Category: External TV (Page 216 of 419)

American Idol: Welcome to Randy Jacksonville

January 28, 2009 /

So last night in part five of eight of FOX’s “American Idol” audition rounds, the scene shifted to Jacksonville, Florida. And the producers of the show decided to have a little fun and give judge Randy Jackson some love due to the name of the city (that’s really a stretch, isn’t it?). They showed Jackson in his days performing with the rock band Journey, and basically paid tribute to him a bit. That’s okay, but still a stretch. Anyway, this city did not seem to have the talent level of other audition rounds, and it was obvious right from the start of the show last night. Here are the highlights and lowlights:

THE BAD

Dana Moreno was shouting a Chaka Khan song, and I do mean shouting. Next! 16 year old Kaneswa had been told her entire life by her mom what a great vocalist she was, but that is always the recipe for failure, isn’t it? Kaneswa sang Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture,” complete with some of Anita’s vocal acrobatics. However, for Kaneswa, they were not acrobatics, but more like nasal inflections….Darren Darnell was the life of the party among contestants waiting to audition, so much so that I was thinking he could be the next Ryan Seacrest. But then when his buddy didn’t get a golden ticket, a switch went off and this guy looked depressed and started crying, right up through his own audition, which bombed anyway….A girl named Naomi sang Minnie Ripperton’s “Lovin’ You” and while she may have hit the high falsetto note at the end, it was the only note that was on key. Naomi brought along her friend who was semi-obsessed with Randy Jackson, and the friend got to sit on Randy’s lap. Anyway, Naomi was awful….George Ramirez, an 18 year old who sort of looked like a young Abe Lincoln, was a physics student who just happened to want to give singing a try, but it was more like a low rumble of off-key mess Continue reading »

American Idol, External TV, Reality TV, TV

ABC greenlights “V” pilot

January 27, 2009 /

When I was a kid, one of my favorite miniseries was “V,” the story about an alien invasion of Earth. I remember thinking that it was the coolest thing I had seen since “Star Wars.” I watched it again a few years ago and thought it was brutal. Ah, the innocence of childhood!

Anyhoo, according to Variety, ABC has given the go-ahead to a pilot that will re-imagine the ’80s miniseries.

New adaptation of the franchise was written by “The 4400” co-creator/exec producer Scott Peters. Peters is aboard to exec produce along with HDFilms principal Jason Hall. Warner Bros. TV, which was behind the original longform, is producing.

The new “V” centers on Erica Evans, a Homeland Security agent with an aimless son. When the aliens arrive, her son gloms on to them — causing tension within the family.

Like the original, show centers on visitors who say they’ve come to help the Earth — but their motives are nefarious.

“Battlestar Galactica” has set the bar for re-imagined series and I have a feeling that the new version of “V” will be a disappointment. I could never get into “The 4400” — and I love sci-fi — so Scott Peters’ involvement doesn’t fill me with warm, fuzzy feelings. Also, ABC has already bailed on a good alien invasion story — “Invasion” — that had a great cast, so I don’t have confidence that the network knows how to make this kind of story work.

But then again, they gave us “Lost,” so you never know.

Battlestar Galactica, External Entertainment, External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

An “Important” Clip with Demetri Martin

January 27, 2009 /

Remember how I recently praised Demetri Martin’s upcoming new Comedy Central series, “Important Things with Demetri Martin”? Well, now’s your chance to see that I wasn’t bluffing about its hilarity…

Actors, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, TV, TV Comedies, Video

Moonlight: The Complete Series

January 26, 2009 /

“Jericho” fans seemed bewildered when, after all the hype their show received upon its last-second reprieve from cancellation, its second season didn’t find a huge surge in viewership. They shouldn’t have been. There have been precious few occasions when series have been saved from oblivion and suddenly had the masses respond by saying, “Wow, you guys were right! This is awesome!” That’s just not how the mind of the average TV viewer works. They’re not thinking, “Say, if all these people like the show that much, there must be something to it.” Obsessive fans freak out the average TV viewers, and their actions generally only serve to convince Joe Average that this show, whatever it may be, can’t possibly live up to the hype that’s being heaped upon it, and since it can’t, then why bother tuning in?

But here’s a dirty little secret for you: the minds of critics have been known to work the exact same way.

“Moonlight” seemed like a perfectly viable concept when it was originally pitched by CBS. Certainly, “Angel” fans were immediately on edge when word got out about this new series about a vampire private detective…and so, for that matter, were the rabid “Forever Knight” aficionados… but, still, it was going to be produced by David Greenwalt, who had actually worked on “Angel,” so there was hope that the vampire mythos would at least be done right. But then things got a little dodgy on the creative end, with cast and creators being switched out left and right, including the aforementioned Mr. Greenwalt, and critics were left lingering in wait for a pilot episode that took forever to come to fruition. Once it did, we were grumpy and, frankly, we just couldn’t see what all the fuss was about…but, dear God, those Alex O’Loughlin fans sure as hell could. They attacked in droves, criticizing my opinion of the series while invariably finding a way to mention how incredibly hot O’Loughlin was in the role of Mick St. John (the aforementioned vampire), yet they rarely offered much in the way of reasons beyond his sex appeal for me to give the show a second chance.

So I didn’t…until now.

Continue reading »

Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV DVDs, TV Sci-Fi

Old Show, New Season (sort of): “The Closer”

January 26, 2009 /

Man, I love “The Closer.”

This should be already be evident to anyone who’s read my reviews of the show’s previous DVD sets over on Bullz-Eye, but even as the show continues onward through its fourth season (tonight brings us the mid-season premiere), it continues to produce episodes which are just as strong now as when it originally premiered. Part of that comes from the fact that its structure feels a bit more free-flowing than your average drama, moving in and out of both the professional and the personal lives of Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson – played with a it-grows-on-you Southern drawl by the lovely Kyra Sedgwick – and her fiance, FBI Special Agent Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney). Mostly, though, it’s the combination of a diverse ensemble of actors and a writing team that makes sure to spread the storylines around the offices of the Priority Homicide Division of the LAPD.

As we return to “The Closer,” the wedding of Brenda and Fritz is coming ever closer, so Brenda’s parents – played in their usual fantastic form by Frances Sternhagen and Barry Corbin – have stopped off on their way to Hawaii to help their daughter get fitted for her dress…and find a venue for the ceremony…and pick out the cake. (If you’re surprised by Brenda’s procrastination, you clearly haven’t been watching the show enough.) As ever, however, Brenda finds herself caught up in a case, this time one with a suicide that possibly isn’t a suicide, and it takes up so much of her time that she ends up having to tell one of her patented well-intentioned lies to keep her mama and daddy in the dark. The episode features a horrifying moment that will chill longtime fans of the series to the bone, but it’s one which nonetheless manages to inspire Brenda to follow her intuition toward a break in the case that hadn’t occurred to her before.

Good stuff, as usual, which is no doubt why TNT so readily sent out an advance screener of the episode, but let me tell you in advance that you really, really don’t want to miss the February 9th episode, “Power of Attorney,” which offers an ending that will blow your freaking mind.

You have been warned.

Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

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