Christina Applegate-related stories
Posted Sep 13th 2009 10:00AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Scrubs, Reality-Free, Jane After Dark
Several DVD sets came my way this week, so I did some marathon viewing sessions for
Jane After Dark. I'm brand new to some of these, so you'll get the stark, raw newbie version. But I'll start with one I've watched since the beginning ...
Dirty Sexy Money: The Complete Second and Final Season. I really liked this show at the beginning. It had all the elements of a great series, including excellent actors (starting with Donald Sutherland, Jill Clayburgh, and Peter Krause) and intriguing storylines with rich people, sex, murder, and mystery. But by the time they got to season two, the storylines just seemed to fizzle out. I would love to hear your thoughts on why
Dirty Sexy Money didn't work. Crummy writing? Poor use of great actors? Too many characters to keep track of? Poor timing with the writer's strike occurring in the middle of its run, resulting in ten months between seasons?
Bonus features: Directing the Darlings (behind the scenes with director Jamie Babbit); A Total Knockout (a day in the life of Natalie Zea, who played Karen); Dirty Sexy Crafty (a featurette about the food on the set); Faux Pas (bloopers); deleted scenes.
Continue reading Jane After Dark: Sexy Samantha talking Greek in Scrubs
Posted Jul 15th 2009 2:31PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities, Awards, Weeds, Emmys, Reality-Free
Let's be honest. There are really only four or five real contenders for this category, and most of them were nominated last year. But it's not like the talented Tina Fey (
30 Rock), Mary Louise-Parker (
Weeds), Julia Louise-Dreyfus (
The New Adventures of Old Christine) and America Ferrera (
Ugly Betty) don't deserve the recognition. They all fit the bill, and most of their shows were damn good this year.
I'd be happy to see any one of them go home with the gold on Emmy night. I'd also love to see some recognition for Christina Applegate's work in
Samantha Who?, a great show that got the ax earlier this year.
Continue reading Emmy Wish List: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Posted Jul 10th 2009 3:27PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
Samantha Who? is going to be a trivia question one day.
What was the name of that comedy on ABC that got good reviews and pretty good ratings and people seemed to like it and then ABC canceled it? Of course, that could probably describe quite a few shows the past several years, but I think the cancellation of
Samantha Who? surprised a lot of people when ABC had
their upfront a couple of months ago. Now they're doubling up on episodes this summer.
Posted Jun 14th 2009 3:03PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Children, Reality-Free
I'll admit, I watched a lot of
Alvin and the Chipmunks when I was little, despite all its awkward 80s animation tendencies and general pointlessness. I even kind of liked it. When the Chipettes joined the gang, bringing even more high-pitched sass, I felt no need to cry shark-jumping (probably because the phrase had yet to be coined and I hadn't gotten to that
Happy Days episode).
The Chipettes animated on the small screen were kind of girly and cute. The Chipettes in
Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel are what you see before you die.
Continue reading The new Chipettes: What nightmares are made of
Posted Jun 1st 2009 2:27PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Programming, Reality-Free
ABC has
given an air date to
Samantha Who?'s swan song. The network will begin burning off the seven remaining episodes of the show Thursdays at 8 p.m. starting June 25.
As we mentioned last week, even a
petition set up by star Christina Applegate couldn't save
Samantha Who? from the axe. It's a shame. Applegate has turned into such a magnetic and charming comedic actor. Here's hoping she gets another shot at her own show or, like Jason
already suggested, a long-running guest stint on
HIMYM or maybe
The Big Bang Theory.
ABC is also making room on its summer schedule for the final eps of
Cupid and
In the Motherhood. The sole remaining ep of
Cupid, which shared the same fate as the 1998 show it was based on, will air June 16 -- if the NBA Finals don't make it to Game 6! (That's another slap in the face from the network to
Cupid creator Rob Thomas).
In the Motherhood's final three eps will begin airing June 25 at 8:30 p.m.
Posted May 26th 2009 3:04PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
First, it was Ethan Suplee petitioning to save
My Name Is Earl. Not to be outdone,
Christina Applegate set up a petition to save Samantha Who? after it got canceled by ABC last week. This could be a very worrying trend. Now any time a show is canceled, can we expect a big brouhaha online with some cast members setting up petitions or urging fans to send something to the networks? Then it slowly becomes standard operating procedure. "Somebody call the warehouse and tell them to make room for the bobblehead campaign, we're pulling the plug on
The Office."
