Category Archives: Television

February 27, 2007 · 11:14 pm

I’m Smarter than “Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?”

The entire experience of watching “Are you smarter than a 5th Grader?” was one of those moments where my anger bubbled over, and blogging became the only way of getting rid of the excess frustration over this particular television program. The show is operating on a principle that no, viewers aren’t actually smarter than 5th graders, because if they’re expecting me to not wretch watching this program they’re underestimating my intelligence.

It’s not the questions that are the problem, although to be entirely honest with you I refuse to believe that some of these questions are actually taught in grade school. And, I kind of love that it’s only a half hour long, which is pretty much the best possible length for something like this. The premise of the show really isn’t a problem either, considering that it’s always fun to compare adults to children. However, you see, they’re not your everyday children.

I read a piece while experimenting with Digg earlier today where it was revealed that the casting process for the 5th Graders was decided based, primarily, on whether or not they held a SAG card. Then, if they weren’t actually smart, they would help them through a quiz ahead of time in order to prep them for the show itself. I approached this with some skepticism, especially since I had not really read up on the show much, but they couldn’t possibly have done this…could they?

Well, while I have no official confirmation, if those kids weren’t actors I’m dumber than every fifth grader in North America. One by one they played to the crowd, laughed at each other’s answers as if they were schoolyard chums, and each in turn knew the answer to every single question. Luke, a pretentious little bugger who finished out the half hour, was the worst offender: terrible little laughs, smug looks and a sense that he was the fifth grader sent from heaven.

Now, I’m not too worried about the “real” kids who got lost along the way in the audition process, and let’s face it: the show isn’t exactly high-concept, so it doesn’t really affect its legitimacy. However, it just doesn’t make for good television; in fact, it was purely grating. While the general quiz show formula works, it doesn’t when the kids are so damn smug, so “perfect,” that there’s no real reason to watch. Are we watching to see people humiliated, or are we watching to see people succeed?

The line is so unclear, so grey, that I think it ruins any of its appeal. These kids are pure actors, and it’s almost like they’re in on the joke. If they were real kids, at least they wouldn’t be so energetic and high-fivey, which I think is perhaps the most frustrating part of the entire experience. I should really be able to let it go, it’s just another trashy game show, but the whole thing was just so absolutely asinine that I must rant about it. For the love of all things good, stay away from this when the 2nd part airs tomorrow night.

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February 27, 2007 · 1:15 pm

The Superpower Bauer Hour Showdown: Week Six

Only two more weeks of the SBHS remain before Heroes goes on an extended hiatus and the Jack Bauer Power Hour returns. I haven’t quite figured out how I’m handling that, or the fact that Global is now airing Heroes on Sunday nights, but for now let’s stick to our formula. Actually, speaking of formulas, pay close attention to Round Three of this week’s showdown.

Round One: Overall Quality

24 has officially found itself in the middle of its usual 2nd Quarter lull. Much similar to Tony’s return to the show in Season Four, the return to Logan is fine from a character standpoint but lacks a whole lot of drama for me. There was a great moment where he selected an American flag pin out of his box, and the character’s motivations were always compelling, but his turnaround from bumbling idiot to mastermind of last season’s plot wasn’t believable then and it isn’t believable now. I like the character, I like Gregory Itzin’s performance, and I liked the drama that was created through the character of Martha Logan as well.

However, his character shift midseason was just too unbelievable, and it’s hurting my ability to take his current situation seriously. It seems all too convenient, too insular; would a President in that position seriously get house arrest without any public knowledge of the actions at hand? How would that not leak out in this day and age except in some sort of heavily censored media? I know that Surnow’s a conservative, but I didn’t have him pegged for a Stalinist as well.

The rest of the episode centered on Morris’ alcoholism (Snore) and the plot to kill President Palmer. My biggest problem with this storyline is how isolated it all is. We’ve got a boiler room and a small conference room within the presidential bunker, having lost all of the scale of the show entirely. Jack and Logan were isolated in the ranch (Still a great set, but it’s limiting), and CTU seemed smaller than usual. It just felt like this was a complete budget saving episode outside of the explosion at the end, and even that had no emotional resonance. This week’s episode of Battlestar Galactica was similarly small scale in many ways, but it had real ramifications. This was all too pedestrian, and when the bomb went off at the end and Assad was killed and Palmer not…it was just blah.

