FX-related stories
Posted Nov 19th 2009 11:46AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Nip/Tuck, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
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S06E06)
"That's the wonderful thing about raising children -- they keep you young!" - Erica
With Teddy's murder now come and gone (I could go on for hours about how displeased I still am with the way her story ended),
Nip/Tuck returned to safe territory last night in "Alexis Stone" by bringing back one of the most loved (and hated) characters to ever grace the show -- Julia's mother, Dr. Erica Noughton (played to icy perfection by Vanessa Redgrave). With Erica around, conflict is always guaranteed and this was no exception. Calling her the mother (and mother-in-law) from hell would be the understatement of the year.
Continue reading Review: Nip/Tuck - Alexis Stone
Posted Nov 18th 2009 8:13AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Sons of Anarchy
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S02E11)
"If Gemma had gotten raped on John's watch, he'd have written a whole different book." - Jax
Forgiveness can be a funny thing. Assuming you're on the receiving end of something awful, It's not always easy to determine if you'd even be willing to forgive. That's the beauty of forgiveness though -- the act that led you to it might have been sincere, but that doesn't mean your capacity to forgive has to be. Unlike quietly accepting a situation, forgiving a situation has the power to pacify the parties at fault.
As we learned with Opie last night on
Sons of Anarchy, his capacity to forgive is
huge, but that doesn't mean he ain't lying through his teeth when it comes to his true intentions.
Continue reading Review: Sons of Anarchy - Service
Posted Nov 13th 2009 12:17PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews
(S05E09) Well. This episode was certainly successful in further quelling the doubts of any audience members that are still, for whatever reason, unconvinced that all the guys from
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia are actually super-gay for each other. Yeah, not just "gay" but "
super-gay." Considering the adorable, almost symbiotic nature of the guys' relationships, I would probably just refer to them as "hetero lifemates," but Frank and Charlie play Nightcrawlers and we all know what happened onstage between Dayman and Nightman in "The Nightman Cometh." Don't fight it.
Continue reading Review: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - Mac and Dennis Break Up
Posted Nov 12th 2009 11:15AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Nip/Tuck, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
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S06E05)
"Why is it that we see what we want to believe and we don't believe what we see?" - Sean
I don't really have a ton to say about this episode; suffice to say that it wasn't my favorite. I argued last week that I hoped Teddy's run in with John Doe (I don't think we caught his name) didn't turn into an easy way to end her story and that's exactly what happened. I liked how it played out but only to the extent that it sent Sean off into this delusional "what the hell am I doing with my life" haze. I'll have a lot more respect for what happened in "Abigail Sullivan" as long as the consequences are worth it.
Continue reading Review: Nip/Tuck - Abigail Sullivan
Posted Nov 11th 2009 4:21AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Sons of Anarchy
(S02E10) I'm filling in for Danny, who experienced a DVR malfunction, so be gentle with me, as I've been a bit here and there with
Sons of Anarchy this season. Last winter, I raced through season one for
Jane After Dark, and fell in love with the gritty characters and edgy storyline. But to tell you the truth, I had trouble watching it after Gemma's rape this season. It was really disturbing, and I wasn't sure I wanted all of that in my head all the time.
But the fact is that
Sons of Anarchy is a great show and -- like many other FX shows -- unlike most of what you see on TV these days. So I'm happy to have this chance to get caught up a little bit with season two.
Continue reading Review: Sons of Anarchy - Balm
Posted Nov 7th 2009 3:52AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Sons of Anarchy
(S02E09) -
"I know the greater devil when I see it." - Deputy Chief Hale to Clay
The great thing about a show like
Sons of Anarchy is you never exactly know when you're watching its true boiling point. You might think the situation you're watching is the apex of the conflict, particularly the beef between Clay and Jax, but it always finds an interesting and surprising way of making it worse and makes you forget that it still has more episodes to go.
That's the true sign of a good series. It sucks you in and erases any and all concept of time. Unlike other TV shows that you can just have in the background to break the silence of your lonely place,
SOA demands your attention and gets it every time, at least for this season. You can't just leave it on and not not watch it (screw good grammar, if you can think of a better and more entertaining way to say it, be my guest). Anything that can stop and slow time, whether it's a TV show, a flying DeLorean or a hot tub deserves special merit in my book.
Continue reading Review: Sons of Anarchy - Fa Guan
Posted Nov 6th 2009 1:31PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E08) Yes! Finally. The moment we've all been waiting for. Ever since the season five promos first aired, I have been eagerly anticipating some sort of context for Charlie's uncontrollable eyebrows and the ridiculous Kitten Mittens (or Kitten Mittons, as it were). Seeing the ad in full certainly didn't disappoint, though I wish we could have seen more Kitten Mittons throughout the episode. Admittedly, thirty-some minutes of cats struggling in booties probably doesn't sound like a hot idea, but, hey, animal humor has sustained many a clip show.
Plus, I heart over-enthusiastic Charlie.
