Posted Oct 1st 2008 11:25AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S01E04) "It has arrived." - Bald guy wearing shadesTonight's episode definitely got me intrigued about fringe science, and this is the first time I can really say I'm looking forward to the next episode. It's a combination of things, and of course, Walter's scattered ramblings about whatever strikes him at any particular moment.
The funniest line was at the beginning, when a frustrated Peter sat up in bed and said, "What formula are you rattling off at 3 o'clock in the morning?" Walter replied, "The formula for root beer. I thought I might make some in the lab tomorrow."
Continue reading Fringe: The Arrival
Posted Sep 23rd 2008 11:28PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S01E03) "I'm making my own medication in the lab." -- Walter BishopWe've passed through the third episode of
Fringe tonight, and I'm still grooving on the show. What I love best about it isn't the
X-Files-type storylines -- as some of you have said, it's pretty much all been done before. But I love the characters, especially the talented
John Noble. It will take a while for me to not see the image of Denethor, ravaging through a buffet of food in the King's Hall in Gondor, while Pippin the hobbit sings his lonesome song in the background. It's a really vivid image, and not one easily replaced!
Continue reading Fringe: The Ghost Network
Posted Sep 17th 2008 2:02PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Early Looks, Lipstick Jungle, Reality-Free
I got hooked on NBC's
Lipstick Jungle during its first season, and can't wait to see what happens with the girls in season two, premiering Wed., Sept. 24 at 10/9c. Look for my reviews of the show on
TV Squad, as well.
While I've already found my Mr. Right, I still identify with all three women in one way or another. Like movie exec Wendy (
Brooke Shields), I'm doing my best to balance career and family. Like Victory (
Lindsay Price), I have a whole bunch of dreams and goals on my list. And like Nico (
Kim Raver), I'm an overachieving workaholic. And if not for the aforementioned Mr. Right, I'd have a really tough time saying no to
Robert Buckley's bedroom eyes, too.
Continue reading Watch the Lipstick Jungle premiere online -- a week before it's on TV - VIDEOS
Posted Sep 17th 2008 1:02AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S01E02) "If you've read my file, then you know the truth about Peter's medical history." -- Dr. Walter Bishop
Ok, let's start with that quote. What the heck do you think he's talking about? That maybe Peter is a clone or something? Seriously, that was probably the most interesting thing about this episode, and it happened at the very last second. I guess that's what they want -- to leave us hanging, so we'll be back for more next week.
I have mixed emotions about this episode. On the one hand, it seemed all over the place. We had the main plot about -- SPOILERS AHEAD -- the baby that aged at a rapid rate and died, the killer on the loose who's stealing peoples' pituitary glands so he can stay young, the doctor who refused to talk about his previous cloning experiments, Massive Dynamic's Nina trying to recruit Olivia ... it all seemed a little scattered to me.
Continue reading Fringe: The Same Old Story
Posted Sep 15th 2008 9:03AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Celebrities
The next time I have a panic attack, I want
Cesar Millan to talk me off the ledge. He might be known as the Dog Whisperer on the
National Geographic Channel, but I have a feeling he's great with humans, too. I'm sure I'd respond to his gentle "ch ch" murmurs just as well as the angry pit bulls he deals with regularly on
Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan.
The show
celebrates its 100th episode on Sept. 19, and this household is officially hooked. There's something strangely meditative about the way he calms the dogs on that show. And, truthfully, it's not so much the dogs he works with as their nimrod human companions. Let's face it. The dogs are alright. The humans need work.
It's all about relationships, and his job, he says, is to draw out the good behavior in any given dog ("There are no killer dogs!"), and then tell the humans how to maintain it.
Continue reading Dog Whisperer celebrates 100th episode
Posted Sep 12th 2008 10:03AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Early Looks, Reality-Free
I posted last week about
the new series Crash, premiering on Starz on Oct. 17. It's been a long time coming. I started hearing buzz about a TV series shortly after the film debuted in May, 2005, and the cast looks good (though I know some of you disagree with me).
