Posted Jan 29th 2010 11:45PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free, Parks and Recreation
There hasn't been much to cheer about coming from NBC of late, unless you consider the upcoming Winter Olympics worth jumping up and down about, or you've been happy about
Chuck's return. The Leno-Conan business has just been nasty, the resolution bungled and the prospects for new product unexciting.
But late Friday night something happened at the Peacock that is worth getting psyched about.
NBC gave Parks and Recreation a season three renewal.
Like CBS's vote of confidence
renewal for How I Met Your Mother earlier this week, this was a great move by NBC and a sign that somebody at 30 Rock -- the real NBC, not the Alec Baldwin/Tina Fey version -- sees quality and has rewarded it.
Continue reading NBC gives Parks and Recreation an early renewal
Posted Jan 29th 2010 7:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
James Bobin has signed on to direct the new Muppet movie. Bobin co-created the television version of Flight of the Conchords (as opposed to the band itself, which was co-created by Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie).
So it's a writer who has predominantly worked in television who is directing a movie about a group of characters who became famous from a television show. The movie itself is co-written by Jason Segel, star of How I Met Your Mother, who is rumored to be a Muppet-maniac. I'm still waiting for his Broadway production of Dracula, the Puppet Musical.
As a Muppet fan myself, I'm happy about this piece of news. I have enjoyed Bobin's work on Da Ali G Show and Flight of the Conchords without being aware of his involvement. I just hope Bobin shows love and respect for the franchise and we don't end up with another Muppets' Wizard of Oz.
Posted Jan 29th 2010 12:05PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, South Park, Reality-Free
Some things you just can't make up.
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are working with
Avenue Q songwriter Robert Lopez to
create a new off-Broadway musical. The subject matter is "under wraps", which means everybody knows what it is. In this case, it's about the Mormons and likely about the founding of the faith.
South Park has already dealt with this topic with
a small-scale musical of its own.
When this is finally released, tickets are going to be practically impossible to get. Trey Parker and Matt Stone and a religion-skewering musical are a winning combination. They even already have a song from the Mormon
South Park episode called "Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum" (at least that's what I call it). It wouldn't be surprising if that catchy tune made it into this musical.
Do you plan on seeing this team's Mormon musical? Let us know in the comments.
Posted Jan 29th 2010 4:32AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S02E14) An episode titled "The Bishop Revival" almost has a little religious overtone. But
Fringe this week was all about Nazis and Walter's dad's involvement with them. Turns out Dr. Robert Bishop (a.k.a. Bishov or Bishoff) was affiliated with the University of Berlin and came to this country in 1943. Also that he was a spy for the allies, smuggling scientific secrets to the Americans. Thus the setup for this episode and a little backstory for Walter.
Continue reading Review: Fringe - The Bishop Revival
Posted Jan 29th 2010 2:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
(S03E11) For a nice change of pace,
Burn Notice played up the local color. Lots of Little Dominica (not Little Havana) and action, including multiple explosions, a little face-forward repelling and a new somewhat mystical character for Michael to play. No Southern boy this week. No tank tops or muscle shirts. Nope. Michael was looking like Mr. Applegate, the devil in the musical
Damn Yankees.
Continue reading Review: Burn Notice - Friendly Fire
Posted Jan 29th 2010 1:48AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Project Runway, Episode Reviews
(
S07E03) This week on
Project Runway, the contestants finally get the opportunity to go to Mood. The contestants are divided into teams of two and have to make a high end signature look with $500 and two days to work on it. Tim announces a twist after day one: they have to make a look for less. The big twist was that the look for less had to be another team's dress.
We get one advantage of pairing up the high number of contestants: we finally see interviews from several contestants who have blended with the walls. Of course we're treated to Ping running around like a chicken with her head cut off announcing, "oh shoes!" and being convinced that hooker-wear is classy fabric.
Continue reading Review: Project Runway - The Hi's and Low's of Fashion
Posted Jan 29th 2010 1:20AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E01) Live for the Moment goes for the heartstrings at the first minute. In the premiere episode, we meet Roger Childs who started to suffer from ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). Even with his body degenerating, he's managed to continue to be positive for his wife and two children. Jeff Probst arrives, hands the family a journal with several "missions" and hopes that the family will live for the moment.
On paper, the show is basically Phil Keoghan's show
No Opportunity Wasted, but with a bigger budget and longer timeline.
Live for the Moment is truly a combination of
The Bucket List, Big Fish, and Up! The show is saccharine sweet and would have fit perfectly on the Hallmark Channel.
Continue reading Review: Live for the Moment - Roger Childs (series premiere)
Posted Jan 29th 2010 12:30AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Animation, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E04) Ah, yes. Yet another fine episode of
Archer. This show has been steadily funny, which is good. I'm still waiting for it to do something outrageous and surprise us with a particularly extra-hilarious or an especially terrible episode, but I don't mind watching something that I can rely on for decent laughs, even if it doesn't leave me rolling on the floor.
