Category: TV Comedies (Page 17 of 154)

The 2010 Primetime Emmy nominations are in!

July 8, 2010 /

Bright and early this morning…by which we mean 8:40 AM EST / 5:40 AM PST…the nominees for the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards were announced by Joel McHale (“Community,” “The Soup”) and Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”). It ended up being a worthwhile gig for one of them, at least, with Vergara pulling in a Supporting Actress nod for “Modern Family.” Maybe that’s why McHale seemed so stone-faced. (Seriously, did someone tell McHale that he wasn’t getting paid if he didn’t keep his smart-assery in line ’til after the nominees were read? The only time he cracked anything approaching a joke was when he preempted Vergara’s mangling of Mariska Hargitay’s last name.) Anyway, here’s a list of who got the glory…and, in the case of Best Actress in a Drama, who got the shaft.

Outstanding Comedy Series:

* Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
* Glee (Fox)
* Modern Family (ABC)
* Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
* The Office (NBC)
* 30 Rock (NBC)

My Pick: “Modern Family.” There’s no question that “Glee” is award-worthy, but not necessarily as a comedy, which is also where “Nurse Jackie” falters in this category. I feel like “The Office” and “30 Rock” coasted in on their past merits this year, but “Curb” got a huge boost from the “Seinfeld” storyline, so it’s the only real competition here. Still, the buzz on “Modern Family” is all over the place. I can’t imagine it won’t bring home the glory.

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, News, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Starz cancels “Party Down”

June 30, 2010 /

Here’s another one for the brilliant-but-canceled pile.

Party Down” had been in a holding pattern for months. The second season finished filming late in ’09, and new Starz president Chris Albrecht – who was not with the network when the show was developed, and who was at HBO back when that channel passed on an earlier iteration of the series – wasn’t in a hurry to order a third, even though all the actors were on one-year contracts and available to take other jobs that would prevent them from returning to the show. (It had already happened with Jane Lynch, and it happened this year with Adam Scott and Ryan Hansen.)

Albrecht said in January that he wanted to see how the show performed when it came back and… it did not perform well. “Party Down” was one of the funniest comedies on television, but it was also one of the least-watched. The season finale drew an average of 74,000 viewers, according to TV By the Numbers. That is not a good total.

74,000 viewers? That is just criminally — CRIMINALLY — underrated.

“Party Down” was hilarious, especially this season, and the entire run should be available for Netflix subscribers as part of its streaming service.

Sigh.

External Entertainment, External TV, TV, TV Comedies

Entourage 7.1 – Stunted

June 27, 2010 /

For anyone that read my preview of the new season, you probably weren’t too surprised by the events that took place in tonight’s premiere, but I still enjoyed the episode a lot and think that it’s a strong start to what could be another great year for the series. With Eric more or less taking a backseat this week, the bulk of the episode revolved around Vince on the set of his new action film. And if you thought Vernon, the fictional German director of “Smokejumpers,” was intimidating, wait until you get a load of real-life actor/director Nick Cassavetes. Worried that the audience will know he’s cheating by using stunt doubles for Vince, Nick begs him to do an upcoming car chase sequence himself, and he agrees. That is, only because he doesn’t want Nick to think he’s a pussy, but the minute that Nick leaves his side, Vince goes running to Eric and Ari for help in breaking his promise without Nick knowing it was him who spurred them on.

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Ari has more important things going on in his life as the new head of the biggest agency in the world. He’s got big plans for the company, including a possible deal with the NFL regarding the league’s TV rights, and yet instead of sending someone else to get their hands dirty (much to the annoyance of Mrs. Ari), he visits the set to speak with Nick himself. It doesn’t quite go as planned, however, after he threatens Nick to get the studio involved when he learns that they haven’t been insured for the stunt because he hasn’t told them about it. Nick threatens Ari to keep his mouth shut, and then delivers a little payback later on by taking a full-page ad out in Variety with a picture of Ari in drag and the following text below it: “Ari Gold. My Friend, My Agent, My Bitch.” Has Ari Gold finally met his match? Apparently, because I don’t think we’ve ever seen him step down from a challenge before – and that includes the aforementioned “Smokejumpers” director, whom Drama once referred to as a “cocksucking Nazi bastard.”

Nick piles on the pressure, though, and Vince decides to do the stunt, which doesn’t go as planned when the car fails to brake properly after jumping off a ramp through a gauntlet of pyrotechnics. Vince emerges from the wreck unharmed, and though he appears to be a little shaken at first, once he realizes that he’s okay, he wants to go again. The look on his face seems to say otherwise, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Vince’s big storyline this season involved him becoming a thrill-seeking adrenaline junkie. It would definitely be an improvement from previous years, as Vince tends to get the short end of the stick when it comes to character development.

