a piece of television pie

Christina Hendricks and the issue of role models

2010-08-04T13:58:00.000+01:00

Last week UK Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone further fuelled the fire that role models when it comes to body type and image. In stating that she believed Christina Hendricks (Joan Holloway from Mad Men) was a ‘fabulous role model’ for women I’m not sure she expected all the criticism that was to come from the British media who were claiming that Hendricks ‘perfect’ hourglass figure was just as ridiculous to achieve as a Kate Moss size zero body. This comment appears to be blown out of proportion with media institutions such as The Daily Mail jumping on the bandwagon to slate Featherstone for her remarks and papers such as this claiming that Featherstone is encouraging women to aspire to a size 14. If you actually look at what she said this is not the case, instead she is opposed to the over exposure of air brushing and photo shopping in magazines which could place unnecessary body confidence issues on young women. In regards to Hendricks she simply states that she thinks she is fabulous and that women who have a curvier figure should not just be celebrated as an anomaly in a field of slim models, it should be a normal occurrence. At no point does she say that we should try and change the body type we have, in fact I believe that she is saying that we should celebrate the body type we have and this should be represented in the mainstream media.

Hendricks has come under scrutiny, particularly in the US for being a curvier body type than is the norm in Hollywood; this was most evident at this year’s Golden Globes when a New York Times fashion journalist wrote that ‘you don't put a big girl in a big dress’ in regard to the Christian Siriano dress that she wore. This comment was met with the kind of derision that you would expect and hope for, especially because she really isn’t a ‘big girl’, except maybe by Hollywood standards. The point here being is that Hendricks has already been portrayed in way as the champion of the regular woman, an appointment that I would imagine comes with a lot of pressure and means that her excellent work in Mad Men is often overlooked to deal with issues such as this one. It is a catch 22 problem as her figure is different from what viewers are necessarily use to and that yes this is something that should be applauded but at the same time it would be great if there could be a conversation about Hendricks where weight and body type were not the focus and I think that that is the point that Featherstone was perhaps trying to make in her comments. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t mention her appearance and yes it should be celebrated, it should just not be the continued focus when discussing Hendricks and yes this piece is guilty of what I am complaining about (as are other pieces that I have written), and in fact is this the issue? That there are certain people that you can’t write about without mentioning certain aspects or qualities and is this a gender issue or one that happens to both sexes?

I don’t think that the debate regarding the portrayal of both women and male body ideals will die down and it is definitely a debate that appears to be pretty cyclical, it would be super though if this debate did end up with a more healthy and obtainable image for people to strive toward. When thinking of the women of Mad Men it is actually Elisabeth Moss who probably has a healthy obtainable body shape if you are looking for someone ‘normal’ with January Jones meeting the slim end of the register.

Though Jones in a recent interview with Tatler magazine revealed that Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner told them to not work out and to actually eat as women of the sixties didn’t use the gym, another great reason to be working on Mad Men.

Whilst this debate remains endless, I am glad that Christina Hendricks is now a household name on both sides of the Atlantic and that those curious by Featherstones comments may actually go and check out Mad Men and see how terrific she is as Joan. Though next time I write about Christina Hendricks I hope that it is about her portrayal of Joan or the she has won an Emmy on the 29^thof August.

Photos courtesy of JustJared

Mad Men season 4 premiere

2010-07-22T12:22:00.000+01:00

With the premiere of Mad Men being this Sunday the publicity machine has gone in to full drive, with late night talk show appearances and a red carpet event for the new season. The red carpet had Mad Men cast and crew from the previous three seasons with the one notable absence being January Jones who was said to have had Mad Men work commitments (which seems a little mean when everyone else gets to party). The women looked lovely as ever, though I wasn't blown away by any of the dress choices, below are costume designer Janie Bryant, Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss:

Jon Hamm looked as fetching as he always does in a suit, he really does look charming all the time and I could totally understand if he lived in the bubble (I also find it astounding that it has taken this long in his career to become the success that he is):

Jon Hamm was on the Jimmy Kimmel show to promote the new season and as ever he came across as charming and friendly telling a great story about his first residence in LA when he moved there to become an actor. Also during the interview there is a short scene from Sundays episode that further raised my anticipation for this new season (didn't think that was possible but evidently it is). There has been a lot of mentions of Jon Hamm in the past week in the entertainment press not just for Mad Men; the trailer for his new film The Town (directed by Ben Affleck) was released last week, he is staring in the Alan Ginsberg centric film Howl that will hit cinemas in September and it has just been announced that he will be a guest star in a new episode of The Simpsons. Along with his two Emmy nominations this really is an excellent time to be Jon Hamm and he really deserves the glory. Here is his interview on Kimmel:

Photos courtesy of NYMag and JustJared

Emmy nominations snap judgement

2010-07-08T15:48:00.002+01:00

The 2010 Emmy nominations have just been announced and there were some excellent surprises and some not so surprising omissions (it's still annoying even if it isn't a surprise). Here is a list of who and what I am happy with being nominated, the snubs that sting and the 'huh' they were nominated thoughts:

What I am happy about:

-Finally Friday Night Lights gets some love with both Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler getting nominations (Actress and Actor in a drama), these are long overdue and well deserved, they really are the heart and soul of this fabulous show. Very glad that 'The Son' has got a writing nomination, one of the best episodes of FNL.
-The final season of Lost being a nomination success; Matthew Fox (Actor in a Drama), Michael Emerson, Terry O'Quinn (Best Supporting in a Drama) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Guest Actress in a Drama) all getting acting nods. The writing and directing of the finale featuring, as well as a nod for Michael Giacchino for his score for 'The End' which made the show and the finale all the more emotional.
-The Pacific getting the most nominations with 24, though it not being included in the acting categories is a disappointment.
-Unsurprisingly Mad Men bagged itself 17 nominations and deservedly so. Those up for the acting gongs are Jon Hamm, January Jones, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss and Robert Morse (for actor/actress, supporting actor/actress and guest actor). Shame that Vincent Kartheiser and Jared Harris can't be included but I guess I can't be greedy. And whilst I'm surprised that 'The Gypsy and the Hobo' wasn't nominated in the writing category I'm pleased that both 'Guy Walks in to an Advertising Agency' and 'Shut the Door. Have a Seat' are nominated
-The Good Wife also favouring well in the acting categories with the both the women and the men being well represented: Julianna Margulies (Alicia Florrick), Archie Panjabi (Kalinda Sharma), Christine Baranski (Diane Lockhart), Alan Cumming (Eli Gold) and Dylan Baker (Colin Sweeney). I've really enjoyed this new show and after Margulies Golden Globes success it is great to see that her cast mates are also sharing in the award lime light, though it is a shame to see that Chris Noth (Peter Florrick) was overlooked.
-It's also not a surprise that Glee received 19 nominations, some more deserved than others, I was happy for Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) and one of the best father son combos on TV Chris Colfor (Kurt Hummel) and Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel). Also nominated in the guest actor in a comedy category for Glee was Neil Patrick Harris who has two nominations (the other for How I Met Your Mother), Jon Hamm and Tina Fey both also share in the double nominations, Hamm for Mad Men and 30 Rock, Fey for SNL and 30 Rock.
-The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien getting the nod over Jay Leno, Team Coco all the way, loved the reaction in the room to this one when it was announced as well as the fact that the Emmys will be broadcast on NBC. Though The Daily Show normally wins this one, so it's a win/win really for me.
-Other shows that got some love that I love include; The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Dexter, 30 Rock, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, True Blood, Nurse Jackie and Damages.

What nominations (or lack of nominations) made me go grr and huh?:

-Zach Gilford not getting nominated for the FNL episode 'The Son'. It was a long shot but after hearing Connie Britton and Kyle Chandlers nominations I was hopeful that he would be recognised as well, but alas. At least the episode got the writing nod.
-Tony Shaloub for Monk and Jon Cryer for Two and a Half Men just makes me say why?
-Even though he was presenting the nominations Joel McHale and Community came up with nothing, this was annoying, though he did a good job with the nominations. Loved when he jumped in to pronounce Mariska Hargitay.
-There seems to be a lot of unhappy writers out there about the lack of Parks and Rec nominations which has reminded me that I really need to get that show on DVD. I also need to watch my Breaking Bad DVDs before August 29th.
-Other long shots I would have loved to see but am not surprised by there omissions; Chuck, John Noble in Fringe and The Vampire Diaries. If I had an award show all of these would win.

For a full list of nominations head to the official Emmys site here

All photos courtesy of NBC

Daily dose of Mad Men

2010-07-08T12:35:00.002+01:00

More new promotional pictures and video this way, first up the pictures. The group shots have been released and one has a person in that you might not expect. First up the group in a typical shot in a bar, all looking exquisite:

The perhaps surprising inclusion on the other cast shot is Kenny Cosgrove and his hair and what could this mean? Has he got a job at Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce? Does this spell the end for Kinsey, Kurt and Smitty? Peggy, Joan and Betty all look amazing in their dresses with Peggy this time wearing my favourite, her hair also looks less like a helmet in this shot. I'm also a fan of the bare background being just a sheet, further suggesting the re-building motif of this seasons theme. As I've said before I love how Mad Men is similar to Lost in how rife the speculation is pre season especially as so little information is available:

A few black and white portraits have been released as well that if nothing else make the men look pretty dapper:

A couple of John Slattery (Roger Sterling):

Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell):

Jared Harris (Lane Pryce):

Robert Morse (Bert Cooper):

More videos from the AMC promo department include this fabulous one with the women discussing how they feel about where their characters were at the end of last season, their favourite costumes and other related questions to the show, there are some really nice moments between Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss here and it is nice to see them together outside of the characters:

The second video is a 'look at season four' and by a look they just say that they can't reveal too much which is fine by me, the less actual information I have about the new season the better. Matthew Weiner reinforces the idea that he won't do the same material again and the first episode is referred to by Jared Harris (Pryce) that it is like another pilot, enjoy:

Photos and video courtesy of AMC

More Mad Men pictures, video

2010-07-07T12:23:00.000+01:00

This blog is definitely Mad Men centric at the moment and with just over two weeks till its return it will be this way until then I would expect. Over at Zap2it they have got some more promo shots from season 4 that once again don't really reveal much of anything but let us speculate on all kinds of things like what year is it? Is Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce a success? Has Betty married Henry? And it allows me to rejoice in the fact that Bobby Draper remains as the same actor this year unlike the previous three seasons. Here are a selection of these photos:

Here is also an excellent video that compiles some of the really awful chat up lines that have been used by many of the characters including the lovely "You should do something with that sour puss, you're very beautiful" and "Are you Amish or something?" (both courtesy of Pete Campbell):

Not too long till Mad Men season 4...

2010-07-05T14:35:00.000+01:00

So in the meantime you can go and Mad Men yourself again over on the AMC site, where there are new clothes, hair and accessories to play with, here is my new version and I decided to go for a leisurely look this time around:

This is good fun and reminds me of the paper dolls that I had when I was a kid, whilst on holiday my boyfriend was sweet enough to buy me a Kennedy family paper dolls book, which fits in nicely with the time and fashion of Mad Men. The designer of these Mad Men illustrations Dyna Moe has a great site that I have mentioned before but if you need a reminder it is here and should be checked out.

More Mad Men promotional videos have been released by AMC, including one with one of my favourite creative faces from Mad Men; Janie Bryant and she is showing us a peak at some of the wardrobe of season 4. I got excited by the glimpse that we saw of some of the costumes of season 4 in the last promo video so this is definitely a treat and that truck looks like heaven:

Lost: How it should have ended video

2010-06-29T12:07:00.001+01:00

There has been many a reaction to the season finale of Lost, some positive, some negative (Emily Nussbaum for New York Magazine has an interesting and excellent take on this, that whilst I personally don't agree on can see where her frustrations come from) and the most recent is an animated response from the guys at How It Should Have Ended. This is a pretty awesome video and is well worth a watch:

Mad Men: The Rules

2010-06-28T12:11:00.000+01:00

The promotional machine for the fourth season of Mad Men has got in to full gear and AMC have released this video discussing the rules of Mad Men. It is a compilation of clips of the last three seasons with talking heads from Matthew Weiner and a lot of the cast, who are all in full costume. The clips are great, especially the series of one liners from Roger Sterling who really does get the best lines, however it is the costumes that have provoked my interest, especially from the women. Peggy is rocking her new hair style which looks much better in these clips than it did in the promo photo and Joan is wearing some rather over the top jewellery, a gift perhaps?

Mad Men season 4 pictures

2010-06-25T11:50:00.000+01:00

AMC have released four images from the new season of Mad Men (airing 25th July), the first is one that was first seen in Entertainment Weekly and none of them reveal all too much about anything really, but this doesn't matter, I'm just glad to see some new pictures. Also Peggy is rocking a more voluminous hair do and Don looks super as usual, here they are:

The main assumption that I can draw from these is that they will be taking a lot of meetings over dinner in restaurants which makes a lot of sense after where the season ended with the new company running from a hotel room. I'm very excited for this season and I'm looking forward to more promotional material in the coming month. I am currently rewatching season 3 on blu-ray (which it looks amazing on) whilst listening to the many and extensive commentaries that are available to get me in the mood for season 4 and it is definitely working.

Mad Men season 4 poster

2010-06-22T11:52:00.000+01:00

The season 4 poster for Mad Men was released exclusively to Ausiello yesterday and it look pretty great:

The image is striking in it's simplicity and sets up everything that you need to know about the tone and direction that this season will be going in, that it is about starting over. This is both for Don in business and in his private life. Much like Lost when an image is released for Mad Men they are poured over and analysed and I am not disappointed with how this campaign has kicked off. Executive producer Matthew Weiner told Entertainment Weekly recently that this season will have the characters asking "Who am I" and that "It's about stripping away the things that define them. Once they're taken away, they just have to look at who they really are."

This alone makes me glad that July 25th is just over a month a way.

World Cup 2010

2010-06-11T13:54:00.000+01:00

For the next few weeks World Cup football will dominate my television which I'm thoroughly looking forward to. I'm not sure how well England will do in the whole thing but I know that this is a time for hanging out with friends and enjoying football talent from around the world. So here's to a successful tournament and to some good TV watching as it seems that everyone has taken this opportunity to get a spanky new flat screen.
Other TV highlights of the next few weeks are of course True Blood and I have also just got the first season of Breaking Bad through the letterbox to dive in to finally.

True Blood promo poster 12

2010-06-11T13:48:00.000+01:00

The final poster in the series of 12 for True Blood has just been released and as this blog and many others can testify this third season is hotly anticipated, only a few more days to go:

Photo courtesy of HBO

Rubicon

2010-06-10T13:13:00.000+01:00

There is one other show that I am looking forward to this summer other than True Blood and Mad Men, Rubicon which will be on AMC officially on August 1st. However AMC will be showing the first episode this Sunday after the Breaking Bad finale at 11pm which looks like it will hopefully be another hit for this network. The show stars James Badge Dale, most recently seen in The Pacific as Robert Leckie which he was terrific in and I've been a fan since he was in 24 so I have high hopes for him here, Miranda Richardson is also one of the top billed actors here and my appreciation for her stretches way back to Blackadder, this is obviously a very different role.
Here is the trailer so you can check it out for yourself:

Poster image courtesy of the Ausiello Files

True Blood season 3 red carpet

2010-06-10T12:51:00.000+01:00

I am a big fan of when TV shows get a red carpet premiere and it is something that the cable channels are pretty good at, the True Blood cast were treated to this on Tuesday night where both familiar faces and new ones were out in full force. This event has wet my appetite all the more for this Sunday and everyone looked dandy all dressed up, it also once again reinforced the fact that Alex Skarsgard is a giant in comparison to everyone else:

Anna Paquin looked stunning and proved again that she can rock a mini dress this time in Proenza Schouler (with True Blood co-star and real life fiance Stephen Moyer):

Kristen Bauer who plays the vampire Pam looked as flawless as her character:

I was glad to see Carrie Preston (Arlene) turning up with real life husband Michael Emerson (Ben from Lost) and it looks like her red hair will be all hers this season (like in The Good Wife) rather than a wig like normal:

Deborah Ann Woll who last season of Jessica had one of my favourite story lines looked amazing in a simple navy dress with an equally stunning Rutina Wesley who I was hoping would be given a less bleak story this year as Tara, don't think that is going to happen. Anna Paquin completes the trio of these awesome Bon Temps women.

Season 3 new comer Joe Manganiello (Alcide) looked pretty sharp in his three piece suit and I'm looking forward to his inclusion this year:

Old favourite Ryan Kwaten (Jason) did not disappoint either, looking casual in his open collar and the word is that Jason will be returning to his womanising ways this season, I for one see nothing wrong with this:

The one person that you would not want to see in a boring suit is Nelsan Ellis who plays Lafayette, he did not disappoint, this is not a look that can be pulled off by anyone but he looked fabulous (not sure about the hat but I'll give it a pass):

They certainly are a well dressed cast and you can see why this show is highly anticipated, I'm so glad that we have this and Mad Men this summer otherwise it would be a pretty lean time for TV. Though there is the World Cup also starting this weekend which will also be eating in to my (potential) sunshine time.

Photos courtesy of MTV Hollywood Crush and Celebrity-Gossip.net

Like a hedgehog doing karate

2010-06-07T13:35:00.000+01:00

Whilst I was away there were three nights in a row where Jake Gyllenhaal featured on different late night talk shows (Letterman, Kimmel and Fallon) promoting Prince of Persia. All the interviews were different and funny, not what you might expect when someone is shilling the same product but from what I have seen of Gyllenhaal recently in the past and from this promotional campaign he really does seem genuinely funny and like a good interview subject. The main highlight came not from part of an interview but from a sketch that he did on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, who at the moment is my favourite of the late night hosts (followed closely by Jimmy Kimmel), here is the video of them performing 'Like a hedgehog doing karate', it really is brilliant:

True Blood promo posters 9-11

2010-06-07T13:27:00.000+01:00

With just under a week to go until the start of the third season of True Blood and the promotional campaign in full flow, here are the promo posters 9-11, which cover several areas of the show:

Number 9:

Number 10:

Number 11:

Shifters, Bill and what the show is named after are covered here (of which we got a bottle in the HBO store in New York on holiday, we got it home safely and are yet to drink it, but I'm looking forward to the blood orange drink). I'm really looking forward to the new season and word from the critics who have had advanced screeners seems to be very positive. I also wonder what is in store for the final poster of this series.

Photos courtesy of HBO and MTV

Normal transmission will shortly resume

2010-06-05T13:33:00.001+01:00

So I took a holiday at possibly the busiest time in a TV season, right when all the finales happen and there is so much that I need to catch up on a write about. This will occur when my brain is less muddled and the jet lag has gone. Of course most importantly is the Lost finale which I loved and really need to see again before I can fully be happy to write about it. The same goes for Fringe and Bones, both of which I watched on the day of my arrival on holiday which was seen through a similar hazy jet lag mind, rewatch is needed for both. So to unpacking and the Chuck finale and then I will be set hopefully.

Undercovers and Lonestar

2010-05-18T14:37:00.000+01:00

Having had a quick look at the offerings from NBC and Fox at this years upfronts the two shows that I am most anticipating are Undercovers and Lonestar. Undercovers is the new spy caper from JJ Abrams that mixes romance, action and comedy, as I have previously said the Abrams stamp on a show will at least mean that I will watch the pilot and will most likely mean that I will fall in love with the show:

Lonestar will air on Fox and tells the story of a con man, which Fox exec Kevin Reilly referred to as being 'a modern day Dallas'. It stars Jon Voight as the head of a multi-million dollar company whose daughter (played by Friday Night Lights' Adrianne Palicki) is married to Bob Allen, the con man of the piece who leads a double life. This does look like it could be a bit soapy, something that I normally watch shows like Gossip Girl for but I was definitely drawn in by the promo:

Fox mid season will be launching the sci-fi adventure Terra Nova that has Steven Spielberg at the helm and may or may not be starring Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) as the father of a family who travel back to prehistoric times. This was referred to as being "one of the most ambitious shows ever created for television" so I am looking forward to what might come from this, after all I will need something to fill the giant Lost hole that will be created at the end of this Sunday.

