Archive: August 2009 (1-10 of 47)

Aug 31 2009 10:10 PM ET

New 'Jon and Kate Plus 8': 'I'm totally paparazzi-free!'

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Categories: Reality TV, Television

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In TLC’s heroic effort to keep Jon & Kate Plus Eight a viable business operation, this week’s hour-long edition crammed in: a visit to a Wyoming ranch, where Kate and the boys rode horses and made cute comments about horse-poop; a scavenger hunt back home in Pennsylvania with Jon and the girls; Kate shooting a gun for the first time (“You have any covers of the tabloids we could use as targets?”); and the youngest girls going to the dentist for a check-up. (Spoiler Alert!: Leah had two cavities, Alexis had one; Hannah had none.)

The hour had its adorable moments. The boys loved learning to ride giant steeds (“Hi, horse-cow!” yelled one of the kids) and picking eggs from a chicken coop. Kate’s cleanliness-fetish training proved useful on a farm. When one five year-old dropped an egg, he immediately said, “We can clean it up with a paper towel!” You could tell the women on the ranch loved these little guys.

But much of the hour was wearily contrived. Jon looked pretty glum as he tied string to two tin cans for the girls to “play telephone,” and I shared his barely disguised boredom when the girls put on an indoor concert singing the music of, as Jon put it, “um, famous teenybopper stuff.”

The Gosselins’ reality kept creeping in. This was, I believe, the first time Jon sat in the Pennsylvania interview chair and talked about his life in New York and how cool it is. And Kate, in the midst of the gorgeous Wyoming landscape, could only exult, “I’m totally paparazzi-free for the first time in five months!”

Meanwhile, the boys’ search for a father-figure continues. Kate talked about how much they adored one of the ranchers, Clay. And when it was time for a camera-pleasing egg-fight, the little guys had to throw theirs at… a hapless production assistant, Clark.

Kate can wear a pink cowboy hat, and Jon (gamely playing dress-up with the girls) can don a pink dress, but things still aren’t as rosy as they used to be on Jon & Kate.

Aug 31 2009 02:30 AM ET

'Mad Men': Roger in black, Joan red with embarrassment

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Categories: Television

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I’m starting to think that if it wasn’t for John Slattery, this new season of Mad Men would be just a tad draggy. Bedazzled by the premiere’s period details, charmed by last week’s Don-lays-down-the-law-to-the-in-laws scene, I’ve tried to ignore the heavy portentousness (all those long, silent, but meaningless stares characters aim at each other) of Mad thus far.

But this week’s third installment nearly ground to a glum halt a few times, starting with Betty’s now-verging-on-abusive lack of affection for her two children. Those poor kids, who receive nothing from their lovely-looking mother than a grim stare and a sharp bark (“Go watch television!”). It’s no wonder little Sally took to petty thievery.

Oh, right: SPOILER ALERT! Duh: Don’t read further if you don’t want to know what happened this week.

Anyway, stealing five bucks from Grandpa’s wallet proved a dead-end subplot. Tension was suggested (was the old man going to go racist, and accuse the nanny/maid?) and dissipated. Similarly, the Peggy-smokes-dope scenes at the ad agency were played for the kind of laughs I’d have thought Matthew Weiner would believe beneath him (i.e., network sitcom quality).

I usually love any scene involving Joan, and, early on, her cutting exchange with Jane, former secretary and now Roger’s new wife, was delightful passive-aggressive viciousness. But Joan’s home dinner party was pretty excruciating in an obvious way. We learned for what seems like the 87th time that her doctor-husband is Not Worthy Of Joan. It culminated in that image of Joan squeezing an accordian (a curvy monkey performing for approval) while shooting eye-daggers at hubby for forcing this humiliation upon her to save his own skin.

With Jon Hamm pushed to the corners of this episode, thank goodness for any scene involving Slattery. The audacity of putting Roger in blackface to sing “My Old Kentucky Home” (the title of the episode) wasn’t, of course, scandalous. You can’t embarrass Roger, although Don tried to shame him for his younger-wife decision, and you can’t scandalize a Mad Man fan: we’re all too, too sophisticated for that, right?

You disagree? Agree?

Please be sure to read Karen Valby’s always-vivacious Mad Men TV Watch.

