Tag Archives: ABC

December 12, 2007 · 10:27 pm

Pushing Daisies – “Corpsicle”

“Corpsicle”

December 12th, 2007

While I am still smack dab in the middle of end-of-term essays and exams at this stage, I couldn’t help but take an hour out of my evening to watch tonight’s Fall Finale of Pushing Daisies. Considering its procedural structure, I think sometimes we as viewers take for granted the rather deft hand being taken by the series in terms of the characters it has created. “Corpsicle” was not written by Bryan Fuller, or directed by Barry Sonnefeld, but it was perhaps my favourite episode of the series yet.

It wasn’t because it was funny, or witty, but rather that there was a level of poignancy which felt earned: it was a moment where Chuck was forced to face a harsh reality, and at the same time come to terms with her own reality. There were two scenes in the episode which were note-perfect dramatic scenes that proved that Lee Pace, Anna Friel and Chi McBride are deserving of their potential Golden Globes nominations tomorrow morning. Plus, an intriguing secret at episode’s end should prove interesting heading into the next season…whenever that might be.

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November 28, 2007 · 11:35 pm

Pushing Daisies – “Bitter Sweets”

“Bitter Sweets”

November 27th, 2007

While Pushing Daisies has certainly deviated from its formula to some extent in the past, this week’s episode probably represents the largest departure from the show’s mystery of the week structure. Sure, there was still a central mystery, but there were actually two murders and a guest appearance by Molly Shannon, so the basic structure certainly changed this time around.

It wasn’t a bad episode, as there were certainly some charming moments and some continued charm. I enjoyed some of the character beats the episode provided, but it felt a little bit disoriented: the resolution to the murder felt tacked on and meaningless, and Ned’s central struggle was underrepresented within the narrative as a whole. I guess it seems like the series is just marking time until the fall finale in two weeks….until its cliffhanger conclusion, that is.

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November 25, 2007 · 9:16 pm

Brothers & Sisters – “Something New”

“Something New”

November 25th, 2007

Oh, irony of ironies: you see, tonight’s episode of Brothers & Sisters really didn’t live up to this particular wedding superstition. I don’t know about the blue side of the equation, but the old was certainly in full force in certain parts of this week’s developments. In fact, many characters are just falling right back into past pitfalls, just like any other soap opera out there.

However, let’s remember what sets this show apart from, say, Desperate Housewives: the assembled talent (Including, this week, the added talents of Chevy Chase) have a way of taking this material and turning it into something far more engaging. In the end, I’d say that the pitfalls were perhaps more apparent this week than in weeks previous.

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November 22, 2007 · 11:25 pm

Grey’s Anatomy: “Crash into Me: Part One”

While it’s technically American Thanksgiving, which means I could probably get away with not posting out of an assumption that I am not based in Canada, I’ll have to live up to my heritage. There wasn’t much on in terms of new programming tonight, but ABC was offering a full lineup of programming. Last night, it hit them pretty hard to do so – Pushing Daisies, Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money saw huge drops.

I don’t often blog about Grey’s Anatomy, and admittedly I started drifting away from the series at the beginning of the season. However, a lazy afternoon (A dying breed as the term comes to a close) resulted in a bit of catchup, and I’m back on the train: for better or for worse, the show still holds its charm. With George and Izzie largely relegated to the backburner, and the addition of Dr. Hahn proving vastly beneficial to changing the show’s dynamics, the show has earned the right to have one of its “big disaster episodes.”

I’m usually not a huge fan of these storylines – ever since the train crash and the bomb scare, which were some of the show’s finer moments, it seems that they’ve gone bigger and bigger with really no benefit. Last year’s ferry crash was particular disastrous, and not in a good way – it dragged on far too long, became too centered on Meredith, and didn’t seem to do anything for the rest of the show’s storylines. And thus, heading into this week’s “event” (as ABC’s promotion department decided to call it), I wasn’t overly thrilled.

Well, let’s give thanks that this time around it was really just a marketing ploy – while it may be in two parts, Crash into Me is a much more isolated story than you might realize.

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November 22, 2007 · 11:00 am

Dirty Sexy Money – “The Country House”

[As with last week, the following is a brief excerpt of my review of this week’s episode of Dirty Sexy Money as posted at South Dakota Dark. Enjoy!]

Last week, there existed the potential for Dirty Sexy Money to run off the rails with an ill-guided love affair, but like any good relationship I was willing to stick around to see how they handled it. My greatest concern was not the relationship itself, really: rather, I was concerned that the Karen Darling we know and love would be lost.

The answer is a resounding “no” on that front, at least for a majority of the episode. The scenes in which she interacts with Nick and Lisa? I despise that Karen Darling, all she’s doing is being wholly delusional. It’s in direct opposition to her other character, a delightfully sardonic and acutely aware but slightly naïve wit factory. Luckily, the writers seem to know this: we got mostly the latter this week, with the former making only a brief appearance. If this is the balance they’re setting, its impact on the show as a whole should be limited.

