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Posted
May 29 2009, 03:17 PM
by
KATV
with no comments
Happy Friday! Let's hope this nice weather keeps up.
Here's some of the TV stuff we did this week:
-- If you haven't checked out our Bachelorette Hit List, head on over and take a gander - trust us, it's much easier and less painful than sitting through each two-hour episode.
-- Canada's Next Top Model premiered this week, so we introduced you to the girls, showed you photos from the premiere, interviewed Jay Manuel and talked to Tiffany, the first girl to be kicked off. You're welcome.
Elsewhere:
-- Reports surfaced this week that T.R. Knight is indeed being killed off of Grey's Anatomy, but Shonda Rhimes has said it's "a hilarious, ridiculous rumour." Who to believe?!
-- Good news, Chuck fans: the show will probably be making some webisodes, and the show might even return earlier than expected.
-- Sad news, Pushing Daisies fans: the final episodes are airing this weekend. R.I.P.
-- Doctor Who has found its new companion, and she's a ginger!
-- Here's a great profile of Zach Galifianakis, the brilliant comedian who is starring in The Hangover.
-- Den of Geek has a great piece about what a moron Kim Bauer is. (If anything, we think they give her too much credit.)
-- And finally, check out this video of Ed Westwick in character as Chuck Bass at the upfronts presentation for the CW.
Have a good weekend!
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Posted
May 25 2009, 03:35 PM
by
KATV
with 2 comment(s)
For a show that underwhelmed me with its pilot, Breaking Bad sure has my full attention now.
I've mentioned before about how I'm now hooked on this show, but each week's episode somehow manages to be even better than the last. Throughout the first season, one of my main questions was that I didn't understand why Walt, this sweet husband and father, was choosing to deal meth when he actually had his rich friends offer to pay for his treatment; to Breaking Bad's credit, they've answered that easily in Season 2. Because so much of Walt's life has not gone the way he wanted it to, and for once, he wants to be in charge. And while things frequently (...always) go wrong, it's become clear this season that it's not about making enough money to support his family anymore - Walt likes the man he's become, because for the first time in a long time, he feels like a man. And he doesn't care what it takes to feel that way, or what it means for him as a human being.
But the great thing about Breaking Bad - and Bryan Cranston's performance - is that while we understand that about Walt, it's clear that Walt himself doesn't fully understand it. Despite all evidence to the contrary he still believes that, at his core, he is a good person. Case in point: last night's episode. After making a huge deal with a local distributor, Walt tells Jesse that he's holding onto his half of the money ($480,000) until Jesse gets clean and stops screwing up their business because of his addictions. Of course, once Jesse's girlfriend, Jane, learns about the money, she blackmails Walt into giving it to them, which he grudgingly does. But after a chance encounter with Jane's dad at a bar (though neither of them realizes the connection), in which they talk about supporting your family no matter what, Walt realizes that Jesse is something of a surrogate son and that he can't just let him self-destruct. Heading back to Jesse's place, Walt enters the bedroom to see Jesse and Jane passed out on heroin; Walt tries to wake Jesse up, shaking Jane onto her back, but Jesse doesn't wake up.
And then. Oh, then. Jane begins to vomit and choke. And because Walt sees her as a problem - as an obstacle for Jesse, whom Walt realizes he should now protect - he does nothing. He stands there and watches her die because he truly believes that, in the long run, it's the right thing to do. He sits and stares, filled with sadness, self-pity and determination (and, it cannot be said enough, Bryan Cranston plays this scene perfectly). And we the audience, of course, realizes that good people don't stand idly by and let someone die when they could easily be saved - but, simultaneously, we see that's not who Walt is. Not anymore.
Next week is the season finale, when we'll finally (I hope) find out what the deal is with the burnt teddy bear and the two body bags in front of Walt's house - and, after this week, I think it's pretty clear that Breaking Bad isn't going to pull any punches.
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Posted
May 20 2009, 04:19 PM
by
KATV
with 1 comment(s)
Last night's 90210 season finale - which I watched, I will admit, but only because nothing was on other than Glee, which I was DVRing so I didn't have to sit through commercials - was about a million times ore exciting than the rest of the entire season. Among the awesome things that happened:
-- After Naomi gushes to Jen about Liam's family problems (inadvertently giving her sister the leverage she needs), Jen goes and seeks out Liam, makes it seem like Naomi is telling EVERYONE about his issues, then totally sexes up her little sister's boyfriend. Because she's CRAAAAZY.
-- Naomi walks in as Liam is putting on his pants (and Jen is, conveniently, in the other room) and is understandably pissed, telling him she never wants to see him again.
-- THEN Jen tells Liam that she's Naomi's sister and Liam realizes what a d-bag he is.
