Category: TV (Page 439 of 595)

Bullz-Eye’s Favorite TV Finales

May 4, 2007 / Will Harris

All good things must end and, certainly, our favorite television series are no exceptions to this longstanding rule. It’s really been on our mind a lot lately, given that one of the most important shows in recent memory is drawing to a close. Of course, we’re speaking of “Gilmore Girls.”

Um, we mean “The Sopranos.”

Sorry, our bad. We don’t watch “Gilmore Girls.” And we definitely don’t own the six seasons of the show that are currently available on DVD. Or the soundtrack.

Where were we?

Oh, right: “The Sopranos” is departing the airwaves, and like most diehard TV addicts, we here at Bullz-Eye are down on our knees, hoping and praying that the series finale lives up to the legacy that David Chase has created for the show over the course of these six seasons. It’s also gotten us to reminiscing about other departed series…in particular, which ones met the challenge of providing just the right amount of closure to leave their fans happy, and which ones failed miserably at the task. Your mileage may vary when you’re presented with our selections, but, hey, we can’t watch everything!

By the way, we shouldn’t have to tell you that there are major spoilers ahead, but better safe than sorry, no? And now that we’ve officially absolved of any guilt, click here to read on!

External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV DVDs

Jericho, Episode 21: Bombs dropping down, please forgive our hometown in our insignificance…

May 3, 2007 / Will Harris

(Anyone recognize the subject line…? Without Googling the lyrics, I mean…)

Again with a great episode? Wow, you’d think the producers of “Jericho” wanted to come back next season or something…

So, basically, Phil Constantine is a dick. He sends over a lackey (was he actually his son, or did he just use “son” as a generic term?) with a walkie talkie, so that there’s a line of communication between Jericho and New Bern, then says, “Turn over this, this, and this, or we’re kicking the living hell out of your town.” And when Mayor Anderson refuses, it’s Mortar Time! So Mr. Mayor sends Stanley and a bunch of dudes over to New Bern to ambush ’em…and, whoops, Stanley’s basically the only one who makes it back. As if the bombs weren’t bad enough, given that Gail Green was caught in one of the explosions, this was really rough stuff. Suddenly, Grey Anderson begins to have a major emotional freak-out…and, frankly, who can blame him? He’s just sent a bunch of townfolk to their death…! The Mexican stand-off was a great, tense moment; I don’t care how many times you see it done in movies and on TV, you just can’t beat a Mexican stand-off for tension…

So Hawkins reunited with his family and, at last, he’s decided that Jericho is officially his new stomping grounds. That was a great moment when Jake was incredulous that Hawkins hadn’t offered up any of his guns before, and Hawkins said, “I didn’t think I was going to make Jericho my home.” Now that he has, look out! I was a little uncertain about Dale’s move to invite the refugees into co-ownership of his farm – I had visions of Jonestown, for some reason – but it looks like it’s gonna pay off for Jericho as a whole. The disgusted expression on Emily’s face when she watched her dad kill the grounded New Bern guy in cold blood was also a good, if sad, moment.

The use of the acoustic version of the Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These” served as a final way of proving how far “Jericho” has come this season. Remember all of my complaints about their god-awful music selections for the episode-ending montages? (My personal favorite: “The choice of pop songs for the soundtrack sucks ASS.”) Well, this one was an absolutely perfect choice. Watching the entire town arm themselves for the coming battle against New Bern definitely left you wondering: when the new day is rising, who’ll be left standing to greet the dawn?

I have to say, though, that despite the sight of Heather resulting a slight eyebrow raising, the phrasing sure sounded ominous in that voiceover during the preview for next week’s season finale; I have a bad feeling about the chances of that second season…but, by God, I’m not giving up hope. (If you thought I was going to add something cheesy like, “If the people of Jericho aren’t giving up, I’m not, either,” well, I admit, I was sorely tempted…but I’m restraining myself.) With each passing episode, “Jericho” proceeds to get better and better. As I’ve said before, if the show doesn’t get picked up for a second season, it has no-one to blame but itself for the slow start and rocky middle of Season 1…but, damn, you can’t say they haven’t been trying a Hail Mary pass with these last several episodes. I mean, you have to hate the fact that it’s beating “Friday Night Lights” in the ratings, given that that show’s pretty damned good, too, but surely we can all agree that it’s a public embarrassment that both series are being stomped by…”The George Lopez Show”?