Chuck finale promo

2010-05-18T14:20:00.000+01:00

Before I go on holiday I just wanted to post a quick couple of things, first up the Chuck season 3 finale promo. This looks set to be quite a double episode and it will be even better knowing that Chuck will be returning this autumn for a fourth season. I am glad to see that Ellie is finally getting involved more even if she is inadvertently screwing everything up and it will be interesting to see what kind of cliffhanger/game changer that will occur to mark the end of this season:

True Blood season 3 promo

2010-05-17T12:56:00.000+01:00

HBO are now in full swing with their True Blood season 3 campaign, from minisodes to the twelve promo posters that are getting released until the June 13th start date. After all the teasers proclaiming that 'Waiting Sucks' a full length promo has been released that looks set to amp the interest toward this third season. This has definitely worked for me as after seeing this I am definitely looking forward to seeing this season and I am glad that there looks like there will be an interesting Jessica story, werewolves are coming to Bon Temps, developments between Sookie and Eric and where is Bill? Who is the guy with Tara? And many more flashes of what looks to be an action filled season:

Chuck renewal and other TV news

2010-05-14T11:40:00.000+01:00

So this is a super busy week in TV land with finales, pick ups, renewals and cancellations happening all over the place, the one cancellation that I have been worried about as I was last year was Chuck, but word is that NBC are renewing it for a fourth season! The official word from NBC has not been stated though sources say that there has been an initial order for 13 episodes, this is all coming exclusively from Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello and many of the other TV websites have all but confirmed this, including my very own favourite (and huge Chuck fan) Alan Sepinwall. The official word will likely come on Sunday when NBC announces their schedule for the autumn.
Sepinwall has suggested that the best pairing for Chuck this year would be the new JJ Abrams spy show Undercovers which is one of the new series that I am most looking forward to as I am a sucker for anything with the Abrams stamp on it. This is also the first pilot that Abrams has directed since Lost and considering how much I love Alias I am confident that this will be another good show. Fox have picked up the other show that I am excited for is the comedy Running Wilde which stars Will Arnett and Keri Russel with Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz attached as well. This looks promising so lets hope it is a success and isn't cancelled too early like the aforementioned Arrested Development which also aired on Fox, lightening can strike twice just ask Joss Whedon.
The slew of cancellations this week has gone up, with ABC announcing yesterday that Flashforward is a goner. Out of all the other cancellations this is the only one that I watch and whilst I thought the show was kinda stupid it has definitely had its moments and I really like the cast. I expect that because they have wrapped before this cancellation that it will be left pretty open ended which I'm sure will be irritating. Where will the cast of Lost and British actors in Hollywood now go? ABC also ditched Scrubs and Better Off Ted, the latter being a show that I quite wanted to see after hearing nothing but good stuff, the former really should have just ended last year. The big cancellation rumour yesterday came courtesy of the peacock with word coming down that the twenty season long Law and Order was ending, no official word on this though, this is the longest running drama on TV so will be weird if it is over, I'm sure there will be reruns forever though. For any updates the best place to go is to Michael Ausiello's 'Renewal Scorecard' page as he is always up to date and a good source for exclusives.
Other than that I just finished watching The Vampire Diaries finale which was so so good and needs an entire post of it's own which will be up later. Bones this week was also a strong lead in to next weeks finale with the Gravedigger going to trial and I'm just about to settle down with part one of the Fringe finale, hoping that it continues the streak of excellence.

Lost props Auction

2010-05-13T13:24:00.000+01:00

Want to own a piece of Lost history? Well you can, for a price. This summer there will be a huge auction of props from the six seasons of Lost, ranging from passports, to weapons, to jewellery to Dharma equipment as well as many more props. There is a preview of a hundred of these items up at the Profiles in History auction site and it really is a treasure trove, and going through the pages there were many things big and small that I would love to own, highlights include:

Ben's Swiss and Canadian Dean Moriarty passport:

Charlie's acoustic guitar:

Desmond's photograph of himself and Penny:

Locke's Backgammon Set:

Sawyer's Letter and Penny's Letter:

Dharma Beer:

There are many, many other items that are on there which I would love, this is just a snap shot, now where to find all the money for these. What piece of Lost history would you like to own?

Lost fan art for sale

2010-05-13T12:39:00.000+01:00

A while back I wrote about an artist Ty Mattson and his collection of Lost fan art, the good news is that these prints will be available for purchase on the ABC website, the first design to go on sale is the smoke monster:

There is a variety of merchandise available for each design, ranging from screen prints to t-shirts and mugs. This is really exciting and I am very pleased for Ty Mattson as these designs really do evoke what the show is about. If you want to check out more of his work head to his site.
I still think that a book should be produced to demonstrate the impressive volume of work that some Lost fans have put in regarding artistic renderings of their interpretations of the show, if this would be possible I would be first on board with buying as this site has shown that the work of fans has been truly brilliant and extensive. Would copyright infringement be a huge issue or could we get ABC on board?

True Blood promo poster 8

2010-05-13T12:09:00.000+01:00

HBO have released poster 8 and this time things are getting hairy:

Werewolves have been mentioned before on the show and this is suggesting that we will be getting to see some this season, wonder how they will get on with the rest of our characters?

Hurley and six seasons of 'dude'

2010-05-13T12:00:00.000+01:00

The good folks over at Jezebel have compiled a video of all the many times that Hurley has said 'dude' in the six seasons of Lost, it's a pretty extensive video and it is pretty cool to see the 6 seasons in this montage and all the different occasions that 'dude' has been used. Hurley is probably my overall favourite character from the entire run and I am looking forward to how he will feature in the final two episodes. As I have done before I will do so again but I urge all big Lost fans to listen to his podcast which he produces every week with his girlfriend Bethany Shady, check it out here at Geronimo Jack's Beard. I must warn you that if you listen to it in public you may get some strange looks as I did as it is hard not to laugh too load whilst listening and I just ended up looking like a smirking idiot, but it's worth it all the same.

Lost: 'Across the Sea' and the issue of answers

2010-05-12T15:17:00.004+01:00

Last night's episode of Lost seems to have provoked a heated debate on several of the message boards that I frequent (Television Without Pity, Entertainment Weekly and Hit Fix) with fans ranging from loving 'Across the Sea' to just as many crying foul on the Jacob/Man in Black origins story. I fall mainly in to the first camp as I really liked the episode but I do understand that there were issues and I think that it could have come at an earlier point in the season. This is the third from last episode and I like many others would have enjoyed spending it more with the characters we have known for the last six years, though it was a ballsy move to have this instalment here with none of the regular cast. As I have said I did enjoyed the episode as a whole but it has definitely left me with the 'something missing' feeling that was being expressed by several viewers on Twitter last night. One thing that wasn't missing for me which seems to have pissed off quite a few people is not knowing Man in Blacks name, at this point for me I think whatever name he is given will be a disappointment, much in the same way that when it was revealed what Big's name was in Sex and the City it was such a non exciting reveal, I'm fine with Man in Black.
What this episode got me thinking about was whether this season has been provoking a different reaction in the audience because we know that this is the final season? The simple answer to this is yes, of course episodes are viewed differently knowing that the end is in sight, but is this preventing some from enjoying this season as a whole and will there be more enjoyment when it can be watched back as a whole without the worry of what will happen at the end? This is another trend that I have been seeing recently is fear of what the final episode will bring, that to have spent six years invested in a show like this will not bring about a resolution that is satisfactory and there will be disappointment. What will be satisfactory any way? There are different parts of the show that viewers enjoy, some are rabid about the mythology side, others prefer the more character based stories and I'm sure there are some out there who just want to know who Kate will end up, once again I am a little of all of these (not so bothered about the Kate/Sawyer/Jack triangle, I'm all about Penny and Desmond), so I figure that I will be quite easily satisfied with the resolution.
There are obviously those who have the ending of the show written already in their mind and I don't think that they will ever be satisfied with whatever Lindelof and Cuse comes up with, in fact as they have already acknowledged there will be people that won't be satisfied. Should this give people cause for concern? What I think would be best would be to just go will the flow, enjoy these last 3 and a half hours of television and then either rejoice or bitch about it afterwards.
Lost as well seems to provoke such a strong reaction from it's audience, more so than many other TV shows and I find it hard to believe that people are crying 'Jump the Shark' and proclaiming that they are no longer fans of the show this late in the game (I have seen these sentiments on the various message boards today). The fact that people have spent so much time with this show and with these characters, whether it is watching them on TV or theorising online it is not surprising that there is such a strong reaction, passion is not in short supply when it comes to Lost fandom. This is a good quality to have, but could this passion in turn be ruining this season for some with a preoccupation as to how the show will end, what questions will be asked, what does it all mean? Is there too much pressure on this aspect of the show that some fans are finding this season hard to enjoy?
What I am trying to say really is this, there is still time for satisfaction, this season has produced some excellent episodes and it will interesting to see how people view 'Across the Sea' when it all ends, if it had aired where 'Ab Aeterno' was for example would there be this bother over this episode? I'm sure there would still be an unhappy contingent but timing definitely seems to be one of the issues, pacing being another problem that some have suggested with this episode.
To cool down from this polarising episode check out this sketch from last night's Jimmy Kimmel which features a very funny appearance from Jacob and Man in Black:

Fringe: longer season finale promo

2010-05-12T13:05:00.001+01:00

A longer promo has been released by Fox for Thursday's Fringe which is part 1 of the season finale, this will air over 2 weeks, rather than in one two hour block. I am really excited for this finale and this promo makes the whole thing seem very movie like, it really does look like it is going to be very ambitious as we finally will be spending much time on the other side and will get to see that there is more than one of everything (well almost everything). I'm also looking forward to how the other world will differ from our world, like in last seasons finale there were small touches such as seeing that JFK was still alive via the newspaper and big touches such as the World Trade Centre still standing. In the promo we can see some of these differences and I will let you see for yourself, I think this latter half of the season has been particularly strong and I think that this finale looks like it will hold up to this standard:

Even more Lost fan art.

2010-05-11T14:22:00.000+01:00

Here are some more Lost posters from gideonslife that I thought were so good that I needed to share and if you check his flickr stream daily there are always new additions:

Season 5: The Little Prince

Season 5: The Incident

Season 6: Happily Ever After

Newsweek and the debate about gay actors playing straight

2010-05-11T14:05:00.001+01:00

Right after I wrote a piece praising Newsweek and looking at the decline of print journalism I saw the story that has lit up the blogosphere about whether the issue of gay actors playing straight characters. This piece appeared as an online exclusive on April 26th and has received much attention, especially after actress Kristin Chenoweth defended her co-star Sean Hayes (who the article referred to) and denounced the article which was written by Ramin Setoodeh on Friday 7th. What comes as a surprise is that the author of this article is himself a gay man and that the writing seems to be homophobic in suggesting that a straight man can easily play a gay man but when it comes to a gay person playing straight he believes that so far there have been no credible cases.The main argument from Setoodeh article (which is entitled 'Straight Jacket') regarding Hayes is that his character plays "like he's trying to hide something, which of course he is". This assumption that because of his real life sexual orientation he cannot play straight and make an audience believe it seems utterly preposterous, I can name many examples of other actors and incidents in their real lives that don't distract me from their performance, one would be the recent stories of David Boreanaz's infidelity which don't then make me think that his character in Bones is a cheat as well, as a viewer I can distinguish between the real world and the fictitious world and I'm sure that most other people can as well. There are probably some that this might be an issue for but really in the 21st Century should we be playing to the mind set of the bigoted? In her reply to this article Chenoweth succinctly wrote that

"Audiences aren't giving a darn about who a person is sleeping with or his personal life. Give me a break! We're actors first, whether we're playing prostitutes, baseball players or the Lion King."

Another incredulous point in this article is that the examples he gives of gay actors who play straight characters is that they playing broad caricatures and so don't seem to matter in this debate, here he is talking about Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) and Portia de Rossi (Arrested Development, Better Off Ted). This point is absurd because even though these characters are part of comedy shows and some of their actions and storylines could be considered exaggerations their portrayals deserve to be counted (the writer counters with the examples of Up in the Air and The Proposal as such solid non-caricature portrayals, think of that what you will). Surely one of Barney's main attributes is his womanising and at no point do I ever think that his actions aren't believable. In this argument does he think that Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf or Magneto doesn't count as believable because they are characters who are in the realm of science fiction and fantasy?

There are many other examples of openly gay actors playing straight parts in film, television and on the stage and surely the issue should not be about whether some one is gay or straight as to whether they can play a role, but it should be about the quality of the acting, surely that is the benchmark. Maybe Setoodah just thought that Hayes' performance was bad and just decided to make it a question of sexuality rather than just acting. This antiquated idea of openly gay actors having trouble convincing an audience that they can play straight may be a reason why there are supposedly so many actors still in the closet and articles like this one really do not help with the idea that they can come out and be comfortable with their sexuality and who they are which in 2010 seems like such a ridiculous idea but really still is an issue. I will leave it Krisitn Chenoweth to sum this up:

"Lastly, as someone who's been proudly advocating for equal rights and supporting GLBT causes for as long as I can remember, I know how much it means to young people struggling with their sexuality to see out & proud actors like Sean Hayes, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris and Cynthia Nixon succeeding in their work without having to keep their sexuality a secret. No one needs to see a bigoted, factually inaccurate article that tells people who deviate from heterosexual norms that they can't be open about who they are and still achieve their dreams. I am told on good authority that Mr. Setoodeh is a gay man himself and I would hope, as the author of this article, he would at least understand that. I encourage Newsweek to embrace stories which promote acceptance, love, unity and singing and dancing for all!"

The decline of the print media, can it be saved?

2010-05-10T17:18:00.001+01:00

This is something slightly different to what I normally write about, but is something that I am also passionate about, inspired by The Daily Show interview with John Meacham.

I love magazines. I love newspapers. My love for print media is not reflected in sales which have been in decline for some time in this age of instant news making some publications seem irrelevant in this digital era. After seeing Newsweek editor John Meacham on The Daily Show last week on the day that it was announced that the 71 year old magazine was for sale it is clear that this is an issue that will not go away. He spoke of how the magazine needed to refocus the style of its content, to use the Newsweek website as the main focus for the output of stories with the magazine being an accumulation of those weeks stories so for anyone who would still like the magazine it is available but so is the web content. There was an overhaul of the style of Newsweek a year ago to combat the problems that digital media presents. He also spoke of the problem that people no longer want to pay for their news which will be reflected in the quality of this news; the decline of the print media will in theory show a decline in the quality of the content.

In this era of Twitter, Facebook and blogs where everybody can have an opinion that can instantly be accessed by millions it is easy to see why print media is having such problems. Reporters are still needed to report the news for people to have something to comment on, which is important, though with these social networking sites, unpaid people rather than reporters can report the news first and have photos and video instantly uploaded on to the web to show what is going on. I have a blog, a Twitter and a Facebook account, though I would not call myself a journalist. I have a Masters degree and I am still trying to find my footing in this environment that I would like to work in and because of blogs and Twitter my voice can be heard by a larger audience. However, if this means that this will lead to the decline of the print media it is not a good evolution for the dispatch of information. It is somewhat of a catch 22, the advances of online writing are leading to the decline of the print media but is there a way that the two can be happy bedfellows?

The introduction of the iPad is being touted as the saviour of the magazine industry by some as magazine content will be available for a price to be read on the iPad (there are iPhone apps available for several magazines at the moment as well). However not all commentators believe this to be the case; detractors such as Paul Michelman for the Harvard Business Review claim that this is far from a reality as they don’t seem to be thinking of the reader but looking only to serve a business model which will look like circulation numbers are improving. By ignoring the reader the numbers will surely only improve to a certain amount and then will no doubt see a downturn again.

I’m not sure what can save the print media, I don’t know if I am archaic for wanting the physical item; magazines, newspapers, books, DVDs, CDs I want the actual thing, not a copy on my computer. I want to hold it, have the case, look at the art work, flick through the pages. It is because of this that I still buy and subscribe to magazines such as Entertainment Weekly (thought the nightmare that I have had with the delivery of this subscription is severely testing my patience- another story to be told one day), Vanity Fair, Vogue, Marie Claire and many others. I like looking at the adverts and reading from cover to cover so I would not be satisfied with a digital copy, but am I that common in this respect, would most just like the digital version?

I think what needs to be done and is definitely being explored by those currently working in this industry is a marriage between the two, so each kind of reader can get what they want, so the quality writers behind publications such as Newsweek can still produce excellent work and so the regular people on Twitter can also have their say. I sincerely hope that Newsweek gets a buyer soon and as Meacham said on The Daily Show, they are still open for business, the magazines doors are still open and I hope that this remains the case for this magazine and many others that are also struggling.

The Pacific: approaching the conclusion

2010-05-10T16:25:00.001+01:00

Last night part 9 of The Pacific aired and whilst I really didn't think that it was possible for this mini series to visit darker and more brutal territory it once again raised the bar for the hell that was witnessed and suffered in this war for both those fighting it and those civilians caught in the crossfire. I have not written much about this mini series which is no reflection as to how I feel about it, in fact I intended to write about the completed version of the show, however after yet another superb instalment I feel that it is fair that I begin my appreciation of this extensive series now.

Band of Brothers it is isn't which is not a bad thing. With Band of Brothers we were taken on the tour of Europe with the same company of men throughout and this worked with the type of story they were telling for that show, Band of Brothers is one of my favourite all time programmes so I really did not want The Pacific to be a redraft of this in a South Pacific setting as it would not have done service to those who had fought in this war to rehash the same story twice. Instead we have been shown the journeys of three very different men and how this war was for them and this method of storytelling has been successful overall. At times at the start of the series it felt perhaps too fragmented, especially when Sledge was still at home in Alabama, however with this minor gripe aside I thought this narrative device worked. Where the first half of the series belonged primarily to Leckie (James Badge Dale), the latter half has mostly been Sledge's and this has been exemplified by strong performances by Joseph Mazello as Sledge and his partner in battle Remi Malek as Snafu who week by week have delved in to the madness and desperation of war with utter conviction.

The final instalment looks like it will be focusing on what happens to the men who fought and lived when the war is over, was Sledge's father right to think that his 'soul would be ripped out' by everything that he would see?

Photo courtesy of HBO

Lost finale news

2010-05-06T12:27:00.001+01:00

No finale spoilers here of leaked pages, just the awesome news that the finale is now a whopping 2 and a half hours. This with a pre show 'previously on Lost' plus the post show Jimmy Kimmel special 'Aloha to Lost' means that Sunday the 23rd on ABC is going to be an all Lost night. I'm going to be watching at friends in Baltimore area and I'm very excited for this night (though I am sad that I'm not going to be watching the show with my usual Lost friends as I will be on holiday on the East Coast of the US) but I think that it will be a great night and I am looking forward to the group festivities. Lost for me has always been a show that I watch with friends and the few occasions that I have watched the show solo have never been as good as when a group is together. But it's almost over now and after the heartbreak of this weeks episode and next weeks 'Across the Sea' being an episode that will apparently be very special (that is all I know and want to know at this point) I am very excited (and sad) as to how it will end.
Also kudos to Lost for making Jack really likeable this season, I really did not think that was possible. You lose points for all the casualties this week, even if it was inevitable that some of the majors were going to bite it.

True Blood promo poster 7: Vamp Stamp

2010-05-06T11:45:00.000+01:00

Poster number 7 has been unveiled:

This poster campaign has been spot on so far, exploring many facets of the show and those characters that inhabit this world, this time looking at the so called 'fang bangers'. Though I'm not sure if that plaster would be all that effective with a vampire wound, might need something a bit bigger.

Photo courtesy of HBO.

Twitter and Lost

2010-05-04T12:02:00.000+01:00

A few weeks back I wrote about how Twitter has had an impact on television and how the writers of shows now have another platform to communicate with fans. This is no more evident than last night when both Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse tweeted in regards to the Lost finale:

"We're done. Amen."