-- However, after finding Annie's shawl in her room with Liam, Naomi thinks that Annie slept with him and screams at her in front of the entire after-prom party! And everyone's still pissed about Annie telling her dad about the first party (which she didn't, but everyone thinks she did), so they all mock her and throw drinks on her, so Annie tells them all to screw off, storms out of the party, grabs a bottle of vodka and calls the cops on the party - HAH!
-- Dixon confronts Ethan about his feelings for Silver, and they're all up in each others' grills and it's all very homoerotic, but then Ethan's all, "Silver, you're awesome" and runs away, but then SILVER comes and finds HIM and they MAKE OUT and it's TOTALLY HOT, and Ethan points out that if she didn't have feelings for him then she would be with Dixon instead (although, to be fair, maybe Silver just wanted someone to be nice to her after Dixon started acting like a giant baby)
-- Liam goes home and, after leaving an apologetic message on Naomi's voicemail, gets FORCED TO GO TO BOOTCAMP by his jerk of a stepfather
-- And, the best part, Annie drives home drunk and crying, and SHE HITS A GUY. Awesome. But then she realizes that she has a bottle of vodka in her car and she's underage, so she just drives off. AMAZING.
Oh, yeah, and then there was all the Adrianna and Navid and baby bullcrap, but I haven't been keeping track and babies on TV are boring. Even when Shannen Dohert guest stars.
But yeah, totally awesome! What happened, writers? It's like one of you sat up during your
afternoon nap and said, "Uh, guys? I think we might be in charge of a
show or something." And then you all decided to pass on your after-nap
nap and write an actual episode of delightful trash. Keep it up next
season, guys!
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Posted
May 12 2009, 04:59 PM
by
KATV
with 2 comment(s)
Last night's House finale, mindf*ck that it tried to be, just seemed like we'd ventured into familiar territory. To discover that House and Cuddy hadn't slept together at all, that he had hallucinated the whole thing and was, in fact, still taking Vicodin - sure, I went "whooooa," but I said it in a "I can't believe they're doing this again!" kind of way. "No Reason," the second season finale, already had House hallucinating the goings on, and last year's two-part finale had House trying to interpret his own visions. It's just not impressive the third time around, especially since we've all seen The Sixth Sense.
That being said, Hugh Laurie hit that last scene out of the park. The moment House realized that he was very sick and very possibly losing his mind, Laurie perfectly showed the fear and uncertainty and pain - it's rare to really see House drop down all of his defenses, even when he's truly shaken. The look on Laurie's face made it clear just how scared House really is.
Of course, since this is House, he'll probably be fully cured by the second episode of next season. House nearly rivals Heroes in the "nothing really has consequences!" category.
On another note, I can't believe the writers made Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer act out a wedding scene. Those poor guys are total pros. That must have been the most awkward scene to film ever.
What did you guys think of the finale?
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Posted
May 08 2009, 04:35 PM
by
KATV
with no comments
-- Tonight is the Dollhouse finale, and it's probably the last episode ever, which is really too bad, because I actually really like the show now. CURSE YOU, FOX! Why must you deprive me of a shirtless Tahmoh Penikett? WHY?!
-- More (potentially) sad news: the Gossip Girl spinoff about Lily van der Woodsen in the '80s might not get picked up! COME ON!
-- Did you watch the Izzie/Alex wedding on last night's Grey's Anatomy? I will admit that I teared up a litte, but today my mind is full of questions. Did Derek not invite his mom and sisters to the wedding? Wouldn't they be pissed that they showed up for Derek's wedding and it didn't happen? Why did it take until Izzie was halfway down the aisle to include George in the wedding? Do you really expect me the believe that Katherine Heigl and Ellen Pompeo wear the same size?
-- I am far too happy about Mindy Kaling getting her own show. Love her.
-- Happy birthday, Stephen Colbert! Here's your present: you get your own beetle.
-- Here's our Q&A with Survivor: Brazil castoff Sierra Reed.
-- Guitar Hero: the show? That's it: we're officially out of ideas.
-- The allegations and denials of Jon Gosselin's affairs mean one thing and one thing only: ratings gold for the May 25 season premiere of Jon & Kate Plus 8.
-- Not that I'm taking sides or anything, but speaking of Kate Gosselin, here's a list of crazy TV Moms.
-- And, finally, the funniest/saddest eight-minute video you'll see today, made by a guy who is trying to win his ex-girlfriend back after not seeing or talking to her in two years. You're welcome.
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Posted
May 06 2009, 04:06 PM
by
KATV
with 5 comment(s)
It was the penultimate episode of this season of The Biggest Loser, and, as usual, it seemed to go on forever. I swear, this episode seemed to last longer than the rest of the season put together. And you know what? Next week's finale is THREE HOURS LONG. Jebus, give me strength.
