The Big Bang Theory-related stories
Posted Oct 31st 2009 10:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
Like a stray dog that works his way into your heart, I think I've fallen in love with
The Middle. I didn't want to get so attached, because -- quite frankly -- ABC's track record for sticking with quality shows isn't so great. I'm still mourning
Pushing Daisies. But
The Middle is nothing like
Pushing Daisies, nor does it fall into the quirky, clever mode of other shows that ABC has been promulgating for years.
Ugly Betty is quirky.
Better off Ted is quirky.
Dirty Sexy Money was quirky. Quirky's the word.
Continue reading My Big Bang theory: The Middle's Brick is another Sheldon
Posted Oct 30th 2009 3:00PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Spoilers Anonymous, Reality-Free
This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our tips form or by emailing us at tvsquad at gmail dot com, or call and leave a message at (775) 640-8479. Your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.
This week we have spoilers for November Sweeps: 90210, Bones, Castle, Desperate Housewives, FlashForward, Fringe, Ghost Whisperer, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Melrose Place, NCIS, Smallville, Supernatural, Ugly Betty, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist and The Office. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)Continue reading Spoilers Anonymous: November Sweeps Edition
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 10:03AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Battlestar Galactica, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
The geek-friendly guest stars just keep rolling into
Big Bang Theory central ...
Battlestar Galactica's
Katee Sackhoff will appear in the Nov. 23 episode of the CBS comedy. This news comes less than a week after former Squadder
Wil Wheaton showed up to crush Sheldon's spirit and help boost the show's ratings.
Sackhoff will play herself in the episode, but don't expect her role to be as big as Wheaton's or
Summer Glau's last season. The former Starbuck is only dropping by for a cameo, says the
Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan, but that won't stop Wolowitz from stalking her, and I doubt it'll stop her fans from tuning in and boosting the show's ratings again.
Continue reading Battlestar's Katee Sackhoff to visit Big Bang Theory (and, um, she might get naked!)
Posted Oct 21st 2009 9:08AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Celebrities, Ratings, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
Remember
all those posts we did about
former TV Squad writer Wil Wheaton appearing on
The Big Bang Theory? Well, the ratings are in and it looks like that episode had a
15% increase in viewership in the sought-after 18-34 demo. While the article attributes the ratings boost to a Twitter campaign by Wheaton and executive producer Bill Prady, we here at TV Squad would like to think that our own promotion of the show contributed in some small way.
Speaking of which, wasn't the show great? Sure we
already did a review but it was amazing seeing Wil's screen character win by using the one aspect of playing cards (and, for that matter, reality) that Sheldon can't grasp: the human factor. Sheldon would undoubtedly be great at Blackjack and lousy at Poker.
Continue reading Wil Wheaton means record ratings
Posted Oct 7th 2009 2:02PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: TV on DVD, Ask TV Squad, Reality-Free
The "Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column. To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them at
asktvsquad@gmail.com.
This week, I answer questions about online TV shows, a new series called Miami Trauma, and NYPD Blue DVDs.
Continue reading Ask TV Squad: NYPD Blue, Miami Trauma and online shows
Posted Sep 20th 2009 5:08PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
If
Jim Parsons wins the
Emmy tonight for The Big Bang Theory, you better believe he'll be in a position to pick and choose the projects he does in the future. But here's one that I think would be fascinating, to quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper's favorite Vulcan scientist:
Jim Parsons would like to appear on Friday Night Lights.
In a recent interview, Jim was asked about his favorite current show -- other than his own -- and he said it was
Friday Night Lights. That's right, the NBC drama series about high school football deep in the heart of Texas! Somehow it's hard to imagine Sheldon in pads and a helmet. Maybe he could be the water boy? Or the genius offensive coordinator.
Continue reading Jim Parsons on Friday Night Lights? If he had his way...
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 Aug 27th 2009 10:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Reality-Free
The ongoing revival of the multicamera comedy format continues. Josh Schwartz is best known as the creator of
The O.C. and one of the masterminds behind The CW's
Gossip Girl; a show so powerful that it reshaped an entire network around it. He's also an executive producer and writer over at
Chuck. Now Schwartz is teaming with Matt Miller, a fellow producer on
Chuck, to get into the comedy business.
Schwartz and Miller are writing a multicamera comedy script for CBS. The premise doesn't break any new ground; it's about a newlywed couple in their 20s, picking up the story right after their honeymoon. But it's the pedigree behind it that gives it promise. Both
Gossip Girl and
Chuck have strong comedic elements.
If it comes off right, you can bet CBS will be interested. They've had tremendous success with multicamera comedies the past few years, almost single-handedly reviving the format with huge hits like
How I Met Your Mother and
The Big Bang Theory. It's the writing, not the format. And writing is something at which Schwartz has proven himself quite adept.
Posted Aug 14th 2009 3:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
The votes were counted and 77.2% of TV Squad readers
believed Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory has Asperger's Syndrome. Based on Slate writer Paul Collins' article on the subject and reported by
Joel, you were asked your opinion and agreed with Collins.
Well, majority may rule, but the writer is king.
Big Bang co-creator Bill Prady knows the character better than we do, and
Prady said Sheldon does not have Asperger's.
