SixFeetUnder-related stories
Posted Sep 29th 2009 11:11AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, TV Royalty, Programming, OpEd, Entourage, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free, TV Squad Ten, True Blood
HBO has slowly become my favorite network over the past few years. I don't know if it's because the mainstream networks have turned to lots of reality programming or what, but HBO just seems to get better and better. Just about every show on the premium channel is feature film quality (if not better), and I've got some favorites listed below.
I know I'm missing a few biggies, like
Rome,
Deadwood,
Flight of the Conchords, and
Extras, but it's only because I either haven't watched these shows or have only watched a few episodes -- not enough to make an informed opinion. I'm sure they'll make my
Jane After Dark column at some point in the future. So I hope you'll tell me your favorites in the comments below.
Continue reading TV Squad Ten: My favorite HBO shows
Posted Aug 2nd 2009 12:18PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, NCIS, Casting, Reality-Free
How will the producers of
NCIS make sure that fans tune in to the show they don't switch the channel after the end credits and stay put for
NCIS: Los Angeles, the spin-off? One way will be with crossovers. We've already reported the
Rocky Carroll will appear on both shows, now comes word that
NCIS mainstay
Pauley Perrette will do a two-episode stint on NCIS: L.A. And they aren't waiting for the guest stint. In the second episode, Perrette's brilliant, goth scientist character, Abby Scuito, will do a "fun little cameo" according to exec producer Shane Brennan.
Continue reading Pauley Perrette crossing over to NCIS: Los Angeles
Posted Jul 22nd 2009 10:04AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Early Looks, Upfronts, Reality-Free
NBC seems to be sending out their screeners in dribs and drabs, so I'm making my way through their fall offerings very slowly. I've already given you previews of both
Community and Trauma, and now we've got
Parenthood, a new series based on a movie that was already turned into a series nearly twenty years ago. Who says Hollywood is out of ideas?
Parenthood is basically a less-melodramatic
Brothers & Sisters. It follows the Braverman clan, a family in Fresno made up of four siblings: Adam (
Peter Krause), Crosby (
Dax Shepard), Sarah (
Maura Tierney), and Julia (
Erika Christensen), along with their children and parents, played by
Craig T. Nelson and
Bonnie Bedelia. They all have their share of drama, but at the end of the day, they're all brought together in the most suburban of pursuits: Little League. Say it with me now: "awwww."
Continue reading TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 2)
Posted Dec 10th 2008 9:02PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Desperate Housewives, Reality-Free
I read today that
Desperate Housewives might run for an extra two seasons, instead of the original seven planned by creator
Marc Cherry. According to TVGuide.com,
Cherry made the announcement today at a cake-cutting ceremony celebrating 100 episodes of the ABC suds-fest.
Unless they can ramp up the storylines, I'm not sure this is such a good thing. Sure, the series has picked up steam this season, but it's still slow-going. While I'm on-board and watching it every week, nothing about the storylines has really wowed me. An extra two seasons? Not feeling it at the moment.
Let's see here ... If the original pact between Cherry and ABC stands, the series would wrap in 2011. That seems like a good amount of time to throw a few more juicy stories into the mix and give the housewives of Wisteria Lane a good send-off.
Continue reading Two extra seasons for Desperate Housewives? Not feeling it
Posted Nov 20th 2008 12:10PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Industry, Ratings, Reality-Free
It's no big secret. People love their movies and TV shows based on vampire book series -- romantic vampire book series, to be exact. Proof of that will be
crowding your local multiplex this weekend thanks to the release of
Twilight, the teen vampire flick based on Stephenie Meyer's inescapable best-seller. (I'll guess I'll wait another week to catch
Role Models. Navigating through a sea of rabid teenage "Twilighters" isn't worth it. Sorry, Paul Rudd.)