While “The Country House” was the real title of the episode, referring to (what else?) a trip to the country house, I figure the real title should be “Three’s Company’. The episode was structured around a series of three-person relationships, and I’ll start with the one which was most isolated and, more importantly, gives this post its title (“Don’t look at me like that…three million was more than fair!”).

For the rest of the review, click here.

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November 20, 2007 · 9:30 pm

Pushing Daisies – “Smell of Success”

“Smell of Success”

November 20th, 2007

There is no question that Pushing Daisies has found itself a nice little rhythm, but this week’s episode was perhaps its weakest yet…in some ways. The show has a unique way of overcoming some of its weaker elements (In this case, the most predictable mystery in a while) in order to provide some great stuff (Lily and Vivian’s potential return to the water), while maintaining its consistency (Emerson Cod in general).

I can’t expect the show to be perfect, and it really wasn’t here: however, it did end on a high note which could provide a recurring storyline for the first time in quite a while.

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November 15, 2007 · 10:34 am

“Dirty Sexy Money” at South Dakota Dark

I’ve been watching Dirty Sexy Money consistently all season, and while I’m certainly not head over heels in love I think the sum of the whole is more than enough to overcome some of its weak links. However, for whatever reason, I haven’t blogged about it: it’s on late, and I think I just have been taking Wednesday off ever since Bionic Woman bit the dust. However, I’ve decided to start covering the show…but not here at Cultural Learnings.

I’ve been reading Sound Dakota Dark for a while now: it represents a wide range of contributing voices discussing a whole host of TV shows, a large majority of which I watch. When the opportunity arose to cover Dirty Sexy Money, I jumped at the opportunity: I’m always looking to expand my blog horizons, and this was a chance to work with a great team of people.

However, because I am still wholly committed to this blog, I will be posting a preview and a link to each week’s post here – feel free to discuss the show at either location, although it is in danger of becoming a Writer’s Strike casualty. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.

Dirty Sexy Money – “The Wedding” @ South Dakota Dark

There are only so many complaints I can have when Donald Sutherland spends an hour of television getting drunk on tequila. When the frustrating Karen and Nick storyline rears its ugly head, all I have to do is think back to Tripp Darling carrying around a giant bottle of tequila and a smile cracks my face.

But the smile wasn’t there for long: while the show’s zip is certainly not lost in this episode, I am fairly certain that the show’s current direction is like Karen’s fifth wedding just waiting to happen.

You can also check out my “Season Thus Far” Recap as well.

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November 13, 2007 · 9:23 pm

Pushing Daisies – “Bitches”

“Bitches”

November 13th, 2007

As far as the show’s overall themes go, this week’s episode of Pushing Daisies really didn’t do much to further the relationship between Chuck and Ned. Actually, it barely even dealt with it: Ned did have a discussion with a dog psychologist and wrestled with he and Olive’s kiss two weeks ago, and the end of episode coda was certainly poignant, but (Okay, so there was a little movement), for the most part the episode sidelined this in favour of going to the dogs.

While certainly not quite as snappy as some of the show’s past episodes, “Bitches” featured an interesting mystery paired with copious amounts of Digby, perhaps the early frontrunner for this year’s Best Actor in a Drama Series. I’m head over heels for Digby (My ‘awww’ count reached ludicrous levels), but the episode dealt most succinctly with Emerson falling head over heels for the feminine wiles of a dog breeder.

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October 30, 2007 · 8:34 pm

Pushing Daisies – “Girth”

“Girth”

October 30th, 2007

You know, when I heard that Pushing Daisies was having a Halloween episode, it felt like a natural fit – however, this isn’t quite what I expected. The episode was good, a solid continuation of some of the show’s key themes and all, but it wasn’t exactly spooky or sensationalist. It used the Halloween setting to introduce a sleepy hollow-esque horseman, but otherwise was actually quite grounded in its characters.

It was a story of Olive’s employment history, Ned’s childhood trauma, Chuck’s precarious present, and Emerson’s love of shovels before it was the story of a ghostly killer. And, of course, the following will contain spoilers.

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October 24, 2007 · 9:07 pm

Pushing Daisies – “Pigeon”

“Pigeon”

October 24th, 2007

With its third episode, Pushing Daisies proved itself worthy of the praise lauded onto its pilot. And, after seeing its ratings, ABC rewarded the series with a full season order earlier this week. As a result, tonight’s episode is the first airing while we know that there is no longer any fear: Pushing Daisies will be getting a full 22-episode order.

The fourth episode, meanwhile, is a charming and engaging affair which never really clicked for me. While last week used the fantastic pilot to build on the relationship between Chuck and Ned, this week was our first episode that combined a stand-alone murder mystery with the loss of director-producer Barry Sonnenfeld. While the show’s charm was mostly intact, it just didn’t feel the same.

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