(S01E09) If you're a Glee fan already -- a Gleek -- this episode is going to hit you in the sweet spot. If you're not a Glee fan, do yourself a favor and go online and watch this one (when it's available). It's just that good.
It may be coincidental, but the focus was on the school and the music. And plenty of character development with Puck, Kurt, and especially Sue. There was no football, no Slushees, no Emma and definitely no Teri. It's looking like Glee is best when Mr. Schu's personal life is off camera. I haven't missed the Mrs. one bit. More after the jump.
CBS Monday night comedies have been doing pretty well so far this season, as far as the ratings are concerned. The Big Bang Theory is challenging Two and a Half Men for top Nielsens for a sitcom; How I Met Your Mother is doing as well or better than last year, and the new kid on the block, Jenna Elfman in Accidentally on Purpose, has benefited by being smackdab in the middle of all that established comic success.
For my daughter's twelfth birthday, she decided to have four of her friends sleep over, and it turned out to be the same night that The Secret Life of the American Teenager season two was premiering. OK, she actually sort of planned it that way. All but one of her friends is allowed to watch the show, and she managed to talk her mom into it "just this once." I totally respect that. I write a family movie column and have kids of my own, so I'm fairly in tune with what is and isn't appropriate for various age groups.
I watched a few episodes of Secret Life last season, and while the subject matter isn't geared for little kids, it seemed OK for kids twelve and older. But this season, it seems like the show has really kicked the sex talk up several notches. Yes, I know it's a show about a teenager who gets pregnant and is forced to deal with the consequences. I'm ok with that. It shows kids that there are consequences, and that sex shouldn't be taken lightly.
I was never a big fan of Dharma & Greg (and by "never a big fan" I mean "I really disliked it"), but I'll give Jenna Elfman's new sitcom a shot. It's about a thirtysomething film critic who gets pregnant after a one-night stand. Family and parents groups, you can open your e-mail programs right now if you want to get your media campaign to get this show canceled underway early. Here's a sneak peek at the show.
Is it just me or there seems to be a baby boom in Hollywood this TV season? This is probably the 73rd post we've written here at TV Squad this year about a TV actress being pregnant, wondering how it will affect the show she stars in.
When the two lead actresses of How I Met Your Mother announced they were pregnant, the writers decided not to write the pregnancies in and go for the "hiding the belly under big clothes or things" option instead. They even shot the season finale months before they would have usually done so they could have the two actresses in reasonable shape. People announced that Grey's Anatomylead actress Ellen Pompeo is pregnant with her first child, while reminding us that Chyler Leigh, who plays Pompeo's half-sister, is due in May. We know that Shonda Rhimes decided not to have Lexie be pregnant but what about Meredith?
Warning! The rest of this post contains spoilers about upcoming episodes.
(S04E16) One of the biggest issues that has eaten at fans of HIMYM since the show's inception is the fact that the character the show is supposed to revolve around, Ted, is probably the most boring out of the entire Scooby gang. Because of this, stories about his quest for his soulmate -- the elusive "mother," of course -- have as equal a chance of working as they have of falling flat. It just seems like there have been very few Ted-centric romances that fans have gotten behind and rooted for. There was Robin, naturally, and Victoria the cupcake lady. The rest? All of them have had about as much chemistry and excitement as toe fungus (and, yes, Stella is in the toe fungus group).
Ted's new romance, with his super-douchey college girlfriend Karen, seems like it's another one that's destined to fail. And not because she brings out all the stupid college-kid pretentiousness that Ted barely has the strength to squash as he enters his thirties. It may be that we've kind of stopped caring about Ted's quest, haven't we?
As a fan of Grey's Anatomy from the beginning, I was disappointed with last season. The characters were wandering around with seemingly no direction, Meredith and Derek were getting on my last nerve, and there was a storyline that revolved around resuscitating a deer. It was not exactly the finest example of television I had ever seen.
Regardless, I'm excited about the fifth season, premiering on September 25. Shonda Rhimes has always struck me as the type of producer and writer who listens to fans and can remove herself from her product enough to realize that something isn't working.
