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 This episode, dare I say, was blessed, magical, sent from the stars. I’m almost reluctant to blog about it in case I jinx the start of a winning streak. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re probably thinking that something big happened. It didn’t, but that’s OK. Sometimes the best TV is delivered in moments -- big, clever, imaginative moments. Funny, dark, odd moments. So yeah, as far as plot stuff goes, last night was no big deal, but as far as style, scene and character development? It was a beauty to behold.
Let’s talk about it moment by moment, shall we?
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 Oh, Dunbar. He was presented first as the fratty hunk of the house in Sydney, admitting in this episode that when at school at Ole Miss he was the type who would fall in love every day with random girls he saw on the way to class. (He reveals this despite his frequent mentions of his girlfriend back home that he's soooo devoted to.)
So how did he manage to alienate two of his gal pal roommates already?
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 Because they were MIA during Monday's episode of "The Hills."
Instead, the series' resident guys were revealed to be a bunch of little girls.
Let's review the players:
Brody Jenner, the Whiner. Brody's complaints began early on in the episode when Spencer told him he had decided to forgo one of their many BBQ parties to fly to Colorado to meet Heidi's family. Brody, pictured, reacted like a jealous girlfriend. ("We've been planning this BBQ for two months!") He ragged on Lauren's attitude toward Heidi and Spencer last season, but it looks like Brody is just as clingy to his BFF.
Later, during the party, Brody got tackled by Lauren during a co-ed game of beach football. Somehow he managed to actually break a finger, kicking off Whining, Round 2. After telling everyone at the party that he'd gotten nailed by Lauren, he took off for the doctor's office. He returned shortly after with X-rays, an appointment for surgery and a full arm bandage. Lauren couldn't help but laugh at the sight of his entire arm wrapped up like a mummy for a finger injury. Brody later complained to Lauren that her laughter hurt his feelings. Cry me a river, dude. Good thing Lauren seems to be completely over their short-lived romance.
Justin Bobby, the Ditcher. Oh, Audrina. He left you in Vegas, and he's gone and disappeared again. This is what we call a pattern. And for a minute there, we thought you saw it too. "I'm done," you said after discovering that he had left your helmet and your heart at the party. And then we saw the preview for next week's episode, which told us that despite appearances, you're going to go back for more. We have no words. Anyhow, Lauren put it best: "Homeboy wore combat boots to the beach. I know you don't want that for a boyfriend."
Spencer Pratt, the Kiss-Up. Surprisingly, party girl Heidi seems to come from a grounded family. So needless to say, it didn't look like they bought Spencer's I'm-a-good-guy act. At least, not the way the episode was edited. They didn't seem the least impressed that in less than a year, he had convinced their 20-year-old daughter to move in with him and get engaged. Frankly, and I think Heidi's family really picked up on this, he's just creepy. Not too bright, either: That impression of a possessive Lauren? Scary, not to mention in poor taste. Mom and Stepdad made no secret of the fact that they liked Lauren and were concerned that the two were no longer friends. Stepdad came right out and told Spencer that in fact Heidi had a poor habit out of clinging too tightly to her boyfriends and as a result was without a core group of close friends. The idea that this might be bad for Heidi didn't seem to register with Spencer.
Ladies, I suggest restricting future boyfriends to the kind with, ahem, guts.
-- Denise Martin
(Photo courtesy MTV.com)
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It's never-ending!
The cast of characters, that is, on "My Boys." One of the show's weaknesses in its premiere season last year was that it seemed to possess at least one too many boys. Protagonist P.J. Franklin (Jordana Spiro) hung out with a circle of five guys: her brother Andy (Jim Gaffigan), cool hipster-type Brendan (Reid Scott), dorky Kenny (Michael Bunin), smarmy, conniving Mike (Jamie Kaler) and the other one, Bobby (Kyle Howard). Plus, there's her best girlfriend, Stephanie (Kellee Stewart). It was a little difficult to keep up with this large group, and even the writers seemed to have a hard time fitting everyone into the show. Very often an episode would focus on P.J. and a few of the boys, and several others would have to grab some bench, to borrow some "My Boys" baseball parlance.
It was the debut season, though, so it seemed plausible that the characters would get more settled in the second season. That's a difficult task, however, when a guest character is introduced virtually every episode. The season premiere, it was Nicole Sullivan, playing Kenny's pregnant girlfriend. Last week, Jeremy Sisto made an appearance as an ex-flame of P.J.'s, whose temporariness became apparent the minute he announced that he was living in Seattle. The city of Chicago is as integral to "My Boys" as New York was to "Sex and the City."
