Mini Project: Gearing Up for the 'My Boys' premiere

My Boys returns this Thursday! Can I get a woohoo? So to prepare, I'm re-watching the last four episodes of season one and giving you a quick recap.

Let's start with Episode 118: "Douchebag in the City" (I wonder exactly how many times some variation of the word douchebag was uttered in this ep? It made for some damn funny times!)

Brendan starts hanging out with Hams (Ryan Reynolds) and picks up on his annoying habits: name-dropping, screening calls and oddly abbreviating his words (“Whatev,” “Do me a solid and cover my Cs and Vods”). I'm with Bobby when he says it really 'annoy.'

PJ’s old college pal Lyssa visits from NYC with irritating gal-pals in tow. Poking fun at Sex and the City, these girls are caricatures more than anything. Lyssa is Carrie (complete with tutu and slo-mo car water-splashing like the opening SATC sequence); there’s also a bitchy redhead (Miranda), an uppity rich girl (Charlotte), and Veronica, a terrible Samantha impersonator (clad in leopard print and full of sex-related puns).

Everyone ends up at the newest hotspot in town, Lab Rat, where there are bikini girls walking around in huge gerbil balls. Yeah, gerbil balls. The guys, after having zero luck with the faux-SATC gals, are looking for the quickest exit. Mike calls Brando (who’s in the middle of flirting with Lyssa) so they can bail and what happens? Brando screens his call. Ooh the nerve! This all leads to...the Douchebag Intervention.

The guys all take turns reading letters expressing just how ‘douchey’ they think Brendan is.

My faves

Kenny: “Dear Brendan, Since you got name to that Sexy Chicago list thing, you’ve been kind of douche. When you tried to get me to buy the new Fergie album, it made me feel so lonely. P.S. I don’t understand your girl jeans.”

Mike: “You’re a really big douchebag. If you were a superhero, you’d be Captain Douchebag.”

Luckily, PJ slaps some sense into Brendan by pointing out how ridiculous he looks, especially his big obnoxious belt. Douchebag gone!

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Summer Summer Summertime

The summer of '08 TV season has been adversely affected by, let's all say it together now: the writer's strike. Now we'll have to wait just a bit longer for shows like Entourage and Big Love, which will premiere their new seasons in September (right around the same time as the networks premiere their shows, grrreat).
UPDATE: Big Love won't return until January

There are still a handful of awesome shows to keep us entertained for the next three long months. And things kick-off tonight with the return of Army Wives. When we last left Denise, Roxy, Claudia Joy, and Roland, they were all trapped inside the Hump Bar with annoying Marilyn's crazy-cause-he's-just-been-jilted husband (who arrived just in time to find her leaving with her new man) and the bomb strapped to his chest. And Claudia Joy's daughter Amanda decided to run in just in time for everything to go...white. I'm guessing that the gals (and Roland) should be OK, I doubt they'd really kill off one of the main characters. But of course, someone ends up dead, given that previews have shown them all attending a funeral.

My Boys is FINALLY back this Thursday at 9:30! I've been impatiently waiting to find out which guy PJ chose to take to Italy with her. Our girl had quite the selection of suitors, so which lucky guy got on the plane?

Having recently discovered that I have TBS On-Demand (woo!), over the next few days leading up to the premiere, I'll be recapping the last four episodes of season one. If any of you haven't had the chance to catch this endearingly funny show, now's the time! And there are more than enough options: the Complete First Season DVD is available in stores on Tuesday OR you can watch the eps online at TBS.com.


The other two shows that are definitely worth your time, Burn Notice and Psych, return on July 10th and July 18th respectively.

I have the pilot of In Plain Sight on my DVR, but haven't quite been able to persuade myself to watch it yet. The promos semi-piqued my interest and I'm sure I'll enjoy it as I do USA Network's other series. I'll try and get to it this week and post my review as well.

