"Love Bites": But will this new show bite the dust?

"Love Bites"
get it?

I just watched the series' premiere of "Love Bites" on Hulu. That fact alone is a little concerning. I do watch quite a bit of television live, but I somehow never saw a preview for "Love Bites". Advertising plays a large role (second only to a good time slot) in helping a new show get off the ground. Networks need to realize that "30 Rock" is an exception not a rule ("It's on at 8:30!...9!...or 10!?"). We've seen brilliant shows fail time and time again due to poor time slots and poor advertising ("Arrested Development"? "Better Off Ted"?). Unfortunately, I don't think that "Love Bites" is a brilliant show. It really is going to need quite a lot of help from the network to remain become successful.

"Love Bites" is a show that is broken up (a la Frasier) with titles spliced between different yet interconnected stories. Its title is a joke..."Love Bites" because sometimes it sucks! "Love also Bites" because it's lot of little stories (or bites if you will) about love! Get it? Yeah...but I'm not really sure that's all that clever.

Regardless. The show could prove interesting. The characters that I like the best are the guy who got fired (Dan?) and his fiancee (Colleen?). I'm a tad concerned that I watched a full 45 minutes and don't know what any of the characters are called. This is evidently a major issue with the 'lots of interconnected stories' (aka anthology series) arrangement.

I was most interested in the Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Jennifer Love Hewitt scene, and how Judd (that one is definitely right!) interacted. Unfortunately I think that was just a guest appearance, and I really doubt she's coming back. If she was, I'd be way more likely to watch.

Speaking of watching, I just noticed episode 2 is on Hulu! I'm going to give it a try...maybe this show will prove worth watching after all.

covert affairs: summer television returns (or will they really have affairs? will auggie and annie hook-up?)

I apologize for taking so long to post. Apparently the season of weddings is upon us, and consuming all of my free time. With that said...

Covert Affairs:
Annie, Ben, & Auggie

Finally, summer television is upon us! As much as I miss "Bones" and "Grey's" (note: a lot) I do have a few favorite shows that appear during regular season hiatus. While "Covert Affairs" isn't at the top of that list, I do find it light, fluffy summer fun.

"Covert Affairs" is about the life of Annie Walker, a new CIA agent recruited for her stellar language abilities, and for the fact that her ex-boyfriend (now current) boyfriend, was an ex (now current) CIA operative. Sound confusing? It might be if you haven't watched last season. So, I suggest you do that....now! Why the urgency? Because season 2 of "Covert Affairs" premiered on Tuesday, and you can spend this weekend catching up so that you're only an episode behind. Oh, and this week's episode is online so as soon as you've caught up with last season you can watch that too.

Now, some slight spoilers (only if you haven't watched last season): Annie spent all of season 1 desperately in love with Ben. But, it's clear that she never really knew who he was, and that love may be built on an imagined persona rather than his true one. Now that he's back, but seemingly out of the picture, will she continue to moon over him for the entirety of this season?

What I find particularly confusing is the dynamic that Annie and Auggie (ugh, I wish their names weren't so similar) have. Annie (Piper Perabo) relies on Auggie (Christopher Gorham) on a daily basis, and they are clearly close friends. Auggie's blindness doesn't get in the way of their case solving abilities or their friendship, but it seems to serve as a romantic relationship buffer. It is as though his disability stops him from being a true romantic interest on the show. I'm not sure where I get this vibe from (any suggestions?) but somehow the way that the show is currently written/acted keeps me from seeing any semblance of a romantic future for the two of them. This surprises me because on most shows on television the male and female lead characters (and that is really what Annie and Auggie are) have at least the spark of a possible romance. Will the writers try to add this in during season 2? Or is "Covert Affairs" the only show on television where a platonic relationship between the leads is really possible?

What do you think? Will Auggie and Annie hook up?

Also, does anyone else think of Seth's dad on "The OC" every time they see Peter Gallagher? That poor man.

