featured-related stories
Posted Jul 4th 2009 3:10PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free, Star Trek: Original Series, Burn Notice
There are a lot of really horrible things that have put America on the map: Jerry Springer, our ability to infuse anything edible with cheese, the fact that we're probably working on infusing something inedible with cheese.
Guns, however, shouldn't be one of them. The Second Amendment stands as one of many great testaments to the idea of freedom that our forefathers envisioned for their people. They felt a government should trust their people with great responsibility if they truly believed in the concept of freedom and democracy.
Sure, if they came to the present and saw that we primarily use that responsibility for hunting moose from helicopters and negotiating with the Domino's guy they might take it right back, but the idea is what's important.
So to celebrate one of America's latest of many birthday to come because fireworks are technically illegal in my neck of the woods, here are your TV's seven greatest guns.
Continue reading Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
Posted Jul 3rd 2009 2:00PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Upfronts, Reality-Free
NBC isn't exactly engendering a lot of goodwill among people, with their cancellations of shows like
Life and
Medium, and
My Name is Earl. The fact that they're replacing these shows with
not one but two medical shows, isn't exactly a confidence booster. NBC hasn't sent screeners of all their pilots yet, hence the "Part 1" in the title. But I have gotten a taste of both their comedy and drama offerings with
Community, a comedy starring
The Soup's Joel McHale, and
Trauma, one of the aforementioned medical dramas.
Going into this, I didn't have high hopes for
Trauma, and while I wanted to like
Community, I had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to be the vehicle that would change Joel McHale from cute host of a basic cable show to primetime star. Now, after seeing both of them, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by one.
Continue reading TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
Posted Jul 3rd 2009 11:04AM by Jay Black
Filed under: Sports, OpEd, TV 101, Reality-Free
You're about to become a soccer fan.
I know you don't believe me. Hell, I'm not sure
I believe me. After all, America has resisted soccer for going on 150 years. Crapping on soccer ranks right up there with eating horrible chain-restaurant food and producing slobs-versus-snobs camp movies as a quality that define us as Americans.
Further, you've heard this claim before: the "Grab your shin guards, soccer is about to be a hit in the US of A!" column has been written approximately 2.8 million times since the early '70s. Every time a new soccer league starts in this country, everyone rushes to be the first to write that America is about to become Uruguay North.
And yet, those leagues invariably crash and burn, WNBA-style. So what makes this time any different? Why will we finally care about something that we've gone out of our way to
not care about for so long? What force is powerful enough to make that happen?
The most powerful force in the universe: ESPN.
Continue reading TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
Posted Jul 2nd 2009 2:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Upfronts
Generally speaking, CBS had a strong 2008, developing one bona fide hit drama --
The Mentalist -- even though shows like
The Ex-List never found an audience or a critical plaudit. Ironically, I liked
The Ex-List based on the screener I reviewed last summer, so go figure. Sometimes a preview can inform you about a show's potential and sometimes it's just the best it'll ever be.
CBS has shared previews for
the new season and we've had a chance to take a look. There are star vehicles for Jenna Elfman, Alex O'Loughlin and Julianna Margulies, which would seem logical based on the success of Simon Baker as
The Mentalist. CBS is counting on familiar, popular TV stars to win over audiences. Will the strategy work? It's probably too soon to tell.
Continue reading TV Squad previews CBS's new shows
Posted Jun 26th 2009 11:08AM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Grey's Anatomy, Interviews, Celebrities, Reality-Free
There are talented TV actors who never get their big break. There are talented TV actors who managed to land one key role that has to last them a lifetime. Then, there are talented TV actors like Tim Daly.
The
Private Practice star has progressed from a long-running sitcom (
Wings), to an all-time television classic (
The Sopranos), to an iconic animated series (
Superman) and a cutting-edge drama entering its third season (ABC's
Private Practice).
The New York City native and child actor turned adult success story connected with
TV Squad to look back at his career and ahead to the future of
Private Practice.