The networks will start covertly spearheading the campaigns themselves to try and drum up fake publicity for their struggling shows. They'll "cancel" the show, fake up a massive petition and give the show a reprieve. "See how glorious and magnanimous are we?" In the case of
Samantha Who?, I don't see how a petition would help anyway considering it was an economic decision. "This is nice Christina, but I don't see anywhere on here how you're going to shave a million dollars off of each episode."
Posted May 19th 2009 5:02PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, Reality-Free
Looks like Samantha Who? won't be making it after all. They were negotiating to
reduce costs on Christina Applegate's sitcom to try and keep it on the air, but apparently that didn't work out. I really thought quality-wise
Samantha was one of the stronger sticoms on the air. I can certainly think of quite a few that are still hanging in there that couldn't come close to matching it.
This does mean that Christina Applegate is available for other work now, though. What a revelation she's become as a comic actress. We've known she's had chops (and other assets) since her days as Kelly Bundy and even on *ahem*
Jesse she was charming, but she really came into her own with this show. I hope she doesn't stay absent from our screens too long. Maybe she could be the mother on
HIMYM? Or get together with Alyssa Milano on a new show and watch all the guys who grew up in the '80s and '90s squeal in unison like little girls. It wouldn't even matter what it was about, but I recommend something on a beach.
Posted May 15th 2009 1:03PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Samantha Who?, the little ABC-sitcom-that-could may be looking at a production overhaul if the network decides to stick with it into a third season. The big change would be shifting from the single-camera format it currently uses to a much cheaper multi-camera format.
How I Met Your Mother is an example of a show that uses the multi-camera format, albeit without a studio audience, to great creative effect, so
Samantha should be able to keep a lot of its quirky charm.
Cost cutting is a huge part of the network's plans this season as they mull over continuing with existing series. If
switching to multi-camera on Samantha Who? can save $500,000 per episode, it might be worth doing.
Samantha is one of those rare comedies these days that just works. It's funny without being provocative or shocking in anything it does. One could almost argue, but not very convincingly, that it's even good wholesome family entertainment ... with sex and alcohol and stuff.
Continue reading For Samantha Who? to make it, it may need a makeover
Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:02AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Law and Order, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, Pushing Daisies, Reality-Free, Gossip Girl, TV Squad Ten
There's a reason why when you watch
The Mentalist, there are always subtle close ups of
Simon Baker's eyes or of his mouth when he's talking. The producers know he's hot and they know women are watching. Between him, the cast of
Friday Night Lights, and a whole other
list of DILF's, there's a lot of male eye-candy on TV right now. But what about the women? Of course television is filled with hot chicks, but who do other women like to watch?
There are certain female characters who, when you watch them, you just want to hang out with. Either you think she'd be a good friend, or exciting to have around, or maybe you just kind of want to
be her. This, my friends, is a Girl Crush. Here is my list of Top Ten TV Girl Crushes.
Continue reading TV Squad Ten: Girl Crushes
Posted Feb 24th 2009 8:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Let's say you were trapped in an elevator with
Samantha Who? star Christina Applegate. Just you and her, stuck between the 7th and 8th floors of a high-rise, waiting for someone to come and get the elevator moving again so you won't be late for your Pilates class. What question would you ask her?
Well,
you have the chance to ask Applegate anything you want, and you don't even have to be trapped in a box. It's actually via
Outside The Box, over at AOL Television. You can submit a question to either Applegate, Jean Smart, or Barry Watson. If your question is chosen they'll even use your name and where you're from. You can even leave your question in the comments section below.
I have no idea if you'd want to ask Applegate about
Married...With Children or Smart about
Designing Women or Watson about 7th Heaven. But if you do ask Watson something about that show, I'd like to know if Jessica Biel is still going out with Justin Timberlake or if she's available.
Posted Jan 3rd 2009 10:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Casting, Reality-Free
I like
Samantha Who? I think it's a quirky and fun show with a pretty clever premise. What I don't get about it is Tim Russ' character. Don't get me wrong, I like Tim Russ. As a sci-fi geek, I think I'm pretty much required to. After all,
Star Trek: Voyager came on while I was in college (I know, I'm aging myself here), and I'm glad to see him getting the work. I'm just not sure what the point of his role is.
