Archive: November 2009 (31-40 of 63)

Nov 13 2009 08:59 AM ET

'CSI' crossover ends: Which of the three episodes was the best?

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And so the Great CSI Crossover Experiment That William Petersen Never Would Have Agreed To ended last night, with Laurence Fishburne’s “Dr. Ray,” as Horatio Caine insisted on calling him (really, are they writing that character to intentionally be a condescending irritant?), coming back to CSI and Las Vegas.

He’d been to Miami and New York, where they play other Who tunes for their theme songs, trying to solve the disappearance of a young woman, Madeline Briggs. She’d been a victim of an interstate human-traficking ring, in which women are forced into prostitutes and then their organs are harvested.

That’s a very nasty multiple crime, the sort that would inspire Fishburne’s Ray Langston to go the extra miles. As I wrote Monday, CSI: Miami‘s hour was a hardboiled fizzle as drama. CSI: NY benefitted from Langston’s visit: It scored its highest ratings since that series’ premiere. As far as the episode itself, well, it had a prettily-shot climactic scene at Citi Field to prove its geographical genuineness, and Gary Sinise impressed me once again as one of the least-showy of prime-time leading men. But his part of the franchise was just a bridge to the reward at the end.

Last night’s CSI demonstrated the way these stories should be told. Instead of the cornball tough-guy dialogue that typified the other two editions (“It’s not gonna end in Miami, is it?”; “Let’s go get this guy, Mac”), there were long periods of blessed silence on the mothership CSI. Storytelling was done through action — watching Langston, Willows, Stokes, and the gang conduct lab experiments on evidence, and share it in urgent murmurs.

As far as anchoring this trilogy sweeps-stunt, Fishburne’s Langston continues to lack any hint of humor (even dour Gil Grissom was wry). And for as much as the writers made this case “personal” for Langston (he’d made a promise to Madeline’s mother that he’d find her), he remains a closed-off, rather shut-down character.

If the idea was to boost viewership, the CSI crossover can probably be deemed a success. As far as deepening our connection to Langston, it probably made many viewers admire the good doctor, but I’m not sure if anyone felt much increased warmth toward him.

Agree? Disagree?

Nov 12 2009 07:42 PM ET

Sarah Palin on 'Oprah' next week, watch now: Admits talking to Katie Couric 'wasn't good,' laughs about having Levi Johnston over for Thanksgiving

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Clips of next Monday’s Oprah Winfrey interview with Sarah Palin have been released by CBS News.

They’re brief, but they remind you why Palin still draws attention. She laughs when Oprah asks whether the former governor will be inviting Levi Johnston over for Thanksgiving dinner, saying, “We’re not really into the drama.”

[Click to watch a clip of Sarah Palin on Oprah]

Palin also says she realized that her infamous chat with Katie Couric, in which she failed to be able to name a newspaper she reads regularly, didn’t go well. “That wasn’t a good interview,” she tells Oprah.

[Click to watch a clip of Palin]

The interview is timed to the release of Palin’s book, Going Rogue, next Tuesday.

Nov 12 2009 04:46 PM ET

Chuckles the Clown weeps: David Lloyd, the great TV comedy writer, has died

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David Lloyd, the extraordinarily prolific, witty sitcom writer, died on Tuesday, Nov. 10. He was 75; the cause of death was prostate cancer.

A Yale graduate who started his career writing jokes for The Jack Paar Show, Lloyd went on to write for a number of exceptional sitcoms, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Cheers, Taxi, and Frasier.

Lloyd was perhaps best-known for writing what is probably the most famous episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, “Chuckles Bites The Dust,” for which he won an Emmy in 1976. The episode captured Lloyd’s comic sensibility: a nuanced understanding of the complex emotions that go into provoking a laugh:

There is a remarkable tribute to Lloyd on comedy writer Ken Levine’s blog. Levine describes better than probably anyone else will the diverse gifts Lloyd possessed.

