A Different High School Musical

By on Aug 18, 2009 in Previews | 3 comments

2009-2010 New Series Preview, Part 2 Statistically, only a third of all new shows avoid cancellation during their first seasons. I have no doubt in my mind that Glee will be among them this year. It’s riding the wave of popularity for all things song-and-dance, and yet it’s edgier, funnier, and so much more fulfilling—for my money, at least—than That Which Shall Not Be Named. Glee follows a teacher who, unsatisfied by his stagnant life, rekindles his dream of taking McKinley High’s glee club to fame and glory. He finds club members in some of the school’s most derided outcasts: a showbiz-obsessed goody-goody, a paraplegic nerd, a stuttering goth, a flamboyant fashionisto, and a Jennifer Hudson wannabe. And to bolster the social standing of the group, he also recruits a quarterback, one who actually starts to enjoy the club. In addition to the talent and humor of...

The Everywhere Actors

By on Aug 15, 2009 in Tinseltown |

When you watch as much television as I do, you see familiar faces all the time, and then you have to ask yourself (or IMDb), “Where have I seen him/her before?” For example, I’m watching the first season of House, and I’ve recognized guest stars from elsewhere in thirteen of the first fifteen episodes. And then there are actors like Michelle Forbes and Željko Ivanek who show up on many of my favorite series. The phenomenon came to a head recently when I saw both of them on the same episode of True Blood. Pictured above is Forbes in the roles she’s played in some of my favorite shows. From left to right: presidential advisor Lynne Kresge on 24, Oceanic Airlines representative Karen Decker on Lost, tough-as-nails admiral Helena Cain on Battlestar Galactica, beleaguered wife Kate on In Treatment, “social worker”/maenad Maryann Forrester on True...

It’s a Little Pitchy, Dog

By on Aug 12, 2009 in Rants |

To know me is to know my profound distaste for American Idol. I hate the show not only because it employs some of the worst of reality-television practices, but also because more-deserving shows don’t stand a chance when they’re scheduled against it. So it always delights me when I hear of news that could damage the show’s standing, and recently, I’ve been very happy. First Paula Abdul quit the show, and now a video of Simon Cowell has been leaked that could really, um, dog his reputation and credibility. As I learned on TV Squad yesterday, someone has sniffed out the footage in which Cowell, dressed as a character named “Wonderdog,” is promoting his techno track entitled “Ruff Mix.” And the kicker: the melody is comprised of dog barks. (Like Conan said last night, this week truly is Bark Week.) Behold the horror: Apparently, Mr. Cowell...

Cool Spies Don’t Look at Explosions

By on Aug 10, 2009 in In Production |

One highlight of this May’s MTV Movie Awards was the music video starring Andy Samberg and “Neil Diamond,” with a special keyboard solo by J.J. Abrams. The video was an ode to the cinematic cliché in which the hero or villain walks away from a blast without so much as a backward glance. In case you haven’t seen it, check it out here: And keyboardist J.J. Abrams should know: on multiple occasions, characters in his brainchild Alias (my favorite show, incidentally) don’t look at explosions. Take this scene, in which free-agent Anna Espinosa, disguised as Sydney herself, brazenly doesn’t watch as Sydney’s truck explodes behind her… …or this scene, in which Peyton takes a bazooka to Sydney, Jack, and Irina’s only means of escape and then strides away with full badassery… …or this scene, in which Sydney runs away from an explosion in a Taiwanese lab. (Okay, she has a reason to not look:...

“Kings”: A Momentary, Glorious Reign

By on Aug 6, 2009 in Raves |

Start with The West Wing. Now make the democracy an autocracy. Place that autocracy in a fictional country. Throw in marital strife, filial betrayal, oppressive corporations, hostile nations, wearisome wars, a young hero, and a tyrannical ruler. Pepper in some biblical references and glaze with poetic words structured in antiquated syntax. Do all this, and perhaps you’d have Kings, one of the most promising shows to have been cancelled this year. I watched the first episode when it premiered in March, knowing little more about it than the premise: a modern-day retelling of the story of David and Goliath. The “high-concept”-ness of that pilot episode intrigued me, but it was the second episode, “Prosperity,” that really impressed me—with its elegance of narrative and of style and with the quality of acting from Ian McShane, Christopher Egan, and the rest of...