Posts with tag New Jersey
Posted Aug 11th 2008 9:44AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E11) "My family will be the death of me."What an opening act! What a set up! This seemed to be the first of the two-part finale for season one, and in this penultimate episode, the writers really delivered a knockout. I think we're finally getting that clash of Mary's personal and professional life that's been building from the pilot when Brandi showed up.
The abduction of Mary was well done because they chloroformed her. If she weren't drugged, she would have not been overpowered. As it was, she nearly got away. Of course, they thought they were grabbing Brandi so why did they need to knock her out? Also -- continuity error -- Russell said they grabbed the first hot blonde that came out of the house. That's not where Mary was snatched; she was in the alley outside the theater.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Stan By Me
Posted Jul 21st 2008 9:20AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Reality-Free
Some actors from
The Sopranos have won awards, Emmys, Golden Globes, et. al. At least one has achieved another kind of infamy.
Federico Castelluccio, who played the Italian hit man Furio, has sold a painting inspired by the show for $175,000. The image, a variation on the famous 15th century dual portrait,
Duke and Duchess of Urbino, is called The Duke and Duchess of North Caldwell. That would be Tony and Carmela Soprano of Caldwell, New Jersey.
Federico, who has no less that eight film roles to his credit for release this year, doesn't need to paint to pay the rent. He paints because he's an artist and -- clearly -- a good one. This original work was created after his appearance on the show. As Furio Giunta, the Italian made the mistake of becoming a wee bit too enamored with his boss's wife. Rather than stay in Jersey and potentially have an affair with Carmela, Furio returned to Italy and never came back -- as far as we know. David Chase may have a whole other story that was written and never filmed involving Furio. Chase is funny that way.
Continue reading Huge payday for Sopranos actor
Posted Jun 9th 2008 10:22AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E02) Overall, a very good episode from Mary and Marshall as
In Plain Sight settles into the kind of show it's going to be. Far less frantic than the pilot -- which in retrospect looks like a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth -- this show dealt with one main issue and it was a touching one at that. The story starts 18 months earlier when Mary's assigned to place an 8-year-old boy who's seen drug dealers kill his mother in Witness Protection, which is virtually impossible unless she can find a family in the system who are willing to take on that responsibility.
I was stunned that she pulled it off, and when we were back in the present and we see little Lonny -- now Leo -- enjoying a perfect life with the Billups, I was skeptical. The adoption seemed too good to be true. Leo fit right in, taking care of the baby. Were the Billups for real? I thought there had to be something wrong, but it wasn't. I was just suspicious. It turns out there was a reason to show Lonny/Leo in such a happy family.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Hoosier Daddy
Posted Feb 18th 2008 4:19PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Industry, Daytime, Big Brother (US)
This is no laughing
matter. John Gilmore, executive director of Autism United, said today that CBS must apologize for an insensitive remark made on the Julie Chen-hosted reality show
Big Brother during last week's episode. One of the contestants, a man named Adam, said that if he was the show's big winner, he would use the money to start a hair salon for people with developmental disabilities. Adam went on to say he wanted a beauty shop "so retards can get it together and get their hair done." When Sheila, another contestant, protested, "Don't call them that," Adam declared that, "Disabled kids. I can call them whatever I want. I work with them all day, okay?"
According to CBS's
Big Brother web site, Adam is a public relations manager for an unnamed foundation. The 29-year-old is from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, but is now living in Delray Beach, Florida.
Continue reading CBS owes an apology for Big Brother faux pas
Posted Feb 18th 2008 3:05PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Emmys
If you're in the camp that believes that Tony was whacked by the Members-Only jacketed man in the final blackout of
The Sopranos, then you'll probably be pleased to know that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. has taken a shot at the HBO drama, too.
During a recent
speech at New Jersey's Rutgers University, Justice Alito opined that the Emmy-winning series besmirched not only Italians, but citizens of the Garden State, too. "You have a trifecta - gangsters, Italian-Americans, New Jersey - wedded in the popular American imagination," he said to a crowd of about 100. He was speaking about the stereotypes Italian-Americans have had to live with in the United States. Clearly,
The Sopranos would be just the kind of depiction to draw his ire. After all, Uncle Junior and Paulie Walnuts are not characters to be emulated and admired, and creator David Chase never said they were.
