men-in-trees « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Men in Trees the new Northern Exposure

surflife — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:29:50 +0000

Ok for those who remember Northern Exposure – is it just me or is Men in Trees the natural replacement for it. I loved Northern Exposure and have fallen in love with Men in Trees.

Surf life to the max – Alaska is always there!

The Legend of How NBC Split ER into Two, While CBS Tagged Along for the Ride: Mercy, Trauma and Three Rivers

marcusandstevi — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:29:47 +0000

The Husband:

It happens every year. Just like the film industry, ideas seem to come in packs of two or three. In 2004, Lost fever infected the networks, and three deep mystery science-fiction shows were unveiled for the 2005-2006 season. Two made it a full season before being unceremoniously canceled (Invasion and Surface) while one didn’t even make it to midseason (Threshold). The quality of these shows are unimportant, because they were created to either capitalize on a trend or a repair a hole missing from the schedule. This works in the film world, too. In 1998, we had both Armageddon and Deep Impact. In the same year, we had both A Bug’s Life and Antz. In 2005 we had both Capote and Infamous (one was pushed back to 2006, can you guess which?). And this is not a new concept in Hollywood. I can trace back to most years started with the studio system and can point out virtually identical films coming out within the same few months. But with television this year, two things happened:

1. CBS tried once again to give us their version of what they think draws people into Grey’s Anatomy, but on their own network. That show is called Three Rivers.

2. After a staggering 15-year run, ER finally came to a close last season, and NBC frantically tried to recreate its medical drama glory. But this time, they decided split the show in two to hedge their bets but take up too much room on a schedule already reeling from one man named Jay Leno.

If you don’t feel like listening to my half-assed television history lesson for the remainder of this article, let me just break it down for you. So far, NBC’s Mercy has aired three episodes, NBC’s Trauma has aired two, and CBS’s Three Rivers has aired one. And how do they rank in terms of quality? The exact order I just put them in, with Mercy almost head-and-shoulders above Trauma and Three Rivers, with only a single episode, drudging the bottom of the lake.

The title is probably ironic.

So about that splitting ER into two parts. It’s really not at all complicated. Mercy is the character drama, and Trauma is the action show. Put together, these elements apparently made some of the best ER episodes of all time, but on their own, it can be a struggle. So far, however, Mercy is a remarkably competent (big praise, I know) slice-of-life story about the unsung heroes of hospitals — the nurses. This year they have come back in a big way, and while I haven’t seen an episode of similarly themed Nurse Jackie and Hawthorne (two other nurse dramas, unseen because I don’t have Showtime and I avoid networks like TNT and USA like the plague), I can tell you that it’s a refreshing change of pace. Surgeons get all the glory, but nurses are the backbone of any hospital. Taylor Schilling leads the show as former army nurse Veronica Callahan, and she is in the top five best new characters on television this season. Tough and hard-edged but sympathetic, she seems like a real woman doing an unappreciated job, and her quiet energy is such a welcome respite from the outwardly emotional hysterics that populate Seattle Grace and Oceanside Wellness. She is a true find, and her personal life storylines (her troubled marriage, her drunk family, her affair with Men In Trees’s James Tupper) help the very reality-skewing Jersey City-set show and are handled by the writers with what at least appears to be a great deal of honesty.

I haven’t been able to get a handle of many of the remaining characters, but Guillermo Diaz (he of Weeds and Half Baked) does well playing against type, and while the casting of Michelle Trachtenberg as rookie nurse Chloe Payne brings the wrong kind of tone to the character, casting a lesser known and more sullen actress would have made the character completely unimportant. My favorite element, oddly enough, seems to be the reversal of roles, as James LeGros’s doctor character, Dan Harris, is mostly seen on the outskirts of storylines, much how most nurses are treated on nearly every other hospital drama. (You know how Nurse Olivia was just let go from Seattle Grace at Grey’s Anatomy? It took me a good thirty minutes to remember that she was the one who gave George syphilis after getting it from Karev way back in the early seasons.) And, almost more than anything, I appreciate the fleeting comparisons the show finds between Jersey City and the warzone of Iraq. Both are lost places in their own way, and it’s haunting without being obvious. This is definitely staying on my Season Pass list, and I hope that its unfortunate placement Wednesday at 10 (it belongs later, but thanks to The Jay Leno Show, half of NBC’s schedule seems misplaced.)

