelling to become as dense and demanding as on Lost. Whatever. I can’t imagine not being rivetted. I will be watching with the very jaded Boyfriend, who is quite resistant to hype machines of most sorts. Then, as with all series, the test will be over the next four episodes or so. Is it more soap or complex, well-told drama? I’m hoping for the latter.
Other reviews
Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times is smitten and has already begun Lost-ish connections from the series to Joan of Arc and … Rodney King?
Jace at televisionaryblog.com has a very sturdy review with links to the original script for the pilot and detailed commentary on the strengths and flaws of the first episode. Shows great promise, says Jace.
And because Denise Duguay is almost as big on pushing books as Oprah Winfrey, here’s a link to excerpts of reviews of Sawyer’s book.
Official website
Good video, including a 17-minute sneak peek of the Sept. 24 premiere, plus basics. But tucked in at the right is a link to the Mosaic Collective, which is the data collection project started in the series (and novel) to collect and cross reference what people saw during the global blackout. I’ve added my flashforward vision. Yes, I know, I know.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
I’m not looking forward to it, but it’s time to prepare for the sitcom Brothers.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and City, repeating Friday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and City
Regularly airs
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and City
Premise
A faux documentary about the days in the lives of three families: a gay male couple who’ve recently adopted, an old grump with a young wife and a 30-something couple with kids and lots of schedules and rules. Sound mundane? Just wait.
Primary cast and crew
Ed O’Neill (Married with Kids) is Jay, grumpy man made happier by his young wife. Slightly happier.
Julie Bowen (Ed, Lost) is Claire, harried mother.
Ty Burrell (Back to You, National Treasure) is Phil, harried father.
Sofía Vergara (Dirty Sexy Money) is Gloria, pop tart younger wife.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (The Class, Do Not Disturb) is Mitchell, gay dad.
Eric Stonestreet (Bones, NCIS) is Cameron, the other gay dad.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen only a couple of trailers, I predict…
Well, I have been reading and this is one of the most highly regarded new shows. So who am I to resist the momentum. A++! Although I suppose I should hold off on the second “+” until I actually see it for myself. Which I will do.
Other reviews
The Hollywood Reporter fairly gushes: “Long on heart, brimming with great characters, smartly cast, expertly written and funny from start to finish, “Family” is the obvious choice for best new fall comedy — and possibly best series.”
Tim Goodman over at the San Francisco Chronicle is also smitten: “Modern Family is politically incorrect and viciously spot-on in its send-ups of parents, kids, friends, family in general and, well, pretty much everyone”
Official website
Looks like some potential fun, but first, I must tame the jaysus computer, which does not like abc.com at the moment.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
FlashForward, asap. Premieres Thursday.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC and City, repeating Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC and City
Regularly airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC and City
Premise
Wizened hag of 40 something is dared by a friend to start having fun again five months after her divorce. So she hits the hay with younger men. And offers then crackers and peanut butter. And not in a kinky way.
Primary cast and crew
Courteney Cox (Friends, Scrubs, Dirt) is Jules, successful divorcee with horrible, horrible elbow skin. Such a hag.
Busy Philipps a (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, ER) is Laurie, the friend who gets her into the cougaring game.
Christa Miller (Scrubs) is her other best friend.
Josh Hopkins (Swingtown) is Grayson, the divorced guy across the street from Jules. They rub each other the wrong way. On the surface. Which sounds a bit dirty.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen only the trailer …
I like it. Courteney Cox is fun, although her trauma at discovering pinchy elbow skin? Seriously? However, not sure how much suspension of disbelief I am willing to put into buying Courteney Cox as a mother of an older teenager. Definite maybe. But then again, Wednesday is a busy night on my DVR.
Other reviews
Alan Sepinwall of the New Jersey Star Ledger wisely observes that, while he likes the show and its chances, “Cougar Town has to walk a very careful line between making fun of the cougar concept and embracing it.”
Ken Tucker at ew.com says it manages to make its sex-starved storyline funny rather than vulgar and creepy. He gives it a B.
Official website
Still having the computer problems. Sorry. Will update.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and City
Regularly airs
Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and City
Premise
Nurse Jackie, the recently-wrapped great cable series starring Edie Falco, gets carbon copied into an ER template, with a little Grey’s Anatomy PTSD a la Dr. Owen Hunt.
Primary cast and crew
Taylor Schilling is Veronica Callahan, nurse just returned to hospital duty from war with a little baggage and a lot of attitude.
Jamie Lee Kirchner (Just Legal, CSI) is Sonia Jimenez, her chippy nurse colleague.
Michelle Trachtenberg (Gossip Girl, Six Feet Under) is Chloe Payne, brand new nurse who is puppies and sunshine and who should not at all be confused with Nurse Jackie’s newby nurse character called Zoey. Crazy talk.
James Tupper (Men in Trees) is Dr. Chris Sands, new to the hospital and also just back from war. He’s headed to the linen closet with Veronica.
Delroy Lindo (Kidnapped) is hospital boss Dr. Alfred Parks.
Guillermo Diaz (Weeds) is Angel Lopez, nurse.
Liz Heldens (Friday Night Lights) exec produces.
Buzz buzz
Originally intended as a midseason show, it might not be cooked yet in the middle.
But what do I know anyway? After not having seen the pilot, I’ve got a feeling …
Maybe it’s the unrelenting ads pairing Veronica, nurse saviour, with Law & Order: SVU’s Olivia, police protector but I’m sick of this show before I see it. I suppose my ER jones will drive me to try it out, but seems shockingly unoriginal.
Other reviews
USA Today also sees the similarities to Nurse Jackie, and says, quite cleverly, that “No Mercy should be shown.”
Robert Lloyd, at the L.A. Times, counsels patience. It’s good, he says.
Official website
Videos, photos, nurse trivia game and, coming soon!, an interactive nursing station.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Premise
Three women in cutest small town make a wish at the cutest town fountain and suddenly experience new confidence and each a special power. Then Paul Gross comes to town talking a lot like Jack Nicholson, but with a more dated hairstyle. Based, of course, on the novel and film The Witches of Eastwick, which is where the Nicholson stuff comes from, I guess.
Primary cast and crew
Jaime Ray Newman (Mental, Eureka) is Kat Gardener, a nurse and mother of five with some weather issues.
Lindsay Price (Lipstick Jungle) is Joanna Frankel, newspaper writer who is suddenly very influential.
Rebecca Romijn (Ugly Betty) is Roxie Tercoletti, mother, artist, dreamer.
Sara Rue (The Big Bang Theory, Less Than Perfect) is Penny, who feels a little threatened that she’s lost her former BFF Joanna to her witchy new friends and the strange new Nicholsonesque character in town.
Paul Gross (Due South) is Darryl Van Horne, aka Nicholsoneque character who has just bought… everything in town.
Veronica Cartwright (The Nine) is Bun Waverly, head of the local historical society. Not a big fan of ants. Or Darryl.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot …
I thought I would like this more, but although Romijn is pretty solid as the central character, and there seems to be some intrigue coming up, it’s … flat. Gross is particularly flat, or is written flat. (And is it just me or is he suppressing his natural charm by doing Nicholson?) Maybe things will loosen up in the next few episodes?
Other reviews
The Hollywood Reporter agrees, saying “the spell is weak but there’s a chance for wicked good times.”
Official website
I’m having computer issues, but the video crashed my browser twice so I’m giving it a pass.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS and Global, repeating Saturday at 10 p.m. on CBS
Regularly airs
Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS and Global
Premise
State’s attorney resigns after being caught with hooker and later convicted of misusing public funds, although he is seeking an appeal. Wife stands by her man, just as you’ve seen in any number of scandals involving elected officials, and then she moves on, getting a job at a law firm a dozen years after dropping her career to devote her energies to her husband’s political career. So, a legal drama with ongoing estranged spouse-seeking-exoneration storyline. Set in Chicago, home of shamed ex-governor Rod Blagojevich, although this was dreamed up before his public shaming.
Primary cast and crew
Julianna Margulies (ER) is Alicia Florrick, wife of the philandering ex-state’s attorney.
Christine Baranski (Cybill) is Diane Lockhart, senior partner at the law firm now employing Alicia and her self-professed mentor and, soon, competitor.
Josh Charles (In Treatment, Sports Night) is Will Gardner, head of the law firm, longtime friend and former law-school pal to Alicia.
Archie Panjabi (Personal Affairs, A Mighty Heart) is Kalinda, the law firm’s acerbic investigator.
Matt Czuchry (Friday Night Lights, Gilmore Girls) is Cary, the other newby at the law firm competing with Alicia for the lone spot. They have six months to prove themselves.
Michelle and Robert King (In Justice) are exec producers.
Buzz buzz
Major, mostly positive.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I do declare …
This is the best show I’ve seen so far. Great ripped-from-the-headlines setup, with excellent development following. Julianna Margulies’s character acknowledges the slightly awkward box she inhabits — as a mature woman, she knows things that neither junior lawyers nor workaholic male colleagues can know — but doesn’t hammer home the wisdom of women, as another less confident character (and series) might. Great to see Josh Charles again, so great in Sports Night and In Treatment; and do I sense tension between them? Nice also to see that the husband’s attempt at clearing his name will be threaded through at least a few episodes.
Other reviews
Alessandra Stanley says, in the New York Times, that The Good Wife is gold. “Television dramas rarely do very well with the underbelly of politics … The West Wing idealized the White House, Spin City affectionately spoofed City Hall, but mostly politicians are typecast as cads and criminal suspects on shows like Law & Order. The Good Wife takes its cue from real life, not just the headlines, and is all the better for it.”
Even gamer-boy site IGN calls it a smash, acknowledging that most of the site’s readers would not likely seek out an older-woman-coming-into-her-own series, “But at the very least, you ought to call up your mom and suggest she check it out. This show deserves it.”
Official website
Bios, some behind-the-scenes and promo video (some playable with Canadian IP addresses), clumsy photo gallery, and a blog by Cary, Alicia’s competitor at the firm, which is good, but already dated. It has only one post, supposedly the day Cary found out he’d landed the job. Nothing since. Gotta blog regularly, buster.
Twitter
Nine tweets, no conversation. Wouldn’t this be a good spot for “Cary” to microblog? Or maybe he can get the clerk he shares with Alicia to tweet for him?
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and Global
Regularly airs
Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and Global
Premise
Spinoff to the Mark Harmon-led navy-ish crime procedural NCIS.
Primary cast and crew
Chris O’Donnell (Grey’s Anatomy, Head Cases) is Special Agent “G” Callen, soft-spoken boss.
LL Cool J (In the House) is Special Agent Sam Hanna, action man with many cool gadgets.
Linda Hunt (The Unit, Without a Trace) is Hetty Lange, boss woman.
Buzz buzz
LL Cool J wrote a song for the show. Here’s the vid for NCIS: No Crew Is Superior.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I declare …
The original NCIS never really did it for me. This feels a little weaker and while I’m sure it will grown in confidence and story vigour, I won’t be there to see it. Cool gadgetry though.
Other reviews
N.Y. Daily News’ David Hinckley says it’s not bad, but not quite there yet.
Barry Garron gets in a good line, saying in the Hollywood Reporter that NCIS Los Angeles “is little more than an updated version of The A-Team of the 1980s”. Snap.
Official website
Basic, with some videos that play for Canadian IP addresses and others — music vid by LL Cool J — that don’t. Lame, hard to advance gallery of set photos.
Twitter
Strictly promotion for the show, but there was a link to a making-of LL’s new video, NCIS: No Crew is Superior which was … back at the show’s site and still blocked. Jaysus.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
The Forgotten (new), 10 p.m. ET on ABC
Drama about crew that works to put names to unidentified remains. Christian Slater stars.
Series name
The Forgotten
Debuts
Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC
Regularly airs
Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC
Premise
Each member of a group of volunteers has a different motivation for identifying John or Jane Doe cold cases on which the police have thrown up their hands, but they’re fiercely devoted to putting a name or identity to each victim and pursuing the killers.
Primary cast and crew
Christian Slater (My Own Worst Enemy) is Alex Donovan, leader, former detective and father of a missing daughter. So, how does he make a living now?
Michelle Borth (Tell Me You Love Me, Supernatural) is Candace Butler, who is helping the network because … she is a “headstrong” woman bored with her office job. Wha?
Heather Stephens (Desperate Housewives, Lost Highway) is Lindsey Drake, high-school teacher trying to repay a debt to society owed by her criminal husband.
Bob Stephenson (Without a Trace, Jericho) is Walter Bailey, phone company worker and true-crime enthusiast. Klutzy genius. And who’s that in the photo clipped to his car visor? You should have watched the 20-minute preview! Click the link at the top of the page.
Anthony Carrigan (The Undying) is Tyler Davies, medical-school dropout satisfying a court order to perform community service. Oh, and he’s an artist, who will soon use his skills to do facial reconstruction. I smell redemption!
Rochelle Aytes (Madea’s Family Reunion, White Chicks) is Detective Grace Russell, Donovan’s former protege and now main link to the Chicago police department.
Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI x 100, Cold Case) is exec producer.
Buzz buzz
Best line I’ve heard in a TV series so far this fall season: “Rock on, Shaggy.”
But what do I know anyway? After having seen only the 20-minute preview on ABC’s website (link above) I do declare …
Signature Bruckheimer slickness in the look and story. The weight appears to be shouldered fairly evenly, with a slightly heavier load borne by Slater, but not so heavy that he’s ripping the scenery to smithereens as in My Own Worst Enemy. Formulaic, but a contender. Although I could do without the nameless victim’s narration. And why is a facial reconstruction in clay, then recast in rubber, such a rallying point for this group? Wouldn’t a sketch — especially since they hand out flyers — be just as valuable and a fraction as expensive and time-consuming? Oh, wait. It’s BRUCKheimer. Coolness. Ah, right.
Other reviews
Brill Bundy at zap2it calls this, predictably, “utterly forgettable” and straight from the Bruckheimer “blender”.
Over at usatoday.com, Robert Bianco says it has “good actors working for a proven producer in a proven format. That may not guarantee you a great show, but it could bring you a sturdy piece of weekly entertainment.”
Official website
Very basic, but the videos play for Canadian IP addresses. Small wonder, though, that the site doesn’t better promote the 20-minute teaser. It was the second video in the player which I assumed was full of more trailers.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
So as you might have noticed, the fall TV season is upon us. I am previewing, in my own haphazard and careless way, as many new shows as I can choke out. So my DVD coverage is suffering a bit.
Here’s a list, just a list, of some TV releases new this week on DVD. I hope you can forgive me.
30 Rock: Season 3
CSI: Season 9
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Series
Castle: Season 1
Being Erica: Season 1
The Mentalist: The Complete First Season
Law & Order: SVU: Year 10
Star Trek: The Original Series: Season 2
Hot Fuzz (Blu-ray)
Brotherhood: The Final Season
CSI: Season 9
Trailer? No luck so far. Worrisome? But here’s this interview with star Jenna Elfman.
Series name
Accidentally on Purpose
Debuts
Monday, Sept. 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS and City
Regularly airs
Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS and City
Premise
Thirty-something film critic dumps her boss boyfriend and gets pregnant after a fling with a much younger one night stand, decides to keep the baby. And the younger man, platonically.
Primary cast and crew Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg) is Billie, the film critic. Jon Foster (Windfall, Life as We Know It) is Zack, slacker baby daddy who hopes to become a real chef. Grant Show (Private Practice, Swingtown) is James, newspaper boss with commitment issues. Claudia Lonow (Cashmere Mafia) and Gene Stein (Less Than Perfect, The Geena Davis Show) are exec producers.
Buzz buzz
Jenna Elfman is pregnant in her show and in real life!
But what do I know anyway? After NOT having seen the pilot I predict…
I found Dharma and Greg kinda cute. Expect the same appeal here, with the added bonus of Grant Show. Since I haven’t seen it, that’s about all I can muster right now, but if YouTube has no trailers or promos, that can’t be a good sign.
Other reviews ign.com, the media site f or gamers, says this series is not for its demographic of young males. Or for older males. Or any one but older women dreaming of being cougars. Well then!
In his piece about CBS shows Accidentally on Purpose and The Good Wife, written during the L.A. preview of both shows, the Globe and Mail’s John Doyle called AOP “so-so”.
Lots of critics are cranking about Accidentally on Purpose, but zap2it’s Brill Bundy says give it a chance. It, Bundy says, is suffering from the same critic group think that pegged Big Bang Theory for early death when it premiered in fall 2007. And look at it now: Jim Parsons is widely recognized as a very strong performer and the show has momentum to spare.
Official website
Basic, with lots of videos Canadian IPs can’t view. Phooey.
Twitter (show) and for Elfman
Show twitter account is very thin (eight tweets, feh!). Elfman’s own tweets (note it’s not yet verified by Twitter, but is retweeted on the show site) are mostly promotional, with the occasional “I’m awake (at) 5a with pregnancy insomnia, reading from you on my Twitter that I am not running my own page. Is it settled now?”
Facebook
Am I right to be suspicious that most of the updates on the Fbook page are by the show itself, although there are also fan updates (of course, they love it and love that Elfman is really pregnant and love that Foster has a new show, etc.)
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Sept. 22 premieres NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, The Forgotten. Soon.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
So here’s the full list of Emmy winners, but if you missed the Sunday-night gala, I can advise that you didn’t miss much. After I finally found a bit of red carpet coverage on CNN (a three-way split screen in which one screen was apparently linked to either a very drunk camera operator or a dog with a wandering eye for human legs), I ;tuned to the actual show on CTV and CBS was a little startled by the opening musical number in which host Neil Patrick Harris pleaded again and again and again for me to put down the remote. True, the Emmy awards broadcast was under a lot of pressure to increase last year’s record-low audience, but addressing the problem by saying “Please don’t go away”? How about giving me a reason not to stray?
The larger issue is not the awards show itself, but the fact that the Emmys are obsessing in their nominations and awards about shows that very few people are watching (Mad Men and 30 Rock were named best shows, and took home armfuls of Emmys and neither have crazy high ratings). I have to credit a piece in The National Post today for focussing my crankiness.
I suppose I could accept that Mad Men, 30 Rock and even Breaking Bad (it’s an AMC show that is so far not been made available to Montreal AMC-free cable) get all the attention at Emmy time if there was nothing else of quality on the big four networks: Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS. But that is not the case. Take House, which returns tonight, after a Sixth Sense season finale that I’ve watched three times now. Same with Fringe, which is not Proust, but has a story hook and is learning to use it more and more wisely. And what about Lost? Too dense? Okay, but very well-controlled storytelling. And those are just three of my current faves. Acting? How about a little love for Nathan Fillion in Castle? William Petersen, formerly of CSI? Or Jim Parsons of Big Bang Theory? Julia Louis Dreyfuss in The New Adventures of Old Christine? Does it take Mad Men-esque tumblers of whiskey, cigarettes and starchy early 1960s wardrobes for these shows and actors to get some respect? And, by connection, the respect of the viewers who watch these shows not because they’re zombies with no appreciation for the dramatic arts but because the performances are vigorous and the writing is engaging? Not all art is high art. Wake up Emmys.
But what about the rest of the Emmy show? Actually, not too bad, although I admit to wandering away to do a couple of chores and phone calls. Harris ran a tight ship, only four minutes past the 11 p.m. ET deadline. He milked his supporting-actor-in-a-comedy loss to Two and A Half Men’s Jon Cryer, but didn’t overdo it. He also did a fun bit as his Dr. Horrible character, accompanied by Fillion, on the Internet future of television. And then, he mostly stayed out of the way.
In the ad lib department, a big “Nice try” goes out to most of the nominees for the best supporting actress in a comedy for donning funny glasses for their audience shots as the winner was announced, and a big phooey to Vanessa Williams who shook her head no to the glasses. Geez. Best shot of uncontained, outraged surprise by a nominee at having been passed up has to go to The Office’s Rainn Wilson (losing, like Harris, to Cryer). But the best moment goes to Sarah Silverman, who sported a spectacularly sophisticated moustache when caught by the camera as her name was read; she was nominated for her own show for best lead actress in a comedy and lost to the wonderful Toni Collette for the Showtime/Movie Network great The United States of Tara.
But that’s just me. What’d you think of the Emmys?
It’s so great to get past the summer reruns and back to business as usual on the talk-show circuit, where, this week, the spectrum goes from “Former Child Star Mackenzie Phillips’ Stunning Revelations” (Oprah on Wednesday) to U.S. President Barack Obama conscripts David Letterman to calm a health-care hysterical American nation (tonight on the Late Show). Good grief. Makes last week’s Talk-show tango subject — fear of a Jay Leno Show success at 10 p.m. — seem a little tame. I’m not sure how that Jay Leno thing worked out. Did anyone make it through even one episode? Hello? Robert Seidman on tvbythenumbers.com comments that although Leno’s ratings slid predictably last week after his prime-time debut, this week will be more telling, especially with CBS rolling out season premieres of its big shows all week long.
Debuts
Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009 at 9:30 p.m. ET on HBO Canada
Regularly airs
Sundays at 9:30 p.m. ET on HBO Canada
Premise
Writer unsuccessfully trying to write a second novel is dumped by his girlfriend who says he drinks too much (although in his defence, it IS just white wine) and smokes too much pot. So he, inspired by his hero Philip Marlowe of Raymond Chandler fame, puts an ad on Craigslist offering private detective services. He gets calls and does his best, which is not very good at all. His friends, an equally socially inept graphic novelist and his magazine editor, try to be helpful but they’re really also self-absorbed.
Primary cast and crew
Jason Schwartzman (The Darjeeling Limited) is Jonathan Ames, writer,white wine addict/pothead paralyzed at the prospect of attempting a second novel, so much so that his girlfriend has dumped him. Ted Danson (Damages, Curb Your Enthusiasm) is George Christopher, Jonathan’s magazine editor boss, insanely rich, who depends on Jonathan to listen to his faux wisdom, do the occasional magazine article and bring him pot. Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) is Ray Hueston, Jonathan’s confidant and a comic-book author. Jonathan Ames is the creator/executive producer.
Buzz buzz
Next. Big. Thing.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the first three episodes I do declare…
The Jonathan character, played by Jason Schwartzman, is very irritating in his clueless, self-absorbed awkwardness. And yes, I know he’s supposed to be clueless and that I, as an enlightened, postmodern TV watcher, am supposed to rise above the irritation and see this anti-character as deconstructedly brilliant. I am supposed to be hip. But I am not so hip, it turns out. I don’t need to be spoonfed, but I’m not always in a mood to work at loving a TV show. Zach Galifianakis is, although brilliant, also a little tiresome as Jonathan’s graphic novelist friend. In fairness, there are great moments in Bored to Death. The cluelessness is occasionally funny, although overdone, like, done to death (ha). Ted Danson is great as a filthy rich hedonist with not enough life skills to feed his appetite on his own. The guest stars are off the charts good. Kristen Wiig had me howling with her scary-crazy take on a Chandleresque dame (Episode 2). And Jim Jarmusch has a couple of brief but fun scenes in Episode 3. So, yes, I watched all three preview episodes sent to me by HBO. But will I keep watching? Not sure.
Other reviews
What a lovely, elegant, review in the New Yorker by Nancy Franklin, who likes it quite a bit, without all the gushing in other positive reviews. Franklin says it’s a lovely snapshot of N.Y. elite and artists.
Official website
The link above is for the HBO Canada website, which is basic (bios, episode guide), but the U.S. site has a few more bells and whistles, including postcards and creator Jonathan Ames’s blog: If you, like me, are growing tired of the hype for this show, and you’ve never heard of this Jonathan Ames guy, the real one who wrote the short story and then made it into this TV series starring a character named after himself, read his blog. Pretty good read from a guy I feared would be totaly impressed with himself: “… Now two-and-a-half years later, Jason Schwartzman is playing “Jonathan Ames.” I mean, this is all very strange. I may have created my own version of Being John Malkovich.”
Twitter
My god, this show is getting so much ink people will surely be … Bored to Death of it soon. No?
Facebook
Apparently lots of people have watched and loved the first episode in the online sneak peek (link’s at the top of the page), and at least one guy’s peeved he’ll have to wait another week for fresh Bored to Death. Also, anyone who thinks their unspellable last name is a hurdle to success should check out this Fbook page, because Zach Galifianakis’s fans don’t even try to spell his name correctly, using a variety of slacker profanities to tart it up. Oh you kids!
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
I’ll preview the new Jenna Elfman sitcom Accidentally On Purpose, which premieres Monday, Sept. 21, at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS and City.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
The 61st edition of The Emmys — America’s celebration of the best, or at least “best” of television — kicks off Sunday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. ET on CTV and CBS. (And I should also remind you that Quebec TV’s Gemeaux awards are also being broadcast live on Sunday, starting a bit earlier, at 7:30 p.m. ET, on Radio-Canada. Gazette Show Biz Chez Nous columnist Brendan Kelly will report on those proceedings later in the evening at montrealgazette.com/arts)
Here are my Emmy predictions:
The big winner of the night: The audience, because Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) will be spectacular all on his own, but especially in comparison to last year’s collective of reality-show hosts. It still hurts to remember that pointed unfunnyness.
I have some other mindless predictions about major category winners and a link to a ballot and all that below, but first…
The big loser of the night: Lovers of catty red-carpet sniping, who also love to hate the stupid questions that giddy and stressed TV interviewers pelt at actresses trussed into chiffon and georgette and all other manner of couture torture. Why are we, I mean they, going to be losers Sunday night? Because I cannot — and please correct me if I’m wrong here; it has happened before — find a red carpet show other than Live at the Emmys from 6-8 p.m. ET, which is broadcast on Los Angeles local station KTLA, which I don’t currently subscribe to and will, I’m sure, require that I get a third job to pay for. CBS eases into the awards show with an episode of 60 Minutes, as though this were any old Sunday night, and CTV has Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory. Feh!
WTH? No red carpet for ordinary cable subscribers? Is this a joke? Am I losing perspective on what is important in life? … No, I’ve thought about it and a major awards show preshow, making petty comments about the unfortunate fashion choices and occasional red carpet victory is a staple, like cocktails, ripple chips, sour-cream-and-onion-soup-mix dip and and alternating phone calls to my mother and friend Anna Marie, both of whom can work up a good red-carpet tirade.
What’s a catty Emmy watcher to do, I guess, than wait and judge while they are either presenting or accepting awards. Again, feh! Hopefully, I will find news of a petty little jewel of a red-carpet show and will immediately share. I won’t be covering the awards per se; rather, I will be drunk dialing Mother and Anna Marie about the atrotious decolletage of what’s er name and missing the actually winners’ names altogether. You make your own fun. The winners will be everywhere by late Sunday, but I’ll try to at least post a list.
Here are some shallow, ill-considered predictions. More importantly, here is a printable ballot of the major categories, for which I thank and direct you to support buzzsugar.com, who are promising substantial-Emmy night coverage. It’s an 8.5-by-11 inch pdf page. Perfect for your home printer.
And now:
Best drama:It will go to Mad Men, although parts of the second (nominated) season were quite drab. I’m rooting for House, which hits the mark almost every week.
Best comedy: It will go to 30 Rock, although that show sometimes leaves me a little cold. But I’d love for the winner to be How I Met Your Mother, which maintains a great comic ensemble and manages to keep reinventing the suspense of who the darn mother is.
Best actress in a drama:Elisabeth Moss probably will and should win for Mad Men. Her secretary turned ad woman is gorgeous in its constraint. The finale between her Peggy and Pete was breathtaking. (And her drug experimentation in this new season was hilarious and touching.)
Best actor in a drama: I’ll go with what will surely be the dramatic juggernaut of Mad Men and choose Jon Hamm. His ad man is perfect, even when he’s repulsive.
Best actress in a comedy: Will 30 Rock sweep in the comedy categories? I’m a bit over 30 Rock but I don’t think the Emmys are, so congrats, Tina Fey. But wouldn’t it be great if Toni Collette won for the cable series United States of Tara, about a woman with dissociative personality disorder (which you might remember for the ’60s and ’70s TV movies as split-personality disorder). Even better would be giving it to Christina Applegate, whose lovely little series Samantha Who! is now no more.
Best actor in a comedy: I have this feeling that Jim Parsons will take this one for Big Bang Theory and it wouldn’t make me yell at the TV. His fidgety nerd character and the series are surprisingly lovable.
And, cutting this short only because I have to get to my real (paying) job, I’ll finish with a mini-tirade:
Best writing for a comedy will go to 30 Rock (duh! it has four of the five nominations, with the other going to Flight of the Conchords. This is really a shameful state of affairs: one series, one nomination per category people! 30 Rock is not the only strongly written, intelligent comedy out there.)
Best writing for a drama will go to … well same situation here. Four of the five nominations are for Mad Men. WTH. How small. So it’ll probably go to Mad Men, which IS well-written, but many others are deserving of the credit, House and Dexter and Breaking Bad being only the front of the pack of strong writing in dramas. But I am pulling for Lost, another leading, well-written series, which is nominated for The Incident. Go Lost. And get lost Emmy nominators!
Regularly airs
Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. ET (after The Office)
Premise
Lawyer finds one of his degree has been revealed to be less than actual and so must go back to school, Greendale Community College to be exact, whereupon he spies a blonde (always with the blondes). To get close to her, he invites her to his “Spanish study group” (no brunette would ever fall for this, I’m just saying) and is startled to find that a whole mob of, well, utter nerds, including Chevy Chase, show up. Absence of Spanish knowledge cannot kill this “community”: Yes, the theme is right there in the title!
Primary cast and crew
Joel McHale (E!’s sarcastic celeb news show Talk Soup) as Jeff, ex-lawyer, user of lame come-on lines.
Gillian Jacobs (The Book of Daniel) as Britta, the blonde who just wants to pass her Spanish exam.
Yvette Nicole Brown (The Ugly Truth, Boston Legal) as Shirley, snarky “middle-age divorcee”. I’m betting she is hiding a sensitive soul. Also daggers for Chase’s character.
Danny Pudi (Greek) as Abed, who is comically alleged to have Asperger’s Syndrome, which is not a burger for your… you know. You are SO juvenile. And so is using a syndrome for a one-liner. But I bet you’ll laugh.
Alison Brie (Pete’s wife on Mad Men) as Annie, a so-far ill-defined brunette used to draw out the blonde’s character. Because blondes need the assist. It’s just a theory.
Chevy Chase (Chuck, SNL) as Pierce, the oblivious bore who tries to trade on his infinite yet non-existent life wisdom and street smarts.
Donald Glover (30 Rock) as Troy, high-school sports star casting about for a Plan B.
John Oliver (The Daily Show) as Jeff friend and former client.
Ken Jeong (The Hangover) as Señor Chang, Spanish professor. Of course
Dan Harmon (The Sarah Silverman Program) is creator/exec producer and Joe and Anthony Russo (Arrested Development) are exec producers
Buzz buzz
McHale is popping up everywhere to promote this show. Nice smile, if a bit bright this early in the morning, right now on NBC’s Today show, as I write this.
But what do I know anyway? After having NOT seen the pilot I predict…
Shall I jinx this utterly by saying this looks too good to fail? The 4 minute 20 second trailer is about a quarter of the pilot and it looks very funny, even when you see it coming a mile off (the previously alluded-to Asperger’s joke), I still laughed out loud. But then again, I’ve just had a couple of espressos and this always makes me a little susceptible to sitcoms that create small artificial family groups that are loveable in their eccentricities. I do have a worry though, which means I need another dopio espresso: Chase is working my bad nerve with what, for him, is an all-too-familiar character: the socially oblivious bore. If the show writers and execs give and/or force this character to punch out the sides of its box, they might have something here.
Other reviews
New Jersey Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall loves it: “I’ve seen the pilot episode at least four times already, in whole or in parts, and I laugh just as hard at the jokes now as I did the first time.”
Chuck Barney at the Chicago Tribute calls it a “Grade A” comedy.
Tim Goodman at the San Francisco Chronicle says McHale’s character and the pilot in general are strong, but says:“What may be harder for Community to pull off going forward is the feel-good notion of outcasts coming together.”
Official website
Cast/character bios and photos, videos that Canadians cannot watch (b’stards) and — shame! shame! — promising-looking categories Exclusives, Games and Take It that all come up “Coming soon!”. Hello! The show starts today.
Facebook
Apparently the music playing in the background of all the promos is by Brooklyn’s Matt and Kim (who are playing Pop Montreal on Sept. 30. It’s called Good Ol’ Fashioned Nightmare and you can listen here.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Bored to Death some time before its Sunday premiere.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Shonda Rhimes has two TV series with season releases new on DVD this week. Private Practice is the newer and the less famous of the two, the first being Grey’s Anatomy. Overall, Season 2 of Private Practice was weaker than the first season, which followed Addison (red-headed Kate Walsh) from Grey’s Seattle Grace Hospital to a private clinic in California run by formerly married friends (Taye Diggs and Audra McDonald). A weak season because although it was adequately sudsy for a medical soap, it was casting about wildly for reasons to keep its characters overly involved in each other’s lives. The financial crisis at the clinic is an example. With as much chemistry as this cast has, there was no need to go so crazy with artificial plot boosters. Of the things they did very well: 1. twisted and turned and twisted again the romantic tension between best friends Violet (Amy Brenneman) and Coop (Paul Adelstein); 2. torqued the medical dilemma of the week (a decision that is discussed with great animation in one of the featurettes on Disc 6); and, best of all, orchestrated a crazy, thrilling finale. I won’t spill the beans in case you want the thrill yourself (no hurry, Season 3 doesn’t start until Oct. 1, on ABC), but will Coop come through? Warning: The last few minutes are quite grisly. I needed a swallow of Pepto.
