Tag Archives: Television

December 30, 2007 · 10:00 pm

The Amazing Race – Season 12, Episode 8

“Honestly, They Have Witch Powers or Something!”

December 30th, 2007

While I took last week off in order to spend some time Christmasing with the family, I did watch as Kynt and Vyxsin were saved by the first non-elimination round in Florence, Italy. Their meltdown was an unfortunate one, struggling to overcome both personal tensions and unfortunate race problems. Their last place finished put them at a severe disadvantage in this leg, as they have to overcome a mandatory Speed Bump where they must complete a task no other team needs to complete.

Now, as you’d expect, bunching means that they will be on the same playing field as their competitors to start off. This means they need to find a way to finagle their way with airport haggling and some strong performance in roadblocks and detours. It means that they need to run a flawless leg, and using performance tactics they might be able to knock a few teams off in the process. And, well…they did a pretty damn good job at it. But, was it enough?

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December 13, 2007 · 10:24 am

Because They Won’t Complain About Themselves – The 2008 Golden Globe Nominations

I won’t lie – there are many things that are capable of interrupting my academic productivity and resulting in a lengthy blog post. As of late, this list has been shrinking with the loss of original programming, and with some of that original programming just becoming uninteresting (Heroes, I am looking in your direction). However, there’s nothing like Award Shows to get my blood boiling, and my fingers typing – you can read Cultural Learnings’ other Award Shows coverage here, of which there is an extensive amount.

Cultural Learnings post-dates last year’s Globes (Which means our 1-year anniversary is coming up, so stay tuned!), which means that this is my first time to REALLY complain about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. For the sake of this blog, I’m going to stick with the Television nominees from an analysis-standpoint, but I’ll probably end up offering predictions on both the film and television side of things come January (Ironically, when I will have even less time). Of course, this is all dependent on the WGA offering the Golden Globes a strike Waiver.

[Speaking of the WGA, their nominations were revealed last night: Mad Men, which you might see more of over the weekend, leads the way with three nominations in Drama, while The Office has four nominations on the comedy side of things. Pushing Daisies also grabbed two nominations, as did 30 Rock and Dexter.]

Anyways, onto the Globes!

Drama Series

  • Big Love
  • Damages
  • Grey’s Anatomy
  • House
  • Mad Men
  • The Tudors

Can I get a woot for Mad Men? It’s clear that the series will be getting some January Awards love, based on the WGA and Golden Globes love. I’m very pleased – the show is fantastic, and hopefully the Emmys remembers it as well. Otherwise, interesting that the other new series on the docket are relatively not new Big Love and the Tudors, along with Damages which…I liked enough, I guess. Missing is Lost and Heroes, which was the big new series last year.

Comedy Series

  • Californication
  • Entourage
  • Extras
  • 30 Rock
  • Pushing Daisies

Pushing Daisies and Californication are the new series, bumping The Office from the list. I don’t know how I feel about that, but I do know that Pushing Daisies and 30 Rock have an advantage in this category. 30 Rock is a rare show that despite being “new” last year, its star is rising – compare to Heroes, which has dropped off the radar entirely in its 2nd year. Ugly Betty, last year’s winner, is also no longer new, and thus no longer nominated.

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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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December 9, 2007 · 10:24 pm

The Amazing Race – Season 12, Episode 6

“Cherry On Top of the Sundae That’s Already Melted”

December 9th, 2007

This will be briefer than in past weeks, but tonight’s episode of The Amazing Race was just so all over the place I feel the need to try to dissect some of it. You see, we are left with six teams at this point which are interesting because there is not a single alpha-male team in the bunch. Mind you, there were none to begin with, but it is specifically interesting in the context of an episode like this one. Some physical tasks which could have resulted in some fundamental shifts in the race ended up being largely irrelevant, and the whole thing was decided by some missteps with flights. But, anyways, some thoughts after the jump.

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December 3, 2007 · 8:36 pm

‘Jericho’ to Return to CBS on February 12th

It was a long road for fans of CBS’ Jericho this past summer, but the end of that road is officially in sight. CBS announced their Spring schedule today, and Jericho will be airing its 7-episode second season at 10PM EST on Tuesday Nights starting on February 12th.

From Zap2it.com:

Let’s get the important business out of the way: Rescued from cancellation by an outpouring of nuts, “Jericho” will begin its seven-episode second season on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 10 p.m. ET, airing in the time slot where “Cane” is currently struggling.

What does this mean for the series?

Competition: Law & Order SVU and Boston Legal – both shows have shown some slight decreases this year, although it didn’t help previous occupant Cane which could never gain traction in the time slot.

Lead-In: The show will be following a Spring Season of Big Brother, which was widely anticipated considering the Writer’s Strike. This could be postponed if the writers return in the very near future, which I think would benefit the show – while Big Brother is important to Jericho, it serves what I believe to be a considerably younger audience than the average Jericho fan. The Unit, the show usually in the timeslot, speaks better to some of the show’s more difficult serial elements. Still, at the very least the timeslot ensures that even if the Writer’s Strike continues, Jericho will be following new programming.

