Category: TV Action (Page 111 of 145)

As ABC releases its fall schedule, Geico ad executives continue to pinch themselves and give each other high-fives

May 16, 2007 /

Yep, ABC’s released their 2007 – 2008 schedule, and, as you probably guessed from the title of this posting, the biggest focus isn’t on how good or bad the new shows look but, rather, how lazy it looks for the network to have picked up a series that’s inspired by a series of commercials. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely laugh every time one of those commercials is on, but that doesn’t mean I want a half-hour series based on them…especially not when it means that “The Knights of Prosperity” gets cancelled and “The Thick of It” – starring Michael McKean, Oliver Platt, John Michael Higgins, and Alex Borstein – is passed over for pick-up. (How does that happen, anyway? The pilot was directed by Christopher Guest, fer crissakes!)

But that’s enough complaining for the moment. This is intended as an educational post, not a bitter diatribe. (Besides, there’ll be plenty of time for that sort of material in our Fall TV Preview!) So let’s take a look at how the fall schedule will look…and, uh, let’s also clarify that we’ll probably still end up getting snarky along the way.

MONDAY

We begin with more of that star-dancing crap at 8:00 PM…an hour and a half of it, apparently, since it isn’t until 9:30 that we’re scheduled to see the new Christina Applegate sitcom “SAM I AM.”

“Sam I Am” – When a terrible accident leaves Samantha “Sam” Newly in a coma for eight days, she wakes up with no recollection of any past experiences, memories or events. Faced with amnesia, Sam must start over. To her dismay she discovers that she wasn’t a particularly honest, good-hearted or loving person. In fact she was self-involved, narcissistic and devoid of real relationships – essentially a bitch. Sam must now struggle with her desire to be good and her temptation to be…not so good. Finding the line between good and evil is never easy.

Um…that’s a comedy? Well, anyway, after that, 10 PM finds another season of “The Bachelor,” which means we can’t get to Tuesday night soon enough.

Continue reading »

Actors, Actresses, Desperate Housewives, External Entertainment, External TV, Lost, News, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

24, Hour 22: Girlfriend in a coma. I know, I know, it’s serious

May 15, 2007 /

Talk about art imitating blog. Last week, after trying to sift through the ashes of the most needlessly circuitous plot in TV history, I said, “None of this makes sense.” Tonight, as Senator Roark is processing the seriousness of Russian President Suvarov’s threat to attack the Americans for willingly allowing Russian technology to fall into the hands of the Russians, Roark said, yep, “None of this makes sense.”

At last, we are all in agreement.

As for Farmer Hoggett’s relationship with the Chinese, well, to quote the Hives, hate to say I told you so, all right. Cheng praised Hoggett as a man of vision, and Hoggett loves China so much that he plans to steal his grandson and live there forever and ever. I’d say that makes them allies, wouldn’t you? Well, until (a clearly deaf) Cheng loses Jack Jack, and Hoggett kills the deal to hand over the Russian component. Gotta give Hoggett credit: he has the negotiation skills of a Corleone. Or maybe Mel Gibson’s character in “Payback.” “My money, yes or no?” “No!” Bang.

So back to the blog’s title. Lisa Miller’s attempt to schmooze her lobbyist spy of a paramour ends poorly of course, and her boy toy chokes her until she’s unconscious. Another coma? Are you kidding me? How many is that over the course of the show? Maura Tierney, Tony Almeida, Wheelbarrow Wayne twice…wasn’t Robocop in one for a while last year? Does anyone know four people that have fallen into comas? I was only sort of kidding when I called this show “Dynasty of Terror” a while back. It really is becoming a full fledged soap opera.

Is Audrey Raines really gone from the show? Or is she merely gone for now, only to be brought back stunt-style next season, a la Kim Bauer last year? And as one of our astute readers pointed out, they never explained how Big Dick Heller survived that header into the Pacific from a quarter mile above the surface. But these guys are good at not explaining stuff, aren’t they? The Palmer family may as well not even exist at this point, and the fallout from this morning’s nuclear explosion doesn’t seem to be affecting anything at all. Got a plot thread that needs to be temporarily resolved? Put it in a coma. As Eric Cartman would say, this is totally weak. Indeed, this has gone from weak to super weak.