Heroes, on the other hand, was most certainly the best hour of television that Tim Kring and company have produced thus far. Written by Bryan Fuller (‘Wonderfalls’), the episode was everything an hour of television should be. It was tense, suspenseful, explosive, detailed, nuanced, emotional, expository (In a good way) and even connected some unexpected dots such as the core roles of both George Takei and Christopher Eccelston to the main storyline. On top of all of this, it was most important the indepth characterization of the man we once knew as Horn-Rimmed Glasses.

We got more details regarding Mr. Bennet this week than in the rest of the series combined, and we still don’t even know his first name. We gained a better understanding of how he had entered into his job at “Primatech,” and his relationship to Claire and its development over the years. His motives suddenly make sense; he was going after Chandra Suresh because he represented a threat to his daughter’s secret. The idea that he’s just an employee makes perfect sense, and fits in with his character motivations, and his relationship with the Haitian makes a whole lot of sense.

However, even forgetting the amazingly constructed back story of Mr. Bennet, the show also did great things for the character of Matt Parkman. The character has been floundering, but it has now found itself both a source of income and a purpose. Parkman is the perfect candidate for the buddy program, and I think that his dynamic with Bennet could bring his storyline some purpose and give us a chance to enter new and better territory on a regular basis. Because, if they can emulate the success of this episode, they’re on the right path.

I’ll say it right now: this episode will be the one that gives them a chance at being nominated for an Emmy. NBC is going to have a tough choice, as they have Heroes as the buzzworthy drama and Friday Night Lights as the critically acclaimed one. Between last weekend FNL and this week’s Heroes, NBC is in a fine awards position. This episode should also, if there is justice in Emmy nominations, find itself a writing one as well; Bryan Fuller must be commended for his amazing work.

Round Two: Ratings

First off, for those interested, the Black Donnellys premiere drew worse than the Studio 60 premiere did back in the fall, so…ouch. However, on the Heroes/24 side of things…

NBC’s “Heroes,” 8.4/13, took second for the hour, ahead of “24,” 7.9/12,

It’s the usual victory for Heroes, likely in 18-49 as well although more detailed numbers are not available and I’m tired of waiting. We’ll see how this survives after Heroes’ hiatus.

Round Three: Deviations of Formula

It’s something that 24 has struggled with, although with perhaps better success than we all predicted after the show’s first season. Once you pick a formula (See: Jack Bauer saving the world, one terrorist at a time) and run with it, it becomes more and more difficult to deviate from that construct. 24 has choreographed itself so consistently over the years that it’s sometimes a bit of a drag to watch week by week.

This week was an example of this. Jack spent the hour changing clothes at Logan’s estate for the next stage of his journey, his next setpiece if you will. President Palmer faced a threat to his presidency, which always has to occur at a stage like this. The formula dictates that there’s a shakeup at this point, and that there’s a shift signaled by the arrival of Logan. A similar shift occurred in season four when Tony returned, and the story moved in his direction as opposed to the storyline abandoned at that nameless facility Jack had infiltrated.

While last season was perhaps the show’s greatest move away from this formula yet, with the very personal and character based story of the Logans as its centre, this season is right back into the transition episodes and the same rotating pivotal character structure. This isn’t a bad thing, don’t get me wrong, but it makes things really predictable. I could have downright written this episode myself, to be honest with you; there was nothing that stood out, nothing that really resonated, no moment that made me look past the formula.

What made it perhaps worse is that I had watched last night’s episode of Heroes before 24, and therefore was fully behind moving away from formula. For those who enjoyed last night’s episode of Heroes, let’s remain aware of the fact that it will likely never be this good again. We still have to deal with the character of Niki on a regular basis, and the nature of the ensemble cast means that things will always be spread too thin. One of the reason Lost’s back stories work is that they allow for characterization (Note: My Z key is finicky, so why do I keep using words with the letter in them?) that is normally impossible in an ensemble drama. Too many of these characters are two-dimensional, lacking the kind of history that Claire and her father have within this universe.