HOLY SHIT THIS IS EXPENSIVE! AND ON FIRE!

Trauma, so far, is just a big, slick, expensive version of Emergency!, a spin-off of a spin-off (Dragnet to Adam-12 to…) which ran for several seasons back in the 1970s (six seasons plus a handful of TV movies). From the several episodes I’ve seen of that show (starring a young Kevin Tighe, a.k.a. Locke’s father on Lost), I really can’t see much of a difference between the two programs other than its location and its budget. I complained that I couldn’t get too much of a handle on Mercy’s characters, but at least I can give you a general impression of their internal monologue. Not so on Trauma, which is as surface-level as one could get outside of a CW primetime soap. New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis is, so far, the only character with any personality (unfortunately, it’s a shitty one) and the rest get lost in the shuffle.

What Trauma has going for it, though, is a whole lot of money behind it, something that could cause it to be canceled very soon. Paired up with the fledgling Heroes, Trauma continues to represent how NBC is hemorrhaging money and viewers, and by not putting the show at a proper 10 p.m. spot, it’s getting crushed by the two CBS Chuck Lorre sitcoms. But oh man, does it ever get saved by its big action sequences. Nothing has been spared in the high-octane situations that structure the show, from the mostly unnecessary season opener that blew up part of a building to what can’t be cheap San Francisco location shooting. But with an HD DVR and a 52″ HD LCD Eco-Series Bravia television, I’ve never missed my old stomping grounds of the San Francisco Bay Area more. I’m staying to watch this show just from how much is shot there, how [mostly] accurate the set-ups are, and even its inclusion of mayor Gavin Newsome’s actress wife in the supporting cast. My wife can tell you more about the show’s focus on North Beach, where she worked for two years.

My issue, though, is seemingly contradictory. The action is what makes the show work, but it’s a chore sitting through a single episode. It’s fun to yell out “Trauma!” whenever something terrible happens, but in the second episode, we had four separate cases of trauma including the Embarcadero Street Fair getting pummeled by a car piloted by a man having a stroke. This is enough for three episodes on Grey’s Anatomy, but it’s almost a sidenote here. It’s too much action in a show that desperately needs it to survive. But goddamn, does it look expensive. And that expense kind of negates the verité style it’s going for, so I don’t know what to think anymore.

I would rather see Alex O'Laughlin do anything else.

Three Rivers has only aired one episode, and this is after it was heavily recast (which happened to Alex O’Loughlin’s last show Moonlight as well) as it was decided to air the second episode first. No matter, because the show helped drop CBS to one of its lowest-rated Sunday nights ever, being paired up with Cold Case. (All the family viewers and young professionals pretty much abandon the channel after The Amazing Race is over.) It’s not long for this world, and for good reason. It thinks that we want to be preached to right off the gate, and so this drama about an organ transplant facility in Pittsburgh just doesn’t work. It’s unfair to judge it based on one episode (and one that isn’t the damned pilot), but when a show starts off talking down to us, it’s not a good feeling. ABC’s Grey’s started off as a much frothier show (I would even call it a dramedy) and only later fell into its soapy rhythms, but Three Rivers doesn’t seem to have time for that. A major problem: I understand its decision to include the story about where the organs are coming from in order to humanize the situation, but it’s mostly unnecessary and I hope they abandon it, because it makes the characters back at the facility complete ciphers, just going through the procedural motions. Even O’Loughlin, as famed surgeon Andy Yablonski, isn’t enough to draw me back for much longer, and I once again fear that Alfre Woodard is one of the most misused actresses of her generation. It’s not the worst new drama of the season, nor is it the most obnoxious (so far, that seems to be the tonally misshapen The Forgotten), but if it doesn’t pick up soon, it will be canceled before I even give up on it. (Remember CBS’s hospital drama 3 Lbs.? No? It was on less than five years ago. Still don’t remember it? Exactly. But I watched all three episodes.)

