Review: A Strong Start for “Touch”
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Commentary, Tune In Info, TV Review on January 25th, 2012
The “Work Its” of the world notwithstanding, sometimes midseason is the perfect launching territory for a series too unique to fit on a fall schedule, and too full of potential to be submerged in a sea of September competition. “Touch,” a new drama starring Kiefer Sutherland, represents a perfect example of this idea. While we’ll never know if “Touch” would have pulled away from fall’s freshman pack, its preview airing tonight at 9pm ET/PT on Fox ensures this latest series from “Heroes” creator Tim Kring has a better-than-decent chance of getting the attention it deserves.
Certainly a portion of “24‘s” faithful will tune in to see Sutherland’s return to series television… and as it turns out, 9/11 has a significant role in “Touch’s” pilot. But viewers searching for shades of Jack Bauer won’t find much of him in Martin Bohm, a widower and single father struggling to raise his 11-year-old son Jake (David Mazouz) while still mourning a wife who died in the collapse of the Twin Towers. Bohm is stubborn and driven, but Sutherland’s portrayal grants him a level of fatigue and frailty his action hero rarely (if ever) displayed.
What has Bohm so emotionally frayed is Jake’s condition, which we discover has been incorrectly diagnosed as autism. Jake has an obsession with numeric sequences and mobile phones, and even touching him makes him react with such force that people will have to “peel him off the ceiling,” his father explains. The kid also has a habit of scampering up cell phone towers, and one climb too many draws the attention of well-meaning social worker Clea Hopkins (Guga Mbatha-Raw). Like his father, Hopkins is concerned that Jake’s condition has closed him off from the world as we know it.
Naturally Jake is anything but disconnected from humanity, and viewers witness this through Jake’s internal narration and other perspectives, including the stories of people around the world that the boy will never meet but nevertheless are affected by his actions. Jake’s role as a hub of universal interconnectedness – vaguely explained by a somewhat kooky expert on the phenomenon (Danny Glover) – is fascinating to watch as the quilt of plotlines reveal themselves, and ever more inspiring when each disparate story comes together in end. Rare is the pilot that manages to be uplifting without getting caught in a sticky bog of maudlin sentiment, but the first episode of “Touch” pulls off that feat.
This in no way guarantees that the series will maintain all the strengths of its pilot, or that audiences will care enough to return each week to witness Bohm and son weave ever more wondrous webs of human connection around the globe. Even if one accepts the theories and possibilities that Jake’s gift grants those around him, there comes a point at which the ripple effect of his actions must be subject to constrictions and boundaries. Lacking a concrete definition of Jake’s condition means the writers can be free to explain away all kinds of twists and U-turns in the story without rooting them in absolute plausibility.
Those who remember what “Heroes” devolved into about, oh, one and a half seasons into its four-year run know what a huge problem that could be. To borrow from Jake’s way of seeing the universe, this is a series that demands there be a distinct pattern leading us to a specific end point. From what we have seen of Kring’s previous work, he has not demonstrated great success in mapping out his various endgames.
For the time being, it’s enough that “Touch” gets off to a a strong start, and to hope that everything that works so well in the premiere consistently connects through future episodes.
A Chat with “Justified’s” Neal McDonough
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Commentary, Q&A, Talking TV, Tune In Info, TV News on January 17th, 2012
As FX’s critically-acclaimed drama “Justified” returns for a third season, it will be very difficult for some fans to imagine the world of Harlan County, Kentucky, without its beloved and feared crime matriarch Mags Bennett. Margo Martindale‘s Emmy-winning role was so emotionally affecting that to call Mags a tough act to follow is beyond an understatement.
To meet that challenge this season, “Justified’s” executive producer Graham Yost is serving up not one, but two new crime bosses. Neal McDonough plays one of those heavies, a smooth-talking Detroit criminal named Robert Quarles. Quarles wears expensive suits and has a glaring white smile, and between that and his go-getter attitude, he is utterly frightening.
