Archive for April, 2010
O BROTHER!
Apr 30th
Why Brothers And Sisters Needs Some Family Therapy
Is it just me – or is Brothers and Sisters somewhat of the boil this season?
ABC’s Sunday night melodrama is drawing to the end of it’s fourth season and the franchise is already feeling as drained as a show with many more years under its belt. Compared to its lead in, Desperate Housewives, which still bristles with energy after 6 years on the air, Brothers is like a puffing and wheezing family member on their last legs. And it’s clear viewers are feeling the same way – with the show down almost two million viewers from its season one peak (the show now regularly hits 7 or 8 million, but used to attract well over 10 million)
Which is a real shame as at its peak the series is terrific TV. Sure Brothers and Sisters can be cheesy, corny and dripping in sentimentality – but for me the show has always been the TV equivalent of comfort food. No matter what’s going on in the world, the Walker family always stood together, living their comfortable upper middle class lives, with Sally Field’s Nora constantly on hand to cook up a family dinner or spare a bed More >
FRIDAY NEWS ROUNDUP
Apr 30th
Lady Gaga gears up for a spectacular – and pricey – Idol performance (and boy does the show need it!)
First look – Kate Winslet goes vintage for new HBO series
The Oprah Winfrey network adds a show about eating disorders
And so does E!
Here we go again! NCIS stars seek pay bumps to return.
History Channel goes scripted, casting Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear in Kennedys’ mini-series
Ricky Gervais set to return as Golden Globes host… hopefully with better material
MTV auditions more guidos and guidettes for Jersey Shore… here’s the pics
Heidi and Spencer make Time’s LEAST influential list…
Chelsea Handler – the sex tape!
Celebrity Rehab sets its sights high – now that’s an interesting booking job!
Matt LeBlanc’s TV comeback stumbles
So I’m not the only one! Glee fans – is Kurt’s crush on Finn just plain creepy?
Steve Carell gets set to leave The Office (hopefully for better movies)
And could these guys be leaving Grey’s Anatomy?
Real Housewives, fake book reviews…
CREDIT CRISIS
Apr 29th
Credit where it isn’t due…
Yesterday I received an email from a complete stranger who was looking to partner up on some potential show ideas. I’d never met or heard of the guy before but his email proudly touted his credentials as creator of a recent ABC series (in a spirit of fairness I won’t mention his or the show’s name) and stated that he had hundreds of show ideas ready to pitch that were going to make anyone who worked with him rich.
Now as you know from my Pitch Imperfect piece – comments like these always raise a red flag for me. But I did a quick check and sure enough he didn’t have a credit on the show, received no mention at all on the Wikipedia show page and didn’t have a single credit to his name on IMDB. In short – he’s another credit-grabber in an industry overflowing with them. It’s one of my pet peeves!
The credit that most infuriates me is the lofty title of Executive Producer. For perhaps obvious reasons it’s the credit everyone aspires too (you don’t see many people puffing up their Assistant Producer credits) and there’s something a little bit wooly about the title More >
QUICK TAKE: GLEE-FALL
Apr 28th
Fox’s musical smash crashes and burns!
Wow – what happened?
After last week’s fantastic, all bells and whistles Madonna spectacular, Glee came crashing back to earth last night with easily the show’s weakest episode to date. I count myself a Glee fan – but I have to be honest, last night’s show was embarrassing on multiple levels and really tested my series loyalty. What a comedown.
Where to begin? Well first up there’s Kurt’s ongoing obsession with Finn, which saw him manipulating their single parents into a personal relationship – and then regretting the move when his dad and Kurt started bonding over sports. Man, this is an annoying storyline on so many levels. For starters it plays into the horrible cliché that all gay guys are constantly chasing straight dudes. Plus it brought out the very queeniest and most dislikeable aspects of Kurt’s personality (to be fair many teenage gay guys act out this way – but I wish Kurt could be a little less whiny and desperate – it’s not like we have many role models out there).
A DROP OF TRUE BLOOD
Apr 28th
Here’s the first mini promo for the new season of True Blood, premiering on June 13th.
As recently announced, HBO are releasing these little minisodes over the next few weeks to keep the already rabid fan interest at fever pitch.
This clip doesn’t really add or reveal much, and the gags are kind of obvious – but the more Pam the better as far as I’m concerned!
Enjoy!
QUICK TAKE: AMERICAN IDOL ‿SHANIA TWAIN NIGHT’
Apr 27th
It was Shania Twain week on American Idol – so this season’s best celebrity judge returned, looking as beautiful as ever (as a gay man even I have to concede Shania is hot!)
But am I the only person who thinks Shania’s songbook is a little limited? Wouldn’t country divas have been a better theme? Oh well at least there are only 6 competitors left in the game – so not too many fights over who gets to do, ‿That Don’t Impress Me Much’!
First up, Lee Dewyze took on ‿You’re Still The One’ and absolutely killed it. As in ran the song over, backed up in his car and took another shot just to finish it off for good. It’s looking likely that Lee’s a dead cert for runner up in the grand finale. This shows you how lame Season 9 has become (all of last year’s Top 5 were better than Lee). But the judges love it (what?) – with Kara complimenting Lee for managing to smile on stage. Uh-huh!