Continue reading Tim Daly: The TV Squad Interview
Posted Jun 25th 2009 2:02PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Early Looks, Reality-Free
I really wish I could have liked the pilot for
Virtuality. It was Ron Moore's first new series since the end of his
Battlestar Galactica relaunch that wasn't related to that series. Unfortunately, the pilot seems to fall flat and is unlikely to lead into a series.
The concept is solid. It's about a group of 12 space travellers (each of whom could be mistaken for an underwear model) who are on Earth's first interstellar spacecraft, the Phaeton. Earth has become all but unlivable and they are traveling to a nearby star for ten years (five there, five back) and try to save the planet.
Continue reading Virtuality -- An early look
Posted Jun 24th 2009 11:54AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Interviews, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Sigourney Weaver is earning strong Emmy buzz for her lead performance in Lifetime's
Prayers for Bobby. In her first TV movie, the three-time Oscar nominee plays a religiously conservative mother who refuses to accept her gay son.
The film, based on a true story, examines Mary Griffith's (Weaver) transformation from intolerant mother to gay-rights crusader after her son Bobby commits suicide. Weaver says she was drawn to
Prayers for Bobby because, like the book of the same name, it has the potential to start important conversations about tolerance and acceptance in homes everywhere.
Continue reading Sigourney Weaver: The TV Squad Interview
Posted Jun 22nd 2009 11:08AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Animation, Interviews, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Futurama has gone through more frustrating cancellations than a United Airlines flight leaving Chicago's O'Hare Airport. No one knows that better than voice actor
Billy West and actress
Katey Sagal who respectively provide the voice, heart and soul of the show's two main characters, Fry and Leela.
But what has kept the show going is the camaraderie of the cast and crew. Everyone from the show still keep in touch in between other jobs and even have the occasional reunion from their regular crowded visits at ComicCon to smaller get togethers like when Katey said the cast got together to watch her last concert at the
MBar in Hollywood.
Most of all, they said they have the fans to thank for their next big reunion when
Futurama goes back into production. They both took a short time out of their busy schedules to chat about Comedy Central's two season order.
Continue reading Katey Sagal and Billy West on the return of Futurama
Posted Jun 21st 2009 10:22AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Fathers' Day should be a time of deep reflection and appreciation for the man who brought you into this world, whether you asked him to or not.
Oh sure, the old man may seem like
the worst father of all time sometimes. He yells and screams. He gets on you for growing your hair too long because he knows he couldn't grow hair if he had a Chia Scalp. He constantly walks around the house in his underwear and then scolds you for not eating the sausage Mom made for breakfast.
But a few minor flaws doesn't mean that he's a bad guy. So go out and get him that witty card with the pipe smoking Dad on the cover, pick out a paisley tie that you'll never see him wear and give him a big hug to remind him
he's the best. Because he's your old man and he's not one of the seven bastard sons of hell below.
Continue reading Seven TV dads we're glad aren't ours
Posted Jun 20th 2009 3:16PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, TV Royalty, TV on DVD, OpEd, Reality-Free, Jane After Dark
As John Howard noted in the comments in
last week's Jane After Dark column, I really haven't talked much about Omar yet. I just finished season two of
The Wire, and to be honest, most of my thoughts right now revolve around the Sobotka clan.
First of all, how stupid was Ziggy? The guy's always been a live wire, and you could see the bad karma building throughout this season, with him flashing money around, showing off his Italian leather coat, and going a little bonkers with the stolen Mercedes. Things were bound to go bad for him, and they did just that when his deal with Double-G went oh so wrong.
Continue reading Jane After Dark: The Wire - Season two ends, the Sobotka clan crumbles
Posted Jun 19th 2009 2:08PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Watercooler Talk
I've wasted many hours of my life watching
Jon & Kate plus Eight. We're given yet another promo about a
big announcement on the show. Since it's not until Monday, we get the weekend to make speculations.