But he’s also a very different kind of villain than the ones we’re used to seeing Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) face on his home turf. Raylan knew Mags, just as he knows the reputation of the third season’s other great antagonist Ellstin Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson, who previously co-starred with McDonough in Yost’s “Boomtown“).
Limehouse, who lords over an African-American community known as Nobles Holler, has a long history in Harlan and is a hospitable man, offering barbecue to his visitors before he doles out threats. Quarles, on the other hand, is unerringly polite but uninterested in pleasantries.
We sat down with McDonough at the recent Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour to get more details about his work on this season of “Justified,”* which kicks off tonight at 10pm ET/PT on FX, and to find out about his upcoming appearances as Timothy “Dum Dum” Dugan, one of the Marvel Universe’s better-known good guys.
(WARNING: This interview contains a minor spoiler about a subplot in an upcoming episode of “Justified.”)
IMDbTV: Your character is amazingly creepy.
McDonough: Yes, and I didn’t realize how creepy he was until I saw the first episode the other night. But it’s not so much that he’s creepy as much as he’s… I keep on saying this with the “Ds”: He’s despicable, he’s delectable, he’s delightful, he’s dastardly, he’s everything you would want as a character to play as a villain.
But I’m playing him as a hero. And in his mind, all of these other people are villains in the show, and I have to get rid of these bad guys.
Interesting.
The first time I introduce myself to these other actors in the show, I’ll just start giggling at them for no apparent reason. I can see, in their minds, that it puts them off, and it kind of stays with the character throughout the piece. It’s a lot of fun playing this guy.
The other thing that’s interesting about “Justified” is that, even though the story has protagonists and antagonists going at each other, in the preface to any conflict, there’s almost a Southern politeness about it. Your character is also very polite, but in a specific Northern way. Can you talk about the “carpetbagger” aspect of Quarles?
It’s great because I think that I’m the king. I graduated summa cum laude from Michigan, enjoy all of the great things – fine wines, foods – I’ve been bred really well. But I just have this horrible anger inside me, this temper and this rage that builds inside me and once in a while, it comes out. And when it does come out, it’s just deplorable.
It’s tough playing a guy like this, because I always want to infuse so much emotion into it. Before I do this horrible thing, my eyes just start to well up. There’s this really tight close-up of my face where I look really remorseful about what I’m about to do.
On that note, can you give any hints as to what’s to come for your character? (WARNING: Minor spoiler ahead!)
The things I do to this one boy in the series… I read the script and it says, “Quarles opens the door and sees pretty boy handcuffed to the head post.” So I called (executive producer Graham Yost) immediately and I asked, “So how pretty does this boy have to be?” And he starts laughing. Then I asked, “Are you going to answer why this boy is here?” And he goes, “I’m not sure yet. I might not.” I said, “OK, great.”
Well, he actually did answer it and… it’s just awful.
(END SPOILER ALERT.)
Wow. You look like you feel awful about it right now.
I do! You know, when I do this I can always just say, “Well, it’s just fun, it’s entertainment.” But when I want to do it right, I really have to do it right. If you don’t have that remorse in a villain, it doesn’t work. You can’t play it like an android and not have any emotions. I think that’s what makes this role so chilling to play.
Is that something that Graham and (executive producer and author Elmore Leonard) inspired in you to do?
Graham doesn’t say boo. He’s come by the set once, maybe twice this year. He lets me just play… “In Graham I trust” has basically been my slogan for years. The stuff he wrote for me in “Boomtown” was just phenomenal, and the stuff he’s writing here is fantastic. I would love to see Graham write me another David McNorris, because I miss playing that guy…When you get to see the insides of a man’s soul, then you’ve got great television.
It seems that the villains from the first couple of seasons on this series, um, don’t come back.
Oh, I’m going end up in a slaughterhouse, or whatever, at the end of the season. I just heard, what is it called, “American Horror Story”? What a genius approach to have the whole cast gone after the first year and recast it for the second year. That’s genius, because you get to watch a whole new story. Like Graham has alluded to, if you have the same villain and he keeps staying around, he loses his shine. Even if they wanted to keep me around for another year or so, it wouldn’t make sense for the show. I don’t think they will. I think Graham is figuring out a beautiful way for my demise as we speak.