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Let's call this the summer of HBO's head-scratching endings. We started in June with Tony Soprano's sudden cut-to-black, then continued with the impenetrable conclusion of "John From Cincinnati," and now, just in time for Labor Day, we have the season finale of "Big Love," which was firing on all cylinders for most of its second season but came to a sputtering, half-hearted close.
The problem? After a final episode filled with betrayals revealed, secrets unveiled, Bill's schemes against Alby thwarted and Roman jailed, the series somehow managed to steer itself back to something status quo. Not exactly the sort of compelling stuff that leaves you breathless for more.
How, after episode and episode of Barb's increasing frustration with her place in the family did she come to Bill and reaffirm her stance alongside him? This coming just moments after Bill made out with Ana (Branka Katic) in the family's pantry. Barb was already upset with Bill over the revelation that Bill had dated Ana, and Ana's lustful reappearance would have been the perfect capper for Barb's ever-increasing list of grievances with polygamist living. But no, instead the tryst went unnoted and Barb's increasing dissatisfaction seems to have been sated, at least until next season. Our last shot of the show in 2007 was of the three sister wives, laughing and enjoying themselves as a family unit. Somehow that just didn't sit right.
All three wives developed as characters this year. Margene began to learn how to assert herself, if only through the same methods a teenage daughter would assert herself. Nicki revealed herself as a character to be pitied, admittedly suppressing her own desires and filling the void through gambling. And then there was Barb, whose disapproving mother and sister have become a haunting specter over her home, and whose increasing inability to call the shots seemed to be the fatal bullet in her marriage. But despite Bill moving forward with Weber Gaming against her wishes, and Bill courting a possible fourth wife against her wishes, and Bill encouraging their son Ben to pursue a polygamist lifestyle against her wishes, she continued to stand by him without much complaint. Will nothing make this woman pop?
In other developments, Bill's latest scheme to oust his arch-enemies Roman and Alby from the board of the UEB failed when Alby had his father arrested. The inner-workings of the polygamist board members have been the least interesting aspect of "Big Love," and the events of the season-ender were no different. The threatening phone conversations have been done to death. Alby's intense stare has worn out its welcome, and Roman seems headed for an Uncle Junior-style slow fade-out.
After being shot in spectacular style by members of a rival polygamist family, Roman (Harry Dean Stanton) has spent the last few episodes in and out of a near-coma -- most of it induced by his son. But he finally came back to coherence in the season finale, only to be arrested. In essence, Roman's place in the storyline didn't change one bit. He started the episode absent and powerless, and it appears he'll be starting the third season in the same condition. So why did we spend so much time with this feeble man who doesn't seem to be a threat to anyone anymore?
It seems as if the show's creators have grown just as bored with the constant power struggle between Bill and Roman, and seeking to change things up have brought Alby into power. But Harry Dean Stanton is such an interesting actor, they can't rightly kick him off the show, so what do they do? That seems like it will be one of the show's major challenges next year.
The other major challenge, and one that was made more difficult after the final episode, is how to make us believe that the Henricksons can continue to function as a family in a believable manner. How much more of this can Barb take? For the show's sake, let's hope that it's not a lot. Because in its second season, "Big Love" has discovered itself and successfully juggled the political and the domestic, the humorous and the melodramatic, and even, at times, the frightening. When it's working as it should, it's dazzling to watch. Let's hope the finale of the second season was just a minor stumble on the show's march to glory.
-- Patrick Day
(Photo courtesy HBO)
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HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” returned Friday night, back with a vengeance (and technical difficulties).
Maher’s mike went out at the top of his monologue. On any other show this might be a conspicuous gaffe, but “Real Time” is kind of a messy show, anyway—a topical salon of the fast-and-loose opinion, interrupted by comedy bits that recall Carson’s more old-school, vaudevillian approach.
“Real Time” might not be as silky smooth in its rhetoric as Comedy Central’s “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” or “The Colbert Report,” but the show also comes down a little farther from a perch of above-it-all remove.
To wit—the somewhat painful sketch in the cold open Friday that had Maher riffing on missing U.S. weaponry in Iraq, playing a Crazy-Eddy-in-Sadr-City type, selling guns in a “back to surge sale.”
Mercifully, the bit was short.
