Category: TV Dramas (Page 117 of 235)

Nip/Tuck: Season Five, Part One

December 30, 2008 /

At the conclusion of Season Four, plastic surgeons Drs. McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Troy (Julian McMahon) had packed up their scalpels and headed for sunny Beverly Hills – after all, what better place for two amoral surgeons than Hollywood – so Season Five is something of a new start for the offices of McNamara/Troy. At season’s start, however, business isn’t so hot, so they agree to join a crappy TV series called “Hearts ‘N Scalpels” as technical advisors who will also briefly appear onscreen during the surgery sequences. At first, Christian is certain that this is his ticket to fame, while Sean is reluctant about the entire affair, but the tables quickly turn when the camera favors Sean, and Christian sulks away to soothe his bruised ego in all manner of seedy ways. Sean becomes the toast of the town, begins dating the show’s leading lady, Kate (Paula Marshall), and becomes party buds with the vacuous leading man, Aidan (Bradley Cooper). Then Sean’s ex Julia (Joely Richardson) shows up with kids Annie and Connor in tow, and mama’s got a new brand new bag: a girlfriend, Olivia, played by none other than Portia de Rossi! Olivia’s got a kid, too: Eden (Annalynne McCord, “90210”), a twisted little teen who sets her sights on destroying everything in her path. But an even greater evil lurks in the shadows, waiting to pounce, and perhaps there are worse things waiting in Hollywood than an attention-starved teenager.

Oddly, when this batch of episodes played on FX, I really didn’t care for them and saw a show struggling for air. If you felt at all the same, I urge you to give this set a spin, because I saw the season in a whole new light this time around and actually found myself having a lot of fun with the series, something I hadn’t really done in a couple years. As far as the whole “Season Five, Part One” thing goes, the series is gearing up another round of eight episodes which technically will finish up Season Five, although creator Ryan Murphy has said that the labeling is more of an internal thing, and that the new episodes probably won’t have much to do with what’s on this set. In other words, just think of this as Season Five and be done with it.

Click to buy “Nip/Tuck: Season Five, Part One”

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV, TV Dramas, TV DVDs

Prison Break 4.16: “The Sunshine State”

December 23, 2008 /

The show (ponderously) moved to Florida for its “fall finale.” This was apparently meant to geographically separate Sara and Michael from the gang, which now consists of Lincoln, Gretchen, T-Bag, Don and a late-arriving Mahone. I’m not clear about what “deals” Don, Gretchen and T-Bag made with the General, but they seem to be committed to the quest wholeheartedly (when they should probably be on the run).

Gretchen and Lincoln had an interesting moment at the hotel when she offered herself up to him, and it would seem rather pointless if she is truly now on her way to jail. Maybe the writers were just trying to amp up the sexual tension, or maybe they’re setting something else up for later on. I presume Lincoln is still committed to Sofia, who I believe is still with L.J. in Panama.

“Is that the secret to unlimited renewable energy in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

Unsurprisingly, the new buyer for Scylla is Michael and Lincoln’s mother, but it’s not clear why she had to buy the device if she has so much power within the Company. The psychiatrist could have been yanking Michael’s chain to get him on board, but even if he had agreed to work with her within the Company, the jig would have eventually been up once he learned that she didn’t work there.

Don had a couple of great lines in this episode. First, he introduced Mahone as “Bruce Liberachi,” and then he went on this spiel once he realized that Gretchen had betrayed the group:

“You whore. You’re a whore. Your mother was a whore and her mother was a whore. And your father use to turn tricks at a gas station ‘cause he was a whore too.”

This, coming from a guy who has betrayed every single character on the show at least once.

From the tag, it looks like Michael and Lincoln are going to be pitted against each other in the search for Scylla. Seeing that Linc agreed to work for the Company in order to get Michael the necessary medical care, I’m not sure why he doesn’t join forces with his brother now that he’s safe with Sara. If his reasoning is that he “just wants his life back,” that’ll be pretty lame. If he wants his life back he should just join L.J. and Sofia in Panama. Why does he have to mess with Michael’s seemingly impossible and endless quest to take down the Company?