Schedule: By this schedule, Jericho’s episode would likely run out at the end of March. This would mean two straight months of Jericho episodes, with half of them occuring during the all-important February Sweeps period.

In case you were wondering, there are only 71 days remaining until Jericho returns to the airwaves. While this particular premiere date falls smack dab in the middle of my thesis deadlines, I will do my best to make sure there is plenty of coverage to drum up the show’s return.

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December 2, 2007 · 10:27 pm

The Amazing Race – Season 12, Episode 5

“We’ve Really Burned Bridges, For Sure”

December 2nd, 2007

Okay, so this week it seems that the teams are falling apart at the seams after the U-Turn pretty much tore their very fabric of reality apart. I don’t really buy this: we’ve seen certain bitterness before, and by and large the changes are isolated within a single team. Shana and Jennifer may have opened the door for bickering and sniping last week, but they appear to be the only ones fully willing to go through it.

The other drama is really nothing abnormal: Nicholas has issues keeping his head in tough situations, unable to talk himself out them, while Ronald’s bickering at Christina was as present as it’s always been. This week, though, these teams and others faced their first bunching in a while, and it seemed that their stir craziness finally broke them down. However, most of the bridges burned seemed to be within, not between, teams.

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December 1, 2007 · 3:57 pm

New Media in the Old Media: Considering the ‘Supernatural’ Official Magazine

Although I am but young in years, I seem to remember an age where official magazines were all the rage when it came to certain forms of entertainment. For my brother and I, it was all about Nintendo Power, the official magazine about all things related to the video games we loved to play. It was where we went to figure out how to get through that tricky dungeon, or see a first look at an upcoming game.

And then the internet happened.

My experience as a fan of great television has taken place entirely within the internet age, and there is no question that in recent years such fandom has emerged in an extremely unique fashion. Message boards, blogs and social networking have fundamentally altered the level of interaction we have with our favourite shows. Within hours of them airing, we are online chatting with other fans, or even reading blogs or websites run by the show’s producers. It is perhaps unsurprising then, considering how engrossed I am in that community, that I was wholly ignorant to the fact that Titan Magazines has been creating TV-focused magazines for a number of years.

The latest two entrants into their lineup are Heroes and Supernatural. While Heroes is an addition to be expected, I want to focus upon Supernatural. In perusing my copy of the magazine, I think back to the time I’ve spent interacting with their fan community, which is certainly both extremely pleasant and extremely enthusiastic. Unlike Heroes, or other shows with magazines like Grey’s Anatomy or Lost, Supernatural is not one of the top shows on television. However, Warner Bros. Television has a lot of faith in the series, and its fans, and this magazine certainly reflects that.

[To Subscribe to the Supernatural Magazine, CLICK HERE]

There are a lot of reasons why this is an extremely positive step forward: not only for Supernatural’s fan community, but also for other fan communities for low-rated but highly-loved series like Jericho or Gossip Girl.

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December 1, 2007 · 2:55 pm

Protected: It’s Not Comedy – It’s HBO: The Gradual Sublimation of Comedy as Genre within the HBO Brand

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November 30, 2007 · 9:35 pm

Friday Night Lights – “Seeing Other People”

“Seeing Other People”

November 30th, 2007

Look, Friday Night Lights…I know we’ve been going out for a while now, and trust me, there’s been some good times. And, well, we’ll always have the memories. But, whether I would like to admit it or not, I think I might want an open relationship. We’ll still see each other, don’t worry, but I don’t think that I can commit to our relationship.

Things have just been so cold lately, show – there’s just no happiness in the cards, no opportunity for you to emerge from your cold exterior to be a show about triumph or victory or, well, just someone not being stuck with a ferret-owning drug manufacturer. There are still elements of a good show beneath the surface, without a doubt, but you need to lighten up and get on with your life at some point. You don’t seem to have any goals other than self-deprecation, and I need a show that’s a little more forward thinking than that.

But before we start this new phase, I want to exit this tired construct and discuss why “Seeing Other People” just compounded every problem that Friday Night Lights has experienced thus far this season.

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November 29, 2007 · 10:31 pm

30 Rock – “Cougars”

“Cougars”

November 29th, 2007

It’s been awhile since we’ve spent time on Liz Lemon’s love life on 30 Rock – ever since Floyd from Cleveland, her lack of dating prospects has been an accepted character trait as opposed to a storyline. This week, perhaps, represents the equivalent to last year’s “The Head and the Hair”. It involves Liz dating outside of her comfort zone, and considering that her comfort zone is a meatball sub and DVR’s Top Chef I’d say there’s plenty of comic material here.

This episode certainly identified that, although in a somewhat less subtle fashion than the aforementioned season one episode (Which I liked quite a bit). Liz doesn’t exactly fit the cougar lifestyle, although I don’t think anyone would deny Tina Fey’s sexy librarian charms and so the storyline has value. The problem was that, well, it was pretty much exactly the same storyline redone again: right down to the end of episode revelation, even.

But, Operation Little League Freedom might have made up for it.

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