Jason Hughes
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Review: The Biggest Loser - Week Eight
(S08E07) As promised, absolutely everything Biggest Loser was transported to our nation's capitol, Washington DC, for the week. The contestants had to deal with vacation eating, exercising, and even their challenges and the weigh-in happened surrounded by national monuments.It was a pretty exciting thing for our contestants, and even Bob and Jillian were somewhat in awe of the majesty of where they were. The episode wasn't as emotionally gripping as it's been the last few weeks, but I think a lot of that has to do with the distractions of everything that was going on this week.
It's hard to have an emotional breakthrough when you're away from the comfort of the Ranch and the Biggest Loser Gym, and all the trappings that have come to make these contestants feel at home. So I found myself worried as to what would happen after a week of chaos when these guys got up on that scale.
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Review: V - Pilot (series premiere)
(S01E01) We were promised a modern re-imagining of the classic '80s V mini-series, and that's exactly what we got. Gone were the allusions to World War II Nazism and the treatment of Jews in Europe. Instead, we're offered allusions to the war we've been fighting for eight years now.
I wasn't sure how they could modify the storylines from the series I remembered to accurately find parallels to our war on terrorism, and the terrorist movements themselves, but they did. And they did it all while staying true to the struggles and fears that's kept the original series fresh in our minds for 26 years now.
Even better, I watched this with my 10-year old son who's never seen the original, and he was absolutely riveted. Everything I loved about V back then is here, and there's so much more to get excited about. I always thought V should be an ongoing series, and even though we eventually got one, I think this time they've finally got it right.
Continue reading Review: V - Pilot (series premiere)
Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, but he is the Doctor, David Tennant
I consider this a huge coup for NBC. After traveling through time and space in the TARDIS the past several years, it looks like Doctor Who's David Tennant is heading stateside to take the lead in Rex is Not Your Lawyer. Tennant will star as Rex, a top Chicago litigator who becomes so crippled by anxiety that he takes to coaching his clients into representing themselves.The idea is completely madcap, but I think Tennant has just the right kind of wacky tenacity and cavalier bravado to pull off the role. In fact, it was apparently difficulty in casting the role that delayed the project until Tennant bounced in and nailed it.
It'll be interesting to see what they do about his accent. Tennant is Scottish, but adopted an "Estuary English" accent for his role as the Doctor. I think the Doctor's accent would work tremendously with the comedic role described here, but I can see the showrunners pushing him to make like Hugh Laurie (House) and so many others and go American with it.
Gone Too Soon: Boomtown
I remember watching Boomtown for the first time. I remember where I was, and at what point in our lives it was on the air. Now, I watch a lot of television and have seen and forgotten more shows than most people would ever even want to be aware of. But Boomtown had that much of an impact on me.
Oh, I'm a sucker for a unique premise or take on familiar territory. I first tuned in to 24 because it took place in "real time," and I just had to see how that would work. I tuned into Boomtown because it promised me a look at crime from every possible perspective. How, I wondered, is that possible? And yet it brilliantly, beautifully and all too briefly was.
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Review: Heroes - Once Upon a Time in Texas
(S04E08) As promised, this week's episode of Heroes took us back to the heydays of the first season. Back when this was a world of wonder filled with new and exciting characters and mystery. Their futures lie before them, and it all centered on Charlie, the poor waitress that Hiro failed time and again to save back then.
Now that he's working on his bucket list before he kicks it, the time has come to head back three years and try to undo her death by Sylar's hand. Which means we got to see HRG, Claire, Hiro, Ando, Sylar and even Isaac as they were three years ago.
The question was whether or not he could change the past and save Charlie, when he failed to before. Furthermore, could he do so without changing all the subsequent events that had happened. He'd already had a taste of success with Ando and his sister, but this sojourn had much higher stakes.
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TNT picks up Southland (officially)
It took a few weeks to get it done, but at least all of the produced episodes of Southland have a home now. The show developed a little bit of buzz with its first seven episodes last season. Then it developed a lot of buzz this year when NBC pulled the plug on it before its second season had even begun, leaving six episodes created and in limbo.Apparently, its darker tone didn't fit in with the network's plans anymore. After all, the 10 p.m. slot, where most of your more sophisticated shows used to live on NBC, is the home of Leno now. Immediately word came out that various cable networks were looking to pick up the series, but no one knew exactly what that meant. There were theories, of course, and TNT emerged as the front-runner.
Now we know, and it looks like everyone was right. TNT has secured the rights to Southland; primarily the right to broadcast the 13 episodes produced so far.
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Leno Weekly: Chelsea Handler, Dr. Phil, Ewan McGregor and more!
Hey, a lot happens in five shows. Let's get right into it!COMEDY CORRESPONDENTS
Arsenio Hall was featured twice this week. His first appearance was in a segment that had potential called "This Is What They Said/This Is What They Meant." I was expecting to see video clips of celebrities, politicians and the like spouting their same bullcrap, and then having Hall tell us what he thinks they really meant. Instead, it was Leno reading quotes, including historically famous ones like Julius Ceasar's "Et tu, Brute!" The gag didn't make sense anymore, and even worse the bits weren't funny.
Luckily, he came back later in the week with an on-site spot at Yankee Stadium, where he interviewed players from both teams and even set up a bet against a Yankees player and Phillies fan Kevin Eubanks involving Snuggies.
Continue reading Leno Weekly: Chelsea Handler, Dr. Phil, Ewan McGregor and more!
Review: Community - Introduction to Statistics
(S01E07) My wife bought me one of those giant weekly pill containers as a joke once. She even took my allergy medication and dispersed them across the different daily containers. Looking at it, though, made me think about that day in the future when I just might need to be taking a bin full of medication on a daily basis.Granted this revelation that Pierce carries one of these around with him shouldn't come as a real surprise. His age is a huge part of his character. That, and the pills were a major part of getting us where we needed to go in this episode for Pierce's arc. And Jeff's for that matter, but then again Jeff is at the center of everything, isn't he?
Speaking of which, is he really all that charming and good-looking? Maybe I don't see it because I'm a straight man. So tell me, if you're not, would Jeff's best moves and lines work for you the way they were working on the teacher this week, or are you more resistant to his affectations, like Britta?
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Review: FlashForward - Scary Monsters and Super Creeps
(S01E06) Some big revelations this week, both in the flashforwards case, as well as in the situation at the Benford household. In fact, it was at the Benford household that it went down. I was also very proud of the writers for choosing a more challenging route for Mark's character than the tired cliches we've come to expect.We also got the first encounter between Lloyd Simcoe's son and the Benford daughter, Charlie, and so many things became more clear. A couple more flashforwards to round out the hour and I'm still happy with the series.
And speaking of Charlies, those who've been waiting all season for Dominic Monaghan to finally get down and dirty as a series regular on this little show need wait no loner. His name was even right there in the opening credits under 'Starring.'
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Review: The Office - Koi Pond
(S06E08) You know, as a solitary episode, "Koi Pond" was incredibly satisfying from beginning to end. Outside the office, you had Andy and Pam making cold calls, while back at the office you had the aftermath of a different sales call Jim and Michael had gone on.It was the perfect blend of everything that makes The Office work, when it's on its game. There were plenty of laughs, great lines and little moments for everyone in the office. We got some developments on the dramatic side, and most important of all -- an incredibly awkward moment with Michael Scott.
As for Jim, he's really struggling with aspects of his new position, and it's adding a whole new dimension to his character. He's always been a little insecure about his leadership ability, but now we're seeing that he's about as ineffective in controlling the Scranton branch as Michael ever was, thus realizing many of his worst fears.
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