Hallelujah! CBS has seen the light; they’ve agreed to make seven more episodes of “Jericho.”
You can check out the letter from CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler in the above link (clearly, my favorite part is the P.S.), but kudos to our regular reader, MrP, for keeping us in the loop on this info.
Well, that wasn’t exactly what he all had hoped for, now was it? Then again, it certainly doesn’t make the wait for the final season any shorter, either. The spotlight remained on Vic this week as he struggled to stay on the force. Despite a seemingly effective blackmail of Aceveda (after securing the original memory card containing the infamous photo from Cruz), the former captain continued his claims that he couldn’t help with his current situation. He did, however, offer up a suggestion: play the autistic child card with the head of the appeals (the only man with the power to turn the vote), who just so happens to have a grandchild with the same disease.
Not content with using his children as an excuse, Vic turns to his last resort: crack the San Marcos case wide open. After tailing the one-armed delegate to a money drop with some Mexican intelligence former who’s joined up with the Mexican mob, Vic uncovers a plan that involves the Mexicans buying up land in Farmington as a means to both launder money and do illegal business. The smell of crooked politicians is too much for Aceveda to pass up, and so he teams up with Vic on the hunt.
Unfortunately, Vic doesn’t have the kind of time needed to investigate a case of such proportions the right way. Instead, he goes straight to the source, pulling over the aforementioned intelligence officer to discover a trunk filled with boxes of blackmail-quality material. The guy didn’t go down without a fight, though – attempting to drive away before Vic jumped through the window and beat his ass – and now it looks like Vic finally has the case needed to guarantee his future at the Barn. A worthy story arc for the final season? You bet. Despite butting heads several times in the past, the Vic/Aceveda dynamic has always been one of the best thins about the series, and I can’t wait to watch the two of them working together again.
And if that’s not enough, he might even get a final nudge from Claudette’s end. Granted, the weary captain called for more of a Vic-type when she so gloriously booted Hiatt from the job, but with his recent good behavior, she might just be willing to accept the fact that he’s going to be around a little longer than originally anticipated. Billings, on the other hand, isn’t so keen on sticking around. In fact, he’s actually informed Claudette of his intentions of suing the department for injuries rendered during the Vic/Kavanaugh brawl a few months back. He’s not stupid, either, as he made sure to document complaints about headaches and neck cramps every chance he got with Dutch, but can a place like Farmington really afford a $3.2 million lawsuit. Methinks not, which means Billings will surely return for one last confrontation with Dutch before the show is gone for good.
And what of Shane? Well, he managed to escape yet another season unharmed, and without a confrontation with Vic, no less. It certainly looked like he had it coming after kidnapping Corrine and Cassidy (at gunpoint) and locking them in the back of a semi, but Vic has pushed that to the back burner for the time being. Shane’s actions were actually well intentioned (the Armenian mob was going to kill them), but all Vic is going to remember is that puddle of blood in his house. Of course, the blood was from Shane shooting the Armenian assassin sent to kill Vic’s family, but he’ll never know that he was protecting them. In fact, Vic thinks that Shane was sending him a message, and it’s only going to go downhill from there. For both men.
After making a deal with Rezian (the gas station attendant killer he recently put in jail) that would allow him to stop Diro’s retaliation, Shane finds himself between a rock and hard place. He’s officially become Rezian’s bitch, working off the money train debt by doing favors for the Armenians. Vic, on the other hand, will probably kill Shane the next time he sees him. Then again, Shane might just be able to make things right if he can convince Vic that he was responsible for the safety of Corrine and Cassidy, but what are the chances Vic will actually believe him?
In a move that will no doubt annoy the hell out of those of us who receive a certain degree of comfort out of knowing that there’s always a sure-fire place to find a rerun of “The Brady Bunch” when you want one, TV Land is changing its network concept, in an attempt to better cater to the Baby Boomers in their audience.
Step #1: Begin purging of “classic TV” format by airing re-runs of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
Step #2: Continue purging process by airing original, non-classic-TV-related programming, like, say, a show called “High School Reunion.”
Step #3: As long as you’re already getting rid of the classic-TV aspect, why stop there? Give up the all-TV aspect of the format, too, and start running movies that can be seen on virtually any other basic cable network and are never as funny once they’ve been purged of their profanities. Example: “Caddyshack.”
Boring.
At least the TV Land concept was an original one. Why throw that away in favor of turning the network into basically the exact same thing as everyone else…?
Last night was the season premiere of “Hell’s Kitchen” on Fox. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, it’s a reality show in which 12 contestants compete to run their very own high-end restaurant that is owned by chef and restaurant industry veteran Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay is like the Simon Cowell of Hell’s Kitchen–British, brash, and not afraid of anyone or anything.