I've not much to say on this other than thanks to outlets such as Twitter there is now a way for information to be passed between the creative forces behind these TV shows and those people that watch in a way that has not existed before. Also this tweet has made the end of Lost feel as close as this is; in under three weeks it will be done. Can't believe it will be over soon.

Conan on 60 minutes

2010-05-03T12:53:00.000+01:00

Last night Conan O'Brien appeared on TV for the first time since he left The Tonight Show back in January. The interview took place on CBS's 60 minutes and can be viewed in full below. It is both the portrait of a man who is still deeply hurt by the whole affair and of someone who is aware that his situation though bad wasn't the worst thing that could have happened and unlike his audience who believe that he was screwed over by Jay Leno he doesn't see it this way (though his reaction to the notion that Leno thought they were both screwed over is priceless). It is good to see him back on TV, showing both humility and comedic thoughts about what went on at NBC during this period of change and that he still is not a cynical man. I look forward to when he is back on television in November on TBS.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

More Lost fan creativity

2010-04-29T12:55:00.000+01:00

So the Lost creative fan train continues, this time one viewer is creating a movie like poster for every episode of the six season run, so far there is one for the first four seasons.Each poster shows an important moment and quote from the episode. This extensive challenge by gideonslife can be seen at Flickr and should be checked out not just for the size of this project but for the brilliance of the collection, I have attempted to pick out my favourites (which was hard and I'm not sure if I've done the pictures justice), one from each of the four seasons that has been covered so far:

Season 1: White Rabbit

Season 2: Abandoned

Season 3: Par Avion

Season 4: The Shape of Things to Come

I'm looking forward to what is in store for the posters for seasons 5 and 6 and in a Lostless week I have really enjoyed looking through these posters.

I know there was the Lost art project that occurred before season 6 begun but it would be really great if there was a way to preserve and present all the work that fans are making to celebrate this final season of Lost. As this blog can testify there is a lot of cool stuff that is being done regarding Lost and I appreciate that the internet already can distribute these images to many and to preserve them, it would be super though if they could become something tangible that could be held.

I am a sucker for this, I would rather buy a CD or a DVD than download it, or buy a magazine than read the articles online, or buy a book than have a Kindle, am I the only one, or are there others that would like to see a Lost fan art book/collection happen?

True Blood promo poster 6 and season 3 cast photo

2010-04-29T11:48:00.001+01:00

Promo poster number 6 was released exclusively to AOL Television, they speculate that more shapeshifters could be introduced in season 3:

And here is the full cast photo that HBO released this week:

With just over a month to go until the third season HBO have really stepped up the promotion for this season with this poster campaign. The first minisode is now also available online with everyones favourite Fangtastia residents Eric and Pam.

Fringe: Brown Betty Promo 2

2010-04-27T15:20:00.004+01:00

This second promo looks awesome, really looking forward to this:

Chuck vs the Honeymooners

2010-04-27T12:43:00.001+01:00

Chuck returned last night with a strong episode that should go some way as to reassure people that your 'will they/won't they' couple can hook up and for it to lead to a stronger show. Yes we are only an episode in to this pairing so I might be jumping the gun a little but it felt so natural to have Chuck and Sarah as a real couple rather than the cover story couple that we have seen on and off for the past three seasons that it seems that it will only reinforce the show and not hinder the story.

From the opening scene (which featured a great song choice of 'Holiday' by Vampire Weekend) I had a smile plastered over my face, and as noted in other reviews of this episode it was so nice for it to be generally angst free and to see Sarah happy for once. The downer from this episode coming from a drunk Ellie, who downed may shots during the acoustic Jeffster rendition of 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' who was disappointed that her brother wasn't there to say goodbye, or rather disappointed that she thought she was leaving him alone. It was great to see Jeffster do something a bit more low key and the turtlenecks were a great wardrobe choice.

Another development that occurred in the previous episode was Morgan being officially integrated in to Team Bartowski and this led to some particularly funny exchanges between him and Casey, an unlikely partnership that I think will prove to be a chaotic success in the remaining episodes of this season. The call back to when Chuck and Casey were tied to a chair and Casey used Chuck as the weapon was a great touch with Morgan now in the place of Chuck. The fight sequences on a whole were ambitious, particularly the handcuffed Sarah and Chuck moments which worked very well, showing more scope for his intersect kung-fu and the fact there are still things that he won't do, in this case hitting a woman (Oh Canada).

Also what's in a name? Charles Charles, brilliant.

Other great musical moments came courtesy of the Polyphonic Spree 'Light and Day' and Chuck's choice for what was to be Sarah's favourite song; Nina Simone with 'Feeling Good'. This was a surprise choice, I figured that they would go with something more recent but I like that he goes for a classic. Once again the song choices in this show have been brilliant, incorporating new and old, which is why I would love for a soundtrack to be released by Chop Shop Records for this show.

Next weeks episode 'Chuck vs the Role Models' also looks like another doozy, enjoy the promo:

True Blood promo poster 5

2010-04-26T15:06:00.000+01:00

Continuing the 12 part poster promotion for season 3 of True Blood is this Bill Compton centric affair in the style of missing kids on milk cartons with a bloody twist:

Source

Fringe- Brown Betty Preview

2010-04-26T15:05:00.001+01:00

Since Fringe has returned from the mid season break it really has gone from strength to strength and found a way to blend the monster of the week episodes with the over arching mythology of the series as a whole. This was an issue at the start of this second season but those issues have been ironed out and now the show is producing some of the finest episodes on TV at the moment.

Last weeks episode featured the moment that we have all been waiting for since the end of season one; Peter finding out that he is not from this universe. This is the moment that the series has been building to for the whole of this season and produced some of the best work that this show has offered yet, performances of heartbreak coming from both Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Walter (John Noble). This coming so soon after Peter calls Walter Dad for the first time in years showed how far they had come since the pilot and therefore how much was going to be lost when Peter figured out why Walter has been more of an emotional mess of late.

It is unclear from the promo for this next episode 'Brown Betty' how much this will be a diversion from the path the show has been taking for these past few episodes or if this is just the way Walter is trying to deal with Peter disappearing. What we do know is that this episode in part is a musical one, taking part in Fox Music Week and that the style of it evokes film noir. I am definitely intrigued and looking forward to this episode of Fringe and here is the promo to wet your appetite as well:

All new Chuck tonight

2010-04-26T12:36:00.001+01:00

The break is over and Chuck is back tonight with the first of a six episode run, there is still no word on whether the show will get a fourth season, but I will keep my fingers crossed, watch the episode and hope that many more out there will do the same. This is the first episode with Chuck and Sarah as a real couple, a development that is definitely a welcome one and one that won't be in a similar vein as the much touted 'Moonlighting curse'. From what I can see in the promos and from what we have seen in the show that has got us to this point the chemistry between these two characters is fantastic and should not suffer from this relationship status change. Chuck fan and TV critic Alan Sepinwall has long championed these two as a couple and over in his column he details why this is indeed a good thing.

Here is also a bonus sneak peek from next weeks 'Chuck vs the Role Models' that isn't really spoilery but just a great example of why certain other developments involving Morgan this season opens up all kinds of possibilities:

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report: Indecision 2012

2010-04-20T18:46:00.001+01:00

More good TV news today, both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report have been renewed until the end of 2012 (and through to 2013 for The Daily Show). This is a big deal for fans of both shows at it means that they will be covering the 2012 election and the Indecision years have been particularly strong for both shows and for both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and do see a rise in ratings. It has been referred to as being like an 'Olympic year' for these shows when the election is on and so it makes sense to lock them in now. Also a factor that may or may not have effected this is that Conan O'Brien will be direct competition when his show launches on the TBS network in November. Hopefully this will lead to some more on screen rivalry last witnessed during the writers strike (this is a behind the scenes video of the fight, some pretty funny stuff):

Lost Tarot Cards

2010-04-20T14:39:00.000+01:00

Once again another awesome addition to the ever growing creative output that has been inspired by this last season of Lost, this time a series of Tarot cards for each of the main characters. These come from graphic designer Alex Griendling, you can see the full set here but I thought I would share with you some of my favourites from the pack:

I'm looking forward to what other creations that people will come up with between now and the end of May regarding this show, all of this reveals that Lost really has stirred up something and will deservedly hold a place in television history. It would be great if items such as these cards could become available so that there will be many tangible pieces once the show is off the air that go beyond the DVD and Blu-Ray sets.

TV news round up: Friday Night Lights edition

2010-04-20T14:22:00.001+01:00

-Kyle Chandler (Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights) has been made a "very lucrative offer" to star in the Steven Spielberg/ Peter Chernin produced TV pilot 'Terra Nova' for Fox. The show revolves around a family who travels back in time to the prehistoric dinosaur era, this sounds like it could be like the Flintstones but with Spielberg and Chandler on board I think this could be a new favourite of mine. Jurassic Park was such a big movie for me when I was a kid that the dinosaur factor instantly makes me interested. [Ausiello]
-More Friday Night Lights goodies; Scott Porter (Jason Street) has been confirmed as a returning character for season 5 in the seventh episode. Now lets hope that other ex Dillon residents that feature on executive producer Jason Katims' wish list; Gauis Charles (Smash), Zach Gilford (Saracen), Jesse Plemons (Landry), Taylor Kitsch (Riggins), Adrianne Palicki (Tyra) make an appearance as well. Friday Night Lights has balanced the burden of the short life of a high school show well, with characters leaving at the appropriate time but then also making appearances down the line. This factor is another reason why the show works so well and why it is a shame that it is not watched by more people. [Ausiello]
-Speaking of Friday Night Lights it's set to air the fourth season on NBC on May 7th, spread the word, even if you have seen it already watch it again, this trailer gave me major goose bumps:

Christina Hendricks: A woman that is loved

2010-04-20T13:01:00.001+01:00

The latest issue of Esquire to hit news stands in the US features Mad Men star Christina Hendricks who has been voted by the readers of Esquire as the 'Best Looking Woman in America' receiving 30% of the vote out of the 10,000 women surveyed. Coming in second and third were actress Megan Fox and model Adrianna Lima.

This seems like a no brainer to me, my boyfriend has a huge crush on her (curves plus red hair equals a big win for him) as do all the guys who I know that watch Mad Men, even I have a crush on her. It also shows that you really don't have to be a stick for guys to like you and that the comments that were made about her at the Golden Globes were as stupid as they seemed then.

I'm really looking forward to the new season of Mad Men and where they will be taking Joan's character next season considering how things were left in the superb finale, to tide you over until then check out this brilliant scene between Joan and Don from season 3 episode 6 'Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency':

Mad Men set for 6 seasons

2010-04-19T13:18:00.001+01:00

Some brief Mad Men news this week with an announcement that seemed a little out of the blue; Matt Weiner stated at this weeks National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Vegas that his hit series had reached the half way mark and that he only intends it to last three more seasons. This makes a lot of sense regarding the type of series that Mad Men is and I would find it hard to see the series enter in to the seventies when one of the concerns of this show revolves around the many changes that occurred in the sixties. It is always better for a show to run its natural course rather than to keep churning out stories that are of a sub par level and I think by revealing an ideal amount of seasons that is the desired amount allows for more creative excellence that we have come to expect from this series.

Update: AMC sent out an email which is trying to play down this announcement stating:

"No one wants to see Don Draper wearing a leisure suit. We trust Matthew's vision and that he knows where to take the show. But with that said, M*A*S*H figured how to stretch the Korean War for more than a decade, so stay tuned!"

In other Mad Men news shooting has begun on the fourth season, and paparazzi pictures show John Hamm on set, looking dapper again in his Don Draper attire (along with John Slattery):

Source
Photo Source

Fourth True Blood poster

2010-04-15T11:30:00.001+01:00

This time it is a Sam themed poster and continues the awesome quality of this promotional campaign:

Source

Twitter and the impact on TV

2010-04-13T18:01:00.000+01:00

I have been on Twitter for under a year now, getting to it a bit late after I stubbornly thought it was a giant waste of my time. It took me a while to warm to it, at first deciding that I was not going to bother posting but would instead just follow a handful of people, this has since led to tweeting over 400 times and now following over 200 people, not what I intended but I am glad that I have embraced this social network site.
The majority of people that I follow (that I don't actually know) seem to be people in the TV and film industry including actors, writers, critics, reporters and show runners so wherever a big TV news story occurs I get a feed full of comments on this one topic, for example yesterday the big topic that Conan was going to be on cable rather than network TV featured heavily on my feed for a few hours. This factor and an article in Variety about TV show runners becoming Hollywood stars in their own right has led me to explore the notion that Twitter has enhanced the relationship between the fans and those involved in their favourite TV shows which can have both positive and negative results.
First up the negative; a comment about an episode that has just aired in the US may spoil it for a fan in another country, or for simply some one who has yet to catch up with their DVR. This happened today on my feed; Mary Lynn Rajskub who plays Chloe on 24 retweeted another comment that mentioned a major characters death in the most recent episode. This has annoyed some who live in countries where it hasn't aired prompting Rajskub to ask "I guess I have to be careful commenting on others tweets that could be spoilers... Or is it fair game tue am". I am of the opinion that if you don't want to be spoiled then avoid such places as Twitter until you have seen the episode in question as once it has aired then it is fair game to be spoken about the next day. I will say that with last seasons Dexter finale I was glad that regarding the shocking ending that most people just wrote that it was a shock, and not what the actual shock was, but I normally take my own advice and stay clear of Twitter until I am caught up on shows that can be spoiled such as Lost.
There are many positive attributes that have come from Twitter in regards to the relationships between the fans and those involved with these shows and even with the people who write about these shows. A connection that previously was not this instant now exists (this too can be bad I imagine, as it now means that a fan can vent with a lot more ease at these people as well, requiring a thick skin to handle potential abuse). This can mean that satisfaction (and the ugly side which is dissatisfaction) can be shared immediately when an episode airs. It can also mean that sneak peaks can be given, whether it is a song shared by Josh Schwartz that will feature in a new episode of Chuck or whether it is a behind the scenes picture from shows like The Vampire Diaries (look to actor Ernesto Riley who plays Alaric) or Bones (creator Hart Hanson and executive produce Stephen Nathan are regular posters).
The promotional impact of Twitter for TV shows means that the ones that might be struggling with the ratings such as Chuck can have a further voice to show that there are many that do watch and will talk about these shows, thus endorsing them on another platform. As Julie Plec executive producer on Vampire Diaries stated in the article for Variety "In my opinion, watching a Twitter feed during an episode of our show is a built-in focus group. They react to everything -- and it's fascinating because (over time) you get to witness your fan community as it builds and grows." This community consists of both regular TV watchers and those reporters and critics that get paid to write about these shows, in the Twitter world each now has a voice when it comes to opinions on these shows that can now be seen as more than just a figure for Nielsen ratings. Though the Nielsen ratings are still important in keeping shows on the air, the phrase 'Hack Nielsen' entered the Chuck fan community vocabulary a few weeks back and was seen on Twitter a lot before the last episode aired.
The impact of Twitter on TV as a whole is hard to see at this point but it must be said that for something that I thought would be inconsequential a year ago is something I now use daily. It is also something that I might have written about in my academic career as when I wrote my Masters dissertation on authorship in TV and whether it is possible in this post network era Twitter had not really exploded at this point. If it was where it is now I wonder if some of my conclusions would have been different as Twitter really has further given an identity to some of those people who are behind the shows that are big on TV now and the factor of fandom was one that was important in the construction of ideas of authorship. I look forward to seeing where this is all going and whether I will be able to get another study out regarding the state of authorship in TV in a few years time when the impact of social networking sites such as Twitter becomes more obvious.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

2010-04-12T12:25:00.000+01:00

I'm a few days late with seeing these videos but thought they were just to brilliant not to share. Recently Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has had some brilliant moments including Brian Williams slow jamming the news, however last weeks second episode of the Glee parody 6-bee was particularly inspired and featured the Park and Recreations cast and house band The Roots:

This was followed by a reunion of the SNL Weekend Update cast (Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Seth Myers and Jimmy himself) playing a rather funny game of charades:

Bones 100th

2010-04-09T12:14:00.000+01:00

Spoilers ahead for the 100th episode of Bones:

Happy 100th episode to Bones, and what an episode it was that showed the first time Brennan and Booth worked together and finally had the idea of them as a couple really being addressed by these two characters rather than everyone else around them. Bones (the show) in the past has irked some viewers (myself included) in some of these big moment episodes, such as Zack being Gormogon's assistant and last seasons coma finale. However I think that this episode hit all the right notes and even with some retcon action, the story worked with how we met these characters in the pilot, as two people who had obviously had some conflict in the past and with Brennan really not wanting to work with Booth again.

The case was even similar in some aspects as the one in the pilot, a young woman is murdered, most likely by some one who is high up in the system and there is little evidence to support this on the surface which is why the team at the Jeffersonian has to be bought in. The fact that it was Cam that suggested Brennan to Booth seems a little tenuous but she did work in the New York coroners office making it possible and it was nice to see a bit of character interaction between her and Booth when they have said before that they have known each other for years.

All the squints were there and seeing Zack having a full blown awkward exchange with Booth and his conflict with Hodgins was superb and made me miss him all over again (on a side note are they ever going to resolve the fact that Zack didn't actually kill anyone and that Sweets is the only one that knows this?). Hodgins was experiencing his anger problems that we have seen before where he has had to employ the elastic band on the wrist method. It was good to see the origin of the experiments and that Zack as ever played the role of the murder victim. Showing how Brennan and Angela became friends was also a nice touch, due to her art showing an impressive command of underlying structure and that the reason she took the job was to save money to move to Paris. The Angelator 1.0 as a flip picture book was also brilliant especially when Federal Prosecutor Caroline (another favourite) suggested that a big fancy computer would be needed to sell the re-enactment to a jury.

Now to Booth and Brennan, she liked it when he called her Bones at first and there was major flirtation which ended in a tequila induced kiss, that is all nothing more, a moment missed. This moment missed that turned in to the bickering that we have known since the show started. This bickering turned in to much more in this case with Brennan slapping Booth hard across the face when he had escorted her out of his office forcibly by the arm. This defensive streak we saw in Brennan earlier in the episode when she struck the suspect in the nose twice and was something that was employed early in the series, that when Brennan felt threatened we saw that she was more than capable of defending herself. It is at this point that she says that she hates Booth and wants him to stop calling her Bones, a trend she continues at the start of season 1 (not the hate so much but the nickname Bones). Despite this horrible end to the first case she has definitely had a huge impact on him, he stops gambling, he starts wearing items of clothes that set him apart from his rigorous uniform which has continued till the present day.

Now to the present day, Sweets realises that most of the conclusions he draws in his book are right for the wrong reasons, that they are in love but one of them has to admit first, the stalemate has to be broken and because Booth is the gambler it has to be him. The pair leave a frustrated Sweets with a book in ruins and no conclusion but of course the episode doesn't end there.

It continues out side in front of a sign that must be a nod to last seasons finale that says:

"Nothing happens unless first a dream" - Carl Sandburg

It is here that Booth, the gambler does make the first move breaking the stalemate and confessing what the audience and most of the supporting characters have known for a long time that he is in love with her:
"When you talk to older couples who, you know, have been in love for 30 or 40 or 50 years, alright, it's always the guy who says, 'I knew.' I knew. Right from the beginning... I'm that guy. Bones, I'm that guy. I know.
Unfortunately for Booth and the screaming audience at home Brennan responds not with happiness but with this:
"I am not a gambler. I am a scientist. I can't change. I don't know how... I don't know how."
Not the ending that that was hoped for but this statement allows them to move on, and I think in this moving on Brennan will realise that she can change and gamble and that for the show this is a good direction as it allows for more stories and more conflict. The fact that after all this they can still walk away together arm in arm shows that they can still work together and that there is definitely more to come where these two are involved.
A job very well done from the Bones team and a special mention should go to David Boreanez who was not only fantastic in this episode but also did a fantastic job directing it.
The promo for next weeks episode reveals a creepy special guest star and another episode that looks to be promising, enjoy:

Photos courtesy of Fox

Random Mad Men cast and crew video

2010-04-08T13:36:00.000+01:00

The cast and crew of Mad Men performing Bye Bye Birdie, some in costume, some in the nude, some in character, some possibly inebriated:

Lost: Happily Ever After

2010-04-08T12:34:00.000+01:00

Warning spoilers for Lost 6.11 Happily Ever After:

"This doesn't matter. None of this matters. All that matters is that we felt it."