Which is why I hope that Heroes has learned its lesson. While large ensemble episodes like next week’s have their role, let’s remember that any good drama is dependent on strong characters to relate to audiences. They need to be willing to deviate from their formula with episodes like this on a regular basis. The formula of 24 is often so rigid, so predictable, that it can drag down even some of the best acting on TV from Kiefer Sutherland. Heroes can’t get itself into that pattern. I often worry that they “To Be Continued” banner could lead to an attempt to build a cliffhanger into every episode, but this week ignored that entirely and had a fairly resolute ending anyways. Heroes needs to be careful not to fall into the same trap as 24, and to be willing to extend itself like this more often.

Now, all of that being said, let’s end the suspense and get to this week’s winner… Continue reading →

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February 26, 2007 · 11:51 am

Let’s Talk About NBC’s The Black Donnellys

I’ll admit to being a fan of Studio 60, and during the summer it was by far my favourite pilot out of those I had the pleasure to watch during my spare time. However, it’s now officially lost favour, and last week aired what could be its last episode ever. It is, at the very least, its last episode in this timeslot for the next few months as The Black Donnellys takes its place.

Originally planned to be taking over ER’s timeslot, NBC got too excited about ER’s strong hold in the timeslot and put The Black Donnellys on the back burner. The show was originally conceived a decade ago, when Paul Haggis was just another Canadian TV writer. Now, oscar-winning Paul Haggis has a bit more clout, and thus we get the show entering into the post-Heroes slot at 10pm EST.

Now, I watched the pilot back over the summer, and to be entirely honest with you I enjoyed it. I thought the premise was good, the action palpable, and I thought it did an amazing job of “setting the stage” with a stunning final sequence punctuated by the use of The Arcade Fire’s “Rebellion (Lies).” It was a powerful scene that likely clouded my judgment of the rest of the Pilot, but it’s still a solid piece of work. This being said, keep a few things in mind when watching this evening (What are you going to watch instead? What About Brain? Please.) Continue reading →

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February 25, 2007 · 2:20 am

Saturday Night Live (February 24th): Rainn Wilson and The Arcade Fire

I’ve stolen this image from The Elder because I want to make a few brief comments on the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live. While it was certainly a pairing which served well for my elder brother, and myself, in terms of our tastes, let’s consider this for a second.

The episode itself remained mired in the general shithole that has been created in recent years. The Nooni/Nuny sketch has never, ever been funny, and the addition of new actors will never change that fact (It’s SNL’s Peripheral Vision Man, if we wish to get all meta about it). The cold open about Anna Nicole Smith was a one-note Weekend Update joke stretched into a painfully long segment with no personality or purpose. Weekend Update, as per usual, had its occasional solid joke before getting lost in boring “guests” and jokes that were never funny even in their wildest dreams.

The only sketches that really got off the ground were the ones which seemed most suited to Rainn Wilson. The Peeping Tom sketch was great purely because of Wilson’s ability to make creepy facial expressions. While perhaps not expanding far enough past its initial concept, at least White Possum Croak was somewhat relevant. And, while no Dick in a Box, the Digital Short was a lesson in absurdism that was a welcome break from the drudgery of live comedy.

But, really, why do people watch Saturday Night Live? Part of me remembers a day when people hosting Saturday Night Live would be there to support their upcoming movie, and this would be a launching pad of sorts for them. There is no question this is true: Arcade Fire will likely see a slight uptake in album sales come March 5th (Neon Bible Woo!), and Wilson’s small indie film might make a few extra bucks. Earlier this year The Shins launched with unprecedented success in the States after performing on SNL; clearly, it has some clout.

But, maybe it was just me, but it really felt that Rainn Wilson and The Arcade Fire were helping SNL more than it was helping them. There were likely more Office fans tuning into SNL tonight than there will be SNL fans switching off Ugly Betty to give this here Office show a chance. The monologue was designed purely as an in-joke to these fans, and one that I found quite humorous indeed. The treatment of the Arcade Fire as indie gods doesn’t really do the band any good, but it helps build SNL’s cred with the blogs that much more.