Aug 30 2009 10:50 PM ET

'Big Brother 11': The tears of Michele

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Categories: Reality TV, Television

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Michele is a rare Big Brother contestant. She’s book-smart, not smart-alecky street-smart. She’s not melodramatic; in fact, if anything, she hides her feelings and seems a bit awkward and self-conscious in front of the cameras. And she’s pretty unpredictable in her game-playing.

She cried a lot on Sunday night’s edition. All alone, she sobbed that there’s “no one that can empathize with me.” (Are you kidding, honey? Jordan wouldn’t know the meaning of “empathize.” Though she’d probably be nice to you if you defined it for her.) “There’s no one I can talk to,” cried Michele. “This house is driving me crazy.”

SPOILER ALERT: DON’T READ FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHO WON HOH OR WAS NOMINATED FOR EVICTION.

I would maintain that this is shaping up to be one of the more fascinating editions of Big Brother. Kevin winning HOH and reading his partner’s letter aloud was quite emotional, and the house guests’ reactions seemed genuine and happy for him. And hearing Jordan talk about how her family lost its house — when was the last time real life, in the form of foreclosure, intruded upon Big Brother in such a stark way?

As far as the game went, I also found it fascinating the way the rest of the house really had to work themselves into a froth before entertaining the idea of putting up Michele for eviction. “She’s a freakin’ liar!” “Let’s bounce her out then!” It’s as though their hearts weren’t in it, but they were willing themselves to be justified in their selection of the most vulnerable player.

I didn’t think Kevin would go with the nominations he did: Jeff and Michele. I figured he’d use a back-door strategy with Jeff.

But maybe your game-playing sense is better than mine: Has Kevin made the right decision? How do you think this week will play out? Which do you like more, peaches or nectarines?

Be sure to check out this Big Brother edition of Must List Live! featuring the surprisingly articulate mixed martial exited-artist Russell:

Aug 30 2009 10:26 PM ET

'True Blood' review: Evan Rachel Wood explains it all to us

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Categories: Television, Vampires

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I think we can all agree on one thing after this week’s episode of True Blood (I mean besides the fact that Jason walking into a tree was sure-fire hilarious — nice writing, Alan Ball!): Evan Rachel Wood, playing Sophie-Ann, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, made the best TV entrance of the year.

SPOILER ALERT: DON’T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK ON TRUE BLOOD.

“Want to join me?” asked Sophie-Ann, going down on a willing young woman as only a vampire lesbian can. There was nothing for True Blood to do but go straight to the opening credits: How do you top an intro like that?

Series creator Alan Ball, who wrote this episode, made the choice to play a lot of this week’s episode for laughs and campiness. The exhilarating thing is, this decision did not preclude the hour from also being scary and suspenseful. Having Bill come to Sophie-Ann to ask how to defeat the maenad Maryann and be forced to stick around for an endless game of Yahtzee — I can see sales of this game going through the roof tomorrow.

Wood may have learned a thing or two about making menace comical from hanging around with Marilyn Manson. On the other hand, Manson never had Alan Ball writing his material, and so Sophie-Ann’s explanation of how to deal with Maryann was specific, fascinating, and funny. (That Dionysus — who knew hoping for “his coming” is like waiting for Godot?)

Speaking of Maryann, she may not have had much to do this evening, but what she did was terrific: I’d hand Michelle Forbes an Emmy just for the way she delivered the line, “Must I do everything myself?!”

While Jason and Andy prepared for Armageddon and a “zombie war,” as well as debating who’s had the more difficult life (Jason won, I think: “I work out like a m-f and I watch a lotta porn to learn stuff”), Sookie and Lafayette had to go try and rescue Tara from her reckless effort to save Eggs.

And I’ve left the best for last: Eric. Eric, lusting after two children (“teacup humans”). Eric, getting the best of Sam effortlessly. And Eric, giving a big fake sigh as he competed with Bill for Sookie, groaning, “Oh, Billy… ” Yes, on a night filled with superb performances, I think I have to give the biggest hand to Alexander Skarsgard.

So many questions to ask you:

What did you think of Sophie-Ann?

What did you make of that giant egg in the nest?

What was the funniest/scariest moment of the night?

And finally, how do you think True Blood is going to wrap things up in two weeks, on Sept. 13? (The 13th! Did Alan Ball plan it this way?)

Aug 29 2009 10:11 PM ET

'True Blood' preview: The 'Frenzy' is almost here. How has this season been better than last season?