Want more proof of the popularity of blood suckers? HBO execs are saying their freshman vampire series
True Blood, also based on a series of novels, is
developing an audience faster than The Sopranos, aka one of the most financially successful cable series in the history of TV. Michael Lombardo, HBO's chief of West Coast operations, says that
The Sopranos' viewership numbers grew slowly. The big ratings jump didn't come until season two. But
True Blood has fared better, with a 66 percent jump in Sunday night viewership since its premiere in September.
Continue reading True Blood growing faster than The Sopranos
Posted Sep 8th 2008 1:22PM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E01) True Blood is definitely a show after my own heart. I love any high concept drama that lays out the entire idea in the first five minutes.
In case you didn't get it, here's the short version. Synthetic blood is now available for vampires to buy, therefore they no longer need to kill to survive. So, as a society, they decide to live out in the open and are met with the kind of fear and skepticism that you'd expect.
Continue reading True Blood: Strange Love (series premiere)
Posted Jul 30th 2008 12:05PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Casting, Reality-Free
Josh Lucas has been working in the film and TV industry since 1990, but he first came into my line of vision with 2002's
Sweet Home Alabama, where he traded barbs with
Reese Witherspoon. He shot to the top of my list with 2006's
Glory Road, a great film in which he played Don Haskins, the Texas coach who shepherded an all-black team to the NCAA championship.
Now I'll get to see more of Lucas, because
he's been tapped to star in Possible Side Effects, a
Showtime drama pilot written and directed by
Tim Robbins.
The show centers on the Hunts, a dysfunctional family running a pharmaceutical company enmeshed in controversy. Lucas will play Max Hunt, who tries to keep the family and business together as the drug industry falls under more and more scrutiny.
Continue reading Possible Side Effects for Josh Lucas
Posted Jul 24th 2008 8:44PM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Reality-Free, Comic-Con
Another hangar-like room, room 6CDEF (obviously four rooms put together) was what housed the rest of my evening's panels. First up: HBO's
True Blood. What's so odd about this is how, immediately following, Showtime has
Dexter. Go figure.
Many people arrived early, enjoying the new characters of Street Fighter IV in the panel before
True Blood. The line getting in over an hour before was insane, looping around multiple long corridors and seemingly never stopping to gain length. How they're able to get everyone in without people standing is a mystery.
Here are some key highlights from the panel discussion. More details to come later.
Continue reading HBO's True Blood - Comic-Con Report
Posted Jul 22nd 2008 8:03AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free, Comic-Con
Ewww! This poster is so creepy, it makes me want to hurl! And watch this show! Of course, the fact that
Alan Ball is behind it -- the man who helmed one of my favorite shows ever,
Six Feet Under -- has nothing to do with it. Nope, it doesn't. Okay, I'm lying. It has everything to do with it.
HBO's
True Blood, starring Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, is set to premiere on Sept. 7 at 9 p.m. Here's the newly released poster for it. Makes you want to dig into a jar of strawberry jam, doesn't it?
Based on
Charlaine Harris'
Southern Vampire novel series, the show follows the world of vampires set in small-town Louisiana. They're able to co-exist with humans by drinking a Japanese-manufactured synthetic blood. (Well, what fun is that?!)
Continue reading HBO releases True Blood poster (time to stock up on strawberry jam)
Posted Jul 4th 2008 1:02PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, TV on DVD, OpEd, Retro Squad, Reality-Free, Six Feet Under
This post might get a little esoteric, but I'll just lay it out there and, as always, you can either take it or leave it. If you don't like talk about death and dying, stop reading here.
If I was asked to say just one thing about
Six Feet Under, it's that they don't shirk from anything. The Fisher family is complex and messy, but the writers and actors put it all out there, whether it's gay sex, drugs, mental illness, or, of course, death.
That last one is a good thing for me, because I go to a lot of funerals. In the past few years, I've lost two aunts, a dad, a father-in-law, a grandma, a sister-in-law, two cousins, and at least two dozen friends. I've written scores of obituaries and played my violin for dozens of funerals. I'm on a first-name basis with most of the funeral directors in town. And you know what? It's OK!