Gone are the days when SNL is a launching pad for artists, or actors, or TV shows. Instead, at this point it appears that SNL is instead looking for opportunities to boost its own profile and save its own cultural relevance. While YouTube has allowed for the Digital Shorts to gain widespread viewership, how many of these people are tuning into NBC on Saturday nights instead of just waiting until it’s on YouTube the next day? YouTube is beneficial to SNL’s mindshare, perhaps, but I don’t think it goes beyond “OMG Justin and some guy” for most people, and I doubt people take an hour and a half out of their Saturday nights to take in the new week’s episode.

All of that aside, Wilson did a fine job and I was very happy with the song selection from the Arcade Fire. While songs were a little Win heavy so is the album, and Intervention and Keep the Car Running are pretty much my favourite songs I’ve heard from the album. Both songs had a sense of energy, a sense of build, and while I somewhat wish they had gone a bit more nuts with the performance I can’t help but be pleased with how it all went.

It’s funny…when you cut out 90% of the sketches and 75% of Weekend Update, you’re left with a pretty darn good 1/2 hour show. Maybe that’s an idea for the future?

Anyways, The Elder has more detailed thoughts on the Arcade Fire performances, as well as some YouTube links that he’s constantly rotating. Here’s their performance on Keep the Car Running; head over to McNutt Against the Music for Intervention.

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February 23, 2007 · 3:11 pm

Cultural News Bytes – February 23rd

It’s been nearly a month since I’ve done one of these, but there are some smallish things that I want to cover before we head into the weekend.

Television – Thursday’s Ratings Battle

It was quite the night for television, as my rather epic edition of Thursday Night TV Club shows. As a result, let’s take a look at who was positively or negatively affected.

On the positive side, American Idol‘s one-hour results episode scored well, winning the 8pm (EST) hour quite easily. However, it wasn’t the highest rated episode of the night, as Grey’s Anatomy‘s cliffhanger regarding Meredith’s death scored big for ABC. I have to wonder whether or not people are tuning into results shows these days, knowing just how frustrating and dragged out they can be. Fox should really considering cutting them all down to a 1/2 hour, or else people might finally turn their back on the franchise. ABC also had themselves a winner at the 10pm hour, as Oprah Winfrey’s Oscar special held onto a decent chunk of its lead-in to win the lost.

While CSI and Shark performed well for CBS, Survivor did not fare quite so well. I think it’s really quite interesting that people seemed to turn away from it to Idol much more than from Earl/The Office (who performed only slightly lower than last week’s numbers). It’s not really surprising, the fanbase for Survivor is less rabid than that of the youth-oriented comedies, but it definitely does not bode well for Survivor’s future. The Apprentice has already lost every bit of success it once had, CBS has to be careful not to mess with its scheduling and ruin it all.

NBC may have had decent holds for Earl/Office, and similarly decent holds for Scrubs and 30 Rock, but E.R. took a fairly sizable hit at the 10pm hour against the steamroller that is Oprah Winfrey. ER has been holding out strongly in the timeslot, but it seems as if Shark is more capable of holding onto its CSI audience than ER is building one, especially when Oprah is involved. With another easy channel surf option, people don’t tend to turn to NBC at 10pm.

And, while it may have had its largest audience in a very long time, The O.C. died a quiet death in the ratings pool, dropping almost two thirds of its American Idol lead-in. The show never had a chance against CSI, let alone against both CSI and Grey’s Anatomy. The around seven million people who tuned were likely pleased by what they saw, but the fact remained that the show was never able to regain its cult status after its first season. Let’s just hope they don’t pull a 7th Heaven and decide to resurrect the show, which has proven to be a terrible experiment in futility.

The Ethics of Commercials featuring Robot Suicide

So, right after the Super Bowl I wrote about the GM commercial featuring a robot being fired and then, eventually, jumping off a bridge where he wakes up from his bad dream. I, personally, loved how strange and uncanny the commercial was; suicide prevention groups, however, felt differently. Since I had not been paying too much attention to this particular development, I had missed this important memo from February 11th, when it was announced that they would be editing the commercial. As a result, imagine my surprise when I saw the familiar commercial begin but then end without the bridge conclusion.