I’ve already mentioned one of the extras on this six-disc DVD set. Another is thoroughly unexpected and lovely. DVD extras, as you might already know, are often a wasteland of actors blabbing away in scene commentaries revealing that they really do need a script to be entertaining. A bit harsh, but painfully true. Instead, wouldn’t it be fun to learn something interesting about one of the actors? Yes it would and thanks Private Practice DVD makers for thinking of it. Chris Lowell, who plays Dell, the ambitious receptionist and youngest piece of man candy on the show, is also quite the photographer. Life Through the Lens: The Pictures of Chris Lowell is a look at some of this black and white photos, taken on the set and around the world, some in jest and some in great earnestness. Lovely work. Lowell is interviewed, as are his adoring castmates, and they all get a little giddy, but it’s mostly sweet and sometimes downright funny. The capper is when Lowell looks directly in the camera and says, “To the 17 people who got lost someone in the DVD features on this disc, I really appreciate you watching.” But wait! There’s more! This featurette features music by Adelstein “from the Doris album, Between You and Me.” You might also, as I did, enjoy the bloopers. The series might have fallen a little off the track midway through Season 2, but there’s still enough mojo with this cast to keep me coming back for my regular dose of medical soap. Go ahead, judge me.
Hang on though. I say I like, even crave, medical soap operas, but I judge Grey’s Anatomy as too much? Yes, I am a mystery. Try to keep up. But seriously, Season 5 of Grey’s Anatomy is too soapy for soap! George? Buh-bye. T.R. Knight’s character has been drifting aimlessly for two seasons. Meredith’s sister Lexie? Grow a spine for pity sake. Denny? Buuuuuuh-bye. The less said the better when it comes to the ridiculous storyline about Izzie-and-Ghost-Denny-reuniting-but-it’s-really-a-brain-tumour. Izzy? Meh. The end of the season leaves it open whether she recovers from her brain-tumour surgery. Katherine Heigl has since signed on for a sixth season, but last week, People reported that Heigl has been given a leave of absence because she and husband Josh Kelly are adopting a Korean girl (as Heigl’s sister did). As for Derek and Meredith? I’ve lost track. Do I want them to marry? Or to marry other people? Does it matter? Thank goodness Sara Ramirez’s Torres and Eric Dane’s McSteamy have such a great comic groove. And let’s also hear it for the struggling romance between Sandra Oh’s Yang and Kevin McKidd’s Hunt. I barely care enough to give this show another chance, but I’ll be rooting forr them when I tune in for the Season 6 launch on Sept. 24, from 9-11 p.m. ET on ABC and CTV.
As for the DVD set itself, the extras are kinda flat. The making-of the 100th episode bored me even after I started ignoring it to sort my coasters. The bloopers got a couple of barking laughs out of me, though. But there’s no telling you, is there. If you’ve read this far you’re a Grey’s goner and you’ll buy it/rent it anyway.
And here are a few other new releases of TV on DVD.
The Big Bang Theory: Season 2
Little Mosque on the Prairie: Season 2
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 4
Bonanaza: Official First Season
My Name Is Earl: Season 4
Route 66: Season 3, Vol. 1
Dark Shadows: The Vampire Curse
Fraggle Rock: The Complete Third Season
Miami Ink: Season 1
CSI Miami: The Seventh Season – Denise Duguay
(Tired of all this Jay Leno business? The regular listings are below. Just keep scrolling…)
I gotta start by saying I don’t get the appeal of Jay Leno. Yes, as I’ve read in a thousand articles in papers, magazines and online over the past few months, I can well believe that former Tonight Show host Jay Leno is a really nice guy. Conducted himself nicely as a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher a few weeks back. Hell, in the olden days when I was a Professional TV Critic (TM), I even met the guy. Shook my hand. Solid. But as a host? Ain’t my cup of tea. However, his prime-time variety show debut this week, running Monday to Friday at 10 p.m. ET, demands a little attention and some worry.
What’ll it be? The Jay Leno Show will have a monologue, guests, music (but not every night), occasional reports from D.L. Hughley and other correspondents, and then regular features like Jay Walking and small-town newspaper headline boners. Pretty familiar stuff.
So what’s the bigger picture? NBC gave Leno this prime-time slot for two reasons: 1. They didn’t want Leno, who departed the Tonight Show to make room for Conan O’Brien, to jump to another network. And 2., they are happy to be filling the 10 p.m. ET slot with a show that costs a fraction of what it costs for a season of drama.
What happens if Leno is successful? Well, he won’t beat the ratings giants like CSI, CSI: Miami and The Mentalist, but if he gets a few million viewers, that’s probably enough success for NBC to stay the course.
And then what? That’s where I get nervous. Don’t get me wrong. I grew up on TV variety shows, hosted by the likes of Carol Burnett, Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin, Mike Douglas, Dina Shore, Sonny and Cher, Hudson Brothers… I could go all day. I loved these shows, their guests, the music, their skits. If Leno succeeds, and there are more variety shows, that wouldn’t be the end of the world and might make the TV world a nicer place. But what about TV drama. Can I live without five new dramas on NBC? Definitely. But if other networks follow the Leno example — and as you might have noticed, networks are quite sheeplike — what then? Suddenly no 10 p.m. dramas? Sure, the U.S. cable networks have proven their reliability, even superiority, at producing excellent drama, but that’s a fraction of the TV drama menu, my TV drama menu.
That’s a lot of doom and gloom, I know. And besides, NBC keeps telling us in the dawn-to-dusk promos that it’s all about comedy. So I’ll just go brew some camomile tea. Although, you might do well to read Jamie Ponoewozik’s excellent look at the situation in his Time Magazine cover story: Jay Leno Is the Future of Television. Seriously! As for watching the new Jay Leno Show, I guess I will, out of curiousity, like many others. I know I won’t make it a habit. But it’s the rest of you I’m worried about.
And here’s an extended (9 minutes, 29 seconds) clip that you can watch now on ctv.ca
Series name
The Vampire Diaries
Debuts
Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on CTV and on CW (WGN)
Regularly airs
Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET but moves to 7 p.m. ET on CTV starting Sept. 24.
Premise
Based on the novels of LJ Smith, this is the story of vampire brothers who return to their former home of Mystic Falls, Va., for the start of the school year. They are quite keen on the lovely brunette with a familiar face who is just so irresistible.
Primary cast and crew Nina Dobrev (Degrassi: The Next Generation) is Elena, the It girl at Mystic Falls High School who’s been rocked by the deaths of her parents. She’s just broken up with Matt. Steven R. McQueen (Everwood) is Jeremy, Elena’s brother. He’s cracking under the pressure of the family’s loss. Paul Wesley (24, Army Wives) is Stefan, the new kid in school, though he’s a lot older than he looks. Except when he looks dead. Ian Somerhalder (Lost) is Damon. Let’s just leave it at that for now. Kevin Williamson (Dawson’s Creek, Scream) and Julie Plec (Kyle XY, Cursed, Scream) are writers/executive producers.
Buzz buzz
dkdk
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I predict…
I like this better than Twilight, the big screen vampire movie that, with HBO’s True Blood has kicked popular culture into the vampire obsession that made this series inevitable. While Twilight has a lovelier vampire in Robert Pattinson’s Edward, Wesley is a better actor. Likewise Dobrev is a better actress than Twilight’s Bella (Kristen Stewart). The Twilight pair had chemistry, I’ll give them that. But wooden! Somerhalder, so weasely in Lost, is gloriously evil. Any more and it’d be over the top, but nice balance so far. Enough about the acting. The story is pretty basic — good vs. evil — but the pilot reveals a heavy hand in the telling. Viewers will see easily through the flimsy attempt to post the question of whether Stefan is evil. The delay in revealing all the players seems a waste of an episode. Good vs. evil. Innocence vs. experience. Yeah, we get it. But what next? Classic romantic triangle, but with blood lust. Could work. Now let’s get down to it. People are only beginning to feed their jones for vampire tales. Any guesses on which (other) elements of classic vampire mythology are to be shaken up? Holy water? Garlic? Sharpened stake?
Other reviews
Tough words from … the author of the novels! LJ Smith writes on her official website: “May I make a plea for everybody to try to be patient (especially with the pilot episode)? The Twilight Zone feeling rapidly diminishes after that.” Oy.
Ken Tucket at Entertainment Weekly gives it B+, saying it’s a return to form for Kevin Williamson.
Official website
The CW site has cast bios, Twitter links, some preview and behind-scenes video, an option to upload your photo and “become a vampire” and a link to read what looks like the entire first book online. Not bad. The CTV site has videos, some bios and a quartet of Webisodes in which a lad supposedly films himself breaking into the vampire mansion to kill Stefan. It’s all pretty predictable and over-the-top and nothing crucial is gleaned.
Twitter
Here’s the Twitter links for all the CW shows, including a handful for Vampire Diaries. Couple actors tweeting as themselves, not their characters, so ho-hum. I kinda like the character tweets. They can be a bit much, but it’s another avenue of discovery for the show’s fans.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
I need a breather. I’ll be back next week with some mutterings about the Jay Leno Show, which kicks off on Monday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009 at 9 p.m. ET on CW (WGN)and Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 at 10 p.m. ET on Global
Regularly airs
Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CW (WGN) and Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Fox and Global
Premise
Cool Spanish-style apartment complex inhabited by elegantly emaciated 20-somethings who live and love and … get killed?
Primary cast and crew Jessica Lucas (Cloverfield, 90210 2.0) is Riley, teacher who is having second thoughts about here engagement. Michael Rady (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2) is Jonah, a filmmaker engaged to Riley, poor dear. Katie Cassidy (Harper’s Island, daughter of David) is Ella, wily publicist. Thomas Calabro (the old Melrose Place) is Dr. Michael Mancini Ashlee Simpson-Wentz () is Violet, a naif with a dark side. Sean Sipos (Complete Savages, The Grudge 2) is David, Doc Mancini’s estranged son. Brad Pitt-alike.” Colin Egglesfield (model and guest star on shows including Law and Order: SVU) is Auggie, a “sensitive sous chef”. But aren’t they all? Josie Bissett (old Melrose) is once again Jane Daphne Zuniga (old Melrose) is once again Jo
Buzz buzz
Will Heather Locklear join Melrose Place 2.0? Ashlee Simpson-Wentz tells MTV she sure hopes so. Rumours have flopped back and forth. Fingers crossed!
But what do I know anyway? After not having seen the pilot I say …
Ah, who cares. I managed not to watch it back in the 1990s (sorry, Heather Locklear) and won’t this time either. Although I’m sure if you like this sort of thing, it’ll be grand.
Other reviews
Apparently, says the L.A. Times, critics are divided: those who liked the original love the new one and those who didn’t don’t.
Official website
The CW site has photos, episode descriptions and a video player that proudly declares to us Canadian rubes: “Thank you for your interest in The CW. This service is currently available to viewers living in the United States”. The Global site looks like it’ll have video. Let the bells ring out.
Twitter
Character Twitter accounts, including one for chef Auggie (if you like cooking, check out who he’s following). Sample tweet: “A dolphin surfed with me for about ten minutes today. Wonder if I’ll ever see him out there again? Or her?”
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
The Vampire Diaries. Soon my sweets.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox and Global
Regularly airs
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox and Global
Premise
Nerdy teacher attempts to reclaim his mojo by taking charge of McKinley High’s glee club, attracts odd cast of characters. Some singing, dancing and eye-rolling.
Primary cast and crew Matt Morrison (A Light in the Piazza and other stage productions, guest roles on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Miami) is Will Schuester, alumni of the Glee club and now head of the club and convinced his new crew can make it to the nationals. Lea Michele (Spring Awakening and other stage work, Third Watch) is Rachel Berry. She’s gonna be a stah! Cory Monteith (Kyle XY, Final Destination 3) is Finn Hudson, star QB with a good voice, an unintimidating IQ and a heart of gold. Dianna Agron (Veronica Mars, guest on numerous shows including Numb3rs, Close to Home) is Quinn Fabray, cheerleader and — of course — girlfriend to the QB. NOT in the Glee club. Jane Lynch (Two and a Half Men, 40-Year-Old Virgin, Julie and Julia) as Sue Sylvester, cheerleading coach with acid in her soul. Give this woman more scenes. Now. Jayma Mays (Ugly Betty, Red Eye, Flags of Our Fathers) is Emma Pillsbury, germphobe teacher who is in love with Will. Chris Colfer (community and regional theatre ace) is Kurt Hummel, soprano with a strong fashion sense and a personal scent he’d like to market worldwide. Called Hummel, of course. Kevin McHale (True Blood, The Office) as Artie Abrams, wheelchairist, guitaristand member of glee club. Mark Salling (guitar player, songwriter) is Puck, bully. Not gleeful. Amber Riley (numerous stage productions) is Mercedes Jones, she’s the diva of the glee club. Jessalyn Gilsig (Nip/Tuck, Heroes) is Terri Schuester, Will’s wacko wife, who is addicted to Pottery Barn.
Jenna Ushkowitz (Spring Awakening and other stage work) is Tina, a glee member who desperately wants to lose her stutter. Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck), Brad Falchuk (Nip/Tuck) and Ian Brennan are creators, writers and exec producers.
Buzz buzz
Is there any buzz left in the world or has this show eaten it all up? Annoying already.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I predict…
Well, we’ve all seen the spring pilot, haven’t we (and if you haven’t click here to watch online). Tonight is the premiere, in which: “The Glee Club performs in front of the school for the first time and surprises everyone in the audience. When Rachel realizes her feelings for Finn, Quinn goes to great lengths to keep her man. Meanwhile, Mr. Schuester’s wife reveals some surprising news, leaving Will to figure out a new way to make ends meet.”
But not everyone is sold. Bob — he’s a friend of mine and not a Professional TV Critic (TM) — he says this show is lame and it will not rise to any greatness. I say he’s wrong and that it’s a perfect mix of sweet, old-fashioned “Let’s put on a SHOW”-type appeal and dark comedy. We have a bet. If I lose, I have to write an essay on why my critical skills suck, detailing past missteps. If I win — he has promised, and he is an honorable sort, to give it three episodes before passing his verdict — and he finds himself enjoying it (come on Jane Lynch!), he must give me a half day of clay-sculpture lessons. And please note that this is about quality and not ratings. This show’s buzz will inflate its ratings for a few episodes, even if it fails. Stay tuned.
Other reviews Metacritic did the homework for us, showing a rating of 77 out of 100 by professional critics and 7.4 out of 10 by civilians. The range covers Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker giving it 100 to David Zurawik at the Baltimore who gave it a 50, saying the music almost makes up for the “stereotypes and lame humor”.
Official website
Some promo videos (which we can see up here in hick Canada), and full episodes (which we cannot). Some photos. Song page with links to iTunes. Not a lot else. I guess they were too busy stoking the hype machine. The Global site also has Gleeworld, in which other Glee-type school videos are rounded up. Inspiring?
Twitter
There are several character accounts and an official show account, but I recommend Sue Sylvester’s strange tweets, like: “Thinking of getting my hips replaced. My hips are fine, but I’ll be one step closer to becoming a machine.”
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Melrose Place, coming up.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of fall 2009 premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Many shows have potential, although it is rare in this era of network executive with attention-deficit-disorder that enough time is granted. Fringe, presumably by virtue of the pedigree of creator J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias, Felicity), was given the time and, despite some early season meandering, grew in leaps and bounds.
For those already fearing the void that Lost will leave and even those among us who are still pining for the glory days of X-Files, to which this series owes much, Fringe is the heir apparent (although new series Flash Forward is a comer, or so I’m reading).
Fringe started out with only potential. Many loved the premiere, in which we meet FBI agent Olivia (Anna Torv); former visionary scientist Walter (John Noble), pulled from his cell in a psychiatric hospital; and his estranged son Peter (Joshua Jackson), who is charged with wrangling Walter out of his institutional stupor to save the world.
Many loved it but, while I loved Walter and Peter’s tentative reunion, I found the elder’s eccentricities (he pees himself, he shoves “crazy” non sequiturs into every pause longer than three seconds) distracting, and I found Torv’s portrayal to be robotic and flat. There was no denying the story and structure had potential, but the alternating freak-of-the-week bizarre science (it starts with the arrival of a plane full of disintegrated corpses) and grand conspiracy (What is the Pattern? Who is behind Massive Dynamic and are they evil?) was ripped right from the scripts of X-Files.
Even so, I took off my X-Files watch and started giving it a chance and by the excellent finale, I was hooked by the drama behind Olivia’s cool exterior (evil stepfather, dependent sister and nephew), by Blair Brown and then Leonard Nimoy as the heads of the is-it-evil-or-is-it-not mega-corporation called Massive Dynamic. Even Walter’s eccentricities grew on me. And there is believable warmth among Peter, his father and Olivia.
Is it over the top? Of course, but, to hark back to the X-Files, I want to believe in this show and so I do believe in a series that now straddles two worlds connected by a portal, the fear of a grim future and the small band of wierdos who are trying to make it all right.
Season 1, available now on DVD and Blu-ray, comes a week before the Season 2 premiere. I consider it essential viewing. I command you: Go out and buy or rent, as I will, to fill in the blanks on what is to come. I am particularly looking forward to the extra called Deciphering the Scene on a number of episodes. If you know your way around the web, watch at least the finale to set up what is to come on Sept. 17 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
Other extras: gag reel, Roberto Orci’s production diary, a featurette on Gene the cow, the other member of the investigative team.
Here is the promo for Season 2.
Here are some other releases of TV on DVD this week.
Worst Week: The Complete Series
The Office: Season 5 (DVD and Blu-ray)
Criminal Minds: Season 4
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Harper’s Island: The DVD Edition
Adventures of Robin Hood: The Complete Fourth Season
Wiseguy: The Complete First Season
Smallville: The Complete Season 1-8
One Foot in the Grave: The 1996 and 1997 Christmas Specials and The Complete Series
Mr. Belvedere: Season 3
Meteor (TV movie)
Dog the Bounty Hunter: The Best of Season 5
Important Things with Demetri Martin: Season 1
Hello chickens and happy Labour Day to you. I’ll be fresh from a few days off and back at the laptop midafternoon to flesh out what I’m expecting to be an action-packed roster, with most of the daytime shows finally back from summer vacation (nice work if you can get it). But if you can’t wait and if the early details I’ve sketched in below are not enough to hold you, just click on the show title for details on the show’s homepages.
Update: Okay so I’ve filled in most of the blanks (No Jon Stewart? No Colbert?) and the biggest trend I see is Rod Blagojevich. Oy. Some book to promote, it appears. But it’ll be easy to avoid him because there are many great choices on all days and nights. You look now.
Global is billing tonight’s broadcast of the one-hour musical comedy Glee as a series debut. But that’s not quite right. Close watchers of TV got their first viewing of the pilot episode in the spring and it’s been online ever since (check out Global show site to watch: click on “Pilot”). Tonight is just a repeat of that pilot — excellent though it is and worthy of a repeat. In fact, new material has been added so I guess that’s what warrants the bizarre advertised starting time of 8:58 p.m. ET. Recording alert! don’t miss the start.
The story sounded incredibly dorky to me and the springtime descriptions of “American Idol-inspired weekly comedy series” did not pique my interest at all. I was, in fact, shamed into watching it by the suspicion that maybe the buzz was worth investigating.
The framework is this: A teacher with a hole where his zest for life used to be decides that running his high-school’s glee club is what he must do. There’s some big glee competition among the schools and he wants to whip a pathetic band of stragglers into champs.
But what sounds hokey — moreso when the bossy overachiever student tries to take over, when the studly and kind of dim football star is overheard crooning in the shower and other clichees threaten — becomes something with what I think the American Idol zombies would call heart and soul. I’m surprised, but I like it a lot. If you’re keeping up with the lingo, that would make me a Gleek.
You check it out, either tonight — Wednesday at 8:58 p.m. ET — or online at the link above, and we’ll meet back here before the Sept. 9 premiere of new episodes for a more formal look at the show, its cast, creators and website.
I was a bit of a Heroes junkie in Season 1 and 2. I needed my fix of the small band of people discovering their secret powers and frightening destinies: Nathan’s flying and brother Peter’s omni-powers; Claire, the cheerleader self-healer; Isaac the seer-artist; Matt the cop who can really hear, super-strong split-personality Jessica, machine-minded Micah and his moving-through-walls dad D.L., bad guy Sylar with his lid-flipping hunger for new powers and, best-loved of all, time-travelling Hiro and his powerless pal Ando.
But then the series started adding characters. And then more of those characters could manipulate so many elements that there were few deaths that couldn’t be erased or prevented by a trip back to a few minutes before the crime. By the end of Season 2, when Jessica disappeared into a building a second before it exploded, I knew that she or her doppelganger would be back. Pfft goes the suspense. Pfft also went my investment in characters that in Season 3 snapped back and forth between evil and good. And then the shapeshifting? Pfffffffft!
I was speeding through a preview copy of the new DVD set Heroes: Season 3 (well, most of it, anyway) to see if my judgment was too harsh when I realized why I still feel a little fond of this once-promising series about good and evil and hidden potential. It’s Hiro and Ando. They are the comic centre of the show, with slapstick scenes like the rescue of a baby near the end of Season 3 who could activate and disable machines and electronics with its mind, leaving the three of them stranded in the desert until Ando lucks on a particularly ridiculous face to make the Baby happy so it would make the car go. They are also truly devoted to each other, bickering and then coming together again.
I worried when, in Season 3, Ando artificially acquires his own power. I think the strength of the duo was in the inequity: Ando’s frustration with his lack of powers, his glee at exploiting what Hiro’s powers occasionally brought him, the mortal bumbling that would help solve the latest conundrum that Hiro’s powers could not.
But, watching the last few episodes, it seems that Andy and Hiro’s chemistry is so far unchanged. They still bicker, although now it’s about why he is still the sidekick when he has his very own powers.
NBC recently announced that, when Season 4 dawns in a two-hour episode on Sept. 21, that Hiro and Ando would start out the new season back in Japan, with a seriously ill Hiro deciding to try to make amends. And Ando?
I had a quick telephone chat with the actor who plays Ando, James Kyson Lee, and asked him about the coming season.
First thing I wanted to know: Will Ando try to kill Hiro, as per Hiro’s flash of the future?
“I depends if he behaves himself,” Lee answered, laughing.
In truth, Lee said Ando will be as devoted to Hiro as ever. “He has a terminal illness … and my goal is to save his life.”
Along the way, the Crimson Arc, as Ando calls his newly empowered self, will also have some fun, returning to the Andocycle, a gift from Hiro, and to honing his ball-of-energy powers.
He will also team up with someone other than Hiro. Asked who, Lee replied, “I’ll keep it a mystery, but it may happen pretty quickly; viewers won’t have to wait long.”
Cripes. Looks like I’m back. But if one more character goes shape-shifter…
I have already pledged my love for Rescue Me in a recent post. The new release Season 5, Vol. 1 is the first half of the season that is ending this very Sunday (Sept. 6) starting at 10 p.m.on Showcase. Why split the 23-episode season into two volumes? According to one guy checking in on amazon.com:
“Greed. FIFTY DOLLAR LIST PRICE ($64.95 Canadian) for eleven episodes?? Assuming Volume 2 does the same for the final 11, that’s ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS for a season! Now we all know there will be discounts (as I type this Amazon is selling it for $32) but that’s still OVER SIXTY DOLLARS to get the fifth season.”
I believe the man has a point.
Here are some other TV releases on DVD:
Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season
Brothers and Sisters: The Complete Third Season
Desperate Housewives: Teh Complete Fifth Season
Clatterford: The Complete Season 2
Kids in the Hall: Complete SEries Megaset 1989-1994
Ellen: The Complete Season 4
I know the rest of you have lives and all that, but I just love this time of year.
The promise of a new season of TV, new characters to fall in love with and worry about and many more anon characters who will go under some medical examiner’s knife and be the butt of awkwardly telegraphed autopsy jokes on any one of the forensic dramas. Ah, television, you never let me down
So what have we got here? We have dates people! Fill in your calendars. Bookmark this page and check it twice a day. You technophobes with no home computers can print this out at work and tape it to the coffee table at home. You are welcome.
Of course I’ll also be making my lofty pronouncements on the new shows, whether the publicity gods have sent previews or not. And I might even weigh in on returning shows. There were so damn many fine cliffhangers (Violet’s baby on Private Practice? House’s Sixth Sense breakdown? And OMG someone in Heroes who was bad is now good, but wait they’re bad again)? Okay that last part was pure sarcasm. Anyway, here’s the list. I will make the usual promise to update it, but as you know, I’m not always good for that. My heart’s in the right place though. I’ll do what I can. If you’ve got a question about anything here, I’m sitting at home staring at my email inbox, just waiting to help you. Most of the time.
Star Portraits (new) at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo!
Thirteen celebrities, one a week, have their portrait painted by three Canadian artists. Guests will include actor Enrico Colantoni, musician Ashley MacIsaac, Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, comedian Colin Mochrie and Senator Romeo Dallaire.
The Dr. Oz Show (new), 5 p.m. ET weekdays on CTV
Oprah’s medical expert finally gets his own show. Gossip Girl: Season 3, 9 p.m. ET on A Channel* (moves to 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 21) Junk Raiders (new), 9 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel
Professional handymen and “free”cyclers comb through trash to outfit a new loft space. Jay Leno Show (new), 10 p.m. ET on NBC
First guests include Jerry Seinfeld, Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West.
Sept. 15
Sept. 16
The Beautiful Life (new), 10 p.m. ET on A Channel* (moves to 9 p.m. ET Sept. 23) Bones: Season 5, 8 p.m. ET on Global (repeating on Fox Sept. 17. Supernatural: Season 5, 10 p.m. ET on Space
Sept. 17
Bones: Season 5, 8 p.m. ET on Fox Fringe: Season 2, 9 p.m. ET on A Channel* Survivor: Samoa, 8 p.m. ET on CBS Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday (new), 8 p.m. ET on NBC and at 9:30 p.m. ET on Global
Guest-starring for first two episodes is Amy Poehler. Parks and Recreation: Season 2, 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC The Office: Season 6, 9 p.m. ET on NBC Community (new), 9:30 p.m. ET on NBC
Life in a community college, starring Joel McHale and Chevy Chase.
Sept. 18
Sept. 19
Sept. 20
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 7, 9 p.m. ET on HBO Canada Bored to Death(new), 9:30 p.m. ET on HBO Canada
Jason Schwartzman plays a part-time sleuth. Zach Galifianakis plays the voice of reason?! Ted Danson is a sage/crazy person/rich guy.
NCIS: Season 7, 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Global NCIS: Los Angeles (new), 9 p.m. ET on CBS and Global
More crime-solving, this one starring LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell. The Mentalist: Season 2, 9 p.m. ET on CTV (moving to 10 p.m. ET on Oct. 1) * Note this series’ season debuts on Sept. 24 on CBS. Being Erica: Season 2, 9 p.m. ET on CBC The Good Wife(new), 10 p.m. ET on CBS and Global
Julianne Margulies is the wife. Chris Noth is the disgraced and now jailed husband. Law and Order: SVU: Season 11, 10 p.m. ET on CTV The Forgotten (new), 10 p.m. ET on ABC
Drama about crew that works to put names to unidentified remains. Christian Slater stars.
Sept. 23
Mercy(new), 8 p.m. ET on NBC
If you’ve seen Nurse Jackie, you know we need more nurse dramas. You got it. The New Adventures of Old Christine: Season 5, 8 p.m. ET on CBS Gary Unmarried: Season 2, 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS Criminal Minds: Season 5, 9 p.m. ET on CBS and CTV Law and Order: SVU: Season 11, 10 p.m. ET on NBC Modern Family (new), 9 p.m. ET on ABC
Three families, one codger played by Ed O’Neill.
Cougar Town (new), 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Courteney Cox is a cougar. And not the kind that menaced Kim back a few seasons in 24. CSI: New York: Season 6, 10 p.m. ET on CBS and CTV Eastwick (new), 10 p.m. ET on ABC and A Channel*
Paul Gross is a devilish guy, who has to deal with three witchy-type women.
Sept. 24
FlashForward(new), 8 p.m. ET on ABC and A Channel*
Everyone everywhere blacks out for a few seconds and sees a snippet of their futures. Too bad some of them were driving or flying planes at the time of the blackout. CSI: Season 10, 8 p.m. ET on CTV and at 9 p.m. ET on CBS Grey’s Anatomy: Season 6, 9-11 p.m. ET on ABC and CTV The Mentalist: Season 2, 10 p.m. ET on CBS
Sept. 25
Brothers (new), 7 p.m. ET on Fox
Two brothers. One’s a former pro athlete. The other one’s a wiseacre in a wheelchair.
Ghost Whisperer: Season 5, 8 p.m. ET on CBS and CTV Law and Order: Season 20, 8 p.m. ET on NBC and A Channel* The Ron James Show (new), 8 p.m. ET on CBC
Canadian comedian hosts a show anchored by his standup, comic letters to N.B. and sketches. Filmed in front of a live audience in Toronto. Medium: Season 6, 9 p.m. ET on CBS and A Channel* Dollhouse: Season 2, 9 p.m. ET on Fox and Global Numb3rs: Season 6, 10 p.m. ET on CBS and Global Flashpoint: Season 3, 10 p.m. ET on CTV
Desperate Housewives: Season 6, 7 p.m. ET on CTV (moving to 9 p.m. ET on Oct. 4) and at 9 p.m. ET on ABC Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: Season 6, 7-9 p.m. ET on ABC The Amazing Race: Season 15, 8-10 p.m. ET on CBS and CTV Smallville: Season 9, 8 p.m. ET on Space The Simpsons: Season 20, 8 p.m. ET on Fox and Global The Cleveland Show (new), 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox
You know, it’s the guy from Family Guy. Yeah. That guy. Getting his own show.
Family Guy: Season 8, 9 p.m. ET on Fox American Dad: Season 5, 9:30 p.m. ET on Fox Brothers & Sisters: Season 4, 10 p.m. on ABC and Global Cold Case: Season 7, 10 p.m. ET on CBS and CTV Dexter: Season 4, 10 p .m. ET on the Movie Network National Parks: time tba on PBS
Ken Burns’ latest multipart documentary. Cue the pan across beautiful old photos, set to lovely music.
Sept. 28
Lie to Me: Season 2, 9 p.m. ET on Fox Little Mosque on the Prairie: Season 4, 8 p.m. ET on CBC
Trauma (new), 9 p.m. ET on NBC
Guest stars have very bad days. Emergency responders are on the job. Californication: Season 3, 10 p.m. ET on the Movie Network
Hank(new), 8 p.m. ET on ABC
OMG is that Kelsey Grammer in another sitcom about a poncy guy taken down a notch? Dragon’s Den: Season 4, 8 p.m. ET on CBC The Middle (new), 8:30 p.m. on ABC
Middle (hmm) class family in middle (wha?) American headed by mid-life (wait a minute!) mom. If this show is middling, that will be way too much. Stars Patricia Heaton. The Tudors: Season 3, 9 p.m. ET on CBC
Lock ‘N Load (new)
Non-fiction series about life in a gunshop, on The Movie Network
Nov. 3
V (new), 8 p.m. ET on ABC
Remake of the old series about seemingly friendly aliens arriving and making themselves cozy. Until a few smart humans get suspicious.
Crash & Burn (new), Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Showcase
Insurance adjuster in Hamilton. Madcap crime solving. Paul Gross is exec producer, Clark Johnson (Homicide) stars alongside Luke Kirby (Mambo Italiano)
Convoy, a four-part documentary look at WWII’s Battle of the Atlantic on History Television
Lost: Season 6, time and date tba Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, on The Movie Network
Based on the short-story collection by Vincent Lam The Pacific (new miniseries)
The WWII followup to Band of Brother
* A Channel is available to Montreal-area viewers on Bell TV, but not on Videotron.
Lot’s of stuff going on this week, but let’s start with last week. If you missed Real Time last Friday, with Bill Maher going one-on-0ne with Jay-Z, you should really check it out. Jay-Z is not exactly one of my peeps, you understand, but the back and forth was fantastic. It’s so nice to see to see Maher drop the auto-sarcasm in these extended interviews. And Jay-Z’s few words in answer to most questions were brilliantly chosen. The man is not only a spoken-word and music genius — or so the kids tell me — he’s also a very thoughtful, smart guy with fantastic comic timing. Click this link from Rap-Up.com, where the action is covered in two vids.
And now to this week… All the nighttime players except Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and George Stephanopolous are done with repeats. The films Extract (Jason Bateman) and All About Steve (Mila Kunis, Sandra Bullock) are trying to create some momentum, but consider also: Rex Lee from Entourage and Rutina Wesley from True Blood on Chelsea Lately.
There’s a bit of a lull before the fall TV season starts up and that includes talk shows, with many still coasting in reruns. New this week are Letterman, O’Brien, Kimmel and Handler. Of those, I’m looking forward to: Anna Wintour on Letterman Monday night, talking about the doc made about the making of Vogue’s biggest annual project, called The September Issue; Bill Maher visiting O’Brien Monday night; and Jay-Z and Bill Moyer in one-on-ones with Bill Maher on Friday night.
Monday: Sienna Miller (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), Dave Salmoni (Into the Pride) (R)
Tuesday: Gordon Ramsay (Hell’s Kitchen), Rob Zombie (Halloween II), Friendly Fires
Wednesday: Robin Williams (World’s Greatest Dad), Bobcat Goldthwait (World’s Greatest Dad), Matt & Kim
Thursday: Kathie Lee Gifford (Just When I thought I’d Dropped My Last Egg: Life and Other Calamities), Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie), Darius Rucker
I like Rescue Me because it is all things: comic, dramatic, experimental, music-filled and haunting. Some shows would be diminished for trying to do this much. Rescue Me, the work of star/producer/creator Denis Leary (that’s him, on the Brooklyn Bridge) and Peter Tolan, does it all beautifully and well. If the pieces stand better on their own than all together some weeks, well, joy is in the moment, wouldn’t you agree?
