Whine & Cheese

Express Lane: Issue 44

Marlee Matlin may take a spin on 'Dancing With the Stars' - Yet another casting rumor has the Oscar winning deaf actress ready to rumba... take that prosthetic-legged Heather Mills! (2/4/08)

Rumored Casting for Dancing With The Stars 6 include... Priscilla Presley, Florence Henderson, Marla Maples, Monica Seles, and Cheryl Ladd.  Rumored nyets include Joan Collins and Mira Sorvino.  (2/4/08)

'24' Actress Pregnant - Mary Lynn Rajskub (aka Chloe) cites the writers' strike ("had to keep busy") as the reason for getting knocked up. (1/31/08)

You're Going to (West) Hollywood! - Last night, Leo Marlowe introduces himself to the 'Idol' judges with this self-zinger: "My mom always said she raised a perfect homecoming queen... too bad it wasn't one of her daughters" and makes it to Hollywood. (1/30/08)

Why the Kennedys Went for Obama - Because nothing screams "change" and anti-political dynasty like an endorsement from the Kennedy clan! (1/28/08)

Express Lane: Issue 39

Laila Ali Steps in 'Gladiators' Ring - DWTS continues to get folks new jobs!   Last season's female dancing "star" stand-out is set to co-hosts (with Hulk Hogan), NBC's re-introduction of 'American Gladiators.' (11/9/07)

'24' Postpones Season 7 Due to Strike - And we have the first major casualty of the writers' strike!  With only 8 episodes in the can, Jack & Co. latest day has been postponed indefinitely until the show can provides its trademark uninterrupted run of 24 episodes. (11/8/07) 

ITF to investigate suspected poisoning of Tommy Haas before Davis Cup match - The German suspects the Russians of allegedly poisoning his 'dessert or a Latte macchiato' - with doping and match fixing allegations the tennis tour is sounding more like a spy novel everyday. (11/8/07)

Showtime Grows a Fourth Season of 'Weeds' - Though we're still waaay behind on Season 3 (and thinkin' it's not as good as S1 & 2), Mary Louise Parker & Co. will be back for another season (as will its 'partner' show David Duchovny's 'Californication). (11/5/07)

Sabrina Bryan Confirms 'DWTS' Romance - Although it seemed obvious and probably still will not squash folks wanting him to be gay, the Cheetah Girl confirmed that she is dating her dancing partner, Mark Ballas. (11/5/07)

Food Network's Giada Pregnant - Mamma Mia! Congrats to one of my FN faves (and her hubby Todd!) on their upcoming first child due in April... one thing's for sure the kid will eat good! (11/5/07)

HBO Sets Up 'Treatment' Program - Interesting premise and cast for this upcoming HBO series about therapy... but 45 half-hour episodes for 5 nights a week over 9 weeks seems like more than I (and our TiVo) would be able to keep up with.  (10/31/07)

Dovolani Takes on Dancing’s Inaba - Drama on the DWTS set as Carrie Ann Innaaaah-ba allegedly gives Tony the finger after he gives her a rulebook, highlighting what defines a "lift"... while I agree Inaba has been a bit cranky lately, sounds like Tony got what was coming to him. (10/29/07)

Big Brother 8's Eric and Jessica are still together - The show-mance lives on even outside the BB8 house, heck even Danielle & Nick still seemed cozy at the Fox Reality Awards. (10/29/07)

Viva Laughlin's cancellation moves Amazing Race 12's debut up to Nov. 4 - Well, that was a pretty easy prediction I (and many others!) made over a month ago. (10/22/07)

Express Lane: Issue 38

This week in Celebrity Drunk Driving: 48 Days in Jail for '24' Star Sutherland and Ex-'Lost' Star Rodriguez Gets 6 months. (10/11/07)

Lindsay Lohan says rehab was `sobering' - Ummm...  "pardon the pun"? (10/9/07)

`Sopranos' regulars join `Chicago' cast - 'Janice' (as Mama Morton) and 'Big Pussy' (as Roxie's husband Amos) are the latest to sign up for what is increasingly the stunt casting musical of all-time! (10/9/07)

Broadway 'Rent' Gets New Mark and Roger - Here's a switch!  Saw both these guys the last time 'Rent' came through town on the national tour.  Congrats to Broadway debutantes, Declan and Harley... well deserved! (10/4/07)

