2012 Emmys: And the nominees are…

By on Jul 27, 2012 in Tinseltown |

This year’s Emmy nominees were announced as I was basking in the sun in Playa del Carmen, Mexico (shameless gloating, I admit), but you better believe I still checked out the list as soon as I could. Here are my thoughts on this year’s selections. Once again, HBO reigns supreme with an astonishing 81 nominations across the board. Just like HBO’s old motto touts, it’s not TV; nay, I’d argue that it’s super-TV. Camera operator Hector Ramirez and producer Sheila Nevins have earned the most lifetime Emmy nominations as of this year with 68 and 59 noms, respectively. If Mad Men wins for Outstanding Drama Series this year, it will have won that award five times—surpassing Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and The West Wing for the record. Modern Family is the most-nominated comedy this year with 14 noms, Mad Men is the most-nominated drama with 17, American...

Bricking Bad

By on Jul 13, 2012 in Fandom |

Simultaneously reaching new levels of inappropriateness and awesomeness, some Michelangelo of Legos (or, more accurately, some friend of a Reddit user) has used the innocent construction blocks to recreate Walter White’s underground meth lab from Breaking Bad.  And then some other Reddit user brilliantly dubbed it “Bricking Bad.”  More photos of the creations are below, but first, are some other TV locations I’d love to see in Lego form: The Swan (i.e. the Hatch) from Lost The Pie Hole from Pushing Daisies Murder House from American Horror Story The Sterling Cooper Draper Price offices from Mad Men Merlotte’s from True Blood The West Wing… from… um, The West Wing

An Open Letter to Ryan Murphy

By on Jul 11, 2012 in Inner Monologues | 3 comments

Dear Ryan Murphy, First off, I love your work.  I loved Nip/Tuck, I was fascinated by the pilot for Pretty/Handsome, and I remain haunted by American Horror Story.  But my partner and I are of two minds when it comes to The Glee Project.  You see, we do like it—it’s an addictive show with formidable talent and fun challenges—but the concept confuses us.  Are you looking for talented youngsters who can sing, dance, and act?  Or are you looking for inspiration? When The Glee Project premiered last summer, our impression was that you and the other producers of Glee would be searching amongst relative unknowns for fresh talent—people who can sing, dance, and act.  Once it premiered, however, it became clear that you were looking for inspirational stories amongst the contestants, hoping to write the contestant’s personal histories into the show.  (You’d say things like,...

Ratings Revelations and Ridiculousness

By on Jun 5, 2012 in Tinseltown |

As reported by TV.com, Nielsen has released a list of all the shows on broadcast networks this past season, ranked by average number of viewers in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic… and the list is surprising on many counts. I’ve transposed the complete list below, but in case you want the abridged version (you impatient ingrates!), I readily relinquish my reflections and ruminations on the ratings ranking. The most-watched scripted show is Modern Family (ABC, #4), and that fact makes me damn proud of America. Good on you, viewers! CBS sitcoms continue to dominate, especially The Big Bang Theory (#6), Two and a Half Men (#7), and 2 Broke Girls (#9). And, against all rational thought, Rules of Engagement (#35) is still surprisingly popular. I mean, I don’t know anyone who watches it, but… Grey’s Anatomy (#10) is doing remarkably well for a show entering its...

2012 Pilot Watch: Winners and Losers

By on May 29, 2012 in Tinseltown |

Upfronts is always a bittersweet time of year for me, since the broadcast networks always order only some of my favorite pilots to series, never all.  (When will the world accept my taste as universal truth, anyway?)  So here are my reflections on the shows that made the cut justly and unjustly, and the shows that were cut justly.  And I won’t dwell on the bad pilots that were passed over—why kick ’em when they’re down? Best of the winners Revolution I’m all about dystopian visions of the future, particularly when they spring from the mind of serial-drama-ninja J.J. Abrams.  So this saga about an energyless civilization looks simply electric, and it’s the series I’m most excited to see. Vegas Shows that tried to capitalize on Mad Men’s appeal this season—like Pan Am and The Playboy Club—didn’t fare so well; but I think...

Cancellations, Renewals, and Resurrections

By on May 22, 2012 in In Production |

Along with all the hoopla about the broadcast networks’ new shows, upfront season is also the day of reckoning for their existing lineups.  And this month’s renewal and cancellation news has been nothing if not surprising.  Here are my thoughts. The vultures were already circling when Cougar Town returned to ABC in February to even worse ratings than before, but then—huzzah!—TBS announced that it would be rescuing the show.  First Conan, now Cougar?  Dammit, TBS, I could kiss you all over the face right now. And speaking of criminally-underappreciated comedies, FOX’s Raising Hope and NBC’s Community were granted renewals.  And I’m not worried at all that Community is moving to Friday nights—its small, diehard fanbase will move right along with it. Though I only saw one episode of Once Upon a Time once upon a time, I’m so pleased that a non-procedural...