Are They Leaving?

Which actors are choosing to leave their hit television shows?

Cuddy is leaving 'House'! Lisa Edelstein is officially leaving 'House' and will not return for next season. I am actually incredibly annoyed by this, because one of the only reasons I am still watching 'House' is because of the potential for a House/Cuddy relationship renewal (yes, I'm a "Huddy fan"). Olivia Wilde still has time on her contract, and that gives me a reason to keep watching. She and House are the only really interesting main characters, and now that I think about it, if they became involved romantically that would be a really interesting storyline.

Patrick Dempsey said in an interview with Italian Vanity Fair that he would be leaving 'Grey's Anatomy' at the end of next season. But he has recently stated that he was "taken out of context". I'm not sure how that's possible, but I do know that ABC was probably not pleased by his announcement. If people know that Patrick Dempsey is leaving they know that Ellen Pompeo will probably follow suit...and that will give people little motivation to watch next season. I'm wondering if that means that Patrick Dempsey has been ordered by ABC to muddy the waters about his choice to leave.


Read more about Lisa Edelstein's decision to leave 'House' here.

Franklin & Bash: New TNT Lawyer Show

'Franklin & Bash':

The New 'Ally McBeal'?

For men?

With Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar!

Apparently TNT likes the concept of using the last names of main characters in their show titles. 'Rizzoli & Isles', a pretty great solid show that I enjoy watching, premiered on TNT last summer to strong ratings (and don't worry, it's back again soon for a 2nd season). This summer TNT is premiering the similarly named 'Franklin & Bash'. And no, the shows have nothing to do with each other. Although I suppose if TNT really wanted to they could orchestrate a cross-over episode. Now that I think about it, that would be pretty sweet.

But concentrating on the actual purpose of this post...'Franklin & Bash' is premiering tonight at 9 pm on TNT. It's being called "a David E. Kelley legal drama aimed at...men...rather than....women" by the NY Times. Except, you know, for the fact that it's not by David Kelley (aka the man behind 'Ally McBeal' and 'The Practice') nor do I really think that 'Ally McBeal' was for women. 'Ally McBeal' was sexualized (the show, not and Calista Flockhart) in such a way that the show was supposed to appeal to men too. Plus, just because a show has a female main character does not mean it's aimed towards women. I think what they meant to say was that the show's larger demographic was female.

But I'm getting slightly whiny/digressing.

'Franklin & Bash' has nothing to do with 'Ally McBeal' except for the fact that it is set in a law firm. And yes, the two main characters are men. They've recently graduated from law school and apparently have a frat-like quality which makes their introduction into a stuffy firm a bit of an imposition on the other lawyers. I'm assuming they'll also prove to be brilliant, because otherwise this show has nowhere to go. They'd get fired.

Are you planning on watching 'Franklin & Bash' tonight? Do you think (or did you think) it was worth watching? Also, do you think TNT believes in some kind of "main characters' last names in title" magic? seriously, why else would they think it makes sense to have two shows with almost identical looking titles (see below)...

when not playing your age makes a difference

Actors who don't play their true age...

It's obvious that lots of actors do it. In fact, 'lots' should probably be changed to 'all'. Rarely does an actor only accept characters that are exactly his/her age. People play younger and older all the time, be it by a year or two, or twenty. Sometimes this is a big problem.

It's certainly an issue in "Body of Proof". Dana Delaney is 55. Joanna Cassidy is 65. She also looks like she's about 60. So, explain to me who thought it would be a good idea for Cassidy to play Delaney's mother?

Delany (L) & Cassidy (R)

'Bones' Season 7--maternity leave, short season, release date

'Bones' 7th Season:

maternity leave, short season & release date

Fox hasn't released 'Bones' seventh season premiere date yet...but we do know that it will in all likelihood be in mid-September (that's when the last two seasons started). Of course, it's possible it will be pushed earlier than usual to get as much out of Emily Deschanel as possible before she goes on Maternity Leave. As soon as she's gone, so is the show...they'll be going on hiatus. This is good news for Deschanel's baby, and bad news for us because it means that we're going to get a shortened seventh season of 'Bones'. Hart Hanson's new show, 'The Finder' (which had a cross-over episode with 'Bones' during this past season) is going to takeover for 'Bones' for at least ten episodes.