Now, while I see the point of the groups protesting the ad’s content, I don’t think that solution GM came up with really does then any good. As some have pointed out, the commercial isn’t really all that entertaining outside of the whole suicide stuff. A robot doing odd jobs isn’t that funny, robots getting fired is more depressing than it is hilarious…really, the only thing making the commercial even remotely stand out was the ending, which was just so bizarre that one couldn’t help but notice it.

By editing out the ending, the commercial is a bore. The message still doesn’t really get through, it doesn’t actually address the quality control issue, and doing odd jobs isn’t enough of a bad dream for the ending to have any resonance. I know they spent millions airing it during the Super Bowl, and a fair amount filming and conceiving it, but the fact of the matter is that without the suicide it isn’t worth the trouble. The commercial doesn’t do anything in its new state other than remind us of the old one; the band-aid solution only makes it boring, and that does not a good commercial make.

Cinema – Box Office Predictions

That’s right, time for some fearless box office predictions. Woot.

1. Ghost Rider – $23,500,000

2. The Number 23 – $23,232,323

3. Bridge to Teribithia – $15,500,000

4. Reno 911!: Miami– $12,000,000

5. Music and Lyrics – $10,500,000

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February 22, 2007 · 10:10 pm

Thursday Night TV Club – February 22nd, 2007

 

The Office

I gasped. When Pam told Roy that she had kissed Jim a month before their wedding date, I gasped. Directed by J.J. Abrams, the episode was one built almost entirely around drama, really quite simple drama at that. Much like Joss Whedon worked for last week’s action/vampire oriented episode, Abrams worked well for this episode that was all about the drama caused by two budding relationships (Jan/Michael, Pam/Roy). At episode’s end, Roy went batshit crazy (Which was a bit sudden considering his recent character change, but his sobering down at the end at least put his moment of anger into perspective), and Michael and Jan find themselves at a crossroads where their secret relationship doesn’t work so well going public. It was a good episode, though, even though it focused almost entirely on the dramatic aspects. 

Scrubs

Scrubs continues to settle in around the good but not great area. There is still some solid comedy here, but it just seems like it isn’t going anywhere. J.D. is lacking a purpose, Turk and Carla are lacking drama, Eliot is lacking any real spark with Keith, and even Dr. Cox has lost any sort of drive. It’s really not much more than any multi-camera sitcom at this point; heck, I’d say it has even less of an overarching plot than a show like How I Met My Mother. Still, it has some fairly good jokes here and there, and it’s certainly still enjoyable to see these characters interact. I like recurring patients on the show, and Brian works well, but it just isn’t giving us anything new. 

30 Rock

“I would like to be Michelle Pfeiffer to your angry black kid,” “I want to take this cornbread behind the middle school and get it pregnant,” and Kenneth and Tracy harmonizing to Annie: all in the cold open to tonight’s 30 Rock. The fact that the episode’s writer, Matt Hubbard, came from Joey of all places shocks me, because it was very sharply written. Kenneth as the awkward Entourage member who stirs up the shit, Liz and Jack v. Josh and Agent, Jenna and her unfortunate political knowledge (The ol’ Osama/Obama slip. If it can happen to CNN, it can happen to everyone)…it was all pretty much amazing. Oh so much drama, oh so many cultural references…the fact that this show is in danger of being cancelled hurts me. It hurts me deep. “Television on. PORNOGRAPHY!” The entire thing was an incredibly well orchestrated piece of comedy, right down to the Bodyguard moment to end the episode.

 

The O.C.

In a show that was often about relationships, about the connections between two people, it was somewhat refreshing to see a finale that was more about individual characters than it was about Seth/Summer, Ryan/Taylor or Julie/Frank or Bullit. It wasn’t about these pairings, but rather the individuals at their centre. In the end, Ryan is happy, Seth is happy, Summer is happy, Julie is happy. Sandy and Kirsten are happy, connected as a unit, with a new daughter in tow.