Six Feet Under has helped me to see that. Read on for five ways the show helps me cope with death.
Continue reading Five ways Six Feet Under helps me cope with death
Posted Jul 4th 2008 11:24AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Retro Squad, Reality-Free, Six Feet Under
I'm late to the
Six Feet Under party, having just started watching the series on DVD earlier this year. I'm half-way through the final season, so if anyone posts about the last episode (I've heard it's wonderful), I'll have to stick my fingers in my ears and sing la-la-la -- though I already have a general idea how it ends.
At any rate, I
love this show. Who knew I'd get hooked on a show about funeral directors, but there's something very addictive about it. I watch it when I get done working around 2 a.m., and there's something weirdly comforting about watching a show about death at that hour. Like, somehow, you think it'll all be okay. And really, the show isn't just about death. It's about
life and death. Big difference.
Okay, bear with me while I hand out a few awards (and feel free to post your own
SFU Awards in the comments):
Continue reading Six Feet Under: The Awards - VIDEO
Posted Jul 4th 2008 11:03AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Video, Retro Squad, Reality-Free, Six Feet Under
One of my favorite parts of
Six Feet Under is the opening titles. When I get ready to watch the show, I don't turn it on and do other things while the opening titles play. I sit down and watch the titles from the beginning. It prepares me for the show ahead.
As I learned from watching the behind-the-scenes featurette on the season one DVD set, when a show is created, the opening pictures are usually done first and the music added later. That wasn't the case with
Six Feet Under, mainly because creator
Alan Ball had no idea what he wanted to do with the pictures. So he had composer Thomas Newman -- whom he worked with on
American Beauty -- score the music first.
Continue reading Six Feet Under: The opening titles - VIDEO
Posted Jul 3rd 2008 3:03PM by Erin Martell
Filed under: Retro Squad, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free, Six Feet Under
The characters on
Six Feet Under were fascinating to watch, but they often made horrible romantic choices. Even the couples that stood the test of time had their issues. Most of the truly memorable train wrecks didn't last, though. Here's a look back at some of the show's weirdest relationships.
Ruth Fisher and Arthur Martin - Ruth and Arthur's relationship was arguably the most awkward pairing in
Six Feet Under history. Apart from the significant age difference, the relationship suffered from a lack of physical intimacy. You can't build a romance on nuzzling and spooning alone; it didn't take long for Ruth to figure that out. Ruth dumped Arthur, and things took a turn for the worse when she suddenly married George Sibley. Arthur showed his jealousy by arguing with George over the origins of the word "formica" and labeling his food. They finally parted ways after the "poo by mail" misunderstanding.
Continue reading Strangest Six Feet Under couples
Posted Jul 1st 2008 10:02AM by Erin Martell
Filed under: Video, Retro Squad, Standout Episodes, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Six Feet Under
Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.
(S03E08) Two words: Jeanne Tripplehorn. Keith's paintball revenge was his finest moment on the show as far as I'm concerned. The Fishers and Diazes played against type and became people of action, if only for a short while. David and Keith settled their differences on the battlefield, Ruth made several uncomfortable moves on Arthur, and Lisa sized up her competition. Petrarch, head lice, and polygamy also came into play.
Continue reading Six Feet Under: Tears, Bones, and Desire - VIDEO
Posted Jun 30th 2008 9:42AM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Retro Squad, Reality-Free, Six Feet Under
Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.
Fans of Six Feet Under know that the show was very big on style. One of the more stylish moments in the each episode came at the beginning when they would introduce us to a new character and then proceed to show us their demise. What follows is a list of my favorite characters from the first few minutes of each episode.
Nathaniel Fisher
This one is a no-brainer. How could the show even exist without the violent accident that took the life of the Mr. Fisher? It's also important to note that the elder Fisher's many returns set the tone for other corpses to pop up and have a conversation with Nate or David.
Continue reading My favorite corpses from Six Feet Under
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