Lloyd’s son Christopher is the creator of ABC’s new hit sitcom Modern Family. His son Stephen is a producer for How I Met Your Mother.

In many ways, David Lloyd helped to create what we call the “workplace family” comedy, in which people who labor long hours together bond and quarrel and joke and cry, as a “real” family might. Lloyd knew how to join people together — as characters, and as a vast audience for those characters.

Nov 12 2009 12:52 PM ET

David Letterman's ex-writer, ex-girlfriend zings Dave

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Buried artfully in the last paragraph of a New York Times piece by Bill Carter about the paucity of women comedy writers on late-night talk shows in general, Merrill Markoe, who collaborated with David Letterman on the creation of his late-night show, and with him as a boyfriend, demonstrated the slyness for which she’s well-known.

Talking about the combination of a close working and personal relationship she once shared with the host, Markoe said, “I can remember a few times following him into the bathroom, postrehearsal, preshow, while he showered and got ready. I stood there, reading him lists of jokes or rewritten ideas for things to do on the show.”

Then she added, “I guess over the years there has been an assortment of other women who continue to have that sort of access to him. But from what I read, it doesn’t appear that their duties include reading him joke rewrites.”

I can almost hear the Anton Fig rim-shot drum-punctuation in that last line…

Nov 12 2009 08:56 AM ET

CMA Awards best and worst, starring Taylor Swift, the ghost of Kanye West, and Carrie Underwood's purple sequined hot-pants

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Taylor Swift became the youngest person to win the Entertainer of the Year, the final prize given out last night at the 43rd annual Country Music Association Awards. And the restraint she showed on last week’s Saturday Night Live in not making a Kanye West joke went out the window at the CMAs. Which means it’s time to round up the best and the worst moments I saw while watching at home.

Best Musical Performance: Reba McEntire sings her terrific hit “Consider Me Gone” as though it was a ferocious rebuke to all the country-radio and cable-video channels that resist featuring women over 50.

Worst Song Choice: The decision of the otherwise-likable Zac Brown Band to perform “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” This endless story-song was a tedious, show-off-y (look, the fiddler can fiddle really fast!) hit when Charlie Daniels did it in 1979. Brown, giving it the full sweaty-wool-cap treatment, did not improve it. But the ostentatiously sweaty effort got the band a standing ovation anyway.

Best Over-The-Top Moment: Carrie Underwood performing “Cowboy Casanova” in a massive production number that featured a bordello-red backdrop, back-up dancers dressed in black bustiers, and Betty Draper’s fainting-couch from Mad Men. Arising from that sofa was Underwood, who wore a long white peignoir that revealed what looked to like purple sequined hot-pants. To make sure we noticed these, Underwood pushed her pelvis at the camera as though it was a snow-plow:

Best Pure-Country Winner-Quote That Almost Didn’t Make A Lick O’ Sense: Jamey Johnson, accepting the Song of the Year award for “In Color,” growled amiably, “Ah never thought y’all’d let me come to stuff like this.” Aw, shucks, Jamie — the Nashville crowd couldn’t get enough of your ordinary-mountain-man image.

Most Awkward Moment: Sugarland wins Best Duo award and Jennifer Nettles acknowledges what apparently everyone in Nashville believed: That Brooks and Dunn, giving their final CMA performance before retiring, were a lock. Nettles generously invites B&D to come up and “say a few words.” Cut to Brooks and Dunn in their seats. Their gazes say, “We are so over this kind of stuff.” Ronnie Dunn literally waves the camera away from them. Ulp:

Best Kanye West Reference: Co-hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood singing a little tune they liked to call “Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Kanye.” If you didn’t see or hear it, you’ll have to trust me; it was cute and funny.