1. It’s the ghosts.
FX, which shows Rescue Me in the U.S., and Showcase, which shows it Sundays in Canada, call Rescue Me a workplace drama about the lives of the firefighters on NYC’s 62 Truck. And it is that. You never know what story is going to walk into the firehouse or out of a burning building. But this show never forgets where it started: Five seasons back, in 2004, the talk was all about it being the uber post-9/11 drama. Tommy Gavin (Leary) was a firefighter traumatized by his involvement with rescue work on both the first and second World Trade Centre towers and, especially, the loss that day of his cousin, a fellow firefighter, who still occasionally appears to him as a ghost.
The first season had Tommy in denial of the ghosts, who grew to include all the others he couldn’t save: children with burned faces, people asking impossible questions. And then his brother, a cop, was killed on the job. And his son was killed by a car. Then his combative father, sitting peacefully (for once) beside him at a Mets game, turned out to be dead of a heart attack.
There are a lot of ghosts now, but Tommy no longer waits for them. Since the arrival early this season of a sexy (of course) French journalist and her revealing video of the Sept. 11, 2001, Tommy tossed aside his hard-won sobriety to summon the ghosts. Was he ready to leave them all behind? And what if you love and miss your ghosts?
This has led to some heartbreakingly beautiful scenes this season. Alone late at night at the unlicensed club he runs with his coworkers, Tommy knocks one back and turns to discover his family ghosts arriving one by one, each taking a turn to accuse him of cowardice and weakness. The very play-like scene climaxes with Tommy exploding in a tirade that nails WWII, Vietnam, 9/11 and the high cost of the American hero complex.
Watch this. It’s Season 5, Episode 8, Iceman. And sorry about the type on the screen; best I could find on YouTube and it’s been bumped off Showcase’s video player.
2. No, it’s the comedy.
If you’ve never seen Rescue Me and you’ve read this far, you might think it’s an intense, harrowing show, but that’s only occasionally, sparingly true. Most of the time, it’s Tommy and the firehouse lads larking about. Take the title scene from last week’s episode, No. 18, called Carrot. Click on Part 4, in which Garrity — still out on sick leave — drops by to get help with a little problem. Like all such scenes, and most weeks have them, it’s crude and involves talk about bodily functions and sex parts. Not your cup of tea? I think you’re in the wrong blog post, pal, and definitely in the wrong TV show. If you can take it, it will make you hit pause and rewind at least a couple of times.
However, I like it for more than the extremeness. Of course it’s welcome relief from the series’ dramatic intensity, but the comedy scenes are like a sketch show within a show. You don’t need to know that Garrity recently lost a kidney to cancer or that Mike has a new band or than Lou lost his heart and thousands of dollars to a hooker who’s trying to reel him in again. It’s just a bunch of guys cracking wise. Anyway, here’s the scene.
3. Okay it’s definitely the music.
It’s now de rigueur for self-respecting TV series to make good use of good music, but Leary all but wrote that book. From the killer theme song — The Von Bondies’ C’mon C’mon — to, say, Ryan Adams’ Blue Manhattan, this show has a playlist to die for. Except no mortal act is required because it also has a music section on the FX website that lists songs played for each episode and also gives info about Apache Stone, the new band fronted by Michael Lombardi in real life and by Mike Silletti on the show. You won’t be surprised, if you saw the band play two episodes back, that they have an album on iTunes.
But to best illustrate music used under and over a scene, watch the fifth and final part of Episode 17, from a couple of weeks back, called Lesbos. This refers partly to the starting storyline, in which Franco’s girlfriend, furious that he (and the guys at the firehouse) accused her of being a lesbian, flooded their fundraiser with hot chicks who had no interest in their horndog selves. It also, more importantly, describes Tommy’s life — ruled by women, his ex, Janet (the blonde) and his cousin’s widow, Sheila, the brunette.
But at about the seven-minute mark, you get what is a common brilliant use of music on Rescue Me. There’s a fire call, and the action slows as they approach and are then engulfed by the fire, gathering lost children and falling through doors, floors and then back to the street. The piece de resistance in this episode-ender is the suitcase. You should watch.
4. Addicted to addiction.
Addiction is a serious thing. It’s also seriously interesting to TV creators. You have your House, a taciturn but brilliant doctor played by Hugh Laurie. More recently, there’s Nurse Jackie, an unravelling hospital nurse played by Edie Falco. Other examples are legion. What distinguishes Rescue Me is that it takes addiction seriously but not too seriously.
Last season, Tommy went from being completely out of control to stone sober. The scene in which he and his surviving family stage their own AA group meeting was high camp. This season, where is Tommy going with his supposedly controlled drinking? Will he crash and burn before the season wraps up over the next three episodes? Or, now that he’s convinced his entire family to start drinking again, will that keep him in line? I like that his drinking is played for comedy and drama. I like the daring of it. I also like that it’s not neatly tied up. Shit happens and it keeps happening. And sometimes it’s funny.
5. Ensemble acting.
I’ll get my one beef out of the way: the broads get screwed. Literally and figuratively. Tommy’s ex, his mistress, his sister… okay his youngest daughter is exempt because of age — all female characters exist only to have sex with these guys. Sure, it’s a guy show, but still. It’s a little narrow for a show that has such long reach in so many other directions.
Now, back to the love fest.
Leary is the spine of this show, no question. But he’s surrounded by excellent performers in roles that suit them very well. In other shows, you can all but here the agents whining in the background demanding their actor clients get their closeups (well, hello Grey’s Anatomy!). Here, nothing feels forced. Franco (Daniel Sunjata) has had his moments early this season as a 9/11 conspiracist, thumped into submission by tiny Sheila (Callie Thorne): What’s a hobby to you, she said, is a dead husband to me. Snap. Garrity (Steven Pasquale) was hit by cancer, but even in the face of death, he dorked out, hallucinating a musical scene that was both loopy and — even if you don’t like that sort of thing — impressive. Possibly the best moment of stepping into the spotlight was early in this season when Tommy’s ex, Janet (Andrea Roth), gets ripping drunk on their trip to their daughter’s boarding school. If her truth-telling outburst at the dinner table was not hilarious enough, she goaded Tommy into sex that broke the door of the room in the B&B. Now that’s good fun.
If you’re new to Rescue Me, watch the last four episodes on Showcase’s video player. Click here and then click on Rescue Me.
If you’re a fan, you know there are three episodes left, Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on Showcase. You also know that FX wrapped up the season not long ago so you can probably cheat and find out what happened. But we’re Canadian. We’re used to getting screwed by broadcast delays. We are strong. And if you’re not strong, keep it to yourself, hm? – Denise Duguay
Even I, averse as I am to reality and competition television, was getting excited about Project Runway’s Season 6 return. It’s been 10 months, I’ve been reading in everything from Entertainment Weekly a couple
Project Runway's Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn
of weeks back to the New York Times, since the end of the last season. In the meantime, the show’s producers, the Weinstein Company, moved it from U.S. cable outlet Bravo (not OUR Bravo) to Lifetime and it’s moved from NYC to L.A. A lawsuit followed, from Bravo big daddy NBC Universal, and finally a deal was reached to allow the move to Lifetime.
But whatever. It’s about the TV, right? The competition show in which bright-eyed designers try to be the next D&G or whathaveyou is finally making its Season 6 debut, with hosts Tim Gunn and model Heidi Klum, on Thursday. Except not in Canada, or Montreal at least.
I don’t see a way to legally watch Lifetime in Montreal. And the Canadian broadcaster, specialty cable channel Slice, will carry the show on a three-week delay, starting Sept. 12 at 10 p.m. ET. And if you don’t subscribe to Slice, you can get it online at slice.ca.
“(A) show like Project Runway is impossible to avoid in the media, so we find out who was eliminated weeks before we even watch the episode … I don’t understand why this has to happen – aarrrggghhhh!!!”
Of course, you could always ask your computer-savvy kid or your friend’s kid to show you how to watch the show on the U.S. channel’s website or — if the nuns of your past do not haunt you as much as they do me — you could download the show illegally. I’m not there. Yet.
Hey Slice! Why the delay? “Fashionably late” is not the way to go here.
Season 3 of Dexter, out now on DVD and Blu-ray to whet your bloody appetite for the Sept. 27 premiere of Season 4 on The Movie Network, was full of shockers.
Dexter Season 3 in DVD and Blu-ray
Dexter Morgan, a father? Sure, he’s good with Rita’s kids, but what does the solidly moral murderer feel, and I believe he can feel despite voiceovers to the contrary, at the prospect of his Dark Passenger staring back at him in a baby blue eye?
Then there is the stomach-churning turnabout when Dexter’s planned justice-murder of a drug thug called Freebo becomes a season-long complication. Toss on that pile the carved-up victim’s of The Skinner.
But best of all is Dexter’s unlikely partnership with a surprisingly bloodthirsty Assistant District Attorney Miguel Prado. Most shocking of all is that the ADA is played by a Jimmy Smits, who knocks the door down with a stunning season-long performance.
Here is the season’s most memorable moment, in which Smits, who had sunk to a melodramatic low in the 2007 drama Cane, vaults to a career high of dramatic intensity.
Extras on this disc are minimal, including interviews with Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter (the onscreen brother and sister are now husband and wife), Julie Benz, Lauren Velez and David Zayas; episodes from other Showtime series The Tudors (S3) and The United States of Tara (S1), plus book excerpts.
Also out this week is Season 2 of Dirty Sexy Money. I was nearly holding my breath for the arrival of the final four episodes of this ABC drama, which — like Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies –
Dirty Sexy Money Season 2
was axed and the axing was blamed on the writers’ strike, which kneecapped the first season and delayed the start of the second. While the other two were charming and off-centre, I could see where they had failed to grab a huge audience, writers’ strike or not. But Dirty Sexy Money was, in its first season and the start of its second, a great hybrid of Park Avenue soap and suspense — was lawyer Nick’s lawyer father killed? if so, by whom, or worse, by which member of his family, biological or otherwise? Dynasty with real drama. With that cast, how could it miss: Jill Clayburgh as the cunning matriarch, Donald Sutherland as the saint/snake patriarch, Peter Krause as Nick, around whom the money and mystery swirled, all just slightly out of reach. But by the time the last four episodes started rolling out, it was clear that the spark had gone out. Central to the failure was the decision to have Nick dump his wife and stop resisting the moral rot of the Darling clan. Once Nick was lost, who was there to root for? The poor rich Darlings? Terrible, humdrum end to a promising series.
TV-on-DVD titles new on the shelves this week:
Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Season
Simon and Simon: Season 3
Eli Stone: Season 2
Everybody Hates Chris: The Final Season or The Complete Series
Greek: Chapter 3
Sons of Anarchy: Season 1
Man Vs. Wild: Season 3
The Beast: Season 1
Cracker: The Complete Series (U.S. series)
The Judy Garland Show, Vol. 1
And here are last week’s titles. I took a day off and never quite recovered my friends. Apologies for the delay although, truth be told, there was not much to miss in these summer drudge days:
90210: Complete First Season
Adam-12: Season 3
The King of Queens: Season 1-3
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle: Season 1
Some lucky basterds got to see it already at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival a couple of weeks back, but for the rest of us, this Friday will be the first chance to see Quentin Tarantino’s WWII project Inglourious Basterds. Or we could watch David Letterman because with three consecutive night of IB guests, starting with Tarantino tonight, we’re bound to have seen enough clips to put most of it together. Mucho repeato elsewhere, except Chelsea (who has Eli Roth aboard on Thursday), Daily Show and Colbert and Regis and Kelly and Tyra. And if you can’t get enough of Jay Leno, whose promos are clogging up every spare minute on NBC, he’ll be a guest of Bill Maher Friday night. And yes, I’m judging you. As a palate cleanser, here is a trailer for Inglourious Basterds.
I don’t want to say this is a another repeat-heavy week on the talk-show circuit, but I fell asleep putting it together. There are, however, highlights. Although can one say highlight in regards to interviewing Kate Gosselin who is now famous for having a humonguous family and then cracking it apart. Or having it cracked apart by her estranged husband Jon Gosselin? Your call. I’m staying out of it, waaaay out of it. Who can watch this show now? Anyway, Kate is visiting Life with Regis and Kelly on Thursday.
Hello chickens! This Julia Child post was originally published in June 2008, at the summer end of my weekend comfort-food series TV Dinner Time. But since every other blogger in the universe is hitching their wagon to the big-screen biopic Julie & Julia (opening Aug. 7), I thought I’d tart this old goldie up a bit. So here it is, only slightly tarted. See you at the theatre.
Julia Child courtesy of PBS
Even if you know her only by Dan Aykroyd’s most excellent spoof of her high-pitched voice and indelicate cleaver weilding, you know Julia Child, who introduced approachable French cooking to North America with her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking and virtually invented food TV with her PBS show The French Chef (episodes of which you can now watch on pbs.org or by clicking here).
In the 2007 book American Food Writing (editor Molly O’Neill, Library of America), she explains that the cooking show happened almost by accident. Her agent suggested a brief cooking demo on the Boston station WGBH. That appearance, in which the accidental TV star simply beat egg whites in a copper bowl while she talked, brought requests for more. Child, her retired diplomat husband Paul and agent, et al, decided she should tape another fuller cooking demo. And so, Ms. Child recalls:
Julia Child and friend courtesy of PBS
“On July 26, 1962, after we all had eaten a big steak dinner at our house, we pulled the television set out of hiding and turned it on at 8:30. There was this woman tossing French omelettes, splashing eggs about the place, brandishing big knives, panting heavily as she careened around the stove and WGBH-TV lurched into educational television’s first cooking program.”
Rachael Ray, bow down and give thanks to a generous, self-effacing pioneer.
Normally, in the TV Dinner Time food and TV series, this is the part where I try to convince you that the recipe I am about to share can be made during commercial breaks and consumed without mess or fuss, all without ever having to tear your eyes away from your favourite TV series. Of course this assumes enough TV to keep you rivetting to the couch. But it’s summer. So, here’s a recipe from Julia Child’s Lessons with Master Chefs. The chef is Alice Waters and the dish is Beet, Blood Orange, Walnut and Rocket Salad.
Now, remember to eat right this summer. You know how I worry.
Oh Dear. I’ve been caught with my DVDs down once again. It’s a slow week. And the only DVD that critical attention demands I review, well, I didn’t watched a single episode of Flight of the Conchords’ second season. It was clever in the first go ’round, but I found myself drifting toward the end. Sorry lads, your tale of two New Zealand singers trying to make it in NYC just didn’t click with me. Of course, you, with your much more advanced appreciation of this very dry humour will shame me by explaining how good it is and how wrong I am. The lines are open. My operators are standing by. Until the first call, here is the pitiful little list of releases this week.
Flight of the Conchords: Season 2
The Love Boat; Season 2, Vol. 2
Project Runway: The Complete Fifth Season
Robin Hood: Season 2
Elvis Presley: The Ed Sullivan Show
Kate & Allie: Season 6
– Denise Duguay
Members of the Television Critics Association or TCA (the full-time ones, the ones with travel budgets, not that I’m bitter) are gathered in Los Angeles as the networks and cable outlets preview their fall season programming slates.
And, as usual, they take advantage of the gathering and amassed Hollywood talent to hand out their annual awards. Battlestar Galactica, ER, Big Bang Theory and Betty White are among the winners this year.
But before you get to the list of winners, below, here are two bits of colour from the weekend: There was a chocolate fountain at the awards, and CBS Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson sent pizza, as well as this note, (with thanks to Alan Sepinwell of the New Jersey Star Ledger for tweeting this)
And now the winners. Which are guaranteed to be more just than the Emmy’s on Sept. 20, based on the nominations.
PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: “Battlestar Galactica” (Syfy)
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: “True Blood” (HBO)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: “Mad Men” (AMC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: “The Alzheimer’s Project” (HBO)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING: “Yo Gabba Gabba” (Nickelodeon)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES & SPECIALS: “Grey Gardens” (HBO)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
David Letterman is in repeats, joining Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, Bonnie Hunt and George Stroumboulopoulos. But take heart. Highlight of the week is sure to be Meryl Streep on Colbert on Thursday, promoting Julie and Julia, which opens Friday and in which she plays Julia Child. Second will be either Eli Roth (Kimmel on Wednesday) or Quentin Tarantino Kimmel on Friday), both stumping for Inglourious Basterds (opening Aug. 21). Here’s a trailer for Basterds.
Monday: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Veronika Part/Levon Helm (American Ballet Theatre/Electric Dirt), Top 10 with Bruno (R)
Tuesday: Jonah Hill (Funny People), Gar Ryness (Batting Stance Guy), Kelly Clarkson (All I Ever Wanted) (R)
Wednesday: Johnny Depp (Public Enemies), Megan Fox (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) (R)
Thursday: Ray Romano (Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs), St. Vincent (Actor) (R)
Friday: Joaquin Phoenix (Two Lovers), SI swimsuit cover model Bar Rafaeli, Anthony Hamilton (The Point of It All)
Debuts
Sunday, Aug. 2 at 9-11 p.m. ET on CTV and ABC
Regularly airs
Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV and ABC and Fridays (starting Aug. 7) at 8 p.m. ET on Space
Premise About 40 years into the future, four men and four women of the International Space Organization leave Earth for a six-year mission aboard the Antares. The first major destination in this farthest-reaching tour of space will be Venus, but half of the action will be flashback, laying out the connections between the characters and revealing a mystery. But don’t go thinking this is a hardcore sci-fi kinda show. It’s from one of the creative people behind hospital soap Grey’s Anatomy. There is ridiculous sex, soap opera plot devices hammered into a drama template, ponderous voiceovers, overwrought use of pop singles and a couple of easily identifiable standins for Grey’s characters, with more to come later.
Here’s the trailer
Primary cast and crew
Ron Livingston (Office Space, Sex and the City, Band of Brothers) is Donner, veteran of an earlier mission to Mars that ended badly. Donner is Derek. Also an engineer.
Laura Harris (24) is Zoe. She is Meredith. Is she ever.
Florentine Lahme (Impact) is Nadia, the pilot. I haven’t pegged her Grey’s counterpart yet. Soon.
Malik Yoba (New York Undercover) is Ted. He’s married to the space agency boss. Jury is also out on his Grey’s character. He doesn’t say much in the first two hours.
Christina Cox (Blood Ties) is Jen, flight biologist. She’s kind of a Christina. She’s also the Canadian on this international crew.
Paula Garces (The Shield) is Paula, pilot and onboard documentary producer.
Dylan Taylor (House Party) is Wass, the physicist. I suppose he’s a kind of George.
Eyal Podell (24) is Mintz, the medical officer and psychiatrist.
Andrew Airlie (Reaper) is Mike, the grumpy mission control commander. Watch your back here.
Karen LeBlanc (ReGenesis) is Eve, scientist.
Zahf Paroo (Battlestar Galactica) is Ajay, engineer.
Maxim Roy (MVP) is Claire, flight surgeon.
Ty Olsson (Men in Trees) is Rollie, Jen’s husband and mission commander.
James Parriott (Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty) and Michael Edelstein (Desperate Housewives) are exec producers and Ron French (Battlestar Galactica) is producer.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I …
I could have sworn that I just watched Grey’s Anatomy in space. But Grey’s has its moments, so I’ll keep tuning in for a while a least. The soapy elements are, however, hard to swallow at some points. There is a sex scene that made me laugh out loud. Not the result they were probably looking for. Hardcore sci-fi geeks will probably be enraged by some of the more airy-fairy plot points, which I won’t spoil here but suffice to say the people in charge of this missing are not ruled only by logic and the need for financial accountability. On a more karmic note, and karma gets trotted out a lot in the voiceovers and elsewhere, it’s too bad that this sci-fi drama got the greenlight over the superior Virtuality, which was dropped as a series but aired earlier this summer as a standalone movie. It too involved onboard shtupping, documentary reports broadcast back to Earth and an overarching mystery. It was also crunchy hard science and so not everyone’s cup of tea, though I’d rather that than Defying Gravity’s waffling between sci-fi and soap. But this is summer and so these are desperate times and expectations have been lowered. Bring on the emo music, the stupid hookups in space and the dreamy voiceovers about fate and destiny.
Other reviews The L.A. Times’ Robert Lloyd ends its review this way: “I wouldn’t warn you away” and “I do wonder what’s coming.”
Alan Sepinwall at the New Jersey Star Ledger calls it “too slight, or silly, to treat as anything but the cheap, disposable summer programming it is.”
Official website here and here
On the CTV site, there are photos and the usual character and cast bios, but also video of the execs Parriott and Edelstein talking with great born-again zeal about what great potential space holds. Hm. The ABC site has almost nothing but video promos, the loading of which stalled my Firefox a couple of times.
I have an old copy of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz that I bought to keep for when my neices and nephews are old enough and, hopefully, interested enough to read. Same for the movie, the VHS copy of which has been replaced by a DVD and, probably, a Blu-ray before the time comes.
None of them are old enough for it now, scary as the story can be in the book and movie, with its dead Wicked Witch of the East, bad though she is, and flying monkeys and crying Dorothy.
But the re-imagining of Baum’s classic story into the sci-fi miniseries Tin Man makes the old book and film look charmingly benign.
This new work, which premiered on U.S. cable and Canadian satellite way back in 2007, gets its Canadian television premiere tonight (Saturday) through Monday on Space, airing for two hours nightly at 9 p.m. ET.
It is a dark, dark telling, replacing the sweet fantasy elements of a woodsman turned to tin, a scarecrow who longs for a brain and a cowardly lion.
In Tin Man, the theme that has resonated with generations of readers and filmgoers — there’s no place like home — remains but the home is not a farm in Kansas. Here, DG (Zooey Deschanel) is a young woman bristling under her parents’ attempts to keep her at home. She is impatient with her father’s stories of his ideal childhood. And then a storm comes. But not just any storm. In Tin Man, storms are for travelling from one dimension, DG’s Other Side, to The Outer Zone. Upon arrival, she finds a world ruled by the sorceress Azkadellia who generously deals out psychological and physical torture to those who resist her firm hand and to those whose powers can be useful.
The squeamish will wince at her treatment of a group known as the Viewers, clairvoyants whe see with their hearts. The Tin Man, played by the spooky-eyed Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Desperate Housewives), is seeking revenge against Azkadellia and Zero, her stylishly clad henchman (Callum Keith Rennie). Describing the others would ruin the joy of discovery.
And it is “joy”. Though this is dark, maybe too dark for viewers under 13 or 14 even if watched with parents, this is a nicely handled story. The roles are solid, the twists on the story are well-earned and the pacing is good. If you can’t see yourself setting aside two hours a night for three nights, remember to set your PVR (or VCR, but… really?) or nip out to the video store and rent the DVD of the whole series. It was released last October.
But do watch.
My only quibble? Having watched only the first of three parts, I see that the wizard is not the “great and powerful Oz”, or at least not so far, and that is such a heartbreaker, although Richard Dreyfuss is terrific as this inside-out version of the wizard.
Perhaps it all gets sorted out. And even if not, it’s a forgiveable thing.
Now then, here’s an interview with one of my favourite Canadian actors, Callum Keith Rennie, in which he talks about how much he enjoys his bad guy roles in Tin Man, as the evil Akkadelia’s leather-suited henchman Zero, on Battlestar Galactica (well, partly bad) and, upcoming, in 24, in which he plays a Russian mobster.
– Denise Duguay
Zach Galifianakis has been working his odd corner of the standup stage for a while, but if the name is new to you, you might know it from his two big movies onscreen: The Hangover and G Force.
Galifianakis has arrived, it appears, at least to bigger paycheques. However, to really know the guy behind the awkward, clingy, drug-packing brother-in-law-to-be in The Hangover and the whatever-the-hell-his-character-is in the hamster spy movie G Force, you have to see some of his standup. Which, lucky you, you can do tonight.
Neither Zach Galifianakis Live (10 p.m. ET on Comedy Network) nor The Comedians of Comedy (11 p.m. ET) are new specials. The one-man Live special, with faux behind-the-scenes, is from 2006, recorded at San Francisco’s Purple Onion club and the Comedians, which takes in five standups on the road, was released the year before.
If you were at Just for Laughs in 2007, you have already had the pleasure, although not everyone likes this bearded comic’s rambling, rageful, disjointed routine. I have to admit when I first saw him here in Montreal at the 2007 Alternative Show, after being encouraged by a friend, I laughed about half the time, and was baffled the rest of the time. I had similar reactions to his Between Two Ferns faux talk show on FunnyorDie.com. Sometimes funny, sometimes just puzzling.
Galifianakis is aware of this, obviously: During the Live special, he seizes on an unlikely-looking audience member — safe to say his most ardent fans are young males and this guy, dubbed Dr. Eye, looked grandfatherly — and reveals to the rest of the audience that Dr. Eye had been sitting through the show with a “a look on his face like he’s trying to crack a safe.”
That sounds about right.
Gazette film blogger Al Kratina, in reviewing the Galifianakis movie Visioneers at this year’s Just for Laughs, described his performance in the bleak comedy about a soulless corporation as “deadpan to the point of a barbiturate coma”.
That also sounds about right.
But don’t be afraid. Just let go and experience the absurdity, the silliness. Enjoy a comic who introduces himself, saying, “Hi, I’m Zach Galifianakis. I hope I’m pronouncing that correctly.” And enjoy his characters, like the timid pimp, who pops up in Live: “Hi, Amber? Yeah, I can hold.”
Having just watched the Live special, I must admit this guy is growing on me. In part, it’s a good tonic after having attended a week of Just for Laughs and heard a million versions of the setup-punchline type of humour. (I know, this is a tough life.) Galifianakis cracks that mold, to say the least.
And I am looking forward to The Comedians of Comedy, which was written by Galifianakis and also features Alternative Show performers Andy Kindler and Bob Odenkirk in an on-the-road special with stage performance and reflections on the business.
Here, courtesy of Al Kratina on The Cine Files, is the trailer of Visioneers, which you’re not likely to see in another theatre near you, I suspect.
Funny People everywhere, morning and night, east coast and west. Seems about right for those of us trying to adjust to life post-Just for Laughs, which wrapped here in Montreal July 26. So sit back and take in the promotional vehicle that is Funny People, which opens Friday, and its stars, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Leslie Mann, Adam Sandler and ringleader Judd Apatow. Here’s a clip, as they say, to set the whole thing up.
Katherine Heigl is stumping for her new movie The Ugly Truth, which opens on Friday. Here’s the trailer. Daytime is all repeats except for The View and Reeg and Kelly.
Update Friday, July 17: Here’s the complete list of nominees.
Hey chickens. At around 8:40 a.m. ET today (July 16), the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences unveiled this year’s nominees for the 61st annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which will be handed out Sept. 20 this year, broadcast live on CBS and CTV.
Still waiting to see the full list of nominees (looks like the emmys.com site has crashed), but Reuters reports that “NBC’s 30 Rock had a leading 22 nominations, including best TV comedy and AMC’s Mad Men had 16 nominations, including best drama,” and AOL Television has the supporting actor/actress nominees, which are now added to the list.
Here are the major category nominations, as announced by Grey’s Anatomy’s Chandra Wilson and Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons, both startled to discover they are nominees.
My puny thoughts on the nominees, such as they are, are at the bottom along with a link to a retro Emmy video that has a great blooper with the lovely Lucille Ball.
Best drama: Big Love, Breaking Bad, Damages, Dexter, Lost, House, Mad Men
Lead actress in a drama: Sally Field (Brothers and Sisters), Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), Glenn Close (Damages), Mariska Hargita (Law and Order: SVU), Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Holly Hunter (Saving Grace).
Lead actor in a drama: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Hugh Laurie (House), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Simon Baker (The Mentalist)
Supporting actor, drama: William Shatner (Boston Legal), Christian Clemenson (Boston Legal), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), William Hurt (Damages), Michael Emerson (Lost), John Slattery (Mad Men)
Supporting actress, drama: Rose Byrne (Damages), Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy), Chandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy), Dianne Wiest (In Treatment), Hope Davis (In Treatment), Cherry Jones (24)
Made for TV movie: Coco Chanel, Grey Gardens, Into the Storm, Prayers for Bobby, Taking Chance
Miniseries: Generation Kill, Little Dorrit
Lead actress miniseries or TV movie: Shirley Maclaine (Coco Chanel), Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange (Grey Gardens), Sigourney Weaver (Prayers for Bobby), Chandra Wilson (Accidental Friendship)
Lead actor in miniseries or movie: Kevin Klein (Cyrano de Bergerac), Brendan Gleeson (Into the Storm), Ian McKellan (King Lear), Kevin Bacon (Taking Chance), Kiefer Sutherland (24: Redemption), Kenneth Branagh (Wallander)
Reality competition program: Amazing Race, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Project Runway, Top Chef
Variety, comedy or music series: Colbert Report, Daily Show, Late Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, SNL
Comedy: Entourage, Family Guy, Flight on the Conchords, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, 30 Rock, Weeds
Actress in a comedy: Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (New Adventures of Old Christine), Christina Applegate (Samatha Who?), Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Project), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Toni Collette (United States of Tara), Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)
Actor in a comedy: Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), Steve Carell (The Office), Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men), Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Suporting actor, comedy: Kevin Dillon (Entourage), Neil Patrick Harris (who will host the Emmys, for How I Met Your Mother), Rainn Wilson (The Office), Tracy Morgan (30 Rock), Jack McBrayer (30 Rock), Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men)
Supporting actress, comedy: Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies), Amy Poehler (SNL), Kristin Wiig (SNL), Jane Krakowski (30 Rock), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds)
My thoughts:
Great to see Jim Parsons nominated for Big Bang Theory, a funny show that is now getting some respect.
What the hell is with the paucity of Lost nominees in these performance categories? I see Michael Emerson for supporting actor and a nod in the drama category and ….? Hello? What about good Locke/bad Locke: Terry O’Quinn? Brokenhearted Sawyer: Josh Holloway?
Will someone please bring Breaking Bad to freaking cable in Eastern Canada? Hello? Bryan Cranston was best actor last year and is nominated again this year, as is his co-star and the series. The show is great. Get Season One on DVD. Find Season 2 online and thumb your nose at Canadian broadcasters who will miss your eyeballs when you get more comfy with watching TV on the web. Ahem.
Bittersweet to see so many nominees for actors/actresses in now-dead shows: Christina Applegate for Samantha Who, Kristin Chenoweth for Pushing Daisies, William Shatner and Christian Clemenson for Boston Legal (but not James Spader?). Speaking of which, no love whatsoever for Dirty Sexy Money?
And finally, though not thoroughly because my real, paying job beckons, very nice to see In Treatment getting continued attention; the half-hour therapy sessions are too talky for some and beautiful verbal ballets to the rest of us.
Vulgar, irresistably funny Family Guy has made history by gambling it could make the best comedy list instead of just the animated ghetto. I wish I could think of some vulgar and funny term of congrats.
And a nod of agreement to ew.com columnist Michael Ausiello’s point that The Sheild and Friday Night Lights were outrageously snubbed.
Lemme know what you think, either in the comments below or by emailing me (click my name). While you are mulling over these nominations (no Survivor in the reality series category? There IS hope for humanity!), check out this video of funny moments at the Emmys. The first two-thirds is kinda obvious minor, scripted humour, but the last one, involving the luminously beautiful elderly Lucille Ball scrambling, is very funny. Enjoy.
“Mad Men pulled off an amazing feat in the second season, managing to keep up the quality of the series with such high expectations coming off of its first critically acclaimed outing. Like the first season DVD release, the Season Two set is a very strong one. A few more features would have knocked this one out of the park, but as it is, it’s still an easy recommendation for fans.”
I wish I’d had time to get through (or had time to catch up with Season 2; for which I have no excuse because episodes are still online. What am I doing talking to you. I gotta go.)
Here are some other new releases of TV on DVD.
ER: Season 11
Shark Week: The Great Bites Collection
Wire in the Blood: The Complete Sixth Season
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations — Collection 4
The State: The Complete Series
Arab Labor: The Complete First Season
National Geographic: The Great White Odyssey (Blu-ray)
The Best of Make Room for Daddy
Bewitched: The Complete Eighth Season – Denise Duguay
Edie Falco and Anna Paquin are making the rounds, promoting Nurse Jackie and True Blood, respectively and the lads from Entourage are on both coasts. Daytime? Lots of reruns.
The Canadian crime series Durham County is back for a second season, debuting tonight (Monday, July 13 at 9 p.m. ET on The Movie Network, following a repeat of the Season One finale). And it’s just as dark as the first, nightmare-inducing first season, although from a different perspective.
It’s good, almost as good as the first season, although I offer than praise with the same trepidation as I did when I reviewed the DVD. Season One, about a wacko named Ray Prager who happens upon two girls in the forest dying from a serial killer’s attacks and proves he is no human, was too horrifying for me to sit through on the first go ’round. It took months of listening to fans of the series and series star Hugh Dillon for me to catch up, when the DVD came out. It was still horrifying, but I plowed through all six episodes. Like swallowing all the good but horrible tasting medicine in one go.
It was a fantastic, stylish, suspenseful piece of work: Cop Mike Sweeney (Dillon) knows his neighbour Prager (Justin Louis) is responsible for the deaths of the two girls and, although it takes him all six episodes, he finally gets his man. The cost? Prager’s final act before being arrested by Sweeney is to kidnap and attempt to assault and/or kill Sweeney’s daughter Sadie (Laurence Leboeuf). Sweeney arrives in time. Or at least before Sadie suffers any physical wounds.
Season One also left me wanting to take a shower or to walk among children and puppies playing in a sunny meadow. Very dark. Very creepy. Does the high quality of the work mitigate the images this dark business leaves in your head? Very personal call. If you can’t easily shake this kind of stuff from your head, don’t watch. But if you can take it, watch this series. And watch it from the beginning.
Season 2 finds the Sweeney family in tatters. Mike has been promoted but, as his colleagues point out, he’s still clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress due to having witnessed Prager attempt to kill his daughter. Sadie is even more brittle. She wants dad to come home. Family therapy is ongoing.