So give Mercy a chance, and I don’t think you’ll regret it. Its cases, while mostly unoriginal, are handled delicately, and the characters feel like actual people. The other two shows? If you’re not into high-definition cinematography of San Francisco or learning about the intricacies of putting new hearts into pregnant women, they probably won’t work for you, either.

The Wife:
I worry about Mercy’s necessity. Fundamentally, I like the show. And I really didn’t think I would. When NBC was promoting Mercy, they almost entirely glossed over the fact that this show is a narrative about an Iraq war veteran struggling to reintegrate into civilian life, instead using its promo time to make it look like some slick, glossy glorification of nursing (which indeed deserves such glory) and the bonds of female friendship. Case in point: even if Veronica’s background as a soldier was included, what I remember from those promos is the shots of the girls at the bar together, drinking and smiling.

The hurt backpack.

I do think Mercy, as a show about a female Iraq war veteran, an Army nurse not unlike my mother (who once made her non-military living as an OR nurse), is utterly necessary. It is important for us to experience narratives of soldiers returning from conflicts overseas and to understand what it’s like for them to try to carry on with all the horror they’ve experienced. And it’s especially critical that this is a narrative about a female soldier. For all the women who fight for this country, too many artistic renderings of soldiers focus on the men and their experiences. I even applaud the decision to focus this story around the life of an Army medic, a crucial military position I think many forget about. My mother never (thankfully) saw conflict. But when I hear Veronica talk about setting up field hospitals, I can’t help but think of my mother. She knows how to do that, and has done so many times in her life. I’ve seen what those hospitals look like, as we always went to the family day at the end of the Army Reserve’s two-week summer training exercises where her medical unit practiced setting up those hospitals. So this character is perhaps doubly unique to me. I know the women that she is drawn from, my mother and her friends, and that alone makes her utterly real to me.
But although I think Veronica is a starkly unique character and its important for us to have a narrative of a female Iraq war veteran, I do think that gets lost in the way NBC advertised Mercy and its inevitable pigeonhole as just another medical show. I don’t care so much about the cases Veronica deals with, but I care deeply about her inability to share her wartime experiences with her no-longer-estranged husband. Seeing her hold his head in her hands so that he cannot face her when she talks about losing her friend in the field was truly effective, and I hope those of you who watch Mercy continue to tune in for those stunning portraits of a soldier coming home to a world she no longer knows how to navigate.

As for Trauma, the best parts of the show are screaming “Trauma!” when something traumatic happens, and realizing that I probably walked through the set dozens of times when I worked in North Beach. In fact, there was a scene filmed on Green St. between Grant and Broadway in the second episode that I know I’d walked through during tear-down one day when my coworker and I were heading up to North Beach Pizza for lunch. (I was extra impressed that they got a shot of the new location of North Beach Pizza, which only opened in April or May . . . directly across the street from its former location.) This scene happened to feature a homeless drug addict trying to scam the EMTs into giving him morphine, and I frankly wouldn’t be surprised if the show stumbled upon some of North Beach’s actual colorful homeless people. I will keep watching simply to see restaurants I used to frequent and, hopefully, a glimpse of Knifey Knife (a homeless woman who once threatened my friend at the bakery across from my old office with a pumpkin carving knife) and Charlotte (a kindly homeless woman who enjoyed wigs and often sat outside my office, complimenting me on my shoes). Hell, if one of my couriers, Junior, made it into B-roll on Anthony Bourdain’s San Francisco episode of No Reservations, he might even turn up in a long shot, riding his bike down Columbus.

There is really nothing good about Three Rivers.

2009 Fall Preview - Wednesday

kingoftelevision — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:01:58 +0000

Wednesday

The 9/8c time slot is the busiest on my grid this year. In fact, I’m glad I upgraded to a third HDDVR at the beginning of this month since it’s the one time of the week when I’m recording six shows simultaneously. I’m sure the full slate won’t survive through October, but at least I’m prepared.

ABC – It appears ABC is making an attempt at assembling a sort of “Super New Wednesday” with a full slate of new shows. I certainly hope it doesn’t meet the same fate as the schedule from a couple years ago when we got hooked on Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money, only to have the writer’s strike kill their freshman seasons, a fate they never recovered from.

