BLOGS
June 2011 Archives
Oh Lawson brothers, how I've missed you. Royal Pains is my favorite hidden summer gem -- I stumbled upon the show by accident during its pilot episode and found myself watching eagerly every week after. It's the perfect show for this time of year -- appropriately light, but also consistently entertaining, delivering solid pop culture references (my favorite) and a substantial amount of guy love (also my favorite) as well. Tonight, everyone's favorite concierge doctor and his goofball brother return for another summer in the Hamptons.
We're happy to announce Brad Garrett is no longer wasting his considerable comedic talent on 7Up commercials. Garrett's new show, I Kid with Brad Garret, premieres tonight on TLC -- a sort of Kids Say The Darndest Things, but more deadpan. He takes them to Chinese restaurants where they eat jellyfish (unknowingly), antique stores where they guess what certain items were used for and the like. It's actually pretty good -- the grumpy comedian takes to the goofy, insightful kids and they to him. (Also, his reactions to their questions -- sometimes directed at the cameramen -- are brilliant.)
Nancy Botwin is back and sprung from the clink! Tonight's Season 7 (Season 7! This show always blows my mind with its ability to survive...) premiere takes place three years after Nancy turned herself in for Pilar's murder to save Shane, and apparently she's out already. I know Nancy is a manipulative genius and everything, but that must have been some amazingly good behavior in there.
Yes, it's time again for Dr. Drew to exploit some addicts and/or famewhores willing to pretend to be addicts for some time on television. It's always an especially disgusting adventure, but this season really does have some awesome winners: Sean Young (alcohol); Michael Lohan (cocaine and booze); Amy Fisher (alcohol); Bai Ling (champagne); former Guns 'N Roses drummer Steven Adler (heroin); Jeremy Jackson (HGH and steroids); and Sugar from Survivor (pot and liquor). So nice casting, VH1 -- most of those people are nothing but drama.
Most travel shows lavish attention on the finer things in life: sprawling beachside resorts, upscale restaurants and gleaming high-end stores filled with the trendiest, priciest merchandise. You know, all things that your broke ass can't afford. Leave it to IFC -- the official premium cable home of the scruffy hipster (i.e. cheap) type -- to create a series that caters to those of us with more limited resources.
What seems to have happened here is that ABC and Mark Burnett teamed up to air his version of The Amazing Race. To make things a little more interesting, there's a twist: Instead of TAR's measly teams of two, Expedition Impossible boasts super-sized mega-teams of three! I know. So crazy.
It's Beyond Belief, but not the awesomely bad James Brolin "Fact or Fiction" version with the cult following. It's actually the name of a segment on ABC's new summer show, Nightline Prime. Nightline Prime is a 13-week primetime summer series, and Beyond Belief, the show's first segment, is an investigation into the "extra-sensory and spiritual" that begins tonight. Apparently Beyond Belief will cover "stories that defy proof and perception." Primetime covering things it can't explain? Innnnteresting!
The British are coming! Well, not really. It's our version of the British game show. ABC picked up six episodes of the show in March, and tonight is the US series premiere. Actually, we're kind of the last country in the world to show interest -- Argentina, Italy, Germany, Israel and a billion other places already have their own versions. Why is it in such high demand? Well, the show basically consists of watching people suffer.
Hoarders is always a deeply disturbing show, but tonight's Season 4 premiere promises to be particularly unnerving, as it focuses on Phyllis, a doll hoarder. Yes, tonight we will delve into the home of someone who owns nothing but creepy doll heads that want to stare at you, snatch your soul, stab you with tiny shivs and order you to kill. As is customary, there is also another hoarder in this episode, but she just collects mountains of trash like a normal person. This Phyllis woman, on the other hand, has problems.
Yes, I know there's a certain Spielberg-produced alien series premiering on TNT right now, and that that's all very serious (if not that great, from what I've heard), but Spielberg is all anybody's been talking about lately and I need a break. That's where the summer guilty pleasure Drop Dead Diva comes to the rescue, with dance sequences, plus-sized love affairs, and wacky guest stars. Watch it with your dad -- it'll be the most confusing Father's Day gift ever!