Paula Abdul refused to do more 'Hey Paula!' which she says was "disturbing"; wants a child - I agree with the first half (it was pretty much 'trainwreck'), but not so sure about that second half. (10/1/07)

Express Lane: Issue 37

Chaka Khan, Bebe Winans and LaKisha Jones to Join Broadway's Color Purple - This may be worth a trip back to NYC!  Chaka and Bebe to play Sophia and Harpo with last season's 'Idol' standout "Kiki" as the church soloist who opens the show --  but also subbing for Khan as Sophia for matinée performances. (9/26/07)

Kiefer Sutherland arrested on DUI in LA - The following took place between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. (9/25/07)

Carrie & Co. Kick Off "Sex" Shoot - I'm not the only gay guy who's been salivating over a slew of production pix that have already hit the Web since filming on 'SatC: The Movie' began filming this week on the streets of NY. (9/21/07)

'24' Plans Premiere Date, Shocking Resurrection - SPOILER ALERT:  Do NOT click the link if you don't want to know who is surprisingly still alive tho never got the "silent clock" treatment. The show returns on January 13th with the action shifting from LA to DC. (9/19/07)

HBO Is 'Reclaiming History' - Me thinks we'll be watching this 10-part mini-series debunking JFK conspiracies. (9/18/07)

Stupid Feud of the Week: Manilow vs. Hasselbot - 'The View' will just have to smile without Barry as the crooner skips the ABC gal chat-fest due to Elisabeth's "dangerous and offensive" political views.  (9/18/07)

Emmys Backstage: Stars Get Sassy - Lots of good stuff here, but if you're wondering what happened during the cutaway during Sally Field's acceptance speech it was this line: 'And let's face it, if the mothers ruled the world, there would be no goddamn wars in the first place' (9/17/07)

Twenty-Bore

It's a good thing that this blog starts with the word "whine," since that gives me permission to get crabby every so often.  My TV addiction is well-documented, but lately a lot of shows -- some of my favorites -- are letting me down... Lost, Desperate Housewives, even my beloved Scrubs has the two episodes still waiting to be watched on TiVo.

Add 24 to the list.

I am not alone. Go to any discussion board about the Fox Monday night thriller and the bandwagon is getting a tad less crowded.  Sure this seems to have occurred every season of late, but the cry just seems to be a bit louder this year.

Sorry Jack, I just feel like I've seen it all before, seen it all before, seen it all before (imaginary prize for the person to name that tune).

The four-hour opener held promise. Curtis getting knocked off and even the nuke going off on U.S. soil (though even that is nothing new in 24 folklore) had its "oh crap" factor.  In past seasons, when those final seconds of the hour clicked away, my jaw would often be on the floor or I would be yelling or cursing a week worth of wait.  These days the end is more of an "eh" and we really do need your "Previously on 24" recaps to remember what happened in the prior hour.

I know this is escapist entertainment... so I have been forgiving about the plot holes... but they are getting more difficult to ignore.  I know you're a super-hero Jack, but if you are stabbed in the shoulder with a knife at least pretend it still hurts just a wee bit when you are scaling fences and climbing onto rooftops just an hour or two later.  And what luck you have with the cell phones you steal commandeer from the bad guys or just everyday folk.  I guess they have been recently charged up and are already pre-programmed with the numbers for everyone at CTU.

I guess the "new" angle this season Jack is that you are starting to question your line of work.  I saw that hint of remorse and hesitation when you were torturing Graem.  Granted that goodwill was likely canceled out since he is your brother.          

Speaking of which, it is just a tad too convenient that last season's secret bad guy is brother Graem and that never seen or mentioned Daddy is (ssshhh!) a bad guy of epic proportions as well.  But surprise family members are not limited to the Bauer clan.  Who knew the presidential Palmer brothers had a sister all this time?!  I guess she wasn't on the notify list when David was assassinated in the opening moments of last season.  And can we really believe David's second banana of brother who has the charisma of piece of driftwood is the new Prez?  But I guess these days we can never question who (or how) one ends up being President of United States.  While this show has never been about the good writing, Wayne just can't pull off the dialogue ("I will not promote the politics of fear!" We laughed. ) quite as well as the State Farm Allstate spokesman or even the over-the-top Charles Logan.

Even my snarky Chloe seems a bit neutered this season. I have read that there was an effort to have a new, "mature" Chloe this season.  Too bad, since apparently that's just code for less one-liners and a new hair color.

