Posted Feb 9th 2010 4:45PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Castle
(S02E15) First of all, those stilettos Beckett had on were awesome. I'm not saying that so much as a girl crush, but as more of a
'Sex and the City' sort of style thing. Her mullet seems to have calmed down a little, and overall, I'm liking her style (though I'm still on the fence about her jacket pictured above). Girlfriends, what say you about the jacket?!
Continue reading 'Castle' - 'Suicide Squeeze' Recap
Posted Feb 9th 2010 12:23PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
(S03E15) I'm pinch-hitting for Kona this week due to technical difficulties at the Gallagher homestead. Not sure if I can be the quote machine she is, but you can always add your favorite quotes from the episode into the comments.
You know, I've never been one to take Sheldon's side a lot of the time. As much as I love the character and how Jim Parsons plays him, the fact that a guy who's such a pill can have four people in his life who like him and tolerate his weird, Aspberger-like selfishness should be enough for me to connect to as a viewer. Most of the time, when Sheldon is wreaking havoc over his friends' lives, I'm usually feeling bad for whoever it is -- usually Leonard -- that's getting the brunt of Sheldon's utter Sheldonness.
But this week, I was on Team Sheldon. Why? Because Leonard knows Sheldon would appreciate a trip to the CERN super collider a whole lot more than Penny would, even if the lure of Penny in a snow bunny outfit is a strong one to resist.
Continue reading Review: 'The Big Bang Theory' - 'The Large Hadron Collision'
Posted Feb 9th 2010 11:25AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Damages, Reality-Free
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S03E03)
"Tonight's been educational." - Patty
Educational it was, both for Patty Hewes and viewers alike, as last night's '
Damages' proved that it can tell one helluva narrative without any of those pesky "six months from now" flashes. 'Flight's at 11:08' isn't the first episode to put the back and forth, past/present/future jumps on the back-burner, but it is the earliest it's happened in a season. Normally, those narrative devices don't fade away until the climactic moment later in the season when everything collides. What we got instead was a bit of different angle for 'Damages' as last night's episode was driven by the characters and not the over-arching plot.
Continue reading Review: 'Damages' - 'Flight's at 11:08'
Posted Feb 9th 2010 9:39AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E15) Remember how Charlie and Chelsea's relationship was drifting into the danger zone last week? You know that 'to be continued' we were left with... well, we picked up with the story as Charlie and Alan had cleaned up at home after their sojourn in the woods -- Jake, too -- only to find that Chelsea was pulling a 'Charlie.' That's right, she was coming home in the wee small hours of the morning and hadn't bothered to call. More on that and Alan's topiary below the belt after the jump.
Continue reading Review: 'Two and a Half Men' - 'Aye, Aye Captain'
Posted Feb 9th 2010 3:54AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, 24, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S08E07) I'm going to whine a lot about this episode, so that's just a little warning to anyone absolutely loving this season of
'24.' But first, let's talk about the great scene where Renee goes ballistic, stabs Vladimir, then accidentally stabs Jack. Then Jack takes the knife out and hurls it at the other guy coming in the door. Awesome!
Ok, now for the bad stuff. For one thing, I thought we were going to get to see Renee kick some major butt this season. So far, she's just a wimpy female with a big fat vengeance chip on her shoulder who still gets knocked around by the bad guys (excepting that awesome scene noted above). Come on, Renee! I want a female Jack Bauer, not some sniveling sap!
Continue reading Review: '24' - '10:00PM - 11:00PM'
Posted Feb 9th 2010 2:15AM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E04) I am so excited for the return of the infamous bong lamp, but wow, does it cause some major trouble. Last week, we saw Lux sell Baze's pride and joy to help cover his bar rent. Two weeks ago, the offending lamp was also one of the reasons Baze was denied full custody of Lux. This week, it's the reason she gets suspended from her fancy-pants public school. Stupid lamp, can't do
anything right.
We're ratcheting up the drama here this week. Lux's illusions of family life crumble a bit more as she and Cate, in the grand traditions of mothers and daughters everywhere, clash something awful.
Continue reading Review: 'Life Unexpected' - 'Bong Intercepted'
Posted Feb 9th 2010 2:08AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Heroes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E19) Volume Five came to a climactic end, and as with past volumes, it was both exciting and a little bit of a letdown. But also in keeping with tradition, it left the door open for exciting possibilities in Volume Six, teased at the end of the episode, despite a fifth season not being a certainty at this point.
I suspect, though, that NBC will in fact bring the show back, despite it's lackluster ratings performance. A reboot, of sorts, to the franchise could revitalize it in the same way
'Chuck' has seen ratings improve this season. Properly handled,
'Heroes' is a show that could go several seasons. "Properly handled" is the key to that phrase, and it has been mismanaged for too long.
Continue reading Review: 'Heroes' - 'Brave New World' (season finale)
Posted Feb 9th 2010 1:25AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Chuck, Reality-Free
(S03E07) This was the last
'Chuck' until after the Winter Olympics, so it was important that we made some progress with the intersect -- natch -- and also the Hannah and Sarah situations. Ever since she flew into Chuck Bartowski's life, Hannah has seemed too good to be true. Is she really? And what of Chuck and Sarah's on/off relationship? Fortunately, we got a good take on it all, as well as some edge-of-the-seat thrills. More after the jump.
