A Bones to pick
If you didn't watch the Bones season finale last night, better stop reading now.
The revelation of the Gormagon killer was astonishing, unsettling, and frankly, not that well executed.
If you tell me a character I've come to know very well, who has been with the show for a long time, who to all appearances is a mild-mannered is a killer, you better have a damn good reason to back it up. (See, e.g., Beaver from VM.) And for all their "Zach is logical to a fault" talk, they just plain didn't.
I should've known earlier, when they were putting so much suspicion on... Read More
Saturday Night LaBeouf
I have a feeling that some time from now I'll regret how into Shia LaBeouf I am. He could turn out to be irresponsible, too cocky, too one-note, an arrogant hack. He could do unattractive things with his hair. His fast-talking charm could degenerate to the oily slickness of a car salesman. He could date someone I don't approve of. He could lose that hint of lost-boy vulnerability that makes you think underneath his goofy bravado is a beating heart. He could pull a Lohan.
In the meantime, though, I'll just keep enjoying him -- like his performance on SNL manana.
If you ask me, The Beef is cooking.
Bell of the ball
Forgetting Sarah Marshall: It's hard for me to imagine looking forward to a movie more. And it comes out today...at last! Just think of it:
+
Marshall Eriksen/Nick Andopolis
+
dash of Apatow cast
=
heartwarming hilarity
(I'm hoping.)
I mean, take a look at K Bell. She is just quirky and charming and delightful, right? I'm not sure she'll be all that as Sarah Marshall, but I think she'll be a hoot.
And the movie will be a hoot! Woot! Why aren't I watching it NOW???
Oh, 'cause I have a job. Riiiight. I guess we can't all sit around in our sweatpants every day of the week.
Low profile shows: the others
A few days back I took the time to point out a few new-ish shows that caught my eye...though I took my sweet time talking about them. Today, it's on to the shows that have been around for a bit, but that I rarely talk about.
Men in Trees
It's not as good as it was at its best (like a mini-rom-com every week!), but it's still a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, and I've stuck with it. I'm now a big Annie fan, though it took me a while to really warm to her. Ironically, I think it's the fractured romance between Annie and Patrick that's now my favorite aspect of the show; he's so different now, but I think they're still right for each other, and I keep waiting for them to figure that out. On the other hand, the writers seem to keep tossing in arbitrary obstacles for Marin and Jack, and that's never a fun thing to watch.
Ghost Whisperer
If I don't mention it often, it's out of shame. So it doesn't have wonderful characters, or inventive plots, or realistic dialogue. So what? It has a great wardrobe (ok, better in past seasons than lately), some ridiculous hairstyles (because we all wear extensions daily), the comfort of a quickly resolved storyline (often heartwarming!), and the immaculately made-up J Lo Hew (seriously, those eyelashes are a trip).
Life
This one kind of slipped my mind, but I did enjoy it when it was on. Okay, if I'm honest, the thing I enjoyed the most was the intimate-yet-inappropriate connection between Charlie and Constance. Why am I such a sucker for forbidden love? But I think the quirky personality they managed to give Charlie worked out, and I became more and more involved with his quest to find out the truth as the season went on. The last episode, where he found the girl whose family he'd been accused of killing, without realizing it was her till the end, had a nice twist and good plot development. I'm interested to see where this one goes next season.
American Idol
I don't watch often, because I don't like to see bad performances or people getting ripped to shreds by the judges. I don't like to see people flail; I like to see them succeed! (That's why I love this compilation of the 15 Top All-Time Idol performances. "Stuff Like That There" is a personal fave.) This season, I did notice Michael Johns as a particular highlight, and dug his performance of "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right"...just in time for him to get kicked off the show. No wonder I don't keep up with it.
Do you ever watch these shows? What others fall into your list of watch-but-don't-mention?
Low-profile shows: the newbies
There are plenty of shows I watch, but don't say boo about. So I thought I'd take a bit of time today to highlight a few of the shows I've neglected over the past few months.
Let's start with the new shows that may or may not return (after tonight, in the case of one of them).
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
I didn't love it the way I could've (I am, after all, a sucker from ass-kickin' chicks), but I think this one improved significantly over its short run. They set up the mythology of the show nicely, had decent visual effects, and got some surprisingly great performances from folks like Brian Austin Green. (I'm not kidding. I even found him marginally attractive. Trust me, I'm as disturbed by that as you are.) I liked that they hinted at the idea of robo-Cameron exploring art and beauty -- an area we consider strictly human -- and Derek getting a bit freaked out by it. I also liked the nostalgia he clearly felt for the world he saw get torn apart. While I always found Thomas Dekker a bit wooden, he grew on me too. I'm really hoping this show comes back.
Samantha Who
If I don't mention it often, it's because I can't quite figure out why I'm still watching it. Could it be Christina Applegate's freakin' adorable haircut? Could it be that I miss Sookie and will settle for Melissa McCarthy however I can get her? Could it be that I just think this premise is too good to give up on? None of those reasons seems strong enough, but I've continued to watch this show, mostly online, mostly in the background. It'll be around next year, and I'm hoping it gets better.