Continue reading Come up with a new theory: Sheldon does NOT have Asperger's
Posted Jul 24th 2009 5:37PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Spoilers Anonymous, Reality-Free
This is
Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at
TV Squad where we supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our
tips form or by emailing us at
tvsquad at gmail dot com, or call and leave a message at
(775) 640-8479. Your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.
Note that over the summer,
Spoilers Anonymous will be published every two weeks due to production hiatus for most TV series. Weekly columns will resume in August.
This week we have spoilers for:
90210, Brothers & Sisters, CSI: Miami, Desperate Housewives, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, The Big Bang Theory and The Mentalist. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)
Continue reading Spoilers Anonymous
Posted Jul 16th 2009 2:44PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, The Simpsons, Watercooler Talk, 30 Rock, Awards, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory
Now that the excitement has died down, I've been scouring
the complete list of nominations. Here's a few observations... Then, let me know what you think.
-- Why bother with the Outstanding Mini-Series category? There were only two nominees worthy of a nomination. Exactly how many mini-series are even produced anymore? This is an outmoded TV format. Kill the category.
-- What's going on with the writers?
30 Rock dominates the comedy category and
Mad Men dominates the drama category. What are the chances that the lone nomination in each category wins? I'd say slim and none. I call for limitations; only two episodes per series. Writing is such a subjective thing anyway. If you like
30 Rock's scattershot humor, you're more likely to vote for it compared to a traditional sitcom like
Big Bang Theory. The latter should have snagged a nom for
The Lizard-Spock Expansion episode.
Continue reading Some random thoughts on the Emmy nominations
Posted Jul 15th 2009 4:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, 30 Rock, Awards, Weeds, Emmys, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
When it comes to the Primetime Emmy nominations, there are scads of terrific supporting performances to choose from in the comedy field. The difficulty is narrowing it down to just six actors and six actresses (which is better than last year's five each). Maybe the Emmys should take a page from the Academy Awards and double the number of nominations -- this year's Best Picture will include ten noms. That's not going to happen, but that doesn't mean my wish list discussion can't mention all those worthy comedy performers.
Last year's comedy winners,
Jean Smart for
Samantha Who? and Jeremy Piven for
Entourage, were both multiple winners. In Jean's case, it wasn't all for the same role, but Jeremy has been pulling a John Larroquette/Don Knotts in this category. (Larroquette and Knotts dominated this category; the former winning for
Night Court from 1985-88, while Knotts won five times for
The Andy Griffith Show from 1961-67). My wish list would start by shaking things up.
Continue reading Emmy Wish List: Supporting Categories - Comedy
Posted Jul 15th 2009 12:27PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, The Daily Show, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, 30 Rock, Awards, Emmys, Chuck, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
The Outstanding Comedy Series category is one of the toughest of the big Emmy categories to predict. Why? Well, if you look at the list of nominees the last few years, you'll see why: What's considered a comedy? In 2005,
Desperate Housewives was nominated; with what's gone on during the show this year, you'd be hard pressed to nominate it as a comedy this year. Same could be said of
Ugly Betty, which got a nod in 2007.
In addition, the Emmy committee has a tendency to nominate the same shows repeatedly despite signs of decline --
Two and a Half Men is still funny, but does it deserve a nod every year? -- leaving less slots open for new blood.
So, between
Men,
30 Rock, and
The Office, all of which should get nominated, that leaves two (or three?) slots open. Who should go in there? Well, I can think of two right off the bat... and they're both on CBS.
Continue reading Emmy Wish List: Outstanding Comedy Series
Posted Jul 14th 2009 6:05PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Office, 30 Rock, Awards, Emmys, Chuck, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
I know what many of you are thinking. Alec Baldwin is probably gonna win for
30 Rock again so what does it even matter? Hollywood is in love with that show. Which is true, but not entirely undeserved. Baldwin still commands a scene like almost no one on television. But I don't think he was as dominating a comedic force as last year, and he was part of a
30 Rock sweep, so I don't think Emmy intends to repeat that.
Pushing Daisies was still sweet in its last year, but I'm going to have to snub Lee Pace and replace him with
Chuck's Zachary Levi on the ballot. He balances comedy and drama so convincingly you can't help but root for him.
But there was a looming shadow in comedy this year that no one could escape. I don't see how Emmy could ignore the work of Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper on
The Big Bang Theory. He's so convincing in the role that when you see him in interviews you fully expect him to demand his spot on the couch and condescend the host at every turn.
Continue reading Emmy Wish List: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Posted Jun 29th 2009 2:43PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free, Comic-Con
It seems like a no-brainer that television and Comic-Con would go together like peanut butter and jelly. But TV has actually been a bit slow to the game and viewed their presence at Comic-Con as something that goes together like peanut butter and regular butter (trust me, I've tried peanut butter and butter, and it's not good).
This year, studios have recognized the importance of the annual geek con-fab and are presenting more shows and panels than ever before. There is going to be more TV at the Con than you can shake a stick at, so don't forgot your shaking sticks.
Why so many?
Variety reports that studios and networks are recognizing the buzz they can generate at the convention through electronic social networking and good ol' word-of-mouth by showcasing and premiering exclusive screenings of their shows.
Continue reading Comic-Con turning more TV on
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