We all know Hit Me Baby One More Time and Dancing With the Stars are knock-offs of American Idol, but did you know what they're really harking back to? The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley points out that our reality TV shows really have a lot more in common with series from the good old days, such as American Bandstand, The Lawrence Welk Show, and This is Your Life, reminding us that old stars can do new tricks: Rachel Hunter waltzing across a ballroom floor, or Tommy Tutone reliving his glory days of "867-5309," even though now he's got a 9-5 job in software. Rachel Hunter and Lawrence Welk, finally together
We all know Hit Me Baby One More Time and Dancing With the Stars are knock-offs of American Idol, but did you know what they're really harking back to? The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley points out that our reality TV shows really have a lot more in common with series from the good old days, such as American Bandstand, The Lawrence Welk Show, and This is Your Life, reminding us that old stars can do new tricks: Rachel Hunter waltzing across a ballroom floor, or Tommy Tutone reliving his glory days of "867-5309," even though now he's got a 9-5 job in software. The Inside: Old Wounds
Well. This was an interesting one. I'll give the quick plot rundown but then I want to get straight to the juicy bits. First off, they do the case workups. Paul suggests the murder of a judge, but Webb shoots it down. Rebecca gets it back on the table when she proves that the murder isn't just one murder but the most recent in a string. Way to go, Rebecca! They start investigating, and it turns into one of those S&M "you're judging" "no I'm not" scenarios where anyone who's watching who is into chains and whips starts to feel unbelieveably uncomfortable. There's some suspicion Rebecca likes it rough. Fortunately, it's not the S&M suspect who's been killing, it's either the Jesus freak or the detective. (Don't you just love serial killer shows?) After much plodding about, they figure out the detective did it, and promptly arrest him, right after he's blown his brains out. Kudos, FBI team, kudos.Continue reading The Inside: Old Wounds
Horton, Lucas, McG: Variety in 60 seconds
Remember that guy from thirtysomething? Well, he's a director now (his name is Peter Horton), and he's signed on to produce and direct Grey's Anatomy for the next two years.George Lucas's Steven Spielberg's* TNT mini-series, Into the West, has been snatched up by the BBC for an enormous sum, and whoops, now the BBC is being scolded for driving up the prices of U.S. entertainment "imports." West hit over 6 million viewers on it's premiere last Friday.- Oh no, it's Mel Gibson again. He's going to be the executive producer of Sundance Channel's Came So Far from Beauty, a doc about musician Leonard Cohen.
- Remember McG's one-season Fastlane on FOX? Yeah, me neither. But just in case you're interested, Court TV just grabbed the rights to re-air the series starting this July 2nd, so watch away.
Oh my! Collegiate crowd just doesn't get TV
Yahoo! News reports that the Twin Cities (that's Minneapolis and St. Paul) don't really watch that much TV. What's the catch? Well, despite the long winters and the fact that many of the households are upper-class (and therefore able to afford premium services), the area still ranks 201st among 210 cities in cable and satellite subscription. And the Twin Cities is one of the top 20 largest markets in America. So how do you get a whopping 41 percent of a region to turn off the TV each night? Give them all college degrees! A few of use here at TV Squad have college degrees (they make good placemats) but we think Minneapolis and St. Paul just need to be reminded that pop culture is the new academia. Joyce, Lawrence, Lowell? No no no...Britney, Kevin, Kutcher! Be proud of your large-market status, Twin Cities! TiVo Cops! while you drink beaujolais, for all we care! Just do it!
No more VHS?
Well, we kind of knew this would happen. But Cinematical reports that VHS tapes are going the way of the dinosaur, and will not be reinvented as the next big vintage thing. Wal-Mart and Target are chucking the clunky tapes from their shelves, and although they don't say if blank tapes will be hitting the garbage, too, we kind of have to assume our days of carefree tape recording are over. So what happens next? Will it be DVR for ever and ever? Will we all have to give up and buy DVD recorders? Gentleman, start up your credit cards...LOGO grabs Graham Norton
Graham Norton's myriad shows are slated to appear on MTV's new 24-hr gay network Logo, alongside the new stand-up show Wisecrack, which will feature Margaret Cho and others. Graham Norton in New York, V Graham Norton, and The Graham Norton Effect (how many shows does this guy have, anyway?) are all picked up for Logo, based on the notion that gay audiences would like a little comedy in their day, as "humor connects people to one another by shining a light on our common experiences," or so says Logo president Brian Graden.Variety in 60 seconds: sexy models, scary TV
This ought to be interesting: on July 5th, TCM will air Watch the Skies, a documentary about science fiction films. It'll be narrated by the Star Wars original himself, Mark Hamill.- Ahh, more models. VH1 just grabbed The Agency, which began taping Monday, and shows up on our tubes in 2006. The premise? Wilhelmina booking agents face the curious realities of the fashion world. Hmm. Fascinating.
- The new scary: Amityville Horror for TV. Called Bound, the nightmare series is about a family that moves into a haunted house. The show is handled by The Ring's production company, so maybe it will actually be kind of/sort of scary, but we're dubious as it's billed as a "family show."
- ABC's show Dancing with the Stars hit top ratings with 15 million viewers on Wednesday. The reality show is about...umm...dancing.
Previously on Cinematical: J'Lo, George Lopez, Buffy won't die
J'Lo and Mark Anthony have been married for an entire year: can you believe that shit?- George Lopez of George Lopez gets his own film, called The Richest Man in the World. In case you couldn't guess, it's a rags-to-riches kind of film that I'm sure will involve some precious moral lesson.
