One of favorite aspects of Thanksgiving, besides the turkey and the stuffing and the pie, is that I get to watch the Thanksgiving episodes of The West Wing. Yeah, I guess I could watch the episodes any time of year since I own them on DVD, but that's not how I roll.
Here are two classic scenes from the show. The first is from the episode "Shibboleth" where President Bartlet pardons a turkey, and the second, after the jump, is from "The Indians in the Lobby," the scene where he calls the Butterball hotline.
President Bartlet pardons a turkey (and teaches us a little about stuffing)
Continue reading President Bartlet pardons a turkey (and teaches us a little about stuffing)
USA orders more Psych
USA Network is losing Monk this year, but it's not about to let Psych go. The adventures of Shawn and Gus will continue. USA announced today that Psych is coming back for season five, with 16 new episodes ordered up.This, my friends, is a no-brainer. Psych is one of USA's more reliable hours, a comedy-mystery series that has a loyal following. This past summer season -- which will soon be completed in the winter when the second half of the episodes air beginning in late January (the date hasn't been confirmed yet) -- the show performed especially well in younger demographics.
Continue reading USA orders more Psych
Review: White Collar - The Portrait
(S01E05) I don't think I've sighed as hard as I sighed during the opening scene of this episode of White Collar in a long time. Caffrey and Moz find a note hidden by Kate ... in Grand Central Station? And not even in the station, but in the corner of the building outside. Did I miss some massive clue that Caffrey was following to find the exact location of the note shoved into a crack? Or are we just supposed to assume he's so smart and perceptive that he can find an old note within three minutes of showing up in front of the building? If I missed something, it was silly. If that's exactly how it went down, then it was kinda stupid.
Fun episode, though!
Continue reading Review: White Collar - The Portrait
NBC dusts off Trauma's corpse
Oh my God! It's a zombie! Quick! Get a shovel or something heavy that will remove a human head or destroy its brain! Yes, TV shows can become zombies too. NBC has revived its once doomed drama Trauma giving it a full 13 episode order plus a few more after they canceled it last month.
What made the network breathe life back into the expensive action drama? Apparently the show saw a brief boost in the ratings and NBC had a change of heart, assuming of course that they have one in the first place.
Ugly Betty star was almost Peter Petrelli on Heroes
I love hearing stories about how certain stars auditioned for certain roles and didn't get them. What would the show/movie have been like if they were cast in it instead of the person who eventually got the role? For example, did you know that Danny DeVito was almost cast as Serena on Gossip Girl?Here's another tidbit: Ugly Betty star Eric Mabius auditioned for the role of Peter Petrelli on Heroes. It's not really clear whether he didn't get the role because Milo Ventimiglia got it or if producers of Ugly Betty grabbed him for the role of Daniel Meade before Heroes producers could sign him up. Whatever happened, he's now playing the head of Mode magazine while Ventimiglia is absorbing people's superpowers.
The interview above is rather interesting. Mabius has moved back to Massachusetts with his family (he met his wife here while in college and wants to raise his kids here). He says he doesn't have a plan for his future, though he might have to get one. I have a feeling this might be the last season for Ugly Betty.
Jason Lee to sing the Delta Blues
When I first heard the plot of the new TNT drama pilot that George Clooney is producing, Delta Blues, I thought it might be funny at first but way too odd to watch for several episodes. It's about George Hendricks, a Memphis police officer who lives with his mom and is also a part-time Elvis Presley impersonator (I'm going to assume that he doesn't dress up as Elvis while he's on duty or this show will go be way into the red zone of the QUIRKY meter).Well, at least they grabbed someone good for the role. My Name Is Earl's Jason Lee is going to play the lead character, and I can definitely picture that. Now I just wonder if he's going to dress up as younger, thinner Elvis (circa 1959) or older, wider Elvis (circa 1975).
The pilot will be directed by Clark Johnson, who worked on The Shield.
Melrose Place: Cahuenga - open thread
Well, last night was the BIG night on the new Melrose Place, the return of Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear). Judging from Locklear's entrance, she really did shake up things on the show.A question for fans of the original: did this make you watch this episode even though you weren't watching the new show? And for fans of the new show who really aren't familiar with the original: are you excited by Locklear being on the show?
Review: The Prisoner - Part Six: Checkmate
(E06) Well, that's that. All wrapped up nice and neat with a bow. Glad it's all cleared up and everything makes perfect sense... Did you read the sarcasm in that statement?
At this point, I can't tell if fans of the original The Prisoner will embrace this new iteration of the concept, or feel betrayed by it. Don't get me wrong, once all the secrets lie revealed, they've developed a pretty neat concept, and on that could quite possibly have sustained more than six episodes even. But was it The Prisoner?
I will give credit to all of the actors for their conviction in these roles. Ruth Wilson and Jamie Campbell Bower were particularly impressive as 313 and 1112. The layers of emotion that 313 displayed in her closing scenes with Two, and later with Six were just tragically beautiful. And 1112... well, tragedy appears to be the name of the game in the new Prisoner.