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My Two Cents: Season Finale Thoughts

Here now, some semi-short thoughts on the last two week's worth of finales:

Ugly Betty: Hated the 'Daniel has a long-lost son' storyline, hopefully the writers will find a way out of that one. Loved having Wilhemina and Marc back at Mode (I really missed Marc and Amanda time - please give them more scenes next season!).
Annoyed that it took three episodes to get a shirtless Eddie Cibrian scene :)

Now, that ending. Oy I tell ya. Completely predictable that they would leave us hanging. My theory? Betty didn't choose either guy. I think she went on vacation by herself (maybe to visit her relatives in Mexico for some "soul searching").

My wish for next season: Let's bring back the funny! 'Betty' has been getting too weighed down with all the drama drama drama. I mean, a little dabble here and there is fine, but it's been downright depressing this season.

House: The two-parter finale was TRIPPY. Seriously. Fine acting on the part of Hugh Laurie (as always), Robert Sean Leonard and Anne Dudek. I mean the final scenes between Wilson and Amber made me all weepy. Especially that look on Amber's face when she realized she was dying. Ugh. And now, House and Wilson's relationship is fractured. I'm glad that when they decided to mix things up on the show this season, they really went all out.

Completely random: Fred Durst? Really? I almost wouldn't have recognized him had I not seen his name in the guest star credits. Totally odd.

Completely hilarious: Cuddy's pole-dancing/stripping for House. Ha! Maybe Mr. Crankypants will finally act on his love/hate.

My wish for next season: More Chase and Cameron please! While I like the newbies, I sort of miss the original crew...and Chase is nice eye candy for us ladies. :)

Read on for thoughts on Grey's (Lost deserves its own separate post; I think I'm still trying to digest and comprehend everything that happened)
Grey's Anatomy: The kid encased in cement - WTF?! Not only was it baffling for the viewing audience, but for the docs as well. They spent quite a bit of time freaking out and then debating over the best course of action. Thankfully they were able to save the guy thanks to Christina's bold surgical moves. She finally proved herself to Hahn.

My favorite storyline in this episode was Alex's. In one of the Grey's podcasts leading up to the finale, Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers commented that we had yet to see the personal side of Alex Karev (other than his sex life). I took that as a hint that we'd finally get some backstory on him, and we did! He went through a terrible ordeal of taking care of his mother when he was a teen and was now doing the same for Ava/Rebecca. This was arguably Justin Chambers's best episode so far. We finally saw some depth and raw emotion in Alex and I really hope this develops further next season.

Shonda also teased a 'major' kiss. From everything I read, she was referring to Mer/Der, but I thought the others deserved some discussion as well. The Chief and Adele are FINALLY back together. It's about damn time! Those two are really sweet together and deserve some happiness. Callie and Hahn = I don't quite know what to think yet; I'm curious to see where the writers will take their storyline.

The Alex and Izzie one got my attention. I've always rooted for those two to get back together. I don't know if that's going to happen. However, I was proud of Izzie for actually being selfless for an entire episode. She was genuinely worried about her friend, but at the same time was able to step up as a doctor and make rational decisions (unlike the unnecessary tests she put Cheech Marin's character through, only to find out all he had was the flu).

As for Mer and Der, her candle-outlined house plan was probably her grandest romantic gesture, which is a nice change of pace. As Ms. Grey said herself, she's "whole and healed" now and finally ready for McDreamy. And their McHouse on the big McLand. Ok so I added all the Mc parts, but you know what I'm getting at!

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I couldn't help but wonder...

...if "Sex and the City: The Movie" would live up to my expectations. The final verdict? It was FABULOUS! For die-hard fans of the show, I think it was well worth the wait. For the uninitiated, this is probably NOT the flick for you.

On opening night, a group of girlfriends and I had dinner & Cosmos (of course) and watched the movie with a theater full of girly-girls like ourselves. Under normal circumstances, I hate being in a crowded theater. But for this particular movie, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Moviegoers sharing collective oohs and aahs, cheers and giggles, squeals and gasps, and of course tears. If you loved the show, well you don't need me to tell you go see it.