Desmond episodes are usually a special affair (Live Together, Die Alone, Flashes Before Your Eyes, The Constant) and this one certainly followed this pattern. It was 42 minutes of an exceptionally good Lost where partial explanations were given for what the sideways is (an effect of the nuke being detonated) and yet I am still confused as to what the hell is going on, which at this point I still like this brain seeping feeling that this show generates. I have no idea what Desmond's plan is after seeing this other time line and as to why he went with Sayid so calmly after seeing him break that guys neck like a twig escapes me but I am excited for the path that this show is going on and I am glad that Desmond is once again the key to the whole time line drama as he was always the character that seemed the exception to the rule.

The idea that it is love that is driving some of these characters could come across as trite but when you have characters such as Penny and Desmond the effect is the opposite and if these two can make it through the series I will be a very happy viewer. When Penny first appeared in the season 2 finale I was automatically hooked on these two being the one relationship that mattered in this show, forget the love triangle (or quadrangle as it became) it is these two that really matter and so to see them again in the sideways time line meeting for the first time was superb. The facilitators of this meeting being Charlie Pace and Daniel Faraday (or Widmore in the sideways) made it all the better, both of these character experiencing an intense feeling of love, with the island world bleeding in to the sideways world in some way. It made complete sense for it to be these two characters who influenced Desmond's sideways world considering how intrinsically they were linked on the island. Both Charlie and Daniel are favourites of mine and seeing the names Dominic Monaghan and Jeffery Davies in the opening titles ensured that this would be an excellent episode for me, for some reason I can't help but look at the names at the bottom of the screen which often ruins any kind of surprise but is something that I have no will power with.

I especially liked the call back to not Penny's boat and with the music used in this underwater scene incorporating the Michael Giacchino 'Looking Glass Half Full' track from when we first saw this message gave me goosebumps:

As a whole I really did think that this was a fantastic episode and I am so glad to see the return of Desmond and to see that he is as vital as I was hoping he was. Now for why he needs the passenger manifest in the sideways world, does he need to convince those on it that they need to get on a plane? For this I have no real clue but I am really looking forward to what is to come, and with next weeks episode being called 'Everybody Loves Hugo' (a call back to the season 2 'Everybody Hates Hugo') I'm guessing it will be a Hurley episode

and hopefully we will get some more answers as to what the purpose of the sideways world is in regards to the island time line as I believe that Hurley like Desmond is important to the island and what will go down when the war comes to the island.

What we learned from this episode really is that even if you have anything, without love it is all kind of pointless (as Emily Nussbaum from New York Magazine pointed out Desmond's sideways story is much like George Clooney's in Up in the Air with added electromagnetism). Now that he has found Penny in both time lines what is the sacrifice that Widmore said that he was going to have to make, losing her in one time line or both? Or something completely different? What ever it is I'm sure it will involve stopping Smokey from leaving the island and ensuring that every character is where they are suppose to be, but which time line is this? Hopefully all this and more will be addressed in the last six episodes. One final thing, Eloise was clearly aware that there is another time line and she doesn't want Desmond messing with anything but is Widmore aware of the other time line in the sideways world as he seems aware in the island time? How much of a mastermind are these two characters behind all of what we have seen?

Now my brain hurts and I haven't even been placed in the 'microwave of mayhem'.

Third True Blood Promo Poster

2010-04-08T11:42:00.000+01:00

More from the True Blood promo department for season 3:

Photo courtesy of HBO

Chuck has made the final five

2010-04-06T13:20:00.000+01:00

Head over to the Watch With Kristin page over at E!online to vote for Chuck (or one of the other top 5) in the annual Save One Show Poll. The other four shows contending are:

-Better Off Ted

-Life Unexpected

-Parenthood

-One Tree Hill

You can also vote for a wild card entry via Twitter and the details are on the page. The winner will be announced on April 12th so get voting again. Chuck and Sarah managed to win the best couple award over on Watch With Kristin, so lets hope the fans of Chuck will notch up another win.

Chuck vs The Other Guy: Season 3 finale version 1

2010-04-06T12:58:00.002+01:00

Spoilers ahead for any one who hasn't seen episode 13 and gone on a whiskey induced Guitar Hero session:

Originally NBC ordered 13 episodes for Chuck season 3 and this is the thirteenth in the run which is why it acts as a kind of finale as the bonus six episodes that were ordered happened after the series had been written and planned out. This first version of the finale was widely touted as the best of the season after an early screening of it at this weekends WonderCon. I was a little worried that it had maybe been bigged up a bit too much, that was until I saw it and found out why everyone was making such grand statements, it really was a truly great episode.

Written by Chuck co-creator Chris Fedak this episode combined all the elements that make this show a unique entity on TV at the moment; romance, action and comedy. Not all these elements have been used in each outing this season with some episodes opting for a darker tone, but where there were the more serious moments the comedy was never far behind. The problem of Agent Shaw (Brandon Routh) was solved, with a few more twists than I expected, I was definitely thrown by his double turn, even though I suspected him as a Ring operative when he first appeared in the show I was pretty much convinced at this point that he wasn't. I appreciated the fact that it was kung fu movie expert Morgan (Josh Gomez) who 'made' him showing that he does have some special skills to help Operation Bartowski. Now that Morgan is an official part of this team there is definitely potential for many a funny stories and the chemistry between him and Casey (Adam Baldwin) is particularly delectable. As well as his exchanges with General Beckmen where he is confused as to how he should address her calling her 'Sir' and saying 'Aye aye Captain', both which are very wrong titles for her.

The 'will they won't they' story this season between Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) has come to it's natural end point, especially considering what occurred in the last two episodes of season 2 and there is only a certain amount of obstacles that you can put in the way of these two before the audience cries 'mutiny' (which semi occurred after Chuck vs The Mask this season). So when Chuck finally asks Sarah in his post whiskey/ice cream binge whether she loves him, when she said yes I let out a big cheer. A final obstacle of Sarah being in danger of being killed by Shaw and the ring operatives led to some strong scenes where Chuck finally takes the life of someone (Shaw in this case) to save the woman that he loves and thankfully the consequences don't have Sarah turning on Chuck but instead embracing him, making this Chuck fan very happy.

The show is going to be on a short hiatus for three weeks and lets hope that when it does return there will be some good news regarding it's renewal. These next six episodes look like they will be a lot of fun with some familiar faces returning, here is a promo to keep you entertained and I'm going to cancel the tank that I just ordered:

True Blood season 3 promo posters

2010-03-31T11:11:00.000+01:00

Here are two of the True Blood promo posters that HBO have released for season 3 which will premiere June 13th:

I like that neither gives any plot points away and that they are very simple but effective and are a good vampire play on already existing phrases. These are just the first two of twelve posters that will be released between now and June 13th so I am looking forward to what is to come. Which along with the tagline of 'Waiting Sucks' shows that HBO really do have a terrific promo department.

If Lost was made in the 1960s

2010-03-30T12:47:00.000+01:00

And if Saul Bass (Vertigo, North by Northwest, Pyscho to name a few) did the title sequence it might look like this:

Lost vs. Saul Bass from Hexagonall on Vimeo.

The return of Bones and Fringe

2010-03-30T12:27:00.002+01:00

After what seems like forever (well it has been two months) both Bones and Fringe are back this Thursday April 1st, no fooling around... bad joke I apologise. I have missed both crime solving gangs and both shows have some exciting episodes coming up so there will be some mild spoilers ahead.

First up Fringe ended the last episode on somewhat of a cliffhanger with Olivia realising that Peter is actually from the other universe and with this Thursdays episode being entitled 'Peter' and all the promo photos such as the one above flashing back to the 70s we can be sure to see some more development and answers as to the Peter/Walter relationship and how he got Peter between the two worlds. The stories that involve Massive Dynamic, William Bell and the other universe are my favourites as they are often much stronger and more emotive than the 'monster of the week' ones which can sometimes feel out of place. Though I am looking forward to the April 29th musical episode 'Overture' which will feature an all singing and dancing cast. Random episodes like this have been shown to be brilliant with a show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I'm hoping for similar results with Fringe, especially as I'm not a big musicals fan.

With Bones the first episode back on Thursday looks like it will be a regular case with more information being shed on Brennan as an author and with Sweets dealing with a near death experience. It is however, next weeks episode that is highly anticipated. This episode entitled 'The Parts in the Sum of the Whole' is Bones 100th and is directed by Booth himself David Boreanaz which automatically makes it special. The reason it is being touted as a Bones event is because the case is a flashback to when Booth and Brennan first worked together and so will see the return of Zack (Eric Millegan) and of Hodgins super curly hair. This case marks an important point in Booth and Brennan's relationship and will explain why in the pilot episode she was reluctant to work with him. I have managed to stay somewhat unspoiled as to what occurred on this first case, I could have a guess but I'm not going to put it here and I am really looking forward to this trip down memory lane.

A Fringe/Bones promo to wet your appetite:

That time of year again

2010-03-30T11:31:00.001+01:00

Yep, that time of year when you have to fight for and hope that your favourite on the bubble show will be saved. Once again Chuck fans are in this unknowing position of whether this show will see the light of day for another year, and I for one am one of those people (as readers of this blog will surely be aware). The rest of the shows I watch and love are all safe for another season (except Lost which is obviously ending this year) so it is just Chuck's fate that hangs in the balance. I for one am concerned this year as I was at this time last year whether it will be saved or not but I think that the issues that have occurred over at NBC this year have helped the shows with lower ratings out (sorry Conan) and the fact that the 10 o'clock slot is back for scripted television is also a definite plus in the favour of a Chuck renewal. It will also be interesting to see what the ratings were like for last nights episode after the drop in the previous weeks which could be down to daylight savings time clock changes and the return of Dancing With the Stars. It has been noted by TV critic favourite of mine (and big Chuck fan) Alan Sepinwall that this year all that will matter to NBC regarding Chuck will be these figures and not any grass roots fans campaigns that will save the show, though one can hope that this isn't just the case.

You can head over to E!online as Kristin is running her annual 'Save One Show' poll and voting there can do no harm and it would be great for Chuck to win this poll. Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski would like you to as well:

Last nights Chuck was originally meant to be the penultimate episode of the season before NBC ordered 6 more episodes and it definitely had that feel to it, with next weeks serving as a mini season 3 finale. There will then be 2 weeks off followed by the next 6 episodes, which, from what I understand will be a new story arc. Here is the promo for next weeks episode (which looks like it will be a doozy) and fingers crossed that Team Bartowski will get to see a fourth season:

Geronimo Jack's Beard

2010-03-25T12:50:00.000Z

I have been meaning to write about the Geronimo Jack's Beard podcast since I listened to the first edition after the season 6 premiere as it is a Lost highlight of my week and they make my walk to work more enjoyable. For those of you who don't know anything about these podcasts they are produced and performed by Jorge Garcia (Hurley in Lost) and his girlfriend Bethany Shady (also known as Sidekick 22). Instead of being reviews of the aired episodes the main bulk of the podcast are recorded when Garcia gets his script for the episode of Lost that they are filming and they discuss the episode in this sense rather in the recorded version that we see on the TV. The aired episodes are spoken about in both the introduction and the conclusions of the podcast as these segments are recorded just prior to and just after the episode has aired so sometimes events that are discussed in the podcast never make it in to the final version of the episode, bonus deleted scenes if you will through the form of discussion. Though sometimes this makes me think that I have missed stuff in the episodes such as the much talked about puking in this weeks podcast that never made it in the final episode or that Nestor Carbonell had drunk some fairly dirty water that also never made it to the final cut. The brilliant thing about the podcasts is that just like fans of Lost who have no involvement with the show both Garcia and Sidekick 22 also theorise and wonder what on earth is going on. It is really great to hear someone who is so enthusiastic about his job and the fun that both of them seem to have whilst discussing this show is a welcoming sight (or sound in this case). I also like that Sidekick 22 sometimes doesn't sugar coat some plot points that occur and reminds me of one of my friends that I watch the show with. This podcast is funny, entertaining and gives some great Lost behind the scenes information whether it be about the process of filming or from the behind the scenes pictures that are posted on the Geronimo Jack's Beard blog. There have also been two special guests so far this season; Michael Emerson discussing the episode Dr Linus and Nestor Carbonell discussing this weeks terrific episode Ab Aeterno and hopefully there will be more like this for the final half of the season (I'm rooting for Ken Leung).

It really is worth a listen to and is available at iTunes and both Jorge Garcia and Bethany Shady have other blogs that are also worth a read with Shady also being a writer of both childrens books and some really excellent short stories (my personal favourite being 'Unwanted Donation' parts 1 and 2).

Win 2 tickets to the Empire Film Awards with Citroen DS3

2010-03-15T11:46:00.000Z

This is slightly going away from the TV theme but I just came across this excellent competition to win 2 tickets to the Empire Film Awards with a chance to walk the red carpet and stay in a luxury London hotel, here is a video to show what the prize will be:

And all you have to do is answer a simple film related question at the Citroen DS3 site here

Looks like March 28th will be a fantastic night with many a famous face so get entering now.

Women in TV week: Alexandra Patsavas

2010-03-12T13:38:00.000Z

The focus of today's profile is on Alexandra Patsavas the owner and founder of Chop Shop Music Supervision. This company is responsible for the music in several of my favourite shows; Chuck, Mad Men, Gossip Girl and the OC as well as others such as Greys Anatomy, Private Practice and Supernatural and the web series Rockville. They are also the company behind the excellent Twilight and New Moon soundtracks, both of which I own despite not being a Twilight fan, this is what happens when you get tracks by Thom Yorke and Radiohead, I will buy your album. As I have previously written about on several occasions soundtracks can often be a vital part of my enjoyment of TV and film, not just because music can help set the scene but also because my enjoyment can then go on for much longer after the screen has faded to black. I am always happy when I discover a new band via this medium and it has happened on many occasions thanks to Patsavas and Chop Shop Music.

This is most evident in the case of Frightened Rabbit who I first heard in the Chuck season 3 premiere Chuck vs the Pink Slip where the song 'Backwards Walk' was used, this prompted me to check out their MySpace which I really liked, I got some of their old albums then their new one and I'm seeing them live this weekend. I may have still discovered them without this appearance in Chuck but it would've taken longer and I would have probably missed this gig. Phantom Planet is another band that I discovered through their use in a Josh Schwartz show, but not how you would expect. I was not a fan of the theme song 'California' from The OC (except for the slowed down version that was used in season 3 episode 2 and features on The OC mix 5 CD) and so when I heard 'Raise the Dead' in the season 2 Gossip Girl episode 'The Serena Also Rises' I was surprised to hear it was them and I am now a big fan despite my original reservations. It was also in this episode that I heard Lady Gaga for the first time with the song 'Poker Face' and I knew it was going to be a good one when the episode started with a favourite of mine Conor Oberst's 'NYC- Gone, Gone'.

Patsavas and Chop Shop music don't only use new and upcoming bands and artists but they also use some well known music, especially in Chuck which is the show amongst all that they represent that references many things in pop culture so it has been brilliant that Huey Lewis and the News. Talking Heads, Heart and Rush have been some of the bands that have featured on the soundtrack. Chuck is probably the Josh Schwartz show that has had the least said about the music but it is probably my favourite in regards to the music used and I would really love for a soundtrack CD to made, this is where my petition starts for this to happen. The use of Bon Iver in season 2 was one of my favourite musical choices with 'Skinny Love', 'Blood Bank' and 'Creature Fear' all getting used to chronicle different parts of the Chuck/Sarah relationship from the bad moments ('Skinny Love') to the good ('Creature Fear'). I knew that I was going to like Chuck soundtrack from the pilot when I heard The Shins 'A Comet Appears' was used over the pivotal scene at the end of the episode.

The success of Chop Shop Music in TV is most evident by The OC, a show that span for four seasons but that produced six separate soundtracks (including a Chrismukkah mix). The OC as a show really did utilise the idea of music and it's importance with teenagers, mostly exemplified by Seth and his love for Death Cab For Cutie. The first appearance of live music in the show was in season 1 when they went to see Rooney, this became a regular thing in season 2 when the Bait Shop (much like the Peach Pit in the original Beverly Hills 90210) was used as a music venue in Newport Beach where bands such as The Killers, Death Cab For Cutie, The Thrills. Modest Mouse and The Walkman appeared. The use of the Jeff Buckley version of 'Hallelujah' as a song that made Marissa think of Ryan (season 1 episode 2 'The Model Home') and its use in the season 1 finale was inspired in which it echoed when Ryan first came to Newport (this clip has had over a staggering 6 million plays):

However, and this is my only major criticism of the music in the show was that when Marissa died at the end of season 3, instead of the Jeff Buckley version of 'Hallelujah' Imogen Heap's was used instead. For some reason I cannot get on board with Heap as an artist and I have found her inclusion on the soundtrack to not just The OC (The Last Kiss being another) as rather jarring, particularly in emotion heavy scenes. This was most evident for me when the song 'Hide and Seek' was played at Caleb's funereal and I ended up really disliking the scene. Music can really work in both ways, to make a scene better or to make it worse and unfortunately the use of Imogen Heap always goes the latter way for me. Rant over.
The importance of the use of music in The OC can be seen through the exclusive first plays that it had for several big recording artists. The first was in season 1 when The Beastie Boys debuted their new single 'Ch-Check it Out' on April 28th 2004 in the episode 'The Strip'. This followed in season 2 with two major first plays, episode 15 'The Mallpisode' (aired March 10th 2005) which was also dubbed the Beckisode as it featured five new songs from his then unreleased album 'Gurero'. The other was Coldplay's 'Fix You' which got it's first airing in the May 12th 2005 episode 'The O.Sea' and was the song that played Caleb's death, Seth and Summers first prom dance and Ryan just makes it to prom, it was a great choice of scene for this song and worked well will all the turmoil and potential hope that played out for all the characters.:

Gossip Girl has had musical cameo's as well, Lisa Loeb was part of the 'Top 10 Forgotten Bands of the 90s' (along with Rufus' band Lincoln Hawk) in the season 1 episode 17 'Woman on the Verge' and she performed her hit 'Stay'. Cyndi Lauper also appeared as herself in season 2 'Bonfire of the Vanity' but did not perform. No Doubt starred as eighties band Snowed Out and performed the Adam and the Ants song 'Stand and Deliver' in the Lily based eighties flashback episode 'Valley Girls'. The appearances haven't stopped there and perhaps the most impressive appearance to date was getting Sonic Youth to perform 'Star Power' in the episode 'Rufus Getting Married' which got all the music bloggers talking. Lady Gaga has also been in Gossip Girl in season 3, performing 'Bad Romance' in 'The Last Days of the Disco Stick'.
Patsavas founded Chop Shop Music in 1998 and in the 10 years that have passed she has really created a dominant company in the realm of soundtracks and it is for this achievement that I wanted to detail why I think what Patsavas and her team have done in this time is impressive and how it has had a direct influence on some of the music that I have fallen in love with. I am glad that I can round this week off with another women who has had great achievements in television and why it gives me hope that women in TV in all facets are achieving great success.

Women in TV week: Stephanie Savage

2010-03-11T13:58:00.000Z

When thinking of the creative folks behind The OC and Gossip Girl Josh Schwartz might be the name that springs to mind, the other that should do is Stephanie Savage who co-created Gossip Girl with Schwartz and who served as a writer and producer on The OC. As she is perhaps the lesser known name and because her work on these two teen shows have had an impact on the television landscape I wanted to feature Savage as the third profile in my look at women in television.