Come on, America, give us a break…

External Entertainment, External TV, Jericho, TV, TV Dramas

American Idol: The Final Four

May 3, 2007 / Mike Farley

Last night’s “American Idol” featured two eliminations, because the big shocker last week during “Idol Gives Back” was that everyone was safe. So it was back to business, as host Ryan Seacrest said. So after some weird banter between Seacrest and Simon, it was on to the show. Does anyone out there understand that creepy banter?

Since the results show is now typicall an hour long, with an extra performance other than by the “mentor” of the week, we were graced with Robin Thicke, who has a hit song right now called “Lost Without U.” Um, people, I have to tell you, I just don’t get it. Any schmuck could sing that song in the same falsetto he did, and it kind of put me to sleep. Let’s put it this way….including Jon Bon Jovi, there were seven better singers on the stage last night. More, if you count the backup singers.

Okay, then it was finally on to business. Melinda, Phil and Lakisha were brought to the center of the stage. Melinda was the first to safety, then Lakisha, sending Phil home in a “Blaze of Glory.” My wife cried–she really did. Simon rejoiced on the inside as another bald contestant was sent home.

Then throughout the show, they brought back former champs Ruben Studdard, Fantasia and Taylor Hicks to ask for more money to help the kiddies.

Then it was Bon Jovi’s turn. They did the single from their forthcoming album, “(You Want To) Make A Memory,” and it wasn’t exactly the rocker you’d expect after the way Jon coached the contestants. Still, it’s a really good song….the kind that I think has the potential to be one of their biggest hits.

Then it was down to Jordin, Blake and Chris. Jordin was safe, leaving best buds Blake and Chris to swap hugs and kisses before Chris was sent packing. I mean, we all knew that was coming, didn’t we?

So it’s down to Blake, Lakisha, Melinda and Jordin–or, Blake and three divas. I still think this is coming down to Jordina and Melinda, but Blake and Lakisha showed this week that they have the potential to win it all as well. It’s going to get interesting, that’s for sure….starting with what I think Ryan Seacrest called “boogie week” with mentor Barry Gibb. Which of course means that no one will be favored. See you next week…

American Idol, TV

So does that count as a double redemption?

May 2, 2007 / Jason Zingale

If there was ever a moment when that crazy Purgatory theory actually held some weight in the long run of the series, it was tonight. I still don’t believe it’s a credible theory (since the writers already came out and said so), but we’ve all been duped before, and I’m not prepared to cross it off my list of possibilities any time soon.

Tonight’s episode featured less of a conventional flashback, dating back only five days when Locke was last shown the contests of the magical box. It was his father, Anthony Cooper, of course, and as a gesture of good faith to The Others, Ben orders Locke to kill him. When faced with the chance to do so, however, Locke backs down, and Ben exclaims that he’s “not who [they] thought he was.” When another Other suggests that Locke convince someone else to do the dirty deed, he finds the perfect man for the job.

Enter Sawyer. He’s just cashed in on a late-night booty call with Kate, and though he’d much rather spend the night with her, he sets off on a late night stroll instead. It’s there that Locke confronts him about the opportunity to kill Ben (who he says he’s just kidnapped), and while Sawyer would rather just bring him back to camp alive, Locke assures him that he’ll a change of heart after listening to what Ben has to say.

It wasn’t the least surprising to discover Cooper there instead of Ben, except perhaps for Sawyer, who’s never seen this man before in his life. As soon as Locke mentioned that little tidbit about reading Sawyer’s file (not the killing part, but the family history part) and then mentioned his possible change of heart, I just knew that Cooper was going to end up being the real Sawyer – the man that not only seduced and conned James Sawyer’s mother, but also led to his father’s murder-suicide. As you’d expect, Sawyer just happens to have that letter he wrote to Cooper when he was a young boy, and he makes him read it aloud. Cooper doesn’t seem all that sorry about what he’s done (dude’s pure evil), perhaps because he seems to think he’s already in Hell. And if he isn’t, well, Sawyer took care of that when he choked him to death.

On a side note, did anyone find it strange that when Rousseau arrived at the Black Rock (where Locke was holding Sawyer and Cooper) to pick up some more dynamite that she didn’t interject at all? She definitely heard Sawyer’s screams for help, but I guess if anyone on that island understands what Locke is doing, it’d be her.

