Posted May 31st 2009 11:22PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: 24, House, Lost, Episode Reviews, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men
(S02E13) Cause and effect, random selection, grief, life and death... "My father is my hero, he's just decent."
Breaking Bad covered all that and more in the season finale, setting up Walter White's life after successful surgery that bought him more time. The question was this when the end credits rolled, what will that life be for the New Mexico science teacher after all that's come before?
Anyone out there who thinks they know is lying because only creator Vince Gilligan has a handle on what's been going on and what's to come. What we do know after watching the season finale is this:
Breaking Bad is as good as any other drama currently on television, and that includes
Lost, Mad Men, House, 24 and the other potential Emmy nominees for Outstanding Drama Series.
Continue reading Breaking Bad: ABQ (season finale)
Posted May 18th 2009 12:59PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Programming, 24, House, The Simpsons, Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Fringe, Dollhouse
Fox showed some surprising stability in its schedule (our network is growing up) for the 2009-2010 season. But they are bringing in four new comedies, two dramas and a late night Saturday show.
Returning Summer: Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, Don't Forget the Lyrics!, So You Think You Can Dance Returning Fall/Winter: 24, American Dad, American Idol, Bones, Dollhouse,, Family Guy, Fringe, House, Kitchen Nightmares, Lie to Me, The Simpsons, 'Til Death (for some reason),
So You Think You Can Dance (yeah, two separate seasons summer and fall)
Gone: Do Not Disturb, King of the Hill (though there's still episodes in the can which will air sometime next year),
Prison Break (a 2-hour film is being produced that may air next year),
Sit Down Shut Up, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles New: Brothers, The Cleveland Show, Glee (sneak peek tomorrow),
Human Target, Past Life, Sons of Tucson, The Wanda Sykes Show (late night Saturdays)
The schedule and some details on the new shows after the jump.
Continue reading The Upfronts: Fox
Posted May 13th 2009 7:04PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, The Amazing Race, The Apprentice, CSI, House, Lost, Smallville, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, Reality-Free, Fringe, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation
Do the American people really like watching their favorite shows this way? Assuming you have more than one or two shows you enjoy following, this week is daunting to say the least and beyond exhausting. Just last night I had a three-hour finale of
The Biggest Loser and that awesome
Fringe finale. In the past few days we've said goodbye to
The Amazing Race,
The Apprentice,
Cold Case,
The Unit,
Brothers & Sisters,
The Big Bang Theory,
House and
Castle. And that's just on the major networks.
Over the next two days we have
America's Next Top Model,
Lie to Me,
Lost,
Bones,
My Name Is Earl,
Smallville,
Parks & Recreation,
CSI,
Grey's Anatomy,
Hell's Kitchen,
The Office,
Supernatural and even
CSI: NY on a special night. And it goes on through the weekend. In an era where ratings are slipping, how can it make good business sense to put all of these finales on against one another all within a few days of each other. I know they've always done that, but I just don't think it makes sense anymore.
Continue reading We're barely halfway through and I've already got finale fatigue!
Posted May 12th 2009 12:08AM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E24) If you've been watching
House for any serious length of time, you know that things are never what they seem. And, moreover, if you've seen any of the previous season finales of the show, you know that there are major fireworks in store. Going off the precedent set by last season's gut wrenching two-parter, "House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart", I was expecting a killer episode. So, for the first 30 minutes, I kept wondering when we were getting to the good stuff. After the final 10 minutes? Well, I reserve the right to change my mind, but after first viewing, it feels like a rotten bait and switch. Follow me after the jump for the big reveal.
Continue reading House: Both Sides Now (season finale)
Posted May 7th 2009 6:12PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Battlestar Galactica, House, 30 Rock, NCIS, Reality-Free
Then vote for him/her to win in the
Badass TV Character Bracket.
The bracket, by the good folks at Awesomeopolis, pits some of TV's more awesome current characters against each other to determine who is more badass. Readers are asked to vote on the finalists.
So far, it looks like Dr. Gregory House is beating
30 Rock's Jack Donaghy. I'm not sure I agree with that one. I think Jack could have House killed with one phone call. Here's one poll I do agree with: MacGuyver is way more badass than Jethro Gibbs from
NCIS. Even if Mac didn't know how to turn my iPod into a jet, his hair alone puts him way over the top.
Continue reading Is your favorite TV character a badass?
Posted May 5th 2009 12:45PM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E23): Aside from whatever people think about the House/Cuddy relationship, and no, I'm not going to give it a cute nickname like Chuddy, or Huddy or whatever people on the Internet forums are going by, can we agree that Hugh Laurie is indeed awesome? While this wasn't the most brilliant episode of
House, Hugh Laurie really shines when it comes to depicting House's inner turmoil, and he had plenty of material to work with last night.
The cold open of the show focused on a dying ballerina, but the real patient of the week is House himself. While the team tries to find out why Penelope the ballerina's skin is falling off in gross, bloody chunks, House tries to diagnose himself, and figure out what's causing his Amber-vision.
Continue reading House: Under My Skin
Posted May 4th 2009 11:03AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: House, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
Apparently, if you are a fan of
House, and you want to see House and Cuddy get together, you are a "Huddy" fan. Not sure if this actually came from fans or from Fox marketing, but tonight's episode is being marketed specifically to the Huddy crew. There's even a
promo spot on the Fox site that addresses that crowd by name, and shows titillating images of House and Cuddy together at the doorstep, Cuddy asking, "You want to kiss me, don't you?" House replies, "I always want to kiss you." This is cut with images of House and Cuddy shedding some clothing and pawing at each other.
