Sometimes you can tell the importance of a pilot by who the network chooses to direct it. In the case of the Hamish Linklater script, The Prince of Motor City, ABC Studios has inked Jack Bender, a Lost helmer, to direct the pilot. To me, that means action and drama, not to mention enthusiasm from the parent company.Posts with tag hamish linklater
Lost director Bender assigned to Prince of Motor City
Sometimes you can tell the importance of a pilot by who the network chooses to direct it. In the case of the Hamish Linklater script, The Prince of Motor City, ABC Studios has inked Jack Bender, a Lost helmer, to direct the pilot. To me, that means action and drama, not to mention enthusiasm from the parent company.Continue reading Lost director Bender assigned to Prince of Motor City
CBS says yes to Christine & Rules, no to Shark
CBS doesn't announce its new schedule till tomorrow, but the news is spilling out everywhere about what's in and what's out. The New Adventures of Old Christine has been given a 22-episode commitment for a third season; Shark has been sunk. For fans of the James Woods legal drama -- and I know there are lots of you out there because you've posted here -- my heart goes out to you. It was a good show, but it seems that CBS has four new dramas on deck for next season (that we have heard they're announcing tomorrow), so something had to give. It's likely that the choice came down between The Unit and Shark, with The Unit getting the renewal.As for Christine, I say "Yeah!" I love Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Hamish Linklater (Matthew, her brother on the show) and would have been really upset if CBS let the show get away. If the network had passed on the sitcom, ABC was reportedly very, very interested in taking it on. They had visions of pairing Samantha Who? with Christine for an all-girl sitcom hour. That's not going to happen now because Julia is staying put on CBS.
Whether the show remains on Monday nights, however, is still to be determined. For the past year, it has mostly shared the 9:30 slot with Rules of Engagement, which has also been renewed. Some reporters are suggesting that CBS could be launching a second sitcom night.
ABC orders two more pilots
With the thought of another year of According to Jim on the air, it's with excitement that I report that new shows may be coming to take its place. ABC has ordered two pilots: Prince of Motor City and an untitled David Hemingson dramedy. The former, which purports to have Shakespearean roots, comes from writer Jessica Goldberg and writer/actor Hamish Linklater, better known around here as Matthew on The New Adventures of Old Christine.Continue reading ABC orders two more pilots
Old Christine: A Fair to Remember (Finale)
(S01E13) I adore Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She really turned on the charm in this episode. It had the perfect combination of physical comedy and... facial... comedy. What do I mean by that? Louis-Dreyfus' face is so expressive. I guess that's physical comedy. Anyway, this was definitely my favorite episode of the season. It even had some Matthew and some of the 'meany moms'.Continue reading Old Christine: A Fair to Remember (Finale)
Old Christine: Some of My Best Friends are Portuguese
(S01E12) This episode had a great twist, didn't it? Christine is tired of feeling like an outcast with the rich mommies who don't work. She finally finds a friend who drives a Prius, is divorced, and works for a living... and it turns out her new friend is the maid for one of the 'mean moms' (by the way- that's one high-priced maid if she can afford a Prius).I really felt humiliated for Christine when she was visiting her maid-friend at the mean mom's house. She was forced to serve drinks and make hummus for the 'mean moms' while her maid-friend had sex with her boss' wife. Yikes! It was a nice, clean ending with Christine having justification for dropping her new friend.
Just an OK episode for me. I did enjoy the jokes about Christine's cheap $60 haircut and her $40 shoes. And, the whole Portugal bashing was laughable.
The New Adventures of Old Christine: Exile on Lame Street
(S01E11) Darnit, CBS! The schedule says Old Christine starts at 9:31 but the network keeps starting it early, so my TiVo always cuts off the first joke of the episode. Maybe I'll start caring enough to change my TiVo to a manual start at 9:30.There were two good things about this episode: Matthew (Hamish Linklater) and the box office guy. I missed the first joke from Matthew, but I did dig the game where he had Christine guess what people in the obituaries were asking for 'in leiu of flowers'. I sure hope the writers make more use of Matthew when Christine returns for season two. And, the guy in the box office did a bang-up job with his scene. He played the sarcasm very well, making Christine think she can get into the Rolling Stones concert at the last minute-- not once but twice. That could've been played over-the-top but he took a more even approach to it.
Continue reading The New Adventures of Old Christine: Exile on Lame Street
Old Christine: No Fault Divorce
(S01E10) This week we find out more about what led to Christine and Richard's divorce. All along, Christine has been under the assumption that they both had their issues, but everyone else (including her couples' therapist and Wanda Sykes' character, Barb) thinks Christine is the one who ended it. Christine gets all upset but, in the end, her ex-husband tells her that the marriage was doomed and he didn't have the guts to end it, but she did. So, now we know. Oh, and Richard slept with the marriage counselor after they divorced. Did anyone else think that marriage counselor was actually a man, baby? Yeah!Continue reading Old Christine: No Fault Divorce
Old Christine: Ritchie Has Two Mommies
Well, this episode totally aired out of order. Ritchie
hasn't met old Christine? Hello? Is anybody at the network even watching this show? Ritchie, Richard and new
Christine all went to a movie together two episodes back. I think
this was meant to be the second episode of the series.It felt like the second episode of the series, anyway. The one-liners were uncomfortably delivered and old Christine was still having issues with new Christine and her husband dating. I thought we were way past that. And, I actually really felt bad for old Christine in this episode, with her son being so excited about his sugar-filled "fun" day with new Christine.