The panel featured the liberal flame-throwing actor Tim Robbins (''the American people were suckered into this war with false information and with propaganda”), who was off-set by National Public Radio’s Michel Martin and The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes, the latter cast in that lonely, difficult “Real Time” role of the conservative whoever facing down the crowd-pleasing movie star.
Robbins and Hayes got into it on the specter of pre-9/11 ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda, Maher finally turning the temperature down by bringing on another bit—a faux baby shower gift basket for President Bush’s daughter Jenna, set to be married amid speculation that she’s preggers.
I kind of liked the “Interrogate Me Elmo” doll and the little baby port-o-potty that reads “Mission Accomplished” when you lift the seat.
Later, new Republican presidential darling Mike Huckabee made a repeat appearance via satellite. Having finished a surprising second behind Mitt “Daddy Warbucks” Romney in the Iowa straw poll, Huckabee, celebrating a birthday Friday, seemed to be feeling his oats.
“How old are you, governor?” Maher asked.
“I’m 52 years old. Please say I look younger. Do me a favor, give me that birthday present and tell me I don’t look that old.”
Maher, for once, kept his tongue.
--Paul Brownfield
(Photo courtesy HBO)
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The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced Friday that it is investigating reports of abuse of children on CBS’ forthcoming “Kid Nation.”
The announcement follows a week of heavy media scrutiny of an unprecedented reality show in which 40 kids, ages 8 to 15, were placed in the New Mexico desert to build a town and society without contact with their parents. The mother of a 12-year-old Georgia girl who was burned in the face with grease while cooking filed a complaint with Georgia officials accusing the production of abuse and neglect.
CBS issued a statement earlier in the week in support of its show and production.
“We stand by the procedures we had in place and the response to all the minor injuries,” the statement said. “We will therefore not accept irresponsible allegations or any attempts to misrepresent and exaggerate events or spread false claims about what happened.”
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Well, I didn't see that coming. No one did.
Trey, the executive chef long considered a front-runner for the "Top Chef" title, was sent packing after Restaurant April turned in a lackluster second night, concluding Restaurant Wars.
Team April was demolished by the suddenly tight-as-ever team Quatre, formerly called the Garage. After a dismal first night -- vanilla-scented candles, in a restaurant, really? -- Dale, Hung, Sara and Howie found their collective groove. And it all started with the Quickfire Challenge.
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The New Mexico attorney general’s office said Thursday that it is launching an investigation into whether CBS and the producers of "Kid Nation" broke state laws while the controversial reality show was filmed near Santa Fe this spring.
"Information is being evaluated now and reviewed in light of all the interest in this," spokesman Phil Sisneros said. "We are determining what our next move will be or even if there will be one. Even though it seems it’s kind of a moot point, there are a lot of things to look into that we could still address."
Among the issues the attorney general will review will be the production’s permit process, the contract between the parents and the producers and whether the production company illegally refused to allow inspectors on the property for routine inspections.
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So amid Parisa and KellyAnne fretting over Dunbar, and Isaac meeting a lovely Alicia Keys-lookalike on the streets of Sydney, the real drama on Wednesday's "Real World" was in the fashion choices.
Overalls? Really? Please, no. Please, please no.
To fulfill their goal of getting their pimp on -- their term, mind you -- Cohutta and Dunbar go for a jaunt wearing overalls sans shirts. Not surprisingly, this is the outing where Isaac, wearing a respectable-by-comparison tracksuit, meets his new ladyfriend Noirin, and Cohutta and Dunbar come up empty. (You could tell it was circling Parisa's mind to barricade them inside the house and spare them the trauma of appearing in public.)
Then, later, KellyAnne is sporting overalls over what looks like a bathing suit as she lazes about the house. And as petite as KellyAnne is -- it's the curse of the overalls -- they make her look like a sofa. A half-upholstered sofa, actually, given the bikini-overalls combo.
This troubles me. Does the "Real World" have any influence anymore on fashion? One hopes not.
-- Ann Donahue
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So here's the big question: Is it Tom going after Ellen with a butcher's knife in the final fight?
This week's episode focused on Patty's No. 2 in command, who has the gall to entertain a job offer from a competing law firm. It's a cushy deal -- a named partnership, more money, more benefits and entry into a high-end music school for Tom's daughter. He goes so far as to resign from Hewes and Associates, only to be lured back through a little bit of reverse psychology by Patty.