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Categories: Television, Vampires

“Frenzy,” the second-to-last episode of True Blood this season, is almost here. UPDATE: IT’S HERE. READ MY REVIEW NOW. We know we’re going to see Evan Rachel Wood as Sophie-Anne, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. We know from this HBO clip that Tara is pretty distraught over something bad happening to Eggs:

As the season winds down/cranks up to a conclusion, let’s list the ways in which this second season surpassed the first, shall we? I’ll start with three, you take it from there:

• Producer-writer Alan Ball took the characters created by Charlaine Harris and, made bold by the ratings success of the first season, really ran with them — he’s made them his own.

• As a result, Ball’s True Blood has something in common with Ball’s Six Feet Under (something besides characters who spend time under the ground, that is): a predilection for embracing chance, love, chaos, desire, and possible self-destruction.

• Victims have taken control of their own destinties. Think about it: Sookie spent a lot of time last season at the mercy of her growing love for Bill without knowing how to harness her own powers. Her grandmother was murdered. Tara was put through the emotional wringer with her alcoholic mother and a lot of heartache when it came to men she was attracted to. Jason got suckered into the Fellowship of the Sun. But each of these characters has fought back, found reasons to become angry, cagey, and bursting with newfound power.

As we wait for “Frenzy,” please contribute below to the ways in which this season improved on the last. (That is, if you buy my premise. If you don’t, I’d like to hear why, too.)

Aug 29 2009 09:41 AM ET

Are you watching 'The Wendy Williams Show'? You should be.

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Categories: Talk Shows, Television

Over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten hooked on The Wendy Williams Show. From its disco-era title logo to its host’s ceaseless chatter about her hair, her shoes, and the sex lives of her guests, the Williams Show has quickly proven to be a smashing TV version of Williams’ popular radio show. Dishier than a cereal bowl, Williams looks straight at the camera and takes you into her confidence. She speaks with amazing speed, but it’s not babble: she can deliver praise, ridicule, sarcasm, and censure all in the space of a verbal paragraph, as in this recent commentary about the news that 50 Cent (“No one cares about him anymore”) had auditioned for Mr. T’s role in the movie version of The A-Team:

Williams goes where other talk-show hosts do not. You won’t hear the middle-aged white guys at night asking their guests about hair extensions and dress size, nor will they speak as frankly about race relations and pop-culture cliches about black people. Williams is alternately hilarious and completely on-point about many subejcts. Plus, she gets to the source of many ancient myths, such as the oft-rumored feud between Jackee Harry and Marla Gibbs on 227:

Yeah, I don’t think you’ll ever catch Conan O’Brien saying, “You used to be very diva-licious about being called just ‘Jackee.’” Of course, you won’t see O’Brien and his brethren booking Jackee, either.

I’m curious: Are you watching The Wendy Williams Show? What do you think of it?

Aug 28 2009 03:34 PM ET

The best fall show you don't know you're going to love: Ken Burns' 'National Parks: America's Best Idea'

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Categories: Reality TV, Television

I’m about half-way through the six-part, 12-hour The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, and it has more moments of American beauty, adventurousness, eccentricity, and surprise than anything we’re likely to see on television for a while. This is the real reality TV.

If you think you’re tired of the Ken Burns formula — long, leisurely examinations of American phenomena (baseball, jazz, the Civil War) set to mandolin strumming — well, so did I. Until I started watching this:

The National Parks starts on Sept. 27, and my prediction is that word-of-mouth will start right after people get a load of the opening episode, and that this man, charismatic park ranger Shelton Johnson, will become a bit of an overnight star:

Believe me, you’re in for a treat. If you want to watch an extended preview, check this out:

Aug 27 2009 09:18 PM ET

'Big Brother 11': Jordan says, 'I strongly, strongly dislike you with a passion!'

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Categories: Reality TV, Television

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“Why don’t you drop all that anger and man-up?” Jeff asked Russell.

“A bald-faced lie,” Natalie described the promise she and Kevin made to Jeff.

“I’m jacked and tanned,” said Jessie. Twice.

Yes, Jessie was back, but consigned to the jury house, where on Thursday’s live, eviction edition of Big Brother 11, he was joined by Lydia. Lydia, you’ll recall, had gone from worshipping the muscle-god to professing to hate him for his deceitfulness. Oooh, how would she behave once she arrived in the jury house? And who would be evicted?

