2012 Pilot Watch

By on Feb 8, 2012 in Previews |

I’ve barely had the opportunity to check out this current season’s new shows (damn you, full time job!), but it is indeed February which means the networks are busy ordering pilots for next fall. After studying the lineup provided by EW.com, I’ve made the following observations. Warning: harsh and perhaps unfair first impressions ahead! Remakes are no longer en vogue but are still extant: NBC has producer Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies) putting his own spin on The Munsters in a pilot called Mockingbird Lane, and ABC and the CW are both developing Beauty and the Beast adaptations. Some pilots’ titles are very literal, which can either be a good thing (Fox’s comedy Prodigy Bully) or a bad thing (CBS’s drama Widow Detective and ABC’s drama Devious Maids). Other terrible titles abound throughout the list. I love the idea of ABC’s...

2011 Emmys: My (Overdue) Recap

By on Oct 11, 2011 in Recaps |

Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned. It’s been months and months since my last blog post. And in that time span, the Emmys broadcast came and went, uncommented on—until now! Yes, though it may be ridiculously belated, I’m here to opine, ruminate, and wax poetic on all things Emmy. Hey, at least I’m doing so before next year’s broadcast… Even though the opening number didn’t wow me (until the Mad Men bit, that is), I still think Jane Lynch made for a fine Emmy host, and I hope the producers continue to make unexpected choices for the hosting gig for future ceremonies. All hail Modern Family. Not only was it chosen as Outstanding Comedy Series, but Phil and Claire Dunphy themselves, Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen, were chosen as the comedy world’s best supporting actor and actress. Plus, the show also took home awards for its writing and...

Not Just the Obligatory Musical Episode

By on Apr 16, 2011 in Raves |

Regardless of what you thought of the result (if you happened to see it), you have to admit that putting on a musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy—and doing so sincerely without a sense of parody or irony—indicates that Shonda Rhimes has some pretty major creator-balls. It certainly wasn’t Glee, and jazz hands were nowhere to be seen. It took a different tack to the trope of the musical episode, and it succeeded as much as it failed. I get what Shonda tried to do, and I loved the idea of commemorating the songs that Grey’s made famous. But here’s the rub: a show’s music supervisor usually chooses songs whose tone sets the right mood for a certain scene and does so without much regard for the actual lyrics. So while the refrains of the songs fit in with the storyline (e.g. “Breathe,” “Wait,” “How We Operate,” “How To...

Lost Again: Season 3, Episodes 5-8

By on Sep 14, 2010 in Recaps |

I’m on a quest to re-watch every episode of Lost, one per day. As I polish off each DVD, I’ll post my thoughts on the episodes contained therein—even if they’re a few days late! “The Cost of Living” SYNOPSIS: Recuperating in a tent, Eko has a hallucination of his brother Yemi, beckoning Eko to follow him. The tent catches fire, and Charlie and Hurley rescue Eko, but EKo then disappears. The following morning, Locke announces his intention to go to the Pearl to try to communicate with the others. Charlie and Hurley say that they couldn’t find Eko but that he was mumbling something about his brother, so Locke deduces that Eko is headed to the drug plane on top of the Pearl. He, Sayid (returned from his sea voyage), Desmond, and two other Losties named Nikki and Paulo head off in that direction. In the jungle, Eko has more hallucinations and then sees the...

Lost Again: Season 3, Episodes 1-4

By on Sep 10, 2010 in Recaps |

I’m on a quest to re-watch every episode of Lost, one per day. As I polish off each DVD, I’ll post my thoughts on the episodes contained therein. “A Tale of Two Cities” SYNOPSIS: We see a woman hosting a book club in what looks like a suburban community—but then the ground shakes and a plane falls from the sky, and only then do we realize that this is the Others’ community. The man we know as Henry sends Ethan and Goodwin to the fuselage crash site and to the tail, respectively. Back in the present, Jack wakes up in some sort of glass cell. The book club lady appears on the other side of the glass and introduces herself as Juliet. She has food, but Jack refuses to eat. He finally seems to relent but attacks Juliet when she enters the cell and uses her to secure his escape, and Henry lets him go. When Jack tries exiting through a door, however, water rushes in and he...

2010 Emmys: My Recap

By on Sep 4, 2010 in Recaps |

Now that a whole week has passed since the airing of the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards, let’s pretend like I’m live-blogging the affair! But really, I’m just reviewing the tapes. Here are my thoughts about the events of the night, laid out on a (commercial-free) timeframe. 00:00:06 Jimmy Fallon and various television stars form a ragtag glee club and perform a rousing rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” Where else can you see Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Tina Fey, Kate Gosselin, Jon Hamm, Betty White, Jane Lynch, Jorge Garcia, Nina Dobrev, Joel McHale, Randy Jackson, and Tim Gunn in one skit—and one that happens to be hilarious? It’s a TV junkie’s dream! 00:09:03 The comedy montage features such priceless moments as the “moon landing,” Mitchell vs. the pigeon, and “two things flaming at...