With a reality show like
Jon and Kate plus Eight, one doesn't expect millions of plot twists like
Lost so I doubt that we're going to
flash forward five years or wake up and realize that it was
all a dream. Here is a list of sane and insane announcement ideas that Jon and Kate should announce.
Continue reading What should happen to Jon and Kate?
Posted Jun 19th 2009 11:01AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Interviews, Casting, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free
On July 16th when the Primetime Emmy nominations are announced, one name that is likely to appear in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series is
Aaron Paul. As Jesse Pinkman on AMC's
Breaking Bad, Aaron has done amazing work, revealing a character as fascinating as he is flawed.
His performance this past season on
Breaking Bad has generated lots of talk about an Emmy nomination, but not to be overlooked is the fact that Paul is also doing great work on HBO's
Big Love. On that drama, his character, Scott, is the antithesis of Jesse. It's a testament to Aaron's skill as an actor that I didn't recognize him at first from
Big Love when I watched
Breaking Bad. A search of
his IMDB listing was one of those 'ah-ha' moments. Recently, I had to chance to speak with Aaron, and we started with the jaw-dropping season finale of
Breaking Bad.
Continue reading Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad: The TV Squad Interview
Posted Jun 17th 2009 7:03PM by Jay Black
Filed under: Sports, Late Night, OpEd, Talk Show, TV 101, Reality-Free
Monday night,
Artie Lange went on Joe Buck's awful new show Joe Buck Live and did to him what Keyser Soze did to the Hungarian gang in
The Usual Suspects.If you didn't see it, let me tell you this much: Artie didn't kill the show; it was already dead when he got there. What he did was the equivalent of finding a dead squirrel (with awful, frat-boy hair), filling it full of firecrackers, then cackling gleefully as the guts rained down onto Jason Sudeikis and Paul Rudd.
Artie Lange's appearance on
Joe Buck Live was boorish, crude, mean-spiritied, and blatantly homophobic. It was the kind of thing that'll probably end the career of the poor person who booked him on the show.
It's also something that we need a hell of a lot more of...
Continue reading TV 101: Three reasons why I loved Artie Lange's complete dismantling of Joe Buck
Posted Jun 17th 2009 2:32PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Interviews, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
There are some big names on the bill for
Ellen DeGeneres's variety show,
Ellen's Bigger, Longer & Wider Show, which airs June 27 on TBS. Kanye West will be a big part of it, and magician David Blaine and comedian Nick Cannon will also appear.
Even the Chicago Cubs will make an appearance, as DeGeneres tapes a segment at Wrigley Field, singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch June 16 (the rest of the show will be taped June 17 at the Chicago Theatre).
But the thing DeGeneres seems most excited about is comedian Joe Wong, whom we first wrote about in April when he made his
network television debut on
The Late Show with David Letterman. She'd love to see more comedians like Wong on television.
Continue reading Ellen's Bigger, Longer & Wider Show features acts big and small
Posted Jun 15th 2009 11:00AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Rescue Me, Interviews, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Denis Leary probably wouldn't like you - that is, assuming you're fat, addicted to "coffee flavored coffee," unable to take a joke ... oh, and American. I'm pretty sure he likes me, but that's only because I recently spent half an hour on the phone with him, and I think he kinda, sorta, got to know me ... a little. His hugely successful FX firefighter dramedy Rescue Me can be described as politically incorrect with a heart of gold, and his best-selling first book, Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid is ... well, the title says it all, doesn't it?
Denis Leary is a man with opinions - wait, let me rephrase that - Denis Leary is a man with lots of opinions and as he points out in his book, most of us seem perfectly content to just let Oprah shame us into doing whatever she wants. With that in mind, it was nice to talk to someone with a wealth of personal passions and as much hate for Heidi and Spencer as I have. See? He got to know me ... a little.
Continue reading Denis Leary: The TV Squad Interview
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Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