SPOILER ALERT! STOP RIGHT NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHO GOT EVICTED OR ANY OTHER THURSDAY SHOW DETAILS!

Okay, now: So of course Lydia turned into a drooling suck-up as soon as she saw Jessie outside the BB house. But the real surprise: How about that sudden, post-eviction burst of eloquence from Russell once he left the house? The way he smoothly explained to Julie Chen that, via all his yelling and bullying, he “wanted to evoke emotion,” and that he “wanted to be dynamic.” Dynamic indeed! When he told Chen that he wanted to combine qualities of some of the past “greats” like Evil Dick, Mike Boogie, and Dr. Will, I thought, this guy turned out to be a better student of the game than the BB11 player who was billed as such, Ronnie. Russell did the image of mixed martial artists well in his exit interview.

So: Jeff admitted that this week’s events “puts a target on me.” Do you think he can survive a Kevin-Natalie push to get him moved out? Who do you think is going to win the “S’more The Merrier” HOH competition? (My bet: Michele — she looked full-on concentrated.)

Be sure to read Josh Wolk’s essential Big Brother TV Watch and Julie Chen’s terrific BB blog, too.

Aug 27 2009 10:50 AM ET

'Top Chef': Were Ashley's gay-marriage comments annoying?

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Categories: Reality TV, TV Last Night

I notice that a lot of the Comments on my colleague Archana Ram’s Top Chef: Las Vegas TV Watch are about Ashley’s irritation at having to compete in a challenge to cater meals for a straight couple about to get married. Most of the comments are anti-Ashley.

I’ll bet you anything that Ashley was following one of the rules of reality TV, if you’re a smart contestant, which is: If you want something to survive the editing process, say it over and over in as many provocative ways as you can. Ashley wanted to make a point about the unequal laws regarding gay marriage, so she articulated it in a variety of ways at various times. (For one example, look about 1:27 into this clip.)

But then there’s another rule of reality TV: If one of your contestants gives you a hot topic, you run with it. You edit as many of his or her comments into your show as you can, hoping… it will provoke the reaction that Ashley seems to have gotten from many EW readers. You know, either, “Yay, Ashley,” or “Why does she have to bring social issues into a cooking show?”

This runs the risk of boring your audience, of course. At a certain point last night, I was saying, “Yeah, I get it, I get it, Ashley!” But on some level, she can’t be blamed for the repetition. She was trying to be honest about her feelings, and Top Chef was trying to spice up an episode. (I mean, thank heaven Eve was sent packing: What a drab player. Half the time, I couldn’t even understand what she was mumbling.)

Did you watch last night? What did you think about Ashley?

Aug 27 2009 08:45 AM ET

Ted Kennedy and the amazing gall of Bill O'Reilly

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Categories: Pundits Right and Left, Talk Shows, Television

Bill O’Reilly began The O’Reilly Factor last night with one of his “Talking Points Memo”s, this one about the death of Ted Kennedy. Listing Kennedy’s pros and cons as the host saw them, he said at one point, “The Senator held up the Sex Offender and Registration Act in 2006 until the Factor reasoned with him. Once he was on board, it quickly became law.” (The quote occurs about 2:15 into this clip.)

Huh? What does that mean? We know from watching O’Reilly that “the Factor” means “Bill O’Reilly.” So he seems to be saying that he made Kennedy see the error of his ways on this issue, and that Kennedy then followed O’Reilly’s instructions (i.e., “got on board”). Why does this sound both self-aggrandizing and false?

Look, I’m not someone who thinks the second a person dies, everything bad or misguided he or she has done should be forgiven and never spoken about. And it didn’t surprise me at all that the very first thing O’Reilly brought up about Kennedy in his “memo” was Chappaquiddick.

Excessive sentimentality is irritating, too. Over on MSNBC, I got heartily sick of Mike Barnicle’s self-glorying stories about how Ted Kennedy helped Mike through Barnicle’s highly controversial journalistic-ethics problems. (The real message of Barnicle’s yarns was “Look at me, I have powerful friends.”)

But to go on TV and claim you changed a guy’s mind on an issue when he’s not around to verify that that’s what happened? That just stinks.

Fortunately, there was also last night on the show a comedy routine between O’Reilly and guest Glenn Beck — hilarious stuff about how “far left loons” are the only people offended by Beck having called President Obama a racist — and so it was momentarily easy to forget O’Reilly’s opening salvo.

Well, not really.

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