Worst Kanye West Reference: Taylor Swift, accepting Female Vocalist award, said she wanted to thank everyone in the audience “for not running up onstage during this speech.” I tell you, Kanye’s spirit hung in the air, leading to…

Best/Worst Kanye West Reference: Little Jimmy Dickens interrupts Brad and Carrie by strutting onstage to yell, Kanye-style, that “Taylor Swift made the best video ever!” Not funny reading it on a computer screen; kinda funny, however, when seen being delivered by an 88-year-old, four-foot 11-inch man whose biggest hit was “May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose.”

And finally:

Worst Judges’ Decision Of The Night: Awarding Taylor Swift the Best Female Vocal award. Look: I think she’s a terrific songwriter; I even think her all-stops-out stage show earned her the big one, Entertainer of the Year. But her voice is thin, and sometimes as wobbly as a newborn colt. Sorry, Taylor, when placed against the competition in this category — Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, and Underwood — you just aren’t the best singer.

I await your agreement and disagreements, below, please.

(And you can follow me on Twitter.)

For more on the 2009 CMAs: We Live-Blogged It!

Nov 11 2009 08:23 PM ET

Kelsey Grammer: What should he do next?

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As my colleague, Michael “The Awe-Inspiring” Ausiello has reported, the Kelsey Grammer sitcom Hank has been cancelled. Can’t say as I’m surprised: This was, unfortunately, a vehicle whose quality did not equal the talent of its star.

The question is, what should Grammer do next? The man clearly wants to work; he jumped from Back To You to Hank in the space of a season. Here are three ideas I have, plus a couple of things he shouldn’t do.

1. Sign up for a villain role in a cable drama; look what it’s done for John Lithgow on Dexter. I could totally see Grammer as a haughty bad-guy going head-to-head with Glenn Close on Damages, couldn’t you?

2. Think of doing a sci-fi or a period-piece. A man with Grammer’s radiant command of the screen and precise diction would be great in a down-and-dirty, Rome-style miniseries, or being the smart, cynical, middle-aged pro among a squad of young galactic explorers in a deep-mythology piece in the tradition of Battlestar Galactica.

3.  Get a new behind-the-camera collaborator. Two good words here: Joss Whedon.

Here’s a couple of things I think Grammer should not do:

1. Another sitcom right away. The audience will love you if you give them a chance to miss you, Mr. Grammer.

2. For the love of god, don’t decide to host a talk show.

How about you? What do you think Kelsey Grammer’s next move should be?

Nov 11 2009 08:00 AM ET

'Sons of Anarchy' recap: Did Gemma do the right thing last night?

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Katey-Sagal_l“Do you want me gone?”

“Yes.”

With this curt but emotion-flooded exchange between Jax (Charlie Hunnam) and Clay (Ron Perlman), “going nomad” began to look inevitable, and Sons of Anarchy roared off in a daring new direction. You don’t take one of your stars and put him on another team (unless you’re Friday Night Lights). But SOA has proven that — like the FX series whose rough unpredictability it most resembles, The Shield — it’s willing to make drastic changes to earn its drama. HERE’S YOUR SPOILER ALERT IF YOU DID NOT YET WATCH LAST NIGHT’S SONS OF ANARCHY. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 10 2009 12:15 PM ET

'Sons of Anarchy' warning: Don't miss tonight's (longer) episode

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I’m telling you now: Come home from the bar early, or put the kids to bed early, or start drinking coffee early, or all of the above. You are not going to want to miss tonight’s Sons of Anarchy (FX, 10 p.m.). Also, adjust your DVR to accommodate its expanded length (in a special 90-minute time-slot, it runs 56 minutes plus commercials).

Last week, we saw Jax “go nomad” — i.e., free himself from the motorcycle club’s charter. Well, tonight we not only see the result of that, but also get a new development in the character of Gemma (and has Katey Sagal been great this season, or what?), and… well, I’d better shut up before I give anything away.

Will you be watching?

Nov 10 2009 09:32 AM ET

'CSI' crossover last night: Did Laurence Fishburne learn to talk like David Caruso?