And Prager (now played by Romano Orzari who replaces Louis)? He has survived a suicide-by-fire attempt (the scars are real, Orzari having survived a car crash) and is ready for trial. Which means Sadie will have to testify as she is the sole witness and other evidence is thin.
Twisting the suspense a little more tightly is the arrival of a new damaged soul in the community of Durham County. Pen Verrity (Michelle Forbes of True Blood, In Treatment, Homicide: Life on the Street) has a dead daughter, a trembly young son, a raging estranged husband and a backyard pool that never gets used anymore. She also has a therapist’s degree, which is what allows her path to intersect with Sweeney’s.
That puts all the pieces on the board. I won’t spill any beans but it wouldn’t matter if I revealed every single plot turn. As with any good story — and this is a good one — it’s all in the telling.
The look of the series is still sinister: the power lines, the half-finished housing development, Sweeney’s shell of a new temporary home, even the name of the baseball league that Sadie plays in — the “Emergency League”. And even when there is light, as in the Verrity’s ritzy home, it’s sterile and cold.
As far as performances go, Dillon is masterful as the detective father. As Sadie, Leboeuf is spectacular. And her scene with Prager’s son, her former boyfriend (played by Greyston Holt of Smallville) was lovely. Forbes is icy and scary, somethings that she’s also working well on True Blood as the devil/demon who hosts bizarre parties and harbours a strange pig.
But the plot in Season 2 is a wee bit more ragged than in the first in a couple of key respects. The relationship between Sweeney and Verrity does not feel earned. And Sweeney’s obsession with one aspect of the encounter between Sadie and Prager, while understandable in a father, is never grounded in the investigation story. However, in the thick nest of wierdness that surrounds these two points, these false notes quickly dissipate.
I could only endure two episodes of preview. I’m fortifying myself for the rest. I zipped through a couple of later episodes and saw some garish, horrifying stuff. You are warned. But this series has proved worth the effort it takes to watch it. If you’re up to it.
Let me know your take on disturbing but well-done television.
The sixth season of Entourage, which premieres tonight (Sunday, July12) at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO Canada, has the now-restored Hollywood golden boy Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his three-man crew from Queens at least making the motions toward adulthood and, gulp, independence from each other.
As the action opens, things are tense in Vince’s Hollywood house as the quarter prepare to attend the premiere of Gatsby, the Martin Scorsese fim that has pulled Vince’s fortunes out of the Medellin mud. Who will be the arm candy in the limo headed for the red carpet? And, more distressingly, what will Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) do once Vince gets his driver’s license and has no more need of a wheel man?
Wait a sec. Vince driving? A car? Maybe it’s just for his next role. Or maybe not.
And Vince’s manager, E (Kevin Connolly)? Why is he acting so shifty? And why is he getting sucked into the vortex that is Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui)? And why is Eric suddenly so hot with the ladies?
As The Boyfriend would say right about now. Whoa. That’s a lot of questions.
Indeed there are. And because I’m in a fit of pique over having had key plot points absolutely ruined once again while reading careless and uninspired movie reviews (Hello? Globe and Mail? I’d like to report an intellectual property crime.), I am not going to answer any of those questions because that’s not why you’re here anyway.
Is Season 6 a return to form? After watching the first two episodes, I think yes. There is a nice snap to the opening. And I do like the rumblings of independence from E and Turtle and what that has the potential to do for Vince. There’s a nice exchange between E and Vince that takes the slick series to a rare serious place, talking about what really holds these four lads together other than Vince’s career. It’s just a flash before returning to the continuing Hollywood slapstick, but it’s a nice note.
And what about Ari (Jeremy Piven) and the Miller Gold agency? (OK that really IS the last question.) It won’t spoil anything to say someone on Ari’s staff is rising and somebody is falling and Ari, of course, is yelling a lot. At least he will never grow up.
Here’s the Season 6 promo. And just so you know, it spills some of the beans but no real damage is done.
I was going to write about the DVD release of the first (and only! praise the lord) season of Kath & Kim, the NBC series starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as a dysfunctional mother and daughter with spellbindingly bad taste in fashion and nothing, ever funny to say. But then I found out that if it is no crime to make such a bad, bad sitcom, then it is not a crime to release it on DVD. There was such potential — the opening sequence of them strutting through a mall, the promos that gave a hint that the show was one sharp one-liner and hilariously bad fashion pose after another, what looked to be Blair’s ferocious skewering of her fashion image. However, the episodes revealed a show that was only posing at sharp, smart humour, instead settling for mundane ba-rump-pump sitcom setups.
Ah well.
Here are some other TV releases new to DVD.
Murder, She Wrote: The Complete 10th Season
Third Watch: The Complete Second Season
Matlock: The Third Season
Peanuts: 1960s Celebration
Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Vol. 15
Petticoat Junction: The Official Second Season
Torchwood: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray
Reno 911: The Complete Sixth Season
Callan: Set One
Kath & Kim: Season One
Frontline: Poisoned Waters
Frontline: Bigger Than Enron
Frontline: Ten Trillion and Counting
Frontline: Sick Around America
Frontline: THe Madoff Affair
Criss Angel: Mindfreak — The Complete Season 2
NBC News Presents: Yes We Can! The Barack Obama Story
Coco Chanel
Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Tennis Shoes
Ruby: A Journey to Lose the First 100 Lbs.
Good lord. These talk-show hosts do love their vacations! Most shows are in repeats for another week, but at least Letterman, Ferguson and O’Brien are back with new guests, including the three stars Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe who are cranking up the Harry Potter promo machine. Here’s a clip from The Half-Blood Prince, which premieres July 6 in Tokyo, July 7 in London July 8 in NYC and opens wide, as they say, on Wednesday, July 15.
Eastbound and Down is a half-hour series starring Danny McBride as thoroughly obnoxious galute Kenny Powers, reduced to teaching gym after drugs ruined his career in Major League Baseball. He is crude and foul and disgusting. AND he has a mullet. But despite all that, and my lukewarm review back when it premiered on The Movie Network in February, I found that I laughed more and — go ahead, laugh — brushed away a tear near the end of its six-episode run. And not over Will Ferrell’s car salesman coif, which could bring a tear to the eye but for a completely different reason. I’ll probably even tune in when it returns with a second season to HBO Canada in 2010. Extras on the Season 1 DVD, new on shelves this week, include audio commentaries, deleted scenes and outtakes, and featurettes Kenny Powers: Greatest Hots, Stevie’s Dark Secret and a making-of.
Here are some other and, probably, less foul, TV DVDs, new on shelves this week:
Stargate: Atlantis: Season 5
Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season
Eureka: Season 3.0
The IT Crowd: The Complete Second Season
Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season 2
Blue Murder: Set 4
Parker Lewis Can’t Lose: The Complete First Season
Route 66: Season 3, Vol. 1
Frontline: Inside the Meltdown
American Experience: We Shall Remain
Hilarious House of Frightenstein: The Librarian’s Not So Scary Tales
– Denise Duguay
Repeat city on most chat shows this Canada Day and pre-July 4 week, except for The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Live with Regis and Kelly, Chelsea Lately and Tyra. Later.
Debuts
Sunday, June 28 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO Canada
Regularly airs
Sundays from 10-10:30 p.m. ET (although the June 28 premiere runs about 45 minutes or so) on HBO Canada
Premise
Stop me if you’ve heard this country song before. A one-time star athlete who hates the teacher/coach job he turned to after a career-ending injury, the same guy whose wife left him for a dermatologist and his magical injections, loses his house to a fire, necessitating the loss of his children to his Botoxed ex and her skin doc. Meet Ray. He’s living in a tent, in the backyard of his burned-out home. His neighbour, whose love of expensively rendered landscaping bad taste is unparalleled, is trying to drive him from the neighbourhood. Oh yeah. He’s broke. And hopeless. So you can imagine that a one-night stand would only sink this poor schlub lower than a hound dog sleeping in a wet ditch. But that boff, with a women he shtupped before but of course doesn’t remember, changes Ray’s life. Because it’s when he and his new friend decide that he, in fact, does have one thing going for him. His penis. And they decide to put his penis to work in a one-man escort service.
Primary cast and crew
Thomas Jane (Punisher, 61*) is Ray Drecker, about as regular a guy as you can imagine. Well, aside from the enormous penis.
Jane Adams (Little Children, Frasier, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) is Ray’s new friend, Tanya Skagle, poet, proof reader and pimpette.
Anne Heche (Men in Trees) is Ray’s ex, vapid ditz striving to be liked by her teen children.
Charlie Saxton (minor credits so far but he’s in the upcoming film adaptation of The Lovely Bones, so watch for that) is Damon, the son whose painted fingernails and makeup causes a little parental concern.
Sianoa Smit-McPhee (couple of Australian series, As the Bell Rings and Neighbours) is Darby, the sulky daughter.
Dmitry Lipkin (The Riches) is exec producer and writer.
Buzz buzz The one-trick, um, pony of a title is good for one very brief laugh and then it’s just unfortunate. This black-comic series has humour, but even the humour is the opposite of titillating. But that didn’t stop Variety and others from writing sexy stories about the concept.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the first four episodes, I do declare…
I’ve already covered the fact that, despite the title, this series is not a sex-joke shocker. Set in depressed Detroit, it is about a family of depressed people. The shocker is that it’s a sweet, thoughtful look at how hard it is to haul your arse out of that depression. “Make somebody feel good” is the message, because you gotta do something and anyway, it might make you happy or at least put a few buck in your pocket. But I’ve gone and made this series sound serious and self-helpish. Not so. It’s a true dark comedy, embracing ridiculous leaps of narrative logic, in which a spunky poet-baker pimps her recent one-night stand out to society ladies so he can finance the rebuilding of his cindered home. You should know that it starts out slooooooooow; it takes a full three episodes to hit its stride, but stay the course. Episode 4 will make you smile. I guarantee. Oh, and hit the mute button whenever Anne Heche’s character comes onscreen. I so far don’t see the point except to illustrate how little Ray was paying attention to his joyless marriage to this panicky, bland character.
Other reviews
Monsters and Critics’ critic April McIntyre agrees this series takes a few episodes to grow on you … and she earns a couple of cranky comments that she should not buy the series’ view that teachers like Ray are criminally underpaid.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Tim Goodman calls Hung downright “endearing.”
For something on the more acid end of the spectrum, Dorothy Rabinowitz of the Wall Street Journal not only declares this series a failure, but she uses some of the most unkind language I have encountered in a while (and I get around), describing Ray’s first true client, whose absence of glamour is central to the action, as “a sad-eyed, fat, ever-so-pathetic wife”. Wow. Is that you, Mother Teresa?
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of summer premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
So there’s this movie on Fox tomorrow night. It’s called Virtuality. Its brass include Ronald D. Moore, the brain behind the crazy good, addictive Battlestar Galactica. So far, so good. Yet this proposed sci-fi series has been stalled and hot-potatoed and finally rejected by Fox. However, probably on account of the cost, Fox had the pilot recut as this two-hour movie, which was originally scheduled for early July and then moved up to Friday night, June 26, from 8-10 p.m. ET.
What’s all the fuss about? It’s set aboard Earth’s first starship, Phaeton, on which the astronauts keep themselves sane over the 10-year voyage with personal pod-type virtual reality simulators. Oh, yeah. The ship is also a flying Big Brother set, with the voyage being filmed for a reality series being broadcast back to Earth (which, if approved as a series, would have been a separate online series). Anyway, then some glitch in the VR pods reveals either sabotage by someone on board or a very bad snafu. And just as this bad thing happens, they find themselves at a crucial point in the voyage, causing them to have to resort to the Fish or Cut Bait protocol. Having watched a 12-minute trailer, I can say I have no idea what the hell is going on. But I am always sci-fi curious, so I’m going to tune in.
Problem? When the hell is this show on? Friday at 8 p.m. seems like the best bet, judging by my Videotron digital cable onscreen TV listings, and all reviews and even Fox’s own site. But I just saw a promo on Fox, this Thursday morning, saying it airs “tonight at 8 p.m.” Oh and about that Fox site, when I went to fox.com’s schedule and clicked on Virtuality in the Friday listing and then clicked on the hyperlinked “Visit the Fox movie special Virtuality site”, it took me to rottentomatoes.com! Could this show be more plagued with bad karma?
The New York Daily News says not to bother, because it’s boring.
Alan Sepinwall over the New Jersey Star-Ledger says the movie looks as expensive as it apparently was and that it contains intriguing ideas that could put it level with Battlestar Galactica, but that it ends when the action is only beginning. As though, as originally intended, this were the beginning of a series. He points out that it’s probably unwise to hope that good ratings will give Virtuality a second life as a series, but wishes he could see the series that this pilot hints at.
The followup to Band of Brothers is The Pacific. Here’s the new trailer for the miniseries, made, as with Band of Brothers, by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks for HBO.
Having just spent D-Day watching a day-long marathon of the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers, which follows Easy Company of the 101st Airborne division from ocean crossing to the U.K., training and D-Day through to the liberation of the camps, I am so looking forward to this. Big boots to fill, of course.
This mini follows Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda) from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima through to V-Jay day. No start date yet announced, by the trailer notes 2010.
Here’s the trailer, with nods to James Hibberd at The Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed, via digg.
Premise
Rich guy Teddy Rist saves Nigerian boy, which both deepens his grief for his dead son and sparks inspiration for how to assuage his grief over that loss: Use his millions to do good, in person and by his own hand. If he has some adventures and trysts, well so much the better.
Primary cast and crew
James Purefoy (Rome) is Teddy Rist, apparently inspired by a real guy, Bobby Sager.
Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order) is his partner and, going by the June 24 pilot, constant nag, Philip Maidstone
Neve Campbell (Party of Five, Scream) is Olivia Rist, Teddy’s wife but she and Rist had or still have something going on. Not clear from the pilot. She’s also quite naggy.
Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar from The Wire) is Rist’s driver and fixer and getter-out-of-troubler Dax
Lindy Booth (October Road, Relic Hunter) is Rist’s assistant AJ Butterfield. She totters quite gamely through Nigeria in, I couldn’t quite make out if they were Manohlos or Jimmy Choos but they were expensive and, given the terrain, remarkably durable.
Krista Allen (Head Cases) is Rist’s haunted, grieving ex-wife, Julia Carson Rist. The son’s death hangs over every one of the few words they exchange in the pilot.
Tom Fontana (St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz) is exec producer/writer and Gareth Neame (Hotel Babylon, Hustle) is exec-producer.
Buzz buzz
Fontana’s name carries some weight, but he left the show over creative differences last spring … and then returned in the fall. Odd, but then again Fontana is a brilliant guy, and although not all of his projects have been great, when he’s good, he’s very, very good. Here’s his essay for the Huff Post, describing his efforts to help Kratina victims and his new show, and here’s an interview by if magazine, whatever the hell that is, with Purefoy and Fontana, about the genesis of the show and the challenge of playing a real-life do-gooder.
But what do I know anyway? After having, indeed, seen the pilot I do declare:
I love Rist’s hedonist trying to also do some good. The character is introduced, to lovely effect, as he spins the yarn of his adventure and epiphany to a female bartender, which serves as the frame for the pilot episode. He self-consciously adopts the air of a barroom bullshitter, also hitting on her and writing her a $1,000 cheque if she will continue listening. But Fontana, who wrote and produced the opening episode, also reveals a heartbreaking character, too, one who chooses an stranger, a jaded bartender, as his confessor. The audience soon knows what she does not: about his son and his marriage and his grief. It’s a lovely setup. That Purefoy is gorgeously charismatic does not hurt. The excellent cinematography and action sequences (filmed in South Africa, Mozambique and Prague) also help, although careful TV watchers will remember that the production values of pilot episodes, on which the projects are sold, are usually much higher than the episodes that follow. HOWEVER, The Philanthropist’s premiere episode was also dotted with groaners and lost opportunities, among them Rist’s heavy-handed moment of ecstasy after he is pulled into a boy’s coming-of-age ceremony in Nigeria. That Martin, Campbell, Booth and expecially Williams are all barely involved in the action — well, that’s almost a crime but hopefully one that will soon be addressed. This has great potential.
Other reviews are mixed
Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald … well there’s no other word for it: he HATES The Philanthropist: “(It) recalls such epochal television bombs as Manimal (a scientist who could turn into a crime-fighting dolphin) or It’s About Time (astronauts break the time barrier and frolick happily with cavemen) in its conceptual imbecility.”
On the other hand, The Hollywood Reporter’s Randee Dawn calls it “a smart, earnest yet realistic series waiting to be told, and the pilot makes an intriguing beginning.”
And Variety’s Brian Lowry says that, while not perfect, The Philanthropist is good- and good-looking-enough to make time for.
Official website
Standard collection of cast and character bios, videos that shut out Canadian IP addresses, possibly the most boring quizzes every and “Extras” that are “Coming soon.” Meh!
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Hung, which debuts on HBO Canada Sunday night, is about exactly what you think it is. But is it more than a one-line joke? I’ll get back to you before the weekend.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of summer premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Okay, I’m gushing a bit. But I finally pried myself away from the TV long enough to get to a cinema to catch the surprise box-office hit The Hangover and it was, as promised, barking-mad-funny.
It’s about four L.A. lads who head to Vegas for a one-night bachelor party that gathers in its embrace a very bad morning after the night before, a crowbar, some Jagermeister, awkward displays of affection, several car trunks, couch pizza (no, that’s not a euphemism) and rude behavior to a tiger, a baby, Mike Tyson and Wayne Newton, although not at the same time. Obviously.
Stars the former Daily Show correspondent Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis (who had mystified me at Just for Laughs a while back and redefines cringe comedy here), lovely boy Bradley Cooper (Alias, Nip/Tuck) and the MIA groom-to-be Justin Bartha (National Treasure: Book of Secrets).
Helms steals the show with standup acting (previously seen in The Office) and a missing tooth (hence his character’s horrified self-assessment, quoted in the blog-post title). Hangover 2 is already in the works, with Helms, Cooper and Galifianakis.
Lazy days of summer. And a lazy week for distributors of TV on DVD, who have coughed up only a measly few light-weight releases (Reba: Season 6, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern: Collection 3). So I took that as a sign to look at what’s ahead. I’ll post a link to this post at the top of the page and try to keep it updated.
JUNE
Eastbound and Down: Season 1, June 30
Eureka: Season 3.0, June 30
Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season, June 30
JULY
Mad Men: Season 2, July 14
ER: Season 11, July 14
Prison Break: The Final Break, July 21
Pushing Daisies: The Complete Second Season, July 21
Dollhouse: Season 1, July 28
Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5/Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (DVD and Blu-ray), July 28
Life on Mars: Series 1 (U.K.), July 28
AUGUST
Flight of the Conchords: Season 2, Aug. 4
Californication: Season 2, Aug. 11
90210 (2.0): The Complete First Season, Aug. 11
Dexter: The Third Season (DVD and Blu-ray), Aug. 18
Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Season, Aug. 18
The Beast: Season 1, Aug. 18
Dirty Sexy Money: The Complete Second Season, Aug. 18
Eli Stone: The Complete Second Season, Aug. 18
Scrubs: The Complete Eighth Season, Aug. 25
House: Season 5, Aug. 25
Lie to Me: Season 1, Aug. 25
Life: Season 2, Aug. 25
NCIS: The Complete Sixth Season, Aug. 25
thirtysomething: The Complete First Season, Aug. 25
SEPTEMBER
Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fifth Season, Sept. 1
Heroes: Season 3 (DVD and Blu-ray), Sept. 1
No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, The Complete First Season, Sept. 1
Two and a Half Men: The Complete Sixth Season, Sept. 1
Fringe: The Complete First Season (DVD and Blu-ray), Sept. 8
Grey’s Anatomy: Season 5, Sept. 15
Private Practice: The Complete Second Season, Sept. 15
The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Second Season, Sept. 15
My Name Is Earl: the Complete Fourth Season (DVD and Blu-ray), Sept. 15
Castle: Season 1, Sept. 22
30 Rock: Season 3
Law & Order: SVU: The 10th Year, Sept. 22
The Mentalist: Season 1, Sept. 22
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Sept. 22
How I Met Your Mother: Season 4, Sept. 29
Life on Mars: The Complete Series (U.S.), Sept. 29
DECEMBER
Lost: Season 5/Lost: The Complete Fifth Season Dharma Initiation Kit (DVD and Blu-ray for both), Dec. 8
With thanks, as every DVD Tuesday, to amazon.ca and tvshowsondvd.com.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has the talk-show circuit in its thrall this week. Or, rather, Megan Fox does. Hey, who’s going to complain. The girl is cute. At least it’s a bit of relief from the neverending promotional tour that is Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno. Will someone please open that movie and get it over with so we can all get on with our summers? Ridiculously, the Bruno tour (which touches down on O’Brien’s show on Thursday) does not peak until the movie opens in the U.S. on July 10. Here’s the trailer for Transformers. It opens midnight on Tuesday here in Montreal.
Debuts
Sunday, June 21, at 8 p.m. ET on CTV and NBC
Regularly airs
Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on CTVand NBC
Premise
Usually seen as the shrivelled, bald and otherwise slightly scary old wizard/warlock who helps King Arthur realize his full potential, Merlin arrive in this series as a lad. Everybody, apparently, starts life as a stupid teenager. Oh, sorry. Make that studly teenager. A 13-part drama that aims to introduce the Camelot legend to a new generation. The action opens as Merlin arrives at Camelot only to discover that his secret talent, sorcery, is illegal and watches in horror as the most-recently revealed practitioner stretches his neck under an axe.
Primary cast and crew
Colin Morgan (Doctor Who) as Merlin
Bradley James (Lewis, Dis/Connected) as Prince Arthur
Anthony Head (The Invisibles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as King Uther
Richard Wilson (Kingdom, Life as We Know It) as Gaius
Katie McGrath (The Tudors) as Morgana
Angel Coulby (The Visit, Talk to Me) as Gwen
John Hurt (Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Limits of Control) is the dragon (well, the voice anyway)
Julian Murphy, Johnny Capps, Jake Michie and Julian Jones (Hex) are exec producers
Buzz buzz
It was a crazy hit in the UK when it premiered there last fall.
Oh, and Anthony Head is not afraid of the Camelot purists. Just so you know.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I do declare:
Having put many moons between me and my teenage years, I am a little off the demographic target here, but I found the first two episodes sweet and light, like diet Cool Whip. You kids will love this. Definitely not for fans of realism as these castles are as devoid of character as a cinder-block-walled gymnasium and the costumes are pristine.
The NYT’s Alessandra Stanley notes that the cast is colour blind and considers the whole thing quite “charming”.
Official website
Beyond the standard episode guide, the curse of the Canadian IP address means you won’t be able to watch the videos here, but there are good word games, including a sorcery quiz (8 out of 10, thank you very much) and a Camelot and Medievel Life quiz (840 points, although I won’t say the possible total). I passed on the crossword, not wanting to push my luck. Also cute but aimed more at the show’s younger demographic are offerings of Merlin wallpaper and AIM icons.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
I’ll look at the new drama The Philanthropist in time for the Wednesday premiere.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of summer premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
A snap of dad, in front of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Manchester, N.H. in May 1999.
PilgrIMAGE is a new documentary film from acclaimed Montreal doc-maker Peter Wintonick and his new-media-making daughter, Mira Burt-Wintonick. Perfectly scheduled on Father’s Day, it is a film-log of their travels to the destinations that map their love of cinema; his old-school and hers very new school. It’s like the Lumiere Brothers meet YouTube. I wish I could say the film, of which I received a preview copy, is fantastic. But due to waiting to the last minute, I have been foiled by a faulty DVD, with no time to order a replacement copy. But I can say, emphatically, that what I did manage to see, first via DVD player and then via computer DVD player, is lovely. I watched this Fellini segment only via the Web, on Bravo’s video player and you can too, right now!
This is a very personal film from the man behind the Chomsky film Manufacturing Consent and, among others, the film about filmaking, Cinema Verite. He and his daughter take turns sharing views as they hit various destinations. Sweetly, they both chose Kansas as the starting point. Wintonick observes that most of us have seen the L. Frank Baum-inspired film The Wizard of Oz many many times. He cites it as a huge influence, naming the Wizard as his main character: “The role of filmmakers is to draw that curtain aside.”
The rest was a staccato mess of frozen frames and abrupt lurches. Something about Charlie Chaplin. And then… not so much fading to black and stalling. So I will be watching it with, hopefully, you, Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET, repeating June 26 at 7 p.m. ET on Bravo.
Of the parts of PilgIMAGE that I saw, there was no bickering. But even so and, I guess, inevitably, it put me in mind of road trips with my own father, in particular the trip where it was just the two of us, him visiting me in Montreal.
There were lots of highs, among them, walking up the steps of the Oratoire and hearing, somehow for the first time, that Brother Andre saved my father’s life when he answered my grandmother prayers to halt the runaway infection that had invaded my boy-father’s horribly broken arm. (He still bore the foot-long scar along his right(?) arm, which he had told a young me he’d gotten from a bayonet attack in the Boer War.)
There were several moments of stress, including the point in the road trip where I shouted at him, exasperated at the never-ending-reciting-of-highway-signs as I tried and retried to get from the seventh-level-of-hell-overpass to the Manchester, N.H. Radisson hotel that I could see but not get to. To my eternal shame, I shouted at him: “Please stop talking.” Then, hoping to soften the blow, I added, with less volume, “For 10 minutes.”
He looked crushed. But 10 minutes later, to the second, he was back on the verbal treadmill. Somehow we got through it.
The payoff? Attending mass at the Catholic church in Manchester that his Quebec family had attended, when they briefly relocated there for work in the mills.
At some point, I knew the date. They were there long enough for my great-great-great Aunt Amanda to be born. Then back to Quebec and, eventually, to Ste. Anne, Manitoba. I have a two-inch-thick book of the Duguay family history, from the arrival of Pierre Duguet/Duguay in Canada sometime shortly before 1694 to a generation before my grandfather. This rickety book is a great and special thing to have, but what I miss most about my dad, who died a few years back after a 25-year remission of colon cancer, is his stories. Whether the tall tales of Boer War action or the miracle healing of the broken arm.
So, happy Father’s Day, with thanks to Peter Wintonick and Mira Burt-Wintonick for letting us tag along on their road trip, and to all the road trips and family stories of our own. And if you’ve got one to share, please do. – Denise Duguay
Apparently, I was not alone in being disappointed that Law and Order: Criminal Intent did not materialize Monday night at 9 on CTV.
Despite repeated promos advertising the show’s move from Saturdays to Mondays at 9 p.m., that slot was filled by Criminal Minds.
Reader Philip was also unamused and writes in an email to The Box: “I am a big fan of the Law and Order series. I appreciate it much more than the CSI series. Anyways, I was really thrilled about having new Law and Order episodes this summer with CI and was enjoying the ones I had seen. Then last week they announced that it was to move from its Sunday berth to a new Monday slot to accomodate some move of the week. So tonight I was looking forward to the episode that they were advertising up to Sunday Night/Monday Morning. I get ready to sit on the couch and then what do I see. They have replaced L&O CI with another repeat of Criminal Minds which I am not a fan of, and it doesn’t even look like they are playing CI in the next few weeks. What’s going on? … Why does CTV DO THIS?”
I put the question to CTV and the response only adds salt to the wound:
NBC extended the trainwreck called I’m a aCelebrity … Get Me Outta Here to two hours, resulting in the pre-emption of L&O: CI. Same will happen on Monday, June 22. So far, it seems safe to mark Monday, June 29 for the return of the series (but will it be a new episode?) that has just added Jeff Goldblum, filling the spot left vacant when Chris Noth decided to leave the show.
So, there you have it. Blame NBC. For those of you craving L&O: CI in the meantime, Zap2it reveals many, many reruns on Canadian digital cable service Mystery TV and a couple on CTV stations. Click here for Zap2it’s Montreal digital listings or localize it to your area.
And in the meantime, no need to leave you grumpy. What’s your take on Goldblum’s new character? Raised by shrinks, his detective character, Zach Nichols, is not quite as odd and intense as Vincent D’Onofrio’s Robert Goren, but he’s a comer. Too much intensity?
I’ve only seen one episode featuring Golblum (In Treatment) and I like the way the chemistry seems to be building, however reluctantly on her part, between Nichols and the now-confirmed-pregnant Det. Megan Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson). But no matter the role, Goldblum is a hard sell for some people. What’s your take? Email me or scroll down and leave a comment.
And thanks to Philip to writing in about the program swap.
“I’m convinced the shoes have something to do with it.”
Now, if you walked by my desk about 10 days ago and heard me make this statement to a colleague, would you know what “it” I was talking about?
And THAT, my friend, is the difference between you and sad nerds like me who, nearly a month after the last new episode of Season 5, are still quite fixated on the series Lost.
The shoes, of course, are Locke’s, the ones that Ben, I think it was, tells Jack he must put on Locke’s dead feet so they can recreate as many of the details of returning to the island as possible.
The shoes also, because there is never only one level of meaning for Lost, also referred to the sneakers worn by Jack’s father, Christian, when Jack sees him in the island jungle for the first time (Season 1, Walkabout) and by Jacob?/Christian? in the cabin in Season 4.
Fortunately, I am surrounded by other nerds who are obsessed with Lost. So much so that not only could I keep a colleague pinned to my desk while I spouted on and on about shoes and such, but another sad, nerd colleague walked by and, cued by the word “shoes”, asked furtively, dropping his head and lowering his voice, “Are you guys talking about Lost?”
He listened intently for a second and then said, “I’m going to look up Lost and shoes. I’ll get back to you.”
Now, you’re asking, what’s all this about shoes? Indeed, you are right. There are much more pressing questions when it comes to Lost, even though there are, gaak, seven months before the final season begins.
Some of these questions are spoilers so I will link only. Click at your peril.
Another character was apparently falsely rumoured to be returning… but will appear elsewhere on ABC.
The shoes have been confirmed as a link between Lost and the 1969 Kurt Russell movie, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. Russell’s last line of dialogue in that movie is the key to understanding every twist in five seasons of Lost.
One of the above is highly fictional.
Also fictional, I am sorry to say, is my promise to have sawed through the first two seasons of Lost, reissued this week on Blu-ray. Sometimes, my friends, life intervenes. I am plugging away.
I am loving the experience of rewatching Lost from the beginning, though I admit I feared seeing the little man behind the curtain, to use a reference to the L. Frank Baum classic so often drawn from in Lost.
However, having gotten about halfway through Season 1, I can say that the great and powerful Oz is terrifyingly alive and well, right from the epic two-hour series premiere. The booming hi-def sound, afforded by the remastering and the Blu-ray watchamajiggery, does not hurt either.
But the control of the story is what is really satisfying.
Take an exchange between Locke, saved from his wheelchair by the island, and Walt, the boy with vaguely defined special powers.
On the beach, Locke is fiddling with a backgammon set, explaining the game to Walt and holding up two game pieces: “Some are dark and some are light.”
Okay, now maybe this is another nerdy shoes moment, but the scene put chills down my spine. References to a game and to dark and light, all set on the beach — it rockets through to the rivetting Season 5 finale, in which Jacob and the unnamed character played by Titus Welliver tackle the same topics, but with stakes, while yet undefined, much higher.
Back to Locke and Walt on the beach, where Locke asks Walt if he wants to know a secret, which we do not get to hear.
Later, Walt admits to his suspicious dad Michael that Locke said he’d experienced a miracle on the island. Michael irritably cuts him off, saying their survival was a miracle, but what was it that Locke told Walt? Was it merely about the restoration of his legs? Or some other magic business between two very potent characters?
Fast-forward to the end of Season 1, where Locke is snatched by the smoke monster, which nearly drags him into a huge pit. Jack tries to save him but Locke tries to resist, saying that it’s okay, to just let him go.
So is Locke the dark game piece? Is he the smoke monster? WILL you stop laughing?
Locke has always been a spooky, pivotal character in this series, the man of faith to Jack’s man of science, but the two-Lockes at the end of Season 5 has only encouraged a reviewing of his role. I have assumed this mission.
Clearly, I spend too much time on my own. I know that. Unfortunately, people keep hanging around my desk at work and only encouraging me. So I will persist.
I am also checking out the progress of other Lost nerds via The Lost Rewatch: June 2009 to January 2010.
Let the judging begin.
Here are some other new DVD releases, and don’t forget my ramble about the great show Saving Grace, which releases its second season this week.
Family Guy, Vol. 7
Transformers: The Complete First Season
Burn Notice: Season 2
Everywood, the Complete Second Season
Jesse Stone Thin Ice
Murdoch Mysteries: Series 1
Trailer Park Boys: Seasons 1-7
Saving Grace: Season 2
Family Guy 100th Episode
The FBI Files: Season 3
The Secret Lilfe of the American Teenager: Season 2
Generation Kill (DVD and Blu-ray)
John Adams (Blu-ray)
Let’s see now. Stephen Colbert has returned from Iraq with a whole lot less hair. Conan O’Brien has shocked no one by having his version of The Tonight Show fall in the ratings to David Letterman’s Late Show, even thought NBC had already declared O’Brien the “new king of late night”. Craig Ferguson, O’Brien’s former competitor, knows better and, on Friday, revealed … himself to be the king! And — yes, I saved the best for last — Oprah has finally revealed her summer reading list. Before you mock (oh wait — too late?), this list includes the classic collection of essays, Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, and the new novel which I hope to jam into my summer somewhere, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Now, go and make a living so you can buy all the books on Oprah’s list as well as a bigger TV and a better cable package!
True Blood returns Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Canada
Season 2 rises for the series that spins characters and carnage around a love between telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and her 173-year-old vampire boyfriend Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).