Oh well.  Perhaps things will change.  This show tends to reinvent itself two or three times within a single season, so maybe subsequent acts will bring me back into the fold. 

But Jack, after 4 seasons (we didn't watch the first season), you've set the bar pretty high.  It's really hard to shock me... and I don't mean electrocution scenes... we've had enough of that method of "coercion" too.

Get Your Emmy Nominations

The Emmy nominations were announced this morning. 

This year there was the promise of something new as blue-ribbon panels picked the final nominees from the top ten vote-getters from the Academy's general membership.  I don't know how much "new" there is, but there were some surprises... and, of course, some major overlooks (in my humble opinion)...

The Sopranos - The show gets the expected nod for  Best Drama, but the big surprises were the absence of the usually slam-dunk nods for James Gandolfini and Edie Falco.  Now I am not familiar with all the shows/actors, but I found it particularly insane that the wooden Geena Davis, for Commander In Chief, earned a spot over Falco.  Michael Imperioli did get a nod for Supporting Actor.

Desperate Housewives - I agree the show has slipped in its sophomore season... but last year's winner for Best Comedy was pretty much shut-out in the major categories.  None of the leading ladies were nominated (including last year's winner, Felicity Huffman). If anything, I thought the lone non-nominee last year, Eva Longoria, might get one this time around.  Craziest?  The only major acting nod was Best Supporting Actress for ... Alfre Woodard?!?!  I love Alfre, but the Applewhite storyline is what I felt really dragged down this entire season.

Six Feet Under - It seems like such a long time ago since we said goodbye to the Fisher clan, but the stellar final season was just eligible for this round of Emmys.  While I hoped it would earn a final Best Drama nod, it did not... Peter Krause and Frances Conroy earned lead nominations... but none for Michael C. Hall and Lauren Ambrose, both who broke my heart (multiple times) over those last few episodes.

Lost - As with Housewives, last year's winner for Best Drama was totally shut out of major nominations this year... no acting nominations, lead or supporting... only Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond) earned a "guest actor in a drama series" nomination.

The Comeback - One the nominations that made me the happiest... Lisa Kudrow for Best Actress in a Comedy series.  Valerie Cherish may have got the shaft, but at least Lisa knows she's being heard.

The Office - Earned nods for Best Comedy as well as for Steve Carell.  But no Emmy love for Jim and Pam (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer) in the supporting categories.

My Name Is Earl - Perhaps eclipsed by The Office, I felt the freshmen comedy was a bit slighted.  No nominations for Best Comedy or Jason Lee or Ethan Suplee -- but all is well in Best Supporting Actress-land with a well-deserved nod to Jamie Pressly.

Arrested Development - The show eked out one more nod for Best Comedy series... but was on the short-end when it came to acting.  Only Will Arnett (Gob) squeaked in for supporting.  Where or where was my Jessica Walter nomination?!?

Will & Grace - Also, in its last hurrah.  The show fails to be up for Best Comedy... but 3/4's of the cast are nominated one more time (sorry Eric McCormack).

The West Wing - Gets its last (and, in my opinion, well-deserved) nod for Best Drama... with the usual suspects nominated in the acting categories... Sheen in lead, Janney in lead, and Alda in support.

24 - The show with the most nominations, including Best Drama.  Now while I think that this is technically a very good show, it's not one I watch for its fine acting.  Nevertheless, Kiefer gets a lead acting nod... and the devilish First Family, Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart, earn nods in support.   What no Chloe?!   Guess we need a "best comedic performance in a drama series" category for Mary Lynn Rajskub.

Weeds - A very good show over at Showtime... didn't expect a Best Comedy nod, but thought the deliciously sly Mary Louise Parker (and Award show fave) would make the cut for Lead Actress, she did not... the only major nod was Elizabeth Perkins in support.

Scrubs - Ok, I am thrilled for the Best Comedy nod... but WTF?!!!? Where are the acting nominations?!?!   Zach Braff made it onto the list last year, so I thought we were past all of this... and again, it is just inexcusable that John C. McGinley has never been nominated as Dr. Cox.

For the full list of nominess... and to see if your favorites have been nominated from the few shows I do not watch (i.e. the very much nominated Grey's Anatomy)... go here:
Yahoo! TV - Coverage of The 58th Annual Emmy Awards

A more "easy on the eyes" list can be found here:
EW.com | Here are the Emmy nominees

Season Finale Wrap-Up

We were on vacation for most of the season finales... so just getting around to getting some thoughts down... 