I understand that you’re going to reprise your Captain America role.
Yeah, they’re planning (to go into production for) Captain America 2 for the end of this year, because Marvel does one film at a time. So they’re going to do Thor 2 and as soon as Thor has wrapped, they’ll do Cap 2. Hopefully right after that, we’ll jump into Nick Fury because that’s the one I’m looking forward to more than anything.
Why is that?
Because it’ll be me and Sam Jackson. In the real Marvel universe, Dum Dum Dugan is Nick Fury’s right hand man.
…And I just pray that they have a 1970s setting, because I want to see Sam Jackson with lambchops kicking people’s asses for Marvel universe. It would just be awesome. And to work with Sam would be a treat. We’ve become friendly over the years.
It sounds like you were a fan of the comic beforehand.
Absolutely. I’m very well aware of the Marvel universe, and to be part of it is such a blessing. To go back to London and shoot there for four months, that was just a great year.
Third Time’s a Bomb: Ricky Gervais & The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Telecast
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Commentary, Golden Globes, Live Coverage, Review, TV News, Uncategorized on January 15th, 2012
In his opening monologue as host of The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards, Ricky Gervais joked that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had warned him that if he insults or offends anyone, “I’ll definitely be invited back next year!”
After tonight, we can’t say he won’t be asked to host again (he was back for his third go-round this year, wasn’t he?) but it became fairly obvious early on in the awards telecast that Gervais would rather be doing something else. Anything else.
Rather than shocking his way out of a return invitation, Gervais took the route of safety and boredom. Where he landed memorable stinging jabs across the egos of Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. in past Globes shows, Gervais threw slow haymakers wrapped in velveteen cliches at targets including Kim Kardashian (“The Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton: A bit louder, bit trashier, bit drunker, and more easily bought!”); Justin Bieber (“The only way he could have impregnated a woman was by borrowing one of Martha Stewart‘s old turkey basters!”) Eddie Murphy, Ashton and Demi. Everyone’s done jokes about those celebrities, and from what we could see, none of them were in the audience.
If Gervais wanted to show us what he would be like without fangs, then mission accomplished. We vastly prefer you to be rude and unflinching. (See you on HBO in a few weeks!)
The bright spot to a Globes telecast helmed by a harmless and largely absent Gervais, however, was that it inspired a few stars to take up the entertainment banner in his stead. Thus, Seth Rogen did his best to liven up the night by kicking off his Globes presenting gig with, “Hello, I am Seth Rogen and I am currently trying to conceal a massive erection” before referring to Globe-nominated “My Week with Marilyn” as “a hilarious comedy.”
Madonna smelled weakness and took a (self-serving) swipe at her lame introduction by Gervais, which tried to spin comedy out of her song “Like a Virgin,” her hit dating back to the Pleistocene epoch.
“If I’m still ‘Like a Virgin,’ Ricky,” Madge cooed, “then why don’t you come over here and do something about it? I haven’t kissed a girl in a few years. On TV.” The audience applauded, and the blonde braid of sinew and haute couture that gave us W.E. smiled proudly.
In case that didn’t do it for you, George Clooney gamely attempted to entertain the folks at home by calling attention to the size of Michael Fassbender’s member while accepting his Best Actor Golden Globe for his work in the Golden Globe winner for Best Drama, The Descendants. It was a swing, and a… well.
Despite all of that, there were a few magical moments during The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards that stood out from the boredom and weirdness.
– It was touching to watch Sidney Poitier present Morgan Freeman with the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. Dame Helen Mirren co-presented, and flailed a bit as she attempted to sprinkle her dedication with a touch of comedy. No harm, though; she’s Dame Helen Mirren. But the most winning moment of that presentation was the “this-is-your-life-in-movies” clip reel that included a snippet of Freeman singing “I love to take a bath in a casket” from his stint on “The Electric Company.” It was a nice nostalgic touch, and Twitter went wild for it.