EDIT 7/22/11: 'Bones' Season 7 Premiere Date Released

UPDATE 2/7/12: When will 'Bones' Season 7 Continue

I, for one, can't wait until we see how everyone deals with Bone's pregnancy. Read my posting here to learn why!

To tide you over until September finally rolls around, here's a video of Brennan and Booth's first kiss (with the actors before/after reactions!). This clip certainly shows way more passion than the show has ever given us in their edited down version. It also makes Brennan's line "It was just like kissing my brother" way funnier:

Sarah Michelle Gellar: "The Ringer"

"Buffy's Back?!"

"Buffy's back" is the phrase that has been echoing in the blogosphere. The only problem this is that Buffy is not a real person. Unless you also believe that vampires are real. Then that's your problem.

Regardless, Sarah Michelle Gellar is back. And starring in a new CW show entitled 'The Ringer'.

I actually am pretty excited about this show. SMG plays two different women, identical twins who have been living separate lives. In fact, apparently their lives are so separate that their friends don't even know they have a twin. Basically one of the twins (from what I garner from the upfronts) is kind of a low-life who's an alcoholic and who is running from the law. The other twin is living a life of privilege with a lot of money and a lot of rich and powerful friends. So when poor twin "finds" (I suspect there's something fishy here) rich twin dead she obviously decides to impersonate her. I mean, who wouldn't?

Here's a short clip from 'The Ringer':

My biggest problem with the show is the fact that I'm worried it's going to be somehow tarnished by 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Don't get me wrong, I am 'Buffy' fan, but this show is clearly something completely different. And from what I'm reading online I'm concerned that hardcore Buffy fans will trash this show because they feel that it should be similar to 'Buffy'. Which it obviously will never be.




Regardless, SMG clearly knows that this show will not be another Buffy. As she says, "it's not trying to be 'Buffy', because nothing will be 'Buffy'". Still, she seems to think that people will watch the show because they're fans of her...isn't most of her body of work cheesy teen romance movies? Sure she was in 'Buffy' but people who watched that show often watched it because they were fans of the show, not necessarily of SMG. Still, we'll see if she has a fan base following her when 'The Ringer' premieres this fall on the CW.

Amy Poehler Spoke at Harvard! and she was funny!

Amy Poehler Spoke at Harvard Class Day (5/26/11)
scroll down to the bottom to watch the video

So, I lucked out and was able to hear Amy Poehler speak yesterday at Harvard. Let me just say, she was hilarious.

Actually, my favorite part happened before she was even speaking. The speaker before her, a student who had been asked to give a humorous oration, referred to her as "the blond Tina Fey". After saying this, he turned around to make momentary eye contact with her and she immediately flicked him off. It was pretty priceless, and everyone in the audience (well, maybe not the grandparents) thought it was funny. Her parents were in the audience too...I wonder if she got scolded afterward. I know for a fact my parents would not deem that appropriate behavior!

Her speech itself was perfect. It was mainly humor, with a bit of a somber tone thrown in (she mentioned 9/11 and AIDS). Somehow, despite the stark contrast between comments about 9/11 and her joke about Donald Trump in a chicken suit, she still managed to make everything flow successfully, and at fifteen minutes her speech wasn't too short or too long. I could go into more details, but I really think you should watch it for yourself.

In the speech which they've released online, Harvard cut out some funny moments. One of these cuts was her introduction by two students, who stated they wanted to give a first ever award for blonds (dyed or natural) who grew up in MA, went to BC, and were funny. They called the award "The Polar (Poehler!) Bear Award" and then presented Amy with a stuffed polar bear. As soon as she got up to to podium she stated: "I will find a prominent place in...my garbage for that, later on tonight. Thank you very much."
Apparently Harvard didn't think that was appropriate enough to be included in their video.