Continue reading Review: The Prisoner - Part Six: Checkmate
Review: The Prisoner - Part Five: Schizoid
(E05) So I'm feeling a little more confident as the fifth installment wraps that The Village isn't as real a construct as perhaps the original was. At the same time, I have a hard time in a show like this just taking something that I'm told to be the truth and accepting it. Maybe I'm like Six in that way.
In this episode, both Two and Six experience time outside themselves, while 1112 learns more about himself than any of us realized. And if what he learns is anything close to the truth, it can do a lot to explain much of what has happened, and how the Village can be as comprehensive as it appears to be.
Continue reading Review: The Prisoner - Part Five: Schizoid
Remembering The Star Wars Holiday Special, even if we really don't want to
A long time ago (well, 31 years ago) in a galaxy far, far away (Television City isn't technically a different galaxy, unless you consider TV producers to be people who don't spend much time on planet Earth), an evil was unleashed upon the human race.
Today marks the 31st anniversary of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, a Christmas not-so-spectacular roasted by critics including some here at TV Squad years after it hit the air and even some of the franchise's most ardent fans.
That also includes George Lucas who once remarked at an Australian convention that he wished he could buy up all of the world's remaining copies of the show and smash them into oblivion with a sledgehammer. I wonder if 31 years from now, he'll be saying the same thing about Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace?
Continue reading Remembering The Star Wars Holiday Special, even if we really don't want to
Don Draper's mistress lands role on new NBC drama
I know, saying "Don Draper's mistress" doesn't really narrow it down, does it?Abigail Spencer, who played (plays?) schoolteacher Suzanne Farrell on AMC's Mad Men this past season, has landed a role on the new NBC drama Rex Is Not Your Lawyer. I guarantee that will be one of the odder titles for a new show in 2010 or whenever the show debuts. It's about a lawyer who gets anxiety attacks (that has to be a career killer) so he actually teachers his clients how to represent themselves in court. Spencer will play another lawyer.
What does this mean for Miss Farrell? Who knows. She could appear on both shows though. Alison Brie appears on two different shows too (Mad Men and NBC's Community), so it's possible that Spencer could still appear on Mad Men while on this show. Of course, I hope she's out of the picture and we see Rachel or Midge again.
CBS's Sunday flip-flop: Cold Case for Three Rivers
Sundays have always been a good night for CBS. It's been a good day for years, thanks to the NFL. Traditionally, the football games bleed right into prime time, which commences at seven o'clock because of 60 Minutes. Even in the days when CBS broadcast Sunday night movies, the network has done well on that night of the week. However, the advent of the NBC Football Night in America has put a dent in CBS's strength. Also the ABC lineup and Fox's animation domination are no slouches either. So, CBS is going to do something to bolster Sundays. Three Rivers and Cold Case will switch time slots.
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Continue reading CBS's Sunday flip-flop: Cold Case for Three Rivers
Review: The Prisoner - Part Four: Darling
(E04) If you cannot break a man with family, or mistrust, then you must try love. For love is the greatest of things after all, is it not?
it seems we've fallen into a familiar pattern with The Prisoner. Two tries various schemes and techniques to break Six and Six resists them all, either through his own ingenuity or through the help of other Villagers who are sympathetic to his situation. But we still don't know why Two is trying to break Six. This week's tactic was love, but love was explored in many ways throughout the episode.
Six's love of the woman from New York is so strong that it cross boundaries from that world into the Village world. But in neither case is it clear if the love is real, or something manufactured.
Continue reading Review: The Prisoner - Part Four: Darling
Review: The Prisoner - Part Three: Anvil
(E03) I'm no closer to figuring out everything that's going on, but I am more appreciative of the fact that the entire story will be done by tomorrow night. Things are so confusing at times, I'm not sure I can keep it all in my brain if I had to wait a full week between each of these episodes.
Tonight's installment focused on espionage and spying. The target of all this spying appears to be everyone, but the primary focus is on the "Dreamers," those people who have dreams and vision of a life outside the Village. You see, they're a dangerous element, particularly if they were to organize.
The leading suspicion is that they have already done so, but where and to what end? Two wants to find them so he can send them all down for "Treatment," while Six wants to find them so he can rally them to his own cause of finding a way out of the Village.
Continue reading Review: The Prisoner - Part Three: Anvil
Jane After Dark: The Wire, season five (part two)
And so Jane After Dark has come to the end of The Wire. I need to watch it again to catch more than the one-eighth I caught the first time around. But after watching all five seasons, spanned over most of this year, the thing that keeps popping into my head is that the bureaucratic end of things is really no better than the drug dealer end of things.
In some ways, the drug dealers have more ethics than the suits. At least when a druggie does something that wrongs others in the system, there's no messing around. They're shot. They know they have it coming, and they step up and take it, just like Snoop did, asking if her hair looked ok before being gunned down. Just like Proposition Joe did when he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable bullet to the head.
Continue reading Jane After Dark: The Wire, season five (part two)
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