It seems as though my faith is already being rewarded. In a new promo for season 5, Rose, the nurse that Derek had been dating while trying to get over Meredith, drops a bombshell: she's pregnant! Now that's a way to get me interested in this storyline again.
Video of the promo and spoilers about Rose's revelation follow after the jump.
(S01E12) "Do you think we closed Pandora's box?" -- Tom to Trina, after Janet's birthday party
You knew this was going to be an episode fraught with revelations when the strains of Carly Simon singing "No Secrets" played over the opening scene. Perfect song to comment on the surprises to come, as Swingtown climbs toward the big season one climax next week.
The show is getting tantalizing terrific. It's not that I'm enamored with all the characters, but they've all become interesting to me. Even Ricky's struggle to come to terms with his best friend falling in love with the girl next door and leaving behind their buddy-buddy relationship, was surprisingly meaningful to me. The scene where Janet advised Ricky to show B.J. how important his friendship was to him was wonderful. His hugging Mom like that was so true; Janet is a tough mother, but she's the embodiment of love and support and Ricky needed his mommy in that moment.
(S02E10) Well, you have to give it to Army Wives for pushing the envelope a bit with this episode, although just barely. More on that after the jump, but suffice to say it definitely was a twist I didn't think they'd try.
The duplicity in the title was all through the storylines. As I suggested last week, Joan has been ordered to bed rest or risk losing the baby, leaving Evan in charge. You know, this guy hasn't learned a thing in his tenure with Joan. He's still a jerk. I didn't blame Joan for getting frustrated with him; he was taking advantage of her being bedridden. Thanks to Trevor, Joan was able to get the upper hand, but I doubt that Evan's going to take the dressing down in front of General Holden with grace. He's going to be trouble.
Trevor's lying to Roxie and maybe himself. I would really hope that we don't see a Trevor hooked on pain meds in the future, but it looks like that's the direction we're headed, especially now that he won't be returning to Iraq for a while.
Yesterday we reported that Amy Poehler had been offered the lead on The Office spinoff (or not-spinoff, as the case may be). Today, Poehler herself is confirming the rumor. She tells the AP, "I can kind of confirm that I will be working in some capacity on that show," but goes on to say that "I don't really have any other details yet."
Poehler has been a castmember on Saturday Night Live since 2001and is currently the co-host of Weekend Update. She will remain on SNL through the fall, but with her baby due in October and now this new show, her role in the second half of the season is up in the air.
It's been a big week for Poehler, who in addition to the new job offer, also received an Emmy nomination this morning for outstanding actress in a comedy series for her work on SNL. Her husband, Will Arnett, also scored an Emmy nod, for his guest appearance on NBC's 30 Rock.
According to popular rumor, SNL star Amy Poehler is in talks to star in the spin-off series from NBC's The Office. If this is true, she'll be joining fellow SNL alumnus (and former Weekend Update co-anchor and co-star of the movie Baby Mama) Tina Fey as part of NBC's comedy prime-time line-up. No word yet on how Poehler's real-life pregnancy would affect this situation.
All I can say is: wow, what a fantastic choice. I've always been impressed with Poehler's work since she co-founded the Upright Citizen's Brigade (which is still going strong on both coasts). I've had the pleasure of seeing her perform comedy improv a few times and noticed how she is leaps and bounds more talented than most of the other people on the stage.
If anybody can lead a sitcom, it's Amy Poehler. If this news is true, I very much look forward to this spin-off and think it may be one of those rare cases in which the spin-off equals or is even greater than the original.
(S02E04) If there's one thing about Army Wives that bothers me, it's that life is rarely this tidy. With a few exceptions, this episode was about as neat and organized as Frank Sherwood's sock drawer. If you know that character, you know what I mean.
The really good part of the show dealt not with the wives, but with the husbands. Michael Holden, usually the Rock of Gibraltar, finally was shown to be in pain.
It was fitting that Michael wouldn't make it easy for Claudia Joy to find out what was bothering him. A general doesn't show his soft underbelly, not even to his wife.
