The Hollywood Reporter has some interesting roundtable discussions with the Emmy-nominated showrunners Matthew Weiner (Mad Men), Shonda Rimes (Grey's Anatomy), Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks And Recreation), Alan Ball (True Blood) and Katie Jacobs (House, M.D.), and Jenji Kohan (Weeds) including this one, where the producers share how they really feel about anyone who dares to spoil any part of their shows. They start out talking about the network promo departments and then get into fans on the internet, and their hostility shows, so it's kind of funny. Unannounced spoilers ARE bad, but remember guys, WE MADE YOU.
Lest we forget that the third season of Mad Men begins this summer (supposedly August 16th), AMC has started running this new promo featuring prominent, salacious moments from Season 2. Even the biggest Mad Men fan has to admit the show moves glacially, so this promo, with its soap opera revelations piling up on each other like some sort of 1960's Nip/Tuck, is almost like an inside joke. (I love Mad Men, but that show is sloww). Spoilers abound, but only for Season 2:
Guess who has two thumbs and just read the entire Wikipedia entry for King Saul? This chick! I was hoping to find clues to upcoming plot points on the already ratings-challenged but fascinatingly ridiculous new show, Kings, but then I remembered, wow, the Bible is super boring except for the sex parts. Reading about Saul and David's breakups and makeups and caveman politics is like going back and reading your notes from high school. The things you remember as huge events and coups d'etat upon which entire social empires rose and fell were really just minor misunderstandings, like "Erica and her boyfriend got in a fight so we missed the Indigo Girls concert." (True story, btw. Still mad.) Oh, except with more spears. Saul and David were constantly throwing spears at each other. And missing, often "on purpose." Like, every day. The Bible is basically high school, with spears. Our entire civilization is based on a caveman version of Gossip Girl. Also, David so totally stole Saul's milk jug! That little bitch! This is making me laugh so hard!
HOWEVER, my Wikipedia journey did lead me to one potential plot point that could shake prime time network television to its core (and I'm not talking about David and Jonathan being gay together, that's only 1080 B.C./1997 A.D.-shocking.) I know Kings got low ratings, but please please please don't cancel it before this happens....
On tonight's episode of network TV's most fantastical journey of the imagination, House, M.D., Judy Greer guest stars as lady who thinks a cat with magical powers has diagnosed her with a deadly disease. I'm not going to give away the spit-takey last line of this promo, but it ventures way past the line of self-parody (intentionally, I'm sure):
I believe that this entire episode was written around that line, like a writer's-room dare. I can't wait.
OMG you guys, Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight are both leaving "Grey's"! Ever since I found out, I've been doing what anyone would do: watching 100 shitty tribute videos on YouTube, trying to find the perfect one to represent George's and Izzie's ("Gizzie's) departure, but unfortunately they're like the only two people in the world who don't have a tribute video set to "Good Riddance" by Green Day. So "With Or Without You" will have to convey the proper reverential tone, for now, even though we all know it's rightfully Ross and Rachel's song:
I have a sort of fantasy about this show, where I keep sticking with it even after everyone has stopped watching, recapping, or talking about it, and it suddenly gets AMAZING and I'm like "Slow and steady wins the recap race!" But so far, even though episode four ("Inspiration") had Real Tara the whole time and only an alter flashback and (spoiler) evidence of a possible act committed by an alter, it was still ridiculous. Sigh. Let's go.
Tara thinks her husband Max is more attracted to her alters than he is to her.
This is treated with the appropriate ridicule by Max's landscaping employee, played by Patton Oswalt, who asks Max if he's "ever fucked the dude" and compares his marriage to a variety pack of cereals, but still: we, as the audience, are still supposed to sympathize on some level -- you can tell by the music. This show is still ridiculous, blah blah blah, BUT episode three did have one truly amusing scene.
Like Mark Graham over at Vulture, I stopped watching Nip/Tuck a few years ago, because it was just too ugly and desperate to shock, and I didn't care about any of the characters. But sometimes it's good to check in on a show you don't watch anymore, just to make sure you made the right decision. Turns out, we did (Warning, if this scene of self-mutilation is in any way believable to you I suppose it's graphic. To me it was just funny in a 70's slasher-flick-meets-Passions way.):
Carrie Prejean turned the video camera off, put on some clothes, and stepped out of her house. It was a beautiful day outside. The air smelled like apples, and the late morning light hit the world in just such a...
After watching Death Sentence, a terrible movie starring Kevin Bacon as a father in search of vigilante justice directed by Saw's James Wan, Gabe embarked on The Hunt For The Worst Movie of All Time. This is his sad journey.
If you are a sassy and sarcastic young man in an American sitcom who represents the sitcom writer's desire that a nerdy Jewish teenager can somehow be the desirable romantic hero in this world, then eventually you will get a...
I shouldn't even be here right now. I SHOULD BE GETTING INTO MY COSTUME! If I don't hurry, my facepaint won't be dry before I get to the MOONVIE theater, and everyone will be like "hahah, you look like you're...
Blogging about TV and movies isn't all fun and videogames. Every week, Lindsay or Gabe will be presented with a physical or mental challenge that tests their bravery,patience, and taste.
The Challenge: I had to go on a 3.5 hour bus tour of totally random TV and film locations in New York City. Alone, and wearing a specific ridiculous tshirt. And I had to find someone to take my picture...
Uh. OK. Well, first let's address what this movie did well, like the disappointed parents we are (or at least that I am), recognizing that the negative feedback won't be useful or constructive if it isn't preceded by something positive....