–”Downton Abbey“‘s Golden Globe proves HFPA voters actually do pay attention to quality miniseries and TV movies that aren’t being made by HBO. Even nicer was the acceptance speech by creator Julian Fellowes, who could be experiencing a massive explosion of ego right now but clearly is still grateful, humble and in awe at the culture’s fervent adoration for his work.
–Great to see “Homeland‘s” wins in the categories of Best TV Drama and Best Actress in a TV Drama, for Claire Danes‘s performance. Also nice to see Kelsey Grammer get a Globe for his work in “Boss.” We have nothing bad to say about Laura Dern and Matt LeBlanc‘s wins for “Enlightened” and “Episodes,” but only because it’s a waste of energy to complain about the insanity of the Globes’s notoriously odd choices in individual comedy winners. (Except to say that Amy Poehler was robbed. Again.)
–The same holds truly for the wacky practice of lumping comedy, TV miniseries and movie supporting actors and actresses together in the same categories. However, we commend Peter Dinklage‘s classy mention of assault victim Martin Henderson at the podium. “Google him,” Dinklage advised, subtly using his platform to remind a worldwide audience that as much as he’s achieved, most little people are still struggling for equal treatment.
–Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy singing a duet while presenting the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie? Adorable.
We invite you to share your thoughts on the Globes telecast in the comments section. As always, you can view the full list of winners, as well as see red carpet photos and read the blow-by-blow recap of the show by visiting our Road to the Oscars section.
AMC Sets Premieres for “Mad Men,” “The Killing,” Expands “The Walking Dead”
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Live Coverage, TCA Winter Press Tour 2012, The Pick-Up Game, Tune In Info, TV News on January 14th, 2012
Confirming a statement made earlier by series star Jon Hamm, AMC has set “Mad Men‘s” long-awaited premiere date for March 25. The cable channel also expanded its season three order of “The Walking Dead” to 16 episodes, as opposed to the original 13 episode order.
“Mad Men’s” two-hour season five premiere will air at 9pm on March 25, returning to its regular timeslot at 10pm on April 1, when “The Killing” makes its two-hour season two premiere at 8pm. “The Killing” settles into its regular 9pm timeslot as of Sunday, April 8.
AMC also set a series premiere date for its first unscripted series, Kevin Smith‘s “Comic Book Men,” slotted to follow the midseason return of “The Walking Dead” on February 12 at 9pm. The eighth episode of “The Walking Dead’s” second season is meant to provide a strong lead-in to Smith’s six-part exploration of fanboy culture, which premieres on the same night at 10pm.
Regarding the expanded episode order for “The Walking Dead’s” third season, AMC’s head of original programming Joel Stillerman revealed that the network will likely air a split season again, dividing the 16 episodes into two blocks of eight. The network is targeting the fourth quarter of 2012 for the third season premiere.
The premiere dates were announced as part of AMC’s presentation to TV reporters attending the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour in California.
The Golden Globes: Ricky Gervais Hosts, and We’re Covering Every Moment!
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Commentary, Golden Globes, Live Coverage, TCA Winter Press Tour 2012, Tune In Info, TV News on January 13th, 2012
Celebrities plus alcohol often equals loose speeches and wacky behavior. Garnish that cocktail with the brash, unmuzzled comic sensibility of Ricky Gervais, and what do you get?
Another Golden Globes telecast destined to have tongues wagging on Monday morning.
The British comedian is back for a third round of hosting The 69th Annual Golden Globes, airing live on NBC starting at 8pmET/5pm PT, and he’s already locked, loaded and ready to take aim at certain, um, subjects.
“What’s the worst that can happen?” Gervais joked to TV reporters on Friday, during his appearance on behalf of his new HBO series “Life’s Too Short.” “You know, I end my career once a week if you read the press. Everyone says that’s the end. I only do things that could end my career now. That’s the fun. That’s my extreme sport.”
Here’s ours: IMDb will once again have live coverage of the event, including instantaneous updates of the winners, photos from the red carpet, and commentary on all of the fun. Starting at 5pm PT, keep the homepage open to see the list of winners from the moment they’re announced. (Or, if you don’t want to know, avert your gaze.)