The twist of having George's sister, Leah, appear was a good development. It was unexpected that the sister of the guy who bombed the Hump Bar would approach the Holdens, but it worked because it gave Claudia Joy a chance to counsel Michael.
Jamie Lynn Spears is returning for the fourth season of Zoey 101, despite the sixteen-year-old's public announcement of her pregnancy. This was intended to be the final season even before the announcement was made.
The season was filmed last summer, but there was concern that Nickelodeon would shelve it due to the controversy. Since Spears announced her pregnancy, the show has experienced a boost in ratings.
Antoria Gillan really, really wants to be on American Idol. At nine months pregnant, she was auditioning for the show in Dallas earlier this week. Maybe it was all that standing around that contestants have to do... but Antoria went into labor just before it was her turn to sing for the judges. Amazingly, she ignored the contractions and sang her heart out. Then she went directly to the hospital and gave birth to a baby boy she named Jamil Labarron Idol McCowan. He weighed in at 6 pounds, 7 ounces.
First of all: good for her for incorporating her unique labor experience into his name in a tasteful way. Second of all: you go girl! Apparently it was worth the pain and suffering, because Antoria got the go-ahead to Hollywood! I'm sure Fox got it all on camera, so expect to see Antoria and baby Jamil next January during auditions highlights.
*If you haven't yet watched the season finale of 24, go far, far away from this blog post.*
Of all the developments that bugged me during the two-hour 24 season finale, the Chloe O'Brian plot turn was on my list of irksome moments.
In the midst of the end-of-the-day chaos, while Chloe was trying to track down the whereabouts of Jack Bauer's evil papa, she collapsed as her ex-husband Morris rushed to her side. Immediately, the folks who were with me in the TV Squad 24 live chat jokingly suggested that Chloe was pregnant, but I didn't think her ailment would be that obvious.
CBS Monday night comedies have been doing pretty well so far this season, as far as the ratings are concerned. 
For my daughter's twelfth birthday, she decided to have four of her friends sleep over, and it turned out to be the same night that 
Is it just me or there seems to be a baby boom in Hollywood this TV season? This is probably the 73rd post we've written here at TV Squad this year about a TV actress being pregnant, wondering how it will affect the show she stars in.
(S04E16) One of the biggest issues that has eaten at fans of HIMYM since the show's inception is the fact that the character the show is supposed to revolve around, Ted, is probably the most boring out of the entire Scooby gang. Because of this, stories about his quest for his soulmate -- the elusive "mother," of course -- have as equal a chance of working as they have of falling flat. It just seems like there have been very few Ted-centric romances that fans have gotten behind and rooted for. There was Robin, naturally, and Victoria the cupcake lady. The rest? All of them have had about as much chemistry and excitement as toe fungus (and, yes, Stella is in the toe fungus group).
(S01E12) "Do you think we closed Pandora's box?" -- Tom to Trina, after Janet's birthday party
(S02E10) Well, you have to give it to Army Wives for pushing the envelope a bit with this episode, although just barely. More on that after the jump, but suffice to say it definitely was a twist I didn't think they'd try.
Yesterday we reported that Amy Poehler had been offered 
According to popular rumor, 
(S02E04) If there's one thing about Army Wives that bothers me, it's that life is rarely this tidy. With a few exceptions, this episode was about as neat and organized as Frank Sherwood's sock drawer. If you know that character, you know what I mean. 
Jamie Lynn Spears is 
Antoria Gillan really, really wants to be on American Idol. At nine months pregnant, she was auditioning for the show in Dallas earlier this week. Maybe it was all that standing around that contestants have to do... but Antoria went into labor just before it was her turn to sing for the judges. Amazingly, she ignored the contractions and sang her heart out. Then she went directly to the hospital and gave birth to a baby boy she named Jamil Labarron Idol McCowan. He weighed in at 6 pounds, 7 ounces.
*If you haven't yet watched the season finale of 24, go far, far away from this blog post.*
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
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