(S03E16) Well, it's that time of the year again. Damned season finales everywhere you look. On the one hand, it's good, because a season finale usually means that you are going to get the good. On the other hand, it also means that we are now going to have to tuck our favorite characters away for the summer and occupy our time with something else, like books, or old beat up trucks. The goods were definitely in play for the Supernatural finale. For the last year we've all been wondering what would happen when time ran out on Dean's deal, and we finally found out.
Posts with tag finale
Supernatural: No Rest For The Wicked (season finale)
Continue reading Supernatural: No Rest For The Wicked (season finale)
Is 30 Rock going downhill?
In reviewing tonight's season finale of 30 Rock, Robert Bianco of USA Today took the opportunity to bemoan how the show has declined in quality since it came back from the writers' strike. Essentially, his argument centers on how the show has gotten increasingly absurd, when the show's initial attraction was how the relatively-sane Liz Lemon reacted to the insanity going on around her. Now, according to Bianco, even Liz is getting wacky, screaming for her sandwich in "Sandwich Day," for instance, or getting entangled in one romantic situation after another. According to Bianco, the show is "ditching plot and character in a desperate, scattershot search for laughs, as if its new goal were to become a live-action version of Family Guy."Hm. Sometimes a critic picks up on subtle changes in a show others can't, at least not until it's too late and the show they loved is irreparably damaged. That might be the case here. But right now, I'm not quite seeing what Bianco is complaining about.
Continue reading Is 30 Rock going downhill?
Newsweek examines if Seinfeld still holds up after ten years
Wow, it's hard to believe that it's been ten years since Seinfeld aired its monumental finale. Newsweek decided to celebrate the anniversary by having two of its writers debate whether the show has held up over the years. One minor problem with the article, though: the arguments made on either side don't make any sense.One of the reasons Marc Peyser didn't think the show held up was because, after watching the show's reruns for the first time in years, he found that "The pacing - no show had ever packed in so many scenes, some of them lasting a few seconds - now seems formulaic and forced." Well, duh, of course it seems formulaic now, since almost every sitcom that has come since has adopted that method of storytelling.
Continue reading Newsweek examines if Seinfeld still holds up after ten years
Las Vegas: the series that was
"This place is cursed." - Danny McCoy during the Las Vegas Danny couldn't be more right. Over the years, Las Vegas switched timeslots so many times that I've lost counts. It also went through as many casino owners as timeslots! No matter, the show was an entertaining one. It's the type of show I enjoyed watching on Friday nights (or in most cases Saturday afternoon thanks to my old VCR) because of its lightness. I didn't have to think much while watching the gang try to catch the bad guys, Delinda put her foot in her mouth and Sam try to please her whales so they would lose big bucks on the tables.
A few days after a cliffhanger season finale, NBC decided that fans would have to do without the Montecito crew from now on; Las Vegas was canceled.
Continue reading Las Vegas: the series that was
So You Think You Can Dance: Season Finale
(S03E23) Season three went out with a bang. Cat said in the opening that the show was a full two hours, with no padding. She wasn't kidding. If we count the two musical guests, and the goofy animated Cat/Nigel dance number, there were 18 performances. 18!
There were a few video montages looking back over the season, but with the exception of the one that featured Sex (we really didn't need to revisit that), all of them were pretty well done, and kept the show moving right along. There was just very little not to like about this show. Ok, there were a couple things, but we'll get to them, as well as the big winner, after the jump.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Season Finale
Stargate Atlantis: First Strike (season finale)
(S03E20) "I'm just saying... They're a cool team... and we're a cool team..."
This week Atlantis brought out what I consider to be a classic season finale. By the end of the show there are questions about who is going to live, the survival of the city, and an impending war with the replicators. As long as they don't kick off season four with Shepard stepping out of a steamy shower, or waking up next to Suzanne Pleshette, things are looking very good for the future of Atlantis.
Continue reading Stargate Atlantis: First Strike (season finale)
David Chase talks about The Sopranos finale
Give David Chase some credit. He promised Alan Sepinwall of the Newark Star-Ledger an interview right after the finale of The Sopranos aired. Sure enough, even though he's on a sabbatical in France and is denying all interview requests, he kept his promise and spoke to Sepinwall yesterday, despite the controversy surrounding how his series closed out its run.Did he reveal what happened in final scene, where Tony Soprano eyes some shady figures while waiting for his family to arrive for dinner, after it cut to black? Of course not. But he did try to allay fan's assertions that he pulled the rug out from under them.
Continue reading David Chase talks about The Sopranos finale
Sopranos stars focus of Law and Order marathon on TNT
One day after the series finale of The Sopranos, TNT will dedicate twelve hours to a Law and Order marathon focusing on episodes featuring actors from The Sopranos.
The marathon begins Monday, June 11 at 2:00 p.m. and features episodes with appearances from Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Jerry Adler,John Ventimiglia, Vincent Curatola, Dan Grimaldi, Joseph R. Gannascoli, Ray Abruzzo, Robert Funaro, Dominic Chianese, Vincent Pastore, Sharon Angela and Frank Vincent.