The tag also said that there are only six episodes left, which (somewhat) contradicts the news that the show was going to have its filming schedule extended by two episodes. There has been no additional news since mid-November that would give us any clues about the show’s future. I, for one, agree with the General in that the whole cat and mouse has been “exhausting.” It’s well past the time to wrap this thing up.

External Entertainment, External TV, Prison Break, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

An A to Z of Last-Minute Gifts for the TV Geek in Your Life

December 21, 2008 /

Got a TV geek on your Christmas list but don’t know what to get them because you’re petrified that they might already have all the obvious picks? As someone who falls into that demographic (and therefore has to make a very explicit list for my family every year), I understand where you’re coming from, so please allow me to do my part to help but you and the poor bastard you’re waiting ’til the last second to shop for. Sure, the list is a little all-over-the-place, but all of these items have landed in stores since last Christmas, and…hey, at least it’s in alphabetical order!

1. Adam 12: Season Two – Rescued from Universal’s indifference by the good folks at Shout! Factory, it holds up about as well as any show produced by Jack Webb (which is to say that the acting is more than a little stilted), but it’s been tricked out with commentaries from actual Los Angeles police officers, which make for entertaining and interesting listening.

2. Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Series – Ron Perlman may be best known these days for his work in FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” and the “Hellboy” franchise, just as Linda Hamilton is probably destined to be remembered as the definitive Sarah Connor, but once upon a time, they were the stars of a rather unlikely romance on CBS. This complete-series set offers little new for those who’ve already purchased the individual season sets except an interactive trivia game, some “newly reconstructed love letters” from Vincent which don’t sound like they’re being read by Perlman, and a nice looking box, but it’s a strange, fanciful, and romantic show that your mom, wife, sister, or…oh, hell, even you might like it.

3. Comedy Central’s TV Funhouse – Given that it takes the style of a kids show from the early ’70s and blends it with dark, surreal, and sometimes downright filthy humor, it’s only halfway surprising that this series didn’t find a following, but it will undoubtedly come to be remembered as one of the great lost comedy classics of the decade. Robert Smigel obsessives will notice that a few things are missing from the show’s original airing, but there’s still plenty here to make you laugh and groan for hours.

4. Drak Pak: The Complete Series – Sometimes, you include an item for personal reasons, but the idea of the kids of Dracula, the Wolfman, and Frankenstein’s Monster teaming up to form a crime-fighting team that battles against a guy who looks suspiciously like Vincent Price is one that had me watching every Saturday morning. Sadly, it only lasted a single season, and watching it now, I can kind of see why, but it’s still a fun flashback for those who remember the show from its original run.

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External Entertainment, External TV, Jericho, News, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV DVDs, TV Sci-Fi

Prison Break 4.15: “Going Under”

December 16, 2008 /

All right, I just want to get this prediction out of the way: the woman on the phone – you know, the “other buyer” – she’s Lincoln and Michael’s mom. Has to be. That would be the only explanation for all the “other patient” talk the last couple of weeks and the introduction of the Tombstone II folder. As soon as I heard the woman’s voice on the phone, a light bulb blinked on.

Anyway, this was kind of a clunky episode as the series tries to reposition itself for a stretch run now that Scylla is complete. After the representative’s saucy (and completely inappropriate) “nothing more than a fancy box…(look at Gretchen)…speaking of…” comment, Don and Gretchen got a look at the data on the device and based on Michael and Sara’s later conversation, Scylla is more about renewable energy than anything else. Clearly, this would be a VERY profitable thing to get one’s hands on, so it will be interesting to see if Michael (or, in this case, Lincoln) can be the one to bring renewable energy to the world.

(In the interests of full disclosure: When I first saw Michael drawing boxes around B – AR – GA – IN, I thought they were states. Not “B” obviously, but Arkansas, Georgia and Indiana. I am a fool.)

“The salesman said that if I stare at this long enough, I’ll eventually see a unicorn.”