Kelsey Grammer makes another attempt at his triumphant return to network television in a sitcom with a premise that sounds almost exactly like his FOX failure from two years ago, Back to You. Successful guy loses success and has to learn to live with a family he has ignored. My love of Frasier means I’ll check out at least a couple episodes, but I doubt this one will last. In an odd coincidence, Grammer’s Back to You co-star Patricia Heaton stars in The Middle, another traditional sitcom that also marks an attempt to show us that network television understands what it’s like to be affected by our current recession. Both shows premiere September 30th.

A less traditional hour of programming follows, starting with Modern Family, a show that follows three families in a documentary style (think The Office) and features an exceptional cast including Ed O’Neill (Married with Children) and Julie Bowen (Boston Legal). As many of you know, I’m a big fan of comedies sans laughtrack, so I have high hopes for this one. Following Modern Family, Courtney Cox returns to network television with Cougar Town. I haven’t learned much about the show, but it was created by Bill Lawrence (Scrubs) so I think it has a much better shot at success than say….Joey. These two shows premiere September 23rd.

Rounding out the night, we have Eastwick, a re-imagining of the 1987 movie The Witches of Eastwick and the John Updike novel of the same name. Be careful when setting this one on the DVR, I would hate for you to end up with a late night showing of 2005’s The Witches of Breastwick.

CBS – Criminal Minds returns in its normal slot for a fifth season on September 23rd. Minds has quietly become a very consistent performer for CBS, which surprises me considering how little support it got when it started. If you haven’t watched this at all before, I would recommend checking out an episode–each week is pretty self-contained so it isn’t hard to jump on.

Comedy Central – The boys are back October 7th for the second half of South Park Season 13, and plenty of ultra-topical shenanigans will be there. Following South Park is a new live-action show called Secret Girlfriend. The show is basically about a group of guys partying and attempting to get laid. I have no idea if it will be good, but the network only ordered six episodes so I’ll check it out.

DirecTV 101 – Continuing their partnership with NBC from last season, DirecTV gets the exclusive premiere of Friday Night Lights season four, starting October 28th. Dillon is in for some big changes with Coach Taylor headed to the newly re-opened East Dillon High School to lead the Lions. Taylor “Gambit” Kitsch and Zach Gilford return, although Gilford will likely make a mid-season exit a la Smash and Street before him. For those who haven’t figured it out yet, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton as Eric and Tami Taylor are the best couple on television. Also, have no fear FNL fans, DirecTV and NBC have already inked a deal that ensures 13 episodes for this season and another 13 next year. Game on.

Discovery – Mythbusters picks up for the second half of season seven on October 7th. From the look of this story, they busted a few windows making the episode in March of this year.

FOX – Are you watching Glee yet? If you aren’t, I’m not sure you’ll need me to tell you to. FOX has declared a media war on anyone who thinks this is just another lame attempt at a tv musical. If creator Ryan Murphy’s name isn’t enough to get you on board, I don’t know what will work. Murphy’s nip/tuck helped start the cable drama revolution a few years ago and now that he’s done with it, he’s decided to do something kids can watch too. In addition to normal promotion, The songs will be taking over iTunes each week, and two albums are already scheduled, with the first one dropping in November. Glee premiered September 9th.

FX – As I posted last week, nip/tuck returns October 14th for its second-to-last season. I would have said penultimate season, but I’m tired of people saying penultimate.

MTV – Real World Road Rules Challenge is back again to meet our need for some sweet guilty pleasure tv. My advice is to DVR it, fast forward through the manufactured drama bullshit, and just watch the challenges. The show premieres September 30th.

NBC – Mercy is yet another new medical show, and normally I wouldn’t give it the time of day. However, it has James Tupper from the ill-fated Men in Trees, so I can’t help but tune in. Apparently, nurse shows are the new surgeon shows–what a super original idea!

House: Broken Review

walkallday — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:04:18 +0000

A review of last night’s two hour House season premiere by Tara!