But this episode featured each of the remaining four finalists going home for 30 days to lose weight on their own, and I have to say, I've really been hating how the show's producers have been exploiting Max, Ron's other son and Mike's brother. Obviously, their entire family is very large, but Max is 16, meaning he's too young to compete on The Biggest Loser. There have been a few times in the past weeks when Ron and Mike have been able to go home or see their family, and Max has been understandably upset at realizing that he's essentially being left behind, as far as weight loss goes. And The Biggest Loser is milking this for every last drop, constantly focusing on him being upset and these "The More You Know"-style conversations between Mike and Max, where Mike promises to help him when he gets home. This would be uncomfortable to watch anyway, but it's even more awful when you realize that Max is in high school, and that the people in his school must have been brutal and relentless after these episodes aired. I cannot imagine Max has had the best time in the last few months because of The Biggest Loser. (I know it's too much to ask that The Biggest Losers producers be a little mroe sensitive to issues of embarrassment, but come on! The kid is 16!)
Last night's episode was no different, with Bob coming to visit Mike in Michigan - he brought Max to the gym with them and literally worked the poor boy out until he vomited. And Jillian, who I usually love, had the most cruel moment of the night, when she was looking at Mike (who has lost 164 pounds in the last five months) and Max (who has not) walk side-by-side on the treadmills.
"It's like a before and after picture!" she exclaimed.
That just seems really heartless and wilfully ignorant of the humilitation they're putting Max through. Sure, he may have competed on The Biggest Loser had he been old enough, but he's not. So he's being exposed to the "BEING FAT IS DANGEROUS AND EMBARRASSING" edit that the show gives everyone, but he's not getting the benefit of losing weight like the actual contestants do. He didn't sign up for the show; his father and brother did. Sure, he probably signed a release to allow NBC to air footage of him, but what was he going to do, refuse to spend time with his family when they come home after a long time away? The whole situation just makes me incredibly uncomfortable and I hope the kid either gets on The Biggest Loser when he turns 18 or gets a lot of help from Jilliand and Bob.
After a really stupid idea for a challenge (after the 30 days at home, the contestants had to finish a marathon, like, HELLO INJURIES), it was time for the weigh-in, and I was surprised to see Mike fall below the yellow line with Ron. (I knew Ron would fall below the yellow line, both because of his physical limitations and because he probably backed off the exercise to give Mike a better chance of getting into the finals.) So now it's up to viewers to vote for which of them makes it into the final three, and I'm fairly sure it will be Mike, simply because he's so darned likeable. Ron wants his son in the finale, too, but because Ron has been such a manipulative jerk for the whole season, part of me wants to vote Ron in just so I can be like, "YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!" but, like I said, Mike is just too sweet for me to feel OK with crushing his dreams.
Still, I'm predicting that Tara will take home the big prize - and, as annoying as I find her drama queen behaviour, I have to admit she kind of deserves it. She is a force to be reckoned with, that girl. She's won almost every challenge and has never fallen below the yellow line at the weigh-in. She may be a little self-centred, only speak in sound bites and have a constant "PAY ATTENTION TO ME BECAUSE I'M GOING THROUGH SUCH A HARD TIME" attitude, but you can't argue with the fact that the girl has literally worked her butt off in this competition, more so than anyone else. But if the finale is, as I predict, between Tara, Mike and Helen, I think I'll be fairly satisfied with any of them winning. Which hasn't happened in a while.
What did you think of last night's episode? Who are you voting into the finale, Ron or Mike? Who do you think should win the grand prize? Post your comments below.
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Posted
May 04 2009, 02:10 PM
by
KATV
with 6 comment(s)
NBC made their "infronts" announcement today, which is when they reveal some of the shows that have been picked up for next season - and despite positive buzz (and even a few false reports that it had been picked up), Chuck isn't on the list. This isn't necessarily bad news for Chuck - NBC Entertainment co-chairman Marc Graboff says everything's still up in the air and insiders are reportedly still sneaking information that the action/comedy will indeed get a pick-up for next season, although it may not be until mid-season. Hey, as long as it's something, right? I need Adam Baldwin on my television screen. I need it to live. (There's no news on Law & Order, Medium or My Name Is Earl, either, but do those shows have Adam Baldwin? No? Then let's move on.)
Shows that did get pick-ups today: Parks and Recreation, Southland, Heroes (really?!) and, once again, NBC will be doing those ill-advised Thursday-night Saturday Night Live Weekend Update. Other shows that were previously picked up: The Office, 30 Rock, The Biggest Loser, Celebrity Apprentice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Friday Night Lights (hurray!).
I want to believe that Chuck is getting the pickup, but I am worried, since Jay Leno is stealing five hours of primetime away from the NBC schedule - which really continues to be a boneheaded move on NBC's part. I know they didn't want Jay Leno to go over to ABC, but in doing their best to avoid repeating the David Letterman/Tonight Show mistake with Jay and Conan, they ended up doing something worse! And if Chuck gets punished for it, oh, I am going to be so angry, I am going to blog so hard about it.
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