BLOGS
June 2012 Archives
Looks like it's time to find a new source: Weeds is ending.
I am legitimately bummed that this is the final season of Teen Mom with Amber, Farrah, Maci and Catelynn. Much as I have come around to enjoy the ladies of Teen Mom 2, last night's two-hour premiere was a cold hard reminder that we've only got so much time left with our O.G.s. Here are the premiere's highlights:
The series premiere of Oxygen's new reality show The Next Big Thing focused on performance coach Trapper Felides, the students he helps and the assistants who help him. It's not surprising that this show exists, considering the success of the conceptually similar Dance Moms and Toddlers & Tiaras, but as much as I would love to watch Trapper's kids in a talent show, their staged, over-exaggerated drama is just not entertaining enough to fill an hour. The kids' talent is definitely real, but many other aspects of the show, well... not so much. Here are some of the moments from the series premiere that made me roll my eyes at how hard The Next Big Thing is trying to be the next big thing:
Fans of Chuck: Your favorite blond secret agent will be playing detective alongside the gang at Miami Metro Homicide.
Last night, Nickelodeon premiered its new version of the hit kids' game show Figure It Out. While the Victorious-era Nick fans may have been thrilled, '90s kids who grew up watching the original Summer Sanders-hosted show have reason to be skeptical. After tuning in to the reboot, it seems to me that the magic that was Figure It Out has been lost for the new iteration.
HBO's political comedy Veep wrapped up its freshman term last night with what was easily its strongest outing since the pilot. Don't get us wrong -- we've thoroughly enjoyed the show throughout its eight episode run, but this was a case where the whole sometimes felt better than the sum of its parts. Particularly during the middle chunk of the season, the show occasionally suffered from some wonky storytelling (like Selina's pregnancy, although that was resolved in hilariously dark fashion) and scenarios that never fully realized their comic potential (Gary breaking up with Selina's almost baby daddy on her behalf). But even when the material wasn't quite clicking, the cast always made Veep great fun to watch. Led by the fearless Julia Louis-Dreyfus, this ensemble played off each other so seamlessly, observing them work was like attending a master class in sketch comedy every week.
If you thought you were the only one who didn't tune in for the 66th Annual Tony Awards, it turns out that no one else checked them out, either.
As is the case with most penultimate episodes, "Leave Me Alone" was primarily a set-up for Girls' Season 1 finale, which we're going into with Hannah and Marnie no longer living together, Jessa maybe actually trying to get her life together and Shoshanna internet dating. None of the storylines are particularly enthralling, but the teaser for next week included Elijah, so my hopes are cautiously high. Until then, let's look at the episode's highs and lows.
Your favorite TV doctor is back, and no, it's not the mean one with the cane.