And don’t get me wrong. I’m glad to be returned to the world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, interpreted by Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) from the gothic novels of Charlaine Harris. While the first season riffed more or less faithfully on Dead Until Dark (notably adding the character of Sookie’s best friend Tara, played by Rutina Wesley), the first novel of the series, the second takes up the action of Living Dead in Dallas. Happily, Ball changes at least one major plot point in the beginning of the second novel. If you want to know what that change is, you can read to the final paragraph of Robert Lloyd’s L.A. Times review, which spills too many beans if you ask me.
The change is brilliant, and all fans of Season 1 will welcome it. However, a preview of the first two episodes of this season left me dizzy: There is far too much going on. The romance between Sookie and Bill continues, but the sweaty, sexy (ok, bloody) clinches don’t have the Harlequin crescendoes they did in the first season (who knew a graveyard could be so carnal). Their teenager, the newly made vampire Jessica (Deborah ann Woll) draaaaaags.
There are several stories revolving around Tara, including one with Michelle Forbes, who was introduced with great mysterious fanfare at the end of Season 1. This story seems, over the first two episodes, to be draining the vigour from both characters.
Then there’s Sam (Sam Trammell), the shapeshifting owner of Merlotte’s bar and Sookie’s boss. There was excellent spark between the two in the first season, which nicely evolved beyond Sam’s mooning over Sookie and into a kind of partnership between outsiders united by their powers. But Sam and Sookie’s alliance is overwhelmed at the beginning of this season by Sam’s slowly revealed relationship with Forbes’s Maryann. Forbes is one of my fave actresses. She has elevated many series, including Homicide: Life on the Street, more recently in Battlestar Galactica and, soon, the second season of excellent Canadian drama Durham County, which returns July 13 to The Movie Network. But here, the dramatic potential of her mysterious benefactress Maryann goes nowhere, or at least nowhere fast. Patience, my pretties. I hope this is good advice, but I was so not blown away by the first two episodes that I declined to watch the other two available for preview. If all four were so busy, I’d be hard pressed to keep the faith. We’ll see.
But I did like some things about the first two episodes.
Vampire of vampires Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) is back with a hilariously vain flourish. Drenched in blood, also, of course. He is on a mission to find a missing colleague in Dallas, drawing the story and its main characters to that town.
And Sookie’s brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), is making trouble. But this time, he too, is away from home, in his case learning to love his new vampire-hating friends at Fellowship of the Sun.
So, will I keep watching? Of course! I also have this season’s novel inspiration, Living Dead in Dallas, on my reading list. Part of my grumpiness about this season is because I loved the first so much. But I’m devoted. Bitten, you might say. Check out this trailer, which gives a peek at Episode 3.
Jonesing for the return of the vampire drama True Blood, returning to HBO Canada on Sunday, June 14 at 9 p.m. ET? Of course you are. Well then, you might want to bite down hard on this little craft project, courtesy of the people at BloodCopy, who are unabashedly promoting not only True Blood, but using True Blood and the series’ vampires’ second bevvy of choice, the synthetic but effective hydration in a bottle called Tru Blood.
But back to that craft project: Here’s a video hosted on the BloodCopy site that shows you how to create your own fangs. Not kidding, but with some humour. Kinda like Mythbusters, the excellent Discovery Channel show where former special effects wizards blow stuff up, except… in your mouth.
Anyway, here’s the video. If you want to also know how to doctor a photo of Angelina Jolie to make her look undead, then click on the BloodCopy site.
With thanks to the excellent timewaster site lifehacker.com for connecting me with these excellent time wasters.
Oh yeah and True Blood: there’s another murder, more sex, more blood and some hairdressing gone very, very bad. Check back on the weekend for my review of the first couple of episodes.
Can’t talk. Re-watching Seasons 1 and 2 of Lost. On Blu-ray. Sometimes, it sucks to be me. This is not one of those weeks. It’s out June 16. See ya next week.
Still need some direction? If I weren’t knee-deep in unlocking Locke mythology on the island, I’d probably be snapping up Reaper: Season 2, which I completely missed this season. Now go, watch some DVDs. I’m coming Jack. Sawyer put the gun down. Jacob Mary and Joseph! You boys!
Some TV that’s new on DVD this week:
Corner Gas: Season 6
The Sheild: Season 7
Waiting for God: Season 4
Get Smart: Season 3
Perry Mason: Season 4, Vol. 1
Open All Hours: The Complete Series
The Best of Whose Line Is It Anyway
Reaper: Season 2
Last of the Summer Wine: Vintage 1979
Survivorman: Season 3
Father Knows Best: Season 3
The Alzheimer’s Project
The Cleaner: The First Season
CSI: Season 1 Blu-ray
Bionic Woman, Vol. 1
Z-Rock: Season 1
– Denise Duguay
Debuts
Tuesday, June 9 at 10 p.m. ET on Space (two back-to-back half-hour episodes)
Regularly airs Tuesdays at from 10-11 p.m. ET on Space
Premise
Low-tech animation and voice are added in this nearly panel-by-panel adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ celebrated graphic novel Watchmen, the big-screen live-action adaptation of which was only recently released in cinemas.
Primary cast and crew
Dave Gibbons, co-creator and illustrator of the Watchmen original graphic novel, is credited as overseeing this production.
Buzz buzz
According to a Watchmaniac of my acquaintance, who also advised against seeing the film adaption, the “motion comic” adaptation (available on DVD and Blu-ray since March) would not be worth checking out.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the first of the 12 half-hour episodes, I declare…
The graphic novel is chilling and spectacular, an odd retro story about a super hero killer and super heroes who’ve been legislated into powerlessness, some of them good, some bad. All vivid. The language is startling. The story is gripping. My Watchman friend described the film was “An empty attempt at a ‘faithful’ carbon copy. What works on page does not work on screen.” Does the small-screen “motion comic” fare any better? I haven’t seen the film so can’t compare. I can say this: If you haven’t read the graphic novel, do it. In case this tips the balance for you, I will repeat the oft-quoted statistic that Time magazine named Watchmen one of the top 100 novels of all time. If you will never read it, check out at least the first episode of Watchmen: The Motion Comic. It’s not great. The voices, as foretold, are featureless and cover too many characters to stand out. But you could do worse this summer than to experience the story and seeing Gibbons’ starkly beautiful illustrations (marred only slightly by the very low-tech animation). I’ve read the novel and I was hooked again, despite the voice and “motion”.
Official website
Basic broadcast info, but lovely interview with Gibbons. Listen to Part 1 here and it will automatically send you along to Parts 2 and 3 from the page. Gibbons says he was initially skeptical, until his two daughters flipped for the idea. He’s also eager to see if this motion comic can be a good match with iPhones and other mobile devices.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
I’ll be back by the weekend for the return of True Blood.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of summer premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Monday, June 8, at 10 p.m. ET on The Movie Network
Regularly airs
Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on The Movie Network
Premise
Dedicated emeregency-room nurse at NYC’s All Saints Hospital tries to do good at home and work despite bad back, mucho medication required by former, ridiculously long hours and occasionally incompetent doctors. Loves her coworkers, her family and … well that would be telling.
Primary cast and crew
Edie Falco (The Sopranos) is title character Jackie Peyton.
Eve Best is her best friend, tart-t0ngued cool customer Dr. Eleanor O’Hara.
Peter Facinelli (Twilight, Damages) is Dr. Fitch Cooper, lover of Blackberry. He suffers from a very special condition.
Paul Schulze (The Sopranos, 24, Journeyman) is the pharmacist, Eddie Walzer.
Haaz Sleiman (The Visitor) is Mo Mo, a fellow nurse and other best friend.
Merritt Wever (Studio 60 Live on the Sunset Strip, Conviction) is nursing student Zoey Barkow. Dear, sweet, trying so hard Zoey.
Linda Wallem (Cybill, That ’70s Show, The Comeback) and Liz Brixius are writer/exec producers and John Melfi (Sex and the City, The Comeback) and Caryn Mandabach (Roseanne, Cybill, Third Rock from the Sun, That ’70s Show) is exec producer.
Buzz buzz
If I read one more freaking time that Nurse Jackie is either House a la femme or ER a la nurse I will reach through this computer screen and punch whoever’s doing the writing.
But what do I know anyway? After having gorged on the first six episodes I do declare …
If you read the above paragraph, with its threat of violence, you have something of the mood with which I approached the two DVDs of previews. Can EVERY show be the next House? Does every show HAVE to be? I am happy to say that not only is this show not House and not ER it is not even vaguely Sopranos-like. It is exactly like … Nurse Jackie! Am I’m not trying to just be annoying here. This dark half-hour comedy is a note-perfect brilliant, diamond-hard look at someone trying to get by. And failing just slightly less often than she succeeds. She keeps secrets. She cheats. Mostly for good. She is surrounded by failure and yet she keeps crushing the Percocet and adding it to her coffee and somehow she finds it in her to give $20 to a rank bee-atch demanding a pregnancy test or to console the pregnant woman who has just asked for the heart of her dead fiance. And not the Valentine-type heart. And speaking of heart, Jackie has a huge one. And if there is justice, it will beat for many seasons to come. Enough seasons, I’ll wager, that in 2012, I’ll be writing “If I read of another show that is Nurse Jackie, but with doctors…” Oh yeah. You should ignore the fact that Jackie also quotes St. Augustine and T.S. Eliot. Everyone knows that spiritual writing and poetry have no place on TV or in everyday life, not even on pay cable. So just forget it.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
I’ll have a look tomorrow at Space’s Watchmen: The Motion Comic, which also debuts tomorrow, June. 9.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for my select list of summer premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Stephen Colbert is in Iraq to tape shows to be broadcast this week in an unparalleled military media event called Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando. If you live on Facebook, check out the details here. If you are not a Facebooker, then you must be on Twitter, so go here for promised updates. If not, jaysus just tune in the show Monday to Thursday at 11:35 p.m. on the Comedy Network or 12:35 a.m. on CTV.
Many things are up in the air for CanWest, which owns, among other things, this and many other Canadian daily newspapers, as well as Global, E! and a load of specialty television stations. The next big day in the ongoing financial crunch for the parent company will come some time later in June, when, according the Reuters citing the June 4 Globe and Mail report, a restructuring exec will be named.
More on point, perhaps, to you fellow television addicts, is that the E! channels, including the one in Montreal, are in limbo, with CanWest having put them on the block and having left the stations out of yesterday’smulti-channel fall-season preview in Toronto. E!, if you’ll recall, had a major slate of U.S. comedies and dramas last fall (although, maddeningly, not all E! programs aired on Montreal’s E!). The next few weeks will tell the fate of E! here and in Hamilton, Victoria, Kelowna and Red Deer.
But that’s about enough of this depressing stuff. Television is for escaping. Here is the fall plan for Global and its specialty channels.
Global
New dramas
NCIS Los Angeles: “The high stakes world of undercover surveillance at the Office of Special Projects (OSP), a division of NCIS that is charged with apprehending dangerous and elusive criminals that pose a threat to the nation’s security.” Stars Chris O’Donnell, LL Cool J,
The Good Wife: “Drama starring Emmy award-winner Julianna Margulies as a wife and mother who must assume full responsibility for her family and re-enter the workforce after her husband’s (Chris Noth) very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.” Tony and Ridley Scott exec produce.
Melrose Place: Like its 1990s sibling, 90210, this series is being rebooted for the double aughts, starring Laura Leighton (reprising her role of Sydney Andrews from the original), Thomas Calabro (reprising his role of Dr. Michael Mancini from the original), Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (7th Heaven) and Jessica Lucas (Cloverfield).
New comedy
Glee: “Optimistic high school teacher Will Schuester tries to refuel his own passion while reinventing the McKinley High School’s glee club and challenging a group of outcasts to realize their star potential. Going up against McKinley’s cruel high school caste system and facing harsh criticism from everyone around him, Will is determined to prove them all wrong .
The Cleveland Show: a spinoff from Seth Macfarlane’s Family Guy: “Cleveland Brown (Mike Henry) … moves with his son back to his hometown in Virginia and settles down with his high school sweetheart and her unruly kids.”
Sons of Tucson (midseason): “Tyler Labine (Reaper) as a charming but wayward schemer hired by three young brothers whose father is in prison.”
Returning
House, Life to Me, Brothers and Sisters (though it moves from Sunday to Monday), NCIS, Bones (which — ARGHHHH! — moves again, from Thursday to Wednesday, Survivor (new edition: Samoa), The Office, SNL Weekend Update, 90210, The Guard, Dollhouse, Numb3rs, the Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, Heroes, The Doctors and, in the midseason, 24, Celebrity Apprentice, ‘Til Death and the animated Bob and Doug.
Specialty channel highlights
Food Network
Chopped: Food competition a la Iron Chef hosted by Ted Allen (Food Detective, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy).
Guy Off the HooK: If you love himin Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (and on Rachael Ray and other chat shows where he’s been popping up a lot), here is more of spikey haired Guy Fieri, cooking in front of a live audience.
Top Chef Masters: Another food competition a la Iron Chef. Or you could just watch Iron Chef. Up to you.
HGTV
Holmes Inspection: Another reno series starring the very likeable but exasterated Mike Holmes. And remember kids, “Make it right!”
History Television
Expedition Africa: “This is not a competition or a game; it’s a real-life adventure.” In other words, here’s another competition show from Survivor brain Mark Burnett. Four people attempt to follow the path of explorers Henry Morton Stanley and Dr. David Livingstone.
Ice Pilots NWT: This sounds like Ice Road Truckers or Deadliest Catch or any other of Thom Beers’ working-men-as-heroes documentary series. Except these guys are pilots. In the NorthWest Territories.
Showcase
The Foundation (drama): The inner life of a well-funded but dysfunctional non-profit outfit. Starring Mike Wilmont (It’s All Gone Pete Tong).
Crash and Burn (comedy): The life and work of a claims adjuster, starring Luke Kirby (Tell Me You Love Me) and Clark Johnson (Homicide: Life on the Street).
IFC
Vice Guide to Film: Writer, filmmaker and co-founder of Vice Magazine Shane Smith talks about film. Now this sounds like it would be worth reshuffling my a-la-carte cable package.
TVtropolis
TV with TV’s Jonathan Torrens: I’m baffled by this explanation, but here you go: “In this multi-chennel universe run by misguided tele-visionaries, only one man has the confidence-instilling inflection to rehash, recap and dissect the wild world of television. His name is Stone Phillips, but he’s unavailable. Instead, TV’s Jonathan Torrens stsands and delivers the State of the TV Nationa, pruning the bushings and pulling the wheeds from all over the television landscape.” Good luck with that.
Killer Comebacks: Celebrities pulling themselves up by their publicists’ bootstraps.
Action (formerly Showcase Action)
Black Gold: Hey, remember that Ice Pilots NWT up above? Well this is a working-man-as-hero show that actually does come from Thom Beers (Deadliests Catch, Ice Road Truckers). It’s about Texas oil men. That’s Black Gold, as in Texas tea. You know.
Slice
Re-Vamped: Makeover show focussing on jilted women. Break out the vodka.
Discovery Health Channel
I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant: “Jaysus Mary ‘n Joseph” may be either the most or least appropriate response to this show title. More vodka please.
National Geographic
Rescue Ink: Tattoed bikers rescue “cuddly animals” from “intense danger”. Watch or else.
Debuts
Wednesday, June 3 at 7 p.m. ET on Space, repeating at 10 p.m. ET on CTV and on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. (A second episode airs Thursday at 7 p.m. ET on Space, repeating at 10 p.m. ET on CTV and NBC.)
Regularly airs
Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV and NBC and Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET on Space.
Premise
Paramedic Toby Logan hears things, sees things from other people’s minds. Has done since childhood, which he doesn’t remember well. Has hidden it from everyone except a psychology prof who tells him “No one can know about you.” Even so, Toby’s decided to embrace his “gift”. But can he confide in his aloof doctor girlfriend?
Primary cast and crew Craig Olejnik (In God’s Country, The Timekeeper) as Toby Logan. His piercing blue eyes and extra-wide-eyed stare have their own actors’ guild memberships.
Ennis Esmer (Billable Hours) as Osman “Oz” Bey, his paramedic partner and stater of things obvious.
Lisa Marcos (Flashpoint, Kevin Hill) as Det. Charlie Marks. But you don’t need the title to know she’s a detective. The tight police-issue tank top is what tells you she is a cop. That and the cascade of crisp curls and the cold, cold demeanor.
Mylene Dinh-Robic (Stargate Atlantis) is Olivia Fawcett, the doctor girlfriend. Or at least he’d like her to be. Girlfriend, that is.
Colm Feore (24, Changeling) is psychology expert Ray Mercer, Toby’s only confidante so far.
Buzz buzz
Hoping for Flashpoint mojo, this being the next big Toronto-made, Toronto-set series to be picked up by a major U.S. network. I like it better than the early Flashpoint. For what that’s worth.
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the first two episodes I proclaim…
I like all the characters. I like the acting. I don’t like the try-too-hardness. Toby cares. That’s his special power. The telepath thing is not adding anything substantive to the plot so far. Here’s hoping, because… it’s summer and this is sweet and light. If you’re looking for something dark and deep, take a nap until June 14 when vampire drama True Blood returns to HBO Canada.
Other reviews
John Doyle over at the Globe and Mail (is anybody else have a big wad of trouble navigating their new site?) is very much not a fan.
Newsday was a little more scathing, not just to The Listener: “The Canadians make nice TV – pleasant, intelligent TV, where people, even the bad guys, are civil and fundamentally decent. In a word, “The Listener” is boring. Or, if you prefer alliteration, listless.”
Official CTV website
Fancy! Panarama of Toronto street scene in which the main characters, coming guests stars and red-herring types are posed, just waiting for your cursor to reveal episode names, access to video interviews with cast and the like. Me? I’d like something a little more straightforward.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Edie Falco’s new half-hour series Nurse Jackie debuts June 8. Stay tuned!
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of summer premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
CTV and sister outlet A Channel announced their fall schedules Tuesday and it looks like A Channel is getting the lion’s share of new shows. Big surprise. Never mind that I don’t get A Channel on Videotron digital. Bah!
A Channel
New dramas
The Middle: “The Hecks are a middle class family living in the middle of Indiana, just trying to keep their heads above water.” Stars Patricia Heaton as Frankie, Neil Flynn as Mike, Eden Sher as Sue, Atticus Shaffer as Brick and Charlie McDermott as Axel.
Beautiful Life: From Ashton Kutcher, this is a drama set on and around the catwalks and catfights. Two teen models (Sara Paxton, Ben Hollingsworth) are at the threshhold of fame. There’s a jealous older model (Mischa Barton) and an agent (Elle Macpherson). Sharpening claws now.
Eastwick: Our man Paul Gross gets another U.S. series, this time starring not as a mountie but as … the devil? … in this adaptation of John Updike’s novel (which was make into a movie starring Jack Nicholson), The Witches of Eastwick. Also stars Rebecca Romijn as Roxie Torcoletti, Lindsay Price as Joanna Frankel, Jamie Ray Newman as Kat Gardener, Sara Rue as Penny, Veronica Cartwright as Bun, Johann Urb as Will, Jon Bernthal as Raymond and Ashley Benson as Mia.
Flash Forward: Big money on this one (ABC hopes), based on Robert J. Sawyer’s novel, and from executive producers David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and Brannon Braga (24). “When a mysterious event causes the entire world to black out, humanity is given a glimpse into its near future, and every man, woman and child is forced to come to grips with whether their destinies can be avoided or fulfilled.” Stars Joseph Fiennes as Mark Benford, John Cho as Demetri Noh, Jack Davenport as Lloyd Simcoe, Sonya Walger as Olivia Benford, Courtney B. Vance as Stan Wedeck, Brian O’Byrne as Aaron Stark, Christine Woods as Janis Hawk, Zachary Knighton as Bryce Varley and Peyton List as Nicole.
Returning
America’s Next Top Model, Law and Order SVU, Gossip Girl, Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, Castle, Monk, Fringe, Private Practice, Law and Order, Medium, Comedy Now
New comedies
Hank: “Kelsey Grammer stars in this timely comedy as Hank Pryor, a titan of industry who suddenly finds himself out of work, almost out of money and around a wife and kids for whom he’s never made much time. Despite his recent setbacks, … he knows he is destined to return to greatness. And he is – just not the greatness he imagines.”
CTV
New daytime
The Dr. Oz Show: Oprah’s medical guru gets his own show. Weekdays at 5 p.m.
New drama
The Vampire Diaries: Based on LJ Smith’s novels about two vampire brothers (Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley), who are new in town, and Elena (Nina Dobrev), who returns to her high school after the tragic death of her parents. I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. This is nothing like the Twilight film and novel series about a young girl who meets the new kid in town who just happens to be a vampire… Heyyyyyyy!
The Bridge (midseason): “Drama about a tough and dedicated police officer who is voted to become the police union’s dynamic leader. To serve the public as well as his 8,000 fellow officers, charismatic Frank Leo (Aaron Douglas) battles criminals on the street, corruption in the ranks and his own bosses.”
Returning
Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, Cold Case, Dancing with the Stars, CSI: Miami, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Dancing with the Stars, Law & Order: SVU, America’s Next Top Model, Criminal Minds, CSI NY, CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, The Mentalist, Ghost Whisperer, Southland, Flashpoint
Oooooh. This is a tough week to choose just one DVD release to favour.
My practical mind is going with Wallander, a new release of the three recently aired made-for-PBS movies starring Kenneth Branagh and based on the excellent (in a morbidly depressing way) detective series by Swedish writer Henning Mankell. The movies are called Sidetracked, Firewall and One Step Behind. Sure, I can catch up on the movies by going to pbs.org’s gorgeous new video player (free! even to Canadian IP addresses! although — please note — the Wallander films will be bumped off the video player after June 7), but the DVD comes jammed with extras, including featurettes Who Is Kurt Wallander?, Branagh’s Wallander, The Wallander Look and a Branagh and Mankell interview. Tempting.
There is also Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht: Season 4. Remember when this reality show was notable only for the herculean efforts of the parents to not lose their minds in the face of soooo mannnny children? Nah. Too tawdry now that they’ve gone all tabloid with the word adultery sullying the hard-earned family bliss vibe and hard-bodied Kate rumoured to have accepted a free tummy tuck (I heard it on eTalk). No. This week my vote goes to… the lunch box. The 1974-77 series Land of the Lost is now available on DVD… and for a few extra beans you can upgrade to the Limited Edition Gift Set which includes a lunch box. The show? Barely remember it though I seem to recall and imdb backs me up here, that it’s about a family thrown back to a time of dinosaurs, ape men and some big-eyed lizard men called Sleestacks. It’s being dragged out of mothballs now to promote Will Ferrell and Danny McBride’s new film of the same name, hitting cinemas Friday, June 5. But I’m all about the lunchbox. The hinge on my Scooby Doo just broke. Sweet.
Here is more practical information: other TV releases new on shelves this week:
Prison Break: Season 4
Weeds: Season 4 (DVD and Blu-ray)
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Quincy, M.E.: Season 3
Blood Ties: Season 1
Army Wives: The Complete Season 2
Cannon: Season 2, Vol. 1
The Jetsons: Season 2, Vol. 1
The Hunger: The Complete first Season
Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season
Highlander: The Complete Animated Series
Holmes on Holmes: Bathrooms (or Basements or Kitchens…)
– Denise Duguay
Conan O’Brien is one helluvan elegant runner. He’s beautiful. And in a suit!
Having started the running theme on the beach in his promo ads, O’Brien opened his first edition of The Tonight Show Monday night by running across America (having forgotten to move to L.A.). Clever. And the running!
“Yeah, maybe he shoulda just kept running.”
That, of course, was the boyfriend. Millions of wired TV viewers were sharing their views of the show on Twitter. Me? I get the real-time phone call from the boyfriend, who’s on the road working.
“It’s worse than I thought it would be. And Andy Richter looks creepy. But (O’Brien) running was fabulous.” Boyfriend out.
And the moral of that story? If you, like the boyfriend, didn’t like Conan O’Brien at 12:35 a.m. on Late Night, you probably won’t like him at 11:35 p.m. on The Tonight Show.
But even if you like him, as I do, last night was nothing better than treading water.
Despite big thumbs up from show announcer Andy Richter, returned to O’Brien’s side after he left Late Night to pursue sitcoms, and some mania on the high hat by Max Weinberg and the band, the show was a little flat.
If you missed it last night: It started out strong with the running, led into a monologue opened with the string dance (quick version), then a very non-topical jokes that introduced the word “Choco-taco” into the Tonight Show lexicon.
Where Leno had Jay Walking and other out-of-studio bits, O’Brien spent the day playing tour guide to people visiting Universal Studios. F, slightly absurd O’Brien stuff that involved him screaming “Oh my God” over and over and ended with him buying two cartloads of junk from a 99-cent store for the people on his tour busses.
A couple of other bits were flatter, although a bit showing how not-connected he is in L.A. (a nosebleed seat at a Lakers’ game to Jack Nicholson’s courtside throne) revealed the secret to his flaming red pompadour: popcorn butter and bathroom spackle. Now you know.
Will Ferrell, promoting new film Land of the Lost, arrived in a throne carried by Egyptian slaves and deadpanned his way through two segments. Tips on living in L.A. did nothing to spike the energy level of the show.
Much might be made of Ferrell first deadpanning his congratulations to O’Brien because “no one thought you’d make it. No one.” and then later, after, serenading O’Brien with the oh-so inappropriate Never Can Say Goodbye, finishing with “Don’t get me wrong, I’m pulling for you man, but… there’s studio execs shaking back stage, ready the pull the plug.” Much might be made, but it’s a joke. A JOKE. Probably.
Just as when O’Brien earlier tittered that Jay Leno would be back in a couple of days. A joke!
Overall, O’Brien had moments last night where he was funny, moments where he was flat. Andy Richter is wasted, given what he contributed last night, but again, one night does not define much.
Musically, however, I hope that subsequent bands sound better than Pearl Jam did; the sound of their performance never rose above muddy.
Of course Twitter was alive with fans and foes. Conan sucks. Conan’s brilliant.
I’ll leave you with the one I liked best, being, as you might have read, not a big fan of Jay Leno:
“Conan’s Tonight Show is stupid, narcissistic, pointless & bland. Still funnier than Leno.”
People. There’s no pleasing them all.
Wanna leave your two cents? Knock yourself out in the comments below or send me an email. – Denise Duguay
I could blather on and on about the passing of the Tonight Show crown and will Conan O’Brien be able to … let’s face it, will Conan O’Brien be able to dumb down his conceptual hipster humour for my mother (Conversations I Don’t Ever Want to Have: “Dear, what IS that bear doing with his paw? Ooooooh! Myyyyyy! Gawwwd!”). I could. And you might notice I just nipped myself in the bud. So to speak.
So let me just repeat what Conan O’Brien told James Lipton about performing comedy in front of a live audience, from an interview for Inside Actors Studio conducted before O’Brien left his Late Night post a while back.
“When it’s going well, I’ll do it for free. When it’s not going well, I would rather do anything else. Because it’s … you know, painful. There’s a lot of my career that’s just pain prevention. I’m trying to avoid getting hurt in front of people.”
Tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC, it will be that best-night-worst-night adrenaline-dread cocktail to the power of 10 as Conan O’Brien debuts his version of the 55-year-old franchise, The Tonight Show. He’ll be accompanied by his old/new sidekick Andy Richter and a pocketful of Tums. Guests will be Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam.
Friday: D. L. Hughley, Council of Foreign Relations president Richard Haas, novelist Paula Froelich (Mercury in Retrograde), journalist Jeremy Scahill, Fortune editor Matt Miller
When it’s going well, I’ll do it for free. When it’s not going well, I would rather do anything else. Because it’s you know painful. there’s a lot of my career that’s just pain prevention. i’m trying to avoid getting hurt in front of people.
As you probably know, Jay Leno does the last Tonight Show of his 17-year stint behind the iconic desk, starting tonight (May 29) at 11:35 p.m. James Taylor is the musical guest. Conan O’Brien, the former East Coast Late Night host who takes over the Tonight Show Monday, will be his guest. Expect also what has come on every night so far, a montage of past moments. Tonight it’s Extreme Tonight Show Montage. The week started with the montage When Things Go Wrong, for which Leno was accompanied by frequent guest Mel Gibson. The montage, about things that have gone wrong on the Tonight Show, was mostly amusing. The Tonight Show is almost always amusing, usually mildly amusing, but still. What followed Monday is why I don’t ordinarily watch the show.
Gibson was going on about his new girlfriend, having just confirmed that she was expecting their first child together. He mentioned the girlfriend’s musical talents and used the composer’s name Rachmaninov, pronouncing the first syllable “rack”. To which Leno lept in with:
“And I assume she’s got a ‘Rack’-maninov?”
Now, I’m a grownup. I’m not offended by the sexual nature of this joke, the type of which pops up — although I wouldn’t use that word if Leno were in the room, for fear of provoking another creepy-uncle zinger — more nights than not. But as a viewer I am offended that this is the type of thing that passes for a joke.
Andrew Ryan of the Globe and Mail and many others have weighed in on NBC’s decision to take Leno to prime time in the fall, for a show apparently similar to his Tonight Show. It’s sensible cost-cutting, say some observers, noting that no matter how much Leno makes, his show will not require the financial investment necessary to develop the hour-long dramas that occupy that spot on other major networks. For NBC, Leno’s show is money in the bank. That it will also kneecap O’Brien’s Tonight Show debut by siphoning off the audience is a whole other lament, which I’ll save for later in the weekend.
Moving Leno to prime time is also a brave gamble on NBC’s part. Will this be a new Ed Sullivan-type show, heavy not just on humour but also on performance? Could this signal a revival of the era when Carole Burnett and Dean Martin et al kept audiences rapt with their celebrity-sketch-song-and-dance variety shows? Will the majority of the U.S. audience lap up the comedy, “Rack”-ish though it is, instead of crime, death, rape, serial-killing and the zooming shots of autopsied organs and the probably flight path of the murder weapon? Or, for relief, the disease of the week? (I intended to list the shows in these categories, but it was almost all the shows at the top of the ratings. As a friend recently wondered, “What the hell is our obsession with death, illness, women in peril?” But that’s a column for another day.)
So will Leno be welcome with open arms and huge audience numbers? Will the CSIs, Law & Orders, Criminal Minds, Southlands, Houses, Boneses, Fringes feel the heat? Will their commissioning networks scramble for their own versions of The Jay Leno Show?
I dunno. Ryan over at the Globe says:
“Coming from a fourth-place network, during a recession, the new Leno show is probably as close as TV comes to a sure thing.”
What do you think? And yes, my friend, this plea for your opinion is a transparent attempt to drive up traffic to this blog. Tell your family! Tell your friends! Let’s get the party started! But it is also a sincere call for help: What the hell is the attraction of Jay Leno? Will you follow him to prime time?
Our lines are open. The operators are standing by. Or you could just comment below.
And if I’ve whipped you into a frenzy of late-night theorizing, you might enjoy The Late Shift, the movie inspired by New York Times columnist Bill Carter’s take on the whole Leno vs. Letterman for helm of the Tonight Show back when Johnny Carson left. It’s airing tonight (May 29) on HBO Canada at 8 p.m. ET.
Draw the drapes. Tin foil the windows. There is TV to watch, even in summer. I’ve updated this sucker a wee bit. Still waiting for word on when Mad Men will return, but I’m working on it.
June 8
Nurse Jackie at 10 p.m. ET on The Movie Network
New: Edie (Sopranos) Falco is an emergency room nurse with issues. I need a quart of Ringer’s lactate!
June 9
Watchmen: The Motion Comic at 10:30 p.m. ET on Space
You’ve read the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel. You might have even seen the movie. Now comes the motion comic. A 12-part animated series.
June 13
Kings at 8 p.m. ET on NBC
Returning: The out-there Biblical Dynasty returns for its final seven episodes.
June 14
True Blood at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Canada
Returning: Thought-reading, vampire-loving waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin) is back with boyfriend Bill (Stephen Compton) for a second season of adventures inspired by the mystery novel series by Charlaine Harris. Another mystery pops up. Sam embraces his inner shapeshifter, Tara settles in with a wealthy benefactress and Jason takes up the anti-vampire cause with real flourish. Catch up on Season 1 with three episodes a night from June 6 to 9, starting at 8 p.m. Or rent the succulent Season 1 DVD.
Hammertime at 10 p.m. ET on A&E
New: “Follows the life of rapper and dancer MC Hammer, his wife of more than 23 years and their family of seven. The show takes an unprecedented look behind his larger-than-life personality and into his life as a devoted husband, father and business entrepreneur.”
June 16
Run’s House at 10 p.m. ET on MTV Canada (airing one day after the MTV U.S. premiere)
“MTV’s first family of hip hop is back! Step inside as patriarch Rev Run and the rest of the Simmons clan once again open their doors, and hearts, for MTV’s cameras. Rev Run and Justine have had their own unique and effective way of navigating their family through times of joy and tragedy.” View videos of past episodes here.
June 18
Age of Love at 9 p.m. ET on NBC
New: Dating show that asks, “Does age matter?” And I ask my much younger boyfriend, “What else is on, dear?”
Soundstage: Season 7 at 10 p.m. on PBS Mountain Lake (repeating in the wee hours on PBS Vermont)
Returning: A fantastic music performance series which kicks off the season with Jackson Browne and continues with OneRepublic, Sugarland, Death Cab for Cutie, Billy Idol, Fall Out Boy and Josh Groban.
June 20
Eli Stone at 10 p.m. ET on ABC
Returning: Final four episodes of the Johnny Lee Miller drama that asks: “Will Eli’s visions cease now that he is free of his aneurysm?”
June 21
Merlin at 8 p.m. ET on NBC
New: “Fantasy series set in the mythic city of Camelot, but inspired by 21st Century storytelling. Before Merlin and Arthur became legends, they were ambitious young men looking for adventure. Both hoped to live up to their families’ expectations, discover love and find their own true destiny…making mistakes along the way.” Hmmm.