We watched the "biggies" as quickly as we could upon our return, but it took us to this past weekend to wrap them all up (mostly sitcoms that we were behind on prior to vacation).

Given my propensity to surf the Web and read entertainment magazines, I was "spoiled" on most shows... though, believe it or not, 24 and Lost were two shows I managed to remain spoiler-free. 

Okay here we go...

The Sopranos - I pretty much already covered this one.  Maybe I am just not enough of a die-hard Sopranos fan, but I was not let down by the much maligned season finale. Perhaps, my memory fails me, but does anything really big ever happen in a Sopranos season finale?  Most time it seems as if the "shocker" is an episode or two prior to the finale.  This time around we had Vito getting (pretty predictably) killed off, but with some surprising ramifications between the dueling mob families... and, as mentioned, I think the whole ChristaphaChristufuh/Julianna thing will have some serious ramifications... and the whole Adriana thing keeps bubbling up too!

24 - Surprise, surprise... Jack Bauer saves the world again, but looks like he is in some deep sh&t "tomorrow."  Having set the "shock" bar so high in previous seasons, I wasn't quite floored with this year's twist.  I predict a quick resolution to Jack's kidnapping early next season... and then we'll just get on with the usual crazy business at hand.  Let's just hope that next season they can find a way to keep First Lady Martha (deliciously played by Jean Smart) and Aaron Pierce in the loop.

Lost - This gets my nod for best finale of the season.  To no surprise, the show got totally flipped... with the cast we have grown to love (or hate) over the past two seasons, now just seemingly secondary (and innocent) players in a crazy scheme by some big-wig to keep his daughter away from a guy.  I think this by far topped last year's hatch ender.  Now, I think the best thing that could happen to this show is to give it a "finish" date.. say 3-5 more seasons max... and work towards "resolution."  That said, I suspect it'll never happen... from what I gather JJ Abrams and Co. don't work that way (and despite what they may say, I don't think they have a "plan")... and ABC will make their decision solely based on ratings (good or bad).

American Idol - Since we were still in the U.S., we found out Taylor won the very next morning.  But even knowing the result, the finale still seemed to have little tension... and, in five seasons, I think it was the worst finale.  Of the 3 songs they performed, Taylor and Kat only squeaked out one good one... and the guest-star duets were particularly dreadful.   Toni Braxton's duet with Taylor was a complete train wreck (for Toni, not Taylor!)... I think Mary J. Blije forgot Elliott was even on the stage... and the strangest of all, the Kat & Meatloaf creepy duet.  That one only got stranger after the fact... Kat admittted to not even knowing who Meatloaf was... and, due to paralyzing stage fright, Meat didn't even remember doing it.  The "new" songs were, as always, pretty pathetic.  Kudos to the judges for pointing that out!  Next year, cut the show down to an hour and be done with it (again, that'll never happen).

My Name Is Earl - Not much to say, since there was no cliffhanger... but still it was nice for the show to return to the scene of the crime (literally).  I suspect Emmy nods for Jason Lee and, if there is any justice in this world, Jamie Pressly.

Scrubs - Going into the finale, I knew about the "surprise" new pregnancies.  But props to my other half for almost immediately suspecting that JD is the not the father of the baby.  Makes total sense... storyline-wise it would not be such a great thing... and personally, I didn't quite warm up to Dr. Kim.

Will & Grace - While I think the show was clearly in decline, I still was not as down on it as many other folks.  That said, the series finale was a disappointment and most certainly paled to the hilarious series retrospective.  I just didn't like that they had Will and Grace "break up." I hate when "drama" infiltrates a sitcom (this happened before on W&G... with the classic blunder being Mad About You).  But I think it was just totally untrue to the characters, that they would let anything get between/separate them for far too long, let alone decades!  And the whole having their kids meet and marry was just insane.  I know its fiction, but they coulda done better.

The Office - Again, I knew about "the kiss"... but my-oh-my, it was whole other thing to see how it all played out between Jim and Pam.  Contradicting myself, this was a wonderful dramatic sit-com moment... I know it made me gasp... kudos to the always terrific (adorable! loveable!) Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski... achingly perfect.  Now, my worry... what happens next?  Word to creative team of The Office... Please. Don't. Screw. This. Up!!