Miss Guided
Did you miss this one? You probably did. ABC only aired a scant 7 episodes, but I really liked them -- and you can still see them on the ABC website. They're worth a watch, I think. Judy Greer, who is just damn fantastic in everything, imbues her nerd-turned-high school counselor character with the right amounts of grit, goofiness, and naivete -- hard to pull off, indeed, but she succeeds, and you root for her while simultaneously recognizing that she's kind of weird. If you're curious, give "The List" a try - with sharp writing that smartly skewers today's gossip-driven world, it's 22 minutes of your life I don't think you'll regret. Plus, Chris Parnell!
New Amsterdam
Not a bad premise (cop lives forever -- or until he finds his soulmate). Not a bad lead actor (Nikolaj Coster Waldau). Not bad writing (but not quite good either). Yet, why doesn't this show do it for me? I think it's the lack of drive. It's just coasting along. What I would've loved to have seen, being the romantic sucker that I am, is more of a dilemma for our laconic hero: what if he met two women at the same time, his heart stopped, and he knew one was his soulmate... but didn't know which one? Now that I think could make for some interesting drama -- trying to present both ladies as viable options, making them pretty different so they bring out different parts of John's character. I would've liked to see that.
Later this week, I'll move on to the ongoing shows that don't get enough love from me on the blog, but that are still in my weekly viewing rotation.
In the meantime, what do you think about these flying-below-the-radar shows?
Shot through the heart
If you think I wasn't delighted enough by news that Rob Thomas was going to be revamping his dearly departed series Cupid, then you weren't reading this blog back in days when I wrote about Veronica Mars with frequency and fervor.
And now, we get the news that Rob has his Cupid: Bobby Cannavale.
Though his name wouldn't have come to my mind at first for the role, I think Cannavale will give love a good name as Cupid. For starters, I've liked him in everything I've seen him in, (yes, even when he had reason to drink wheatgrass on Sex and the City). He's charming, and a looker indeed, but comes at you a little bit askew at times; you're not sure whether to take him seriously.
As Trevor, I can picture him working up manic energy similar to what Jeremy Piven did in the original series, or I could see him taking it in a totally different direction -- a tortured and darkly funny anti-hero, perhaps? As long as he can nail down that blind faith in true love, I think he can do it.
My suggestions for Cannavale's leading lady:
- Lauren Graham
- Vera Farmiga
- Portia de Rossi
- Gina Torres
- Gillian Anderson
With the exception of Farmiga, it might seem like a list of ladies I just want to see back on TV. However, I really think any of them could pull off the character of Claire, whose icy exterior conceals how very vulnerable she is to romance, magic, and the divine mystery of love. She'd have to do logical and closed-off with occasional lapses into funny and warm. I'm no actress, but it's a role I think would be an absolute treat, especially coupled with Thomas' witty writing.
So I ask you: which lady is your pick for a good fit as the disbelieving doctor who's just a bit charmed by Cannavale's deity-or-isn't-he?
Monday grab bag
Today's post is a grab bag of links to things that I am pretty much delighted about.
- NBC came out with their schedule, and Friday Night Lights is on it. WHEW!
- 
Given all the basketball I've been watching lately, last week's How I Met Your Mother was silly, inspired goodness -- as was the TedMosbyIsAJerk.com website featured in the ep. (Background on the sitehere.) And, for the record, I am totally on the Robin-Barney ship; have been since way back to Zip, Zip, Zip. Also, I squealed with delight at the Doogie Howser homage - so, so perfect.
- Hint: If you are on your own internet voyage in search of interesting info about this lovely program, I encourage you to try the remarkably thorough Have-You-Met-Ted.com, which has plenty of great details about the show, cast, and more. Obsessive fanhood at its best.
- HIMYM's Neil Patrick Harris just got awesomer (I know, how it possible?) by joining the cast of a Joss Whedon-written musical: Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Also featuring Nathan Fillion (as "Captain Hammer" -- great name), so hopes are high.
- Speaking of Whedon, the new show he has in development, a href="http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=972f7d73-e0a2-43ea-abad-0abf6afba1f3">Dollhouse, is shaping up to have another stellar cast. Not only did he nab Eliza Dushku (Faith from Buffy) and Olivia Williams (a solid British actress), but he picked up Tahmoh Penikett, best known to viewers as Helo from Battlestar Galactica. So the pilfering of the BSG cast begins! Well played, Whedon, well played.
- In BSG world, I'm still reeling from the season premiere, which I watched this morning after taking a few days to recall what happened at last season's end. What a doozy. Give me some time to digest it, and I'll let you know my thoughts. In the meantime, just marinate on these 43 Memorable BSG Moments. (A great compilation, but how can you leave out Baltar's "butterfingers!" line, which cracks me up inappropriately every time?)
- 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time...agree/disagree? Disagree -- though a few nice ones popped up on the list, they were outweighed by the missing. And VM down toward the bottom? Hell no!
What goes on YOUR top show-of-all-time list? Discuss!