Continue reading Review: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - Paddy's Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens
Posted Nov 5th 2009 5:03PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
I'm all for more Westerns on television. It's a genre that lends itself well to the ongoing storytelling format that a regular TV series allows. So when I saw an article that FX was gearing up
Reconstruction, a series set in the post-Civil War era of American history, I was pretty excited.
Creators Joshua Brand and Peter Horton thought it would make a good allegory for today's world, dealing with the economic crisis and even the ongoing war. "How does one heal after (a war)? How do you find your humanity again?" asked Horton. These are things the show hopes to deal with.
It centers around Jason, an East Coaster who comes back from the war changed. He finds refuge in a small town in Missour, where the saga will unfold. All of this was great, until I got to one line in the
Reuters story: "Brand, the co-creator of
St. Elsewhere, is
writing the script for the project, which will include magical elements, with
thirtysomething actor-turned-director Horton attached to take the helm." Magical elements? What?! Why?
Continue reading FX is bringing back the Western with Reconstruction
Posted Nov 5th 2009 9:01AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Nip/Tuck, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
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S06E04)
"Yes! She punched me in the face with her breasts!" - Christian
This is really starting to shape up into one of
Nip/Tuck's best seasons in quite some time. Not only did "Jenny Juggs" put an excellent twist on the season's main plot (Teddy's plan), but it also added life to a plot that has, up until now, been pretty stupid (Matt, the bandit mime). Add in the laughs from Christian and Jenny and you've got some vintage McNamara/Troy action. Remember that?
Nip/Tuck always used to be this good.
Continue reading Review: Nip/Tuck - Jenny Juggs
Posted Oct 30th 2009 11:59AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E07) This episode brought back many things that fans of
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia have already come to know and love: nearly aggressive patriotism, needless shirtnessness, songs sung in falsetto and, of course, Rickety Cricket. I would like to also submit that the Birds of War get-up (pictured above) would be perfect for this Halloween, especially if you're desperate for few high-fives or silent nods of approval. It covers a wide range, as it appeals to both
Always Sunny fans and people who like America and/or chickens. I mean, eagles.
Continue reading Review: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - The Gang Wrestles for the Troops
Posted Oct 29th 2009 11:57AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Nip/Tuck, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
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S06E03)
"I don't know... she must've thought I was someone else." - Teddy
Season six
of Nip/Tuck, congratulations -- you have arrived. After two enjoyable, but largely disposable episodes to start the season, the focus has finally returned to the one dangling plot from season five -- Rose McGowan's Dr. Teddy Rowe. While it took some guesswork to recall everything the two-faced (three-faced?) anesthesiologist has done (the "previously on" sequence lacked anything to jog your memory since the season five Teddy was played by Katee Sackhoff), "Briggitte Reinholt" did a pretty decent job of explaining her past sins.
Continue reading Review: Nip/Tuck - Briggitte Reinholt
Posted Oct 28th 2009 9:01AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Sports, OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Early Looks, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
Fantasy football is a tricky thing. You either love it or you hate it and that largely depends on whether you're good or bad at it. For the most part, the same can be said about FX's newest comedy
The League. When it's good, it
is good, but when it's bad... well, you get the picture.
The show, which premieres tomorrow night, Thursday 10/29, at 10:30 p.m. after
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is FX's first solid attempt to produce a lasting companion piece to
Sunny and, given some of its predecessors (like
Starved or
Testees), it'd be easy to write
The League off. But, like a two-minute drill that gradually picks up steam,
The League might actually go... all... the... way.
OK -- no more football metaphors.
Continue reading The League -- An early look
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 3:32AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E06) Ooh! Things I learned in high school! This episode of
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia was presented as a frame story, just like
The Canterbury Tales. Did the gang out-Chaucer Chaucer!? Well, no, but it was a lot funnier than the Wife of Bath, I can promise you that.
There were a lot of excellent moments (read on to find out who won the "Best Retch-Face" award, which is as coveted as it is imaginary) and they made for a solid episode, though not one to immediately jump into my favorites. Admittedly, that's an unreasonable weekly expectation anyway. Oh well. At least we got some Greenman.
Continue reading Review: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - The World Series Defense
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 9:28AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Nip/Tuck, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
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S06E02)
"Watching them bleed makes me feel less... alone." - Vivian
Despite being depressing as hell, "Enigma" was still a refreshing episode when compared to last week's light-hearted pseudo-documentary take on Sean and Christian's financial troubles. Nip/Tuck doesn't always focus solely on one of the main characters, but when the show does take that angle, it's often quite good. This episode could have just as easily been called "Sean McNamara II." (The first Sean-centric ep was back in season two.)
Continue reading Review: Nip/Tuck - Enigma
Posted Oct 21st 2009 12:42PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Programming, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
This was bound to happen, wasn't it?
In a TV first, a sitcom from a basic cable network has been syndicated on another basic cable network: Comedy Central has nabbed the rights to FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
According to the press release, the gang from Paddy's Pub will make an appearance for the first time on Comedy Central for a limited run next summer with the long-term license window starting after the first of the year in 2011.
Continue reading It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia to air on Comedy Central
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The Prisoner -- An early look