Continue reading Sopranos stars focus of Law and Order marathon on TNT
Medium: Everything Comes To A Head (season finale)
(S03E22) This has been something of a roller coaster week for Medium fans. There was the high of finding out that the show will be coming back for a fourth season. Unfortunately, that was followed by news that NBC is going to move the show to Sundays, waiting until the end of football to bring it back. That makes for an 8 month wait between now and our next visit with Allison. The big finale followed a similar path. We got all those answers we were looking for in the Recapitator case. The fates of Debra/PD and Walter Paxton were cleared up. The fallout from Allison being exposed started, and took a couple surprising turns. Unfortunately, the episode suffered from some iffy story telling and an abrupt ending.
Continue reading Medium: Everything Comes To A Head (season finale)
Bones: Stargazer In A Puddle (season finale)
(S02E22) There's plenty of story to get to in this second season finale of Bones. So, let's get on with the show. Oh, by the way, SPOILERS AHEAD!!! You have been aptly warned.
Let's begin with the wedding of Jack and Angela. I exhaled in relief when I realized that this was not going to be the crux of the entire episode. It was just subtle enough to be an enjoyable story line. I think my favorite parts were watching the reactions of both Bones and Zack as they were asked to be maid of honor and best man respectively. One would have thought Zack would have been the happy one while Temperance was unsure. It was just the opposite. In fact, Bones showed unbridled joy at being asked.
Continue reading Bones: Stargazer In A Puddle (season finale)
Supernatural: All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1
(S02E21) Wow. Now, THAT is how you kick off your two part season finale. The other day I wrote about part one of the NCIS season finale. One of the problems with that one was that a large chunk of the episode was spent on just another random case. It wasn't bad, but it lacked the weight and importance that a good finale should have. Kripke and team Supernatural do not have that problem.As Bobby said in the opening, "A storm is comin' and you boys, you are smack in the middle of it." It's been a long wait getting to that storm, but here it is, and it looks like it is going to be a heck of a ride. Some old friends are back, along with an old enemy. There are answers to some lingering questions, and twists and turn aplenty.
Continue reading Supernatural: All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1
Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview
There are lots of questions that have come up about the last few episodes How I Met Your Mother's second season: Will Robin and Ted stay together or will they break up? Why were the two of them covered in tomato sauce during the "Showdown" episode? Will Ted finally meet the woman who becomes the mother to his kids? And, of course, will HIMYM make it to a third season, given the rumors that the show is very much on the bubble?Well, who better to go to for answers than Carter Bays? He and Craig Thomas (Craig is on the left in the picture above, and Carter is on the right) are the creators and executive producers of the show, and have been working as a writing team since they met at Wesleyan University. The 31-year-olds worked together on Late Show with David Letterman, Oliver Beene, and American Dad before getting a chance to run the show on HIMYM in 2005.
I spoke to Bays by phone last week (I was supposed to also speak with Thomas, but a family emergency called him away). Be warned that this interview contains MAJOR SPOILERS pertaining to the finale. I will warn you prior to a spoilery portion of the interview (and tell you when it ends) so you can skip it if you wish.
Continue reading Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview
NCIS: Trojan Horse
(S04E23) This was kind of a confusing episode to me. Not that the story was hard to follow, just that it seemed poorly conceived. I thought the case of the week was well done, but kind of out of place. With it being the end of the season, and the plan already in place to make this a two parter, I would have rather seen something that focused in on the big stories. It almost felt like flipping the channels between two episodes that were running at the same time. The brief phone conversations between Gibbs and Shepard kind of tied the two stories together, but more than anything, they just pointed out that the story of the week was taking up time that could have been spent on La Grenouille. Maybe I'm just a little impatient, having caught a bit of the finale fever, but it just didn't all fit together for me.
Continue reading NCIS: Trojan Horse
Gilmore Girls is done; series finale to air May 15
TV Squad HQ just received a missive from Warner Brothers and The CW. It's a joint statement that says that Gilmore Girls will air its series finale on May 15th (A representative for Warner Brothers confirmed the note).Yes, you heard me: series finale. After seven seasons, it looks like both the studio and the network have decided to pull the plug and end the show. There were rumors floating around that co-star Alexis Bledel was not going to sign a new contract for an 8th season, and the show couldn't really continue without her. Given the middling quality of the episodes this year, especially in the extremely rocky first half of the season, this seems like the right time to end the show, though it now seems like we're in a rush to the finish line to try to tie up all the show's loose ends.
So, this means we have two episodes left. Do you think Rory will get married to Logan? Will Lorelai and Luke take that boat trip that Luke was going to go on with his daughter April? And do you folks think the show needed more time to resolve these storylines? Let me know in the comments. The joint statement is after the jump.
Continue reading Gilmore Girls is done; series finale to air May 15
Medium: Head Games
(S03E20) "Head Games" marks the beginning of the star studded, three part, season three finale. It was a good way to kick things off. There is a murder case for Devalos to prosecute, a new friend(?) for Allison, a new head doctor for Joe, visions that may or may not be correct, a new baby... just a lot going on. It's a good thing there are three parts to this. Seeing as how the episode opened with Walter Paxton (Jason Priestley), let's start there. The dream within a dream open was very good. The head in the pantry came as quite a surprise, and led to a great Joe moment. He was so calm and forgiving when he woke up in the dream, but so frustrated and fed up when he woke up for real.
The Upfronts: FOX
Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview
The Upfronts: CBS
