Category: TV (Page 436 of 595)

Heroes, Week 22: The Future Isn’t Written In Stone…OR IS IT?!?

May 14, 2007 /

Q: Where do you begin with an episode like this week’s “Heroes”?

A: You start with, “No, wait, I’m okay!”

Wow, what an anticlimatic opening few seconds to the next-to-last episode of the season. I mean, not that I wanted them to drag the scene out – I think we were all pretty sure that Peter wasn’t actually going to explode – but, still, to have a moment that’s been foretold for half the year end be over so quickly…it was like, “OMIGOD, I’M HAVING A HEART ATTActually, hang on, sorry, it’s just gas.”

Fortunately, the moment was quickly forgotten. One reason was because of that way that Hiro shifts from utter uncertainty to having the steadfast convinction to offer the perfect delivery of a line like, “The fate of the world is in your hands.” (No pressure.) Following that, however, the end of the pre-credits sequence – specifically, Sylar’s one-liner – was one of those “Heroes” moments where I thought, “This really is a comic book come to life.” Lots of shows (not to mention movies) have tried to capture the feel of the printed page, but it takes just the right touch to pull off a melodramatic line and have the reaction be “YES!” rather than “Gimme a BREAK.”

So Linderman isn’t Mr. Petrelli…well, unless it’s an Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader kind of thing, which I wouldn’t put past this show. He did, however, heal Nathan’s wife (I think many folks probably saw that coming; it definitely occurred to me that it could happen), which makes it even harder for Nathan to back away from Linderman’s promises of the future. Also, Linderman was some kind of shady, huh? Preying on Micah’s desire to live happily ever with his parents. Dang, that’s slack. Of course, we had another theory confirmed: that Micah’s ability to manipulate all things mechanical would involve rigging the computerized voting machines. I think, however, that the fact that Linderman has underestimated Micha’s abilities is going to come back to bite his plans in the ass…

“Don’t they know we have a sword to mend?!?” Poor Hiro; he’s so naive. (Reminds me a lot of me, actually, which might be why I’m so sympathetic to his tendency to hope for the best.) Nathan all but broke his heart…but, by God, George Takei was there to put it all back together again! Didn’t you love that look on Mr. Nakamura’s face when he swung around with the blade? There’s definitely something being set up for a story arc that takes place in the past, given the way Mr. Nakamura touched on the fact that he was once part of a group of Heroes. The same one as Linderman? I’m sure we’ll find out eventually. I loved Hiro’s comment about how Ando wasn’t going to have to die after all. “He will be so relieved!” The bit with Matt Parkman and the porn-hoarding security guard was topped only by Nikica getting a funny line for a change: “Didn’t I throw you out a window?”

But what tops that line…?

HRG saying, “Your last thought.”

Officially the BEST LINE EVER.

I still figured Molly wasn’t gonna buy it, but since there’s no such thing as a bad Mexican standoff, I still enjoyed the Mohinder / HRG confrontation. I also didn’t really believe that “Jessica” was going to kill Linderman…but I was surprised by D.L. being shot…and I was DEFINITELY surprised by his fist going right into the back of Linderman’s skull and pulling out his fucking brain! CRIMINEY!!! But the question is, since he can heal others, does his body heal itself? Even so, that’s a lot to grow back!

So it’s cliffhangers a go go to set the stage for next week. Like I even need to say it: I can’t wait.

External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

As NBC releases its fall schedule, Lindsay Wagner waits anxiously by her phone for a call about a guest spot…

May 14, 2007 /

Well, kids, NBC has officially released word of its 2007 – 2008 fall season, and here’s what we have to look forward to…

Monday

The night begins the same way it has for the last several months, with “Deal or No Deal”…but, finally, someone at the network realized that it might be wise to follow “Heroes” with a drama that at least vaguely resembles the program that precedes it. Thus, we have “JOURNEYMAN.”

“JOURNEYMAN“– From Emmy Award-winning writer-producer Kevin Falls (“The West Wing”) and Emmy Award-winning director-producer Alex Graves (“The West Wing”), “Journeyman” is a romantic mystery-drama about Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd, “Rome”), a San Francisco newspaper reporter and family man who inexplicably begins to travel through time and change people’s lives. Along the way, he also must deal with the difficulties and strife at work and home brought on by his sudden disappearances. However, his freewheeling travels through the decades reunite him with his long-lost fiancée Livia (Moon Bloodgood, “Day Break”) — which complicates his present-day life with wife Katie (Gretchen Egolf, “Martial Law”) and their son. Reed Diamond (“Homicide: Life on the Street”) and Charles Henry Wyson (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) also star. “Journeyman” is a production of 20th Century Fox Television. Falls is executive producer and writer; Graves is executive producer and director of the pilot.

By the way, also very much of note is the fact that NBC is spawning a “Heroes” spin-off, entitled “ORIGINS.” The description is thus: “an innovative new spin-off that each week will introduce a new character — one of whom will be chosen by viewers through the ‘Heroes’ website on NBC.com to become a cast regular the following season.” No details yet on when it’ll air, though.

