JoshHopkins-related stories
Posted Nov 19th 2009 12:05PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Cougar Town
(S01E08) It does seem like we're still in the "unsteady footing" stage of this series, doesn't it? For every episode like "Don't Come Around Here No More," which shows the cast gelling and gives us the glimmer of hope that the show will become a really good ensemble, we have episodes like this one, which are at times funny and at other times irritating.
Commenters have told me to stop obsessing over the fact that Courteney Cox's character of Jules is at her most annoying when she's dealing with her "over 40" issues. But I just can't; that's when the show is at its most sledgehammer-in-your-face irritating, with Cox acting to the rafters. This episode showed that quite a bit -- I could have used less of Jules desperately trying to convince people she could pass for 34 -- but it also showed that, when Jules isn't worrying so much about her age, Cox does a pretty nice job of making Jules less of a cartoon.
Continue reading Review: Cougar Town - Two Gunslingers
Posted Nov 5th 2009 11:35AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Cougar Town
(S01E07) For the first half-dozen episodes of
Cougar Town, legions of watchers have been wondering along with me what would happen when a) Courteney Cox remembers she's not playing Monica Gellar anymore and dials it down a notch and b) the ensemble starts melding with each other a bit more. Well, we seemed to get that in this episode, and it made for a funny and engaging half-hour.
Do I still have issues with the show? Sure. But this episode was the best sign I can think of that Bill Lawrence and company are going to get the show on a funny footing by the end of the season.
Continue reading Review: Cougar Town - Don't Come Around Here No More
Posted Oct 29th 2009 11:33AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Cougar Town
(S01E06) I've been trying to figure out why I'm not connecting with Courteney Cox and her
Cougar Town alter ego, Jules Cobb. It's not just about Cox overacting her role; if that were the case, I would have gotten tired of Monica Geller at around season five of
Friends. No, it was something else, something that I couldn't put my finger on.
But after enjoying the male side of the show more than the female side for the second week in a row, the reason has become clear: I might be the wrong gender. I'm neither getting nor caring about why Jules has so many issues with dating young'uns or the process she has to go through as a "woman of years" in order to do that.
What's ironic about that is that I had problems with the pilot because it felt like it was too frat-boy sounding. So maybe
I don't know what I want out of this show. It's not the first time that's happened.
Continue reading Review: Cougar Town - A Woman In Love (It's Not Me)
Posted Sep 30th 2009 10:01PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Cougar Town
(S01E02) I'll say this much about the second episode of
Cougar Town: It didn't make me laugh as much as the first did. But I feel a whole lot better about the show's future after seeing it.
Sometimes that happens, and it happens a lot with Bill Lawrence-led shows. Sometimes it's not wall-to-wall laughs, but the story is satisfying enough that you don't care. In this episode, we see some more humanity behind Jules and her quest to finally have a life even though she's in her forties... and we see the consequences of trying to pursue a life in your forties. We also got a little more out of Ellie than just the bitter wife we saw in the pilot. We also see the beginnings of a weird flirtation between Jules and Grayson that most people figured would happen from the first three minutes of the pilot.
Continue reading Cougar Town: Into the Great Wide Open
Posted Jun 20th 2008 11:41AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E03) Consider this episode of
Swingtown a case of being betwixt and between. The Millers have been in their new home all of two weeks and so much has happened to shake their foundation; Susan especially seems like the song "caught in the middle with you." Does she want to be the good wife going to church and being satisfied with the way they were, her and Bruce, back in the old neighborhood? Or is she ready to embrace swinging?
She's at first drawn back to Janet and Roger and the old ways. Because she's still perturbed by the business card she found in Bruce's pants from the Playboy Club, the one from Sylvia suggesting a get together, Susan drags her family to Sunday services for a little God-time. Impulsively, when chatting with Janet, Susan announces that she's having a housewarming and wants Janet's help. It's like she's clinging to a simpler past.
Continue reading Swingtown: Double Exposure
Posted Mar 5th 2008 3:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Pickups and Renewals, WGA Strike
Way back in July 2007, TV Squad wrote about
a bunch of shows CBS previewed and were slating for the upcoming season, including
Swingtown. It was supposed to premiere in mid-season, but then mid-season came and it was nowhere to be found. The network will announce today their plans for the serial drama;
it's going to run this summer. Instead of taking that move as a lack of faith in the show, executive producer Carol Barbee told
The Hollywood Reporter that a summer run creatively suits the project. "A summer launch is perfect for
Swingtown since the pilot takes place on the Bicentennial Fourth of July," Barbee said. Barbee has most recently been working on
Jericho.Continue reading CBS gives Swingtown a whirl
Posted May 16th 2007 10:48AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Industry, Programming, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, Numb3rs, Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother, Jericho, Shark, Upfronts
CBS is on a good run, being the most watched network for the last five years, but they have taken a bit of heat for the formulaic way they have gone about doing it. Not arguing with success, the whole family of CSIs, and their crime based cousins, will be back, but the network is trying to branch out with some edgier programming. Most notably,
Swingtown, Viva Laughlin, and
Moonlight.Returning: The Amazing Race, Cold Case, 60 Minutes, How I Met Your Mother, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, CSI: Miami, NCIS, The Unit, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, Survivor, CSI, Shark, Without A Trace, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, 48 Hours Mystery.
New: Viva Laughlin, Swingtown, Moonlight, Cane, Big Bang Theory, Power of 10, Kid NationOut: King of Queens, Jericho, The Class, Close To HomeMoving: Without A Trace moves back to Thursday at 10.
Shark heads to Sunday at 10.
Continue reading The Upfronts: CBS
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
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Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
