4 posts tagged “the nine”
Not much to update today as I didn't see much last night. A dear friend called me and we had a great time gabbing but it meant that I missed half of Lost (although enough to say, cage sex? Ewww!). What I'm going to do is try watching it on ABC.com. I've watched shows on my computer via iTunes and at CBS using their Innertube service. Innertube was maddening, clunky, difficult to use and returned repeated error messages. iTunes was a bit of a pain to get set up with because (gasp!) it was the first time I ever used the service. I know! I do not have an iPod. However, once downloaded, the show (a free episode of 30 Days on immigration) played easily and the quality was exceptional. I wouldn't want to regularly replace watching on my hi-def, widescreen plama television ;-P but it's nice to have iTunes as a backup option. If ABC.com doesn't work out, I'll pay for this episode of Lost.
The lack of surprises on Dancing With the Stars continued as, indeed, Joey was voted off the dance floor.
I saw The Nine which improved in that they showed a tiny bit more of the robbery than previous episodes. But, seriously, the post-robbery storylines are just so cliched and boring. In hooking up post robbery, one of the female characters says to the male character just before he kisses her "Are we really doing this?" Another female character when her boyfriend starts to propose, she runs out so she doesn't have to answer. Meh, who cares?. The robbery scenes are so much better with real tension and energy. They should take a tip from 24 and keep the action going.
The recorded stuff and Lost will have to wait for a weekend catchup.
Tonight I'll watch My Name is Earl, The Office, and ER. Ugly Betty and The OC will be recorded unless I somehow squeeze in last night's OC beforehand, in which case I'll watch.
And, why no Grey's Anatomy you ask? Because I simply cannot suspend my disbelief sufficiently to buy the notion that virtually every man who comes within ten feet of boney, squinty-eyed, Ellen Pompeo completely self-absorbed Meredith, falls instantly in love, or at least lust, with her. In general, the whole everybody-in-the-hospital-is-hooking-up-with-any-co-worker-who-breathes thing is, even by soap opera standards, just too much for me.
Tonight brings dueling must see shows. The OC with a Wednesday try out against Lost. I can't stress enough how awesome The OC was last week. Truly a return to what we all loved about Season 1 pre-Oliver. Critics I've read universally agree. And since they are real critics they get episodes in advance and the consensus is that the first 4 episodes rock and last week wasn't a one time fluke.
Lost is the last episode of the "fall season." Rather than chopping up the season with repeats, Lost will disappear until Feburary and finish out the season. In its place will be Day Break with Taye Diggs. Now Taye Diggs is hot enough to get me to watch for him alone but the whole deja vu theme is just so uninteresting to me - Groundhog Day but the wife gets killed over and over...? I'm hard pressed to find that premise compelling as entertainment. So I'll be hoping that The OC does better in its tryout and sticks so I can just watch it without conflict. I'll also watch The Nine tonight but, again, critics agree with me, my patience is wearing thin. The pilot was terrific but it has been downhill ever since. Unless they quickly rework this show and show more bank robbery and less PTSD moping it is going to fail.
Anyhoo - on to the TV!
Wednesday: 30 Rock once again featured no "girlies" past or present which is a mixed blessing but, hey, more Alec Baldwin, yay! ... Lost - darn it, I was right about who got died - memo to ABC - don't promo that someone is going to die on Lost and then promo by name that an actor from Lost will be making the talk show rounds the day after that episode! The Nine continues on its maddening pace but I'm intrigued enough to keep watching... Top Chef picked up a bit after the lackluster first couple of episodes but it still seems like the "characters" are edited a little too closely to match last season's cast.
Thursday had another fun Ugly Betty, but no Justin! What up with that? After his fabulous Halloween Gene Kelley dance break how could you leave his energy out of an episode? And focusing on the story about the Dad being a killer illegal immigrant is a downer. More Justin and less immigration drama, please. However, Debi Mazar guesting as an immigration lawyer was a kick so maybe a little more immigration drama... Roseanne Barr was enjoyable as a guest item on Earl's karma list... The Office was my favorite episode I've seen. I haven't drunk the kool-aid on this show and I generally find it amusing though sometimes repetitive in the jokes. At times the humor in Michael's cluelessness wears thin. However, this "Diwali" episode written by Mindy Kaling (who plays Kelly) was freakin' genius. And Jim and Andy, drunk and rolling around on the floor singing "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls... I'm still giggling... ER continues to benefit from John Stamos' injection of Clooney-esque bad boy rebelliousness.
Skipping to Friday (saving the best for last) - I got hipped to Battlestar Gallactica too late and now I want to play catch-up before getting into it. Someday I'll rent it all and learn what I'm missing.
