Posts with tag alaska
Posted Sep 5th 2008 1:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Now that the confetti has been swept away, all the balloons popped, and the St. Paul cops are stowing their riot gear, it's time to recall the surprisingly eventful Republican National Convention in Minnesota. Is it really only one week ago today that Senator John McCain pulled a rabbit out of his hat and introduced little-known Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate? She's not little-known anymore. In fact, the 2008 Republican Convention is forever more to be remembered for her ascent, whatever her future portends.
Here's some other thoughts from the TV coverage of the RNC:
Media matters Having the two political conventions back to back was a plus for the TV pros. All the mistakes from Denver were rectified in St. Paul. The MSNBC set ups avoided train stations and noise interruptions. Splitting up Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews worked better, with Olbermann as the point man throwing the coverage to the other news pros. And there was less bickering and fighting, at least compared to the week before.
Continue reading Thoughts on the Republican National Convention - VIDEOS
Posted Sep 4th 2008 7:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Ratings, Reality-Free
The Republicans have been crying foul about how the media has been unfairly going after vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Right or wrong, all that media attention, plus the curiosity about who this little known Alaska governor is, fueled last night's broadcast of her acceptance speech. The results were predictable.
The Palin speech was a Nielsen ratings hit, drawing 37.2 million viewers. That's nearly as many viewers as Democratic presidential candidate
Barack Obama scored a week ago at his Denver stadium event.
As I said, the big number was hardly a surprise, especially if you are at all media savvy. On the net, the name Sarah Palin has become the top draw on every search engine. She's presently a bigger celebrity -- yes, sorry, but that's the word that fits -- than Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus, Madonna or Barack Obama. She's on the cover of every supermarket magazine this week, as well as the news magazines.
Continue reading Palin speech nearly equals Obama's -- in ratings
Posted Sep 1st 2008 5:25PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, Celebrities, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Last Friday, Senator John McCain shocked the world by announcing that little-known Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was his choice as vice presidential candidate for the Republican party. If you were like me, you couldn't help but notice that Sarah Palin -- a very attractive, 44-year-old mother of five -- looked an awful lot like some familiar TV faces, like
30 Rock's Liz Lemon.
In fact, at least one Hollywood writer recognized in Sarah Palin's being plucked from virtual obscurity was like one of his creations. Rod Lurie, the writer/producer of
Commander in Chief, joked that he and
Gena Davis should be asking for royalties if Palin emerges as McCain's VEEP, especially if she becomes president like Davis's character did on that ABC drama series.
Here are the main TV characters that come to mind when you think about Palin:
Continue reading Palin comparison ... GOP VP choice looks like a bunch of TV characters
Posted May 5th 2008 8:42AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Cancellations, Reality-Free
I'd like to say I'm surprised by this, but I'm not.
ABC has canceled Men in Trees. Despite being one of the genuinely sweet and funny comedy/dramas on the network -- one that's more rooted in reality than flights of whimsy and pretentiousness --
Men in Trees has struggled to find a home on ABC. It's been shuttled about from day to day, time slot to time slot, in and out of the line up so that it became a gypsy. How were you as a viewer to invest in the romantic adventure that Marin Frist was on in the wilds of Alaska when you weren't sure when the dang show was going to air? A failed attempt
to put the show on Lifetime back in March spelled doom for the show.
Continue reading Men in Trees axed by ABC
Posted Apr 17th 2008 11:39AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, TV Squad Lists
Deadliest Catch returned with new episodes Tuesday night on Discovery. This is easily one of my favorite shows on television. I could watch a
Deadliest Catch marathon every weekend, it's that good.
Here are nine reasons why I love this show:
1. Mike Rowe. Yes, the
Dirty Jobs guy. He's also the voice of
Deadliest Catch and there is no one better suited for the job. He may be a goofball on his own show, but he brings out his deep and foreboding voice to follow the fishermen on
Catch.
Continue reading Nine reasons why I love Deadliest Catch
Posted Jul 27th 2007 5:40PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Casting
Ex-
Practice star Kelli Williams will have an arc on
Men in Trees this season. She'll play a love interest for Jack (James Tupper). The story is that Jack goes out of town for a spell to do some work and finds himself falling for a married woman, played by Williams. She'll appear in 5-6 episodes, starting with episode 7 this next season.
Sounds a little bit like art is imitating real life here, with Tupper hooking up with his married co-star Anne Heche last year.
Also? Sounds like Justine Bateman must be leaving the show because the last time we saw
Men in Trees (last February), Jack was dedicated to his relationship with Lynn.
Posted Mar 12th 2007 2:05PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Celebrities, Men In Trees
So... what exactly happened between Anne Heche and James Tupper? Their new series,
Men in Trees, has a strong showing in ratings on Thursdays following
Grey's Anatomy. It's a cute, if somewhat unremarkable show. But earlier this year, the two stars
made headlines when their on-screen romance carried on off-screen. Why do we care? Well, in truth, we shouldn't care- but it is interesting because both of them were married at the time.
James Tupper, who plays breathy Jack on
Men in Trees, recently gave an interview to
People magazine where he swears up and down that neither of them cheated on their spouses. He says their marriages were both over before they hooked up. It's like Brad and Angelina all over again - and we didn't believe them either, did we?
Of course, I hope that the love Heche and Tupper feel for each other is real, but I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't. In the interview, Tupper uses that line that all actors use when they fall for a co-star: "I've never met anyone like her." That's a red flag, if I've ever seen one. I think we hear that one from adults in relationships as often as we hear child actors say "I've worked for this all my life!"