- Karina writes an awesome review of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
- And, Buffy Summers broke all the horror rules: she didn't die (well, okay, she did...but she kept coming back to life, so it doesn't count.)
- Oh! One more—Russell Crowe suffers from not being able to get biblical with his wife.
Sorry, no Sex and the City for you
Sorry, there will be no Sex and the City film, no matter what Kristin Davis says. The former Sex star and totally friendly all around gal-pal has always been so kind to her fans. Actually, she's kind of been lying to them. Whereas Sarah Jessica Parker barks "no!" upon being asked if a Sex and the City film is a possibility, Davis demurely replies, "well yes, I would do it." But now she's coming clean—there's no film, that's the "sad truth." So put your autograph books back in your pockets, pals, there's no future in Sex, it's just one of those "I'm too nice to tell" vicious rumors.The Inside: Pilot
How do you kick off your series premiere? The Inside gives us our first glimpse of what "defaced and degloved" means, but only after the jaunty techno theme song fades out. Episode one deviates from the standard here-lies-the-body, here-lies-the-case formula—we find out that the first victim is actually a suicide victim, an FBI agent who had been working the killer's case. The suspense is legitimate as first, lead agent Virgil "Web" Webster cracks the whip after his agents as they convene on the case. One agent isn't there—it's her day off—but true to the nature of Web, he demands they page her, pronto. Web goes over the body, laying face down on a soiled mattress in a crack house; with the victim's face off, they try to identify it based on what appears to be a birthmark cut off the body, until Web notes that it isn't a birthmark, but a tattoo. There's a heightened confusion as Web pulls a pager off the woman, begins muttering into a tape recorder the details of the woman's life "two kids, divorced" and then, suddenly, the victim's pager rings. Introducing Agent Alvarez, victim number 9.Continue reading The Inside: Pilot
Court TV does Deep Throat
Zap2it.com gets the scoop on Court TVs newest film project: Deep Throat. Ever since nonagenarian W. Mark Felt came forward as The Man Who Felled Richard Nixon, there's been scramble aplenty to get all the dirt, and apparently, Court TV has just the fix for us media junkies: the made-for-TV docudrama. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the reporters with whom Felt made contact, kept his dirty little secret for three damn decades. Finally, we can get some real entertainment out of it (apologies to Robert Redford).[via Indianapolis Star]
Coming back? Chappelle meets with Comedy Central execs
AP wire [via Yahoo! News] pulled this rabbit out of their hat earlier today: Dave Chappelle met with Comedy Central executives (well, mostly Doug Herzog) this past Friday, after his two performances at LA club Improv. There's no word on whether or not Chappelle and CC are making up or permanently breaking up—spokes Tony Fox kept his lips sealed—but hey, at least it's a start. Or a sign. Of something. Dave! Can you hear me? Come back!Adam Brody: where was he then?
Here's a little weirdo fact that Adam Brody fans probably already know: he was a villain on Smallville pre-Gilmore Girls, pre-O.C., pre-, well, anything besides Judging Amy and a bit role as Customer #1 in City Guys (anyone remember that series?) So here I am, watching my Smallville reruns when Brody shows up onscreen as Justin Gaines, an art student who's hands were crippled in a hit and run and who now has telekinetic powers. Will Brody/Dave/Seth be Brody/Dave/Seth, I ask myself? Will he love comic books and talk fast and essentially geek out? Verily, indeed, he does—the creepy telekinesis barely matters. As a character actor goes, he's infinitely entertaining, even with his swan neck, open-mouthed gaze, and oddly charming inflection.Just wanted to let everyone know.
Annnndddd! Smallville trivia bit: in minute 14 of Episode 119, Brody (as Justin) drops a bunch of drawings. Very briefly, we catch a glimpse of a well-rendered vision of Superman, complete with cape and blazing insignia. Ahh, it's always in the details, isn't it?
What's slightly better than Britney and Kevin? Mannequin 2.
"I assume the sun will rise tomorrow, but I know nothing happened on Britney & Kevin: Chaotic." Let's saunter over to Television Without Pity, shall we? Stee writes a unbelievably hysterical skewering of Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, that—in a mere six pages—is one of the most delightful recaps of bad television, ever. After a brief listing of things that are slightly better than B & K, Stee does some complex comparision searching, and I find myself agreeing: Yes, Britney is like "a whorey Teddy Ruxpin doll!" I never even thought of that, but now that's it's pointed out to me, it makes complete sense! Genius! (And explains a lot of her "songs.") Anyway, take a 15 minute break from your work day and read up on Britney & Kevin: Chaotic. It'll almost make you almost want to watch. Can you handle our truth? Uh, sure Britney, let me just finish watching Mannequin 2.Nip/Tuck gets a face lift
Anyone remember last season of Nip/Tuck, when Doctor McNamara got slashed across the face by the Scary Movie-eque serial slasher? A suave, tempting doc by the name of Quentin Costa showed up to fix his face, given that Julian couldn't operate due to an AIDS scare. Costa et al. made with the jaunty talk, "hey, move on down to Miami," but we didn't think too much of it, until now. TV Guide reports that all their wordplay about wasn't just play—Bruno Campos will return to Nip/Tuck as a permanent addition this upcoming season.
Giveaway Monday: How I Met Your Mother season three DVD
Oops! Newspapers around the world use SNL pic as official Palin one - VIDEO
The evolution of TV Squad