What remains to be seen, however, is how far Tom, with his reenergized loyalty, will go for his boss.
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The Comedy Central press release made it sound like a broadcasting watershed, possibly even akin to Walter Cronkite declaring the Vietnam War a lost cause.
“Operation Silent Thunder: ‘The Daily Show’ in Iraq.”
Jon Stewart and his merry band of faux reporters are not, however, in Baghdad this week. One of them is—or was, correspondent Rob Riggle, who visited various military bases as part of a USO tour of comics, performing sketches for the troops.
In the tradition of Bob Hope, comedians have been entertaining the troops in Iraq for years, arriving by military aircraft (Kathy Griffin made an episode of her Bravo series “My Life on the D-list” out of one such trip).
“The Daily Show” refers to the Iraq War as “Mess O’Potamia.” Monday night, Riggle filed the first of his reports from Camp Anaconda north of Baghdad, seeking to confirm that, yes, he was actually in Iraq (as opposed to fellow “senior Baghdad correspondent” Aasif Mandvi, who was only stealing his spotlight via green screen).
“Jon, I’m on a C-130 flying into Iraq. Right now,” Riggle proved in a taped report.
He was also actually on a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter. And actually on a boat in the Persian Gulf.
Riggle described weather conditions as “hot as hell." You believed him.
“It’s a dry hell, though,” he said. --Paul Brownfield
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 Sorry, Lauren. In this week's double-header, the Heidi-Spencer Show wins hands down over the Lauren-Audrina Show.
Heidi finally -- finally! -- pulled rank on Spencer and whitewashed his colorful spray-painted ode to Hollywood, a gift more for himself than a surprise for Heidi. We forgave her poor taste in engagement rings -- what is that monstrosity on her finger anyway? -- for that unexpected throwdown. Perhaps Spencer's second "surprise," a vintage arcade game in their dining room, put her over the edge. Whatever the case, it's about friggin' time.
Side note: Some of that backbone might have benefited Heidi during the making of her upcoming album. Her song "Body Language," which she and Spencer are now claiming is not her first single but a song that was mistakenly leaked to Ryan Seacrest, features a guest rap by her K-Fed-in-the-making fiance-manager.
Heidi. Must. Put. Foot. Down. More. Often.
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After an embarrassing family confrontation in front of her disapproving mother and sister, it seemed certain that Barb would drop a bomb on Bill in the closing moments of last night's episode. Finally, it appeared the harried first wife might try to leave Bill in an effort to save herself and her children from the inevitable alienation of the polygamist lifestyle. That's how it seemed, anyway, as Barb took off her earrings in front of the mirror and glanced at the marital bed she shared every third night with Bill. But the producers had another surprise in mind: rattlesnakes. A bed full of slithering, hissing rattlesnakes.
Just like their marriage, the bed looked warm and inviting. But just beneath the surface lay a literal snake pit of seething vipers. Quite the symbolic image to conclude the penultimate episode of the season -- and not just in reference to the inherent difficulties of the polygamist lifestyle. In its second season, "Big Love" has mastered its mix of domestic comedy and hard-edged melodrama, keeping everything unpredictable. Just when you think the show is going to go for the heartstrings, it goes for the throat.
But who left those snakes in Bill and Barb's bed? There are two prime suspects: Alby, the temporary leader of the polygamist group at Juniper Creek, and Hollis Greene, the creepier-than-thou polygamist leader on the run. Both are circling Bill and his family like a couple of hungry tigers waiting to pounce, and it looks like the confrontation will come sooner rather than later.
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Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel is to these many Democratic primary debates and forums what Uncle Charley was to “My Three Sons”: a cantankerous observer of the misbehavior around him, by turns grumpy, sage-like and loving.
And so it was again Sunday morning on “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” Gravel coming out of the kitchen in his figurative apron at the first sanctioned debate of the Iowa primary.
“Stop and think,” he'll preface his Uncle Charley-ish churlishness. Gravel even bears a subtle resemblance to William Demarest, who played the character on that long-running series.
“Stop and think,” Gravel said Sunday morning, when the issue before the Dems was merit pay for teachers. “Here, uh, Iran. Not Iran. Uh, uh, Spain. Norway. Finland. These countries, they’re not the superpower of the world, but they pay for their children from childhood to PhD levels. Why can’t Americans put education as the top priority, and you can’t do it when you want to expand” — he was gaining steam now — “as he wants to expand 100,000 more troops. Who are we gonna nuke, who are we gonna fight next?”