Continue reading Review: Archer - Killing Utne
Posted Jan 28th 2010 11:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, How I Met Your Mother, Celebrities, Game Show, Reality-Free
Is there anything Neil Patrick Harris can't do? The other night he was positively stellar on
American Idol as a guest judge, stealing the spotlight from Simon by being a fair but stern discerner of the talented and the talentless. You could really see him as a permanent replacement for Simon Cowell and doing a damn, good job. Then there was
Dr. Horrible, Emmy host, Tony host and, naturally, Barney on
How I Met Your Mother. Neil is a jack of all trade and a master of most!
Now we can add game show host to the list of accomplishments. The British competition show
The Cube is coming to CBS and Neil Patrick Harris will be the host. You may recall that
Fox attempted to get The Cube to America. After spending a few months developing it, the network dropped it in December.
Continue reading Next up for Neil Patrick Harris is a game show
Posted Jan 28th 2010 7:00PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Dancing With The Stars
My one wish has finally come true: Samantha Harris is officially leaving
Dancing with the Stars.
People has announced that Samantha will not be returning when the tenth season begins in March.
While the producers and Tom Bergeron have voiced how they are going to miss Samantha, I'm happy to finally see her off screen. She has made several fashion faux-pas, has accidentally said contestants scores before the judges revealed their paddles, and has had poor judgment when cutting off interviews. I can't believe that she's been around for eight seasons.
Continue reading Samantha Harris to leave Dancing with the Stars
Posted Jan 28th 2010 2:06PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Do we really need multiple nights of David Spade (he's currently appearing on
Rules of Engagement on CBS)? TBS believes the answer is "yes" and is preparing to launch an animated series of
Joe Dirt which is a continuation of the
movie of the same name. Spade will be providing the voice of the title character, which makes sense since he starred in and co-wrote the original movie.
TBS is trying to create a
Family Guy-like animated comedy. Expect a lot of toilet humor from the series, which is a staple of the movies from Happy Madison Productions. It's likely that this series will not disappoint the legion of fans of "The Adam Sandler Bunch".
The question I must ask is: does the movie really warrant a spin-off television series? While we're at it, did the original
Deuce Bigalow movie really warrant a sequel? If this works out for TBS, we might be seeing
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo the animated series in a few years. You know it would happen.
Posted Jan 28th 2010 12:02PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Nip/Tuck, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(
S07E04)
"I think, in a way, we all feel responsible." - Sean Just when it looked like we were on our way to a major break-up,
Nip/Tuck threw fans a curve ball last night as we head in to the series' final five episodes. For as much as Sean may despise Christian, what he's done, and how he acts, sticking with him for 25 years has left a scar -- Sean may see himself as the opposite of Christian, but the rest of the world views them as one and the same.
Continue reading Review: Nip/Tuck - Sheila Carlton
Posted Jan 28th 2010 11:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Hardware, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family
Will Apple's new
iPad really change the way we watch TV? That was one of the big questions that we were asking before Steve Jobs' presentation yesterday in San Francisco. I thought that since
he was conferring with network execs to slash iTunes prices for TV episodes, that
the iPad would have a major TV viewing component.
Now that we've seen the device and watched it demonstrated, the answer isn't crystal clear. But yes, it should have some impact on TV viewing.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I agree with those that call the iPad just a bigger version of the iTouch or iPhone. On the surface, it is. However, while it's true that someone might prefer a one-hand device like the smaller iTouch or iPhone to watch a show on a commuter train, you have to imagine a different setting for the iPad.
Continue reading Will the iPad change how we watch TV? Maybe
Posted Jan 27th 2010 11:34PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Friday Night Lights, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E11) This was a rough episode of
Friday Night Lights, filled with frustrating actions, characters doing things that make you want to yell at the screen, situations that shouldn't be happening at all. But this is Dillon, Texas and there's a world of drama going on even in a town seemingly as mundane as this one. It's not really just about football. It's about life.
Continue reading Review: Friday Night Lights - Injury List
Posted Jan 27th 2010 1:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, How I Met Your Mother, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
I could get used to this daily dose of good news from
How I Met Your Mother. First,
Bays and Thomas get a new deal, then
Mother gets an early renewal for next season, and now
Jennifer Lopez is going to guest on How I Met Your Mother.
That's right, JLo will be hanging with the crew, and in a move that I heartily support, she will not play herself. Jennifer has been cast as Anita Appleby, a self-help author who knows all about male-female relationships.
When Robin meets Anita and tell her all about Barney Stinson, master of the universe and womanizer extraordinaire, Anita decides that she will break him of his nasty ways with women.
Continue reading Jennifer Lopez meets Barney on How I Met Your Mother
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