June 23
The Cleaner: Season 2 at 10 p.m. ET on A&E
Returning: Benjamin Bratt’s “extreme interventionist” drama returns, with Whoopi Goldberg and Gary Cole starring in the season opener.
The Superstars on 8 p.m. ET on ABC
New: Eight celebs. Eight pro athletes. One team axed per week. Events will be mostly sports-related, but there will be preening and voguing to the camera.
June 24
The Philanthropist at 10 p.m. ET on NBC
New Meet rich guy Teddy Rist (James Purefox). “He wants everyone on the planet to have a good education, a solid meal and a healthy life – and he’ll go to any extreme to make this happen. From blackmailing a prime minister for women’s rights to dodging bullets while delivering a life-saving vaccine, Teddy Rist will take you on an exhilarating global adventure each week.” Produced by Tom Fontana (Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz). Intriguing.
June 28
Hung at 10 p.m. ET on HBO Canada
New: A down on his luck guy (Thomas Jane) is living a country song: Hates his teaching/coaching job, has been abandoned by his wife and twins, has lost his home to a fire. The only way out of this mess is clearly to attend a self-help class and craft his own “winning tool.” Also stars Anne Heche and jane Adams. Hmmm.
July 7
The Great American Road Trip at 8 p.m. ET on NBC
New: “Are we there yet?” Seven familes of four go on road trips. And because that’s not stressful enough, they’re competing against other families for a grand prize. Great scenery, all along Route 66, including Grand Canyon and the Mississippi and the World’s Largest Rocking Chair.
Entourage on HBO Canada
Returning: Details to come on Season 6 debut.
July 13
Durham County at 9 p.m. ET on The Movie Network
Returning: The chilling crime drama centering around around Hugh Dillon’s Det. Mike Sweeney is back with more family conflict and a new murdere. Michelle Forbes also stars.
July 18
Dirty Sexy Money at 10 p.m. ET on ABC
Returning: What will come of the Darlings? Here begins the final four episodes.
July 20
Dating in the Dark at 10 p.m. ET on ABC
Three men, three women, date night, no light; chemistry, do your thing.
July 28
More to Love at 9 p.m. ET on Fox
New dating competition that sets out to prove … Kleenex please! … love CAN come in all shapes and sizes. Unthin guy picks from among “secure plus-size women”.
July
Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (time and date tba) on Space
This will be the first of four one-hour new specials: “As a London red bus takes a detour to an alien world it forces the Doctor (David Tennant) to work with the extraordinary Lady Christina (Michelle Ryan, Bionic Woman). But the mysterious planet holds terrifying secrets hidden in the sand and time is running out as the deadly Swarm gets closer.”
Torchwood: Children of the Earth (time and date tba) on Space
The first of five new episodes: “Captain Jack (John Barrowman), Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) and Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd) come to terms with the death of their closest friends. They are faced with their fiercest threat to date – one which throws the future of Torchwood and the entire human race spiralling into danger.”
September 14
Jay Leno Show, 10 p.m. ET on NBC
NBC has finally set the start date. Details to come.
Bad news: Despite the best of intentions, and the boyfriend who has monopolized the DVR with episodes of Ultimate Survival: Everest, I completely missed Showcase’s airing of the second season of Saving Grace,
Saving Grace: Season 2
the brilliant cop drama starring the wee, tiny explosively intense Holly Hunter as damaged-goods Det. Grace Hanadarko. Oh yeah, and her pain-in-the-ass angel Earl (Leon Rippy) and the death-row inmate Leon Cooley (Bokeem Woodbine) she sees in her dreams, Grace’s sainted nephew and, although she’s visually absent from every scene but present in many things our heroine does and does not do, Grace’s sister, who died in the Oklahoma City bombing. There’s all that and lot’s of sweaty sex, sometimes with Grace’s “boyfriend” Hamm (Kenny Johnson). Oh, and violence that is more terrifying for being bookended by ragged humour (Grace to one suspect, “Let’s take the stairs.” Insert the sound of a body taking the fast route.).
So bad news that I missed it. But good news that Season 2 will be out on DVD on June 16.
Now this doesn’t help you, who are so sweetly helpless without my advice, to decide what new TV on DVD to buy or rent right now. I’m sorry. It’s spring. I’ve been a little distracted watching Lost’s finale again. And again. (Advice: Do not, ever, watch any episode of Lost with your mother. Or at least not with my mother. Very hard to keep straight your Jacobs from your Ilanas and your dose-of-bad-Dharma-canned-food from your God-playing-chess-with-Satan theories.)
But back to you. I’m no good to you this week. But in two weeks, oh yeah you’ll thank me. And maybe next week, I’ll be back in the game. Oh yeah.
Now here is a list of new TV on DVD that I have no strong enough opinion of to fake my way through.
The Closer: The Complete Fourth Season
Law & Order: SVU — Year Nine
Designing Women: The Complete First Season
The Universe: The Complete SEason 3
Degrassi: The Next Generation:Season 7
Gunsmmoke: Vol. 2 — Season 3
Mod Squad: Vol. 2, Season 2
Jeeves & Wooster: The Complete Series
Greek: Chapter One
Futurama: Vol. 4
Kyle XY: The Complete First Season
Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season One
The Invisibles: Series 1
Ice Road Truckers: The Most Dangerous Episodes
Dark Angel: Season 2
Cities of the Underworld: The Complete Season 3
Oh dear. It’s Jay Leno’s last week helming the Tonight Show. Hang on a sec. … No, I’m certain. I have no tears on this loss. Not a big fan. He aims low and to the middle of America. Boring. But it will probably be worth checking out at least a couple of nights this week: say tonight’s fiesta of schadenfreude called Things Gone Wrong montage, with guest Mel “Gone Wrong” Gibson, and Friday’s finale with Conan O’Brien, who will step in Monday, June 1. Jay, if you must know, will return this fall (date tba) to take up space that should go to TV dramas when The Jay Leno Show premieres weeknights at 10 p.m. ET.
Monday: Hank Azaria (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian), Mary McCormack (In Plain Sight), the Poor chef charles Mattocks (Eat Cheap but Eat Well), comic Melinda Hill
Tuesday: Fran Drescher (Cancer Schmancer), Joe Ward (Masters of Illusion), auditions from Idol
Wednesday: George Lopez (Beverly Hills Chihuahua), Cat Cora (Iron Chef America), Jonathan Burkin (America’s Got Talent), Sing It or Wing It audience playalong
Thursday: David Boreanaz (Bones), Bill Nyte The Science Guy, Tabatha Coffey (Tabatha’s Salon Takeover), Joel Paschal and Marcus Erickson (Junk Raft)
Friday: Heidi Klum (Project Runway), Matthew Rhys (The Edge of Love/Brothers and Sisters), Bethenny Frankel (Skinny girl)
Last but not least, CBS let the bells ring out and the banners fly on Wednesday, trotting out its fall/midseason schedule for advertisers at the Upfronts, a lovely NYC gathering of network executives and advertisers: price of admission is at least one bucket of cash to be spent on advertising spots on these lovely new shows.
The day after it was confirmed that Without a Trace, The Unit and Eleventh Hour were spiked, CBS unveiled five new dramas, one comedy and two new alternative series. PLUS, CBS confirmed the rumours: It will take Medium, the Patricia Arquette supernatural mystery sentenced to die by NBC. Still unknown is whether there is any truth to the rumblings that The Eye, as real TV critics refer to this network, will pick up NBC’s other sloppy seconds: My Name Is Earl. Stay tuned. Or check out Entertainment Weekly’s report of the Twitter “Save Earl” campaign.
Here is what CBS was all excited about yesterday.
Five new dramas:
1. NCIS Los Angeles: “The high stakes world of undercover surveillance at the Office of Special Projects (OSP), a division of NCIS that is charged with apprehending dangerous and elusive criminals that pose a threat to the nation’s security.” Stars Chris O’Donnell, LL Cool J,
2. The Good Wife: “Drama starring Emmy award-winner Julianna Margulies as a wife and mother who must assume full responsibility for her family and re-enter the workforce after her husband’s (Chris Noth) very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.” Tony and Ridley Scott exec produce.
3. Three Rivers: “A medical drama that goes inside the emotionally complex lives of organ donors, the recipients and the surgeons at the preeminent transplant hospital in the country where every moment counts.” Stars
4. The Bridge (midseason): “Drama about a tough and dedicated police officer who is voted to become the police union’s dynamic leader. To serve the public as well as his 8,000 fellow officers, charismatic Frank Leo (Aaron Douglas) battles criminals on the street, corruption in the ranks and his own bosses.”
5. Miami Trauma (midseason): “About a team of expert surgeons who work at one of the premiere trauma facilities in the country, where only patients with life threatening injuries are treated. Dr. Matthew Proctor (Jeremy Northam) is new to the trauma team, after a tour of duty in a MASH unit during the Gulf war.”
One new comedy:
Accidentally on Purpose: “Jenna Elfman (is) Billie, a single woman who finds herself ‘accidentally’ pregnant after a one-night stand with a much younger guy, and decides to keep the baby… and the guy (Jon Foster).”
Two new alternative series:
1. Arranged Marriage: “Three adults who are anxious to get married, but who have been unsuccessful in their own search for a mate, choose a life-altering path. They rely on their closest family and friends, those who love and know them best, to choose someone for them to marry based on shared goals, values, experiences and the commitment to make it work.”
2. Undercover Boss: “Reality series that follows high level corporate executives as they slip anonymously into the lowest level jobs within their companies.”
Renewed:
CSI, Two and a Half Men, The Mentalilst, 60 Minutes, Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, 48 Hours Mystery, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Rules of Engagement, Flashpoint, NCIS.
Dead:
Without a Trace, The Unit, Eleventh Hour, The Ex List, Worst Week, Harper’s Island.
Many media outlets had this sad, sad story, but Mashable keeps it short and sweet, reporting on how Twitter took a stupid Florida radio station’s incorrect report of Patrick Swayze’s death today and tweeted and retweeted so hard that the actor’s rep had to affirm that Swayze, who has pancreatic cancer, is still very much alive.
NBC finished off its fall season announcement today (Tuesday), gushing and gushing about the prime-time debut of a guy named Jay Leno and confirmed it was renewing Law & Order so the crime procedural will tie Gunsmoke for longest-running drama at 20 seasons. But otherwise, despite promises at its “Infront” preview on May 4 that “Additional series pickups will be announced May 19, when NBC announces its 2009-2010 schedule,” the only new info today was bad: Medium and My Name Is Earl are both dead, but CBS is interested in the former, and Fox has its eyes on Earl.
Speaking of CBS, it unveils its schedule tomorrow (Wednesday), but word came today that the 2009 fall/midseason schedule will be minus at least The Unit and Without a Trace.
Here’s a recap of NBC:
Two unscripted/reality shows plus Leno: 1. The Marriage Ref: a comedy from Jerry Seinfeld in which a panel of celebrities, comics etc. will offer advice to couples. 2. Breakthrough with Tony Robbins: advice from the motivational guru.
3. The Jay Leno Show: The Tonight Show host leaves that spot May 29 (guests include Conan O’Brien and James Taylor), with O’Brien taking possession of the esteemed interviewer’s chair on June 1. Leno will make his prime time debut this fall (date tba) weeknights at 10 p.m. ET.
Four new dramas: 1. Trauma: about first-responder paramedics in San Francisco, starring Derek Luke (Notorious), Cliff Curtis (10,000 B.C), Anastasia Griffith (Damages), Aimee Garcia (George Lopez), Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights) and Jamey Sheridan (Law & Order: Criminal Intent). 2. Parenthood: “contemporary re-imagining of the blockbuster film depicts the colorful and imperfect Braverman family — four grown siblings sharing the headaches, heartaches and joy of being parents. The star-studded cast includes Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen and Sarah Ramos.” 3. Mercy: “Nurse Veronica Callahan (Taylor Schilling, Dark Matter) returns to Mercy from a military tour in Iraq — and she knows more about medicine than all of the residents combined. Together with fellow nurses Sonia Jimenez (Jamie Lee Kirchner, Rescue Me) and Chloe Payne (Michelle Trachtenberg, Gossip Girl), Callahan navigates through the daily traumas and social landmines of life and love both inside the hospital and out in the real world. The cast also includes: James Tupper (Men in Trees) as Dr. Chris Sands, a new doctor at the hospital who complicates Veronica’s life; Diego Klattenhoff (Supernatural) as Mike Callahan, Veronica’s husband; and Guillermo Diaz (Weeds) as Nurse Angel Lopez.” 4. Day One: “Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the cataclysmic event (in California), an eclectic band of survivors — played by Adam Campbell (Date Movie), Catherine Dent (The Shield), Julie Gonzalo (Eli Stone), David Lyons (ER), Derek Mio (Greek), Carly Pope (24), Thekla Reuten (Sleeper Cell) and Addison Timlin (Cashmere Mafia) — strives to rebuild society as they unravel the mysteries of what happened and face their uncertain future.”
Two new comedies: 1. Community: a comedy set in the fictional Greendale Community College, about “a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin’ lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, The Soup), who form a study group and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work. The series also stars: Gillian Jacobs (The Book of Daniel); Yvette Nicole Brown (Rules of Engagement); Danny Pudi (Greek); Alison Brie (Mad Men); and comedy legend Chevy Chase (Saturday Night Live).” 2. 100 Questions: “Charlotte Payne (Sophie Winkleman, Peep Show) is looking for love and has rejected multiple marriage proposals — but she has yet to meet Mr. Right. When she joins a popular online dating site, she gets a little help from her dating counselor Ravi (Amir Talai, The Ex List) – who requires her to take a 100-question compatibility test.”
Returning:
Law & Order, Chuck, Heroes, Southland, Parks & Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, Law & Order: SVU, The Biggest Loser, Friday Night Lights, Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday
Dead:
Medium, My Name Is EArl, Life, Crusoe, Lipstick Jungle, My Own Worst Enemy, Knight Rider, ER, Kings, Kath & Kim, America’s Toughest Jobs, American Gladiators, Momma’s Boys, Nashville Star, Fear Itself, Baby Borrowers, Chopping Block, Celebrity Circus, Last Comic Standing, Celebrity Family Feud.
To live and die at ABC. The network is hard on new series and sophomore series. The 2008-09 RIP list is loaded with low-rated but passionately beloved series (most recent is Samantha Who? and who can forget Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money, the latter three of which get their final runs soon: Pushing Daisies returns May 30, Eli Stone June 20 and Dirty Sexy Money July 18).
But there is a heaping helping of new shows filling the many voids. Here’s the rundown of ABC’s fall/midseason 2009 programming announcement, made yesterday at the Upfronts in NYC, that is, the annual event at which network execs trot out their new season for advertisers in the hope they’ve picked the right shows to pull in the most advertising dollars.
Six new dramas:
1. The Deep End: It’s young dog eat dog for a group of first year associates at Sterling Law. Stars Matt Long as Dylan Hewitt, Ben Lawson as Liam Priory, Tina Majorino as Addy Fisher, Norbert Leo Butz as Rowdy Kaiser, Leah Pipes as Beth Bancroft, Billy Zane as Cliff Huddle, Sherri Saum as Susan Oppenheim and Clancy Brown as Hart Sterling.
2. Eastwick: Our man Paul Gross gets another U.S. series, this time starring not as a mountie but as … the devil? … in this adaptation of John Updike’s novel (which was make into a movie starring Jack Nicholson), The Witches of Eastwick. Also stars Rebecca Romijn as Roxie Torcoletti, Lindsay Price as Joanna Frankel, Jamie Ray Newman as Kat Gardener, Sara Rue as Penny, Veronica Cartwright as Bun, Johann Urb as Will, Jon Bernthal as Raymond and Ashley Benson as Mia.
3. Flash Forward: Big money on this one (ABC hopes), based on Robert J. Sawyer’s novel, and from executive producers David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and Brannon Braga (24). “When a mysterious event causes the entire world to black out, humanity is given a glimpse into its near future, and every man, woman and child is forced to come to grips with whether their destinies can be avoided or fulfilled.” Stars Joseph Fiennes as Mark Benford, John Cho as Demetri Noh, Jack Davenport as Lloyd Simcoe, Sonya Walger as Olivia Benford, Courtney B. Vance as Stan Wedeck, Brian O’Byrne as Aaron Stark, Christine Woods as Janis Hawk, Zachary Knighton as Bryce Varley and Peyton List as Nicole.
4. The Forgotten: From Jerry Bruckheimer, “After the police have given up, this group must first solve the puzzle of the victim’s identity in order to then help catch the killer. They work to give the deceased back their names.” Stars Rupert Penry-Jones as Alex, Reiko Aylesworth as Linda, Michelle Borth as Candace, Bob Stephenson as Walter, Anthony Carrigan as Tyler and Rochelle Aytes as Detective Grace Russell.
5. Happy Town: “Haplin, Minnesota is approaching almost a decade of peace after being riddled for years by unsolved kidnappings. But in the wake of this small town’s first crime in seven years, some dark truths are being revealed about some familiar faces.” Stars Geoff Stults as Tommy Conroy, Lauren German as Henley, Amy Acker as Rachel Conroy, Dean Winters as John Haplin, John Patrick Amedori as Andrew Haplin, Sarah Gadon as Georgia Bravin, Jay Paulson as Larry ‘Root Beer’ Rogers, Robert Wisdom as Roger Hobbes and Sam Neill as Merritt Grieves.
6. V: “A re-imagining of the 1980s miniseries about the world’s first encounter with an alien race in which the aliens call themselves The Visitors, and have a seemingly friendly agenda that may or may not be a cover for something more malevolent.” Stars Elizabeth Mitchell as Erica Evans, Morris Chestnut as Ryan Nichols, Joel Gretsch as Father Jack Landry, Lourdes Benedicto as Valerie Stevens, Logan Huffman as Tyler Evans, Laura Vandervoort as Lisa, with Morena Baccarin as Anna and Scott Wolf as Chad Decker.
Four new comedies:
1. Cougar Town: “Courteney Cox stars as a recently divorced single mother exploring the honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty and youth obsessed culture.”
2. Hank: “Kelsey Grammer stars in this timely comedy as Hank Pryor, a titan of industry who suddenly finds himself out of work, almost out of money and around a wife and kids for whom he’s never made much time. Despite his recent setbacks, … he knows he is destined to return to greatness. And he is – just not the greatness he imagines.”
3. The Middle: “The Hecks are a middle class family living in the middle of Indiana, just trying to keep their heads above water.” Stars Patricia Heaton as Frankie, Neil Flynn as Mike, Eden Sher as Sue, Atticus Shaffer as Brick and Charlie McDermott as Axel.
4. Modern Family: “Shot from the perspective of an unseen documentary filmmaker, this comedy takes a modern look at the complications that come with being a family in 2009.” Stars Ed O’Neill as Jay, Sofía Vergara as Gloria, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell, Eric Stonestreet as Cameron, Ty Burrell as Phil, Julie Bowen as Claire, Sarah Hyland as Haley, Rico Rodriguez as Manny, Nolan Gould as Luke and Ariel Winter as Alex.
One new alternative series:
Shark Tank: From Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice), this gives “budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their dreams come true and become successful – and possibly wealthy – business people. But the entrepreneurs must first try to convince five tough, multi-millionaire tycoons to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they need to jumpstart their ideas.”
Returning:
Brothers & Sisters, Castle, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost (final season), Private Practice, Ugly Betty, Better Off Ted, Scrubs, America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, Dancing wit the Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny, True Beauty, Wife Swap, 20/20.
Dead:
In the Motherhood, The Unusuals, Cupid, Life on Mars, Pushing Daisies, Samangho Who?, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, According to Jim, Surviving Suburbia (to be confirmed), Boston Legal, Opportunity Knocks, Homeland Security.
Five reasons to rent the new DVD True Blood: The Complete First Season, the hit cable series based on Charlaine Harris’s series of Sookie Stackhouse novels about an average waitress (who can read your thoughts) who falls in love with the new guy in town who is a member of the newest minority group, vampires, fighting for public respect, legislative protection and social acceptance.
1. Despite early fears that Anna Paquin was not a believable blonde (!!!!), the actress grabbed control of the series as the waitress Sookie. Her co-star Stephen Moyer started out flat in his portrayal of the vampire Bill Compton, but quickly caught up, making for steamy, teary love and sex scenes not too far into the first season.
2. Excellent supporting cast:Rutina Wesley plays Tara Thornton, Sookie’s best friend in the series but, in the book, a background character absent from the otherwise excellent first novel. Watch her. She has a crazy mother, an intriguing cousin, a witchy late-series adventure and enough something-something for her own series.Lois Smith is the uber grandmother and soul of the series as Adele Stackhouse, Sookie’s beloved Gran. She makes a great pie and gives vampire Bill an almost human side.
3. The opening credits, set to the tune of Jace Everett’s (I Wanna Do) Bad Things (To You). Creepy. Funny. Brilliant. Worth its own disc.
4. Commentary that, while I haven’t yet sampled it, will be tragically disappointing if it’s anything but charming and funny by exec producer and series creator Alan (Six Feet Under) Ball and Paquin. I’ll get back to you on this as soon as I can wade through.
Now then. Here are some more new releases of TV on DVD.
Friday Night Lights: the Third Season
24: Season 7
8 Simple Rules: Season 2
Hilarious House of Frightenstein: Grizelda’s Eat Drink and Be Scary
Peyton Place, Part 1
SeaTek: Season 1
World of Wonder: Season 1
Caught on Tape: Complete Series
The New Detectives: Season 3
Hey kids. It’s upfront week! Wait. That means nothing to you? Let me rub my decoder ring…
Upfronts are when the U.S. network execs with the largest stores of antacids head to NYC to roll out their best guesses on which fall 2009 new shows will be critical hitswill get the most viewers/highest ratings will get the most commercial time purchases from advertisers. It’s also, of course, when mere mortals with no plans of buying commercial time get to find out what will have the best chance of distracting us next fall from the fact that we still, alas, have no lives.
NBC got the jump a couple of weeks ago, but will finish the job tomorrow (Tuesday), the same day that ABC will toss the confetti and uncork the champagne. CBS is the last of the big four, scheduled for Wednesday. But Fox started the ball on Monday. Here’s the dope on Fox and NBC. FOX
Four new comedies: 1. Gleepremieres officially in the fall, but will preview tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 9 p.m. ET: “optimistic high school teacher Will Schuester tries to refuel his own passion while reinventing the McKinley High School’s glee club and challenging a group of outcasts to realize their star potential. Going up against McKinley’s cruel high school caste system and facing harsh criticism from everyone around him, Will is determined to prove them all wrong . 2. The Cleveland Show, a spinoff from Seth Macfarlane’s Family Guy: “Cleveland Brown (Mike Henry) … moves with his son back to his hometown in Virginia and settles down with his high school sweetheart and her unruly kids.” 3. Brothers: “a new half-hour comedy about a former big-city NFL hot shot who returns home to his family – and his mother’s house – to get his life back on track.” 4. And Sons of Tucson (midseason): “Tyler Labine (Reaper) as a charming but wayward schemer hired by three young brothers whose father is in prison.”
Two new dramas: 1. Human Target: “Based on the popular DC Comics graphic novel and starring Mark Valley (Fringe), Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies) and Academy Award nominee Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), the series follows Christopher Chance (Valley), a unique private contractor who will stop at nothing – even if it means becoming a human target – to keep his clients alive.” 2. Past Life: “A fast-paced emotional thriller inspired by the book The Reincarnationist. The series stars Kelli Giddish (All My Children) as a gifted psychologist and Nicholas Bishop (Home and Away) as a former NYPD detective who work together to explore and unravel mysteries that must be solved in both the past and the present.”
One new Saturday late-night show, starting Nov. 7 1. The Wanda Sykes Show, a comic topical round-table format.
Returning:
Fringe, Dollhouse, Lie to Me, Bones, House, 24 (January), So You Think You Can Dance, Til Death, Cops, America’s Most Wanted, Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, American Idol, Kitchen Nightmares
Dead:
King of the Hill (couple of episodes still in bank), Prison Break, Sit down Shut Up, Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Talk Show with Spike Feresten, MAD TV
NBC
This net will finish off its fall season announcement tomorrow (Tuesday), but they’ve gotten this far.
Two unscripted/reality shows: 1. The Marriage Ref: a comedy from Jerry Seinfeld in which a panel of celebrities, comics etc. will offer advice to couples. 2. Breakthrough with Tony Robbins: advice from the motivational guru.
Four new dramas: 1. Trauma: about first-responder paramedics in San Francisco, starring Derek Luke (Notorious), Cliff Curtis (10,000 B.C), Anastasia Griffith (Damages), Aimee Garcia (George Lopez), Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights) and Jamey Sheridan (Law & Order: Criminal Intent). 2. Parenthood: “contemporary re-imagining of the blockbuster film depicts the colorful and imperfect Braverman family — four grown siblings sharing the headaches, heartaches and joy of being parents. The star-studded cast includes Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen and Sarah Ramos.” 3. Mercy: “Nurse Veronica Callahan (Taylor Schilling, Dark Matter) returns to Mercy from a military tour in Iraq — and she knows more about medicine than all of the residents combined. Together with fellow nurses Sonia Jimenez (Jamie Lee Kirchner, Rescue Me) and Chloe Payne (Michelle Trachtenberg, Gossip Girl), Callahan navigates through the daily traumas and social landmines of life and love both inside the hospital and out in the real world. The cast also includes: James Tupper (Men in Trees) as Dr. Chris Sands, a new doctor at the hospital who complicates Veronica’s life; Diego Klattenhoff (Supernatural) as Mike Callahan, Veronica’s husband; and Guillermo Diaz (Weeds) as Nurse Angel Lopez.” 4. Day One: “Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the cataclysmic event (in California), an eclectic band of survivors — played by Adam Campbell (Date Movie), Catherine Dent (The Shield), Julie Gonzalo (Eli Stone), David Lyons (ER), Derek Mio (Greek), Carly Pope (24), Thekla Reuten (Sleeper Cell) and Addison Timlin (Cashmere Mafia) — strives to rebuild society as they unravel the mysteries of what happened and face their uncertain future.”
Two new comedies: 1. Community: a comedy set in the fictional Greendale Community College, about “a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin’ lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, The Soup), who form a study group and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work. The series also stars: Gillian Jacobs (The Book of Daniel); Yvette Nicole Brown (Rules of Engagement); Danny Pudi (Greek); Alison Brie (Mad Men); and comedy legend Chevy Chase (Saturday Night Live).” 2. 100 Questions: “Charlotte Payne (Sophie Winkleman, Peep Show) is looking for love and has rejected multiple marriage proposals — but she has yet to meet Mr. Right. When she joins a popular online dating site, she gets a little help from her dating counselor Ravi (Amir Talai, The Ex List) – who requires her to take a 100-question compatibility test.”
Returning:
Chuck, Heroes, Southland, Parks & Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, Law & Order: SVU, The Biggest Loser, Friday Night Lights,
Dead:
Life, Crusoe, Lipstick Jungle, My Own Worst Enemy, Knight Rider
Well let’s see. Last week on The View, Brooke Shields talked about the recent alleged (don’t you love that word?) head-butting incident in NYC which may or may not have involved Kiefer Sutherland. Or rather she did not talk about it, saying as the mother of kids she was just happy to be out that late and is leaving it all to the lawyers. Will Sutherland (not) say the same when he appears on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday? Stay tuned!!!! Here’s Brooke:
This is obviously a week for catching up on things I should have watched, in some cases tried hard to watch, but just never made it.
1. Pie in the Sky: Series 1 — I fell in love with Det. Insp. Henry Crabbe when I occasionally remembered to catch this 1994 British series on… PBS? a few years back. Lovely police show in which Crabbe (Richard Griffiths) divides his time between the policing career he can’t let go of and the restaurant he runs with his wife — there is a lot of sighing between these two, vexed as they pretend to be with each other — and the assistance of a number of characters, some of whom come from the other side of the police blotter. Fun, sweet, occasionally gripping.
2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — Season One (Blu-ray) Now I am a longtime fan of CSI, but back in the beginning, I resisted. I like to go my own way, even when it’s the wrong way. Alas, what better way to go back to the beginning of this squishy let’s-follow-the-bullet-through-the-guts crime procedural than in Blu-ray. I will be watching what I eat before flipped these discs into the Blu-ray machine.
3. Taking Chance. Kevin Bacon plays a senior military type who volunteers to escort a dead soldiers remains back to his home town. It’s based on a true story. I know this much from the excellent moments I had caught this HBO movie on The Movie Network. I also know, or at least I’m pretty sure, that I recorded it on several of its repeat performances last month. But I also know that either my choked full DVR spit it out or the best intentions never did hit record. No mind. It’s out now.
4. The Dana Carvey Show. Those in the know, and those who read the New York Times, remember this short-run 1996 series for its daring and for the sketch-comedy contributions of pre-fame Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert. The rest of us can catch up … now!
Here’s some other TV stuff new on disc this week. If it’s movies on disc you’re after, shuffle over to Al Kratina’s roundup of Star Trek films on The Cine Files blog.
Two and a Half Men: the Complete Fifth Season
Lovejoy: The Complete Season 5
Penn & Teller: Bullshit: The Complete Sixth Season
The Adventures of Robin Hood: The Complete Third Season
Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
American Experience: We Shall Remain
The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series
The Rez: The Complete Series
The Jeff Foxworthy Show: The Complete Second Season
Red Green Is Special
Nature: Under Antarctic Ice/Encountering Sea Monsters
Nature: In the Valley of the Wolves/Christmas in Yellowstone (Blu-ray)
Frontline: Inside the Meltdown
Hotel Babylon: Series 1
Nature: American Eagle (Blu-ray)
Sweet jaysus mary and joseph! Do not watch Susan Boyle on Oprah on Monday. Do not! Nothing to see here. Just keep moving.
Montrealer-on-a-talk-show-alert: Now that makes me sound like a dork, right? But I just wanna make sure that you know that I spied Andy Nulman’s name on the guest list this week for Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show. Of course that’s Andy Nulman of Just for Laughs fame and author of Pow! Right Between the Eyes: Profiting from the Power of Surprise! As if you needed me to tell you that. Here’s Nulman writing about it on his own blog. He mentions an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction. Just so you are warned.
Elsewhere, you will not be able to avoid noticing, on this week’s couches, that the new Tom Hanks/Ron Howard adaptation of the Dan Brown thriller Angels & Demons is in theatres starting this Friday. If that floats your boat, here’s the trailer. If it doesn’t, if, say you remember Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, he’s making a couple of stops this week also to promote his album Roadsinger. If you are so into talk shows you need the double stimulus of one talk-show host visiting another’s show, let me advise that Jay Leno visits Ellen and that Jimmy Fallon visits the Tyra show. Now here’s that trailer. Have a good week.
Monday: Joan Lundun (Good Morning America), Scott Speedman (Adoration), Bethenny Frankel (Skinny Girl/Real Housewives of NYC), Maury Marler
Tuesday: Emily Deschanel (Bones), Diahann Carroll (The Legs Are the Last to Go), Ask Alice
Wednesday: James Denton (Desperate Housewives), snowboarder Shaun White, Lee Woodruf (Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress)
Thursday: Alyssa Milano (Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic), Bethenny Frankel (Real Housewives of NYC), Dierks Bentley (Feel That Fire)
Friday: Tori Spelling and Dean McCermott (Tori and Dean Home Sweet Hollywood), Yara Shahidi (Imagine That), chef Eric Ripert, Amazing Race winners Tammy and Victor Jih
Mega-viral-flavour-of-the-moment U.K. singing sensation Susan Boyle, says Entertainment Weekly, was destined to be a star. Quebec singer Bernard Lachance might have a similar world-famous destiny, but he’s fought for every bit of exposure and success, and his efforts are being rewarded Tuesday when he is featured on Oprah in a segment taped last week and reported on here by Gazette reporters Max Harrold and Catherine Solyom.
“What can I say? Oprah is like a religion,” the singer told the Gazette on Saturday. The story is an amazing one. Let’s all tune in and hear Lachance experience his latest big moment.
It’s enough to make me feel inspired. Alternating with hopelessness. Check out the rest of the talk-show listings while I go out and get some Haagen Dazs.
Debuts
Monday, May 4, at 8:30 p.m. ET on specialty channel TVtropolis
Regularly airs
Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET on specialty channel TVtropolis
Premise
Behind the scenes on a daytime TV talk show, hosted by a egomaniacal host named Dee, from the perspective of producer Parker, who must keep ratings high and keep Dee from destroying herself and everyone around her. Parker’s only solace is Massimo. If only he were a guy!
Primary cast and crew
Kristin Booth (TV’s ReGenesis, The Company and MVP and the film Young People Fucking) is the voice of Parker, ambitious enough to put up with Dee’s fits.
Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City) is Dee, a hollow shell of a human but she’s got great hair and TV viewers love her. Off camera, she is something else.
Jamie Watson (he’s the voice of the Comedy Network, and the series Max and Ruby) is Massimo, Parker’s confidante, best friend, chef and roommate. Oh yeah, he’s a dog. Whose best intentions often go off the rails, but he means well.
Peter Keleghan (Red Green Show, The Newsroom) is Blake Bellamy, who owns the station that produces and broadcasts Dee’s show (as well as his other pet projects, like the reality-TV series Life with Zombies).
Sarah Cornell (Comedy Inc.) is Chicago, an untalented intern and cousin of Bellamy, whose non-intellectual assets are abundant.
Aaron Abrams (Slings and Arrows, the movie Flash of Genius) is Simon, series writer who is only slumming until someone hires him to do real journalism.
Kevin Gillis (Atomic Betty) is co-creator/exec producer.
Laura Kosterski (Naked Josh, Vampire High) is co-creator/exec producer.
Peter Williamson and Ira Levy (Atomic Betty, Kenny vs. Spenny, Paradise Falls) are exec producers.