As Delaware Sen. Joe Biden and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson pantomimed which one between them Gravel was singling out, the audience at Drake University burst into gales of laughter.
Gravel was smiling too. In the Washington Post/ABC News poll flashed at the beginning of the debate, Gravel was shown polling at a naked 0% in Iowa (on the other hand, it’s only a percentage point behind Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, and 2 percentage points behind Biden and Dennis Kucinich).
Thus Gravel is veritably off the grid while taking away valuable, 30-second nuggets of promise-making time from well-heeled front-runners Sen. Barack Obama (the poll leader at 27% in Iowa) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards (tied at 26%).
Is it time for Gravel to step aside? The one he hurts the most up there is probably Kucinich, who would otherwise occupy the unapologetically left-of-all-of-you role.
To the rest of them, Gravel’s either a nuisance or an enviably plain speaker with nothing to lose. Gravel — a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War who, according to the bio on his website, read 4,100 pages of the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers into the official Senate record — is easily the most theatrical, decrying the misbegotten involvement in Iraq or the misbegotten war on drugs or the misbegotten coziness between his opponents and their campaign war chests.
All family sitcoms need the wacky neighbor, the kooky elder. In that context Gravel makes the Dems seem a more inclusive extended brood. Perhaps the analogy is less “My Three Sons” than “Little Miss Sunshine,” Gravel as Alan Arkin’s freethinking Grandpa, sitting in the back seat of a VW bus taking a little girl to a popularity contest.
Stop and think.
— Paul Brownfield
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Looks as if a lot of people couldn't wait to get back to high school.
Friday's premiere of "High School Musical 2" on the Disney Channel smashed ratings records, with a total audience of 17.2 million, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. That makes the bubblegum-pop extravaganza the most-watched basic cable telecast of all time, and it also more than doubles the tally for the original "HSM," which became a surprise hit last year (7.7 million). The sequel did especially well among viewers who are far too young for the prom: Disney officials bragged that "HSM2" was the most-watched show in TV history among kids ages 6 to 11.
The results bode well for Disney's plans to turn "HSM" into the company's latest monster franchise. Also sure to be taking notice are executives at rival networks. Broadcasters have pursued a strategy of reruns and reality series this summer, only to watch millions of viewers defect to basic cable.
-- Scott Collins
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Ah, so we’ve finally started to dig into the black-coffee-and-a-trenchcoat mystique that is Don Draper, our gimlet-eyed ladies' man, advertising visionary and owner of at least $5,000 in cash stashed in a locked desk drawer. “Mad Men” has been teasing us with tiny details, but Thursday’s show gave us the biggest peek into his past yet. The clues are admittedly baffling. Whatever the big deal is, it doesn’t seem to be as awesome as anything like a serial-killer twin brother who comes back from the dead. More like a really nice brother who would like to have lunch from time to time. Oh, the horror!!
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"So You Think You Can Dance," which just wrapped up its third installment, grows in popularity every season, which is a good thing because it might be the best competition show on prime-time television. On what other program are viewers treated to a pool of talented contestants working as hard as they can on a beautiful art form, knowledgeable and caring judges, and noteworthy performances each and every week?
 This season's winner, Sabra Johnson, typified everything that is wonderful about the show. A powerhouse pixie who only began dancing four years ago, she brought sparkle to the stage with every performance, whether in a spicy disco routine, a moody hip-hop number or her joyous solo dances. She may be most known for her petiteness, short Afro hairstyle or the way she leaped about the stage as if it had less gravity than Earth. But her workhorse personality made her easy to root for. She may not have been the biggest goofball or diva or sexpot, but that was never a liability, which says a lot about her talent and the show.
Like any TV competition, though, the "So You Think You Can Dance" finale came with its low points as well as its highs. We saw no shortage of clip reels and slow-motion tears, plus the obligatory useless celebrity cameo as judge Nigel Lythgoe gave a nod to one of his favorite dancers ... Paula Abdul (not surprising since Lythgoe also produces "American Idol" and Abdul did apparently dance once upon a time before she was famous for other things).
Many viewers were actually looking forward to the promised dance between Glamazon host Cat Deeley and wise-guy judge Lythgoe (who has a dance background), but were given the old bait and switch with a silly, not even funny Jibjab.com video. The episode ended abruptly in an explosion of confetti as Sabra was announced the winner, denying runner-up Danny Tidwell -- and the audience -- his moment of reflection upon the season: a handsome, graceful, proud dancer, he would have been perhaps the most touching to watch.