Overall, I say this episode was... eh. I'm not sure why the network held onto this one for May ratings but it wasn't a stellar edition of this show. I much prefer the Supertramp episode where Christine ends up sleeping with Andy Richter, or when she tries to combat racism at her son's school and it backfires.
Old Christine: Teach Your Children Well
(S01E08) This week,
Christine decides to stick it to the rich parents by throwing her son Richie a traditional birthday party complete with
balloons, banners, crafts and potato salad. Of course, the kids think the party totally sucks because there weren't any
celebrities like Teri Hatcher or Kelly Clarkson there. Luckily, the kids end up having an impromptu treasure hunt for
all the crap Christine has stuffed away in nooks and crannies around her house and they go home happy (and at least one
of them with Christine's bra).Continue reading Old Christine: Teach Your Children Well
Old Christine: The Other F Word
(S01E06) This week Christine
is on a mission to make her son's private school more racially diverse. She doesn't really know anything about civil
rights issues but why should that stop her? So, she sponsored a black family to get into Richie's school.I was happy to see that Christine brought her brother Matthew along on her dinner date with her "black family", as she calls them. Matthew's always good for a laugh, like when he touts Christine's voting record by saying that she voted more than 200 times in the American Idol finals last year. Obviously, Christine's token "black family" was going to turn out to be a nightmare and, sure enough, the dad lands two big, offensive remarks about homosexuals (the F word). So, she gets a gay couple to offset the "black family's" bigotry. Of course, the two men say they don't like all the Jews at their child's former school. So, instead of diversity, she has introduced hate to her son's school.
Continue reading Old Christine: The Other F Word
New Adventures of Old Christine: I'll Show You Mine
Fat joke
within the first minute of the show. Arrrgh!Other than that, this was another great episode. This week, Burton is putting pressure on Christine to introduce him to her 8-year old son but Christine isn't comfortable. Even though I saw it coming from miles away (because they always pull something like this every episode), I still chuckled when Christine was teasing her boyfriend from the other side of the door and then she turns around and her family is watching. I think I was laughing more at Christine's grocery store/sex metaphor than anything else.
Continue reading New Adventures of Old Christine: I'll Show You Mine
Old Christine: One Toe Over the Line, Sweet Jesus
I am so tired of the fat jokes that Christine
constantly makes about her body. She's fit. She owns a gym. She's tiny. Shut up, already. The show is funny enough with
out that whole woman's-poor-body-image-thing.Finally, we get to see a lot more of Christine's ex-husband, Richard. It turns out he's jealous of Christine's new boyfriend. Hypocritical? Oh yes, considering he is dating a 28-year old woman, also named Christine. And he's been flaunting young Christine in front of old Christine for the last few episodes.
Continue reading Old Christine: One Toe Over the Line, Sweet Jesus
The New Adventures of Old Christine: Open Water
Yeah! Wanda Sykes! We've been seeing her in previews for Old Christine since before it launched and this
week she finally made her first appearance. She played Christine's friend, Barb, of Barb and Pete. And she didn't have
much of a role, did she? Well, hopefully she'll get some more appearances because she is one funny lady.This episode, Christine let Barb set her up on a blind date. When she arrives at the restaurant, she meets a man she thinks is her date, and nervously admits to him that she got a Brazilian wax and it "feels like I slid down a sandpaper banister." Funny stuff. He admits that he got a salt scrub, ahem, down there. And then it turns out they're not set up with each other after all. Christine's real blind date ends up being a short man without any social skills, but with a phobia about eating food that other people have touched. The other guy's date is Barbie.
Continue reading The New Adventures of Old Christine: Open Water
The New Adventures of Old Christine: Supertramp
This episode was definitely better than the
pilot. There was only a tiny bit of interaction with her son in the beginning and, to tell you the truth, I think
that's what made the difference. In the pilot, she behaved like she had only just met the little boy and not like she
gave birth to him. There was no familiarity there. This episode had fewer kids, more adults, sex, and... Andy
Richter!In this episode, Christine realizes she hasn't had sex for three years. So, she tries to figure out how to go have a one night stand. It turns out there aren't any singles bars anymore, and the best place to meet a guy is at the grocery store.
Continue reading The New Adventures of Old Christine: Supertramp
The New Adventures of Old Christine: Pilot
Well, I liked it. I didn't LOVE it, but I'm
definitely on board. I got a lot of good laughs out of this episode, especially during the interactions between
Christine and her ex-husband, and Christine and the rich ladies at her son's school. And, I love how she found out
about her husband dating a younger woman named Christine.There are sitcom-y (no, that's not really a word) lines in the show that Julia doesn't really deliver. For instance, the line early in the episode when she told her son to tell people he's "1/16th Native American" didn't really feel comfortable. It was a one-line zinger and she's better than that. However, a little later, when dropping her son off at school and feeling out of place, she nailed the line, "They're already looking at us like the project family the church sent over." So, hit and miss with the funny lines.
Giveaways reminder: Office, Eli Stone, Supernatural, South Park
Giveaway Thursday: Tickets to the New York Television Festival ... all of it!
I miss the media-friendly John McCain - VIDEOS
