KateySagal-related stories
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 Oct 28th 2009 9:28AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Sons of Anarchy
"Pull the trigger man. That's the only way this leather is coming off my back." - Jax to Alvarez, the head of the Mayans who orders him to give up his club jacket
Jax is supposed to be the hero of this little modern day Shakesperian epic, but he's starting to look more and more like the enemy in each episode.
I don't mean that he'll be the one in the end who has been scheming the whole time behind SAMCRO's back with the white power. This is a well-crafted, slow paced, high caliber drama, not a badly written Schwarzenegger movie with a thrown together twist ending (cough,
Total Recall, cough).
Jax is more of an enemy of himself. He might have good intentions at heart, but his moves are nowhere near his brain. Maybe his loyalty to his family runs deeper than he ever imagined. Logic and family hardly make a decent cocktail. Anyone with a brother-in-law can tell you that.
Continue reading Review: Sons of Anarchy - Potlatch
Posted Oct 27th 2009 2:01PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, Gone Too Soon
This week, we're going to take a bit of a departure from the shows we normally cover. It's very rare that a show that puts out 76 episodes could be considered by anyone to be gone too soon, and yet I make the argument that
8 Simple Rules (for Dating My Teenage Daughter) is that show.
I'm also not going to try and convince you that
8 Simple Rules was one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, because it simply wasn't. It was a fairly standard, solid series headlined by a brilliant comic actor... and then it became something else.
Continue reading Gone Too Soon: 8 Simple Rules
Posted Oct 15th 2009 4:18AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Sons of Anarchy
(S02E06) "It's not your time yet, man. This is Clay's club. You either back down or get in line, before somebody gets hurt." - Opie to Jax
It was really hard to find a good quote for this week's episode. I watched the bastard four times before I found the one I did and I'm not entirely thrilled with it.
That's because this week's show was all action and little talk.
The tension between SAMCRO and the Aryans got turned up to 11 when they planted a car bomb in the shop that almost turned Chibs into a fried fish filet that would need a gallon of malt vinegar to be edible. This not only made for a perfect set-up against the club but also within it, driving an even deeper wedge between Clay, Jax and each of their alliances.
Continue reading Sons of Anarchy: Falx Cerebri
Posted Sep 28th 2009 2:01PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Reality-Free, Mad Men, True Blood, Sons of Anarchy
Some shows are really creative with their use of music, and one that stands out for me is
Mad Men. In last night's episode (read Bob's review
here), the song that played over the end credits was "Sixteen Tons," and they couldn't have picked a better song. After signing that contract, Don Draper did indeed owe his soul not only "to the company store," but also to Betty and to a life he doesn't seem all that happy about leading.
Another show with great use of music is
Sons of Anarchy. In
his review of "Tears," Danny noted, "Letting Katey Sagal sing a solemn cover of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" was really a great move on whomever made that call." I couldn't agree more. The song just washed all of the sadness and weight of her rape over us in a big way.
Continue reading The Music of Mad Men, True Blood and Sons of Anarchy
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 11:55PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Reality-Free, Sons of Anarchy
(S02E03) - "I'm talking about creating a temporary problem that allows you to flush out the permanent one." - Ethan Zobelle
The thing that surprised me most about this week's episode are the number of times it made me laugh. That's hard to do for a show that cracks more skulls per episode than a plastic surgeon.
It doesn't do so by sacrificing the things that make it great. It's still just as hard-edged, emotional and violent as before. You're just chuckling for all the right reasons, this time.
Continue reading Sons of Anarchy: Fix
Posted Sep 15th 2009 11:15PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Sons of Anarchy
(S02E02) - "Unraveling the matriarch will destabilize them. They're all little boys who need a strong mommy." The thing I'm starting to love about this show is the way it switches gears on just about any incline. They are so swift and sudden that the law should go totally "nanny state" and require me to wear a helmet during each week's episode.
For example: in this week's chapter, we see the aftermath of Gemma's rape and the toll it takes on her as she tries to keep it from the club. Then the very next shot is of Tig, played by Kim Coates and some random fishnet whore slowly waking up with hangovers that could stun an elephant, together in a spent 69.
And I ain't talking about a broken down '69 Chevy.
Continue reading Sons of Anarchy: Small Tears
Posted Sep 8th 2009 11:26PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Episode Recaps
(S02E01) - "I'm not going to swap one outlaw for another one." How do you turn a group of gruff biker outlaws who deal potent drugs to street trash and hardcore hardware to ruthless killers into a likable group of huggable stud muffins?
That's easy. You make a group of radical white supremacists into their enemies. It's the old "lovable by association" tactic of TV writing. Is the audience not buying your childhood version of Darth Vader? Then throw in a wise-cracking alien that sounds like Pee Wee Herman with Down's Syndrome.
However, in the case of the second season of
Sons of Anarchy, it's a pretty sweet power play for a show that already packed more punch than an Absinthe smoothie.
Continue reading Sons of Anarchy: Albification (season premiere)
Posted Sep 8th 2009 11:05AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Interviews, Reality-Free
I haven't been here from the beginning, so I don't know the exact number of times actress and singer Katey Sagal has sat down to talk to someone from our humble site. But within the last year, someone Squadder has either called her up on the phone or bumped into her in person to chat her up about
the return of Futurama or her more serious but equally kick-ass role on
Sons of Anarchy.