Perhaps the most egregious addition was the performance of Nicole Scherzinger from "The Pussycat Dolls." It seemed like a slap in the face to the actual talented individuals on "So You Think You Can Dance" to have to share the stage with someone who mainly gave the audience stomping and heavy breathing. It would be nice if such singers, meanwhile, at least tried to perform songs that didn't rely so much on heavy mixing and backup vocal tracks. Even if Bette Midler didn't give it her all on "American Idol's" season finale, at least she seemed to be doing it live.
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Heidi and Spencer took time away from their busy tabloid-squatting schedule to visit Ryan Seacrest on his morning radio show and premiere Heidi's first single, "Body Language." That's right, if you weren't aware (but we're sure you were), Heidi doesn't just double-cross her friends and keep unwanteds out of nightclubs. She's sings.
Check out a clip of the song here on TMZ.com. And yes, that is toothy fiance Spencer rapping, or something approximating rapping, at the end of the clip. As if that "Hollywood" mural in his apartment didn't say it all ...
Heidi, of course, is not the only starlet to confuse her fame with actual musical ability. Lindsay Lohan, Hayden Panettiere ... girls, not everyone is meant to sing.
-- Denise Martin
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The stage looked awfully lonely Wednesday evening when only four contestants opened "So You Think You Can Dance," but the night certainly wasn't sparse. As the dancers performed four routines apiece (one with each contestant, plus a solo), the $250,000 prize seemed rather paltry for how much work the contestants have put in this season.
But who will win?
At the beginning of the evening, it looked like the competition was Sabra Johnson's to take. She appears to be a favorite among the fans, judges and choreographers alike. Judge Nigel Lythgoe's advice to her at the beginning of the show was to "keep doing what you're doing," and choreographer Tyce Diorio proclaimed her to be a "master at everything."
Was it the producers' challenge to Sabra, then, or was it simply bad luck that she seemed to draw the most difficult lot, routine-wise? Her first showing was a rather weak hip-hop performance with Neil Haskell, then a Wade Robson jazz number with Lacey Schwimmer that unfortunately didn't highlight the strengths of the dancers or their connection to each other, and finally a cha-cha with Danny Tidwell that received mixed reviews from all three judges.
None of the dances really catered to her expertise, while the other dancers did receive the gift of at least one complementary routine: Neil was able to use his gymnastic skills in a Lindy Hop with Lacey and shone in a fabulously conceived Mia Michaels fight-dance with Danny; Danny, too, played the Michaels routine to the hilt and showed his tremendous elegance in a waltz with Lacey; and Lacey has expertise in the more traditional dances she performed with the boys, which she executed with mastery.
This is not to take away whatsoever from the hard work and terrific performances of the other dancers and not to say that Sabra got the shaft, but it's a shame she didn't get a paired dance that really showed off her gifts. Fortunately, she was able to bring the joy, lightness and power to her solo that her fans have come to love.
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Whoa, that's gotta be a record -- it's the second week of "The Real World: Sydney," and already two of the contestants have completely morphed into each other.
Shauvon: Long hair, with blond highlights on top, dark underneath. Busty. Lots of eyeliner. Dumped her fiance just before taking off for Australia.
Trisha: Long hair, with blond highlights on top, dark underneath. Busty. Lots of eyeliner. Half-dumped her boyfriend almost immediately after arriving in Australia.
And, as it turns out, both jump right into the Down Under dating scene with some Aussie blokes. (For the record, it was the guys in the house who were the first to make a "Thunder From Down Under" joke.)
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 Oh, Katie. I've warned you before about getting in over your head with Patty and crew, and yet you refuse to listen.
It's time for Katie's deposition in the Frobisher case, and Patty took the baptism-by-fire route to prep her for interrogation. All the secrets Katie thought were just between her and Patty -- attorney-client privilege, yadda yadda yadda -- were outed in front of Ellen: namely, the trip to rehab for drug addiction and the abortion that resulted from her affair with Gregory.
And, as it turns out, Katie had more secrets to reveal.
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 Farewell, "John From Cincinnati," we hardly knew ye.
Or, to be more accurate, we hardly understood ye.
HBO confirmed today that the David Milch-created drama "John From Cincinnati" will not return for a second season. The show, which was critically pummeled for its dense storylines that eschewed logic, ends its 10-episode run with last Sunday's episode.