SATC has been the main reason I've been behind on watching all the TV season finales. For the last two months, I've been watching the entire SATC series on DVD, so forgive me for the delay in posting finale thoughts on the rest of my shows. I'll get to that in just a few minutes here. And there's lots to discuss!

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Zack Addy Kinda Sorta Broke My Heart (And Other Thoughts on Monday's Finales)

I knew something fishy was going on when I peeped the FOX press release for the next season of Bones. Eric Millegan's name was suspiciously missing from the cast list. I had read the spoiler that he would be injured in the lab, but I was thinking he'd either be put out of commission or well, die. It was totally heartbreaking to learn that little Zack was the apprentice to Gormogon (or Gorgonzola as Booth likes to call him). The confession scene between he and Dr. Brennan was intense and quite emotional.

I don't know why the writers decided to head in this direction, maybe they just wanted to shake things up a bit? Kind of similar to the cast upheaval on House this season. Well, at least we have Sweets, who may have come off as suspicious at times, but I kinda dig him.

Zack "King of the Lab" Addy - ye (and your hidden singing talent) shall be missed!

Moving on...

Blair Waldorf was finally able to bring down troublemaker/psycho Georgina Sparks:

"Haven't you heard? I'm the crazy bitch around here."

Yes you are B, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Elsewhere on the tube - Ted and Barney finally made up on How I Met Your Mother. Thank goodness, because seeing them together only in flashback form was getting annoying. Now, if they would just hurry up and get on to this 'Mother'-revealing business.....

I haven't had a chance to watch the House finale yet. I had planned on watching it live, HOWEVER, I realized at the last minute that I completely spaced and still hadn't watched the previous week's ep yet.

Cross your fingers - Marissa may post her thoughts on that here shortly. She proclaimed the last two House episodes as "the best television I've seen all season."

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Let's Assess: Upfront Week & Season Finales

Ahh Upfront Week. Best described as the NFL Draft for TV geeks. This is time when we find out which new faces we'll be welcoming in the fall, which shows are returning and which shows have gone to the cancellation graveyard.

Luckily, a number of my favorite on-the-bubble shows managed to survive unscathed (Supernatural, Reaper, How I Met Your Mother, etc). My favorite network - ABC - managed to make me deliriously happy and furious at the same time (more on that in just a bit).

This fall and midseason we get brand spankin new shows from mad geniuses Joss Whedon (Dollhouse) and JJ Abrams (Fringe).

Monday nights and Thursday nights remain jam-packed. Apologies in advance to my poor DVR. Thank god I'm upgrading to a 100 hr recorder.

Visit the futoncritic.com for a comprehensive guide to the new fall schedule.

This coming week, we'll be bidding adieu to more of our favorite shows as they wrap us this odd, strike-affected season. My two favorite moments this week involved semi-bad (but completely entertaining) karaoke: Dean and Sam rocking out with a Bon Jovi sing-along on Supernatural -

"Bon Jovi rocks . . . sometimes." - umm correction boys, Bon Jovi totally rocks and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

and Brennan belting out "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" on Bones. Now if only that whole Booth getting shot by a psycho-stalker didn't ruin the moment.

Now, onto my love/hate towards ABC:

Reasons to love ABC:
- They came to the rescue of Scrubs! After years of promotional neglect from NBC, Scrubs gets a new home. Hopefully our friends at Sacred Heart will be treated right this time around.

- They gave Eli Stone a second chance:
~ The show improved every week; I’m actually a bit surprised that ABC showed all 13 episodes, someone over there really loves the show. Thank goodness that person appears to have some power over scheduling. Eli’s 2nd season will get a nice lead-in from Dancing with the Stars.
~ Why do I totally dig this show? It’s got heart. And Spy Daddy singing on a semi-regular basis. And they managed to win me over with a Veronica Mars shout-out. What’s not to love?