Savage started her Hollywood career as a writer for Drew Barrymore's production company, this was the jumping block for her venture in to teen television as it is where she met McG (who served as a producer on The OC) and later became acquainted with Josh Schwartz who was the creator of The OC. For me The OC was a resurrection of the teen drama genre (even though I was just out of my teens when the show started); it had an attractive cast, a great soundtrack, fashion and adult characters that were well developed and likeable. Though the show might in some ways be responsible for MTV 'reality' shows Laguna Beach and The Hills and therefore the introduction of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt into popular culture. That aside the show started well and despite depleted ratings by the end of its run it served as an important show in the cycle of teen dramas. The fact that it aired on Fox now seems kind of odd considering that now teen shows are mainly on the CW, a network catered for this type of audience and one where ratings of who watches the show live are not as important necessarily as other factors such as buzz and iTunes figures.

This is where Gossip Girl and Stephanie Savage have thrived. A term that both Savage and Schwartz have used to describe the importance of other factors outside of audience figures is 'cultural permeation', that the show is recognised as being successful outside of ratings due to the high volume of discussion that the show has prompted. This type of discussion might only be within certain demographics, mainly the 18-25 female demo but this is an important one in regard to advertisers and it is definitely a show that is energised by the fashion and music that it features. Savage has said regarding fashion choices that they are 'making a magazine show every week and setting the trend' and this has transferred in to Gossip Girl inspired clothing at stores such as Target, with the UK chain Miss Selfridge launching a range this coming April. Influences can be seen in teen magazines and other fashion outlets; the idea of a headband has now in some ways become synonymous with Blair Waldorf. In this respect the programme is much more than it's 42 minute air time and it is this extra curricular activity that Savage seems to understand the best.

Despite being fully into my twenties the teen based TV genre is one that still appeals, maybe it's the frivolous nature, the clothes, the music or the actors who are actually about my age but playing people much younger that still draws me in, or that in shows such as Gossip Girl and The OC that the adult characters play as important parts to the story dynamic rather than being there to serve as obstacles to the younger leads. Savage finds writing for young characters appealing because 'the stage is seems so huge and everyone is doing everything for the first time ' and that 'you just forgive young characters more and they can do some pretty crazy things, but you still route for them and hope they figure it out'.

Up next for Savage other than more writing and producing on Gossip Girl is a script draft of The Au Pairs; another book adaptation of a popular teen series written by Melissa de la Cruz. In a similar vein to Gossip Girl these books explore rich teens, this time in the Hamptons. Savage will also serve as a producer on the Josh Schwartz film remake of 'Bright Lights, Big City' which chronicles a disillusioned magazine writer who tries to numb the pain of his failed marriage with drink, drugs and women and in the 1988 original starred Michael J. Fox and Kiefer Sutherland. This creative relationship with Schwartz is still going strong and whilst he may be the bigger name of the two, Savage is a vital part of this dynamic and I look forward to what they will both produce with regards to both two projects.

Women in TV week: Mindy Kaling

2010-03-09T14:17:00.000Z

In 2007 Christopher Hitchens for Vanity Fair wrote a provocative piece entitled 'Why Women Aren't Funny' (they followed this up a year later with a women in comedy cover story), with this in mind I wanted to look at one area of television where women seem to be making a big impact at the moment and that is in comedy. Women in comedy TV shows is obviously not a new concept; I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls all spring to mind as great examples of this. It would seem at the moment that on NBC primarily it is women who are the cornerstone to the Thursday night comedy line up and when thinking of these shows the names Tina Fey and Amy Poehler automatically spring to mind for good reason. The idea though behind my blog this week is to profile women who are inspirational but who might not get the coverage that they deserve and for me the funniest woman in TV at the moment is Mindy Kaling.

Mindy Kaling plays Kelly Kapoor in The Office and is also a writer and a co-executive producer on the show. Kapoor is the girl in the office who is primarily concerned with romance and celebrity gossip and like many of her co-workers her role at Dunder Mifflin is an after thought. A lot of the brilliance of Kelly is through her incessant chatter about whatever real life relationship crisis is occurring at that time or what is going on with Brangelina in the gossip world. I especially love the gossip references as I am a not so secret gossip junkie, I love all things ohnotheydidnt and Us Weekly so I am always especially thrilled when this type of stuff gets a mention. The long standing on/off relationship between Kelly and Ryan (BJ Novak) is another highlight in this show with one of my favourite moments being when after Ryan slates Dunder Mifflin in his business lecture (Business School 3.16) Michael punishes him by moving his desk to the annex with Kelly (this also in turn punishes Toby (Paul Lieberstein)). Kelly in the season four episode Dunder Mifflin Infinity pretends that she is a pregnant to get Ryan back, this plan does not go according to plan with Ryan even trying to outsource Kapoor's job to India in retaliation.

The brilliance of the Office is that the array of characters from the leads to the group as a whole keeps the programme funny and fresh and it is quite often that the moments with the side characters such as Kelly, Angela or Creed are the funniest of the episodes. I think that this has helped the longevity of the show as the more peripheral characters have developed further which has led to a range of stories beyond Michael (Steve Carell), Pam (Jenna Fischer), Jim (John Krasinski) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson).

It is not just Kaling's portrayal of Kapoor that makes her vital to the world of The Office as she has to date written 14 episodes including this seasons big Pam and Jim wedding episode Niagara which I don't mind admitting got me all misty eyed. Other favourites of mine that she has written include season 2 'The Injury', season 4 'Branch Wars' and season 5 double bill 'Lecture Circuit'. It is this position as writer that shows that women can both act funny and write funny and that even though female comedy writers are not all that common, there are at least some who show that it can be done. I actually was aware of Kaling from her writing before I actually saw any of The Office as I was late to the show having only really caught up on the entire run last year. An article that Kaling had written in Marie Claire magazine about living alone caught my eye and for some reason stuck with me, it was the mix of humour and pop culture references that caught my eye that when I started watching The Office and realised that this was the same person as Kelly it made a whole lot of sense that she was also one of the writers. The gift that Kaling has with comedic writing was further exemplified in a short piece she wrote for the New York Times about constructing a fake family rather than telling a parking attendant that she was unmarried and didn't have kids. Once again working in references to pop culture treats such as 'Big' and 'Elf' as well as being able to capture emotion and humour is why I really like Kaling's work. This is why I am looking forward to her work outside of The Office which includes teaming up with fellow Office scribe Brent Forrester to write the film The Low Self Esteem of Lizzie Gillespie.

This week also marks Kaling's first episode of the Office that she is directing, as previously she has directed the short Office video 'Subtle Sexuality' (which I will include at the end). This video was genius mixing the fashion and dance moves of Beyonce and Lady Gaga and it also cemented my love for new character Erin, and any video that has Ed Helms singing is a pure win for me and I hope that there will be more of this on the season 6 DVD. Kaling is also a big tweeter and you can follow her @mindykaling on twitter, it is well worth it for Office scoop and other observations on the world which include her love of fashion, movies and pop culture.

Women in TV week: Tami Taylor (Connie Britton)

2010-03-08T17:07:00.000Z

The theme of this years International Women's Day is 'Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all' so I thought it was apt to start my women in TV week with a character/actress that in Friday Night Light exemplifies this theme; Connie Britton who plays Tami Taylor.

The idea of writing specifically about women in television may seem to go against the notion of equality for all, why aren't I writing about men as well you might ask? The reason for this focus is because there is still a lack of equality even now in television, mainly behind the camera regarding certain roles for women and I wanted to look at those who are helping bring equality whether it be through acting, writing or directing. As last nights Academy Awards showed women are making a break through in these roles but it will be better when gender is not something that is mentioned in conjunction with these accolades; when the words woman and director aren't a rarity at an awards show and when the celluloid ceiling is well and truly broken. In the mean time I think it is a positive thing to highlight the women who inspire us to get this equality, not so that we are better than our male counterparts but so we can share the same platform without it seeming like a rare moment.

With this in mind I wanted to look at the character of Tami Taylor from Friday Night Lights as someone who encapsulates the idea that women can be equal, whether in the work place or at home. I'm going to concentrate on story arcs from the first three seasons as even though season 4 has aired on Direct TV it will be returning to NBC at the end of April which will be when the majority will see it.
One of the major strengths of Friday Night Lights is the writing and the freedom that the actors are given with the scripts. This sounds like an oxymoron, however it is the fact that the dialogue at times is improvised that gives this show the realistic sound that sets it apart from other dramas. Conversations sound really instead of forced, people talk over each other and stumble on words and it is in these moments that Friday Night Lights can excel. The realism in the marriage between Tami and Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) is something that I love about this show and it is through the natural conversation between the two whether it is in a heated argument or if they are just talking about their day that makes this programme special. It is this dynamic that allows for this idea of equality for all to shine, neither one is in charge of the other, they are equal to one another. Yes they may hide things from one another on occasion, and Tami is the more vocal of the two with Eric quite often doing most of the talking through his facial expressions rather than words, but as a viewer you always know that they will talk it out in the end and all will be good even if chaos surrounds them (and by chaos I generally mean the boosters).
In three seasons the character has gone from a stay at home mum, to guidance counselor at the school, to having another baby and then becoming principal at Dillon High. This upward career trajectory has meant that as a character we have seen Tami wrestle with conflicting feelings of being both a mother and having a career and has shown the balancing act that many woman go through. With this they showed the guilt of a mother having to put their child in daycare and how this can make someone feel like a bad mother. In season 2 whilst Eric was coaching at TMU away from home in Austin, the vulnerable side of Tami was fully exposed, with a new born child and her eldest daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden) becoming the pure definition of teenage brat we saw Tami reach an all time low when she retaliated to Julies rebellion by slapping her face. This moment followed by the subsequent momentary breakdown of this character showed that whilst Tami is a woman who is a strong, there are still moments that can break us and this is when we need the strengths of others to return us to who we are, and in this case it was her husband.

The relationship between Tami and Julie is one that has evolved through these three seasons from one of parental protection to the understanding that Julie is becoming a woman and there is no point in trying to hold her back rather the best course of action is to be there for guidance and as someone who can help with a simple hug. The discussions about sex that these two have had on several occasions are examples of where Tami can seem overbearing but she gives out good advice, as if this is the advice that she wishes she had been given as a young woman (it is mentioned at points that she had a turbulent relationship with her own mother). It is all about the notion of respect, how woman should respect themselves so others will respect them and I think that this is a positive message for any woman no matter what your age. Yes Julie has been a brat, but this is another example of the realism of this show as I am sure we've all spoken to our parents in a disrespectful way at some point in our lives and acted out. What makes it special is that even through their difficult moments with each other they really do have a strong mother/daughter bond and this is one element that I love about this show.

The manner in which Tami helped Tyra (Adrianne Palicki) realise her potential and become more than just another small town girl throughout the first three seasons was a joy to watch. It wasn't the Disney fairytale at first with Tami herself pegging Tyra as a bad girl influence and it wasn't until she helped Tyra after her mother had a drunken accident that a bond was formed. This bond allowed Tyra to realise that she was more than just a waitress who would never get in to college and with the help of Landry this goal was achieved. This story arc was one I particularly enjoyed, Friday Night Lights is a show that isn't afraid to beat it's characters down but it will also show that good can happen as long as you work hard to achieve your goals.

As a character she is inspiring for many reason that I have listed above and she really does comply to this notion that women and men can be equal and this is what we see in her relationship with her husband and those that she works with and it is because of this that she is a character that I love to watch. It is because of these reasons that I chose her as one of the women in TV at the moment that I wanted to profile and I look forward to seeing her in more Friday Night Lights and with whatever opportunities come Connie Brittons way when life in Dillon Texas comes to a close. Also no one says y'all like Tami Taylor.
Here is an interview with Connie Britton about what we can expect from season 4:

Jimmy Kimmel 'Handsome Men's Club'

2010-03-08T14:29:00.000Z

Jimmy Kimmel once again post the Academy Awards show has produced another excellent skit that brings together many a famous face. I'm not going to ruin who is in this video, you'll have to watch and see but my giant hint is that some are regulars in the world of the Kimmel skit videos:

International Women's Day 8th March

2010-03-05T12:58:00.001Z

This Monday is International Women's Day and in honour of this next week I am going to profile women in television at this time who, both behind and in front of the camera are examples of the great contribution to television. I am interested in the idea of the 'celluloid ceiling' which as a concept suggests that women are statistically the minority gender in Hollywood, this unfortunately does appear to be the case with women representing a small amount of directors and writers. What I intend to look at is those women who are leading the way in these fields as well as those women who in front of the camera portray characters who will further the idea that women are equal to men in all facets of the world. This is a project that I have been looking at for some time and it is always one that I think of whenever I am watching Friday Night Lights (Tami Taylor has this effect on me), so I am really looking forward to sharing with you all the talented women that you are already aware of and some you may be less familiar with.
This marks the 99th International Women's Day after it started way back in 1911. This is definitely something to be proud of and the world has come a significant way since then, there is still a way to go but I am looking forward to celebrating those women in television who are aiding this. If you would like to find out more about International Women's Day go here.

Lost gets the Simpsons treatment

2010-03-02T12:32:00.000Z

This is all kinds of awesome:

Source: The Springfield Punx

Michael Emerson on The Soup and Jimmy Kimmel

2010-02-17T13:39:00.002Z

Michael Emerson (Ben Linus in Lost) appeared on The Soup and Jimmy Kimmel this week to promote the new season of Lost. Both are pretty humorous and he mentions that he started out doing comedy which plays out here and in Lost as well. First up, The Soup which contains a spoilerific clip of the new season of 24 if like me you are a season behind, though having just seen this clip I don't think it really ruins too much, though I am intrigued as to why Jack is wearing glasses now (yes out of this entire clip that is what I pick up on which might be why I am a season behind):

Next up Micheal Emerson on Kimmel which is another good, funny interview where they discuss the show and of course he can't reveal much except that they only have four more episodes to shoot and how people react to him in public. Jimmy has a nice photo collection of the many beaten up faces that he has had throughout his five seasons on Lost. I'm very much looking forward to the scenes with Locke that he mentions and if only there would be a Lost spinoff sitcom called 'The Ben and Hurley Show', I'd definitely watch. There are some spoilers though for those that haven't seen the new episode 'The Substitute' so watch only after you have seen this (interview in two parts):

Lost eyeballs

2010-02-17T12:55:00.000Z

In honour of the excellent new Locke centric episode of Lost I am going to post yet another excellent fan made video. This time it is a collection of the famous Lost eyeball shot that the first episode and many others after opened with. It is strange how some of them are much more identifiable than others and that it is the Locke eyeball close up that appears to have been used the most in the show and that Claire is the most used female eye, not sure what any of this means, if anything at all but it definitely makes for a cool montage video:

The Pacific extended promo

2010-02-17T12:44:00.000Z

With less than a month to go the promo people over at HBO are working hard to further hype the start of The Pacific. Not that I really need to be further excited as other than the Lost final season this is my most anticipated TV season, I really can not wait and this longer promo shows that the scope of this series will be hopefully just as broad and amazing as Band of Brothers was. Enjoy:

Flu season

2010-02-17T12:41:00.000Z

It comes to that time of year when I have finally succumbed to flu season, much like Barney in the episode of How I Met Your Mother above. I have spent much of the last week sniffling and coughing which has not been much fun though I have managed to catch up on much TV. I finally started watching How I Met Your Mother properly (which is why the above picture is appropriate). Not sure why it has taken me so long to get aboard this train but I'm glad I finally have as it really is funny and I'm enjoying the group dynamic even if I am spoiled for relationship developments further down the line.

I have also finally finished Gossip Girl season 2, which once I got back in to I felt that the season was quite good overall but definitely lacked something that the first season had, not sure if it is because some of the characters go in relationship cycles so it does not appear as fresh and is sometimes predictable but I did certainly relish in some of the ridiculous scheming and plotting. Also on a completely base level it always looks nice and is easy to watch which is perfect flu TV. I always enjoy the pop culture references as well.

In a similar vein I have also finally managed to get in to Vampire Diaries, I'm up to episode 4 and it is this one that has got me hooked. Think it is because the plot seems to be going somewhere beyond a love story and that the show like Dawson's Creek (Kevin Williamsons other TV hit) and Gossip Girl is aware of the shows that have preceded it and use this. There was a nice mention of the Twilight series in this episode of Vampire Diaries where Damon Salvatore longs for the vampire writings of Anne Rice and it is nods like this that show that this doesn't take it self too seriously and is aware that there are many in the vampire genre that pre-dates them (not that the Twilight books do, but the film does before the show). My intrigue has been peaked, so I look forward to what it to come.
I've used my ill time to catch up on the shows I have either lagged behind on or wanted to get in to and I would say that these three are definitely worth seeing with or without the flu. They are all fun and easy going and I'm glad that I have shows that tax my brain (I'm looking at you Lost) but also ones that let me switch off.

A quick thought on the Chuck 'controversy'

2010-02-10T12:36:00.000Z

After Monday nights Chuck (Chuck vs the Mask) it appears that a somewhat crazy storm has occurred over an episode that featured some of our characters hooking up with other characters that aren't who the audience wants them to be. As far as I am concerned I thought that the pairings of Shaw and Sarah, and Hannah and Chuck were always inevitable and that both were brought in to be an obstacle to the Chuck/Sarah pairing.
Some of the outrage appears to be from the out of character actions of Sarah regarding Shaw though I would say that this isn't the case, like she says she has a type and someone like Shaw who is a pro in the spy world (rather than someone like Chuck who is still on his spy training wheels) so if she does become romantically entangled with him then she won't have the same concerns for Shaw's safety as she does Chucks. Also she obviously put herself in a position with Chuck where she was vulnerable, Shaw also appears to have done this and lost his wife in the process, both are broken in the love stakes and so it would make sense for them to be drawn together.
Would this reaction have occurred if the show wasn't taken a three week break for the Olympics? I'm not sure if it would and as this wasn't originally meant to be an episode that was meant to have a cliffhanger I can kind of understand why people are annoyed with how it ended. I also understand that because this is a show that was saved by the fans that there is a certain resentment to certain story lines, I thought I would resent both these characters but it has been quite the opposite. Whilst I want to see the eventual hooking up of Sarah and Chuck, I am both happy and surprised by the how much I like the new characters of Hannah and Shaw and I'm looking forward to where this is heading.
The episode as a whole was one of the weaker of the season but I think much like last nights Lost it was a table setter for what is to come, laying down the ground work. I will say that the budget cuts this season which means that we see less of the side characters is one thing that is annoying, annoying because I am missing these characters but it also was inevitable so to save the show from cancellation. I do hope that when Jeffster do make an appearance it will be awesome.
For more on the Chuck storm and reaction from Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak check out Alan Sepinwall's blog here.

Lost 815 side by side

2010-02-05T12:14:00.002Z

spoilers for Lost season 6 episode 1

An awesome person has already uploaded a video putting the original flight 815 conversation between Jack, Cindy and Rose versus the new season 6 version. It's kind of like a nerdy spot the difference:

Lost season 6 LA X parts 1 and 2

2010-02-05T12:10:00.000Z

Warning spoilers ahead for Lost season 6 LA X:

Wow.

What a way to start the new season though I'm not sure where to start this recap except once again to say wow. This was perhaps my favourite season premiere (excluding the pilot of course) because the end of last season left the show with so many different directions that it could go in and I only guessed half of it. And the half I guessed wasn't even completely correct; I figured they would be on the original 815 flight but I hadn't really thought about the slight changes to character and actions that would occur. I must also say that I enjoyed the premiere because I watched with many more friends than normal, we got pizza, had wine and really enjoyed the show. There was much discussion after we had seen it as to what had occurred and I have done my usual post Lost ritual of reading Doc Jensen over at EW who as always blow my mind. Over at EW there is also a good interview with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse regarding the premiere. I am going to look at these openers in much the same way that I have reviewed the previous seasons and look at the moments that stood out to me and what these might mean.

The name that has been given by the producers for the reality where the plane didn't crash is flash-sideways and I will just refer to the other reality as island present.

