BLOGS
June 2011 Archives
The Voice's first season just ended, which means now it's time for record deals, tours and contract renewals.
FX debuted Wilfred last week (it's an Americanized version of an Australian show), and while the program has one of the oddest premises, its charm is undeniable. The first episode was a lot of set up: man meets dog, man sees the dog as grown Australian man in a dog costume, man and dog smoke a lot of pot and get in a lot of trouble together. You know, the usual. But after having seen several more episodes in advance, I'm happy to report that the series only gets more and more out there as well as wildly entertaining. Here are the five reasons you should be watching, if you aren't already:
Royal Pains has been a staple of my summer for three seasons in a row now. It's light, fluffy summer fun, like most of the classic USA buddy comedies, and it's creative in a way a lot of these lawyer/doctor/detective shows are not. In case you're not in the know -- Royal Pains is about a "concierge doctor" in the Hamptons -- Hank caters to the rich at their homes instead of at the hospital. There's his goofy brother Evan, his uptight associate Divya, and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Jill. Recurring characters: Evan's girlfriend Paige, and the two brothers' criminal dad Eddie R., who at the end of last season was sent to the clank. The brothers were staying at the home of the mysterious billionaire Boris, but he kicked them out at the end of last summer, after a series of unfortunate events mostly involving Eddie R.
I am not a fan of the actress Raven-Symoné. Now before you think I'm going to give State of Georgia a bad review just because I have some sort of vendetta against Raven, let me explain. I like her as a human being (as much as one can like a famous actress they don't personally know), she's confident and sassy on talk shows, she's got a little edge to her, she's an entrepreneur that certainly knows how to stay in the spotlight and yes, I have some Cheetah Girls songs on my iTunes. (Don't knock 'em til you've heard 'em.) But I'm not a fan of Raven the actress, particularly Raven the comedic actress. Everything is exaggerated -- that Miley Cyrus sketch on SNL about the "Disney School of Acting" said it perfectly. These kids are taught that if they scream their lines, make goofy faces and flip their hair, they'll get a laugh. Raven is the prime example of that.
The kids are alright, indeed.
If you watched the Combat Hospital premiere (or even just saw the promo), you may have had a strange feeling that you were watching the cancelled Shonda Rhimes vehicle Off the Map, except in a war zone. That's because you were! But actually, Combat Hospital isn't a Shonda show at all. But it's got all of the elements, and not just of Off the Map -- we noticed striking similarities to Grey's and Private Practice.
Jeff Probst continues in his quest to take over the world...
While Rizzoli & Isles keep Boston safe from crime, Bering & Lattimer keep Warehouse 13 on lockdown and Goren and Eames track down crooks in the Big Apple.
After The Office's disaster of a season finale, they should be so lucky...
IFC's new show Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings is, like most IFC shows, a little... off. It's ostensibly a docuseries about the art of advertising, or something, but the show's premiere reads more like an Animal Planet one-off, opting instead to focus on two hipsters hanging out with cute kitties and doggies. Not that I'm opposed to more cute animals being put in my face, but is this show about advertising or is it about celebrating the content of mom's favorite internet memes?