Ok, Centox Her

During the opening credits, I saw that Kate Mara was going to be on 24 last night.  I was pretty excited... one, because I didn't know about it and two, I have really liked some of her previous work. 

I first developed a liking to her when she played Jack's no-BS, bohemian girlfriend on last (only!) season of the WB's Jack & Bobby... and more recently, she popped up as the teenage Alma (Ennis' daughter) in Brokeback Mountain.  She is kind of this ivory girl with an edge.

So last night she shows up at CTU as Edgar's replacement.  First, there is this little subplot of how she was sexually harrassed by someone else currently working on the agency... fine, ok... then she rattles off some all too typical mumbo-jumbo, techie talk and helps the team discover which natural gas plant is going to be the target of the nerve gas attack... but then, after literally getting a pat on the back, she starts accusing this other guy of inappropriate behavior.   

Huh?  Instantly she becomes this psycho-whackjob... even our beloved Chloe has to give the "oh, geez Louise" eyeroll too.  So that bums me out... any "cool!" I felt about having Kate on the show instantly evaporated with this totally throw-away character, who now has zero-cred with her fellow characters and the viewing audience.  Granted 24 has had many of these types before, but I don't think we have ever felt that way after about 7 minutes of screen time!

Spoiled

I certainly feel spoiled these days... but I will avoid talking about the thing that has dominated W&C over the past few days (well at least for one day)... I'm talking television spoilers.

The way I cruise around the Web it is hard to avoid TV show spoilers... so we pretty much decide what we must watch on television the night it airs based on "spoiler" probability... so that's most reality shows as well as shows with unexpected twists and turns.

But alas, I was spoiled a couple times in the past week... though I will do my best to avoid perpetrating the same thing here.

First off, 24, which definitely qualifies as a show with unexpected twists and turns.  While Todd was away, I saved up the episodes.... since this isn't a show that holds up great to repeat viewing (if you know the cliffhanger finish, why re-watch the 55 minutes it took to get there?!).  So this past Saturday night, we caught up on 4 (!!!) hours (thankfully this translated to about 3 TiVo hours), but thanks to websites and magazines that arrived in my mailbox, I knew what happened in the last 5 minutes of that 4th hour.  Now it would have been quite the shocker... but I guess that is the price paid for waiting... good thing there were a couple of more surprises in last night's episode... at least that quelled any lingering resentment over the other one.

Now, Entertainment Tonight really pissed me off last night.  Since it re-airs 52 more times on 11 HBO channels, we decided to delay watching the premiere of The Sopranos in favor of first-run episodes of The West Wing and Desperate Housewives on Sunday night.  Now I was well aware that there was a shocking ending... and all day long, I had successfully avoided finding out what it was... websites danced around it, but were good about not fully exposing it.  But then, ET goes ahead with a segment that I tried to "la la la la" out, but as I go to turn off the TV they show the very scene that would have dropped my jaw.... c'mon, like I really needed another reason to be annoyed at Mary Hart?!!

On a positive spoiler note, Todd finally watched the finale of Dancing With The Stars this past Friday night... and even 2+ weeks later he managed to not know the winners...  though, like most us, it was fairly evident who they were once the 3rd place couple had to "leave the competition right now!"

24: Tea and No Sympathy

Last night, was Hour 5 on 24 and after the explosive 4-hour premiere things are starting to settle in for the season. 

We have been a bit surprised that we apparently know so much already... a couple of moles have been uncovered and the threat this season is nerve gas... usually it takes a little bit more time for these kind of things to come to the forefront.

But, in a nice little twist, is one of the moles really a mole? Or was/is he just innocently thinking he was on a secret mission for the White House, where the true mole is lurking? 

But what made last night's show particularly enjoyable was that it was a bevy of classic Chloe-isms.  Pretty much background filler for the past couple of seasons, this year Chloe is right up there with the major players on Day 5.  Chloe's M.O. is pretty much a tongue cluck and an eye roll... so in two words:
Love. Her. 

My favorite Chloe line of the night came when Edgar, the hefty lisper of CTU Los Angeles who likely secretly pines for Miss Snarky, expressed some hurt feelings after finding out Chloe has been keeping some secrets from him... she snapped back:

"Ahhh (tongue cluck/eye roll)... give me a break.  Ok, when we find the nerve gas and the alert level drops, we can have some chamomile tea and I'll tell you all my secrets, ok?"

All hail the queen of the verbal smackdown!