TUESDAY

Yawn. Another season of “The Biggest Loser” at 8. Hooray! Another season of “Law & Order: SVU” at 10! Sandwiched between the two, we get “CHUCK.”

“CHUCK” – From executive producer, Josh Schwartz (“The O.C.”) and executive producer-director McG (“Charlie’s Angels,” “We Are Marshall”) comes a one-hour, comedic spy thriller about Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, “Less Than Perfect”) – a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government’s most vital secret agent. When Chuck opens an e-mail subliminally encoded with government secrets, he unwittingly downloads an entire server of sensitive data into his brain. Now, the fate of the world lies in the unlikely hands of a guy who works at Buy More. Instead of fighting computer viruses, he must fight assassins and international terrorists. With the government’s most precious secrets in Chuck’s head, Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin, “My Bodyguard”) of the NSA assumes the responsibility of protecting him. His partner is the CIA’s top agent (and Chuck’s first date in years) Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strzechowski, “Gone”). They’ll keep him safe by trading in his pocket protector for a bulletproof vest. Also starring are Joshua Gomez (“Without a Trace”) as Chuck’s best buddy Morgan and Sarah Lancaster (“What About Brian?”) as Chuck’s ever-supportive sister Ellie. Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak wrote “Chuck,” which is produced by College Hill Pictures and Wonderland Sound and Vision in association with Warner Bros. Television.

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Actors, Actresses, Battlestar Galactica, External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, My Name Is Earl, News, The Office, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

Victory; for now, anyways.

May 13, 2007 /

It’s been a long time coming, but Drama’s big day is finally here – the premiere of his new drama “Five Towns” – and in celebration, the guys have catered to his every desire. They’ve let him sleep in, destroyed every copy of Variety in his vicinity, and they’ve even detailed his classic junker that he brought with him when he first came to Hollywood. Unfortunately, during a “rub and tug” at his favorite massage parlor, Drama happens upon a copy of the latest Variety to discover that the critical response isn’t quite as accommodating. In fact, every television writer in the country has panned Drama’s performance on the show – despite the fact that all of the guys seem to genuinely enjoy it – and so he sets off in his newly detailed car to blow off some steam. It isn’t until the next day that Drama wakes up in the middle of the Grand Canyon to hear the good news: “Five Towns” is a hit, nabbing 16 million viewers in its first night.

Drama wasn’t the only member of the pack that had his share of good luck, either. While waiting to pick up the car at the detailed shop, Turtle is introduced to the owner’s daughter, Kelly, and is instantly taken with her. Not only is she smoking hot, but she also shares the same crazy hobby of collecting shoes. As Turtle puts it: “She’s me, but with boobs.” Actually, that isn’t quite the compliment it should be, but that doesn’t change the fact that Turtle (after much bargaining with her father, Rufus) has scored a date with the woman of his dreams.

I’m happy for the little guy. After the whole Saigon subplot just sort of fell apart during the first half of the season, Turtle had sunk back into his usual role as the group lackey. As far as I’m considered, if Drama’s going to get a little happiness in his life, so should Turtle. And, well, so should everybody else too, it seems.

I made a remark last week that Vince’s obsession with “Medellin” had posed the biggest question of the past three years: will this damn movie ever get made? Well, we didn’t exactly reach an endpoint during this week’s episode, but we’re definitely closer. Visiting Ari at his office for the first time since they so brutally fired him, Vince and Eric are quick to make clear that Ari is most certainly not back. First, they want “Medellin,” and though Ari informs them that the movie is dead (or as he puts it, “an unbeatable super germ”), that doesn’t change things. So, in keeping with his promise, Ari sets up a meet between the three guys and wealthy movie producer Joe Roberts. The problem is, Roberts is only willing to finance “Medellin” if Vince agrees to make his passion project “Matterhorn” (“Die Hard” at Disneyland) first.

As Ari expects, Vince doesn’t bite, and because we all know he’s a little crazy, Vince announces his desire to outbid Roberts for the rights to “Medellin.” Impressed by his passion for the project, Roberts ends the bidding war and Vince walks away with the rights for a measly $5 million. Oh, and did I mention that means Vince will have to sell the house? Or that Eric has invested all $200,000 of his savings? It’s definitely an interesting angle for the series to take (and admittedly one I never even thought of), but do they really think that they can make money off a 3-hour art flick? An Oscar, maybe, but this thing has box office failure written all over it.

Entourage, External TV, TV

Another one bites the dust

May 13, 2007 /

The Sopranos Chris

Well…I guess Chris wound up flipping after all.

Okay, I know – bad taste. But come on, how else would I lead this blog entry off? There have been plenty of shocking moments in TV history, but I was utterly speechless for a good five minutes tonight after Tony suffocated Chris following their car accident. The buildup surrounding Chris’ character in general and his relationship with Tony in particular had been going on for years, and it accelerated the past few episodes, so to see it all end like that was…to be honest…a little disappointing. Sure, it’s one of the biggest moments in the show’s history, but with everything that had been going on – the tension between T and Chris, the possibility that Chris was going to talk to the feds, Carmella suspecting Chris of killing Adrianna, and the ongoing feud between Chris and Paulie – this was just about the most anticlimactic way to wrap up his arc. I thought somehow, some way, that Chris was going to be right in the middle of whatever went down in the final moments of the series, but that’s obviously not the case now. Bummer.