What an appropriate title for this episode. In every sense of the word, House was broken. And it took the very talented Andre Braugher (Homicide, Thief), playing House’s psychiatrist, Dr. Nolan, to not only make House see that but, more importantly, to acknowledge it, accept it and make peace with it.

This episode was not the traditional formula we are used to seeing. Rather than the hospital where the ‘team’ tries to figure out what’s wrong with this week’s patient, the first images we see are those of House going through withdrawals, in a singular cell like bedroom. Once the images stop and we see that House has begun to recover, it becomes clear that he is ready to leave. And he goes about doing so in typical House fashion.

With that we get our first introduction between Dr. Nolan and House. House tells him he’s a lot better and wants to leave, “Gonna miss you. Wanna start missing you as soon as possible.” The sarcasm begins. Nolan counters with, “your issues run deeper than Vicodin,” as he has been misusing the drug for years but his hallucinations happened only after two colleagues died. House wants to leave but Nolan stops him by saying he can’t without his recommendation.

Welcome to Ward Six.

Just a quick look around the room and we see men playing ping pong, a girl with very large and broken glasses holding a stuffed animal that even when I paused my DVR I couldn’t figure out what it was. I don’t know why but I’m curious.

House wants to know how long he has to be there. It depends on him, which can’t be a good sign. And it isn’t as he responds with, “I’m going to turn this ward upside down and make you and your boss’ life so unmanageable that he will write whatever he has to, just to get ride of me.” In some ways it’s nice to know that House is House no matter where you put him.

Speaking of places you put him, he’s got a new room, with a new roommate. Who talks very, very fast. And doesn’t like being on meds because that’s when everything slows down. House meet Juan Alvarez. Or Alvie. (At first I feel like the actor is mimicking Brad Pitt’s character is 12 Monkeys. Not because I don’t think there are people out there who act like this, it just feels so ‘acted.’ But I don’t know if he grew on me or if the character toned down, because I only felt that way when he was first introduced). When he learns House’s name he does a little shriek before diving into “He’s a brick, dananana, Hooouse.” I have to admit, I kind of loved it.

Alvie wants to show him the lay of the land. We see a guy on the floor acting like his head is in dire pain, only to find out he’s just a Haldol junkie. So much so that they call him ‘Hal,’ and in group therapy House quickly points out who is who and what they suffer from. Helpful? Rude? Not really a question.

We hear a piano and House is intrigued. Hey it’s Run Lola Run, or also known as actress Franka Potente.

Back in group they welcome a new member, Steve, or as he calls himself “Freedom Master”, played by Men In Trees‘ Derek Richardson. He compares himself to Clark Kent or Peter Parker. One of the other patients asks him, “You don’t think you can stop bullets do you?” “I move out of their way.” Awesome. I already love Freedom Master, who wants to know why the one lady isn’t talking. “She needs help,” he says.

The next time we see House in group we don’t hear a sound but it appears House is going through all the motions: Talking, getting higher level points, interacting with other patients. He takes his pills, but he doesn’t swallow them.

And we are back to the piano player. She is apparently playing for the same woman Freedom Master was concerned with. The woman who doesn’t speak. House flirts with Lydia, the piano player. Oddly enough it’s not in the demeaning way he usually does with Cuddy. Lydia tells him that the woman she plays for once played the cello.

House has to check in with a new doctor, Medina, who is in charge of regulating his medication. Dr. Medina doesn’t believe House is taking his medication. House counter attacks with, “Do you want me to take a urine test? Will that earn your trust?” “Actually, yes.” Okay, that couldn’t have been what House wanted or expected Medina to respond with, right?

They walk into the bathroom and Medina tells him that House knows the rules, he has to watch. “You don’t need court side seats can I at least use a stall?” (I would think that he wouldn’t need to watch that closely, but anyway). He does get a stall, and what do you know, Hal is in the stall. So I was totally wrong. This was exactly what House wanted.