Smartphone users can view the list of winners on our mobile site, Android, and iPhone, and check out the Road to the Oscars section for the photos from the red carpet.
We’ll also be posting photos and award results on Facebook and @IMDb Twitter. And as usual, @IMDbTV will be the place for TV results and snark… which should be plentiful, based on what Gervais had to say on Friday.
“I’m not one of these people who thinks comedy is your conscience taking a day off. My conscience never takes a day off. I know what I’m going to say outside the odd ad lib. I can justify it and I stand by it, as I do every joke I did last year,” He said. “And I don’t care. I don’t care what people think.”
We can’t wait.
In the meantime, check out our Road to the Oscars section to view photos of the nominees, trailers and clips from all of your favorite nominated films. You’ll also find photo galleries and lists from past awards seasons.
HBO Sets Premiere Dates for “Game of Thrones,” New Series “Girls” and “Veep”
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Live Coverage, TCA Winter Press Tour 2012, The Pick-Up Game, Tune In Info, TV News on January 13th, 2012
Winter is coming, but it’ll be springtime when it arrives.
HBO’s hit fantasy series “Game of Thrones” makes its second season premiere on Sunday, April 1. The drama, based on the bestselling series of books “A Song of Ice and Fire” by author George R.R. Martin, will have 10 episodes in its second season.
HBO also set premiere dates for its new comedies “Veep,” starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and “Girls,” the comedy from Tiny Furniture director Lena Dunham. “Veep’s” eight episode first season begins on Sunday, April 22 at 10pm. “Girls” launches its 10-episode first season at 10:30pm on Sunday, April 15.
Meanwhile, HBO’s highly anticipated dramatization of the McCain-Palin 2008 campaign “Game Change,” starring Julianne Moore as Palin, premieres at 9 pm on March 10. The film also stars Ed Harris as John McCain and Woody Harrelson as McCain’s senior campaign strategist Steve Schmidt.
TCA: The CW Brings Musical Chairs to Your TV.
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Casting alert, Live Coverage, TCA Winter Press Tour 2012, The Pick-Up Game, Tune In Info, TV News on January 12th, 2012
People have accused the television industry of being creatively bankrupt and out of ideas.
There are plenty of examples to counter that argument. But today, The CW did not add one to that list. Instead, the network announced it was picking up ten episodes of “Oh Sit!”, a game show version of musical chairs.
You read right: musical chairs.
According to the network’s announcement at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour, each episode will challenge 20 contestants to run through five obstacle course-style elimination rounds, each attempting to claim a chair as a live band plays. The last contestant remaining wins a cash prize.
The CW has yet to select a host or a premiere date for “Oh Sit!” but the comments section of this blog is accepting suggestions.
Meanwhile, the official Twitter account for (the once real but currently non-existent) UPN confirmed that it has passed on picking up reality shows based on “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” or “Clothespin Drop.”
TCA: Showtime Sets Premieres for “Nurse Jackie,” “The Big C” & “The Borgias”
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Live Coverage, TCA Winter Press Tour 2012, Tune In Info, TV News on January 12th, 2012
Sunday April 8 is the magic date for viewers awaiting the return of Showtime comedies “Nurse Jackie” and “The Big C,” as well as the second season of “The Borgias.”
Showtime announced this springtime programming block Thursday morning during the network’s appearance at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour. The Sunday night line-up will kick off with fourth season episodes of “Nurse Jackie” at 9pm, followed by season three of “Nurse Jackie” at 9:30pm, with the second season of “The Borgias” at 10. (All times ET/PT.)
Additionally, the premium cable will produce filmmaker R.J. Cutler‘s documentary on former vice president Dick Cheney, tentatively titled “The World According to Dick Cheney.” This joins the channel’s recently announced production on a documentary about Death Row Records founder Suge Knight, directed by Antoine Fuqua. Showtime president of entertainment David Nevins also told reporters that his channel is developing a documentary about legendary comedian Richard Pryor.