At first, I couldn’t tell why Tony killed Chris…or helped him die, if you prefer to look at it that way. Did he think he was doing Chris a favor since he was high and would therefore lose his license? Well, I suppose it’d be better to be alive and without wheels than six feet under, so probably not. Did he think Chris was a goner anyway? He sure was messed up, coughing up blood and barely able to keep his eyes open, so that may very well have had something to do with it. But the overriding factor, we later learned, was that Tony just wanted Chris dead. And this way he didn’t even have to do the dirty work. Hell, he didn’t even need to plan anything or set it all up; just hold the guy’s nose for a few seconds and let him choke on his own blood. Problem solved.

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External Entertainment, External TV, The Sopranos, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Bubble Watch: Veronica Mars, FNL, Studio 60 and more

May 11, 2007 /

With May sweeps wrapping up, it’s a good time to take a look at the status of a few shows and try to determine whether or not they’ll be renewed. I focused on shows that we don’t blog here at Premium Hollywood, because any news about those shows belongs in their respective blogs.

Granted, these are personal favorites, but you’re welcome to post your own news about shows I fail to mention. I’m not sure how some of these shows ended up on the bubble. How can these shows struggle while “American Idol” continues to rollover the competition? Seriously, sometimes I want to go all “Celtic Pride” on Simon Cowell and kidnap him, just to put a chink in the AI juggernaut.

“Veronica Mars” (CW)
Word has it that the network is intrigued by a Season 4 trailer that takes place two years in the future and features Veronica at the FBI academy. Maybe I just have a crush on Kristin Bell (or is it Veronica?), but that idea sounds very promising.

“The Unit” (CBS)
Any regular viewers that missed the season finale of “The Unit” should stop reading immediately and go watch it. Seriously. If you’re still here, you know that the unit has disintegrated, Jonas is in the wind and Bob has joined the CIA. His first task? To track down Jonas! “The Unit” is set to return for another season despite somewhat mediocre ratings.

“Friday Night Lights” (NBC)
Clear eyes…full hearts…can’t lose! After a lot of consideration, NBC has decided to renew the high school football drama for a second season. For those that are interested in diving into the second-best new show of the season (next to “Heroes”), NBC is streaming all episodes online. Choosing my words wisely, I wish the final game hadn’t turned out the way it turned out, but hey, I’m just happy there’s a Season 2 to look forward to.

“Studio 60” (NBC)
It was a very bad sign that the show disappeared during May sweeps, but it will return on May 24th to finish it’s first season. A second season is a serious long shot. In my research, I stumbled across an interesting article by Rick Kushman where he discusses the different ways the networks try to manipulate viewers. There’s one bit about NBC’s Thursday night schedule that is pretty funny.

“Smallville” (CW)
Michael Rosenbaum (who plays Lex Luthor) said in an interview that next season (Season 7) will be his last, and probably the last for the show. Ratings have been pretty strong and there are still a lot of storylines to mine in the world of Superman, but there’s no doubt that, after seven seasons, the actors and creators want to move on to other projects. There’s also no doubt that in a year or two, when the steady paychecks dry up, some of them will wish they had kept the series going. Anyway, we’ve got one more season. Let’s hope it ends with Clark finally becoming Superman.

“Supernatural” (CW)
I couldn’t find much info on a potential Season 3 of “Supernatural,” but Kimiit, a lounge member on the CW message boards, says that we’ll find out about the show’s fate on May 17th, when the network unveils its fall lineup. Kimiit goes on to say, “…you should be able to put your minds at ease. With the contests, all the merchandise coming out and the fact that CW will be repeating the show on Thursdays and Sundays this summer – renewal is pretty much in the bag.” Hey, if it’s good enough for Kimiit, it’s good enough for me.

“Medium” (NBC)
Despite a cast that includes one of the worst actors on TV, NBC has renewed “Medium” for its fourth season. The show has been mostly good, if a bit spotty, but a late push (that included Joe’s workplace scare and a three-part serial killer finale) has put the series on safe ground.

“ER” (NBC)
After a brief flirtation with “Grey’s Anatomy,” (truthfully, the flirtation was with Katherine Heigl) I learned that I can only handle one medical drama in my life, so until “ER” goes off the air, shows like “House” and “Heartland” (and whatever the “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff is going to be called) just don’t have a chance. After starring in his own failed medical drama (“3 lbs”), Stanley Tucci joins the cast as the ER’s new Chief for Season 14. (That’s right, “ER” has been on for 14 years!)

So there you have it, a roundup of some of the shows on the bubble. Feel free to post your own updates.

External TV, Gossip, News, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

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