Reason (yes, that's singular) to hate ABC:
- They cancelled Men in Trees. Well what did they expect after moving it around 5123456 times? They could have at least kept it on Wednesdays @ 10, but noooo they decided to bring back a now-cancelled show (Women’s Murder Club) and shove Boston Legal into the MIT spot. Does that make any sense??

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Grey's: Addison as the Voice of Reason?

Addison dropped in to talk some sense into the Seattle Grace denizens.

The results of her visit:

- Potentially causing Mer and Der to re-evaluate things? Is Addy's 'pep' talk with Meredith going to be the catalyst for their re-coupling?
- Izzie getting her medical groove back, maybe some respect from her interns?
- Callie now insecure about her friendship with Hahn, which led to:

The Funniest Exchange of the Night

Callie: "Anyone ever think you two are a couple?"

Meredith: "No, because we screw boys like whores on tequila."

Christina: "And we either try to marry them or drown ourselves."

Other happenings in the episode...

Christina's been following Hahn around like a needy puppy seeking attention and approval. Hahn not-so-nicely helped her snap out of it.

Izzie was jealous of George and his new intern buddies. How very high school. Yawn.

Ava/Rebecca was back to give Alex some news: Surprise! She's preggers! He doesn't take to it well...or at least not until after helping to save the baby with the outer-body heart. That's all fine and dandy, except she's NOT ACTUALLY PREGNANT!
Izzie knows the truth, how long will it take for the rest of the gang to find out? And what exactly is Rebecca up to?

And my other favorite moment? McDreamy and all his women [past, present, and future (as promised by Shonda Rhimes, Meredith and Derek will reunite)] in the elevator. And of course McSteamy's response to it all :)

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My Hawaiian name is Kinipela

Caught "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" last night. Overall, a riotous good time. Although there is full frontal male nudity in this one (which is a nice change for us female-moviegoers), it's a tad bit less raunchy than the other Apatow flicks (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up).

And hey, you can't go wrong with Veronica Mars and Kenneth the Page in it can ya?

After you see it, check out this fun link ; the post title will make a lot more sense.

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Dollhouse: The Next Big Buzz Show?

Fans of "Angel" rejoice! Amy Acker (aka Fred) is joining "Dollhouse," uber-genius Joss Whedon's pilot for FOX. Check it.

You can't go wrong with Eliza Dushku as the ass-kicking star. Here's the breakdown on the plot:

"Dollhouse" revolves around Echo, a young woman who is one of a group of men and women called "Actives" who can be imprinted with personality packages and be whomever paying customers want them to be. Their assignments can be romantic, adventurous, outlandish, uplifting, sexual and/or very illegal. When not imprinted with a personality package, Echo and the others are basically mind-wiped, living like children in a futuristic dorm/lab dubbed the Dollhouse, with no memory of their assignments—or of much else.

The show revolves around Echo's burgeoning self-awareness, and her desire to know who she was before, a desire that begins to seep into her various imprinted personalities and puts her in danger both in the field and in the closely monitored confines of the Dollhouse." Source: SyFy Portal

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I'm Not Drinking the Kool-Aid

As I type this, I'm sure my self-imposed reality show ban will cease sooner rather than later.

Like many others during the writer's strike, I changed my TV-viewing habits. Over the last two months, it's been increasingly easier to just simply, not turn on the TV (save for the midseason shows I normally watch). While the networks piled on the reality shows, my interest in watching live TV waned.

I have yet to watch more than 15-30 seconds of American Idol. I have yet to get sucked into the ear-splitting, mind-numbing AI madness. And for that I am proud. Marissa doesn't think I'll last too much longer. She's been teasing me by sending my YouTube clips.

The top 12 round is normally the point at which I would start tuning it. The interest just isn't there for me this time around. Check back with me when they whittle the pack down to two.

