Category: TV (Page 302 of 595)

Liberty’s Kids: The Complete Series

November 5, 2008 /

Originally a part of the PBS Kids schedule from 2002-03, and since in near-constant cable syndication, DiC Entertainment’s “Liberty’s Kids” attempted to boil down 16 years of early American history (from the Boston Tea Party in 1773 to George Washington’s inauguration in 1789) into a 40-part series of cartoons. In this respect, it isn’t terribly different from any of a number of like-minded projects, and in fact, it suffers from shades of the same embarrassing pandering that seems to go with the whole ‘take a dry subject and make it cool’ subgenre of children’s entertainment – but “Liberty’s Kids” has a lot going for it, too. Knowing they’d have to scrub out most revisionist perspectives (and all of the stories’ naughty bits), the filmmakers did their best to present our founding fathers’ tales from several points of view, and although it doesn’t always work – a number of the featured characters feel like token attempts at multiculturalism – it’s still a lot better than the rote, bone-dry (and often inaccurate) retellings most of us got as kids.

They often seem shoehorned into parts that don’t really make sense, but “Liberty’s Kids” boasts a tremendous celebrity voice cast, including Walter Cronkite (as Benjamin Franklin), Annette Bening, Whoopi Goldberg, Dustin Hoffman, Billy Crystal, Ben Stiller, Liam Neeson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Norman Schwarzkopf, and – in a performance for the ages – Sylvester Stallone as Paul Revere. None of this will matter to the show’s target audience, but it speaks to the studio’s dedication to the finished product – which is bundled up beautifully by Shout! Factory in this six-DVD set, along with an array of bonus features, including featurettes and a 40-page booklet. None of it will take the place of a well-written textbook and a good teacher, but as a gateway into American history, it works surprisingly well. If you’re looking for a gift you can feel good about for the preteen in your life, you could do worse than this.

Click to buy “Liberty’s Kids: The Complete Series”

TV, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

The Shield 7.10 – Party Line

November 4, 2008 /

The last thing Shawn Ryan needed to do was to give his wife (Cathy Cahlin Ryan) a bigger part to play in the final stretch of his grand opus known as “The Shield.” Of course, I should have known that if anyone was going to bring down Vic Mackey it would be Corrine, and, well, that only makes her character that much more annoying. Is Vic Mackey a good guy? Not really, but the reason he went crooked in the first place was so that he could give his family a better life. Now, Corrine is punishing him for doing exactly that by turning to Dutch and Claudette for protection.

Protection? Has it really come down to that, even though Vic has stated time and again that he would never lay a finger on the mother of his children? And while we’re at it, would you like some cheese with that whine? Fer chrissakes, can someone just kill this woman already? She’s done nothing but cause trouble for Vic throughout the course of these last seven years, and he’s done nothing but protect her from the consequences. If anyone needs protecting, it’s Vic. Unfortunately, that’s not how the cards have fallen, and after being guaranteed immunity by Dutch and Claudette (even though the Assistant Chief would rather just arrest her instead), she spills the beans on everything she knows.

Of course, Vic isn’t aware of his ex-wife selling him out, because if he were, he might’ve gone on the run with Ronnie as soon as the idea was brought up. Instead, he convinces his last loyal friend to stick by his side, hoping that if everything goes as planned, he can land both him and Ronnie a gig with the feds. That isn’t going to be possible with Aceveda stealing all his thunder, though. Just when Vic tries to prove his worth to Pezeula and “the cause” in front of his new cartel friend, Beltran, Aceveda hijacks the meeting and beats the shit out of Pezuela as a way of saying, “Who’s dick is in who’s ass now?” It was a rare shining moment for Aceveda, but at what cost? Vic is quick to jump at the chance to talk directly to Beltran, and his first order of business as a member of Team Drug Cartel is to assassinate Pezuela. Instead, Vic fakes his death and brings him to the feds so that he can testify against Beltran, and in doing so makes himself look all the more important to the case.

Meanwhile, as everyone in town is busy looking for Shane, the happy couple is having a gay old time in their temporary living arrangements – skinny-dipping in the pool, cooking out on the back porch, and playing hide-and-seek in the house. That is, until a real estate agent walks in on them and Shane is forced to lock her in the pantry as they make their escape. With only one more day until the motorcade comes to town, Shane is persistent that they just lay low, but he didn’t plan on Vic putting a bounty on his head. When a couple of gang members recognize him while he’s picking up some groceries, they hold him at a gun point while they call their boss for the reward. Desperate to escape, Shane offers them twice as much ($20,000) only for them to take all $100,000 when they notice there’s still money in the bag. In response, Shane gives Vic a call to let him know what a terrible mistake he’s just made. Not only has he sent Claudette a letter exposing “one of his many sins,” but he demands that the money be repaid by tomorrow.

What Vic doesn’t know is that while Mara is on the other line with Corrine filling her in on the details, Claudette jumps in to offer Mara immunity and Shane a better deal than Vic will get if they turn themselves in. Luckily for Vic, I don’t think Shane is going to take the bait. Of course, I’ve been wrong before, but it just doesn’t seem like a smart move on Shane’s part – especially when their ride to freedom is less than 24 hours away.

External TV, The Shield, TV, TV Dramas

Prison Break 4.9: “Greatness Achieved”

November 4, 2008 /

This episode felt a little like Season One, with Michael and the gang wandering around the guts of a building, trying to engineer their way to Scylla. Michael had his MacGyver moment when digging under the water pipe turned out to be a fruitless endeavor. “Maybe we can go through it,” he says gruffly.