I'm seriously thinking that we need to institute some kind of frequent visitor punch card that rewards stars with a free pizza, a round of drinks or half off a new muffler (not including labor) for their 10th interview.
Sagal was nice enough to talk to us yet again in anticipation of the new season of
Sons of Anarachy that premieres this tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central on FX. We talked about her character Gemma's place in SAMCRO and what she has to endure for the club, and why women are such big fans of the show.
Continue reading Sons of Anarchy's Katey Sagal talks to TV Squad...again
Posted Sep 6th 2009 2:00PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Reality-Free, Press Kits Unwrapped
Normally, TV press kits come with more useless junk than an IKEA furniture kit. They usually come with T-shirts that are too small for the average TV critic's billowy build, toys that can turn the brightest human beings into easily-amused cats, and other assorted paraphernalia.
FX's press kit for the forthcoming second season of
Sons of Anarchy has none of these things. There are no bloody brass knuckle sets, fake handlebar mustaches or even a lousy T-shirt that reads "The bitch fell off" on the back, perfect for that upcoming christening or bar-mitzvah.
That doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, it's one of the most bitching press kits to ever grace my cold, ink-stained hands.
Continue reading Press Kits Unwrapped: Sons of Anarchy Season 2
Posted Aug 30th 2009 3:12PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Reality-Free, Jane After Dark
I've been hearing about an awesome new show on FX since it aired last year, and finally got around to watching season one of
Sons of Anarchy this week for
Jane After Dark. Being a motorcycle babe myself, I love any show where bikes or gangs are the central focus.
But even if you've never mounted a bad chopper, there are plenty of reasons to love this badass show about the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Originals (SAMCRO). They run a legal automotive business while dealing arms, battling rival gangs, and working with the cops (sometimes) to keep their town of Charming, California a pleasant place to live. You can see all the irony at work here.
Continue reading Jane After Dark: Sons of Anarchy - bikes, guns, sex and Katey Sagal
Posted Aug 7th 2009 1:45PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, Animation, Interviews, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free
At last night's FOX party at the Langham Huntington's "Horseshoe Garden," I ran into (TV Squad reader) Katey Sagal, who was there in support of her excellent FX show
Sons of Anarchy. Before we could get into any questions about that show, though, I wanted to know about the contentious negotiations between 20th Century Fox and the voice cast of
Futurama that finally were wrapped up last week.
Her reaction? Slightly perturbed, but not surprised, given her industry experience. "Well, it's what always happens. We're starting our sixth season, and the actors felt that it was deserving of a sixth-season salary. And we weren't being offered that. We were united in our search for... we wanted what's fair, that's all."
When 20th put out a
casting notice looking for replacement voices, Sagal said, "I wasn't surprised. It's business."
Continue reading Katey Sagal talks about contentious Futurama negotiations - TCA Report
Posted Aug 3rd 2009 10:02AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Animation, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Despite a minor derailment that nearly
threw all of the show's voice talent head first through a windshield,
Futurama is finally full steam ahead ...
again.
Variety reports that production on the new Comedy Central episodes has been restarted now that the principal voice talent has been coaxed back to the studio. This means that the show will be able to meet its 2010 target date.
That is, of course, unless there are unforeseen complications like, say, another writers' strike, an animator ink shortage, or an impromptu invasion led by the planet Omicron Persei 8. Negotiations with Lur are still pending.
Continue reading Futurama back on track again
Posted Aug 1st 2009 9:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Animation, Casting, Reality-Free
It looks like
it may have all been tactics after all. At least so far. While I'm thrilled that the majority of the
Futurama voice actors have signed deals to reprise their roles, they're still missing two of the key talents. Can you really imagine
Futurama with different voices for Fry, Zoidberg, Farnsworth
and Bender? At the same time, I can't really see Billy West (Fry, Zoidberg, Farnsworth) and John Di Maggio (Bender) walking away from this.
Di Maggio is currently working on
Penguins of Madagascar, but neither is working on anything as high profile as
Futurama. I can't imagine they have any intention of truly walking away from a revival getting this much press. They were just trying to play hardball, and realized that 20th Century wasn't going to play.
I think it would have been fun if they'd recast the characters. They would have probably even addressed it right in the episodes, having them talk about how they all sound different and coming up with some ridiculous reason for it.
[
UPDATE: - Since the composition of this post, all principal cast members have been signed.]
Posted Jul 17th 2009 3:02PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
What the....? What do you mean that Fox
has put out a casting notice to replace the voice leads on
Futurama? Katey Sagal and Billy West didn't mention that
when they spoke to Danny in June. What kind of colossal cluster-frak is Fox doing?
As the article notes, this is either a salary negotiation tactic or the dumbest marketing move since new Coke. This is like replacing Seth MacFarlane on
Family Guy (which I wouldn't put past the Fox executives in looking to save a buck or two). Everybody, and I mean everybody, would notice if the characters suddenly spoke with a different voice, no matter how much the voice tried to be like the original.
This is a bad idea. Even if they did some sort of lame plot device like having Professor Farnsworth invent a machine that would change everybody's voice, this is a bad idea.
They tried this same tactic years ago with the voices on
The Simpsons and that didn't work either. Here's hoping that Fox has similar luck.
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