Posts with tag LosAngeles
Posted Jul 22nd 2008 12:41AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: The Closer, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
"Margaritas. One is never enough. Two is too many.
And 12, well, you're looking at 12." Is this our Brenda? So happy, so horny, so friendly and jovial. After last week's heavy duty episode, with the fires and the serial arsonist with the creepy (also very beguiling) smile, this episode found Brenda in a playful mood. Don't you love a well-rounded character?
It was very romantic the way Brenda was awakened by Fritzie, and for a show that tends to show more of the neurotic Brenda than the sexy Brenda, this was a lovely change of pace. And if you can consider a story in which homeless drunks are run over (and over) by cars -- vehicular homicide indeed -- for insurance money a light, comic turn, then this episode qualifies.
Continue reading The Closer: Speed Bumps
Posted Jul 16th 2008 9:41AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: The Closer, Reality-Free
Is that music coming from
The Closer production?
"Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married,
going to the chapel and we're gonna get married,
gee I really love you and we're gonna get married.
Going to the chapel of love!"
The Closer's Executive Producer James Duff, told
TV Guide -- exclusively -- that
a wedding may be in the works. Could Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, a woman who's great at her job but a neurotic mess in her personal life, get it together to actually marry the love of her life, FBI agent Fritz Howard? Could it happen this season?
Continue reading The Closer nuptials? It looks good for Brenda and Fritzie
Posted Jul 4th 2008 8:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Food/Home/DIY, Industry
Bravo's top-rated and highly acclaimed reality food show,
Top Chef, has big plans for the fifth season. Like real estate, it's all about location, location, location and
Top Chef has chosen a most unique place, somewhere you might not guess in a game of 20 questions. I'm not going to reveal the place until after the jump, because there may be some of you out there that want to be surprised.
Just to recap,
Top Chef has already spent seasons in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. They've also had special episodes and finales in Napa Valley, Las Vegas, Hawaii and Aspen and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Traveling to interesting and even exotic locales is part of the fun, giving the contestants a chance to incorporate the regional foods and the style of that part of the world.
Okay, if the suspense is getting to you -- I know it is -- go to the jump and see where season five of
Top Chef is going to be...
Continue reading Top Chef's exciting new location
Posted Jun 23rd 2008 3:04PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Music and Variety, Awards, Reality-Free
MTV has decided that after a ten-year absence from the west coast, the
Video Music Awards will be held this year in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be held on Sunday September 7th at the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood.
What? No Kodak Theatre? No Nokia Theatre? So, why the choice to hold the ceremony at a Hollywood studio lot?
Entertainment Weekly says, "Expect executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic to make use of many of Paramount's stages, rooftops, and camera-ready city streets for the star-studded show, which will only air once in its original incarnation."
Continue reading VMAs go back to L.A.
Posted Jun 18th 2008 12:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Food/Home/DIY, Episode Reviews
(S02E01) I watched the first season of
Flipping Out on Bravo last summer based on a teaser I saw during
Top Chef 3. The show is about a real estate "flipper" who buys properties, fixes them up and then resells them for a profit. You might say, "Yawn, that's just like a bunch of other shows on TLC, Discovery, et al." Well, yes, that's true.
But
Flipping Out isn't really about the flipping, it's about the flipper -- Jeff Lewis. This guy Lewis is not normal. I mean it, he's not. He says he's not. He's obsessive compulsive and it comes out in everything he does. It makes him a better flipper, because of his attention to detail, but it also makes him really hard to take if you're his employee, partner or contractor. But, boy, is it fun to watch Jeff Lewis's life! That's what
Flipping Out is really all about and it's back.
Continue reading Flipping Out: Sell Out (season premiere)
Posted May 23rd 2008 9:21AM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, So You Think You Can Dance
(
S04E01) It's back! *sings terribly* "Oh, I wanna dance with somebody. With somebody who loves me!" I am psyched for
So You Think You Can Dance. We kicked off tonight with the L.A. auditions and a two-hour season premiere. There were a lot of Russians, a lot of pelvic thrusts, a lot of repeat dancers, and a lot of Mary Murphy's infectious/irritating laugh. I can't decide about that one. Some times I can't stand her and some times I want to sit next to her at the judges table. What about you?
But enough about Mary, let's get to the good stuff ... the auditions!
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: LA Auditions (season premiere)
Posted Feb 26th 2008 10:38AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, The Shield, Cable/Satellite, Pickups and Renewals, Life
Starz, the cable network, is getting into original production and their first project will be based on the 2005 Best Picture Oscar-winning film
Crash. Glen Mazzara, whose credits include
Life, The Shield, Stand-Off and
Nash Bridges,
has been named executive producer/showrunner for the drama series. Lionsgate TV will co-produce with Starz, and they've greenlighted 13 episodes.
The controversial film, which dealt with the intersecting lives of a myriad of people living in Los Angeles in just 48 hours, centers on the character of Detective Graham Waters. Waters, a police detective, is struggling with his career, his drug addict mother and a criminal brother. The role was played by Don Cheadle (
Picket Fences), who was also one of the film's producers. He is expected to reprise the part in the Starz production and may even direct a few episodes. In addition, director/co-writer/producer Paul Haggis and others from the film are also on board for Starz.
Continue reading Starz first series will be Crash
Posted Feb 18th 2008 12:02PM by Jay Black
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, TV 101
Chuck Klosterman, in his very excellent
Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, wrote an essay about
The Real World: San Francisco. He said that the third season of
The Real World was the moment the series stopped
reflecting youth culture and started
creating youth culture.