This is the third season, and the first two seasons delivered champs in Michael, who now runs Tattoo in Los Angeles, and Heather, who runs a restaurant in Vegas. This season’s winner will be the head chef at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Las Vegas, with a guaranteed salary of $250,000 and a share in the profits. But first, they must endure a season of, well, hell.
The first thing the contestants were asked to do for chef Ramsay was to make their own signature dish for him to taste. First up was Vinnie, who made chorizo crusted snapper. Ramsay said it was so spicy that he couldn’t even taste the fish. Most of the dishes, in fact, were not up to par–Rock’s pan seared scallops were made with frozen gnocchi; Josh’s foie gras was too salty; and Jen’s vanilla crepes with peaches had too much alcohol. But Ramsay did like Melissa’s pepper crusted steak and Tiffany’s seafood tostada. And then, there was Aaron, a 48-year old “Asian cowboy” who cries easily. There always seems to be one of those on the show (does anyone remember Dewberry?). Ramsay said Aaron’s finger food was only half-good, and called him a “chunky monkey.” Ouch.
The next day the contestants had to be prepared for the grand opening of Hell’s Kitchen, which is now said to be the hottest ticket in Hollywood….I guess, if you know you’re not going to get served anything but bread because at least early in the season, no one can seem to produce any finished dishes.
The men were the blue team, and the women were the red team. Right off the bat, there was bickering among the red team, especially from the very bossy Joanna. What’s more, they could not produce any successful appetizers. Then again, neither could the blue team at first–until Vinnie was sent to wash dishes, that is. After Brad took over for Vinnie, 29 of 50 appetizers were served by the blue team, but the red team was still bickering and crying (literally). Finally, Ramsay had seen enough and shut down the kitchen because some tables had not seen any food at all within the first hour.
One of the funniest moments was when Aaron burned the chicken, and then when he tried to get started again, Ramsay told him to wipe his nose before serving “chicken and snot” to the guests. Priceless. I mean, this dude is beyond Simon Cowell.
Though Ramsay said both teams sucked, he called the red team “Hell’s bitches” because of their bickering and lack of teamwork, and declared them the losers. Melissa was the “best of the worst,” and therefore had to choose two of her teammates for potential elimination. She chose Joanna, who was one of the instigators, and Tiffany, who kept messing up the line for appetizers. In the end, Ramsay chose Tiffany–partially because she failed miserably, but also because he couldn’t possibly eliminate a loose cannon like Joanna this soon. She’s just too good for ratings.
It’s way too soon to pick a winner….but I’ll tell you right now who it won’t be–Aaron. That guy is a complete mess.
Anyway, hang on for the ride, and hopefully those of you who haven’t seen this show will check it out….it’s great for the comic relief of Ramsay’s bitterness alone.
There aren’t many positive things to be said for our favorite series going on their annual summer hiatus, but, occasionally, the networks manage to surprise us with a summer replacement that’s A) not yet another reality show, and B) actually worth watching. “Creature Comforts” – airing at 8:00 PM tonight – definitely succeeds on the first front, and as to the second…well, it’s the kind of show that’ll probably wear out its welcome before the half-hour mark, but it’s still clever enough that you can count on various segments from the series becoming instant and longtime YouTube favorites. (In fact, you may have already seen the original short that inspired the original British series, which in turn inspired this American adaptation.)
The premise of “Creature Comforts” is that the creators have gone through and done interviews with ordinary people, recorded their responses, and then had the fine folks at Aardman Animations (“Wallace & Gromit,” “Flushed Away”) set the people’s voices to animated animals. You get the idea almost immediately, as the opening segment has two dogs sniffing the butt of another, offering comments that were obviously made during a wine tasting. (“It smells…pretty ripe. I’m getting medium to dark notes.”) The humor is relatively dry for the most part, but, then, some of the comedy comes not from the lines but, rather, from the facial reactions of the other animals in the scene; for instance, one lion is answering the question, “Have you ever killed a man,” and the other lion’s eyes are darting back and forth, as if to say, “Shit, man, he’s gonna give us up!”
Your mileage on the show will undoubtedly vary. It has its highs and lows, and once you’ve gotten the idea, either you’re either going to be in for the long haul, or you’ll shrug, say, “Heh, that’s a funny idea,” and keep on flipping. I’m fearing it’s going to be the latter, unfortunately, but given the fanbase for Aardman’s other works, the up side is that, even if it should only last for a few episodes, “Creature Comforts: The Complete Series” will almost certainly be released to DVD.
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