Back at Ward Six and Medina apologizes to House for doubting him, then walks up to Freedom Master and asks for his help in moving the piano away from the window. House, irritated asks “why are you doing that?” Medina says that either he is Freedom Master and he shouldn’t be here or he is suffering from a dangerous and serious delusion. Freedom Master doesn’t seem involved in the argument brewing between House and Medina, instead he says, “I can save her. They stole her voice box. That’s what she’s starring at.” He tries to get in to where they keep the pills and they call for a Code Gray.

House is angry. Uninvited, ss usual, he enters Dr. Nolan’s office and tells him that he’s coping much better than anyone thinks. He then shows him all the pills he hasn’t been taking and talks of his high scores on the depression list. And I’m wondering if that’s such a good thing to admit to. Nolan picks up the pills. “Lick it.” “You want me to lick you hand,” asks House. Which is when he realizes it’s a sugar pill. Oh SNAP! House they got you. They got you good.

Looking out the window, a common ritual at this hospital, House sees Lydia driving up with a cello in her back seat. He offers to help her carry it and when she suggests using a dolly, House suggests using ‘Clark Kent’ as it would help him feel better about himself. They all go for a drive. And then it’s just House and Freedom Master and suddenly they are at a carnival and they are flying? I ask because how did they get there. And is it really a carnival? It appears so. He really is making him feel superhuman. And the Freedom Master is back. He’s happy. He’s even got his jacket around his neck like a cape. Walking back to the car, where they are parked on one of those high level parking lots, Freedom Master is zooming around and suddenly House turns around and we see Freedom Master balancing himself on the brim edge of the lot. The excitement I was feeling and I think House was feeling just turned on a dime. The wind is blowing through his hair. If it wasn’t so awful it would almost be beautiful, but it’s so awful, so it’s not. “Hey. Come on. Get down,” House says, stern but nervous. “There’s no cry for help.” Freedom Master turns his head to look back at House and says, “Thank you Greg.” And House and I simultaneously yell out, “Noooo!” as Steve dives. Wow. I’m in shock.

“He’s lucky to be alive.” The voice of Andre Braugher, I mean Dr. Nolan. Either way thank you TPTB. He goes on to say all the many things that are broken and it all sounds awful but I am just shocked and happy he’s alive. Nolan tells him that he does, he’s transferring House to another facility, but before he can do that House finally speaks, “Don’t. I need help.”

House is actually voluntarily in therapy. It’s odd. For me and for him as it’s clear he has no idea what to do. He wants to know how this works. What is relevant. Nolan says they’re all relevant. But that the only way to figure out which ones are more relevant is to talk. (Yeah I hate that part too. House. Talking). He asks House what does he want. His response, “I want to get better. I’m sick of being miserable.” Nolan thinks that is a great goal and suggests SSRI’s as a means to getting there. “You think that by taking meds you’ll lose your edge? Stop making the unique connections that made you a successful doctor?” More banter and more seriously wise words from Braugher, and House takes the pill.

We are now moving at a much quicker pace in the show. I have been enjoying the episode as a whole, but it’s taken a lot longer to get to this point, where now I feel we are at a better pace.

He’s now in line for daily dosages. Alvie wants to know what’s up. He is hoping he’s ‘cheeking it.’ House says he isn’t. “They broke you,” says Alvie. “They didn’t break me. I am broken, “ House replies. No sarcasm, no cutting remarks: Just truth. And it feels surprisingly comfortable. “Now stop worshipping me and go worry about you own loser life.” And just like that he’s back. I knew it wouldn’t last long.

Nolan has an assignment for House. He has a suit for him and he wants House to start trusting people. They are at some type of party, event, I’m assuming at the hospital. He’s to start with strangers and then work his way up. So House walks up to the first person he sees and says “hi.” The guy, clearly finding it a bit odd, responds the same. And then House not one to leave good enough alone, “It’s like hello, only shorter.” Uncomfortable guy,”Yes. Glad we were able to save that time.” Hee. I so want to use that line. Somewhere.

Lydia is there. They have some fun playing jokes on a few people. And later when she asks him what’s next, and usually a typical response from House would be a sexual innuendo, he instead responds simply with, “why don’t we just talk.” We learn why she comes to visit Annie, which I believe is the first time we learn of silent girl’s name. She was her best friend, and she married Annie’s brother when she got sick because he was the only one who knew what she was going through. “I miss her. I should go.” But instead she and House kiss.