First up: Flash-sideways

The episode kicks off on flight 815, with a conversation between Jack and Cindy the flight attendant much similar to the one they had in the pilot, though this time round she only gives him one extra bottle of vodka instead of two- I guess he doesn't need the other one for his wound. This is followed by an equally similar conversation between Rose and Jack, though this time it is Jack that is feeling nervous during the turbulence, could it be that he has some recollection of the crash.
Kate is still handcuffed with the air marshal, who in this reality takes a blow to the head from Kate rather than his case when she escapes him in the airport. She ends up hijacking a cab that has a familiar face in it; Claire who we cannot see if she is pregnant in this place. It is relevant that Kate ends up with Claire I think as she is the reason she gave for going back to the island, though this time Kate has the cab driver at gun point, this cannot end well.
Boone is without Shannon having unsuccessfully not got her back from Australia, some asked if this was because they couldn't get Maggie Grace back, the producers deny that this is the reason.
Also missing on the plane were Michael and Walt, why is the question. Did Walt's mother never die in this universe?
Charlie is also on the plane, though this time instead of flushing his drugs down the toilet he swallows them, causing him to almost die and for Jack to save him. This action displeases him, he states that he was suppose to die, is this something he inherently knows? Instead he too gets carted off the plane in handcuffs, so much for the Driveshaft comeback.
Hurley refers to himself as the luckiest guy in the world, no numbers curse for him. Sawyer shows in him when he hears that he is a lottery winner, is a con coming?
Sawyer seems relaxed and happy, not like someone who has just killed an innocent man so it would be safe to assume that he has a different path in this life. He does enjoy some flirting with Kate and even offers her a helping hand when she has escaped the marshal.
Locke still paralysed seems a lot more content than the Locke we saw before in his pre island life. He has accepted his condition and it appears that he was allowed to partake in his walkabout. He converses with both Boone and Jack, both which are poignant considering the events that we have seen between these characters; Boone says he would stick with Locke and Jack explains that nothing is irreversible. The conversation between Locke and Jack occurs in the lost luggage claim, Locke's knives have been misplaced, though more telling is that the airline has misplaced Jacks fathers coffin, could this be the link between the two realities?
Rose and Bernard are very much in love and are the couple that we have seen throughout the seasons, does Rose have cancer in this reality? Her longer hair would suggest otherwise.
Not so happy are Sun and Jin, with Jin being just as douchey to her as he was when we met him in the pilot demanding that she do her top button up; how I don't miss this Jin. They problem at the airport with the large amount of cash in his luggage could suggest that they were going to start a new life in the US, not sure how long he will be detained for though. Also is Sun lying when she says she doesn't speak English?
One person on the plane who wasn't on there before is Desmond, who ends up sitting next to Jack prompting another recollection from Jack, is this because they have met before at the sports stadium? Des seems pretty upbeat, does this mean that he managed to win Widmore's race and win back Penny? Maybe he proposed to her in this life? Eagle eyed viewers have said that if you slow down his scene you can see a wedding ring on his finger, is this further proof that all is happy in this universe for Penny and Des?
The cut on Jack's neck also prompts him to have a look of confusion, is this from the other world? Lost expert recapper Vozzeck69 points out that you only see the cut in the mirror and that maybe the cut can only be seen in the mirror reflecting to Jack what is really there.
Red shirt alert: Froghurt and Arzt.
Missing: Ana Lucia, Mr Eko, Libby (or unseen).
Greg Grunberg alert: reprising his role of doomed Captain Norris we get to hear his voice in this episode so he still ended up flying even though Frank was meant to.
Also in this world we see that the island is underwater including the Dharma barracks and the four toed foot, not looking good for someone like Ben or Richard in this universe.

Island present- on the beach:

Jacob's body has disappeared, where it has gone to is anyone's guess though I'm thinking that it has to disappear so he can maybe inhabit someone else.
NotLocke is now seems to be the smoke monster. When Bram and his men (Jacobs bodyguards) shoot at him, he disappears and returns as Smokey, killing them all. He apologises to Ben "I'm sorry you had to see me like that." At this reveal Ben was astounded and so really had no idea what the monster actually is. At this point I'm thinking that he is really sorry that he killed Jacob. He is also confused as to why Jacob didn't fight back which to me suggests that this is all part of Jacobs plan.
We also find out that Locke's last thought as Ben killed him was "I don't understand", NotLocke calls Locke pathetic but that his redeeming feature was that he did not want to leave the island. NotLocke reveals that he wants to go home, not that we know where he calls home. This description of Locke being pathetic and what his final thought was makes me sad for this character and I really hope that out of everyone that his resolution is something positive and that he does get the answers he desires.
Richard is noticeably horrified when he realises who NotLocke really is after he says to him that it is nice to see Richard 'without your chains'. This I'm thinking must refer to the Black Rock slave ship that Richard might have come from. NotLocke promptly knocks Richard out with some rather unfair blows to the neck and hoists him over his shoulder. He proclaims that he is very disappointed with everyone, I'm guessing for choosing Jacob over him.

Island present- the hatch and the Temple:

The group who were stuck in 1977 and who were present when Juliet detonated Jughead all wake up in the jungle in the same time period as those who are at the statue, making this 2007.
All is not well with Sawyer blaming Jack for killing Juliet as his plan does not appear to have worked.
This is until a faint cry can be heard, Juliet is buried alive under all the junk from the hatch which looks the way it did after Desmond turned the fail safe key, in this universe it seems that all is as it was for the Losties.
We get to see another heartbreaking farewell between Sawyer and Juliet which I found to be a little unnecessary after the end of last season but served the purpose to suggest that Sawyer and Juliet will meet in another life (when she asks about the coffee) and for Miles to show his dead speaking talents. Juliet communicates to him that 'It worked' meaning the bomb resetting time I would imagine. This message seems wrong to Miles and Sawyer considering where they are.
Dead Jacob appears to Hurley giving him important instructions that he tells him will save Sayid's life who is still bleeding to death after Roger shot him last season.
These instructions take our gang to the Temple, the often previously mentioned place that we have only seen the outer wall and the tunnels for. It is an impressive place and there are rather a lot of Others inhabiting this place including Cindy the flight attendant and Emma and Zach the kids from the tail section. Dogen (Sunshine star Hiroyuki Sanada) appears to be the leader of the Temple folk and seemingly tries to save Sayid by putting him in their big bubbling pool which I would imagine usually has healing powers but lacks them now I suspect because of Jacobs death. Instead it seems that Sayid ends up drowning.
When they inform the Others of Jacobs death the whole place goes in to a kind of emergency procedure, sprinkling black ash every where and setting of warning flares. Whether this means that everyone in the Temple is protected remains to be seen as Bram had protected himself with the ash but old Smokey managed to get to him still. Also can Smokey get under the Temple as this is where the French guy was dragged?
The episodes end in the temple with Sayid waking up, however is this still Sayid? When he says "What happened?" it does not sound like Sayid but he has what seems like a British accent. Speculation has ranged from it being a slip by the actor which I doubt and that he is now inhabited by someone else, someone like Charlie. The most popular theory is Jacob but that wouldn't explain the accent. Not that I think that it is Charlie but there were strong echoes when Jack was trying to resuscitate Sayid with when Jack resuscitated Charlie back in season 1, including the dialogue with Kate.

Overall, I was very pleased with how this season started and I think the two time lines could prove to be great from a story telling perspective. Once again I am going to not watch the episode promos for each week as I like going in to each episode not knowing anything. Also the finale date has been set as Sunday 23rd of May which as it happens is when I will be in New York. This means no big Lost viewing party for me so I will have to make the most of those before going away. I am however looking forward to what will happen between now and then and am enjoying all the post episode chatter.

Photos courtesy of ABC

Lost subway map

2010-02-02T11:45:00.001Z

In anticipation of tonight's premiere today will be another all things Lost day (as will the next few I am sure, though I may manage to get some other shows in here as well). This was printed last week and was created by John Cabrera and is another example of how this season of Lost has really got peoples creative juices flowing in many different ways which is really positive and inspiring to see. I would also like to dedicate this to my friend Joe who loves all things Lost and tube/subway maps (as well as John Krasinski):

Lost Cuatro promo with Terry O'Quinn narrating

2010-02-01T16:19:00.000Z

The break out promo for Lost season 6 was from the Spanish network Cuatro. Here is the new version with Terry O'Quinn narrating and it is even better. I'm glad they kept the Radiohead track the same. One more day...

Thanks to Dark UFO

Lost season 5 rewatch

2010-02-01T16:15:00.001Z

With one day to go before the start of season 6 I am glad to say that I have completed my Lost seasons 1-5 rewatch.
Season 5 goes to a whole new level of crazy, with time travel being an important component in both the manner of story telling and to the narrative of the show. Instead of having just flash forwards and flashbacks there are also flashes through time for those who were left behind on the island. Once again I will analyse this season through a series of bullet points and as a whole I would say that this is definitely the most complex of the seasons so far but it also gave answers to some questions pertaining to the origins of some of the elements of the island.

The first episode chronicled all of the characters, those on the island and the Oceanic 6 (along with Ben) starting where the previous season had left off; Jack at the funeral home with Ben, Sayid breaking Hurley out of the Santa Rosa mental hospital, Sun in London and Kate with Aaron. By including all the characters it meant that we were propelled straight in to the story and meant that even though distance and time separated the characters they were not isolated from the audience.
The first episode started as previous ones did, not knowing when or where we are or initially who the person is. It turns out to be Dr Pierre Chang who we have only previously seen in the Dharma Initiative videos (a task he is performing in this opener). We also see that he has a baby who it was speculated was Miles and this is who it turned out to be. The record getting stuck in a grove was later used as a metaphor what is happening to those on the island, that it is like a record that is skipping, they are skipping through time.
The skipping through time allowed for stories to be told that had only been hinted at; seeing the drug plane crashing, the complete statue that is now only a four toed foot and most importantly seeing what happened to Rousseau and her team. This was told with Jin as the witness, he survived the freighter blowing up to be rescued by Rousseau and he was present when she shot her lover and he saw the one of the team being dragged under the temple, getting his arm pulled off in the process. It is Jin that stops Rousseau from going down in to the temple and saves hers and Alex's life in the process.
An event that we have seen but that Sawyer was not originally present for was the birth of Aaron, as Locke takes the group away from the light of the hatch they here screaming which turns out to be Claire. Getting to see this again was pretty awesome especially in the context that Sawyer thinks that Kate is dead.
Other interesting encounters involve a young Charles Widmore and Eloise Hawking as well as the never ageing Richard Alpert who we get to see in the 1950s, 1970s and the present.

There are more family connections and children speaking to their parents without their parents knowing it is them- Faraday speaks to two ages of his mother (in the 50s and 70s) and Miles to his father with the baby version of himself living in the same area ("That douche is my dad" is one of my favourite lines in the season). It could be said that Charlotte had to die from the constant time flashes as the version of herself that lived in Dharmaville was of speaking age and this is why Miles did not have to die. Also Faradays theory suggested that those who had been on the island the longest would feel more severe side effects.

Seeing Ethan shoot Locke was also an interesting scene, the inclusion of Richard giving Locke instructions as to how to save the island took an interesting turn when we see that it is 'not Locke' that gives Richard these instructions, telling him that he has to die to save the island.
Off island and in the present we see Ben attempting to gather those who left the island to get back, this mission is one that Locke failed and in 'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham' we see him going from person to person in a wheelchair getting turned down by them all. This leads to him about to commit suicide which Ben interrupts but he ends up killing him anyway. Though is Locke required to die by another to make the journey back to the island possible. I thought it was so he could be resurrected on the island but as with the reveal at the end of this season this was not the reason.
Ben intends to deliver on his threat to kill Penny, but ends of shooting Desmond and taking another beating. It is only because Penny and Desmond's child Charlie (yes I awwed when I first heard that they had called him that) that really stopped Ben from pulling the trigger, followed by the beating.
The result of Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sun, Sayid and Ben taking Ajira flight 316 with Frank Lapidus flying the plane results in some being sent back in time with others staying in the present. Those who end up in the past (Kate, Jack, Hurley and Sayid) turn up in 1977 which is where Sawyer et al have been living since Locke managed to fix the island flashing through time.
The 1977 crew are living in Dharmaville and have been for the past three years and it is through this that we get to see more of the Dharma operation including the buliding of several of the hatches. The truce between the hostiles and the Dharma folk is also emphasised, especially when Sayid is mistaken for one of them.
A young Ben visits Sayid on multiple occasions and when he helps bust him out he thanks Ben by shooting him, thinking that that is why he is there and that if Ben never grows up then this will change everything. This event seems like it is the thing that caused him to actually be the way he is, oh Sayid, thinking he has helped but really is he the cause.

Eloise Hawking shooting her own son Daniel Faraday (RIP Daniel, you were awesome and I hope you will be in the next series) whilst being pregnant with him was also one of the sadder moments, especially as he dies he realises that his mother must have known what was going to happen to him if he did go to the island. His mother must have know his entire life that she was going to kill him which must put a strain on any relationship.
I enjoyed seeing more of Ben's past regarding Widmore and the moment that he stole Alex from Rousseau which weirdly saved both her life and her mothers. Ethan was his helper who turned out to be the son of Horace Goodspeed one of the heads of the Dharma Initiative on the island, got to love these family connections. It is not just Ben who turns on the Dharma folk. Ben does not look good with his hair in the flashbacks, once again though the kid who plays young Ben really does look like him, kudos to the casting director for the kid who played young Kate in the finale, she really does look like Evangeline Lilly.
In the finale we get to see Jacob going around and being present in several of the characters lives both in the distant past and the recent past. With Sayid we see the hit and run that kills Nadia that Jacob may or may not have caused, we see Jacob giving the guitar case to Hurley (what is in this?), he touches Locke after he is pushed out of the window by his father, he pays for a lunchbox that Kate has stolen (the same lunchbox that she will bury years later), talks to Jack at the hospital after his first major surgery (that inspires the count to five story), he is at Sun and Jin's wedding, he gives young Sawyer a pen to finish his 'Dear Mr Sawyer' letter and he visits a heavily bandaged Ilana in hospital. What all of this means exactly I don't know but he physically touches them all is some manner, all except Juliet who we see also at a young age being told by her parents that they are getting a divorce. If many of these have already occurred why were they never on Jacobs lists?

With Jacob being stabbed by Ben at the end provokes the question of what does this mean now regarding the balance of the island between Jacob and the man in black. Michael Emerson said it was great to allow Ben to do something childish and impulsive after all his calculated and manipulative actions- "What about me?"
The moment in which it is revealed that Locke is in the casket still and that the version that is walking around is not Locke is so great especially when rewatching and knowing that the Locke that comes back to the island is not the Locke the audience knows. This also makes me sad as he never really got to be the man he wanted to be, his life really does seem like one tragedy after another. Also we don't still know much about Illana and her group (except that they tried to recruit Miles away from Widmore) and I'm guessing that this is something that will be expanded next season.

"It's not the fall that will kill you but the hydrogen bomb" (a facebook status that a friend had after the season finale). The season ends with the attempt to reset history after Faraday hypothesises that people are the variable and so if they set off the hydrogen bomb at the swan station to stop the electromagnetic energy that will eventually crash flight 815 then none of it will ever happen. The bomb is detonated by Juliet who after the most heartbreaking goodbye with Sawyer (a couple I never thought I would be on board with but loved) manages to do the deed. The screen fades to white and we will find out what happens tomorrow...

All photos courtesy of Lost Media

A plug

2010-02-01T13:14:00.002Z

I'm going to do by best Don Draper pitch:
This weekend saw the launch of a new film website called 'This film is on' which as the title suggests will be a film site primarily, looking at all things film from new releases to classic movies. It also delves into literature and television (which is where I come in). As there are many different contributors opinions range as does the content, which will cover big and small releases, blockbusters and independent cinema as well as any other exciting news that is occurring in the film industry. We are a passionate bunch when it comes to film (and obviously I am when it comes to matters of the small screen) so if you would like to read a site that really does care about the subject that they right about come on over to:

http://thisfilmison.com/

Photo courtesy of AMC

Lost season 4 rewatch

2010-01-28T12:59:00.001Z

Rewatching season 4 was such a treat, this is when the writers really upped the ante after the major cliffhanger that was Jack shouting 'we've got to go back'. This is when the end date had been set and you can tell by the purposeful way in which this season begins and that the first episode is also called 'The beginning of the end', I could easily write a page and half on this opener alone but I will try and condense the season in to a series of smaller remarks.

The Oceanic 6: This was introduced in the season premiere when in Hurley's flash forward he shouts this when he is being arrested. The first mystery of the season was set up in this opener, with the audience already knowing that Kate and Jack were part of this group, but who are the other 3? As the season progressed we found out that these other 3 are Sun, Sayid and Aaron. There was some trickery in the Sun/Jin episode when it appeared that they had both successfully got off the island, until the reveal that Jin's portion was a flashback in the traditional Lost sense and that at the end of Sun's flash forward she visits Jin's grave. What this story device allowed for was much speculation as to how it was just these 6 that got off the island, for example what happened to Claire, how was it these 6 when Hurley spent most of the season with the Locke group? The addition of flash forwards rejuvenated the format of the show and made each episode much more than which character was going to have a flashback this week.
Another idea initiated in the season opener was the split of the group, those who went with Locke and those who went with Jack. This spilt was further heightened when in the flash forward Hurley says to Jack that he should never have gone with Locke, though now I am still not sure what event caused him to say this (am I being completely dumb?).
As well as the group split a further change happened with the introduction of the freighter folk; Miles, Charlotte, Daniel and Lapidus who all had different motivations for coming to the island, none of which involved rescuing Losties. The addition of these four characters along with the change in format was another welcome addition to the show, though it is a shame that due to the writers strike these characters were not fleshed out in this season as much as they were going to be.
Out of the four it is Daniel Faraday that to me was the most interesting, partly because of his knowledge of quantum physics and how things on the island work better but also due to the mysteries surrounding him, why was he crying at the Oceanic 815 crash site news footage? Why is his memory inconsistent. Faraday is also key to the episode 'The Constant' which is one of my favourite episodes in the Lost canon and it is always a pleasure to rewatch this (much kudos to the editing team). The concept of this episode was different from anything they had tried before though because we had experienced a Desmond episode that had played with notions of time, place and conciousness before it made sense that it was happening to Desmond again, this also further lays the ground work that Desmond is different. However the best thing about this episode is the emotional aspect of the story when Desmond realises that Penny is his constant and that he must get in contact with her. The anticipation when the phone is ringing, even when I know what the outcome is still resonates and this scene still gets me misty eyed after multiple views. The revelation the Desmond is Daniels constant at the end of the episode was the classic Lost way to end it, the emotional followed by the huh?

The return of Michael in season 4 was much publicised so when Ben said he had a spy on the freighter it was always clear that it was going to be him. 'Meet Kevin Johnson' which chronicled Michael's downward spiral since he left the island allowed for a brief appearance from Libby, the action that got him and Walt off the island still haunting him, explaining why he was so hell bent on suicide. It also allowed for the appearance of another recently deceased Other in the form of Tom who in this flashback was happily alive, enjoying his off island time with his boyfriend that had been hinted at in the past (Lost's first and only gay character so far). This episode possibly explained why Jack had not jumped off the bridge in the season 3 finale as the island was not done with him either. Michael's return was set up for his death that would save some but not all, and his actions allowed for the principal characters to get off the freighter before it blew up.
It is ambiguous as to whether Jin survived this blast, he looked like he was at the end of the boat when it blew up and we had previously seen his grave stone, though even before seeing season 5 I was convinced that he had survived. This does not take away from the gut wrenching screams from Sun when she thinks her husband is dead, like the Penny/Desmond phone call this scene gets to me every time even when I know the outcome.
The resolution to the death of Charlie at the start of the season was handled well, first with the sight of Hurley canon balling in to the sea looking at peace and happy to the immediate change in emotional state of this character when he sees Desmond returning alone. when the group is reunited at the cock pit of the plane and the significance of this not being lost on Kate and Jack when they reminisce back to events that occurred in the pilot of the series with Charlie. My favourite Charlie related moment in this episode is when in the flash forward of Hurley back in mental hospital Charlie appears to him telling him that he has to go back, that 'they need you' and that he 'is dead but I am still here'. This plays with the idea that the dead do appear to the Losties but also because we have seen Hurley see people who are not there prior to the island it is hard to know which camp Charlie falls in to. Hurley refers to seeing Charlie to Jack and that he asked to give him the message that 'you're not suppose to raise him' and that he will be getting a visitor himself soon which turns out to be his father Christian.