Posted Feb 16th 2007 1:43PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Men In Trees
(
S01E17) After feeling like we've been treading water over the last few episodes, this one really felt like the show started moving forward again. Jack and Lynn are getting married, Mai and Sylvia are planning a wedding, Sarah is moving on with her career, Annie and Patrick are meeting her parents, and Marin is having boy troubles of a different kind. I have to admit that I was getting a little tired of this show after last week but this episode was invigorating.
Continue reading Men in Trees: The Indecent Proposal
Posted Feb 9th 2007 3:27PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Men In Trees
(S01E16) No, that's not a typo. The title of this episode is really a play on Marin Frist.
Well, I liked this episode a heck of a lot more than
last week's. I think Marin had a very relatable problem. She couldn't get comfortable with Lynn and kept trying to overcompensate for it, making herself and everyone else uncomfortable in the process. She's one of those girls who wants people to like her and so she goes a little overboard in buying Lynn a really expensive, gigantic stroller for her baby shower. She also buys muffins and coffee for her contractors, who are walking all over her in renovating her home. She learned a good lesson in the end, but it was Lynn who had to force it upon her. She makes a good point: those two may never be comfortable with each other.
Continue reading Men in Trees: Nice Girls Finish Frist
Posted Feb 2nd 2007 7:14PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Men In Trees
(
S01E15) It's men versus women this week in Elmo. I found it laughable that the two New York women (Marin & Jane) kept insisting that they were just like the men in Alaska. Their differences have nothing to do with gender, it has to do with where they're from and how they live their lives. It actually bothered me that these differences were portrayed as differences between men and women. And, Marin's problem with the "no strings attached" relationship is not a girl-only thing.
Grrrrrr.
Continue reading Men in Trees: Take It Like a Man
Posted Jan 26th 2007 11:43AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Men In Trees
(S01E14) Ok, first we have to talk about the elephant in the room.
The big news this week regarding
Men in Trees is that Anne Heche left her husband for co-star James Tupper. I knew they had some steamy chemistry on camera, but I guess that was for real. Sad, really. Their hook-up ruined two marriages-- Tupper's and Heche's. Knowing that kind-of made me bitter toward Heche this week and probably skewed my opinion of this particular episode.
I think the storyline I liked the most this week was Patrick and Annie's. Derek Richardson (Patrick) does a great job playing stressed out. He doesn't breathe and makes me hold my breath as he's freaking out! Anyway, I liked this because Patrick and Annie became independent together, if that makes any sense. they're starting to figure out how to function as a married couple. I imagine this season will end with a wedding, a baby, and a Marin/Jack reunion cliffhanger.
Continue reading Men in Trees: Bed, Bat & Beyond
Posted Jan 19th 2007 10:55PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Men In Trees
(
S01E13) Well, I totally identified with Marin's constant procrastination so she didn't have to face writing her book. As a person who makes her living as a writer, I always found every excuse in the world to avoid writing: laundry, yardwork, etc. Anyway, the town rummage sale served as a metaphor for what was happening with a bunch of the couples in this episode. They were trying to figure out how much old stuff they could throw out before they could start anew.
Continue reading Men in Trees: History Lessons
Posted Jan 12th 2007 11:21AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Men In Trees
(
S01E12) It's been more than a month since we've seen a new episode of
Men in Trees.
The last one was a two-parter that started in NYC and ended back in Elmo, Alaska with a very complicated plot twist. Jack's girlfriend, Lynn (Justine Bateman) is back... and she's pregnant. Plus, Annie and Patrick broke up for real this time.
The title of this week's episode refers to the winter solstice, the darkest day in Alaska, so you know it's going to be a downer.
Continue reading Men in Trees: The Darkest Day
Posted Dec 11th 2006 4:28PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, ABC, Celebrities, Men In Trees
Things are going to get a bit more complicated up in Elmo, Alaska when a new character joins the show. According to
TV Guide, actor Orlando Jones is joining the cast of
Men in Trees (my fave new show of the fall). Jones will play 'George', the gay son of Buzz. I believe we learned a few episodes ago that Buzz ditched his son and fled to Alaska. Now George and Patrick will be brothers. Weird.
As far as Orlando's television experience, he's all over the map. He has the distinction of being an original cast member of
MAD TV, was the 7UP spokesman, played a lead role in the short-lived show
Evidence, and hosted the short-lived
The Orlando Jones Show on FX in 2003. Bottom line: the guy is hilarious and will make a terrific addition to the cast. Look for him in Elmo early next year.
[Via
TV Tattle]Posted Dec 8th 2006 8:37AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Men In Trees
(
S01E11)
Men in Trees has its very first love triangle, a twist that was necessary to keep the story interesting. This episode picked up right where last week left off. Jack went to meet Marin at the dock to tell her he loves her, but instead his ex-girlfriend, Lynn (Justine Bateman), showed up.
Marin, Jack and Lynn: Yep, Lynn's pregnant. ABC kind-of gave it away in last week's promos (*shakes fist at the sky*). Luckily, it's not Jack's baby. But it still complicates things. Jack obviously feels some sort of responsibility for Lynn's predicament, even though he really doesn't have to. Plus, how hot was that kiss between him and Marin? Steaming hot.
Continue reading Men in Trees: New York Fiction, Pt. 2
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