Saturday is a complete wasteland now that NBC isn't even burning off the remaining episodes of Kidnapped.
Sunday is, of course, all about The Wire. And, just a spoiler alert note, HBO has started offering the next week's episode of some shows, including The Wire, a week prior to when it runs in its scheduled time slot. So, if you visit some sites that cover the show they will have recaps of the On Demand episode up several days before it runs on Sunday. Just be careful with your clicking if you hate spoilers.
Today is Monday and that means watching How I Met Your Mother and it should be interesting to appreciate anew the awesomeness of Neil Patrick Harris' acting abilities and his portrayal of womanizing Barney and, even playing "himself" in the hilarious Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle now that he's outed himself. Recording Everybody Hates Chris and Girlfriends, and Studio 60 which I appreciate more intellectually than emotionally. I'm hoping it will grip me more but if, as rumors persist, it goes away, I don't think I'll be too sad except for the fact that it means NBC will give us more game shows.
OK - the best thing in the past week (other than The Wire) was the return of The OC. Seriously, wonderfully, awesome. And the music was perfect. "A Bad Dream" by Keane came at the end, but bookending the show was Placebo's cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill."
"If I only could, make a deal with God, and get him to swap our places..."
The perfect soundtrack to this episode which showed the ways in which those Marissa left behind were continuing to mourn her 5 months after her tragic demise. The show benefits from the absence of Mischa Barton's sulky, slouchy Marissa. It gives Ryan's brooding the appropriate weight in the show's balance and keeps his Fight Club life from going too over the top. We got Luke's younger twin brothers as Kaitlin's lap dogs - hopefully this means that somehow Luke will make his way back to be Ryan's pal once Seth goes off to RISD.
Unfortunately, the viewership for this airing was abismally low. So Fox is playing around with the schedule and will run the next two on Wednesday and Thursday. The show is up against too much fire power either way but perhaps, if it can survive this week, Fox can run it against Day Break once it subs in for Lost. I just hope that Fox doesn't give up and dump the show before even finishing off the shortened final season. And, hopefully, Josh Schwartz will spare us any more Olivers or Johnnys to disrupt the flow now that Marissa is gone.
Dancing With The Stars carried on predictably last night. I think last week's order will be the final finish: Mario wins, then Emmitt, Joey and Monique. Poor Monique - the judges criticized her last week for getting her heel caught in her long skirt and then this week for showing off her imprecise footwork in her short skirt. But she could have protested that unfortunate dark lipstick which certainly didn't help her chances. And, I can't believe that none of the recaps I've read have mentioned the fact that Cheryl has a ballroom. In her house. I'm still scraping my jaw off the ground over that one.
Law & Order: CI was a bit disappointing. In the continuing L&O tradition of using aging stars for over-the-top roles, Liza Minelli's turn was more of a whimper than a bang. But always fun to see Vincent D'Onofrio work his psychological charms.
It was fun to see Mariska Hargitay back on Law & Order: SVU but, damn, put some dirt makeup on that woman. Her post-pregnancy glow on top of her already insane beauty was a tad riduculous when she was supposed to be an undercover anarchist terrorist. But loved how she couldn't get SVU detectiving out of her blood. And, please tell me that Dani and Elliot kissing in the promos for next week is some kind of bad dream red herring play acting to catch a thief and not a real hook-up. Ewww.
For tonight its 30 Rock which is getting better. Alec Baldwin and Kenneth the Page are laugh out loud funny. I'm still laughing over the "those shoes are definitely bi-curious" line from last week. No Jane Krakowski is a good move and, although I wished Rachael Dratch was in the "Girlie" role when ever Krakowski or Dratch were on screen, perhaps Dratch won't feel as bad now that they are both MIA.
Then Lost, of course. I have my suspicions of who's going to bite the bullet based on promos for upcoming daytime talk show guests. Dang! I generally don't mind spoilers but I like being surprised with Lost. And if I am right, I am not happy.
Finally, watching The Nine and recording Top Chef. I loved the pilot for The Nine but I'm losing patience with the pace of reveal and balance between flashback and present. Seriously, if they keep doling out 10 minutes per week of the 52 hour robbery this show will lose its already dwindling audience before the end of the season let alone before revealling the whole story. Top Chef, so far, is not as fun or engaging as last season. At this rate, it may disapper from the DVR and I'll catch up when they have a marathon at the end of the season.
And, question about Heroes... is Niki a Summer Roberts rage blackout come to life?
My Groups
-
Food-ku Updated: Nov 2, 2009
-
Chihuahuas Updated: Oct 7, 2009
-
hua hua Updated: Sep 22, 2009
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