The lineup of the ensemble drama includes
Dennis Hopper,
D.B. Sweeney,
Ross McCall,
Clare Carey, and
Luis Chavez, among others. I also appreciate the fact that
Paul Haggis and
Don Cheadle, who worked on the film, are producing the TV series. So whatever else happens, I have to think they'll keep the integrity of the film intact.
The
Crash press kit is now online, and it's interesting to watch the trailer and hark back to the movie. Some of it looks the same -- like the shot of a cop feeling up a woman -- and the racial tension is definitely in place.
Continue reading I like Dennis Hopper's character in Crash - VIDEO
Posted Sep 11th 2008 11:04AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals
I recently started watching
Bravo. I'm not sure why. Something about those reality shows is strangely addictive. Like, no matter how screwed up my own life might be, it's nothing compared to most of the folks on those shows. I'm pretty sure that's why reality shows are so popular. It's because they make us feel so much better about our own pathetic lives.
There's a show on Bravo called
The Real Housewives of Orange County. Remember that movie
Peyton Place? Yeah, it's a lot like that. Only the women are a lot richer, and the problems are a lot more complex than they used to be in 1957. Still fascinating ... in a voyeuristic-stalker kind of way.
Continue reading The real young people of Orange County
Posted Sep 9th 2008 11:16PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S01E01) "I knew someone would come eventually." -- Dr. Walter Bishop
This is my second time watching
Fringe --
I posted an Early Look review a couple of weeks ago -- and it's just as engaging to me now as the first time. Tonight, I focused more on the relationships of the characters, whereas the first time, I was fixated on the sci-fi paranormal elements. My thoughts:
Continue reading Fringe: Pilot
Posted Sep 9th 2008 1:24PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, The Office, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free
The Unusuals looks like one of those funny little shows that could either be a complete bust or a major mid-season breakout -- especially given the cast and crew. The ABC ensemble dramedy stars:
1.
Amber Tamblyn. I've loved her since she played Emily on
General Hospital, and she has that something-different quality that will surely rocket her to super-stardom ... in an indie-film sort of way. She broke into the mainstream consciousness with
Joan of Arcadia, the talk-to-God series that ran from 2003 to 2005. I was so disappointed when Tamblyn's I-see-dead-people series
Babylon Fields wasn't picked up last year, but
The Unusuals sounds even better.
2.
Harold Perrineau. We know him as Michael on
Lost, and
the actor was disappointed that his character wouldn't have a happy ending with son Walt. But he's on to bigger and better things with his role in
The Unusuals. It was also announced today that he's joining the cast of (and exec producing) the feature film
The Killing Jar, an indie thriller also starring
Michael Madsen and
Danny Trejo. It was time for Perrineau to leave the island.
Continue reading Five reasons to look forward to The Unusuals
Posted Sep 8th 2008 9:24AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free
I've been waiting for
Crash the TV series to materialize ever since I heard about it shortly after the movie premiered in May, 2005. The
Starz/
Lionsgate series will feature 13 episodes with a different cast of characters from the film.
Now I have even more reason to be excited, because
Tom Sizemore has
joined the series in a recurring role. He'll play Detective Adrian Cooper, whose unorthodox methods cause havoc when he investigates a police-involved shooting. Sizemore
joins Dennis Hopper in the series, with
Paul Haggis serving as executive producer.
I've had a major crush on Sizemore since he played Sgt. Vinnie Ventresca on
China Beach during the 1989-1990 season. Sure, he's had some challenging times. According to his
IMDB.com page, in February, 2005, he failed a court-ordered drug test after he was caught trying to use a prosthetic penis to fake the results. And that was the
second time he was caught trying that.
Continue reading Tom Sizemore in for Crash
Posted Sep 5th 2008 10:02AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, Arrested Development, Casting, Reality-Free
Aside from a couple of TV shows in the 1990s (
Drexell's Class and
Total Security -- ever heard of them?), most of
Jason Biggs' career has been in the film industry -- most notably as Jim Levenstein in the
American Pie series.