Touting the strength of his channel’s line-up, Nevins specifically cited his satisfaction with the performance of “Dexter‘s” recently aired sixth season. Nevins says he was happy to know that the series has set up its endgame, but also hinted that if the storytelling warrants it, it could go beyond its currently contracted eighth season.
TCA: “Cougar Town” Takes the Fun to the Fans
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Commentary, Live Coverage, Talking TV, TCA Winter Press Tour 2012, The Pick-Up Game, TV News on January 10th, 2012
On Tuesday, ABC is hosting a comedy showrunner’s panel for reporters attending the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. Conspicuously missing from the list of names on that panel is Bill Lawrence, creator and executive producer of “Cougar Town.” Makes sense, considering that his show also is missing from the midseason line-up. Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment Group, still has not assigned a premiere date to the third season premiere beyond saying it would likely return in March. (He told reporters that he expects to announce a specific date within the next few weeks.)
Meanwhile, Lee did announce dates for the midseason comedy “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23” (9:30 Wednesday, April 11) and the new Shonda Rhimes drama “Scandal” (10 pm Thursdays, starting April 5) and explained that “Private Practice” is moving to Tuesdays at 10 from April 24 through May 15.
Needless to say, the continued delay of “Cougar Town’s” season premiere is making fans very nervous.
Having navigated the TV industry, and ABC in particular, for most of two decades, Lawrence decided to take matters into his own hands. On Monday night he hosted a cocktail party for TCA members to answer all of their questions about “Cougar Town’s” fate and get news (and spoilers) straight, no chaser, from the man himself.
Lawrence made it clear that his party-crashing party was not meant in any way to snub his employer ABC, saying that if he wanted to be on the showrunners panel he only had to call Lee and ask.
“But, why would I want to do that, and be up there acting like, ‘Hey, I’m so psyched to be here, with a giant question a mark!’? It also puts me in the position of being disrespectful to the ABC execs,” Lawrence said. “So I’m doing this event, and I’m footing the bill.”
We can only imagine what the final total was. A large crowd of critics showed up to drink and chat with Lawrence and the “Cougar Town” cast, including Courteney Cox, Busy Philipps, Ian Gomez, Dan Byrd, and Christa Miller, all of whom were excited to talk about season three’s developments. The “Cougar Town” folks believe in their show so much that they’re flying to cities all over the country to host watching parties with fans and stoke excitement for the new season. (Upcoming dates include Seattle, San Francisco and Las Vegas; follow @vdoozer on Twitter for details.)
Asked how he felt about the continued lack of a specific premiere date, Lawrence says he’s not worried. Besides, he understands ABC’s reasoning for keeping mum.
“I expect they had a date for the premiere,” Lawrence says, “but they’re not going to announce it because they expect the show will come on sooner.”
That is a veiled reference to “Cougar” possibly being called upon to replace the low-rated and critically reviled midseason comedy “Work It,” which debuted to soft ratings and is expected to shed even more viewers with the airing of its second episode. Lawrence didn’t refer to “Work It” by name — that’s not his style — but he knows where the next gap is likely to show up.
Besides, the real battle isn’t getting the show back on. That’s going to happen, and Lee confirmed it. At this point, the question is whether “Cougar Town” will be picked up for a fourth season. Hence, the Cul-de-Sac crew’s viewing party tour.
Lawrence feels the difference between the show being picked up for another season and, well, a fate we’d rather not mention, is not insurmountable. “When I did ‘Spin City,’ the difference between being on and not, in the demo, was 4 or 5 million people. Now the difference is about 600,000,” he explained. “For us, it’s about turning the old core audience back on to the show by giving them good content.”
The cast and crew considers these events to be part of an unspoken contract with fans. In exchange for buying them free drinks, handing out “Cougar Town” swag and showing them a few episodes from the new season, they’re asking fans to 1.) watch it on the air when it returns; 2.) remind other fans that its coming back and urge them to watch it; and 3.) persuade five to ten new people to give it a shot as well.