Did I see an oil rig as the site of the big showdown for next week’s two-hour season finale? An oil rig? What the hell is Cheng doing on an oil rig? And besides, didn’t “Alias” do that a couple years ago? Speaking of “Alias,” what happened to “Drive”? My beloved Amy Acker was on both shows, and we at Bullz-Eye are all big, big fans of “Drive” hero Nathan Fillion. Hey, here’s an idea: make Fillion the villain – the only villain – for next season. He usually plays the plucky hero, but fans of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” will tell you that he can play a baddie just as well as he can play a goodie. Create some kind of Bruce Willis/Alan Rickman dynamic between him and Kiefer, and you’ll save the show. Oh, and if any “24” writers are reading this, you should know that our fearless leader is a lawyer, and he will fight for a story credit. Just thought I’d warn you in advance.

24, Actors, External TV, TV, TV Action

Heroes, Week 22: The Future Isn’t Written In Stone…OR IS IT?!?

May 14, 2007 /

Q: Where do you begin with an episode like this week’s “Heroes”?

A: You start with, “No, wait, I’m okay!”

Wow, what an anticlimatic opening few seconds to the next-to-last episode of the season. I mean, not that I wanted them to drag the scene out – I think we were all pretty sure that Peter wasn’t actually going to explode – but, still, to have a moment that’s been foretold for half the year end be over so quickly…it was like, “OMIGOD, I’M HAVING A HEART ATTActually, hang on, sorry, it’s just gas.”

Fortunately, the moment was quickly forgotten. One reason was because of that way that Hiro shifts from utter uncertainty to having the steadfast convinction to offer the perfect delivery of a line like, “The fate of the world is in your hands.” (No pressure.) Following that, however, the end of the pre-credits sequence – specifically, Sylar’s one-liner – was one of those “Heroes” moments where I thought, “This really is a comic book come to life.” Lots of shows (not to mention movies) have tried to capture the feel of the printed page, but it takes just the right touch to pull off a melodramatic line and have the reaction be “YES!” rather than “Gimme a BREAK.”

So Linderman isn’t Mr. Petrelli…well, unless it’s an Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader kind of thing, which I wouldn’t put past this show. He did, however, heal Nathan’s wife (I think many folks probably saw that coming; it definitely occurred to me that it could happen), which makes it even harder for Nathan to back away from Linderman’s promises of the future. Also, Linderman was some kind of shady, huh? Preying on Micah’s desire to live happily ever with his parents. Dang, that’s slack. Of course, we had another theory confirmed: that Micah’s ability to manipulate all things mechanical would involve rigging the computerized voting machines. I think, however, that the fact that Linderman has underestimated Micha’s abilities is going to come back to bite his plans in the ass…

“Don’t they know we have a sword to mend?!?” Poor Hiro; he’s so naive. (Reminds me a lot of me, actually, which might be why I’m so sympathetic to his tendency to hope for the best.) Nathan all but broke his heart…but, by God, George Takei was there to put it all back together again! Didn’t you love that look on Mr. Nakamura’s face when he swung around with the blade? There’s definitely something being set up for a story arc that takes place in the past, given the way Mr. Nakamura touched on the fact that he was once part of a group of Heroes. The same one as Linderman? I’m sure we’ll find out eventually. I loved Hiro’s comment about how Ando wasn’t going to have to die after all. “He will be so relieved!” The bit with Matt Parkman and the porn-hoarding security guard was topped only by Nikica getting a funny line for a change: “Didn’t I throw you out a window?”

But what tops that line…?

HRG saying, “Your last thought.”

Officially the BEST LINE EVER.

I still figured Molly wasn’t gonna buy it, but since there’s no such thing as a bad Mexican standoff, I still enjoyed the Mohinder / HRG confrontation. I also didn’t really believe that “Jessica” was going to kill Linderman…but I was surprised by D.L. being shot…and I was DEFINITELY surprised by his fist going right into the back of Linderman’s skull and pulling out his fucking brain! CRIMINEY!!! But the question is, since he can heal others, does his body heal itself? Even so, that’s a lot to grow back!

So it’s cliffhangers a go go to set the stage for next week. Like I even need to say it: I can’t wait.

External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

As NBC releases its fall schedule, Lindsay Wagner waits anxiously by her phone for a call about a guest spot…

May 14, 2007 /

Well, kids, NBC has officially released word of its 2007 – 2008 fall season, and here’s what we have to look forward to…

Monday

The night begins the same way it has for the last several months, with “Deal or No Deal”…but, finally, someone at the network realized that it might be wise to follow “Heroes” with a drama that at least vaguely resembles the program that precedes it. Thus, we have “JOURNEYMAN.”

