HarpersIsland-related stories
Posted Oct 6th 2009 10:31AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E03) I don't watch
Castle because I really need another New York-based police procedural in my life. I watch it because it's funny, quirky, and because
Nathan Fillion is
dreamy. So while I would be hard-pressed to ever find a bad episode of
Castle, this one wasn't my favorite. It just wasn't fun enough.
I'm not really enthralled with models, so the whole "behind the scenes at Fashion Week" thing really doesn't appeal to me very much. However, I do like how the theme of youth and beauty plays itself out throughout the show; first with the obsession over these qualities inherent in the modeling world, then with Castle's realization that he is at the age in which the beautiful young woman he meets isn't someone he met at a party, but rather the gawky girl who babysat his daughter and watched
High School Musical with her. All the while, Castle's mother is dealing with the fact that she is no longer getting the ingenue parts, but is instead being offered that of the the crazy granny who dies offstage.
Continue reading Castle: Inventing the Girl
Posted Jul 31st 2009 2:00PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free
Piper Perabo's most recognizable roles have been in the
Cheaper by the Dozen films, as well as a turn in
Coyote Ugly. And yet, hers is one of those names unique enough to remember. Someone at
USA recalled Perabo well enough to cast her in Covert Affairs, a pilot about a young CIA trainee abruptly called up as a field operative. While she thinks it's because she's so awesome and all, it turns out that it has more to do with some secret in her past.
In other words, she may be woefully unprepared for the cases she finds herself involved in. At least she'll have Christopher Gorham (
Harper's Island) on hand to help her navigate, though I wouldn't trust him. Plus, he's blind which limits his abilities in the field.
For those of you tracking which of the
Harper's Island alumni would be the first to land regular work elsewhere, it looks like it was the most unstable of the bunch. I guess that means Gorham won't be available for that
Weekend at Bernie's style reunion special.
Posted Jun 29th 2009 11:05AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
I know
Harper's Island has been panned by everyone from television critics to deranged psychopathic killers with a penchant for islands, but I don't care. For eleven weeks now, I've followed along on this silly ride, and I've been enjoying the hell out of it. It's the horror-mystery aspect of it. Sure, I'm a little disappointed that the killer (so far) isn't one of the main cast members, but I'm having fun watching the cast get taken out "one by one," as creepy-little-girl says each week in the intro.
I was always a huge fan of Agatha Christie's
Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None. Plus, I'm a sucker for a long-form story in television. I think this is one of those things television has over the movies. You can't take thirteen hours to tell a mystery in the theaters. That's one of the reasons I'm never as impressed with the done-in-one shows. You have this format that allows for these massively detailed long stories so why not use it? I don't care if you don't think Americans have the attention span for it; I do. And aren't you supposed to be programming for me?
Continue reading I don't care what you say, I actually like Harper's Island
Posted Apr 22nd 2009 5:09PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Casting, Reality-Free
When
Ugly Betty moved production to NYC, not everyone made the jump to the east coast. Most notably,
Christopher Gorham, who played Betty's geeky-hot boyfriend, Henry, left the show. However,
Michael Ausiello is reporting that Gorham, who has been seen recently on
Harper's Island, is reprising his
UB role this season.
As
Betty fans know, our titular heroine has moved on to her Yeti classmate Matt (Daniel Eric Gold). Since Betty can't seem to focus on one guy at a time, Henry of course has to come back to New York. What confuses me about this entire storyline is that it seems very... familiar.
Continue reading Ugly Betty brings back an ex
Posted Apr 11th 2009 6:00PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E01) Look, I'm going to just cut to the chase: You should be watching this show. Well, let me add a caveat to that. If you don't mind watching people get eviscerated, you should be watching this show. I put this on my DVR because it was new, but I didn't know much about it. Just watching the pilot, though, has got me totally hooked.
I love horror movies, and this is basically a thirteen-episode horror movie. It doesn't pull any punches either.
Harper's Island isn't like most TV shows, where minor characters get killed off and the main cast always manages to survive: at least one character will be killed off each week. In the pilot episode, we had two deaths. Suffice it to say, they did not go quietly in their sleep.
Warning: Spoilers about who dies in the pilot are ahead.Continue reading Harper's Island: Whap (series premiere)
Posted Dec 4th 2008 1:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities
There are two things that I find disturbing about the news that there's a reality show in the works for married actors
Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna for TV Land. Number one, do we really need another show biz couple exposing their personal lives for the cameras? Number two, why is TV Land getting away from celebrating TV history by broadcasting great old shows to do banal entertainment like this kind of unscripted drivel?
Are audiences really clamoring for more of this stuff? I know I'm not, and I don't know anyone else who is! Seriously, this is not reality TV. There's nothing real about it except that they're using their real names. (Yes, those are their real names!)
Continue reading TV Land plots a Harry Hamlin & Lisa Rinna reality show
Posted Sep 5th 2008 6:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free
When CBS presented their upfront last May, one of the more intriguing dramas was a murder mystery/slasher film/whodunit about a wedding party on a Seattle island. It was called
Harper's Island and projected for mid-season. The preview played like a cross between
Ten Little Indians and
Twin Peaks to me, and I liked what I saw. I certainly plan on giving it a try when it shows up on CBS.
It's still slated for early 2009, only now the actor playing the groom's loud, fun-loving and duplicitous uncle is going to be
Harry Hamlin. He has been added to the Harper's Island cast as Marty.
Continue reading Harry Hamlin heads to Harper's Island
Posted Jul 13th 2008 2:21PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Ugly Betty, Casting, Reality-Free
Ugly Betty's Henry is going to
Harper's Island. Actor
Christopher Gorham has been cast on the new mystery
Harper's Island. Good for Chris, but what about his other character, Henry, the lovable geeky accountant on
Ugly Betty? That remains in question.
On
Harper's Island, which CBS is calling a
Ten Little Indians/Twin Peaks-style horror mystery in which a wedding party on a Seattle island find themselves cut off from the mainland with a murderer on the loose. The killer is doing away with characters week after week and everyone is a suspect or a victim.
In addition to Christopher Gorham, actor Bill Pullman (
Sleepless in Seattle) is also in the show as a jovial, drunken Uncle Marty.
Continue reading Christopher Gorham gets a new role
Posted Jun 11th 2008 10:41AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, Early Looks, Reality-Free
Of all the networks,
CBS has the most new shows on deck, including two new comedies,
Worst Week and
Project Gary, and two new dramas,
The Ex-List and
The Mentalist. Another drama is set for mid-season,
Harper's Island. We've had a chance to look over these new TV shows, and by and large, it's a fascinating bunch. Also adventurous. No procedurals. More character-driven programming it seems. CBS seems determined not to rest on their laurels.
Read what we thought about these advance screeners, bearing in mind that things are liable to change before the shows start to air.
Continue reading TV Squad previews CBS's new shows
Posted May 15th 2008 2:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, Reality-Free
Yesterday,
CBS presented their new schedule for 2008-09. If you'd like to see a sample of the new shows coming to CBS next year, click over to
TV Week.
There are clips from Eleventh Hour, The Ex-List, Harper's Island, Project Gary, The Mentalist and Worst Week. I've given them a once-over (actually, I watched them more than once) and here's my impressions. That means if you want to watch them fresh without my observations mucking up yours, take a look at them first before reading on.
Continue reading TV Week gives a peek at CBS's new shows
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