The Closer-related stories
Posted Aug 27th 2009 9:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
What an interesting summer for television. In general, the claim that
television viewing reached an all-time high this summer doesn't really surprise me. After all, we're in what the media tells us is the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. That means more people out of work and less money for everybody.
People out of work and unable to find work are going to be bored, so they're going to watch television. People with less money are going to stay home more often, so they're going to watch television. That part makes sense to me. The part that is a little surprising, but only a little, is that all of that record viewing went to the cable networks and not the big four.
There was not a single break-out summer success story on ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX. Every single show they put on the air either crashed and burned, or barely stayed afloat. But the story is so very different on cable. Week after week we got new stories about original series breaking records on almost every network.
Continue reading TV just had its most-watched summer ever while the big four struggled
Posted Aug 26th 2009 10:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, CSI, House, Law and Order, Lost, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free, Burn Notice, The Mentalist
The fine art of interrogation may seem lost thanks to suspects lawyering up and the Miranda warning. Whatever happened to the days when a snarling cop could throw a perp against a brick wall to get him to squeal? Or a sly questioner could finagle a confession by laying on a guilt trip? Still, there are some very clever, brilliant interrogators plying their trade on these days. In fact, when you look at these eight interrogators, you'll probably agree that they know just how to get to the truth. Here are the eight top interrogators on TV today:
8. Captain James Brass, CSIBrass is the most "old school" of all these interrogators. He's like Andy Sipowicz from
NYPD Blue, only without the violence. Brass talks to suspects with a modicum of respect, but a healthy cynicism. He's seen it all and knows the truth is in there somewhere. He asks questions and waits for them to trip themselves up. When they do, he has them write it down. Despite the laconic attitude, Brass has the brass to get the job done.
Continue reading Eight of TV's toughest interrogators
Posted Aug 25th 2009 1:34AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E12) Kind of like the summer season finale for
Burn Notice, it seemed like they saved the best for last with
The Closer. There was an interesting case, a colorful new character to go nose to nose with Brenda, and an up tick in the action, including a chase that was top notch. Kudos to Kevin Bacon who directed the episode and brought it all together.
For a time, it looked like Brenda and Major Crimes were on the trail of a ninja. No, not a real ninja, but a guy dressed all in black who kind of looked like a ninja. He used a blade, albeit a knife, and he was a stone cold killer who showed no mercy and seemed to take pleasure in the kill.
Continue reading The Closer: Waivers of Extradition (summer season finale)
Posted Aug 24th 2009 4:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, Celebrities, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, NBC has a new Great American Road Trip.- ABC Family has a new Secret Life of the American Teenager at 8, followed by a new Make It or Break It.
- Discovery has Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer at 8, then two new episodes of Out of Egypt.
- ESPN has Pre-Season Football at 8, the Ravens vs. the Jets.
- ESPN2 has the Little League World Series at 8.
- Nickelodeon has a new Glenn Martin, DDS at 8.
- BBC America has a new Top Gear at 8.
- At 9, ABC has a new Dating in the Dark.
- USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 9.
- TNT has the summer finale of The Closer at 9, then the summer finale of Raising the Bar.
- At 10, NBC has a new Dateline.
- Showtime has a new Weeds at 10, followed by the season finale of Nurse Jackie.
- Travel Channel has a new Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations at 10.
- A&E has a new Hoarders at 10.
- There's a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on Food Network at 10.
- Also at 10: E! has a new The Soup Presents.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: Glenn Martin, Raising the Bar, Weeds, Hoarders
Posted Aug 18th 2009 12:19AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E11) After
last week's show, it was great to see
The Closer bounce back with a particularly strong episode. The case itself wasn't overly complicated or multi-layered, as some Major Crimes are, but that's probably because Brenda literally wandered into this one. And she wasn't alone. Charlie, her niece from Atlanta, was in the car. More on the Brenda/Charlie relationship as well as the case, after the jump.
Continue reading The Closer: Maternal Instinct
Posted Aug 11th 2009 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Awards, Reality-Free
How many people remember
Dragnet? Or maybe I should say how many people remember actually watching
Dragnet, the "just the facts" police show starring the iconic Jack Webb? The reason I ask is because the
U.S. Postal Service is immortalizing Dragnet with a postage stamp tomorrow.
In light of the fact that letter writing and postal service are dramatically in decline, my guess is that there will be an older crowd nodding appreciatively when
Dragnet is honored. You see, the younger generation (did I really say that?) doesn't have much use for stamps and won't be buying the
Dragnet first class stamp.
Continue reading Dragnet rates a U.S. postal stamp
Posted Aug 11th 2009 12:19AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E10) One of the reasons
The Closer is a good show is that it's smart. It presents challenging situations and complicated crimes, and as Brenda and her crew figure out what happened and how to get the guilty to incriminate themselves, the viewer is along for the ride. The title of tonight's show was
Smells Like Murder. I think the subhead should have been, smells like a dud.
There was a good premise, a decent set up, suspects that were interesting ... all the elements were there. What went wrong was character. Things happened that were so out of character that it sunk the entire episode. More on that -- and Jack in the box -- after the jump.
Continue reading The Closer: Smells Like Murder
Posted Aug 10th 2009 4:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, ABC has a new Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, followed by a new Dating in the Dark.- FOX has the 2009 Teen Choice Awards at 8.
- NBC has a new Great American Road Trip at 8.
- At 9, PBS has two new episodes of History Detectives.
- TLC has a new Jon & Kate Plus 8 at 9.
- There's a new episode of The Closer on TNT at 9, then a new Raising the Bar.
- USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 9.
- Also at 9: Travel Channel has Confessions of a Travel Writer, followed by a new Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
- At 10, NBC has a new Dateline.
- Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives at 10.
- Showtime has a new Weeds at 10, then a new Nurse Jackie.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: Teen Choice Awards, The Closer, Anthony Bourdain
Posted Aug 4th 2009 2:30AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E09) Every episode of
The Closer is a puzzle of sorts, and this one surely qualified, especially since it began in court with the case already decided. All that remained was the formality of Russell Clark -- guest star Bruce Davison -- elocuting to the judge. Well, not so fast. There were a few hiccups requiring Brenda's immediate attention.
The moment Cynthia Watros showed up as the victim's widow, anxious to reclaim her husband's belongings from the crime scene, suspicions were raised. But first Brenda had to figure out why Russell Clark had confessed to the crime, if he was covering for his schizophrenic son, James -- if James was capable of the murder in the first place, and then there was the question of what to do with Mama. Yes, Willy Ray was there, along with Fritz and Charlene, Brenda's niece.
Continue reading The Closer: Identity Theft
Posted Aug 3rd 2009 4:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
Discovery's Shark Week continues all night.- At 8, ABC has Sugarland: Live on the Inside.
- NBC has a new Great American Road Trip at 8.
- ABC Family has a new Secret Life of the American Teenager at 8, followed by a new Make It or Break It.
- At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW (with Jeremy Piven).
- TNT has a new episode of The Closer at 9, then a new Raising the Bar.
- TLC has the return of Jon & Kate Plus 8 at 9 (two episodes).
- At 10, ABC has a new Dating in the Dark.
- NBC has a new Dateline at 10.
- Showtime has a new Weeds at 10, then a new Nurse Jackie.
- TLC has a new Ultimate Cake-Off at 10.
- Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List at 10.
- IFC has the movie I, The Jury at 10.
- Also at 10: Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: Road Trip, Kathy Griffin, Raising The Bar
Posted Jul 28th 2009 12:20AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, CSI, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E08) When I say that a lot of this episode of
The Closer felt like a
CSI episode, with the emphasis on the gory and gruesome aspects of original murder, I'm not being critical. And when I mention there were also elements that reminded of
Cold Case, that's also not a diss because
Cold Case is an underrated show.
But unlike
Cold Case, which brings the past to life,
The Closer remained very much in the present. Generally speaking, this was a pretty strong episode that played up Brenda's vulnerability.
Continue reading The Closer: Elysian Fields
Posted Jul 27th 2009 4:05PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
- At 7, Bravo has a new Inside The Actors Studio, with Judd Apatow.
- At 8, ABC has the two-hour season finale of The Bachelorette, followed by a new Dating in the Dark.
- NBC has a new Great American Road Trip at 8, then new episodes of The Wanted and Dateline.
- ABC Family has a new Secret Life of the American Teenager at 8, then a new Make It Or Break It.
- TNT has a new episode of The Closer at 9, followed by a new Raising the Bar.
- History Channel has Sex in 69: Sexual Revolution in America at 9.
- Also at 9: Food Network has a new Unwrapped.
- At 9, PBS has a new History Detectives.
- USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 9.
- At 10, Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
- Showtime has a new Weeds at 10, then a new Nurse Jackie.
- Travel Channel has a new Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
- Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List at 10.
- TLC has a new Cake Boss at 10.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: Bachelorette, Unwrapped, Nurse Jackie, Cake Boss
Posted Jul 21st 2009 8:35AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E07) She's back. Clearly, the producers of
The Closer decided that Brenda needed an antagonist. Mary McDonnell has fit the bill. So far I think they've made her character a bit one-note, but I'm willing to see how she evolves over time. Or maybe it's just that I like Mary McDonnell.
Anyway, like internal affairs officers in most cop dramas, McDonnell's character, Captain Sharon Raydor of Force Investigation Division, seems to be anti-cop/pro-victim. Harry Callahan would hate her. She was better in this than
her previous episode, but not by much.
Continue reading The Closer: Strike Three
Posted Jul 14th 2009 12:13AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E06) There's an old show biz line that goes, "Dying is easy, comedy is hard." Well, sometimes when dramas try a comic episode, it can be a little like death warmed over. Or a show can completely succumb to humor and forget the original genre entirely (you know that I'm talking about you, Mr. Monk). Fortunately, when
The Closer chooses to take a walk on the funny side, it usually hits the mark. This episode was a bull's eye.
It was also great to see
The Closer shine a light on J.K. Simmons. As Assistant Chief Will Pope, Simmons is great as Brenda's boss and the face of the L.A. cops in many tense situations, political and otherwise. A consummate character actor --
Juno, Burn After Reading, Spider-Man -- Simmons always brings a lot to the show. This episode was prime Simmons, with Pope the butt of the jokes and off his game, if you will. How else could a faux police detective named Dick Tracy dupe the chief?
Continue reading The Closer: Tapped Out
Posted Jul 13th 2009 4:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, Celebrities, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
Discovery has a marathon of new episodes of Wild Pacific all night.- At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour episode of The Bachelorette, followed by the season finale of Here Come The Newlyweds.
- NBC has a new Great American Road Trip at 8.
- ESPN has the 2009 Home Run Derby at 8.
- At 8:30, Disney XD has a new Zeke & Luther, then a new Aaron Stone.
- At 9, PBS has a new History Detectives.
- USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 9.
- There's a new episode of The Closer on TNT at 9, then a new Raising the Bar.
- At 10, NBC has a new Dateline.
- Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List at 10.
- TLC has a new Cake Boss at 10.
- Spike has a new 4th and Long at 10.
- Showtime has a new Weeds at 10, followed by a new Nurse Jackie.
- Also at 10: Travel Channel has a new Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: RAW, The Closer, Cake Boss, Nurse Jackie
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