Continue reading A supreme slam at Tony and Carmela
Posted Feb 17th 2008 10:24AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Ratings, Emmys
CBS's daytime drama
Guiding Light celebrated its 71st year on the air on January 25. First, on radio, then and now on television, this grand old soap opera has never stopped telling its stories, making broadcast history. Production goes on, but starting February 29, 2008, viewers will be seeing
Guiding Light in a brand new light. Led by innovative Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler,
Guiding Light it busting out of the studio to starting filming in a more realistic,
cinema verite style. "Soap operas have been shot, by and large, the same way since the 1950's, the same way
I Love Lucy was shot - with pedestal cameras, in just a few interior sets," said Ms. Wheeler
recently. According to her, the "[it's] old-fashioned, and it isn't working anymore."
Continue reading Guiding Light is getting a new look
Posted Nov 21st 2007 11:04AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry
According to an interview in the latest
GQ magazine,
Sopranos creator David Chase probably
crushed the dreams of show fans as he told them not to expect a movie based on the series. Show devotees were left dangling with the end of the series' six and a half year run on HBO. There has been rampant speculation that a film adaption would be in the works.
Chase told the magazine, "There is no thought about making a movie now and chances are we will probably not do it. But, at the same time, I'm a writer, and this is how my mind works: I could wake up some morning or James Gandolfini (
Sopranos star) could wake up some morning and say 'how about it?' If it was great enough, we might be tempted to do it, but I don't think that's going to happen."
The series creator went on to say that everyone has moved on, including himself. At least he didn't say "fuggedaboudit."
Posted Oct 1st 2007 11:01PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, How I Met Your Mother, Episode Reviews
(S03E02) May I rant for a second?
I don't know if you've been to New York lately, but if you go, the one thing you'll notice is that most of the people there
aren't native New Yorkers. They're from all over the country; they've decided to move to the city to chase their dreams or just get the experience of living there. After about a year, most of them feel they've been hardened by the experience, thinking they're "real New Yorkers" because they got the privilege of crowding on the subways and paying $2500 for a studio. With that badge of honor, they feel they get to make fun of all the "Bridge & Tunnel" people who, even though they've lived in the area all their lives, have the good sense to live in a place where drinks are less than $15 a pop.
Ok, rant over. But a lot of that was going through my mind as Ted yelled at the "sorta New Yorkers" who dared tell him they lived in West Orange. The Jerseyan in me was laughing, but he wasn't happy, either.
Continue reading How I Met Your Mother: We're Not From Here
Posted May 23rd 2007 9:01AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Watercooler Talk, Jericho, Cancellations
Jericho fans aren't just sending sternly-worded e-mails and signing petitions to save the show, they've also launched a
'Send NUTS' campaign that is really picking up steam.
This fan website concocted the campaign after CBS announced Jericho's cancellation at last week's
Upfronts presentation. The reason for the nuts is based on something a
Jericho character, Jake, said when New Bern's commander asked him to surrender. He said "Nuts!" That also happens to be a famous response given by WWII Gen. MacAuliffe when asked to surrender at the Battle of the Bulge.
Fans have enlisted the help of a family-owned New Jersey nut company called
NutsOnline, whose employees are working overtime to handle the sudden increase in demand for nuts. The business is taking orders and sending bulk shipments to CBS. As of Tuesday, nearly 5,000 pounds of nuts have been ordered and/or shipped. You can
order here if you, too, think CBS is NUTS for canceling
Jericho.
*Update: NutsOnline is donating $.10 on each pound of nuts shipped to
rebuild Greensburg, Kansas, which was destroyed by a tornado earlier this month.
Posted Apr 8th 2007 1:29PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Entourage, The Sopranos
OK, so no one has to be told that the final season of The Sopranos starts tonight at 9pm on HBO. After all, there have been tons of news stories about it, if you haven't heard (there might be a spoiler or two at some of those links). But don't forget that Entourage also returns tonight, immediately following The Sopranos at 10pm.