As I've said before, I tend to have a weakness for the CelebReality shows on VH1. But nope, not this time around either. No Flavor of Love #345698. No Celeb Rehab. Nothing. HOWEVER, maybe when New York's new show premieres.....

I will however, concede my one reality show guilty pleasure - Making the Band. Watching Danity Kane and Day 26 (Side note: couldn't Diddy come up with a name that wasn't so...lame? Oh wait, he's a grown man and wants to be called Diddy. Never mind) mix it up has been entertaining. I also like Donnie - now is it just me or is something kind of, off with his hair? He and Aubrey are a bit Ghetto Ken and Barbie when you put them together.

I am just grateful that we had new episodes of scripted TV during this time. Thank goodness for: Lost (which has been AWESOME), Wildfire, and Supernatural. And I had time to check out new shows like: Eli Stone, Cashmere Mafia, Lipstick Jungle, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which I surprisingly liked). And oh yeah, there's still One Tree Hill, which has given me nothing but headaches and a desire to throw things at my very lovely 40-inch HDTV.

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I Think I Hate Nip/Tuck

Six words I never imagined I would say (OK, maybe never is exaggerating a bit).

The finale was a horrendous end to a horrendous season. So why did I continue watching you ask? I'm a glutton for punishment apparently. Part loyalty, part morbid fascination with the extreme lengths to which they will go to shock the audience.

I've been watching from day one - the continuous transformations of Sean, Christian, Julia, Matt, etc. Or in Christian's case, very little development. Just when you think he's cleaned up his act in attempt to redeem himself, he falls right back into his old habits. That whole high-end male gigolo storyline was just, ick.

The one thing I did like about this season was the Christian-Sean role reversal.
Dr. Troy was no longer the hot, go-to doc in town.

Let's recap the completely and utterly annoying happenings in the finale:

- Julia was shot in the face by Eden (why haven't they gotten rid of the little conniving skanky biyotch yet?), who claimed Julia had attempted suicide

- Julia awoke from a coma, only to have retrograde amnesia (How convenient)

- Matt fell for his half-sister (cause really, he doesn't have enough issues as is); then her mother showed up, reconnected with Christian during an alcohol-fueled pity session, and of course, slept with him. A slight positive - it looks like Julian McMahon finally got a tan on his pale behind.

- Pyschotic pseudo-agent Colleen pleaded with Sean to fix her self-inflicted wrist scars. Then she showed up on the set of "Hearts and Scalpels." Sean found the CAA agent/stuffed bear Bob in his closet (ewwwww - did we really need to see that again??). Then predictably, Colleen popped up in the surgery room of McNamara/Troy and stabbed Sean.

All I want to know is, WHAT THE $*#@?

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Oh Happy Day!

The writers strike is thisclose to being ovah!

The good news is most of the shows will be able to squeeze out a few more eps during the spring.

The bad news is the newbie shows won't return til fall. BUT there will be major relaunches for Chuck, Pushing Daisies, etc.

Ausiello has a handy dandy chart predicting the possible # of eps to be produced and return dates.

Not that it wasn't nice to have a little relief from the scheduling overload of the fall tv season, but this little TV addict will be doing the Snoopy dance once fresh episodes are back in full force!

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Lipstick Jungle - Jenn's Review

Please note that the following review was written after viewing the original pilot back in August. A few of the characters have been recast and, from the looks of the previews, some other minor changes made as well.

After viewing this pilot, I was anxious to see "Cashmere Mafia." While many critics are giving the (slight) edge to "Lipstick," I personally enjoy "Cashmere" more. While it's certainly not Emmy-worthy, I find it to be fun and the cast more likable.

However, I will definitely be tuning in on Feb. 7th to see if all the changes made to "Lipstick Jungle" were for the better.