Video (theme song)
But what do I know anyway? After having, indeed, seen the first two episodes, I predict…
Shows about talk shows have are sometimes a tough sell. 30 Rock, starring and created by Tina Fey, is a critical hit already renewed for 2009-10 that attracts many big stars for guest spots, but its ratings are in the basement, if just under 6 million (U.S.) viewers can be called low. There was the one-season wonder of Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. One the high end of the spectrum, there is the Larry Sanders Show, a pay-cable (and therefore not widely known) darling from the ’90s starring Garry Shandling as the neurotic host and Rip Torn as his tough-love producer (with brilliant turns by Janeane Garofalo and Jeremy Piven on staff). Great stuff. How does Producing Parker fit into this spectrum? It’s clever taken aim at a ghettoized segment of the talk-show world: the women’s talk show. There is much to lampoon and, while the tone is overall light and humorous, this show takes broad shots that are sometimes thoughtful (Dee introducing a makeover guest: “She was homely and homeless and now she’s just homeless!”) and sometimes just cute blink-and-you’ll-miss-them sight gags (a segment on kitten heels shows a stick-figure model with actual kittens strapped to her shoes). Big-booty envy, babies as fashion accessories are the subjects of the first two shows and they have some good moments. Cattrall’s Dee is just a background character, which is too bad because I think she could have a lot of fun if she gets a longer leash. Booth’s Parker is great, especially with her dog confidante, who has his own flashes of laughs. Overall, it’s a fun half-hour show that leaves you wanting more. But will you call your cable company and order TVtroplis to see it? Hey Global! Got a spare half hour?
Buzz buzz The Toronto Sun story last week, interviewing Booth, asks the very good question of why such a comer of a show as this is stuck on TVtropolis, one of Canwest’s many specialty stations, instead of Global. Asks, but does not seek an answer, although the Sun writer thinks that it “might find its niche among the audience of young females with which TVtropolis tends to do fairly well.”
Peter Keleghan points out to TV Guide Canada that cartoon nudity (breasts: you are warned) featured occasionally on Producing Parker is hard to come by and will be appreciated.
I had so wanted to love Caprica.
I miss my Battlestar Galactica, the space epic that wrapped up in a nifty, cheery street scene a few weeks back. There was a little too much deus ex machina in that series finale for some people’s tastes — the ridiculous shootout on the bridge-cum-opera-house in particular — but I liked it just fine. Everybody, or almost everybody, in their places on the new world, the loop about to repeat itself but with just a lick of hope that this time, THIS TIME it might just…
And then there was the carrot that is Caprica, the promised prequel series set on the planet of the same name “58 years before the fall”.
It tells the story of the cylons, the humanoid robots that will one day rebel against and nearly wipe out their human creators, which is the stuff of Battlestar Galactica. It’s rich ground because as even casual BSG fans know, the fighting robots are just one of the guises of the cylons. Seeing the birth of the fleshly versions and even the flying versions, well that has appeal. Even more intriguing, many of the same people are involved, including writer/producer Ronald D. Moore and exec producer David Eick.
And yet I’ve just watched the pilot, released now on DVD in advance of the series launch in 2010, and I am glad there are many months between now and the next episode, broadcast date not yet specified. It will give me some time to reconsider whether it’s fair to say that the pilot reads like an overwrought episode of the “new” Outer Limits, which is to say, blah.
Esai Morales (NYPD Blue, Jericho) plays lawyer Joseph Adams, flawed but moral father of William Adama who will go on to helm BSG, the ship and the series. Earnest.
Eric Stoltz (The Butterfly Effect) plays Daniel Graystone, brilliant scientist. Stoltz tries to bring a thinking man’s knit brow to the old story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. Earnest.
Caprica is heavy handed, which I can live with. But it plods, which is a deadly combination. It rights itself in the final scenes with throws to what is to come, which are not expected and nicely twisted.
What is missing is range. It’s all so — have I used this word yet — earnest?
I loved BSG for its big ideas: race and power and gender and democracy and leadership and science were all bent through its lens and it was rare that it felt flat or preachy. It was selfj-righteous (Edward James Olmos’s Adama), it was dispicable (James Callis’s Gaius Baltar), it was furious (Katee Sackhoff’s Starbuck) and lost (Michael Hogan’s Col. Saul Tigh) and sexy (Tricia Helfer’s Number Six). And each of those extremes were couched in humour and as many victories as failures. This was an otherworldly story in another world but the characters were of us.
Caprica had not one moment that pinned any character’s character. It just got them to the start of the game: the creation of a cylon and the parallel subterranean growth of the one-god movement. It moved the game pieces to the right spots. Now let’s hope that when the series is fully unleashed next year, there is some blood in those characters.
Now here are some DVDs that are new on shelves this week.
The Waltons: The Complete Seasons 1-9
X-Men Vol. 1 (Marvel Comic Book Collection)
X-Men Vol. 2 (Marvel Comic Book Collection)
Mission Impossible: Season 6
American Dad! Vol. 4
Spin City: The Complete Second Season
Star Trek: The Original Series: Season 1 Blu-ray
Kavanagh QC: Bearing Witness
Kavanagh QC: Previous Convictions
Stephen King Presents Kingdom Hospital: The Entire Series
Nova: Is There Life on Mars
Nova: The Big Energy Gamble
National Geographic: Ultimate Nature Collection
National Geographic: In the Womb — Identical Twins
Gangland: The Complete Season 3
National Geographic: Earth Report — State of the Planet
Dallas: The Complete Seasons 1-11
What the hell was the big deal about Jay Leno’s sick days? Or so says Leno himself, who will, dammit, be back at work Monday, April 27, AND appear at a benefit in Knoxville, Tenn. on May 2. Or so Leno said to Terry Morrow of the Knoxville Sentinel News when he called — to make good on a previously scheduled phone interview — moments before being checked out of the hospital on Saturday.
Most news reports now say the problem was exhaustion or dehydration, but Leno did not tell Morrow why he’d gone to the hospital and cancelled a couple of Tonight Show tapings last week. He did say he was amused by the massive news coverage.
“It’s flattering people are concerned. That’s very nice,” he said. “It definitely does not seem like a news story. One guy here tried to sneak in (dressed) as a Jesuit priest. It’s hilarious. You get on the blogs and (it reads), ‘He’s really dead, and they are pretending he’s still alive.’ It’s hilarious. It’s unbelievable.”
A few reports on Saturday wondered if Leno’s first sick days in 17 years might have been related to the impending Tonight Show finale on May 29, followed by Conan O’Brien’s takeover — reunited with Andy Richter!!! — on June 1. I’m not convinced Leno, man of steel (and with a prime-time talk show starting next fall), gets stressed by anything.
I have GOT to start pulling some strings and muscling publicists into sending me more of those advance DVD review copies. I must. But what with the damn day job and the mother and the intolerable return visit from the cold-flu virus, well … okay the dog ate my DVD review of Caprica, this week’s exclusive DVD-only release of the debut episode of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff. The series will hit Canadian TV’s Space channel in 2010.
I even tried squeezing out a tear in HMV, where the young clerk admitted the goods were in the building. I made my case. That it was for my bedridden mother, whose only solace was quality sci-fi. But she refused, heartless wench. And perhaps I should say that Mother is not bedridden. Just grouchy. And sci-fi does nothing to improve her mood.
And so. I will have a review of Caprica as soon as I am able. Otherwise, I might be tempted to write at great length and with considerable venom about My Own Worst Enemy: The Complete Series and how the ridiculousness of the spy-with-two-warring-personalities plot was matched only by the series’ unwillingness to die a quicker death. Christian Slater, hang your head.
Until then, make do with this list of other DVD releases.
Dallas: The Complete 11th Season
Hawaii Five-O: Season 6
Rhoda: Season 1
My Own Worst Enemy: The Complete Series
Hannah Montana: The Complete First Season
American Experience: A Class Apart
Life of Ryan: The Complete Series
Wolverine and the X-Men: Vol. 1, Heroes Return Trilogy
Hugh Jackman for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Robert Downey Jr. for The Soloist and even Jeff Goldblum for Law & Order: Criminal Intent. These are a few of my favourite actors so this is a good week. But, sigh, I must also report that Billy Bob Thornton, he of the CBC tirade that led to his Montreal show absence, will be making a couple of stops this week also. I hate to give the guy any more press, but my music blogging colleague Bernard Perusse is adamant that at least his band The Boxmasters deserve it at least. And so…
Tuesday: Exceptional Women, with Sally Quinn and Quinn Bradlee (A Different Life), Candy Spelling (Stories from Candyland), Susan Welch (10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea), Lily Allen (It’s Not Me, It’s You)
Wednesday: Jeremy Irons (Impressionism), Clark Sisters
Thursday: Meghan McCain, Beyonce (Obsessed), Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Friday: Jamie Luner (All My Children), Lil Wayne, best products of the year from Self magazine
Debuts
Sunday April 19 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox and Global
Regularly airs
Sundays at 8:30 ET on Fox and Global
Premise
Wacky teachers. Waaaaaaaacky teachers at Knob Haven High saying outrageous things that are equally offensive to all corners of the gender, race and political worlds. Animated.
Primary cast and crew
Will Arnett (Arrested Development) is Ennis Hofftard, English teacher.
Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) is Larry Littlejunk, gym teacher.
Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies) is Miracle Grohe, science teacher.
Henry Winkler (Arrested Development — do you see a pattern here?) is Willard Deutschebog, German teacher.
Will Forte (SNL) is Stuart Proszakian, assistant principal.
Cheri Oteri (SNL) is Helen Klench, librarian.
Keenan Thompson (SNL — oh dear, another pattern?) is Sue Sezno, principal.
Nick Kroll (Worst Week, Cavemen) is Andrew LeGustambos, bisexual and possibly transgender drama teacher.
Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) is Happy, custodian.
Mitchell Hurwitz (Arrested Development) is writer/creator exec-producer.
Josh Weinstein (The Simpsons) is writer exec-producer.
Other reviews
Major, major buzz for this show, given the cult power of Arrested Development and the quality of the cast overall. Zap2it.com’s Rick Porter says that pre-show hype is partly to blame for his not liking Sit Down Shut Up as much as he had hoped. Buy only partly. The rest Porter attributes to the unsteadiness of the first two episodes, sent to critics for preview.
Tim Goodman over at the San Francisco Chronicle does not pussyfoot: “Don’t bother,” he says.
But what do I know anyway?
The first two episodes of Sit Down Shut Up have their moments, but they’re overwhelmed by heavy-handed and forced attempts to be outrageous and to create a cult appeal. Check out the character named (Principal Sue Sezno, teacher Willard Deutschebog). Can it settle down? How can it be so average when the cast and creators can be so brilliant?
The main page makes it look like there’s lots of fun beyond the usual character and cast bios, making-of vids, episode viewing (empty promises to Canadian IP addresses). There is the Teacher’s Lounge and Detention Hall and teacher sketches and … well they’re all empty or mostly empty and waiting for YOU to fill them with wacky content.
Premise
Canada’s favourite hosers, brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie get animated. The characters were originally created in a recurring sketch called Great White North, part of the great live-action Canadian comedy series SCTV (1976-84 in various incarnations). The infamous toque-wearing, beer-swilling underachievers lifted to great heights such bon mots as “Take off, eh” and “Sweeeeeeet”. Now, they are citizens of Maple Lake. They never graduated from high school (though they are missing just one credit), they work on the town garbage truck and their mother is in a nursing home run by a Russian with a flair for dog art. And this animated version does not, so far as I can tell, include any version of the GWN theme song, “koo-LROO-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-KOOOOO”. I knew you’d want to know.
Primary voice cast and crew
Dave Thomas (SCTV, Strange Brew, Grace Under Fire, Brother Bear) is Doug, returning to the role that made him famous.
Dave Coulier (Full House, Robot Chicken) is Bob, taking the role originally played by Rick Moranis.
Rick Moranis (SCTV, Strange Brew) is co-producer.
Buzz buzz
Thomas tells The Toronto Star’s Rob Salem that the series came about after he promised a one-off animated short for the 2002 DVD re-release of the 1983 movie about the brothers, Strange Brew. The Star story also includes a Toque Timeline, chronicling the sketch, created to fullfill a demand for more Cancon by CBC (one of several broadcasters along the way).
Trailer
Couldn’t find one, but here’s a 12 Days of Christmas sketch with the animated characters and a teaser for the new show.
But what do I know anyway?
There are moments that are funny, but also some cringey spots. As when the mayor rebounds after some bad press by taking the noose down from over his desk. And then, in the second episode, Mama McKenzie reveals that the only way she’ll take her spoonful of meds is if her sons pretend it’s something she really wants in her mouth, like Dennis Hopper. Us elders will check out the first couple of episodes for old-time sake. But this series will have to get sharper than what I’ve seen on previews of the first two episodes.
Official website
Fairly basic, with character bios and a “virtual tour” that shows the various “sets” without characters. Also, if this gets you all weepy for the good old days of SCTV, here is the definitive but unofficial fan page.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
I’m in a forward-thinking DVD state of mind. And so.
Only one week until Caprica, the DVD-only (so far) debut of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff series coming to Space: The Imagination Station in 2010. Thank you Space.
Next month’s hotly anticipated releases include: Dexter Season 2 (May 5) and True Blood: Season 1 and Friday Night Lights: Season 3 (May 19).
Aaaaaaand, while we’ll have to wait until Sept. 29 for the full-series DVD of the cancelled U.S. adaptation of Life on Mars, July 28 will be the release date of Season 1 of the original Brit series of the same name. Thanks for B.G. for passing along the date of the Brit series. She, like many of you, haaaaaaated the U.S. series, never more than in the spacey finale.
But enough about this future stuff. Here are some new TV-on-DVD releases for this week.
Wolverine and the X-Men: Season 1, Chapter 1
Knots Landing: The Complete Second Season
Intelligence: Season 2
Wings: The Complete Series
Ruth Rendell Mysteries: Set 4
Dennis Miller: The HBO Comedy Specials
Exosquad: Season 1
Route 66: The Complete Second Season
Backyard Cookin’: Season 1
Cook Like a Chef: Season 1, Vol. 1
Sugar: Season 1, Vol. 1
Taste of Life: Season 3
Frontline: My Father, My Brother and Me
Nova: The Odyssey of Life — The Ultimate Journey – Denise Duguay
Hello chickens! I dunno who this Zac Efron guy is but he’s everywhere this week. Doesn’t look old enough to be up that late, but his parents know best, I guess. Speaking of staying up late, I’ve added listings to Chelsea Lately!, weeknights on E! at 1:37 a.m. Not 1:35 mind you. You are warned.
Monday: Nancy O’Dell (Full of Life: Mom to Mom Tips I wish Someone Had Told MeWhen I Was Pregnant), latest ex of American Idol, Alan Taylor (New York Auto Show Week)
Tuesday: Kathie Lee Gifford (Just When I Thought I’d Dropped My Last Egg: Life and Other Calamities)
Wednesday: Russel Crowe (State of Play)
Thursday: Joy Philbin co-hosts, Ben Affleck (State of Play)
Friday: Mark Consuelos co-hosts, Drew Barrymore (Grey Gardens)
Debuts
Thursday, April 9, 10 p.m. ET on NBC a nd CTV (encoring Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC and Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CTV)
Regularly airs
Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC and CTV.
Premise
L.A.-based police drama where the action is seen through the eyes of a rookie.
Primary cast and crew Benjamin McKenzie (The O.C.) is rookie Ben Sherman
Michael Cudlitz (A River Runs Through It) is John Cooper, Sherman’s new partner. Try not to hate him.
Regina King (Ray, Jerry Maguire) is Det. Lydia Adams, tough on the outside.
Tom Everett Scott (Boiler Room) is Det. Russell Clarke. Softie.
Michael McGrady (Thin Red Line) is Det. Daniel “Sal” Salinger is on the drug squad with the following two.
Kevin Alejandro (Ugly Betty) is Det. Nate Moretta.
Shawn Hatosy (Alpha Dog) is Det. Sammy Bryant.
Arija Bareikis (Crossing Jordan) is Chickie Brown, a beat cop with big dreams.
C. Thomas Howell (Criminal Minds, Smith, The Outsiders) uncredited as Chickie’s caustic partner.
John Wells (ER), Ann Biderman (Public Enemies, NYPD Blue) and Chris Chulack (ER, Homefront) are exec producers
Trailer
But what do I know anyway? After having actually seen the pilot …
There are a couple of cops that this pilot is working haaaard to make you dislike. It’s shooting, if you’ll pardon the expression, for a Det. Andy Sipowicz way back from NYPD Blue. Me, I find the portrayals so effective I had to work at it to stay tuned. A bit sucky, aware as I am that it’s a ploy to get viewers engaged, to align me with the rookie, who also hates and is revolted by them. But do the work. Stay the course. It’s worth it. There are enough interesting characters introduced — with and without redemption — I can’t remember them all. Considering this comes from John “ER” Wells and co., there’ll probably be many seasons for them all to play out and become as memorable as John Carter the good, Andy Sipowicz the bad and all the ones in between.
Other reviews
Brian Ford Sullivan over at the Futon Critic likes the acting and show, despite the predictability of the characters and plot.
Kelly West at Cinemablend gives it 3.5 stars out of five.
USA Today’s Robert Bianco, on the other hand, finds Southland “unbearable”.
Official website
Usual cast bios, videos and a quiz that tests your cop-talk knowledge plus Exclusives: Ride Along and a map that points out historical crime scenes in South L.A. and Southland crime scenes.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Thursday, April 9, 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Citytv
Regularly airs
Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Citytv
Premise
The Office-style workplace faux doc that follows a civic employee whose small world cannot kill her grand ambitions, whether it’s to turn an abandoned construction site into a beautiful green space or to become the first women president of the United States.
Primary cast and crew Amy Poehler (SNL, Baby Mama) is Leslie Knope, the bureaucrat with the big dreams and awkward social skills.
Aziz Ansari (Scrubs, Flight on the Conchords) is Tom Haverford, her underling. He’s looking out for No. 1.
Rashida Jones (The Office, I Love You Man) is nurse Ann Perkins.
Nick Offerman (Deadwood, 24) is Ron Swanson, the boss. He has no ambition. Plenty of cynicism, though.
Aubrey Plaza (upcoming film Funny People with Ansari) is April Ludgate, the intern. Beyond no ambition.
Paul Schneider (Lars and the Real Girl) is Mark Brendanawicz, city planner. His arched eyebrow gets second billing, but only just.
Greg Daniels (King of the Hill) and Michael Schur (The Office, SNL, The Comeback) are creator/exec producers
Trailer
But what do I know anyway? After NOT having seen the pilot I predict…
Can anything survive the expectations that new mom Poehler has been saddled with here? She is plenty talented of course — her ultra pregnant self rapping as Hillary Clinton on SNL was possibly the best moment of TV in the last year — but hype like this is deadly. And tedious. Try to forget and just watch it like any other Office-like faux documentary. Wait. Forget that heap of expectations too. Just watch.
Other reviews
Robert Lloyd of the L.A. Times mentions early worrisome focus group reviews, but says that “Like The Office, it does its work quietly — too quietly for some, I’m sure…”
And here’s a selection of reviews, from fansite knopeknows.com, that runs from loved it (13) to hated it (11).
Official website
Assorted video, wallpaper and icons (under Exclusives) and character bios, but the Games tab reads “Still to come” as of this April 9 writing.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Thursday, April 9, 10 p.m. ET on Global and CBS
Regularly airs
Thursdays, 10 p.m. ET on Global and CBS
Premise
As the press kit says: “13 weeks, 25 suspects, one killer.” Say. No. More. Okay, maybe just a little. A week-long wedding party on an island brings a young woman back to the home town she fled after a series of murders seven years previous.
Primary cast and crew (Pin this to your fridge! Strike off each week’s victim!) Elaine Cassidy (The Bay of Love and Sorrows) is Abby, who is returning home after seven years Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty) is Henry, the groom Katie Cassidy (Supernatural) is Trish, the bride Cameron Richardson (12 Miles of Bad Road, Entourage) is Chloe. Meow. C.J. Thomason (Transformers, General Hospital) is Jimmy, Abby’s old flame. Amber Borycki (The L Word) is Beth, the “single girl” Richard Burgi (Desperate Housewives) is Thomas, father of the bride Dean Chekvala (guesting on ER, Without a Trace, NCIS) is J.D., “the black sheep” Ben Cotton (Stargate: Atlantis) is Shane, the “townie” Beverley Elliott (Godiva’s) is Maggie, the wedding planner Chris Gauthier (Eureka) is Malcolm, the “hustler” Harry Hamlin (L.A. Law) is “Uncle Marty” Gina Holden (Flash Gordon, Smallville) is Shea, the maid of honour David Lewis (Smallville, The Guard) is Richard, the brother in law Ali Liebert (Kyle XY, Psych) is Nikki, the “biker chick” Brandon Jay McLaren (The Best Years, Smallville) is Danny, the college buddy Claudette Mink (The Guard) is Katherine, the stepmother Sean Rogerson (Stargate: Atlantis) is Joel, the nerd Anna Mae Routledge (Supernatural, The Guard) is Kelly, the outcast Cassandra Sawtell (Psych, Smallville) is Madison, the flower girl Sarah Smyth (Smallville, Durham County) is Lucy, the socialite Jim Beaver (Supernatural, John from Cincinnati) is the Sherrif Matt Barr (Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill) is Sully, the best man Victor Webster (Lincolm Heights) is Hunter, the other man Adam Campbell (Epic Movie) is Cal, the outsider Jon Turtletaub (Jericho, National Treasure) is the exec producer
Trailer
But what do I know anyway? After actually having seen the pilot …
I have read many super negative reviews of this murder-a-week television “event”. But, seriously people. If anything about the gaggingly thorough promotion for this slasher says Quality TV to you, you are fragmenting your attention way too much with all the Twitter and the Facebook and the this and the that. Yes, each and every wedding guest and participant is packing a suitcase full of horror movie cliches. There are lingering shots of fish guts on knives, guns in drawers, pills washed down with champagne, a creepy cabbie’s eye patch, horrifically embarrassing family drama, a pool-cue duel at the bar … But embrace the fun, wouldja? If by fun you are willing to embrace a pretty, light horror flick x 13 episodes. And, for starters, a death by propeller (mostly off-screen). So, yes, it’s a bit gory. Not for the kiddies or the shrieky among us. For the rest of us ghouls who need a laugh and enjoy a bit of a Boo!
Other reviews
The Globe and Mail’s John Doyle haaaaaates this show.
Daniel Carlson of The Hollywood Review allows that “If Harper’s Island were a self-aware spoof of the horror genre, it would be amazing — like Shaun of the Dead-level good. But the problem with CBS’ new horror-mystery-soap mash-up is that it’s completely earnest in its awfulness.” Geez.
Official websites: CBS’s website invites you to play the Pick the Victim game. Watch an interview with producer Turtletaub — whoops, unavailable for viewing for us Canadian, second-class web citizens.
Harper’s Globe is the web arm of the series, in which someone named Robin keeps a video diary of her new job documenting the history of the island. I found it annoying, but then I’m far from the target age group, which I’d put in the teens and 20s.
Global’s site has links to Harper’s Globe, decent selection of photo galleries and character sketches, as well as the option to watch the TV episodes online after broadcast.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Debuts
Wednesday, April 8 at 10 p.m. on ABC (right after Lost, so actually, it starts a couple of a minutes after 10 p.m.)
Regularly airs
Wednesdays, starting a couple of minutes after Lost.
Premise
Young NYPD female detective is transferred from vice to homicide. She’s got a secret (born rich!) and her new colleagues are wack jobs. Read on.
Primary cast and crew Amber Tamblyn (Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Joan of Arcadia) is Det. Casey Schraeger. She’s hiding her Park Avenue pedigree.
Jeremy Renner (28 Days Later, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Dahmer) is Det. Jason Walsh. He can spot a thong at 10 paces. Oh yeah. His former partner was killed. Remember this.
Harold Perrineau (Lost) is Det. Leo Banks. He’s got a thing about his Kevlar vest. And about not dying.
Adam Goldberg (Two Days in Paris, Entourage, Saving Private Ryan, Head Cases) is Det. Eric Delahoy. He’s got a thing about dying. That’s all I’m saying.
Josh Close (Twist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Pacific) is Det. Henry Cole, Bible-thumper with a few sins to his name. Which he regrets.
Monique Gabriela Curnen (The Dark Knight, Half Nelson) is Det. Allison Beaumont. Tough broad with trust issues. You can call her Uncle.
Kai Lennox (Yes Man, He’s Just Not That Into You, 40 Days and 40 Nights) is the very ambitious Det. Eddie Alvarez. He’s got the look of a porn star playing a cop. Who talks about himself in the third person. Is it me or is the air in here choked with eccentricities?
Terry Kinney (Oz, thirtysomething) is Sgt. Harvey Brown. He tells Schraeger, “I need somebody who can’t be bribed or intimidated. My house is in disarray. I need you to help me clean it up.”
Noah Hawley (Bones) is the creator; Bob DeLaurentis (The O.C.) and Peter O’Fallon (The Riches) are exec produducers, with an assist by Peter Tolan (Rescue Me)
Buzz buzz
But what do I know anyway? After not having seen the pilot I declare…
This is one freaking great cast, and I like the comic tone (or what I’ve seen of it in the admittedly untrustworthy trailer) and the freak-of-the-week structure paired with an ongoing mystery or two (Walsh’s partner, the Bible-thumper’s past). Am worried they’re working the whole Unusuals angle way to hard. Hopefully, Episodes 2 and 3 will reveal a great set of actors settling into a solid dark-comic drama.
Other reviews
The L.A. Times’ Robert Lloyd agrees the trying-too-hard is worrisome, but sees potential.
Hollywood Reporter’s Randee Dawn says it’s “is a rapid-fire, clever mix of style and content”.
Official website
Basic bios and a barrage of sneak previews and other videos, but don’t bother with Tamblyn’s on-set Flipcam vid, which would be lame by dad’s-home-video standards.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Three burst open on Thursday, April 9 (Parks & Recreation, Southland, Harper’s Island) and I’ve actually seen a couple of the pilot episodes. Settle down. I’ll get them to you by the crack of Thursday.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Oh sure, you eat crab. Maybe even do hand to hand combat with the can opener to get at the crab. But do you know how hard the poor devils work to bring you the crab?
Of course, if you watch Deadliest Catch, I’m preaching to the converted. While the Discovery Channel series that follows a handful of fishermen into the building-high waves of the Bering Sea is always thrilling, Season 4 was particularly suspenseful. The daredevil captains were awed by one of their own, whose disregard for his health nearly killed him. None of the hype that characterizes some other so-called reality series. It would be easy to find out which of the crazed captains I’m talking about, but if you don’t know, don’t bother looking on the Net. Watch the season, out now on DVD (or repeating on Discovery). It’s gripping. Maybe even gripping enough to make up for the fact that you’re probably too late to register for CatchCon, a gathering of Deadliest fans in Seattle on April 25.
Definitely gripping enough to set the stage for Season 5, coming April 21 at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel Canada.
Want still more? Greedy bastard! Fine. Here are some other new TV DVD releases. And that’s all I’ve got.
Beverly Hills 90210: Season 7
Dynasty: Season 4, Vol. 1
The Paper Chase: Season 1
Alias: Season 5
Iditarod: Toughest Race on Earth
Blade the Series: The Complete Series
Davey and Goliath: The Lost Episodes
Well let me tell you this. If you haven’t had a vacation recently, I highly recommend it. And yes, the Cuba Libres are much more libre IN Cuba. I’ll stop there because I don’t want to rub it in, but all that to say I have been out of the flat-screen loop for the past couple of weeks. I’ll be caught up soonest. We’ll talk. Here’s the talk show update for this week (holiday-week repeats everywhere except on the Daily Show, Colbert Report, The Hour, Live with Regis and Kelly, Real Time with Bill Maher and the Oprah, Tyra Banks and Bonnie Hunt shows). I missed you too!
I could try to bluff, but I got nothing. Check out this list of new TV on DVD releases. I’m at the swim-up bar. I’ll be back starting Monday. Unless I get a job swim-up bartending.
The Fugitive: Season 2, Vol. 2
HIlarious House of Frightenstein: Igormania
In Plain Sight: Season 1
Hope and Faith: Season 1
Jim Gaffigan: King Baby
Milton Berle Show, Vol. 3
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season 4, Vol. 1 – Denise Duguay
Things have been a little slow for the past month in the realm of TV on DVD. But this week? Ayoy! Andy Richter is currently preparing to rejoin Conan O’Brien as a talk-show team when O’Brien launches his Tonight Show on June 1, but not too long ago, he had a culty sitcom, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, which is now released as a full-series set. Also of note, In Treatment, the angsty HBO series following a handful of a therapist’s patients in their weekly sessions, is now available on disc. But the killer release is a title stuck for 40 years in the way-back machine: Room 222. If you’re too young to remember Karen Valentine as a dewy cheeked young thing and too young to remember when seeing a black actor in a leading role (Lloyd Haynes) was crazy rare, you should check out this classroom drama. I loved it at age 9. I was always smart for my age.
Now I’ve got to get back to my vacation. I have a swimming lesson at 2 p.m. to prepare for that daily dog paddle to the swim-up bar down in the tropics. I knew you’d understand.
Here are some other TV-on-DVD releases:
Midsomer Murders: Set 12
The Venture Bros.: Season 3
In Treatment: Season 1
The Riches: Season 2
Room 222: Season One (1969)
Stargate SG-1: Season 9
Taggart: Set 1
Craig Ferguson: A Wee Bit o’ Revolution
Runaway: The Complete Series
The Life and Times of Tim: Season 1
American Experience: The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Living with the Wolfman: Season 1
Star Wars: Clone Wars (Special Edition) – Denise Duguay
I keep telling myself I’m on vacation and yet here I am, ignoring another gorgeous blue sky for the pale blue glow of the computer screen. Frak it. After these five sentences about my beloved Battlestar Galactica — and the 2 skimpy TV on DVD blog posts that I have “post” dated to appear over the next two weeks — I am gone fishin until April 6.
1. Battlestar Galactica wraps up its four-season run Friday, March 20 with a two-hour finale starting at 9 p.m. ET on Space: The Imagination Station, which follows with a live fan forum at 11 p.m. ET which offers “An in-depth chat about the series finale of Battlestar Galactica and the legacy the show leaves behind.”
2. If you are a sometimes fan, you can catch up by watching or recording a repeat of the final run of episodes leading up to Friday’s finale. The marathon starts at 11 a.m. ET Friday on Space.
3. If you don’t know anything about this show, forget about the Friday finale. I’d love to say you should watch and appreciate it for the spectacular head trip/social commentary/inspirational drama that it is. But I am a little lost myself and I think it would just wreck it for a band-wagoneer. Go back to the miniseries that launches the series. It’s worth all four seasons. So say we all.
4. Stop your shaking. The next fix of the BSG universe will come April 21 when Caprica will be released exclusively on DVD. That’s the pilot episode of the series set in the time when the Cylons are created, focussing on the Adama and Greystone families. Esai Morales and Eric Stoltz are among the stars. The full series is set for release sometime in 2010 (Space has not yet committed to the Sci-Fi Channel Syfy Channel series, but we live in hope). On April 21, we’ll get the Caprica series pilot plus a load of extras.
5. Still trembling? Here’s a little something about the post-BSG Cylon-centred movie (bcast date eta) called The Plan. It’s an interview with director and BSG vet Edward James Olmos, courtesy of E! Online.
Remember when there was only one kind of vinegar? When the only lettuce was iceberg? When broccoli was invented?
Oh wait, most of that was definitely just me, living in a single-parent family headed, during most of the 1970s, by my dad and filled out by my two younger brothers. Gourmet was cheese slices on the Minute Rice. Most of the home-cooked food was eaten in somebody else’s dining room. Oh we survived, largely with the help of Campbell’s, Kraft and Captain Highliner. But discovering, publically of course, that broccoli had been around for quabillions of years? Embarrassing. But also liberating.
You, I trust, were never so sheltered. But it’s likely that 10 years ago or more, you also did not have, say, balsamic vinegar at the ready. Nor the spices to make your own curry blend. Or soy milk. Or know the name of the nearest sushi house.
Cheaper travel, the web and the proliferation of cable television are just some of the factors that have gathered many of us at the global food table, where you can eat almost anything from almost anywhere. Even more choice if you prefer to cook it yourself.
A new Doc Zone series starting on CBC Thursday, March 19 takes a four-part look at our changed and changing relationship with food and from the two hours I’ve sampled, it’s worth watching, not least because it’s shot in glorious HD (what ARE you waiting for?). Montrealers, take special note: chef Ricardo and food writer Adam Gollner are among the local experts called upon.
The Great Food Revolution: A Citizen’s Guide to Eating in the 21st Century starts it off March 19 at 8 p.m. ET on CBC with The Great Food Revolution, which clocks the arrival of sushi in California as well as the more recent advent of salad in a bag. It looks at the explosion of food television, food magazines and books and our love affair with food images in same, and the democratization of Modena, Italy’s balsamic vinegar. Nothing, as you’d expect, about the invention of broccoli. Ah well.
Part 2, the Battle to Get on Your Plate at 9 p.m. ET on March 19, looks at the race to create or capture the next everyday staple: last year, 18,000 new products were developed for North American alone, with only 10 per cent making the cut.
