TVs improbable seventh-inning stretches

By on Oct 13, 2012 in Raves |

Seven seasons is an awfully long run for any TV drama, particularly a serialized one. Procedural shows like CSI and Law & Order shows have the privilege of a different storyline every episode, and even semi-procedural shows like Fringe aren’t required to serve an overarching narrative with every episode. The TV graveyard is littered with the corpses of series that exhausted their creativity before their episode order. One recent example of such a show on the comedy front is The Office: the producers and NBC announced that Season 9 would be the final season, but that decision came after we slogged through disappointing Seasons 6, 7, and 8. Some showrunners do the dignified thing and set a definite and unyielding end date for their series, like the masterminds behind Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad, and even the British Office. I can’t speak highly enough of this practice:...

A housekeeping note

By on Oct 8, 2012 in Announcements |

I am now (happily) employed full-time by Wetpaint, a company whose media property, Wetpaint Entertainment (www.wetpaint.com), is “your go-to source for the hottest shows on television — the latest photos, videos, spoilers, gossip, fashion, and recaps.” As you more regular readers may remember, I used to work for the company on a freelance basis, recapping Grey’s Anatomy. But now I’m an assistant editor covering entertainment news, so there’s obvious overlap between this site and Wetpaint. Therefore, I’ll do a lot of my day-to-day blogging there, but I’m still committed to posting more Primetimely-specific posts right here. (And as a disclaimer: This entire blog reflects my thoughts and opinions and not those of Weptaint.) Despite this six-week interlude of late, you hopefully you won’t even notice of change of pace. In fact, you can expect the next post in the next few days! (Hint:...

Revenge: A series best served cold

By on Aug 5, 2012 in Raves |

I shouldn’t have found Revenge enjoyable. It’s clichéd, it’s soapy, and its characters are not exactly diverse. And Revenge shouldn’t have been successful. It’s a complicated, heavily-serialized drama; and there are hardly any cops, doctors, or lawyers in sight. But if there’s one thing television has taught me, it’s that expectations and preconceptions mean squat. The story tracks the vengeance taken by Emily Thorne, (née Amanda Clark), whose father, David, was scapegoated for a terrorist-related money-laundering act by the wealthy Grayson family and later killed in prison. Years later, during her teen delinquent years, Emily learns of the framing and the coverup and enlists a Japanese sensei to show her the ways of revenge and uses the resources of a wealthy billionaire named Nolan (a former cohort of her father). After years of plotting, she...

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,...