Flashing forward six months skips what would have been unnecessary drama. While I thought that they turned Taylor into a bit too much of a spazz compared to the past few weeks, the fact of the matter is that it all makes sense. In the wake of the Earthquake, everyone looked to settle for what seemed easiest. Taylor and Ryan abandoned their relationship, Seth and Summer gave up on their passions, Kirsten settled on Newport as their home, Sandy settled his dreams, Julie settled on Bullit.

The episode, more than about creating happy endings, was about creating happiness for each individual character. It was about fixing the problems that caused as the earth, and the characters, settled after the Earthquake, not about fixing all of their problems in one fell swoop. Sure, there were the occasional contrivances designed to make everything sugary, but they were plot-based only; the characters reached natural, relevant conclusions.

I didn’t say much in my obituary piece about how I really felt about the show’s quality. The fact is that I didn’t pay much attention to the 3rd season, I stopped watching during the whole Johnny saga. And yet, I tuned into Season Four, and continued watching. I liked the addition of Taylor, and the character of Kaitlin was a pleasant surprise. Bullit was grating at first, but he grew ever so charming in the end. Season Four saw Ryan become more emotional (and funnier), and gave Summer a purpose she hadn’t had before.

Whether it was perfect or not, I think Season Four did a great job of leading us to a conclusion that was satisfactory. It’s tough to really complain with any of the conclusions found within the episode; we see Ryan as a successful architect, Sandy as a professor, Seth and Summer marrying, Taylor and Ryan’s relationship remaining ambiguous but friendly, Julie graduating from college (Bullit/Frank & Son/Kaitlin on Team Julie was incredibly powerful for the character’s trip from trailer park to Newport), and Ryan offering assistance to yet another hoodie-wearing youth on the streets.

Schwartz kept the nostalgia for the end, spending the rest of the episode on personal revelations in the present. That nostalgia was all through Ryan, his trip through the Cohen household for the first time intercut with his last. However, perhaps most importantly, the use of Marissa’s character was incredibly well handled. The locket with her picture was subtle, not overbearing, and her appearance in Ryan’s memory was brief, poignant. While I believe that her death was positive for the show, her importance to its narrative can’t be ignored.

So, a toast to Josh Schwartz and company for a job well done. You’ve left these characters in an existence where they seem happy, fulfilled. Yeah, Seth didn’t really get a real purpose and some things came together all too easily, but it was fulfilling. Much like Alias, which may not have ended perfectly but left its characters in the right place, so too has Ryan and the Cohens and everyone else found their happy place in TV Heaven. Things will never be the same for hoodie-wearing young offenders of future generations.

American Idol – Top 24 Results

Did anyone else find this to be one of the most awkward results shows in the show’s history? The first person is standing alone at the end of the stage and is told, point blank, that he’s going home, even before Ryan reads the judges’ comments. The second person is picked at random out of the lower line and unceremoniously told she’s going home. There is no time to collect her thoughts, no time to truly deal with the reality that her dreams are over. The second set of eliminations weren’t nearly as frustrating, and we got a video package for all of them at the end, but it still came off as more awkward than it needed to be. (Although that was quite the incestual choice of Chris Daughtry’s “Home” as the song played for the eliminated contestants (Paul, Nicole, Amy, Rudy).

The actual selections aren’t really all that surprising, as boring always loses out to crappy at this stage of the competition. Antonella and Sundance, arguably some of the worst on either side, both had substantial coverage in the earlier auditions; they might have sucked, but they were people that could build fanbases and the like.

The episode itself moved almost too quickly, which is always surprising considering its length. With four eliminations, a special performance from The Colour Purple by Fantasia (She seems well suited to the material, I’d say), the return of the Group Sing (Which wasn’t half bad) and gratuitous recaps, things moved quite briskly. I have to wonder, however, whether or not something a bit slower paced and, dare I say, respectful might be perhaps more entertaining in the end.