Regardless, listening to Amy Poehler's speech was a great experience. And I have to say, she's just as funny in person as she is on television.

The only thing that would have made it better would have been if the guy in front of me hadn't decided to do a fauxhawk that day...



Watch it for yourself!

Happy Birthday, Tina Fey! ("Bossypants" reviewed)

Oh? You're a Tina Fey aficionado? You're scoffing at this blog post because her birthday was several days ago?

Well, you are right. Tina Fey was born on May 18th (I just googled 'tina fey birthday' so I know that's correct). But since Ms. Fey and I aren't close personal friends, I doubt a day or five will matter. Plus, I'm about to sing her praises, so I think she'll forgive me...

Several days ago (right around Ms. Fey's actual birthday!) I finished reading her book, 'Bossypants'.

I've been thinking about it ever since, so even though this blog is normally solely devoted to television, I'm stretching that a little bit to include a book about television (sort of) by someone who works in television (definitely).

No, I'm not going to get into that whole debate about whether or not the book is a "memoir". Because, quite honestly, I have no idea what even qualifies as a memoir anymore. And I'm not sure the reviewers from the LA Times, NY Times, or EW are any better informed than I am. So, that's a moot point.

Instead, I'm going to tell you that Tina Fey's book is full of hilarious personal anecdotes. For instance, she tells you about the day where she simultaneously shot a scene of '30 Rock' with Oprah and appeared as Sarah Palin on SNL for the first time. This appears on page 206 of her book (see, Smith professors, I'm citing even in my blog! You must be so proud). Ms. Feys mentions how she filmed scenes with Oprah, and during scene changes watched Sarah Palin on YouTube. Apparently Oprah was very concerned. As Tina Fey writes, "When Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have extended yourself, you need to examine your f***ing life" (p. 207). That's possibly true, for most people, but Ms. Fey seems to be one of the few genuinely successful multitaskers. Who's also funny!

Her intelligent use of sarcasm also shines through, particularly when she is responding to nasty things that have been written about her on the internet in her chapter entitled 'Dear Internet'.
In one section of this chapter Ms. Fey responds to a comment posted on PerezHilton.com where the commenter states that "Tina Fey completely ruined SNL. The only reason she's celebrated is because she's a woman and an outspoken liberal. She has not a single funny bone in her body" (p. 165). You'll probably enjoy the book if you find her response at all humorous:
""Huzzah for the Truth Teller! Women in this country have been over-celebrated for too long. Just last night there was a story on my local news about a "missing girl," and they must have dedicated seven or eight minutes to "where she was last seen" and "how she might have been abducted by a close family friend," and I thought, "What is this, the New for Chicks?"" (p. 165).
If you don't think that's funny you probably won't enjoy the book. Because honestly it is a lot of sarcastic, unapologetic humor. But I think it's worth reading, if only because I recognize nuggets of truth in it.

For instance, Ms. Fey certainly describes the average University of Virginia student aptly, and makes light of the troubles she had fitting in: "...what nineteen-year-old Virginia boy doesn't want a wide-hipped, sarcastic Greek girl with short hair that's permed on top? What's that you say? None of them want that? You are correct." (p. 58). And I won't tell you why I thought that her description of UVA students was so accurate except to tell you that I grew up surrounded by them (I hasten to add that I adore many Wahoos and love my hometown).

All I'm trying to say is that Tina Fey's book is full of short snippets of her life, and it's funny almost the entire way through. Plus, it includes lots of photos, lists, and scripts...and even a bar graph and a poem. Oh, and if I've persuaded you to read it you should probably do so in old-fashioned book form, because I've heard those images don't really show up on a Kindle.

There. This review has actually given you a piece of advice that's truly useful.