We had another classic “Prison Break” moment when the buyer’s representative pulled a gun on Gretchen and Don, and instead of just shooting them, he explained, “I’m sure you understand that no one can know where Scylla is going.” Why is this explanation necessary? Why does he care if the people he’s trying to kill understand why he’s trying to kill them? Isn’t enough for the American viewing public to accept the fact that there’s a lot at stake here and that buyers and sellers are going to try to double-cross each other when they have the chance? That moment was totally ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Mahone is once again on the run after his former partner (and love interest?) let him escape. I have no idea where this is going. Mahone could attempt to reunite with Lincoln and Michael or he could go visit his wife (though surely that would be the first place that the Feds would look). Strangely, Sucre also seems to have left the story, at least for now. Maybe the two are going to reunite in Mexico and get a jump start on that scuba shop everyone keeps talking about.

From what the General said to Lincoln, it sounds as if he has to work with Gretchen, Don and T-Bag in order to find Scylla. Once again, the show has doubled back upon itself and reshuffled the deck. My guess is that the next several episodes will follow this new group (with Michael and Sara joining them soon) as they try to hunt down the new buyer (a.k.a. the brothers’ mother). Whoopee!

External TV, Prison Break, TV Action, TV Dramas

Heroes 3.13 – When They Said to Choose A Side, It Made You Want To Hide

December 16, 2008 /

First things first: Hayden Panetierre is not a great actress. When her time on “Heroes” has finally come to a conclusion, I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that she ends up doing the straight-to-video or TV-movie circuit for the remainder of her career. I’ve been wrong before on guessing people’s ultimate career fates, but having watched the scenes tonight where Claire and Sylar are battling over the intercom, I’m feeling pretty good about this one. With precious few exceptions, she just can’t seem to deliver a menacing line without making it sound like the height of cliche…which it is, of course. But a better actress could’ve made it sound cool, while her delivery just made me groan.

I was way disappointed with how little action we got out of HRG’s plan to release the villains to serve as chum. In the end, it basically just felt like an excuse to break out the Puppet Master again…not that there’s anything wrong with that. But even that didn’t pay off. You knew the showdown between Sylar and the Puppet Master was going to turn out poorly for the latter, but I was hoping for at least a little more action than just Sylar asking, “You think you can control me?” Bam, Puppet Master’s strings are cut. Boring.

Sorry to see Claire’s biological mom go, as I kind of liked her, but once she got that shot of adrenaline, I figured she wasn’t long for this world, and I was right.

Finally, Tracy breaks out her powers again…and, subsequently, Knox breaks into a whole bunch of little pieces. It was a nice and shocking moment, to be sure. We really only got one other Tracy moment that’s worth discussing, but it was arguably the best scene of the episode: her encounter with Hiro. First, Tracy’s David Spade impression made me laugh (“And you are…?”), then she called Hiro “Pikachu,” which earned a giggle, but then Hiro offering an apology followed by a sock in the face was almost as funny as Daphne’s expression thereafter.

Speaking of Daphne, when she said, “And you were there, and you were there,” all I could think was, “Hello, ‘Wizard of Oz’ reference,” and the same went for “A Few Good Men” when Sylar screamed, “Tell me the truth!” Was this intentional? Were there more unabashed line thefts that I missed…?

Who doesn’t enjoy the opportunity to see George Takei wielding a sword again? There wasn’t really much to that scene, except to get a good laugh out of the father/son battle and to finally show the moment where the formula was torn in half, but, again, it’s George Takei wielding a sword.

Overall, I was really only “meh” about this episode. The scenes with Nathan and Peter were just more brotherly bickering, the conversation between Sylar and Mama Petrelli had limited emotional heft, given that we knew full well that she wasn’t his mother, and the whole subplot about Ando developing his time-travel-related ability was just plain ridiculous. Frankly, I’m glad to see PrimaTech finally go up in smoke; it’s about time we got more of a look at the heroes and villains outside of the same world they’ve always been centered around.

Then again, maybe I’m just tired.

Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

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