Christian becomes important further in the story of Claire when he takes her away willingly whilst Sawyer and Miles sleep, though at this point there is debate as to whether she is dead after the house she was in exploded and Miles makes some cryptic remarks to this point. We still don't know what happened to Claire as she is absent for season 5, this is one resolution in season 6 that I am really looking forward to. Regarding Claire, Jack also finds out at his fathers funereal that he is Claire's half brother making him Aaron's Uncle. This is made all the more bizarre as Kate is pretending that Aaron is her child.
One of the more heartbreaking scenes from this season is the execution of Alex, which is something that I really did not expect to happen, in this we are in the position of Ben, certain that this is a bluff and won't happen, hence his callous remarks saying that she was a pawn and that he never loved her any way. This back fires, Keamy shows no mercy shooting her, which makes his death in the finale all the more satisfying for both Ben and the audience. Ben is not a figure who commands much sympathy yet here it is in abundance. Rousseau and Karl are also unfortunate casualties in this sequence of events.
The heritage of Locke is revealed and how there were many missed opportunities for him to go to the island. In this we also see the never ageing Richard Alpert along this journey, who is he really and why does he never change age? My money is on someone from the Black Rock and I would say that this is in my personal top 5 Lost mysteries that I want to be solved.
Further observations: Sayid ends up working for Ben post island after Nadia is killed, remains bad ass whilst doing so. Gets involved with a girl who he ends up shooting, he really has no luck in love.
Widmore and Ben go back a long time, do not like each other but for some reason aren't allowed to kill each other. After Alex's death Ben vows to kill Penny, I am not happy about this, neither will Desmond be.
Penny and Desmond are reunited in person after her actual ship and 'Not Penny's Boat' rescues the folk who were on the helicopter, best reunion in TV history?!

Jack and Kate are a bad couple, get engaged, he ends up drinking in to oblivion, getting addicted to pain killers, gets jealous and grows a bad beard.
Kate does not get sent to prison because she was a hero after their plane crashed in to the sea- Jack lies a lot on the stand.
After all of his disagreements with Locke, Jack actually does what he asks and lies to protect the island and those he left behind.
Sawyer remains awesome, ditching the helicopter so they can make it to the freighter, taking on Keamy and his men when 'New Othertown' is ambushed. This scene also gets rid of several red shirts.

Ben can call the smoke monster but not control it.
Ben turns the frozen donkey wheel moving the island and lands in Tunisia. This sentence really would not make sense to anyone who does not watch this show.
The Oceanic 6 claim that there was 8 of them alive when they crashed, the other 3 being Boone, Charlie and Libby.
Miles is officially my favourite ghost whisperer.
Oh and importantly Locke is in the coffin, and everyone has to go back 'all of them, including him'.

To season 5...

All photos courtesy of Lost-Media

Lost fan posters

2010-01-26T11:57:00.000Z

This image is one of 8 posters that were created by Lost fan and artist Ty Mattson and I think that the collection is pretty awesome and can be found over at his blog here. They are not currently available to buy but I'm guessing that as Jorge Garcia has mentioned them on his blog he will hopefully get some more attention as this is where I have just read about them. With a week to go before the new season it is brilliant to see that the anticipation for this new and final season is bringing out the creative side of people. Other images from his collection include these (but you should definitely check out the full set at his site):

SAG Awards 2010

2010-01-25T14:43:00.000Z

No major surprises at the SAG awards this year with the TV categories mirrored the Golden Globes; Michael C. Hall, Julianna Margulies, Drew Barrymore, Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin, Glee and Mad Men all walking away with the awards, the only difference was Tina Fey winning for 30 Rock instead of Toni Collette for the United States of Tara. The red carpet was less daring than that of last weeks Golden Globes, and it seemed that there were hardly any major missteps (Julie Bowen I'm looking at you), so instead of analysing the awards as I previously did last week I will be looking at my favourite dresses of the evening, which included:

Christina Hendricks who always looks brilliant in red and the rest of the Mad Men cast looking pretty dapper:

Tina Fey made up for her dress that got slammed last week in simple purple, though I loved that she got in a dig about 'Fashion Police' to E! televisions Giuliana Rancic when she asked her if she had taken a steamer on her dress the previous week, it was a suitably awkward moment of TV, though not as awkward as last weeks Anna Kendrick interview when Rancic kept yelling at George Clooney who appeared to be ignoring her. Here is Fey with Alec Baldwin who knows how to wear a suit:

Michael C. Hall made reference to wife Jennifer Carpenter's dress in his speech and she did indeed look amazing in this short white dress and I liked that her accessories were black creating the monochrome look :

Other highlights include my favourite Diane Kruger, her dress was reminiscent of Michelle Williams at the 2006 Oscars which is one of my favourite all time red carpet dresses:

The Glee cast were all decked out well, with special mentions to Lea Michele who looked less swamped than she did at the Globes in her beautiful Catherine Malandrino dress:

All photos courtesy of Just Jared and Socialite Life

Conan's last Tonight Show

2010-01-25T13:13:00.000Z

Friday saw Conan O'Brien host his final Tonight Show after only seven months, his last monologue was classy and got me all misty eyed:

After this heart felt goodbye Conan, his band, Will Ferrell, Beck, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top and Ben Harper performed Free Bird which will always be one of my favourite songs to really rock out to (slightly off topic but it was this song that saved Elizabethtown for me). And of course there was cow bell:

Hopefully in seven months time we will be seeing Conan back on the air doing what he does best and in the mean time I wonder who the late night hosts will be talking about now as this has given them much material for weeks now. Also much has been made of the huge settlement that Conan has received and that this should take any bitterness out of the situation, but I'm guessing that the money does not really make up for his short stint on a show that you can tell he cares much about. It will be interesting also to see how and when Jay Leno takes it back over what the ratings will be like for him, I'm guessing Letterman can't wait.

More Golden Globes

2010-01-19T14:05:00.001Z

Regarding the fashion from this years Golden Globes there seem to be many dresses that are making both best and worst lists (Lea Michele, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Diane Kruger, Zoe Saldana, Sandra Bullock to name just a few). Fashion like TV and film is subjective, however this is the first year that I can remember where there has been such a spilt opinion over the same dress. The red carpet this year was also stricken by an unusually heavy rain day, that some stars took in their stride a lot easier than others (Emily Blunt remarked that because she is from London that this was nothing really, Sofia Vergara from Modern Family also explained to Ryan Seacrest that they are not M and Ms so they won't melt in the rain). This down pour meant that the must have accessory was an umbrella with preferably someone good to hold it:



Kruger's dress was one that has made both best and worst dress lists, I really like it on her but like Maggie Gyllenhaal she is someone who quite often will take a risk for the red carpet and the results are normally good even if it is a dress that would not look good on many other people, this risk taking makes them two of my favourite fashion icons. Joshua Jackson also looks pretty dapper in his role of umbrella holder. Jon Hamm as the other umbrella holder was rocking a grizzly beard, not for a movie role but simply because he can't be bothered to shave (a question that was asked of him several times in the press room). Beards can be good but it definitely depends of the wearer of the facial fuzz and Hamm rocks the beard well, this is another trend that suits the man well so if they ever want Don to really go off the rails then I think it would suit him.
Other than umbrellas, another fashion trend seemed to be rocking the cleavage, some did this much better than others:



Christina Hendricks always looks fabulous to me because she knows how to work the body she has and it is always good to see a Hollywood actress who isn't starving herself. My only issue with the dress is the colour which I'm not a huge fan of but she still manages to pull it off. Now regarding Mariah Carey I really would not expect anything less from her but holy wow, her boobs are working hard for the 'golden globes' gags that I have heard many utter. Still got to love her for being Mariah, shame there were no bonkers speeches for her to give at this awards show. Others were also wearing revealing gowns with positive results:



My other favourite gowns of the evening were from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emily Blunt (John Krasinski also looks pretty damn good):



And Amy Adams with baby bump and presenter Kate Winslet, who as Lainey Gossip pointed out knows how to dress when she is not a nominee:



All photos courtesy of Just Jared

Golden Globes

2010-01-19T13:07:00.001Z

The 2010 Golden Globes had a few surprise wins and a few that were not so surprising, I'm going to concentrate on the TV winners as this is a TV blog and the debate about whether Avatar deserved to take home best director and film is one that has raged amongst many of my friends. Even though I would've much rather seen 'The Hurt Locker' take the big prize it is the TV winners that I am much more interested in.
It was another good year for Mad Men which won best drama for the third year in a row, this was much deserved as this third season has been excellent. I also enjoyed this award all the more as it was presented by Zachary Levi and Amy Poehler. It was a shame that Jon Hamm and January Jones didn't take home the acting gongs but they were both beaten by formidable talent of Michael C. Hall and Julianna Margulies. Dexter this season was a return to form and it was brilliant to see Hall awarded for his performance and after last weeks announcement that he was recovering from Hodgkin's lymphoma it was a welcome sight to see that he is on the road to recovery. Fellow cast member John Lithgow won best supporting actor for his role as the Trinity killer, another well deserving winner as even though I would've loved to see Michael Emerson win for Lost, Lithgow really was a tour de force in this creepy serial killer role.

The award for best Comedy/Musical went to Glee which from what I have seen (I am late to this party) also deserved this prize, the comedy was on display when the creator dedicated the award to everyone that had received a wedgie in high school. It was a shame that Jane Lynch was left empty handed in the best supporting category as she is brilliant (I particularly love her in The 40 Year Old Virgin)

The other major TV category for best TV movie/mini series is one where I have more often than not seen most of the nominees, this year was not much different for me, however I did finally get round to watching Grey Gardens last week which I thought was spectacular so I was very pleased to see it pick up the top award as well as Drew Barrymore winning for her portrayal of little Eddie. It really was fascinating and has made me really want to see the original Grey Gardens documentary. Both Barrymore and Lange were excellent so I really didn't mind who won, though I'm thinking that Lange would not have fallen apart with her acceptance speech.

One other award that though it wasn't TV has close TV connections was that of best original score, won by Michael Giacchino for Up. Giacchino is the composer for all things J.J. Abrams, and his Lost scores week in week out are by far the best orchestral TV music that there is so it was wonderful to see him honoured for his Pixar work as well. Another TV face I appreciated seeing being part of a film cast that won was Ed Helms who was in The Hangover, Helms has fast become my favourite cast member in The Office. With him was Bradley Cooper who is another favourite from his TV days in Alias as Will Tippin, who I am glad to see is finally getting recognition.

Overall it was an enjoyable show, not much to say about Ricky Gervais hosting as he was mainly absent and it seems a little odd that they asked him to host any way, I would say that he works much better with presenting one award like he has previously done for the Golden Globes and the Emmys rather that over seeing the whole proceedings, Neil Patrick Harris is definitely my preferred pick for this job.

Episodes promo

2010-01-14T12:00:00.000Z

A while back it was announced that Matt LeBlanc would be starring in a new TV show for Showtime called Episodes. In it, he would be playing himself starring in a US remake of a hit British show which does not go down so well (think Coupling not The Office). The first promo has been released and if the show is as funny as this is then it looks like it could be quite a programme. It's also good to see that Matt LeBlanc has quite a good sense of humour and doesn't mind being the brunt of the joke. Also the does the part with all the auditioning wannabes remind you of when Joey tried to get someone to pretend to be his twin for a medical study?

Chuck- the first 3 episodes

2010-01-13T15:13:00.000Z

Spoilers for Chuck season 3, episodes 1-3

Even though the first three episodes of this new season were not intended to air so close together I figured I would write about them as a collective unit after this became the case. The strongest of the three for me was definitely episode 3 'Chuck vs the Angel de la Muerte', this really felt like a proper Chuck episode, no need for any exposition regarding the intersect or regarding the Sarah/Chuck relationship situation and there are some meaty scenes for both Awesome and Casey. This is the episode that I want to focus on for these reasons indicated above as it allowed the story to move on in a positive way. At the end of last season one of the interesting turns was that Awesome now knows about Chuck and his spy life and this was one element that I was really excited to see how it would play out and this episode provided brilliance that's for sure. Awesome is a character who is an adrenaline junkie so it is no surprise that feeling in a bit of a rut he turns to his brother in law for some much needed excitement in the spy world, though Chuck dismisses this life as being just as repetitive same old mission week in week out "blah, blah, blah". This does not deter Awesome though and when he becomes embroiled in to this weeks mission involving a big fancy party both he and Ellie are excited by this prospect (Ellie because she thinks fancy parties are pretty sexy- it's good to see her out of her scrubs again):

However, all does not go well for Awesome who's fate at the end of the episode seems uncertain (though the promo monkeys over at NBC give away this fate annoyingly, stay away from these if you want to remain surprised). Awesome and Ellie are favourites of mine and so I was glad to see them utilised in this episode as they were missing for much of the first two episodes, though with episode budget cuts it seems that certain characters will be taking a back seat, but more on that later. Also as much as Awesome does know about Chuck there is still much that he doesn't know, so when Chuck manages to get the bullet out of Casey's leg he believes that it is partly down to his words of encouragement, not that there is a secret computer in Chuck's head.

Casey was another character who benefited from this third episode as he got to show his patriotic side in his disdain for Communist countries and that he has also got an interesting nickname from his previous NSA exploits, this is the episode title which means Angel of Death, that much to his annoyance at the end becomes Angel of Life. Casey in the first two episodes also got some great moments like when he is Uncle Johnny fake moustache and all, getting to play the grumpy neighbour and breaking up the courtyard party (no one doubts that Casey would do this so it is the perfect cover really), any time he gets to use new weapons as it makes him pretty damn happy.

Must also say goodbye to some characters, Anna Wu who's goodbye we don't get to see and is one of the people that got the chop due to budgetary reasons. Also RIP Emmett Millbarge who in a strange moment of confrontational defiance met his end after calling an assassin a pussy, not a good move. I will miss you Tony Hale but will hopefully see you in the Arrested Development movie if it ever comes out.

Having three episodes in such quick succession really feels like they are spoiling us and I am just glad to have it back, not sure how I would've felt about the three episodes if they had been spread over a three week period though with each episode there was definite improvements and I think a lot of this had to do with trying to get new viewers for the show, but by the third episode this did not feel like the agenda and it definitely had the feeling back of the Chuck I love so I am more than happy with the start of this season. Also it seems like there were new viewers as the ratings figures are in for both days with over seven million watching each episode, this is the highest the figures have been since the post Superbowl 3D episode, and with Monday night facing competition from new episodes of House and How I Met Your Mother this is a good and hopeful indicator of how the rest of the season will pan out.

So to next weeks episodes and the fate of Awesome, I really cannot wait.

Lost TCA panel

2010-01-13T12:07:00.001Z

Yesterday the Lost TCA panel was held with producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and with cast members Emilie de Ravin, Daniel Dae Kim, Josh Holloway, Evangeline Lily, Terry O'Quinn, Michael Emerson and Jorge Garcia (Claire, Jin, Sawyer, Kate, Locke, Ben and Hurley). The panel revealed little about the new season (which is just how I like it) but there were some minor spoilers concerning casting so be warned.

For a detailed account of the panel head over to Alan Sepinwall's blog, however here are my highlights from the panel:

That it took Emilie three reads of the season 6 premiere script to take it all in, she clarified that it wasn't because it was confusing but because there was so much in it. Welcome back to Emilie, I missed Claire in season 5.
Terry O'Quinn didn't know that Locke was dead until he got the script that revealed his body was in the container.
Michael Emerson stated that the show has ruined his acting process, though he stated it is better to be in the dark with this show, "It's nice not to be burdened with the secrets, and trying to play the future before it arrives." I'd imagine that this also helps with not unwittingly revealing spoilers.
When asked about favourite moments from the show several said that they really enjoy the big group scenes- Josh Holloway saying that "If you position yourself just right, you get to cut up and have fun, and occasionally have to do your part." 'Sangria Thursdays' is a new season 6 tradition that Evangeline Lilly names as a favourite.
Episode wise, Daniel Dae Kim says that the raft launch at the end of season 1 is a favourite (Carlton Cuse also says this is a favourite), Lily says that 'Do No Harm' the season 1 episode where Claire gives birth and Boone dies is a favourite, Jorge Garcia says when Mr Cluck's got hit by the asteroid and they threw raw chicken over him. Michael Emerson says that he has "lots of fond memories of breathless confrontations in small rooms" and the scene in season 3 'Every Man For Himself' when he is on the cliff with Sawyer quoting Steinbeck.
Lindelof and Cuse say a favourite moment is wondering how to say 'time travel' to the Disney executives without saying 'time travel'.
Emerson later said that in the season 5 finale he liked that with Ben stabbing Jacob he finally did something childish and impulsive.
Not all the questions will be answered in this final season which I appreciate, I still want some mystery.
They say that the worst ending they can provide would be the safe ending (see Harry Potter), but they are not going to take a risk just to take a risk.
Libby and Michael will be back, though not all the Libby questions will be answered.

I like that there was some information revealed, enough to wet my appetite even more for February 2nd (not that it really needed it), also it's nice to see the camaraderie between the cast:

Photos courtesy of Lost-Media

I'm with Coco

2010-01-13T11:00:00.003Z

Not that I have anything against Jay Leno (in fact he seems like quite a nice guy), but it appears that NBC have royally screwed over both themselves and Conan O'Brien in this late night talk show shake up. To read Conan's full open letter to NBC head over here, it is both brutally honest and funny, and it highlights the fact that it can't still be called 'The Tonight Show' if it airs at 12.05am. This picture best sums up my feelings on the situation:

And last nights monologue:

Also here is an article about the creator of the above 'Im with Coco' image

Chuck season 3

2010-01-11T16:05:00.000Z

Chuck returned last night with a double episode and there will be another one tonight so I will keep this brief and do a full recap tomorrow (spoiler warning just in case)

It is good to see this show back, especially as it came so close to being cancelled last season, with the scheduling meltdown that Leno at 10pm has caused NBC and that he will be returning to late night there is less panic regarding ratings this season as there are now more slots for scripted television. This Leno experiment failed on the part of NBC and it is good that they have realised that this is the case (though I really hope Conan doesn't get screwed over in the process. though it kinda already looks like he has). Regarding the first episode of this third season it is clear that new viewers were definitely in mind as 'The Pink Slip' was a reboot of a kind, re-establishing the characters, who they are and what their motivations are. I enjoyed this first hour but because of the exposition element of this episode, the next one was a lot more satisfying as an existing Chuck fan.

It was a welcome sight to see the team back together again, even with this added layer of angst that has been created by Chuck choosing the spy life over a life with Sarah. Though as the video on the USB drive that Sarah watched at the end of episode 2 shows, it is because of Sarah that he has decided to stay in the spy life as he has a 'gift' that can help people; this is something that she taught him. This scene makes up for any of the arguments and relationship debates between Sarah and Chuck in these first two episodes, though I must say that I think this is a show that, like the Office will not suffer if the 'will they/won't they' couple actually get together. Somebody commented over on Television Without Pity that they were worried that Chuck will end up like Seth in The OC, being quite self centred when it comes to relationships and I really hope this is not the case. Hopefully because Chuck has the spy world to contend with this will not happen, though I can see why this one fan would think this could happen after the repeated badgering that Chuck gave Sarah whilst on mission in episode 2. Chuck, the character has always been about Sarah but also how to be the best asset that he can be, this new intersect has made this challenge all the harder as it is his emotions that affect if he can flash and I'm sure that this will be both a blessing and a curse as to what kind of spy he will become.