“You and the fellas head down the hole and I’ll stay up here and use my Southern wiles to keep the po-po off our tail.”

It’s not often that one of my predictions comes true, so I feel compelled to point it out when one does. Three episodes ago, I wrote the following:

I’m giving 2 to 1 to any brave bettors that his [Don’s] wife is dead and that he listens to that voicemail every so often to remember her.

Don’s wife is indeed dead. She and her unborn baby died during child birth. This is important because Don talks Mahone down off the edge of the cliff with regard to Morpheus. Mahone’s quest for vengeance has been one of the best things about this season of “Prison Break” and it came to fruition tonight. I loved the abruptness of Morpheus’ little speech at the end. Mahone didn’t want to hear it so he just pushed him in the bay. It sort of reminded me of the way villains would always try to kill James Bond. Instead of just putting a bullet in his head, they come up with some elaborate way of murdering him. For Mahone’s sake, hopefully Morpheus is gone for good.

Boy, there was some serious creepiness between the General and Gretchen in his office? What was with all the “my girl” talk and the open-mouth kiss? Yuk.

I’m guessing that Gretchen’s actions in the office were just a part of her overall plan to take down the General and his Company and make a crapload of money in the process. I’m not sure why she’d buy his line of reasoning after he was the one that sentenced her to death a month or so ago. Suddenly, she’s his “girl” again. Come on.

Lastly, we bid farewell to Bellick tonight. I could tell something was up when he had a couple of little moments with Lincoln. First, there was the line about how Linc should be more respectful of Roland’s death and then there was the bit where Bellick asked Linc about what it was like to be away from LJ. Bellick has been a survivor for the entire series run, so I find it hard to believe that he would sacrifice himself for the greater good like he did in this episode. Oh well… rest in peace, Brad.

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

Bullz-Eye’s All-Time Favorite TV Punching Bags

November 4, 2008 /

In nature, the weaker members of a species are often ostracized so they cannot reproduce and dilute the gene pool. Lions, for example, do not keep an omega male around to be the butt of the joke for the rest of the pride, like we humans tend to do. And while that makes sense in a Darwinian way, our way is a lot more fun. It may be cruel, but imagine how boring life would be if we lived in a world without the human equivalent of a punching bag. Admit it: you all know someone who fills this role in your life, and you relish it. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t.

The world of television has a near-inverse proportion of punching bags as there are in nature, and this makes sense; it is much easier – and fun – for the writing staff to designate one character as the target for random acts of misfortune and malice, though not necessarily in that order. If you ever wondered why every show features at least one character that the other characters would likely never associate with in real life, now you know.

So bring us your sad, your weak, your insecure; your clueless, your obnoxious, your desperate, your slow-witted, and we will celebrate them for their inherent loserness. Get your boxing gloves on as we present to you Bullz-Eye’s all time favorite TV punching bags.

Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, Curb Your Enthusiasm, External Entertainment, External TV, Humor, South Park, The Office, The Sopranos, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV DVDs

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2.6 – Girls ain’t nothing but trouble

November 3, 2008 /

The rest of the episode may have been of the now-standard, here’s-a-morsel-of-plot variety, but you can’t deny that that opening sequence, where Ellison comes face to face with an Ellison Terminator, was creepy good. Even better that Cromartie kills the Terminator (!) because he believes that Ellison will ultimately lead him to the Connors. Cromartie is like Ellison’s own personal Cameron, which is just too strange for words.

Cameron, ironically, is the one that gives Cromartie his first clue in ages as to the whereabouts of the Connors. Her photo is finally entered into the police database after her stint at the halfway house following her arrest. Cromartie hits the house for clues, and finds Cameron’s deadbeat jail buddy Jody, who’s naturally out for revenge after Cameron nearly killed her. Their back-and-forth had its moments (mainly when Cromartie said “I’m not a cop” in the most unconvincing way possible), but the bit where he shoved her out of the car was money. But wouldn’t a Terminator like Cromartie be programmed to kill Jody once he had no use for her? Just a thought.

Aisle 7: condiments, salad dressing, welfare cases, unstoppable killing machines.

The other woman in John’s life, schoolmate Riley, causes even more trouble for the Connors when she forgets to set the alarm on their place and they are robbed. Cash, jewels, fake IDs, even their food is stolen. Mama Bear is not happy, but must be doing jumping jacks on the inside, since she’s been looking for a reason to keep John away from Riley since the day they met (I’ve dated girls with mothers like Sarah, it isn’t pretty). They eventually get their stuff back – three thieves and a fence lose their lives as a result – but not without tipping off Cromartie yet again when one of the thieves tries to use one of the stolen credit cards. So there’s your life lesson, John Connor: bitches ain’t shit. Make sure you have your therapist on speed dial in the future.

Cromartie isn’t the only machine that’s protecting Ellison, though. Catherine Weaver cleverly bails Ellison out of a jam after he’s fingered for a murder committed by his Terminator doppelganger. So two machines are protecting Ellison, while one (so far) has tried to kill him. Does he wind up playing a role of Miles Dyson proportions when all is said and done? Perhaps, but for the moment, as Catherine deftly observed, Ellison is Job. That’s gotta suck.

External TV, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, TV, TV Action, TV Sci-Fi

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Premium Hollywood

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