He would not be paying for these grassroots promotions if he didn’t think it could work. And he truly believes it makes good business sense for ABC to pick up another season of “Cougar Town,” even though the network reduced this season’s order from the full 22 episode commitment to 15. In a word, syndication. Lawrence frequently pointed to the fact that ABC owns the show, and stands to make more money if they make enough episodes to syndicate it.
“The bar is not very high on what number we have to do to be back,” Lawrence said. “I’d be truly bummed out and shocked if we didn’t make it.”
Lawrence also revealed details about what’s in store for the Cul-de-Sac crew in the upcoming season, so if you don’t want to know any specifics, stop reading now.
Last chance: SPOILERS AHEAD.
“Once we knew we were going to be a midseason show, which was early on, we shifted gears really quickly and made the first episode essentially like a third year pilot so that new people weren’t excluded,” Lawrence explained. “It’s a big spoiler to tell you what happens in it, but it certainly eliminates all elements of any cougars. This is one show called ‘Cougar Town’ without any cougars in it.”
He followed this up by revealing specifics as to what happens:
– Jules (Cox) and Grayson (Josh Hopkins) are headed for the altar.
– Travis (Byrd) is going to spend a significant amount of time with a helmet on his head. Lawrence says that’s payback for Byrd refusing to cut his hair last season.
–Laurie (Philipps) is attempting to behave more like an adult, and is opening a bakery that specializes in whimsical cakes. It will be called Krazy Kakes by Keller. Note the unfortunate acronym.
–Andy (Gomez) is running for political office.
–Lastly, the romantic tension between Laurie and Travis will be resolved this season.
Bottom line? Watch “Cougar Town” already, and keep a very funny comedy alive.
Goodbye, Mr. Carmichael: “Chuck” Airs Its Finale
Posted by Melanie McFarland in Cancellations, Commentary, Nostalgia, Review, TV News on January 27th, 2012
Even the most beloved TV series must come to an end. But it’s nearly impossible for a series to end in a way that is universally satisfying. In fact, a number of shows widely considered to be among the best the medium had to offer ended quite badly.
Not “Chuck.”
So what if, quality-wise, “Chuck” isn’t in the same league as the “Losts” and “The Sopranos” of the world? It’s a show about a nerd who gets superpowers overnight, courtesy of a software program known as the Intersect. Only the silly would expect much in the way of profundity here.
But even when “Chuck” wasn’t great, it was usually a good time. By the end of its final two episodes, “Chuck Versus Sarah” and “Chuck Versus the Goodbye,” fans are just as likely to be smiling as crying – or smiling while they cry. It might not please everybody — nothing in life does — but it should come close.
As series creators and executive producers Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz reminded TV writers in a farewell letter, this is actually the fourth series finale that was written for “Chuck.” With that kind of practice, they had no excuse to do anything but end it well.
The sendoff for Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), his beloved wife Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), best friend Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez), and fellow agent John Casey (Adam Baldwin), ends their story with precisely the right balance of bittersweetness, heartbreak, giggles and optimism. And yes, there’s a lot jammed into that last episode. It’s essentially the show’s greatest hits parade, delivering a goodbye kiss (with a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor) to all of the elements that made “Chuck” perennially charming.
In the end, the beating heart of the show is still the love story between a beauty and a geek. “Chuck” was far from a perfect show, but Chuck and Sarah’s romance was never one of its questionable qualities. We rooted for Chuck to get the girl as much as we cheered him on when he got his fighting upgrades.
At the start of that penultimate episode, however, it’s no longer clear that he has either of these things. To say any more than that would ruin the experience of watching the finale, which airs across two back-to-back episodes tonight, starting at 8pm ET/PT on NBC.
Except for this — don’t be surprised if you are seized by the urge to review the series from the beginning as the final credits roll. The Intersect doesn’t actually exist, but this show’s uncanny ability to flip your nostalgia switch to the “on” position is very real.
Adam Baldwin, Chuck, Joshua Gomez, Lost, The Sopranos, Yvonne Strahovski, Zachary Levi
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