Remember when April and May used to mean the season was winding down on all of the networks? Now here it is Easter and the cable networks are just warming up. Everyone seems to be waiting for Tony and company to come back, but I'm more excited about Entourage. When we last left our heroes, Vince had ended his relationship with agent Ari, so it's going to be interesting to see where they go with the storyline.
Thanks for the Easter candy, HBO!
Posted Mar 9th 2007 2:24PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, HBO, The Sopranos
Permits have been denied to the producers of
The Sopranos to film in the town of Bloomfield, New Jersey on the basis of the show's "offensive depiction" of Italian-Americans. The producers had intended to film the series' final scene at Holsten's Brookdale Confectionery in Bloomfield. The permits for shooting were approved and then revoked after complaints reached Mayor Raymond McCarthy who was quoted as saying, "I don't think
The Sopranos depicts the life of a typical Italian-American in a positive way, and I still don't like the way people see New Jersey based upon
The Sopranos series." (The way people saw New Jersey pre-
Sopranos was apparently downright Utopian.)
The filming permits are being reviewed again next week because of the flood of calls supporting Holsten's, the actual shooting location. As council member Peggy O'Boyle Dunigan said, "If you don't like the show, you can turn it off. It's hard enough to have a small business in town. I don't want to discourage them." If they get the permits, I guess we know where
The Sopranos will finally end - in an ice cream parlor - hopefully, not in the freezer.
UPDATE: A
loophole has been found because Holsten's is a commercial space. Filming will proceed as planned.
Posted Dec 16th 2006 3:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Cable, Industry, OpEd, HDTV, Cable/Satellite
Huzzah! That was my reaction when I read the good news that my home state, New Jersey,
has granted Verizon a statewide cable license. That means that they are free to offer their FiOS television service to any town in the state that they wish. And Verizon plans to do just that, as they have been busily installing the fiber optics needed to carry the FiOS TV and broadband services all over the state. The first 100 towns should be able to go online next week. Verizon is taking advantage of a new law that streamlined the process for providing state-wide licenses, instead of the old model where exclusive rights were negotiated by individual municipalities. Three other states have such a law: Texas, Kansas, and Indiana.
Continue reading New Jersey grants Verizon statewide cable license
Posted Oct 5th 2006 8:37PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, FOX, TV Royalty, Industry
Will Ferrell may not be on television anymore, but his influence is still there. Fox is the latest network to enter into a production deal with the former
SNL actor (Ferrell
recently sold a comedy series to HBO). Fox has given pilot commitment to
Church of Steve, a half-hour, single camera comedy about a New Jersey fellow who learns he's a descendant of Jesus. Yes, FOX is interested. I was blown away, too. Although, the Fox television network and the Fox News network are two entirely different animals run by the same man who may or may not be bi-polar.
Church of Steve sounds like something that will pair well with
Family Guy.
Posted Oct 4th 2006 8:05AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, ABC, Celebrities
ABC's latest
Bachelor candidate is starting to sound a little slimy. Sure, Lorenzo Borghese is a member of Italy's royal family who grew up in the United States. But apparently he couldn't speak a lick of Italian so the producers signed him up for an intensive Italian course before the show started, according to
Radar online. And, even though
his bio says he was raised in Connecticut, Radar can only find addresses for his family in New Jersey, dating back to 1979. Plus, the Radar reporters say there's no way Rome is Lorenzo's "second home", as he claims in the promos. Members of the Borghese family in Rome say the prince has never come to their city. And, quite frankly, they're embarrassed that he's doing the show as a member of the family.
[Via
TV Tattle]
Posted Sep 29th 2006 11:48AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Late Night, OpEd, The Daily Show, Comedy Central
"
Show Intel": During a recent press conference, Bush said that if you think that going to Iraq was a mistake, you're naive. Not "I do believe we'll be greeted as liberators"-naive, but naive nonetheless. He then proceeded to repeatedly shout "fuck y'all" and urinated on the first two rows of reporters. Okay, that didn't happen. It wasn't even a joke on
The Daily Show. I just have a tendency to imagine that every time Bush gets all snippy at the press. And yes, I imagine it a lot. Sometimes, imaginary-Bush even throws in a few jokes about "the splash zone". Aaanyway...
Continue reading The Daily Show: September 28, 2006
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