(Photo courtesy HBO)
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 We all know how this ends. There will be no happy ending for Lauren and Heidi.
The two can't be at the same photo shoot these days. (Scroll all the way down to see Heidi, flying solo, new chest, new nose.) She and fiance Spencer have been on a whirlwind media tour in recent weeks, blasting the bitter Laguna Beach native for a recent US Weekly story that blamed the happy couple, yet again, for allegedly spreading word that Lauren and ex-boy toy Jason had made a sex tape.
And yet the catfight that erupted in Monday's two-part premiere was unsullied by all of the "spoilers" that have been playing in the media for months, and better than anything you'd get on "All My Children."
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Chef Gordon Ramsay was right: It was a tough choice picking the winner of "Hell's Kitchen" to go run his Las Vegas restaurant.
Bonnie's arc on the show was incredible -- she appeared destined to lose her way early on but kept fighting and scrapping and cooking her way into the next round. And with each victory, the nanny's self-esteem blossomed. (In last night's show, she was talking about herself in the third person, boasting that she was a force to be reckoned with, and "Don't #$%& with Bonnie!" And she sounded like she meant it!)
For their last challenge on the show, both Bonnie and her opponent Rock, an executive chef, delivered a fantastic dinner service. There were some hiccups, mainly return-contestant Josh proving why he got kicked off in the first place and Julia being a little sassy and coming across like a bit of a sore loser. Bonnie and Rock showed why they deserved to be in the final.
In the end, Ramsay understandably gave the edge to the more polished, more professional Rock. But have no fear for Bonnie. As she said: She's sure opportunity is about to knock on her door.
-- Rene Lynch
(Photo courtesy Fox)
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To prime-time TV's all-time great mysteries -- a list which includes "How did no one figure out Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari were really dudes?" and "How did the landlords never figure out John Ritter wasn't gay?" -- we can safely add one more: "How have the Henricksons been married this long and not have everyone know they're polygamists?"
Last season ended with Barb being outed in front of Utah's governor. Their polygamist lifestyle was publicly mocked on a high-profile billboard. And don't forget Barb's sticky encounters with the child welfare officers over her teenage in-law Rhonda. The family has had so many close calls and awkwardly staged excuses, we have to start wondering if they're only fooling themselves when they try to put on a front. Yet they continue to encounter people who aren't in on the secret, and the charade continues.
With his move into the casino gaming business, Bill has been saying that this is the family's chance to come out into the open a little more. Last night, he tried his best. And he succeeded to some degree: The poker-loving proprietors of some of the West's swingingest bars certainly seemed to get a kick out of Bill's clean-but-not-so-squeaky image. But when he ran into old friends from his and Barb's church-going days, Bill screwed up again. Stumbling on his own sense of secrecy, he introduced Margene as his secretary.
Although he may tout the high and noble goals of "the principle" at home, it's apparent that to the world at large, Bill's wives are nothing more than a way to help him maintain his comfortable lifestyle. How else to explain his marriage to second wife Nicki, the daughter of Bill's nemesis Roman Grant, who loaned Bill the money to start his home supply store. As Bill has worked to move away from Roman's influence in his business dealings, he's put his most politically motivated marriage off to the side. When Barb refused to accompany Bill to the bar owners convention, he balked at inviting Nicki. Poor Nicki, meanwhile, is becoming more and more alienated from not only her husband but her family back at Juniper Creek. Her confrontation with her brother Alby, in which she let slip Bill's acquisition of the hotly pursued Weber Gaming, will only lead to a harsher form of conflict than we've seen before. Is it possible the lethally violent Greene family will make a reappearance?
And what of Barb? With each episode, the look of concern on her normally passive face grows deeper and deeper. After Bill specifically went against her wishes to buy into Weber Gaming, the rift between them appeared to grow. It looks like the sad divorce drama playing out between Bill's mom, Lois, and his father is a foreshadowing of Bill and Barb's eventual fate.
There's just two episodes left in the season, and my money's on Alby committing some violence and Barb leaving Bill. Just a head's up, however: Next week, "Big Love" is moving back to Sunday nights, for two episodes only. Remember back in the days when we were told it wasn't TV, it's HBO? With goofy schedule changes like this, it seems HBO is sadly becoming TV after all.