Continue reading Review: 'Chuck' - 'Chuck Versus the Mask'
Posted Feb 9th 2010 1:13AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, House, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
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S06E14)
"You can do it." - Cuddy
I get the reason for making an episode like '5 to 9.' Long running show that's popular. Established characters and story structure. The desire for David Shore, Katie Jacobs, and the rest of the '
House' crew to try something different is to be expected. However, that doesn't mean they should have done it. '5 to 9' wasn't a bad episode (in many ways, it felt like a back-door pilot for Cuddy), but it was, in a word, pointless. At the end of the day, '5 to 9' doesn't really add anything to the world of 'House,' and its outside-the-box attempt at being different just ended up being forgettable.
Continue reading Review: 'House' - '5 to 9'
Posted Feb 9th 2010 12:03AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: How I Met Your Mother, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E15) I've noticed that the last few episodes of 'HIMYM' have largely taken place in the "home booth" at MacLaren's. I know it's the 21st century version of the couch at Central Perk, but the world of 'Mother' is a lot bigger than that these days. And, besides, Cobie Smulders and Alyson Hannigan aren't pregnant anymore; there's no need to hide their baby bumps under the table anymore.
That being said, it's a great place for two of this show's signature "bits" to start: 1) Absurd arguments, and 2) Incessant ball-busting. We saw both of these this week, with Ranjit thrown into the mix to make things more interesting. What really made this episode wasn't just the Rabbit/Duck argument, though; it was the subtle direction shifts that made loyal viewers think Ted was going in one not so good direction, when he was really going in a worse -- but more fun! -- direction.
Continue reading Review: 'How I Met Your Mother' - 'Rabbit or Duck'
Posted Feb 8th 2010 8:30PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E01) Networks usually give the post-Super Bowl time slot to household series or to series they really believe in and want to offer a ratings booster. This year,
CBS decided to give the post-Super Bowl time slot to the
new reality documentary series 'Undercover Boss.'
The series follows high-level CEOs are they go undercover in their own company to examine how things work outside of their ivory towers.
In the premiere, Larry O'Donnell (pictured right), president and COO of Waste Management, got out of his suit and put on worker clothes to live a day in the lives of four of his employees.
Does the concept work? Will I tune in for more? My two cents coming up!
Continue reading Review: 'Undercover Boss' - Series Premiere
Posted Feb 8th 2010 1:08AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E05) In his campaign to win the State Senate seat, Bill's slogan is Build With Bill, but based on the perfect storm of disaster surrounding his every move, that doesn't seem to be working out too well, does it? It's amazing that Bill's ambition -- this calling he claims he has to get into politics -- has yet to please anybody in his life. More on the big doings on
'Big Love' and the Utah State Republican convention after the jump.
Continue reading Review: 'Big Love' - 'Sins of the Father'
Posted Feb 7th 2010 11:33AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S35E14) There was a different tone to this episode. The writing was a bit more ambitious than usual, going out on a limb a few times to tackle an idea that would require a little more work to get the laugh. It was admirable, sure, but a lot of the sketches still fell flat this week. It was strange. I also realize it's extra-weird if one considers my review of Ashton Kutcher's last stint on 'Saturday Night Live', in which I pondered out loud about whether or not he and the writers could have afforded to get a little wackier.
Kutcher's enthusiasm was nice to watch but the episode really felt mediocre. Maybe the low end of mediocre. Is that even a thing? Well, it is now.
Continue reading Review: 'Saturday Night Live' - Ashton Kutcher/Them Crooked Vultures
Posted Feb 6th 2010 4:00PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E14) "Who died and made you the expert?" - Avery to Melinda
This last new episode of '
Ghost Whisperer' before the Olympics hiatus (even though CBS is not airing the Olympics) not only offered us funny girl Margaret Cho as Ned's Occult Anthropology professor, who didn't believe in what she was teaching, but also pushed the dark side of the show's mythology thanks to an object Melinda and company don't like at all: a Ouija board.
Even with the introduction of the mysterious Ouija board, the episode didn't offer much new info about how the good and dark sides work, but it was interesting to see Cho's character, Professor Avery Grant, cope with the fact that was she was teaching actually had some truth to it. However, the most intriguing scene was the final one when the Ouija board confirmed something Melinda didn't want to be true...
Continue reading Review: 'Ghost Whisperer' - 'Dead to Me'
Posted Feb 6th 2010 9:55AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E03) Now begins the reign of mistrust. With the characters generally established, as well as their relationships to one another, it's time for the show to start sowing the seeds of conflict, and they get right down to it. The first thing they do is establish the
Adams Adamas as even more brutish than I anticipated. The hats, coats and the whole 1950s gangster look should have been a tip-off, it appears.
Add to that the difficulties the Graystone's are dealing with now that Amanda has blurted out to all the twelve colonies that their daughter Zoe was a terrorist, and responsible for the train bombing that killed her, her boyfriend Ben and Joseph Adama's wife and daughter, among many other people. The unfair thing to Zoe is that while we know better, how can anything different be proven?
Continue reading Review: 'Caprica' - 'Reins of a Waterfall'
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Six Reasons Why '24' Has Jumped the You-Know-What
The Super Bowl Commercials: The Best