As Frank, the doorman of the building Sam lives in, he has a working knowledge of what kind of a person she was pre-amnesia, but only Dena really didn't know "bad Sam." Samantha didn't seem to have any sort of special relationship with Frank then, and the writers haven't developed one now.
Did they just forget about him, or quickly realize they didn't know what to do with him? It's a weird thing on an otherwise solid show. Can you think of any other cases like that?
Continue reading I don't get Tim Russ on Samantha Who?
Posted Dec 5th 2008 5:08PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Casting, Reality-Free
Guest stars can be good and guest stars can be not-so-good, but this one sounds like a winner to me. EW's Michael Ausiello has an exclusive report that
Florence Henderson will be on Samantha Who? And if you think Christina Applegate kind of looks like she could be related to Florence, you're not alone.
The Brady Bunch veteran has been cast as Samantha Newly's grandmother, Jean Smart's mama. And if that's not blonde goodness and potential hilarity for you, TVGuide.com has another exclusive;
Christine Ebersole will play Sammy's aunt. In the very same storyline!
Continue reading A Brady and a Broadway blonde check in to Samantha Who?
Posted Nov 1st 2008 1:27PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
I can't say I've been thrilled with some of the announced pick ups for the remainder of the season.
NBC's faith in Knight Rider, for instance, has me scratching my head. Here's one that I can get behind:
ABC has given Samantha Who a full season pick up.
The Christina Applegate single camera comedy -- which includes Jean Smart's Emmy-winning supporting performance as
Sam's alternately attentive and annoying mother -- has had a terrific sophomore season thus far.
I'm not talking about the ratings, although ABC is pleased that the show has been doing a good job holding onto the strong lead-in from
Dancing With the Stars (although this is not a scintillating edition of
Dancing). For me,
Samantha Who is just as funny as last year, but now things are getting more complicated and interesting.
Just last week, for instance, Sam was given an experimental drug to -- hopefully -- help her reclaim lost memories. Through flashback flashes we learned a lot more about Todd and Sam's relationship and how they've gotten to where they are. The episode was packed with emotion and funny bits of business, and yet in the end we were still on that precipice, waiting for Sam to remember that she loves Todd.
Continue reading ABC books a full season of Samantha Who
Posted Sep 12th 2008 9:26AM by Brett Love
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Emmys, Reality-Free
Over at the L.A. Times, Tom O'Neil has put together two teams to predict the Emmys. One consists of writers who cover TV, including our pal from AOL, Maggie Furlong. The other is filled with award nuts, like O'Neil. The teams found a lot of common ground, with overwhelming agreement on Mad Men for Best Drama and 30 Rock for Best Comedy. They also seem pretty set on Glenn Close (Damages) for Best Actress, Drama and Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) for Best Actor, Comedy.
Those all sound like reasonably safe bets. Things get a little more interesting when you look at some of the other categories. Best Actor, Drama looks to be a three way race between Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Hugh Laurie (House), and James Spader (Boston Legal). All solid choices, to be sure, but the most surprising part of the category is that Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), who should win, only garnered one vote. Read on past the jump for more of the categories.
Continue reading TV journalists make their Emmy picks
Posted Aug 19th 2008 2:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Samantha Who?, Reality-Free
When it was revealed to the media recently that
actress Christina Applegate had cancer, it was a shock. She is only 36 years old, but as anyone whose life has been touched by cancer, this disease touches the young and the old and everyone in between.
Today, the star of ABC's
Samantha Who? was on
Good Morning, America to explain what's happening with her, and
Christina declared that she is now cancer-free. "Absolutely 100 percent clear and clean. It did not spread. They got everything out, so I'm definitely not going to die from breast cancer."
In an exclusive, candid interview, she revealed that three weeks ago she had a double mastectomy to remove all traces of breast cancer. She will have reconstructive surgery over the next eight months to replace her breasts.
I really admire Christina Applegate. I've liked her a lot on
Samantha Who?, but to do what she did today makes me like her even more. She didn't have to face the media and talk about her cancer. It takes courage to share your story.
And having a positive diagnosis, to be able to say you're cancer-free, doesn't make it any easier to talk about the fear you face when you were told that you have cancer and must undergo a difficult surgery or chemotherapy or radiation.
Continue reading Christina Applegate is cancer-free
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