I'm not going to argue with Mr. Klosterman. I admire him so much that for a short while, I thought he was my own
Tyler Durden (all the ways I wish I could be -- that's Chuck). If we are, however, to take Klosterman's argument as truth -- that Puck and Pedro realizing the cameras were on them was the TV equivalent of Skynet becoming self-aware and destroying humanity -- we must then look to the second season of the show as the moment when
Miles Dyson started working for Cyberdyne. That is, the seeds for television's unraveling were sown not during the third season of
The Real World, but during the
second. As 2008 is the 15th anniversary of
The Real World: Los Angeles, I thought it might be a good idea to take a look back at how it managed to ruin everything...
Continue reading TV 101: The Day the Music Died (or, how the second season of The Real World ruined everything)
Posted Feb 11th 2008 10:40AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, WGA Strike
According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, the
cost of the WGA strike on the local Los Angeles economy is estimated at $2 billion. This is four times the number of the 1988 strike, which lasted six weeks longer.
All this information assumes the strike will end Tuesday when the contract terms are put to general vote. It's a likely assumption.
I've been to L.A. and it's pretty much a one-industry town (yes, I'm referring to the entertainment industry). When every other industry revolves around that one, a strike hits pretty hard.
Continue reading Cost of strike: $2 billion
Posted Aug 1st 2007 3:43PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Industry, Programming, Moonlight
I'm getting a bit concerned about the new CBS drama Moonlight. You know, the one about a vampire private-eye who works the streets of Los Angeles? No, I'm not confusing this show with Angel! See, that was a show about a vampire who was a private-eye working the dark streets of Los Angeles. Two totally different shows here!
I'm getting worried because of all of the changes going on for a show that hasn't even aired its first episode yet. I know that small changes can occur between the time that a show is picked up until its series premiere. But, when the changes include recasting everyone except the main character I foresee problems. And, when the person who decided to recast the show leaves after only a few short weeks I can see the words 'mid-season replacement' written all over the program.
Continue reading Angel co-creator David Greenwalt leaves Moonlight
Posted May 7th 2007 2:23PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: The Shield, Celebrities
You've probably heard or read stories in the past of how real life can break into shows like Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, and Rescue Me. What usually happens is some type of real emergency occurs while the actors are filming a made-up one for the television viewers. Or, someone will come up to an actor who portrays some kind of 'First Response' character on a show and demand that they arrest a neighbor or help them get their pet down from a tree.
Another example of this type of incident recently occurred with the cast of The Shield. This time, though, their interaction with real life was closer and a bit frightening.
Continue reading The Shield stars threatened by street gangs
Posted Apr 30th 2007 11:08AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Site Announcements
The time of year is upon us when there are just way too many things happening on the west coast, and we simply don't have all of the resources necessary to keep up with them all -- and that's why we're once again putting the call out for another addition to our fine team of bloggers.
As is sometimes the case, we've got some specific requirements you need to fulfill before we consider your application. Read on below for details.
Continue reading We're looking for a new blogger
Posted Apr 4th 2007 7:42PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Celebrities
The Root of All Evil, a new pilot for Comedy Central starring Lewis Black and featuring comedians Patton Oswalt, Greg Giraldo, and Paul F. Tompkins (not Paul S. Tompkins, as this Craigslist ad reads) is taping tomorrow night in Los Angeles, so if you're in LA and looking for something to do, buy yourself some tickets, and then kick yourself for paying money for free tickets.
Continue reading Lewis Black's new pilot taping in Los Angeles tomorrow afternoon
Posted Mar 7th 2007 9:29AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, NBC, Programming, The Apprentice
Believe it or not The Apprentice is still on the air, it's just tucked away on Sunday nights so people kind of forget to watch it. Despite that, Donald Trump is still planning a live finale show where the last two contestants (would they be called apprentici?) will duke it our for The Donald's attention.
Utilizing the region where this season's Apprentice was shot . . . Los Angeles . . . the live season finale will be held at the famous Hollywood Bowl, one of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world and home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The theater, which seats over 17,000 spectators, is a fitting place for Trump, who is not known for being too conservative when it comes to showing off. The finale will air at 10 p.m. on April 22nd.
I've been a casual viewer of The Apprentice this season and am just not feeling the love like I did last season. Maybe it's because I'm not reviewing it this time around, or maybe it's due to the feelings I have about this whole 'win, you live in the mansion; lose, you live in tents' scenario. Sure, I guess it helps motivate the losing team to win and get back in the house, but it just doesn't feel right coming from a businessman like Trump. I'm guessing that next season losers will be living in the back of a van, down by the river.
Posted Jan 28th 2007 12:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, Industry, American Idol, Nip/Tuck, The Simpsons, Animation, Prison Break, The Office, Celebrities, The Closer, Jericho, Dexter, Ugly Betty, Brothers and Sisters
If you love yourself some Simpsons and you're going to be in Los Angeles on March 15, be sure to get tickets to the William S. Paley Television Festival where James L. Brooks, Al Jean and Matt Groening will appear with some of the voice actors to talk about the 400th episode of the series and also screen a sneak preview of The Simpsons Movie.
The festival runs from March1 to 15 and will also feature tributes to American Idol, Heroes, The Office, Prison Break, Jericho, Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters, The Closer, Dexter and Nip/Tuck. This is the first time in twenty-four years that the festival has been dedicated solely to series that are still on the air. It's named after William S. Paley, founder of both the Museum of Television and Radio and CBS.
George Lucas will take part in a panel discussion and Q&A on March 3.
Next Page >
NBC's Kings panel - Comic-Con Report
The Dharma Initiative wants you - VIDEO - Comic-Con Report
Forget the Knight Rider movie, say the series creators - TCA Report