-- Patrick Day
(Photo courtesy HBO)
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Will America elect its first female favorite dancer this week? In a special Monday results show, six contestants were narrowed to four, and with the sight of Lauren Gottlieb, Lacey Schwimmer and Sabra Johnson lined up against Pasha Kovalev, Danny Tidwell and Neil Haskell, the girls vs. boys dichotomy seemed clear. Although each of the dancers has his or her particular strengths and weaknesses, the top three of each sex seemed to represent the contrasts.
Lauren predicted in this column that a girl would take the prize this year, and the women certainly have the chops. With their dark hair and toned physiques, they share similar physical characteristics. Sabra and Lacey danced consistently well throughout the competition, and Lauren and Sabra established their own particular dance personalities as the show progressed. In individuality and on the floor, the three brought loads of spark and fun to their performances.
Danny, Neil and Pasha never seemed to have much in common until they stood next to each other for the cut. They're all muscled, lean and tall (which became obvious when they stood next to host Cat Deeley, who is as tall as a redwood). At first glance, all three seem rather stoic compared to Energizer bunnies such as Lacey and Lauren or goofballs like Dominic Sandoval, but they've all had their passionate, funny moments on the show. All three specialize in genres that require a balance of grace and masculinity.
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Um, OK.
 So John and Shaun return from what I can only assume is a Laird Hamilton-style surfing tow-in from heaven, outfitted in stylish camo wetsuits. Shaun has become as incomprehensible as John when asked about where the duo went. (He replies "Cincinnati.") John rambles something to Linc about 9-11-14, like he's suddenly read the Book of Revelation and wants to jabber about it. Cass films the whole scene with her video camera, which has magic Wi-Fi capabilities. Other hit men come from Hawaii and wander around. A TV newscaster recognizes Tina from porn. And Linc convinces the whole family -- John included -- to sign with Stinkweed and have a parade to celebrate Shaun's return. Mitch stops levitating after the deal is done, which is good because treatment for levitation is totally not covered under Stinkweed's HMO.
And with that, "John From Cincinnati" throws in the towel.
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Thursday night’s episode
was a journeymen’s show – nothing too flashy happened (c’mon, did you really
think Pete Campbell was going to carry that sad little cardboard box all the
way downstairs?) but it planted some important seeds, and not just plot ones either.
“Mad
Men” is starting to get smarter, nicer and a little more comfortable in its
wingtip shoes. That said, it could crank up the knobs a little bit. How about
more witty repartee? And a smidge more camp a la those pulpy novels that were so
popular in the day? And more hats like the delectable confections seen atop
Rachel Mencken’s head? Don’t fear going overboard, “Mad Men.” There can never
be enough of any of these things. And don’t feel like you have to be so serious
all the time. We like to laugh.
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 The Democrats showed up on the MTV-run gay and lesbian cable channel Logo TV on Thursday night for a historic, first-time-ever televised presidential forum on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) issues.
What anyone watching Logo (which is carried in some 27 million homes) saw was a series of one-on-ones — each candidate interviewed, for 20 minutes or so, in the order in which their campaigns accepted the invite to the forum (Barack Obama first and Hillary Rodham Clinton last).
Call it a job interview, writ rather large, the candidates answering pointed questions from a moderator (Bloomberg News' Margaret Carlson) and three panelists about their LGBT bonafides.
Now here was a show, the candidates in comfy chairs on a hardwood-floor stage, with rug. In contrast to the raucous AFL-CIO-sponsored debate on MSNBC on Tuesday night, live from Soldier Field in Chicago, the two-hour LGBT forum, live from some small studio in L.A., played like a closed-circuit broadcast of a living-room fundraiser in the Hancock Park manse of Hollywood money.
Hey, wasn’t that liberal mover-and-shaker/Hollywood producer Steve Bing in the audience? I know I saw two of the TV-monied — "How I Met Your Mother” co-star Neil Patrick Harris and “Will & Grace” co-creator Max Mutchnick.
Meanwhile, one of the panelists was rock star Melissa Etheridge, whose "I Need to Wake Up" written for "An Inconvenient Truth" won her an Oscar. |
This episode, dare I say, was blessed, magical, sent from the stars. I’m almost reluctant to blog about it in case I jinx the start of a winning streak. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re probably thinking that something big happened. It didn’t, but that’s OK. Sometimes the best TV is delivered in moments -- big, clever, imaginative moments. Funny, dark, odd moments. So yeah, as far as plot stuff goes, last night was no big deal, but as far as style, scene and character development? It was a beauty to behold. 