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The Great CSI Crossover That William Petersen Never Would Have Agreed To started last night, as CSI‘s Laurence Fishburne went to CSI: Miami to watch David Caruso do his sunglasses-and-murmur thing up real close.

Fishburne’s Ray Langston didn’t show up until almost mid-way through the hour, but by the three-quarter mark, he had already adopted Horatio Caine’s low-volume, no-contractions, pregnant-pause style:

“Horatio, I am not leaving until we solve this thing,” said Langston.

Horatio moved in close, facing Ray sideways, as he does with all human contact. “And that,” he said, taking a pause during which Jay Leno could have delivered an entire monologue, “… is good news.”

The overarching crime case involves a nationwide human-trafficking ring that coerces young women into prostitution and then sometimes kills them. Langston was called in from Las Vegas when a victim from that city turned up in Miami.

Upon greeting Langston, Caine says Ray should say hello to Catherine Willows for him: “Tell her when you see her that I’m sorry about Warrick Brown.”

Jeez, for such a caring cop, Horatio is awfully slow in writing sympathy cards, isn’t he? Didn’t Warrick die about two years ago?

These little attempts to tie the franchises together were strained, but maybe fans of Miami didn’t mind. Me, I watch the original CSI, but Miami has dropped off my radar: Too much orange in every sun-dappled scene, too much moss growing on David Caruso’s dialogue before he delivers it.

What did you think, CSI viewers? Will you be following Fishburne’s Langston as he moves on to CSI: NY tomorrow night?

Nov 10 2009 07:50 AM ET

'Lopez Tonight' premiere: 'The revolution begins right now!'

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Well, not quite. George Lopez made his talk-show-host debut on Lopez Tonight with a bright, loud party that was neither revolutionary in format nor a laugh-a-minute, but it had a lot of energy and established a good mood.

Ellen DeGeneres showed up early on, wearing pyjamas and a sleeping cap. The joke was that she was trying to sleep somewhere nearby and Lopez’s tumultuous band and audience were keeping her awake.

Then she welcomed Lopez to the talk-show fold, said, “Everybody needs to be represented on television,” and had jello shots served to some folks near the stage. Well, Lopez did yell at the top of the show, “The revolution starts right now!,” didn’t he? Who knew it would come complete with jello shots?

Lopez, looking sharp, like the long-lost Latino Rat Pack member in a tight black suit, seemed perfectly at ease shouting his jokes over the frequent cheers of an audience who rarely sat down during the hour. His opening monologue was a combination of crowd-flattery (“This is what America looks like!”) and the kind of jokes you probably wouldn’t hear from, say, Conan O’Brien: “50 Cent has a fragrance called ‘Power’– it smells like illegitimate children and gun-powder.”

Lopez Tonight wasn’t necessarily funnier than the other talk show that debuted in the past week — The Wanda Sykes Show — but it had a more polished surface, and two things in common with Sykes. Lopez and his Latino heritage play as important a part in his humor as being black does for Sykes, and both have announced their intentions to bust open the white-boys club of late-night.

The opening-night guests here included Kobe Bryant, Carlos Santana, and Eva Longoria Parker. Guess which guest was invited to wriggle around on a stripper-pole? (Not that this was sexist or anything — Lopez himself took a turn on the pole.)

While some of Lopez’s jokes seemed pretty random (“Even Glenn Beck is black in bed”), he maintained an air of controlled celebration that was fun. As an interviewer, Lopez lobs the softballs that are standard for most of the white men (to Bryant: “Do you know how beloved you are?”), but he already has a disarming, relaxed air that puts him ahead of, say, Jimmy Fallon’s jittery opening night.

Lopez Tonight, which will air Monday through Thursdays on TBS, will take a while, as all talk shows must, to reveal its true quality. But for once I don’t have to write that it will take the Lopez show a while to find its groove. With its heavy use of good music from his house band, that’s one thing Lopez has already accomplished.

Did you watch? Did you find Lopez Tonight amusing?

You can follow me on Twitter.

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