Without further ado, my original review:

The opening gives us two contradictory quotes: one from Rudyard Kipling (“Now this is the law of the jungle as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die”) and the other, Katherine Hepburn (“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun”). Then cut to multiple shots of animal print-clad high-heeled feet.

We get it. It’s a “jungle” out there. And these women are the ones “ruling” it. Point taken.

“These women aren’t looking for Mr. Big, they are Mr. Big.”

That’s the official tagline from NBC. How true that actually is, well, let’s just say it leaves plenty of room for debate. The main message I got from this pilot was “That’s just the way it is.” That is referring to the misogynistic view of women in the workplace. Well, let me take that back. It’s referring more to women of power in the workplace. We hear all the old clichés – women are “too emotional” and “involved with their work” to ever realistically attain a CEO-level of success.

OK, so if you couldn’t already tell -- too many years spent in college scrutinizing message/meaning in films (especially when it comes to portrayals of women) resulted in my overly-nitpicky analysis of this particular show. I should really take it for what it was meant to be: a hour of frilly, supposed girl-power message-filled fun.

So let’s just look at it from a strictly entertainment point of view.

The Pros:
- Casting did a semi-decent job with the three leads. Kim Raver (Nico) came off as the most believable.

- Cameo alert! Edward Hermann (aka Grandpa Gilmore) graces us with his presence as big CEO boss to both Nico and Wendy.

- Cameo alert part 2! welcome back Andrew McCarthy! Long time no see. He’s a smarmy, egomaniacal billionaire with a thing for lil Miss Victory. Luckily, he’s got some endearing qualities; there may be hope for him yet.

The Cons:
- We’ve seen a lot of these plots/scenarios before: nice gals finish last, women with careers on the rise while personal lives are in shambles (or vice-versa) women can never make as much money as men, blah blah blah.

- The name of Lindsay Price’s character? Victory Ford. Seriously?

- As if they didn’t think we got the message before (say, from the opening scene), Joe Bennett lets Victory know why it’s a rarity that women are billionaires unless they’re spoiled heiresses (“too emotional to make the right decisions,” etc). The delivery seemed slightly forced (maybe because even he couldn’t believe what he was saying)

The Verdict: Give it a few episodes before making a final decision (but really, with the limited choices we have these days, it might fill the guilty-pleasure quota)
Personally, the longer Andrew McCarthy sticks around, the more inclined I might be to watch.

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New TV Tonight!

The last pre-strike "Ugly Betty" episode airs tonight @ 8PM. As much as I'll miss the Mode crew, there's something I'll miss a bit more -- the official Ugly Betty podcast with the fabulous duo of Michael Urie and Becki Newton! Three words: Pure comedy gold!

You can either subscribe via iTunes or go here.

What will I do without my weekly dose of the 'blink blink' song and show 'call ins?'

In the new episode "A Thousand Words by Friday," Betty (America Ferrera) is excited about an assignment to interview writer Phil Roth. Unfortunately, this guy isn't Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Philip Roth but some dude who writes books about picking up women. Daniel (Eric Mabius) learns a shocking secret about a new lust interest (Gabrielle Union). Rocker Gene Simmons also guest stars. (Zap2it)


We also get a "Chuck" two-fer at 8 PM and 10 PM (sandwiched in between is, ugh "Celebrity" Apprentice).

I love both of these shows, so while it's nice to have new eps, it's also incredibly depressing that we have no clue how long it will be til we see them again! Frickin strike.

On a more serious note, if you haven't already read this, head over to Michael Ausiello's blog and check out his wonderful post: "Grieving Heath Ledger via Ennis Del Mar"
It had me in tears. Have your hankies ready!

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Complete and Utter Shock

Unbelievable shock is the general feeling at the moment.

Heath Ledger is dead at the young age of 28.

Reports from the media:

NYTimes: Heath Ledger, Actor, Is Found Dead at 28

People: Heath Ledger’s Rep Calls Death ‘Accident’

Our thoughts are with his family and 2 yr. old daughter Matilda.

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