Part 3 — airing at 8 p.m. ET on March 26 — my fave of the bunch, is a look at the food life of the second* best city in the world. 24 Hours, 24 Million Meals: Feeding New York begins with the midnight frenzy at Hunts Point in the Bronx, one of the largest food distribution facilities in the world. Let the haggling begin. Then on to a midtown bakery where 1,000 ciabattas are being hand thumped in preparation for delivery to just one sandwich maker. Over in Vermont, at about 3 a.m., a bleary eyed cheesemaker loads her van and begins the four-hour drive to Union Square Market, where she sells twice a week to foodies and top chefs. Back in Hunts Point, at The New Fulton Fish Market, vendors are dropping their prices. In the produce section, a silver-smiled agent for City Harvest is beginning his nightly rounds of asking for donations of slightly-off-perfect wares. In a few hours, one of the soup kitchens he supplies will be buzzing under the direction of a chef who left his boutique resto after 9/11. Later still in a much swankier kitchen, a truffle seller fresh off the plane from Italy sweats through price negotiation with famous chef Daniel Boulud.
Part 4, Food the Future, follows at 9 p.m. ET on March 26 on CBC makes some educated guesses about what we’ll be eating in five years. Jamie Oliver helps out.
Here’s the website, where you can get details on your chances of winning an iPod Touch. Can’t cook without one, apparently.
Premise
Ted is an exec at Veridian Dynamics, where he runs an R&D team that can make anything happen, most of the time. Weaponize a pumpkin? No problem. Create a mouse (animal type) that can withstand the temperature of almost 200 F? Done. Freeze the brain of an underling to see it if can be done? Ummmm?
Primary cast and crew
Jay Harrington (Private Practice, Desperate Housewives) is Ted. Smiles a lot.
Portia de Rossi (Arrested Development) is Veronica, Ted’s boss. Humourless, even by satirical standards.
Andrea Anders (The Class, Joey, Oz — Ow! I just got whiplash writing those three titles within two parentheses!) is Linda, pain in Ted’s progress report and object of his desire.
Jonathan Slavin (My Name Is Earl, Summerland, Andy Richter Controls the Universe) is Phil, research partner with…
Malcolm Barrett (Monk, Psych, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) is Phil’s partner, Lem. They have to deal with the crazy demands.
Maz Jobrani (Knights of Prosperity), brilliant comic from last year’s Just for Laughs) is Dr. Bhamba, zealous researcher.
Victor Fresco (My Name Is Earl, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Andy Richter Controls the Universe) is creator and exec.
10-minute preview clip (yes, it’s worth it)
Buzz buzz
Portia de Rossi talks to the L.A. Times on her marriage to Ellen DeGeneres, the fact that she is not, repeat not, pregnant, and on working on another series.
Mediaweek talks to Victor Fresco about corporate ethics as comedy and the lessons learned (or not) from Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Here’s the (three-minute) video.
But what do I know anyway? After NOT having seen the pilot I predict…
Cross Arrested Development with 39 Rock and The Office. Some of you (us!) will find this funny to the point of cramping up. Others? Please see: Arrested Development and Andy Richter Controls the Universe and their ratings-challenged, but critically acclaimed runs.
Other reviews
Tim Goodman at the San Francisco Chronicle likes the weird funny, but worries (a little) that the soft side of Ted — he’s a single dad — will moulder the good parts.
ABC website and Veridian Dynamics site
Lots of video on both sites, with more and better product and staff description on the VD site. I thought there’d be more fun stuff, but not so far.
Wondering when other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
My vacation plans: To catch up on DVDs. One in my pile is Season 1 of Head Case, about a shrink to the stars. I’ll report back. No, really! Until then, here’s a goodish interview with Alexandra Wentworth, star of the series that is now in its second season Mondays at 9:30 p.m. ET on Super Channel.
Here are some other new releases of TV on DVD.
Barney Miller: Season 3
JAG: Season 8
Married with Children: Season 10
The Nanny: Season 3
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 5: 1946-48
Mr. Belvedere: Seasons 1 and 2
The F Word: Series 2
Hollywood Residential: Season 1
Frontline: Dreams of Obama
Frontline: Shtetl
Ghost Hunters: Season 4, Part 2 – Denise Duguay
Debuts
Monday, March 16 at 10 p.m. ET on The Movie Network (but you can watch the first two episodes right now online).
Regularly airs
Mondays at 10 p.m. ET
Premise
The Movie Network describes it this way: “The Line follows a collection of cops, criminals and everybody in between as they intersect then fall with the rhythms of a combustible suburban wasteland (Scarborough). At the centre of this world are Max and Donny, two cops who are as morally ambiguous as the criminals they pursue. Max has lost interest in conventional police work and has developed his own methods for dealing with the criminals he’s hell bent on destroying. Donny has almost been completely torn apart by the job, yet he remains optimistic in the face of his crumbling life.”
Primary cast and crew Ron White (Tom Stone, Unforgiven) is Max, the more stable half of the team of the detectives at the centre of this cop drama, but that’s not saying much.
Daniel Kash (Lucky Number Slevin, The Dresden Files) is Donny. He might have cared once, but he’s lost, and not “lost” as is he’s one of the bad guys. He’s just lost.
Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue, Privileged) is Jayne, a burned out legal-aid lawyer and Max’s squeeze.
Cle Bennett (Instant Star, Da Kink in My Hair) is Carlos, a dealer just out of prison with anxiety issues and a kid he can’t see.
George F. Walker and Dani Romain (This Is Wonderland) are creators, writers and exec producers.
Linda Hamilton (Terminator: Salvation, Thief) is Carol, a grifter.
Ed Asner (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) is Jayne’s father.
Trailer
Buzz buzz
With a cast and creative team like this…
But what do I know anyway? After having watched the first two episodes I predict…
So much talent — from the execs Walker and Romain to actors Kash and White and Lawrence and Hamilton and Asner. But what? Was it just my mood? Or is it that this cops-as-morally-ambiguous-as-the-criminals drama is trying hard to hit the heights of The Wire without earning it? I should watch more episodes to see if the material rises to the skill level of this fine cast and crew. I should.
You can watch the first two episodes online right now at the Movie Network site and get more background at the series’ site.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Premise
The NBC site describes this “alternative universe” “event” this way: “King Silas Benjamin is the well-entrenched king of Gilboa, whose flag bears a divine butterfly symbol. Gilboa has its capital in Shiloh, a clean new city that is unspoiled by time or litter. Silas must deal with the tensions rising between Gilboa and neighboring nation Gath. When several prisoners of war are taken, a young soldier, David Shepherd, defies orders and crosses enemy lines to save them. Unknown to David, the soldier he saves is Jack Benjamin (Sebastian Stan, “The Covenant”), the son of the king. From that day forth, David’s life will never be the same.”
Primary cast and crew
Ian McShane (Deadwood) is the king. Kneel.
Chris Egan (Eragon) is David. His life is about to change. Can he take it?
Sebastian Stan (The Covenant) is the king’s son, Jack Benjamin. His life is also about to change. I’m guessing sharing the spotlight and happily ever after are not the crux of this drama.
Susanna Thompson (Once & Again) is Queen Rose Benjamin. One to watch. Just a hunch.
Allison Miller (Lucy’s Piano) is the king’s daughter and soon the apple of David’s eye. Ah, the pawn. Or?
Wes Studi (Comanche Moon, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) is the king’s cappo, General Linus Abner. Don’t care if his role is cardboard. One of the most underrated and underused actors in the U.S.
Eamonn Walker (Oz) is Reverend Ephram Samuels. Interesting.
Dylan Baker (Spider-Man 2″) is William Cross, the king’s brother-in-law.
Michael Green, Erwin Stoff (I Am Legend) and Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) are all exec producers, with Lawrence also directing the March 15 pilot.
Will he play nice on the talk show circuit? Daily Show Tuesday and The View on Wednesday should pretty much run the gamut.
But what do I know anyway? After NOT having seen the pilot I predict…
I’m truly looking forward to this, despite overamped promotion (What’s a “movie event”?) that makes me worry about why they’re selling it so hard. But still, Ian McShane. Looks like all the regal bearing of his Deadwood kingpin Al Swearengen, probably without the expletives (not that there’s anything wrong with expletives).
Trailer
Other reviews
Metacritic’s sampling of reviews shows an average rating of 60 out of 100, ranking down from Entertainment Weekly’s 83 to Hollywood Reporter and Baltimore’s harsher judgments of 30 apiece.
Official website
Games, exclusives, “King’s Domain” are all empty, frustratingly. Court Historian has video of a press conference with the main cast and producers, which includes this from Walker: “It’s about god.” Good to know.
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
It’s a little late, but still coming: next series debut is The Line.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
March 18 update: I thought Obama had better taste than this. He’ll be sharing a green room with Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher and pro wrestler John Cena on Thursday’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Ayoye.
Hey chickens. Guess who’s on vacation? But I am so devoted to you that I, well, I’ve at least done a half-arsed job of this week’s talk-show guest report. But you can always click on the links. It’ll be reduced hours until April 6. I know. I’ll miss you too.
You kids are more likely to know Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, the lovable ogre character in the Harry Potter movies.
But back in the olden days of the early ’90s, Coltrane was, and could only ever be, Fitz, the cranky, boozing, adulterous, bastardly, self-loathing, big-hearted and brilliant forensic psychologist working with the Manchester police. And you think House is tortured?
Cracker was the series and the full collection (all three seasons, plus two standalone movies) has been released on DVD with an extended interview with cast and crew.
The crimes stories are rocking. The supporting cast is spectacular: Christopher Eccleston (Heroes, Dr. Who) as the police boss, Geraldine Somerville as “Panhandle” Penhaligan and sometime apple of Fitz’s jaded eye, Barbara Flynn as the ferociously wounded and loving wife). But the reason to watch this is Coltrane’s rivetting character study of Dr. Edward Fitzgerald.
He’ll break your heart and make you laugh and all over again.
Pretend the U.S. version, starring the late Robert Pastorelli, did not happen. This Cracker is the real article.
Here are a couple more TV on DVD releases.
South Park: The Complete 12th Season
Get Smart: Season 2
Family Ties: The Fifth Season
Berserk: Complete Series (remastered)
The Baron: The Complete Series
Caroline in the City: The Second Season
The Best Years: The Complete First Season
The Starter Wife: Season 1
Forgotten Ellis Island – Denise Duguay
Can the world get enough of Edmonton lad Nathan Fillion? According to one recent blog visitor, no sir. “Intriguing,” Rebecca wrote in response to last week’s TV on DVD, which included a reference to the new DVD Wonder Woman, which features the voice work of NF. “I am always up for some Nathan Fillion.”
And so, prepare your TV or DVR (VCR? Really?) Monday, March 9 for the new Nathan Fillion series.
Series name
Castle
Debuts
Monday, March 9 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC and, if you live not in Quebec where we don’t get it, on A Channel.
Regularly airs
Mondays at 10 p.m. ET (after the massively popular Dancing with the Stars.
Premise
Rick Castle is a crazy popular crime novelist living and horn-dogging around NYC when a body is found dead in a manner ripped right from one of his books. He’s brought in for questioning and while he’s not guilty, he does have hot pants for the investigator, Det. Kate Beckett and a little curiosity about why someone would be stealing his work. He pulls some strings — Ricky knows EVERYbody — and soon he’s Beckett’s new shadow.
Primary cast and crew Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Desperate Housewives, online and DVD hit Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) is Rick Castle, rogue but also devoted dad and son.
Stana Katic (Quantum of Solace) is Det. Kate Beckett, wounded loner (aren’t they all?) but, in terms of TV polive women, she is a real maverick. I watched the entire first episode and there was not one scene in which she was wearing a tank top under her suit jacket. She will never get anywhere in those long sleeves.
Susan Sullivan (Dharma and Greg) is Castle’s mother, Martha Rodgers, an older female version of her flirt of a son, but with more alcohol. In between young lads, he dreams of a Broadway comeback. She lives with her son, who adores her, and his daughter.
Molly Quinn (The Sacrifice) is Alexis, Castle’s very strait-laced daughter. Countdown to episode in which she is kidnapped begins…. now!
But what do I know anyway? After having seen the pilot I predict…
Viewers tonight will fall in to three camps. 1) Dancing with the Stars fans who don’t change the channel and are intrigued by the seven promos per half hour that they’ve seen over the past month on ABC. 2) Fans of Firefly who have watched the aforementioned promos and assume that Fillion’s character here has much more snark and edge than he actually does. 3) People who tune in because they liked his gynecologist character on Desperate Housewives. Only Group 2 will be disappointed because while Castle is a smart, wise-cracking rake, he is also a decent single dad and devoted son. But that doesn’t mean this is a wimpy show. It’s just as stylish a police procedural as the promots suggest and there is even more chemistry between Castle and his new police partner, Det. Beckett. It’s not deep stuff and it’s not edgy, but it is amusing.
Other reviews
Reuters thinks this “Murder He Wrote” is laaaaaame but also mentions a scene not present in the screener sent to me so perhaps there have been tuneups? Here’s the reference: “The best scene of the pilot comes when Castle is playing cards with real-life novelists Stephen J. Cannell and James Patterson, who give their two cents about the current investigation and chide Castle for his technique. It’s a little piece of life-and-art merging and dovetails well with a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. But “Moonlighting” it surely is not.”
San Jose Mercury News agrees Castle is fluff, but it “might be a plus at a time when audiences seem to be craving so-called ‘comfort food’ and escapist fare.”
Can’t wait for the next new-series preview?
Later this week I’ll look a the new Canadian series The Line.
Wondering when the other new series and returning series are kicking off?
Click here for the complete and updated list of mid-season premieres and other important dates. Who am I to tell you what to do, but you could consider bookmarking it…
Well, Jimmy Fallon made it through his first week and the critics have weighed in. So now Fallon can calm down and get down to making the show his own. And now that that particular distraction is done with for now, the talk shows are abuzz with week with Dwayne Johnson, whose Rock Obama skit on SNL was one of the strongest moments on SNL in a while (although of course it went on too long); he’s stumping for Race to Witch Mountain, the March 13 opener which is firmly in the Rock-as-friend-to-kids-everywhere side of his movie-making ledger. On the other side of the spectrum, closer to grossout bromance in the spirit of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is I Love You Man, which is getting the promo treatment this week with a slew of appearances by stars Jason Segel and Paul Rudd. I was lucky enough to see a sneak peek screening and if you like Forgetting, Rush and public discussion of “blowies”, you will laugh out loud. Many times. It opens in Montreal March 20. Here’s the trailer for I Love You Man.
Monday: Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother and film I Love You, Man), comic Dave Attell
Tuesday: Rosario Dawson (Wonder Woman DVD), Gordon Ramsay (Hell’s Kitchen)
Wednesday: Egyptologist Kara Cooney, Tim Daly (Private Practice)
Thursday: Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory), Sara Bareilles (Little Voice)
Friday: Christina Ricci (Saving Grace), comic Mike Birbiglia
Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35 p.m. ET on NBC)
Monday: Elisabeth Hasselbeck (The View), Demetri Martin (Important Things with Demetri Martin), Rocco de Luca & The Burden (Open Pages)
Tuesday: Whoopi Goldberg (The View), Elle Fanning (Phoebe in Wonderland), Keysha Cole (A Different Me)
Wednesday: Ellen DeGeneres (The Ellen Show), Christopher Mintz0-Plasse (Role Models), Raul Malo (Lucky One)
Thursday: Dwayne Johnson (Race to Witch Mountain), Heather Headley (This Is Who I Am)
Friday: American Idol Kara Dioguardi, Randy Travis (I Told You So: The Ultimate Hits of Randy Travis) Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (12:35 a.m. ET on NBC)
Monday: Amanda Peet (Important Things with Demetri Martin), Rose Byrne (Damages), Joshua Topolsky (engadget)
Tuesday: Emily Blunt, Michael Stipe, Pussycat Dolls (Doll Domination)
Wednesday: Russell Brand (My Booky Wook), Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht (Diggnation), The Virgins (The Virgins)
Wednesday: Jaime Pressly (I Love You, Man and It’s Not Necessarily Not the Truth: Dreaming Bigger than the Town You’re From), animal trainer Kirstin McMillan, The Pretenders (Break Up the Concrete)
Thursday: David Hasselhoff (Ready 2 Rumble Revolution), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse), Pendulum (In Silico)
Friday: Dwayne Johnson (Race to Witch Mountain), Kristen Stewart (Adventureland), The-Dream (Love vs. Money)
Monday: Miley Cyrus (Miles to Go), Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live)
Tuesday: Jay Leno (Tonight Show with Jay Leno), Lady Gaga, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman (Dancing with the Stars)
Wednesday: Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy), Bob Iger (Disney co.)
Thursday: James Denton, Kyle Maclachlan and Doug Savant (Desperate Housewives), Maurice Benard (General Hospital), Keysha Cole (A Different Me)
Friday: Sally Field and Calista Flockhart, Matthew Rhys (Brothers and Sisters), Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt (The Hills), Sherri Shepherd behind the scenes on Dancing with the Stars
Wednesday: Carole Burnett (Law & Order: SVU), Taylor Hicks (The Distance)
Thursday: Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives, film Phoebe in Wonderland), Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas (Dancing with the Stars), Rascal Flatts (Greatest Hits)
Friday: Dwayne Johnson (Race to Witch Mountain), Elle Fanning (Phoebe in Wonderland)
One night is not enough to judge a new talk show, so let’s meet back here on the weekend to see how we really feel after the first full week of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. But after just having watched the debut episode at 12:35 a.m. last night (March 2), I know this much:
1. Great opening scene of JF on the streets of NYC, all streaky and haloed, which is exactly how a Lasik surgery patient sees the world. JF, who recently underwent the operation to save himself from having to wear specs to read the prompter/cards. He was kind enough to post the video on his website. Only the sturdy should attempt viewing.
2. Good opening-night bit, teasing about the real test for JF coming in Week 2, in which former host Conan O’Brien, crankily dragging his feet on cleaning out what is now JF’s dressing room, asks who is on the guest list this coming week, leading JF to gush about Robert De Niro and Justin Timberlake et al.
CO: “And next week?”
JF: “Ummm … So it’s going to be like that?”
CO: “Yeah.”
3. The jury is out, at least on my couch, about the opening monologue. Obama and economy jokes were so last week, but were revived slightly by Slow Jamming the News with Roots man Tariq Trotter doing backup while JF lounge-lizards the likes of Nancy Pelosi hammering Republican governors for opposing U.S. President Barack Obama’s stimulus package. It had a bit of a Will Ferrell flavour to it. But will it get old?
4. I laughed a couple of times (Justin Timberlake doing John Mayer, then doing Michael McDonald doing a Bud Light ad) and tapped a toe more than once (let’s here it for The Roots and debut musical guest Van Morrison).
5. Kudos to JF for facing full-on the fear of the unresponsive guest: While Robert De Niro is a nimbly comic actor, as witnessed by his blink and you’d miss it kibbitzing with Timberlake, De Niro is a notoriously bad interview. JF, seizing this opportunity, launched into a series of questions that required only one-word answers. It failed and succeeded, breaking even but doing what JF appears to be aiming for: the host who doesn’t hide his nervousness, doesn’t hide behind a snide persona (hello David Letterman) and doesn’t stoop to trashy supposed humour (oh Jay Leno). Now of course, playing a regular guy who, aw shucks, is lucky enough to have a show and the incredibly nimble Roots as his regular band is, of course, a persona. But it’s one with appeal. What do you think? Are you like John Doyle of the Globe and Mail who thinks the talk-show scene is an overheated pile of pitiful ratings? Or do you, like me, dabble? I sample a bit of Letterman, a lot of the Daily Show, some of Ferguson if I can stay awake and a touch of Leno ONLY if the guest is good.
In case you need reminding, here’s a link to who’s where on the talk-show couches this week.
It had me at the cast list: Marg Helgenberger (CSI), Alfred Molina (Frida, Spider-Man 2), Virginia Madsen (Smith, American Dreams), Nathan Fillion (Firefly, upcoming Castle), David McCallum (NCIS) and even the bouncy, bouncy Keri Russell (Felicity). But apparently, the new animated Wonder Woman origin story — new, straight-to-DVD and on shelves as of today — is as good as its voice choices. Or so says Wired and who am I to question the wisdom of the geek magazine’s critics squad. Although reviewer Ken Denmead does advise that parents pre-screen this for viewers younger than, well the U.S. rating is PG-13. It’s a cartoon, but it’s not for kids because of scenes of rape and murder. Yet apparently? Tons of laughs as well.
Here are some other new titles of TV on DVD:
7th Heaven: the Eighth Season
ER: the Complete 10th Season
Nash Bridges: The Second Season
Rick and Steve: The Complete Second Season
The Hills: The Complete Fourth Season
The Return of Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Hotel Babylon: Season 3
My Two Dads: The Complete First Season
Kennedy: The Complete Series
Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares
I’m all atwitter about this week in late night. And I don’t mean the time gobbling micro blogging site that is taking up waaaaay too much of my TV-watching time. I mean the double whammy of the launch of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, debuting Monday, March 2 on NBC at 12:35 a.m. You can watch his last pre-show vlog interview with his boss Lorne Michaels here.
But then there’s this cool upstart band that’s sitting in on Late Show with David Letterman. Perhaps you’ve heard of their leader, Saint Bono? I might just be not sick enough of Bono to get through a few of the shows. While you wait for late night to … dawn?, you should check out the video for U2’s single Get On Your Boots, which is on the album No Line on the Horizon, which — quel coincidence! — is in stores as of Tuesday, March 3. You can listen to all 11 tracks online here — at least you can as of this writing.
Breaking Bad, the best series that you can’t see up here in Quebec because it’s on AMC, the U.S. channel behind Mad Men and which is available in other parts of Canada. I am somewhat mollified though, by the fact that we can see some nasty funny (content warning: “No Abu Ghraib-y hands!”) little webisodes on the U.S. AMC’s website. Season 2 of this series about a science teacher (Malcolm in the Middle’s Bryan Cranson won the 2008 Emmy for this role) with a terminal illness and a strong desire to break any laws necessary to provide for his family, starts in the U.S. on March 9. But we can finally savour Season 1 when it’s out on DVD this week (here’s the full episode, online, of the Season 1 pilot episode to whet your appetite).
That’s what I’ll be watch on this, my week of winter vacation. Try to get by without me. I’ll see you next week. In the meantime, here are some other TV on DVD titles, new on shelves this week.
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Summer Heights High
Girlfriends: The Sixth Season
Dirty Jobs: Collection Four
Dangerous Assignment: The Complete Television Collection
Hello again chickens! One more update, adding the April 9 start date for Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation and the April 5 and 6 return dates for In Treament Season 2.
Wednesday, March 18
Better Off Ted (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC). I am befuddled by this description, so I will not even try to paraphrase it for you from the original press release: “a satirical office comedy featuring a successful but morally conscious man, Ted, who runs a research and development department at a morally questionable corporation, Veridian Technologies. No achievement is too far fetched and no invention too unorthodox for Veridian. Need a suicidal turkey? Done. Need a metal that is hard as steel but bounces – and is edible? Done and done. Ted loves his seemingly perfect job; he loves his superhuman boss, Veronica, and colleagues Lem, Phil and Linda, but he’s starting to take a closer look at the company’s extremely questionable practices… especially when they try to cryogenically freeze one of Ted’s scientists for testing purposes. Starring Jay Harrington as Ted, Andrea Anders as Linda, Portia de Rossi as Veronica, Jonathan Slavin as Phil and Malcolm Barrett as Lem.”
Thursday, March19
Harper’s Island (online only until April 9) debuts online, described by CBS better than I could ever tart it up: “a 13-episode murder mystery about a group of family and friends who travel to a secluded island for a destination wedding. They’ve come to laugh… to love… and, though they don’t know it… to die.” Now you know. Sign up for the online-online side to this “multimedia event of the season”, via emails, here.
Tuesday, March 24
Saving Grace (Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Showcase) returns for the final half of Season 2. (The new eps are on U.S. TNT starting Monday, March 9 so avert your eyes from talk shows, this website and online coverage if you hate surprises about plot and new guest stars.)
Thursday, March 26
In the Motherhood (8 p.m. ET on ABC) Megan Mullally (Will and Grace) and Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) star in the mommy sitcom based on the web series that is based on real stories from mom’s “who have lost their kids in a mall… not for very long, but…”.
Tuesday, March 31
Cupid (10 p.m. ET on ABC) debuts, “a romantic dramedy about Trevor Pierce (Bobby Cannavale, Will & Grace), a larger than life character who may or may not be the Roman god of love, Cupid, sent to earth to bring 100 couples together before he is allowed to return to Mt. Olympus.” He is also under the care of a therapist, played by Sarah Paulson (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip).
Sunday, March 29
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (8 p.m. ET on HBO Canada) is a new seven-episode series based on Alexander McCall Smith’s crime novels and directed by the late Anthony Minghella. Jill Scott plays the central character, the don’t-mess-with-her agency owner who goes by Precious Ramotswe.
Thursday, April 2
ER (start time tba, on NBC and CTV). The enduring medical drama will end a run that started in September 1994. Get the tissue. Noah Wyle returned Feb. 19 (three more episodes, we are told) and Julianna Margulies and George Clooney will also make brief return appearances for the finale. Note: the finale date has been changed several times, but this date reflects what is expected to be the last adding of episodes.
Friday, April 3
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with … (Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, repeating on Bravo Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET and Sundays at 6 p.m. ET). This new series, which has been airing on U.S. Sundance Channel since last December, finally comes to Canada: “In the critically-acclaimed, hour-long series, music legend Elvis Costello conjures up eclectic performances and candid conversations about the creative process, the power of music and the impact it has on creators and the world at large. The collaborators featured with Costello in the series reads as one of the best concert line ups ever. He is joined by musical heavyweights The Police (in their final TV performance and interview), Sir Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed, Kris Kristofferson, Herbie Hancock, Renée Fleming, Rosanne Cash, Smokey Robinson, John Mellencamp and James Taylor, among others.“
April 5 & 6 2009
In Treatment (two new back-to-back sessions on two consecutive days starting at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Canada) returns with new episodes following a therapist and his sessions with a select group of patients
Monday, April 6
Surviving Suburbia (9:30 p.m. ET on ABC) Bob Saget (Full House, How I Met Your Mother) and Cynthia Stevenson (Dead Like Me, Men in Trees) have two kids, a 20-year-old marriage and plenty of cynicism. Like Southland, below, this series description is awfully familiar but here’s hoping the performances make it worth it.
Wednesday, April 8
The Unusuals (10 p.m. ET on ABC) debuts, a black-comic police drama starring Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia, the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants) and Harold Perrineau (Lost).
Thursday, April 9
Southland (10 p.m. ET on NBC) Standing bravely in the void left by ER is this new L.A.-set cop series (which, like ER, comes from John Wells) starring Michael Cudlitz (A River Runs through It) as a vet, Ben Sherman (The O.C.) as the rookie, Regina King (Ray) as the chick cop with a heavy burden at home, Tom Everett Scott (Boiler Room) as her unhappily married partner… Of course it’s ridiculous to critique a show based on a list of cast and characters, but sheesh, I hope the performances rise above their unoriginal characters.
Parks and Recreation (8:30 p.m. ET Thursdays on NBC and Citytv) is ex-SNLer Amy Poehler’s new workplace sitcom, if by workplace you’re okay with dumpsite. Here’s the teaser from the Super Bowl, in which her character tries to film a public service ad about turning a town dump into a lovely park. For recreation.
Harper’s Island(10 p.m. ET on CBS) debuts, described by CBS better than I could ever tart it up: “a 13-episode murder mystery about a group of family and friends who travel to a secluded island for a destination wedding. They’ve come to laugh… to love… and, though they don’t know it… to die.” Now you know. The interactive multimedia aspect of the show started March 19. Sign up for emails here.
Sunday, April 19
Sit Down, Shut Up (8:30 p.m. ET on Fox) With producers’ credits coming from Arrested Development and Two and a Half Men, it’s hard to know which way this’ll go, but I’m up for giving it a chance: “an animated comedy that focuses on the lives of staff members at a high school in a small Florida fishing town (Go Baiters!) who never lose sight of the fact that the children must ALWAYS come second.”
Rescue Me (10 p.m. on Showcase) returns for a fifth season (caution in clicking on the site here: S5 debuts April 7 in the U.S. on FX) in which Tommy (Denis Leary) deals with the death of his dad, a review that might affect his career as a firefighter and the arrival of a French documentarian working on a film to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Whot? Franco has a conspiracy theory? Tommy is torn about whether to tear up as is Kleenex or tear up as in broken pool cues?
Monday, April 20
Who Do You Think You Are (8 p.m. ET on NBC) is a series in which celebrities trace their family roots. Names attached so far (but not clear if they’re subjects or hosts) include Lisa Kudrow, Sarah Jessica Parker and Susan Sarandon.
Spring 2009
MADtv (Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET on Fox) ends its 14-year run on the network, with the variety comedy show’s final date tba.
Still waiting for word on Rescue Me’s return on Showcase and some other stuff. Stay tuned.
Spring, date tba
The Goode Family (ABC) “A new animated series from Mike Judge, creator of “King of the Hill.” “The Goode Family” is obsessed with doing the “right” thing whether it’s environmentally, politically or socially. Unfortunately their efforts often have unintended comic consequences.”
The Cleveland Show (Fox) Not expected before fall despite hopes to the contrary, this is a spinoff of the Family Guy.
Big week for Jimmy Fallon. After months of preparation, including his daily video podcast, an astounding array of promos that you won’t be able to avoid during NBC prime time, a recent guest appearances on the Tonight Show (repeating Friday) and on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (which you can watch below), Fallon is now counting the hours until he launches his own Late Night show next Monday, March 2. While he’s counting down, he’ll also get up early on Friday, Feb. 27 to guest on NBC’s Today show at 9 a.m. And then… Here’s Fallon’s first week guest list and then on to our usual week of talk-show guest lists, (a highlight of which is: if you missed Joaquin Phoenix’s flameout on Letterman not too long ago, you can see it or see it again — definitely worth it in a schadenfreude kinda way — Thursday night on Letterman).
Preview — Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’s debut-week guest list (so far) includes: Robert De Niro and Van Morrison on Monday March 2; Tina Fey, Jon Bon Jovi and Santogold on Tuesday March 3; Cameron Diaz, Billy Crudup on Wednesday March 4, Donald Trump, Serena Williams and Ludacris on Thursday March 5; and Drew Barrymore and Mario Batali on Friday March 6.
Monday: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), Toni Collette (The United States of Tara), John Legend (R)
Tuesday: Drew Barrymore (He’s Just Not That Into You), Serena Williams, will.i.am (R)
Wednesday: Jennifer Aniston (He’s Just Not That Into You), Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes (R)
Thursday: Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler), animal handler Grey Stafford, comic Ty Barnett (R)
Friday: Jimmy Fallon (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Lee Ann Womack (R)
Late Night with Conan O’Brien (12:35 a.m. ET on NBC)
Monday: Josh Brolin, Shaun Ellis and Helen Jeffs, Nikka Costa (R)
Tuesday: Tina Fey, Peter Sarsgaard (R)
Wednesday: Seth Green, Artie Lange, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band (R)
Thursday: Paul Rudd, John Stamos, Boz Scaggs (R)
Friday: Hugh Laurie, Joel McHale, The Gaslight Anthem (R)
I have a bit of news and a bit of, well, not nudity, but… Yes, that Chelsea Handler on the cover of Playboy’s December issue in all her Xmas glory. 
explains that the cooking show happened almost by accident. Her agent suggested a brief cooking demo on the Boston station WGBH. That appearance, in which the accidental TV star simply beat egg whites in a copper bowl while she talked, brought requests for more. Child, her retired diplomat husband Paul and agent, et al, decided she should tape another fuller cooking demo. And so, Ms. Child recalls:
The roles are solid, the twists on the story are well-earned and the pacing is good. If you can’t see yourself setting aside two hours a night for three nights, remember to set your PVR (or VCR, but… really?) or nip out to the video store and rent the DVD of the whole series. It was released last October.
Galifianakis has arrived, it appears, at least to bigger paycheques. However, to really know the guy behind the awkward, clingy, drug-packing brother-in-law-to-be in The Hangover and the whatever-the-hell-his-character-is in the hamster spy movie G Force, you have to see some of his standup. Which, lucky you, you can do tonight.
Here is a 
Premise
No. This week my vote goes to… the lunch box. The 1974-77 series Land of the Lost is now available on DVD… and for a few extra beans you can upgrade to the Limited Edition Gift Set which includes a lunch box. The show? Barely remember it though I seem to recall and imdb backs me up here, that it’s about a family thrown back to a time of dinosaurs, ape men and some big-eyed lizard men called Sleestacks. It’s being dragged out of mothballs now to promote Will Ferrell and Danny McBride’s new film of the same name, hitting cinemas Friday, June 5. But I’m all about the lunchbox. The hinge on my Scooby Doo just broke. Sweet.
1. Pie in the Sky: Series 1 — I fell in love with Det. Insp. Henry Crabbe when I occasionally remembered to catch this 1994 British series on… PBS? a few years back. Lovely police show in which Crabbe (Richard Griffiths) divides his time between the policing career he can’t let go of and the restaurant he runs with his wife — there is a lot of sighing between these two, vexed as they pretend to be with each other — and the assistance of a number of characters, some of whom come from the other side of the police blotter. Fun, sweet, occasionally gripping.
2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — Season One (Blu-ray) Now I am a longtime fan of CSI, but back in the beginning, I resisted. I like to go my own way, even when it’s the wrong way. Alas, what better way to go back to the beginning of this squishy let’s-follow-the-bullet-through-the-guts crime procedural than in Blu-ray. I will be watching what I eat before flipped these discs into the Blu-ray machine.
3. Taking Chance. Kevin Bacon plays a senior military type who volunteers to escort a dead soldiers remains back to his home town. It’s based on a true story. I know this much from the excellent moments I had caught this HBO movie on The Movie Network. I also know, or at least I’m pretty sure, that I recorded it on several of its repeat performances last month. But I also know that either my choked full DVR spit it out or the best intentions never did hit record. No mind. It’s out now.
4. The Dana Carvey Show. Those in the know, and those who 