Now it looks like he might be headed back to TV with a
CBS comedy about a family that "loves too much." He's in final negotiations to
headline the as-yet-untitled project, which has received a pilot commitment and an order for six additional scripts.
The show revolves around adult siblings and their parents, all of whom are over-involved in each others' lives.
Continue reading Jason Biggs heading to CBS?
Posted Sep 4th 2008 8:21AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, The Apprentice, Pickups and Renewals
When I first heard about a reality show called
The Shark Tank, I thought, oh great. They've taken things too far and are planning to throw people into tanks with sharks. It's not quite that insane, but budding entrepreneurs might want to tune in for some pointers.
Helmed by Mr. Reality himself,
Mark Burnett,
The Shark Tank has been ordered to pilot by ABC. As I understand it, the unscripted project is adapted from a Japanese show called
Money Tiger, which aired on Nippon Television from 2001 to 2004. The show has since been produced in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Nigeria, and the U.K.
The premise is interesting: aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to moguls, a.k.a. "Sharks," in hopes of landing investment funds.
Continue reading ABC diving into The Shark Tank
Posted Sep 3rd 2008 9:21AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, King of the Hill, Celebrities, Retro Squad, Casting, Damages, Emmys, Reality-Free, Cheers
Ted Danson is one of those actors who just keeps chugging along through the years. He could have easily disappeared after
Cheers, but he's been working steadily in both movies and TV.
Becker sort of flew under the radar, but aired from 1998 to 2004. There was the short-lived
Help Me Help You in 2006. Danson even voiced a part on
King of the Hill (Tom Hammond in "The Accidental Tourist" episode).
But it's his stint as the sinister Arthur Frobisher in
Damages that's brought him into the forefront again. It also helped to
catapult him into his next gig -- a lead role in
HBO's comedy pilot
Bored to Death.
Continue reading Ted Danson in for HBO pilot
Posted Sep 2nd 2008 12:42PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Industry, OpEd, CSI, NCIS, Reality-Free
A
CBS press release landed in my inbox today with this earth-shattering news: CBS's fall programming ads (20 total) will be featured exclusively in
People's Sept. 22 issue.
From the release: "In a special arrangement with the magazine, CBS will be the exclusive broadcast advertiser in the issue, on stands Sept. 12." Of course, that's right before the launch of CBS's new fall lineup.
And it sounds like this might be a first. George Schweitzer, president of CBS Marketing Group says, "CBS has long valued its relationship with
People, and we're elated that they worked with us to pull off this first-time strategy to be the sole broadcast advertiser in this well-timed issue." You know, whatever. Blah, blah, blah.
So why should we care? Honestly, I really don't. I just keep thinking,
People? What, they couldn't come up with anything snappier? Like, I dunno ... maybe
Entertainment Weekly?
Vanity Fair? I guess with 43 million readers, they'll reach a lot of people in
People.
Continue reading CBS to rule People magazine
Posted Sep 2nd 2008 11:01AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Video, Early Looks, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
Wow, I really like this show! But darn, I'll have to wait to see what happens next, because
FOX only sent us the pilot episode. I hope the continuing episodes are just as good. I expect nothing less from writer/producer J.J. Abrams, who already has a slew of hits on
his IMDB page, including
Lost and
Alias (and I have high hopes for the upcoming
Star Trek feature film, which he's directing and producing). Also on board for
Fringe are the writers of
Transformers:
Alex Kurtzman and
Roberto Orci. Good combo there.
Let's see ... what can I tell you about
Fringe without giving away any spoilers? The first scene hooked me and wouldn't let go until ... well, it still hasn't let go, because I can't wait to see what happens next. The show is equal parts
Lost,
Heroes,
CSI, and
The X-Files, and the pilot episode covers a lot of ground in the set-up, but also ends with lots of questions.
Continue reading Fringe - an early look - VIDEO
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