Considering how much tension this kind of storyline brings up (think of how many people still remember
Moonlighting for that reason alone, and even bring the show up whenever there is sexual or romantic tension between characters), you'd be expecting a lot to think that Lisa Edelstein (who plays Cuddy), on a conference call with reporters Friday, would give away too much. In fact, given all of the twists and turns this season has given us, you might expect her to have a little misdirection handy for when the inevitable questions come up.
Continue reading House: Cuddy dodges the relationship question
Posted Apr 28th 2009 12:53PM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E22) So, what's going on inside House's head? We left off last week with House getting a surprise visit from a very dead Amber and she's still around this week, running rampant and unchecked through his life, an eerie hallucination from House's subconscious. For a while it looks like House is onto something good, he has a direct link to the inner workings of his mind, which helps him solve cases and plan bachelor parties. But, that all comes crashing down when the Cut-Throat Bitch (as she was affectionately nicknamed) tries to kill Chase.
Continue reading House: House Divided
Posted Apr 13th 2009 1:40PM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E21)
"You manipulative little bitch ..." House to Wilson.
After last week, we could all use a little breather from epic drama, right? Most of this episode was a complicated and not-too-enlightening game of cat and mouse between various parties that ended up being more amusing than annoying, thankfully. There were a few moments when I felt like I was watching
Grey's Anatomy...and no, I'm not talking about the surprise ending.
Continue reading House: Saviors
Posted Apr 7th 2009 4:25PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: House, Watercooler Talk, Interviews, Standout Episodes, Reality-Free
If you're like me, then you're still reeling from the big shocker that happened in last night's episode of
House. I spent the entire episode with my mouth hanging wide open, just sputtering, "what?" over and over again. After the episode ended, my boyfriend and I spent a good half an hour arguing about what
really happened. Was House's theory correct, or was it just wishful thinking?
I thought the episode made it pretty clear, but there was definitely an element of ambiguity when it ended. Today,
House executive producers
David Shore,
Katie Jacobs and, uh, a certain actor from
House, held a conference call to answer some of our burning questions, like, you know, "what the hell?"
Continue reading House producers (and a certain star) talk to reporters about last night's big twist
Posted Apr 7th 2009 9:41AM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E20) Whoa. So, who saw that one coming? As I mentioned last week, my DVR cut off and I never saw the teaser for this week's episode so I had no clue we were in store for this. Let's get into the nitty gritty after the cut so people who haven't yet seen the episode can avoid the major, epic spoiler.
Continue reading House: Simple Explanation
Posted Mar 31st 2009 3:25PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: OpEd, House, Reality-Free
Writing an episode of a show as literally seen through another character's eyes, a point of view episode, seems like an obvious stunt. That is, unless you can pull it off as brilliantly as
House did last night. The episode unfolded mainly through the POV of a man with "locked-in syndrome," played by guest star Mos Def.
The big advantage of telling a story that way is, obviously, to get inside the head of one person, and get their insight into everything that's going on. Unfiltered, in real time.
Scrubs plays with the point of view all the time, but when you stick with one long enough, it changes the feel of the story. In the first episode of season five, "
My Intern's Eyes,"
Scrubs used the point of view of an intern, Keith, to show how awkward and frightening Sacred Heart could be. That was a great transition as J.D became an attending. We got to see J.D.'s new role, plus get a reminder of how the show began. The best of both worlds.
Continue reading House, from another point of view
Posted Mar 31st 2009 11:01AM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E19) Before we jump into an excellent episode, can someone please tell me what happened in the last minute of this episode, right after House stepped into the elevator and his vision began to get all blurry? It looks like Fox ran
House a minute or two later than normal, once again, because my DVR cut off right in the middle of House talking to Wilson. Did anyone else have this problem? Or is it just time for me to get a new DVR?
Regardless of my minor technical glitches, this was an almost flawless episode that turned the focus back onto medicine and patients, while artfully weaving in the personal stories of the main characters.
Continue reading House: Locked In
Posted Mar 31st 2009 9:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: House, Casting, Reality-Free
I adore
Carl Reiner. There. I said it. What are you going to do about it? No, seriously, if there's another actor/writer/director/producer in show business who's made me laugh more than Mr. Reiner, I can't think of him/her right now. He's been one of Hollywood's prime time jewels for six decades. So, the news that
Carl Reiner is guesting on the House season finale makes me very, very happy.
According to the
House powers that be, Mr. Reiner will be a clinic patient at Princeton Plainsboro, and his interaction is slated to be with Dr. Cuddy. Good for Lisa Edelstein!
Continue reading Carl Reiner checking in for House's season finale
Posted Mar 17th 2009 12:29PM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S5E18) "Cats make terrible doctors. Oh wait, that's women." -House We get a break from the angst factory this week. The neurotic and usually enjoyable Judy Greer guest star's as the patient of the week, who arrives at PPH with fake seizures, green pee and a cat that can predict the deaths of old people. With all that, and some light-hearted pranking between House and Kutner, and this episode felt like it should have aired around Halloween, and not near the end of the season.
I enjoyed parts of this episode but didn't get any real dramatic tension from it. Even while crazy cat lady Judy was possibly dying, it was hard to muster up any emotion beside indifference to her situation.
Continue reading House: Here Kitty
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