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Entourage, External TV, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

Red Carpet Chatter: Mike Nichols Gets His AFI Lifetime Achievement Award

June 26, 2010 /

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Born in 1931 in what was very soon to become Hitler’s Germany, young Michael Peschkowsky was living in Manhattan by 1939. It was great luck both for the future Mike Nichols and for the country that accepted him.

Nichols is, of course, one of the most respected directors in Hollywood, and for good reason. He’s the original, craftsmanlike, and emotionally astute directorial voice responsible for such sixties and seventies classics as “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,”  “Carnal Knowledge” and, of course, “The Graduate” (the source of his only directorial Oscar so far) as well as such eighties, nineties, and oughts successes as “Silkwood,” “Working Girl,” “The Birdcage,” and “Closer.” Even if some of the later films are not on the same level of quality as his earlier films — and several, especially his 1988 box office hit, “Working Girl,” stray into mediocrity — it’s still one of the most impressive and diverse careers of any living director in Hollywood.

That’s just on the big screen. On television, Nichols has rebounded in the eyes of many critics, directing two of the most acclaimed television productions of the last decade, 2001’s “Wit” with Emma Thompson, and the outstanding 2005 miniseries adaptation of Tony Kushner’s brilliant and mammoth epic play, “Angels in America.” With his 80th birthday just a year and a half away, he’s still working hard with two thrillers movies planned, including an I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low” currently being rewritten by the decidedly counter-intuitive choice of Chris Rock.

Before he directed his first foot of film, Mike Nichols was a noted theater director. That in itself is not so unusual a root for directors to travel. What is different is that, before he was a noted theater director, he was half of one of the most influential comedy teams in show business history, Nichols and May. (His comedy partner, Elaine May, went on to become an important, if less commercially successful, writer and director in her own right.)

Still, from the moment he directed his first major play, Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park,” Nichols mostly abandoned performing. Today, his highly regarded early work is mostly known only to fairly hardcore comedy aficionados.

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

Entourage: Season Seven Preview

June 23, 2010 /

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After what was probably the worst season in the show’s history, it was nice to see Doug Ellin and the rest of the “Entourage” crew bounce back last year with a fantastic sixth season that returned to the show’s roots while still allowing the characters to mature. It also found Vincent Chase back on the A-list after a tedious detour into obscurity (and Mexico) that dragged on for way too long. In Season Six, he didn’t have much to do beyond the odd talk show appearance or fuck session, but that’s Vinnie at his best. The other characters, meanwhile, were given life-changing storylines, like Eric shutting down the Murphy Group to work for a bigger management company; Drama gambling to get out of his “Five Towns” contract for greener pastures; and Turtle going back to school to learn how to run a business. And let’s not forget Ari, who not only bought out Terrence’s agency, but finally promoted Lloyd to a full-time agent.

With the show’s June 27th premiere just around the corner, HBO has released a series of trailers promoting its return, One of them is nothing more than a series of shiny glamour shots of the quintet laughing and just looking cool as they stand around the show’s trademark 1965 Lincoln Continental, followed by the vague tagline, “What’s Next?” There’s also a more revealing trailer making the rounds with actual scenes from the upcoming season, and although it’s not too spoilerish, it does a reveal a few things about what to expect.

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For starters, it appears that Vince will be working with director Nick Cassavetes on a new action film, with Cassavetes looking pretty intimidating for a guy best known for helming “The Notebook.” Drama will also be busy trying to find the perfect project to showcase his talents, Turtle’s call girl/car service company will take off, and Ari will try to break into sports as the new head of the biggest talent agency in the world. Surprisingly, Eric doesn’t feature too much in this trailer, so hopefully Sloan doesn’t have him on too tight of a leash now that they’re engaged.

And in case you were wondering where all the celebrities were hiding, don’t worry too much, as Season Seven promises to have just as many cameos as usual, including appearances by Sean “Diddy” Combs, Mike Tyson, Stan Lee, and Jessica Simpson, among others. The most promising guest appearance, however, will likely be John Stamos, who’s scheduled to appear as himself (and alongside “Full House” co-star Bob Saget, no less) in a storyline that has something to do with Drama’s new show. Check out the trailer below, and then come back on June 27th to follow along as we blog the new season. Still not enough coverage? Be sure to visit Bullz-Eye’s Entourage Fan Hub for actor profiles, DVD reviews and more.

Celebrities, Entourage, External TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

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