Wow, for what was meant to be a brief comment on the new episodes I sure have waffled for quite a bit. One of the main things that I wanted to say was that I particularly liked the way the train station scene in Prague was shot and that there was the added bonus of the Frightened Rabbit track 'Backward's Walk' which was my musical highlight of the episodes (low point being Imogen Heap, not a fan). I look forward to tonights episode, especially if there are any more clues as to who Agent Shaw is.

All I need to find is a big jar of cheese balls and to work out what is exactly in 'jail juice'.

Lost season 3 rewatch

2010-01-07T14:16:00.002Z

Season 3 began with several different stories taking place and with the characters in different locations, one included this:

Where the different characters are; Kate, Sawyer and Jack having been taken by the others are on a different island all together and after the hatch imploded those who were there when that occurred are also separated, scattered in the jungle or happily back at the beach playing family time. Hurley is also on his own having been set free by the Others as a messenger for what has happened to Kate, Sawyer and Jack. This separation is one issue that was raised when these episodes were first aired as an initial six episode arc in October, with episode 7 airing the following February. This scheduling experiment showed that Lost is a show that really needs to be aired in one block with little or no gaps being best for viewer satisfaction, much like a show like 24. When it comes to rewatching these episodes without the long hiatus they become less problematic but I still think these opening six feel somewhat disjointed.
This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy these episodes, in fact I liked the Kate and Sawyer scenes a lot and it was good to finally see them fully consummate their relationship- I've always much preferred the pairing of Kate and Sawyer over Jack, the chemistry between the two is the main factor for this. The introduction of Juliet was also well done, as a character she is one like Sayid who I always forget that I like so much until they have their own episode and show how brilliant they are and after rewatching this season I am sad that she is only going to appear in a handful of episodes in season 6.
Back on the main island; not a good introduction was to Nikki and Paulo who never seemed to fit in. One story that begun in these six that was important for the rest of the season was that Desmond after using the hatch fail safe key now has the ability to see in to the future, seeing flashes of what is going to happen. One such flash suggests that either Claire or Charlie are in danger and that Desmond has to save one of them. Also important to other season 3 stories is that now pregnant had an affair just prior to the island implicating that sterile Jin may not be the father to her baby. One character also fell to the smoke monster, that being Mr Eko who as a character I liked throughout season 2 but did not really miss his presence in the ensuing episodes/seasons. Not sure why, perhaps it was because it was the line that ended the six episode arc but I still love it when Jack says 'Damn it Kate, run!' My favourite sequence from these first six is definitely when Locke in his sweat lodge has a vision of Boone wheeling him through the airport, visually it was superb:

Why I have decided to look at the series in two parts is probably because the first six episodes seem to be discussed as a separate entity and because this is the season where the backlash seemed the most strong, it is also the season where they announced that there would be an end date after negotiations with ABC were successful, soothing the naysayers. This was also when Heroes first premiered and was the new TV darling although in hindsight that is a show that started strong and which hasn't seemed to recover since the writers strike and would also benefit from having an end date.

The season over riding theme was that of the Others and of one Benjamin Linus:

My highlights of this story and the rest of season 3 when rewatching include:

The Ben centric episode 'The Man Behind the Curtain' (see above picture) was well executed making you feel equally sorry for and repulsed by Ben's actions and making you understand a bit more as to why he is the manipulative and insecure person that he is in the present. Heartbreaking scenes between him and his father on his birthday make his actions as an adult more understandable. Great casting for young Ben who we have seen since.
The introduction of Richard who seemingly at first seems nothing more than one of Ben's many pawns, that is until we see him looking the same age in the 70s, still don't know his story fully but he is definitely one of the more intriguing characters. He was also responsible for revealing to Locke which other Lostie his father also had a hand in ruining.
The reveal that Locke's father is the man who conned Sawyer's mother when he was a child was one that I had guessed in season 1- I very rarely get this stuff so far in advance so was happy that it played out that I was correct. The scenes in 'The Brig' with Sawyer and 'original' Sawyer are also really heartbreaking and showed that Josh Holloway is a lot more than snark and abs.
It was also revealed how Locke ended up in the wheelchair and he was dramatically thrown from a window eight floors up. The scene that follows of Locke being made to get in to his wheelchair also introduced us to 'don't tell me what I can't do' but this time spoken by the hospital worker.
Another relationship link that had been hinted at in season 2 is that Jack's father is also Claire's father, this is revealed to be true in the Claire centric episode 'Par Avion'.
Jack and Locke's relationship really hit the skids when John blew up Jacks ride home, not a good move for repairing friendships. Nor is blowing up the communication station. Or throwing knifes in the back of the person who will 'rescue' you.
I'm not sure if I'm in the minority but I enjoyed the slightly more irreverent episodes like 'Expose' and 'Tricia Tanaka is Dead'. Especially the latter with the idea that there is hope for them all, even if it comes from starting an old VW camper- which will come in as a handy weapon later on in the season. We also get to meet Roger Workmen, if only they knew who's father he turned out to be.
I had also forgotten that perhaps the best and the worst episodes in this season are back to back, these being 'Flashes Before Your Eyes' and the infamous Jack tattoo origins episode 'Stranger in a Strange Land'.
'Flashes Before Your Eyes' is probably one of my favourite all time episodes and really set up the new 'power' that Desmond has and what occurred when he turned the key. It was also a really nice twist on the flashback format, getting to see his life before the island with him having knowledge of his island life. From seeing him wake up covered in red paint (meant to look like blood), in Dharma like overalls and with a microwave sound that is reminiscent of a certain computer there were so many touches of brilliance in this episode. We learn a little more about what kind of man Charles Widmore is (that he likes art in his office by baby abandoning Australians), that he likes expensive scotch and that he really, really does not approve of Desmond being with his daughter. Seeing Charlie singing 'Wonderwall' "Because maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me" in this odd flashback hints at the reveal at the the end of the episode. Perhaps the most important person in this flashback is the jewellary owner Eloise Hawking, who as we now know is Daniel Faraday's mother and former island inhabitant. However in this episode she is just the woman who reveals to Desmond that he can't change what is meant to happen, that things have a way of course correcting, that he must go to the island and leave Penny, forcing him again in to reliving the moment that he runs away from the women he loves. This leads back to the present where Desmond reveals that it has been Charlie's life and not Claire's that he has been saving and that it doesn't matter what he does as it is going to keep happening over and over again, 'You're going to die brother'.
That is exactly what does happen, but not until Desmond has saved him a couple more times and when his death will impact on the rescue of all the Losties. It is Charlie's death in Lost that is the one that I have been the most saddened by as he was my favourite character from the off. The manner in which they deal with his death is probably the best goodbye a character has had so far, from his episode 'Greatest Hits' which had me all misty eyed at the end to his actual watery demise, which had me double misty eyed I think that it was an excellent send off and gave his character the redemption he had been craving from the start:

Other thoughts regarding the finale, the Jack flashback that was not a flashback at all had me fooled, even at the end when Kate stepped out of the car I inexplicably and stupidly said 'He knew her from before?!' to realise two seconds later what an idiot I was. This flash forward had many a puzzling things but mainly who is in the coffin? A question to not be revealed until the finale of season 4. As far as a Jack centric story this was by far one of my favourites and yes I can be quite critical of the Jack episodes. The only thing bad was the road kill that he had stuck to his face. The part on the bridge reminded me of two separate things, firstly with the newspaper and the car The Beatles song 'A Day in the Life' springs to mind: "I read the news today, oh boy" and "He blew his mind out in a car". The other cultural reference is that it makes me think of 'It's a Wonderful Life' standing on a bridge and contemplating death, though this time he isn't saved by an angel but an island that won't let him die. Tenuous yes but the first pop culture references that I think of when I see this part of the episode. I have to give props to Matthew Fox who really does play Jack as a desperate and broken man very well. I also love the hints about Jack being a hero and people recognising him, at this point we think that this is from rescuing the woman on the bridge, it turns out he is famous for something so much bigger.
Other parts of the finale that I liked was that Hurley who had been told that he could be no use turned out to be the big hero on the beach, getting the VW camper, running over the Others and saving Jin, Sayid and Bernard who's chances of survival looked slim, especially as the would be rescuers of Juliet and Sawyer were unarmed. Also getting to see Alex and Rousseau reunited was good to see, though this happiness will be somewhat short lived in season 4.
Overall, I really enjoyed season 3 despite my favourite character dying, With the contact to the freighter made at the end of this season and seeing that both Jack and Kate manage to get off the island and that Jack is such a broken man it sets up for season 4 very well.

Photos courtesy of Lost-Media

Lost season 2 rewatch

2010-01-06T12:01:00.001Z

Last night I finished season 3 of Lost but before I can write about this here are my thoughts on season 2 which I finished watching over the Christmas holiday (which is my excuse for not getting it up sooner). Here are the highs, lows and everything else that I thought is relevant from watching this season with full knowledge of what has happened since.
What occurred had much to do with this:

And with the hatch within which this computer resides. Season 2 of course focused on the hatch and opened up the Dharma world to both the Losties and the audience. The other area of focus was expanding the idea of who and what the others are and that there were other survivors from flight 815. My highlights from this season include:

Interesting new characters: Desmond, Henry Gale (to become Ben Linus in S3), Mr Eko.
Regarding Desmond, I had an automatic emotional connection to his story with Penny and I think this relationship is perhaps the strongest romantic one that this show has produced as you care immediately about the fate of them.
Speaking of Penny the introduction of Widmore as a potentially shadowy figure sets the character up well for what we know about him now, especially that he will stop at nothing.
Michael Emerson is probably the best addition to the cast that the show has ever had and it was a pleasure to watch him work his manipulative magic with Locke all over again. Seeing Sayid torture him was also interesting considering what is to follow (or rather what has already happened).
Bernard and Rose being reunited got me all misty eyed and it was good to see that she was right in keeping hold of his ring for so long. It was also nice to see that someone saw Locke in his wheelchair at the airport, though like Locke Rose has a medical miracle thanks to the island.
Death wise in season 2, the big ones were Shannon, Ana Lucia and Libby. With Shannon they did the classic TV trick of making you like the character even if you didn't all season before they bite it (see Marissa in The OC). The Ana Lucia and Libby deaths are still as shocking now as they were when I first watched it, and even though I was not that attached to either character it made me a little sad (probably because Hurley was so sad).
The divide between Locke and Jack becomes irreparable after this season as both believe that they are doing the right thing but go about it in very different ways: "Why is it so hard for you to believe?" "Why is it so easy for you to?" This being what sums up their differences in simple terms (Man of Science, Man of Faith).
Sawyer becoming a hero and once again the antagonist: not enjoying his hero status Sawyer enlisting a pride wounded Charlie manages a great con and gets all the guns returning to his position as the camps most disliked.
'Don't mistake coincidence for fate' is a theme that flows throughout this season, though is it fate or coincidence that led Locke to the hatch the night that Desmond was going to kill himself?
One criticism of this season is that there are perhaps too many Kate and Jack flashbacks and it would be good if a couple of those episodes would be best served on other less fleshed out characters as by this point we know that Jack needs something to fix and that Kate likes to run.
Though it was good to have some resolutions to some first season stories like what happened to Claire when she was taken (with this we also get a proper introduction to Alex, the daughter of Rousseau who had been taken 16 years previous- great casting as well), where the yellow plane came from, what the monster looked like and what caused Oceanic 815 to crash, Though with every answer that was given, in Lost tradition many more questions were thrown in the air and questions posed in this season have still yet to be resolved, one of the most frustrating being why was Libby in the mental institute?

Season 2 is my least watched season and that is one of the reasons why I enjoyed watching it again as there are some brilliant episodes and moments throughout and it really does set up the mythology of the show regarding Dharma and the Others for seasons 3 and 5. It isn't all brilliant but with the introduction of two of my favourite characters this season is definitely one which I have underrated and is one reason why I am glad that I decided to rewatch the show from the start.

Season 3 recap to follow with the aftermath of the what happens in the season 2 finale:

Photos courtesy of Lost-Media

Lost seasons 1-5 in 8 minutes 15 seconds

2010-01-05T17:12:00.000Z

ABC have just released another promo much like they did prior to season 4 which summarises the events of the previous seasons. The first three seasons are covered in just over three minutes and feature some of the same comments as the previous video, with the bulk being devoted to season 5 which I guess is a harder season to sum in a short amount of time due to the time travel nature. It is definitely worth a watch if you don't have time to rewatch the entire run and is quite amusing in places. Talking of rewatching Lost the next episode I have is the season 3 finale and I will be posting my thoughts on season 2 and 3 shortly.

Thanks to the guys over at Dark UFO for the promo heads up

Lost- The last supper and four weeks to go

2010-01-05T12:31:00.002Z

That's right, as pointed out in Doc Jensen's newest column there is only 28 days till season six airs (included in this is also an excellent interpretation of the following picture). With the season starting so soon, promotional material has been released including this picture of the cast in a 'last supper' type arrangement:

Yes doing the last supper is not necessarily a new idea (Battlestar Galactica and the Sopranos are two shows that have previously used such imagery) however it fits with the type of show Lost is and I'm sure that the producers knew that by releasing such an image would have fans debating over what the positions of each character means and of course they were right. Is it Sayid that is Judas or is it Kate? Is Jack 'doubting' Thomas? Which Locke is Jesus? What do the colour that each person is wearing and why can't we see Claire's top? I am not one is too hot on religious iconography and interpretation so I have enjoyed reading what others have been saying including Fishbiscuit over at Doc Arzt and of course the aforementioned Doc Jensen. I think it is a pretty cool picture though I do wish that it wasn't just the regulars who were on it, I miss Desmond already.
Also if this wasn't enough another 'last supper' image has been released with some people being in different positions (the six in the centre remain the same) at the table opening the debate up even more. In this second image it is somewhat disconcerting that everyone is looking in to the camera, what this is meant to mean I am not sure, but there is a knowing quality about it all.

So happy decoding, I'm looking forward to what they will release in the next four weeks before the big event.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T13:22:00.002Z

Happy New Year everybody! 2010 looks set to be a very exciting year in the TV world and here is my list of what I am anticipating the most:

The sixth and final season of Lost.
Mad Men season 4: Cooper, Sterling, Draper, Pryce
The return of Chuck: after a great 'Save Chuck' campaign that worked lets hope that this season gets more ratings and helps the show stay on air. Early reviews implicate this as the strongest season yet and it starts with a double this Sunday 10th with another episode on Monday 11th.
The Pacific on HBO, if it's anywhere near as good as Band of Brothers then this will be terrific (early signs say it is and the trailer is fantastic).
Friday Night Lights continuing to be awesome and this year without the worry that it will be cancelled.
Fringe returning strong and not getting cancelled would be nice too.
The Daily Show and Colbert Report returning this week, I know it hasn't been off the air for too long but I really miss it when it is not on. Also I will be making my first trip to NYC this year so I'm really hoping to watch one of these being taped.

So in anticipation of Chuck returning here is a really good indepth interview that Zachary Levi did with Televisionary (he also quotes from The Little Mermaid which kinda makes me love him more):

Golden Globe nominations

2009-12-15T14:44:00.002Z

For a full list of the TV nominations head to:

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/12/15/golden-globes-nominations/

For a full list of the film nominations head to:

http://oscar-watch.ew.com/2009/12/15/golden-globe-nominations-announced/

Updated to include the nominations announcements:

What no Lost?! After such a good season it is surprising to see it absent from the Best Drama category, though I'm glad to see Michael Emerson nominated in the Best Supporting category as he really does deserve the many plaudits he has received for his work on this show. This best supporting actor category is a tough one, pitting drama against comedy with other favourites like John Lithgow and William Hurt also vying for this award. I'm also glad to see Neil Patrick Harris in this company as he really is terrific in How I Met Your Mother(and everything else).

I am glad to see Mad Men and Dexter in the best drama category and that Jon Hamm, January Jones and Michael C. Hall are also all nominated. Other nominees that I'm happy with are both Glenn Close and Rose Byrne for Damages, even if the second season was not as great as the first both performed superbly and I'm looking forward to the third season next month.

Comedy wise it is good (and obvious) that 30 Rock and The Office have been shown some love, but other than these two shows I don't really watch any of the other nominees (though I plan on starting to watch Glee whilst it is on hiatus as I have many good things said about this).

The film nominations also include some favourites of mine, including:

-Joseph Gordon-Levitt for best actor in a comedy/musical for (500) Days of Summer

-(500) Days of Summer and The Hangover in the comedy/musical category

-Meryl Streep getting her annual nomination (twice this year for It's Complicated and Julie and Julia

-The movie I am most looking forward to getting many nominations (Up in the Air)

-Another female director getting nominated for an excellent film (Kathryn Bigelow: The Hurt Locker)

-Where the Wild Things Are being up for best score

-Matt Damon with double nominations for Invictus and The Informant!

-Emily Blunt getting nominated for The Young Victoria and for Justin Timberlake who announced this inappropriately suggesting that John Krasinski (also presenting) would be getting lucky tonight

One reason why I like to watch the Golden Globes is for both TV/film getting honoured as even though my passion lies in television, I do also love the counter part of film. This award show is also helped by the free flowing booze at the tables which could lead to some funny speeches. It will interesting to see how host Ricky Gervais will do this year as he is often the highlight of most award shows, how will he go down when he is hosting the whole schebang and not just one award?

New Chuck promo

2009-12-15T13:58:00.000Z

NBC have released another promo for Chuck season 3 (which starts in under a month, woot) with some more new footage, very excited and am glad to have this show back very soon:

a piece of television pie

Christina Hendricks and the issue of role models

Mad Men season 4 premiere

Emmy nominations snap judgement

Daily dose of Mad Men

More Mad Men pictures, video

Not too long till Mad Men season 4...

Lost: How it should have ended video

Mad Men: The Rules

Mad Men season 4 pictures

Mad Men season 4 poster

World Cup 2010

True Blood promo poster 12

Rubicon

True Blood season 3 red carpet

Like a hedgehog doing karate

True Blood promo posters 9-11

Normal transmission will shortly resume

Undercovers and Lonestar

Chuck finale promo

True Blood season 3 promo

Chuck renewal and other TV news

Lost props Auction

Lost fan art for sale

True Blood promo poster 8

Hurley and six seasons of 'dude'

Lost: 'Across the Sea' and the issue of answers

Fringe: longer season finale promo

Even more Lost fan art.

Newsweek and the debate about gay actors playing straight

The decline of the print media, can it be saved?

The Pacific: approaching the conclusion

Lost finale news

True Blood promo poster 7: Vamp Stamp

Twitter and Lost

Conan on 60 minutes

More Lost fan creativity

True Blood promo poster 6 and season 3 cast photo

Fringe: Brown Betty Promo 2

Chuck vs the Honeymooners

True Blood promo poster 5

Fringe- Brown Betty Preview

All new Chuck tonight

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report: Indecision 2012

Lost Tarot Cards

TV news round up: Friday Night Lights edition

Christina Hendricks: A woman that is loved

Mad Men set for 6 seasons

Fourth True Blood poster

Twitter and the impact on TV

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Bones 100th

Random Mad Men cast and crew video

Lost: Happily Ever After

Third True Blood Promo Poster

Chuck has made the final five

Chuck vs The Other Guy: Season 3 finale version 1

True Blood season 3 promo posters

If Lost was made in the 1960s

The return of Bones and Fringe

That time of year again

Geronimo Jack's Beard

Win 2 tickets to the Empire Film Awards with Citroen DS3

Women in TV week: Alexandra Patsavas

Women in TV week: Stephanie Savage

Women in TV week: Mindy Kaling

Women in TV week: Tami Taylor (Connie Britton)

Jimmy Kimmel 'Handsome Men's Club'

International Women's Day 8th March

Lost gets the Simpsons treatment

Michael Emerson on The Soup and Jimmy Kimmel

Lost eyeballs

The Pacific extended promo

Flu season

A quick thought on the Chuck 'controversy'

Lost 815 side by side

Lost season 6 LA X parts 1 and 2

Top 5 Lost questions I would like answered

Lost subway map

Lost Cuatro promo with Terry O'Quinn narrating