“JOURNEYMAN“– From Emmy Award-winning writer-producer Kevin Falls (“The West Wing”) and Emmy Award-winning director-producer Alex Graves (“The West Wing”), “Journeyman” is a romantic mystery-drama about Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd, “Rome”), a San Francisco newspaper reporter and family man who inexplicably begins to travel through time and change people’s lives. Along the way, he also must deal with the difficulties and strife at work and home brought on by his sudden disappearances. However, his freewheeling travels through the decades reunite him with his long-lost fiancée Livia (Moon Bloodgood, “Day Break”) — which complicates his present-day life with wife Katie (Gretchen Egolf, “Martial Law”) and their son. Reed Diamond (“Homicide: Life on the Street”) and Charles Henry Wyson (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) also star. “Journeyman” is a production of 20th Century Fox Television. Falls is executive producer and writer; Graves is executive producer and director of the pilot.

By the way, also very much of note is the fact that NBC is spawning a “Heroes” spin-off, entitled “ORIGINS.” The description is thus: “an innovative new spin-off that each week will introduce a new character — one of whom will be chosen by viewers through the ‘Heroes’ website on NBC.com to become a cast regular the following season.” No details yet on when it’ll air, though.

TUESDAY

Yawn. Another season of “The Biggest Loser” at 8. Hooray! Another season of “Law & Order: SVU” at 10! Sandwiched between the two, we get “CHUCK.”

“CHUCK” – From executive producer, Josh Schwartz (“The O.C.”) and executive producer-director McG (“Charlie’s Angels,” “We Are Marshall”) comes a one-hour, comedic spy thriller about Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, “Less Than Perfect”) – a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government’s most vital secret agent. When Chuck opens an e-mail subliminally encoded with government secrets, he unwittingly downloads an entire server of sensitive data into his brain. Now, the fate of the world lies in the unlikely hands of a guy who works at Buy More. Instead of fighting computer viruses, he must fight assassins and international terrorists. With the government’s most precious secrets in Chuck’s head, Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin, “My Bodyguard”) of the NSA assumes the responsibility of protecting him. His partner is the CIA’s top agent (and Chuck’s first date in years) Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strzechowski, “Gone”). They’ll keep him safe by trading in his pocket protector for a bulletproof vest. Also starring are Joshua Gomez (“Without a Trace”) as Chuck’s best buddy Morgan and Sarah Lancaster (“What About Brian?”) as Chuck’s ever-supportive sister Ellie. Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak wrote “Chuck,” which is produced by College Hill Pictures and Wonderland Sound and Vision in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Continue reading »

Actors, Actresses, Battlestar Galactica, External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, My Name Is Earl, News, The Office, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

Another one bites the dust

May 13, 2007 /

The Sopranos Chris

Well…I guess Chris wound up flipping after all.

Okay, I know – bad taste. But come on, how else would I lead this blog entry off? There have been plenty of shocking moments in TV history, but I was utterly speechless for a good five minutes tonight after Tony suffocated Chris following their car accident. The buildup surrounding Chris’ character in general and his relationship with Tony in particular had been going on for years, and it accelerated the past few episodes, so to see it all end like that was…to be honest…a little disappointing. Sure, it’s one of the biggest moments in the show’s history, but with everything that had been going on – the tension between T and Chris, the possibility that Chris was going to talk to the feds, Carmella suspecting Chris of killing Adrianna, and the ongoing feud between Chris and Paulie – this was just about the most anticlimactic way to wrap up his arc. I thought somehow, some way, that Chris was going to be right in the middle of whatever went down in the final moments of the series, but that’s obviously not the case now. Bummer.

At first, I couldn’t tell why Tony killed Chris…or helped him die, if you prefer to look at it that way. Did he think he was doing Chris a favor since he was high and would therefore lose his license? Well, I suppose it’d be better to be alive and without wheels than six feet under, so probably not. Did he think Chris was a goner anyway? He sure was messed up, coughing up blood and barely able to keep his eyes open, so that may very well have had something to do with it. But the overriding factor, we later learned, was that Tony just wanted Chris dead. And this way he didn’t even have to do the dirty work. Hell, he didn’t even need to plan anything or set it all up; just hold the guy’s nose for a few seconds and let him choke on his own blood. Problem solved.

Continue reading »

External Entertainment, External TV, The Sopranos, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Premium Hollywood

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