Grey’s Anatomy – Some Kind of Miracle

Shonda Rhimes may not be the best writer working in television right now, but she is fantastic at scripting and organizing these event episodes. The same sensibilities which made the two-episode Super Bowl arc last season work so well were in place here; it made for television which changed its characters, had great relevance to the show’s overall themes, and extending the show’s mythology that much further. Continue reading →

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February 22, 2007 · 12:45 pm

Obituary: The O.C. (2003-2007)

Orange County or “The O.C.” – With great sorrow we announce the passing of Orange County, affectionately known as “The O.C.” on February 22nd. After living a long life of four television seasons, it will pass away in a flourish this evening at 9pm EST, 10pm CST. Check your local listings. Please. We need you to watch.

It was brought into the world on August 5th, 2003, and millions of bitches were welcomed to Orange County with juvenile delinquents, drug laced parties and alcohol infused fighting. We were introduced to the life of Ryan Atwood, a young offender brought into the home of Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. We met the Cohen’s son, Seth, and the Cohen family’s neighbour Marissa Cooper. There was Summer, Luke, Julie, and the whole O.C. crew.

Dubbed the next 90210, it grew in success over that summer and became a runaway hit. Fans yearned to see Ryan and Marissa come together, for Seth and Summer to come together, for Julie to sex up her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, for Sandy and Kirsten to find happiness amongst their own problems. Over its four seasons, there were many trials and tribulations, but through it all the drama reigned supreme. Continue reading →

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February 21, 2007 · 9:24 pm

Lost – “Stranger in a Strange Land”

“He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us.”

[Spoiler Warning: Plot Details will be discussed!]

Further expanding the world of the Others was something that the first arc of Season Three of Lost tried to do; some found it annoying, but I for one felt that it was important to the show’s existence past this season. Without expanding the Others, making them characters, it is impossible for the show to appear dynamic, and not just the same group of characters fighting unknown threats forever. Continue reading →

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February 21, 2007 · 12:16 pm

To Spin Off or Not to Spin Off? – Grey’s Anatomy

Well, this is some interesting news for ABC’s pilot lineup.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co.’s television network ABC has decided to pursue a spinoff of its popular medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy”, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

It will star Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, the sexy neonatal surgeon played by Kate Walsh, the paper said.

A two-hour pilot of the show, which could add millions in additional advertising revenue, is likely to air in May, the paper said.

So Addison wins the lucky draw, does she? There was technically also Sloane in a similar position, but it’s clear that Kate Walsh’s character is perhaps the best developed and best suited to jump to her own show next season. Now, let’s ignore how this affects Grey’s storylines for a second, and try to consider other ramifications. Continue reading →

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February 21, 2007 · 12:30 am

Tuesday Night TV Society – February 20th

Perhaps to help organize my TV blogging, I figure I should introduce another weekly feature to cover the breadth of TV on Tuesday evenings. This particular feature might be a bit slow-moving once one of the shows goes on Hiatus, but I can pick up another one or two if necessary to flesh things out. And yes, fancy writing denotes a society.

Gilmore Girls – “I am Kayak, Hear Me Roar!”

Not a show to let the happy train leave the station too soon, Gilmore Girls once again found itself a few problems to deal with as it heads into the end of what could be its last season. While the end result of things (Luke and Lorelai being together, Rory and Logan being together, etc.) is quite clear, it’s also clear that it’s going to take us awhile to get there.

On the Rory and Logan front, we’ve got Logan being screwed over on his patent deal, perhaps losing all of his trust fund. I think a Logan no longer tied to his father’s existence would be in the show’s best interest at this point; it’s clear that he struggles to remove himself from his father’s shadow, what better way to do so than to make Logan financially dependent on Rory? They’ll be remotely happier without Mitchum in their lives. It seems bad now, but this will end up a positive methinks.

The situation with the elder Gilmores, however, is quite foreboding. The drama at the Gilmore household was very well handled, ranging from Richard’s frustration with Emily’s helplessness. Emily relationship with Lorelai has always been tenuous, but her motherly advice while drunk was touching. By the same account, her anger in the morning was realistic. The characters were handled well, and things are back to the status quo.

This status quo allows us to head back to Stars Hollow for some Baby Showers, and likely some Luke and Lorelai drama, next week. With 7 episodes to go, time is running up for their relationship to come to fruition. Continue reading →

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