Anyways, at least Sawyer got something out of the forced murder. Locke tips Sawyer off about the incoming raid (and that Juliet is a mole), handing him the tape recorder as proof. This is definitely going to land Juliet in hot water over on Survivor Island (not to mention Jack, as well), so it’ll be interesting to see what happens during these last three weeks. And speaking of Jack, it looks like he finally knows about the mystery girl, Naomi. Despite the A-Team choosing to tell Sayid instead of Jack (because they just can’t trust him now that he’s been seen fraternizing with the enemy), Kate eventually found out and spilled the details. That seems like a pretty dumbass move (something Hurley would do, you know?), but maybe it’s all part of Desmond’s big-picture strategy. Only time will tell…

External TV, Lost, TV

American Idol: Ready To Rock

May 2, 2007 / Mike Farley

We knew going in that none of the remaining contestants on “American Idol” were rocker types. Gina Glocksen was long gone and I can’t for the life of me think of anyone else from this season that fit the mold. But there was Jon Bon Jovi and his keyboard player to help coach them and watch them perform his songs. Surprisingly, many of them brought their A game, and some of them to the point where it may have saved their ass from elimination based on last week’s holdover votes. Here are yesterday’s performances ranked, and after that we’ll have to have some fun with math to figure out who is going home:

1. Blake Lewis was ranked last here a week ago and I thought he was in serious danger after that horrible sensitive-guy-on-stool rendition of “Imagine.” But yesterday he broke out the beat boxing again, and somehow put together an awesome arrangement of “You Give Love A Bad Name.” I was skeptical, but dude had to know he was in danger based on last week, and he connected on the long ball last night. Randy said it was the most original arrangement ever on the show, Paula said Blake really put himself out there and took a chance, and Simon said it was brave and should keep him around another week.

2. Lakisha Jones sang “This Ain’t A Love Song,” a rare Bon Jovi track that has a bit of soul. Meaning, it was the perfect song for her. And I had Lakisha at #5 last week, so she also may have saved her own ass because she was incredible. Randy said it was pitchy at the start but that Lakisha brought it around, Paula said she did her thing, and Simon planted a wet kiss on Lakisha’s LIPS afterward. That was awkward, creepy and entertaining all at the same time. But what that meant is Simon really dug it.

3. Melinda Doolittle was great as usual, but she was slightly overshadowed by Lakisha and Blake last night. Melinda sang “Have a Nice Day” and I was thinking she gave it the Tina Turner treatment. Then Randy and Simon both said the same thing. Randy admitted it wasn’t Melinda’s best, but still great. Paula said Melinda is a rock star, and Simon said Melinda is still in a different league vocally than everyone else.

4. Phil Stacey kicked things off with an awesome rendition of “Blaze of Glory.” I mean, this was his best performance yet and really suited his voice. But the problem is, Phil was still out-performed by three others last night and could be in danger. Randy said it was Phil’s best performance to date, Paula said it was the best opening song of the season so far, and Simon said it was “just okay,” and that he feared Phil could be going home.

5. Jordin Sparks sang “Livin’ On a Prayer” and it was not bad, but she really took on a difficult song to sing. Jon Bon even admitted that. Randy said Jordin isn’t really a rock girl, and that the verses were rough; Paula said Jordin “went for it” but that the song was out of her range; and Simon said it was like something out of the “Addams Family,” because Jordin tried to rock out her hair style to fit the song, and it didn’t exactly work. He also said it was “shrieking” and “terrible.” That is not a good sign.

6. Chris Richardson is the obvious choice for elimination. He sang “Wanted Dead Or Alive,” and while he threw a little of his R&B flavor in, it just was very mediocre due to the fact that Chris followed Blake. Randy said Chris did his thing, Paula agreed, and Simon said Chris did as much as he could possibliy do, but that it may not be good enough. I couldn’t have said that any better.

Okay, so last week’s rankings looked like this:

1. Melinda
2. Jordin
3. Phil
4. Chris
5. Lakisha
6. Blake

Adding up the places I’ve come up with, here is the average placement of the 2 weeks’ performances:

Melinda 2
Phil 3.5
Jordin 3.5
Lakisha 3.5
Blake 3.5
Chris 5

What this means is Melinda is unequivocally safe, and Chris is the first to leave. But otherwise, this thing is completely up in the air. The other one going home, I’m thinking, is Phil. Even though he was great last night, Lakisha and Blake were that much better, and Jordin was too awesome last week.
I guess we’ll find out tonight. No two hour Idol Gives Back, just one hour of the regular fluff and results, and Bon Jovi!