House wants to know why she kissed him. Lydia says she likes him and it felt like a nice way of showing him. As she says that we see Steve/Freedom Master rolled in on a wheel chair. House is back at Dr. Nolan’s as seeing Steve is more than unsettling for him. Nolan asks him why he values his failures more than his successes. “Successes only last until someone screws them up. Failures last forever.” In that House reveals so much about himself. Nolan wants him to acknowledge the failure and move past it. Apologize. House doesn’t think that’s how it should work. He gets someone to jump off a building and all he has to do is say the words and he can the move on with his life. That hardly seems fair. “If the world is just, you have to suffer equally? You’re not God, House.” I want Andre Braugher as my therapist. This man is good.

In the next group session everyone seems out of synch. Freedom Master is there but he’s not talking. House notices him looking at something. “I can save him. He stole her voice box, that’s what he said. Because there’s a music box in there.” And I admit I’m kind of getting the chills. They try to block him and House tells them he is not having a psychotic break. When they finally open the door there is a blue box that he gives it to Freedom Master. “You are healing. Speak. Say something.” Dr. Nolan enters and tells House you are trying to fix it instead of moving on. Right again you are.

House finds Lydia is crying. She is crying because she’s pathetic. She brought Annie’s cello in case she one day magically woke up. They hug and it very delicately turns into a dance.

Now in a room and a few clothing items are being removed. I am willing to wager this is the first time in a very long time House has ever been this intimate with a woman. And then we see his tears.

After a fun little talent show we see House apologizing to Steve. “I was trying to prove a point. I was trying to be right. I ended up putting you in a dangerous situation and I was not equipped to handle it. And you got hurt, and it’s my fault. And I’m sorry.” Steve is still holding the music box as House wheels him in front of Silent Girl/Annie. Steve hands her the music box and she picks it up. Nolan, House, everyone, all look on in amazement as she opens the box and it plays. “Thank you” she says. “You’re welcome,” he replies. It’s an astonishing moment, one that I personally feel is slightly ruined by the very quick recovery of her suddenly playing the cello, with everyone around her. I didn’t hate it, but I felt it was a really, really quick turn around. Did Freedom Master really have super powers? I shouldn’t think that in a moment like that, but I did.

Happy re-birthday cake. Congratulations to Annie. The silent girl is leaving and House is upset. He enters Nolan’s office thinking she is leaving after being silent for so long (hey, so was I), only to find out she’s moving to a facility in Arizona, as her family is moving there. House wants an overnight pass.

He’s at the front door and a little boy answers. Okay I didn’t know she has kids. No, no, no. Lydia comes to the door. She explains that her husband travels a lot for work but they have never been able to move because of Annie but now they can. House doesn’t want her to go. She doesn’t want to go but she won’t break up her family.

Back at Nolan’s car. “She left. And… I’m lost.” Nolan tells House he is going to write his recommendation to get his license back. And that he wants House to recognize two things that happened tonight: “You got hurt. Which means you connected to another person strongly enough to miss them. And more important, you recognized the pain and came to talk to me, instead of hiding from it in the Vicodin bottle.” My, my how much House has grown. But I can’t help but wonder will this really last? I mean part of why we love House, the show, is because House is House. Still I can’t help but love the emotional growth for however long it lasts.

“Today we are here to congratulate Greg. We are proud of him. We wish him well and (said in unison) we hope to never see him again.” And House goes head first into his cake. Alvie watches as House leaves and walks up to request, for the first time, his meds, saying “I want to get better.” The final shot is House sitting on the bus, with just a hint of a smile.

Squee! It's...

Mikaela — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:27:18 +0000

Squee! It’s Michael Hogan tonight on Warehouse 13. Yes, Battlestar Galactica’s own Cylon McOneEye…I’m sorry, Col. Saul Tigh moves from the SciFi Network to SyFy. Hogan and his wife, Susan (a ship captain/judge on BSG), who are big, big deals in the Vancouver theater community, guest as Myka’s parents. Given Myka’s uncomfortable phone calls with her father, Hogan’s gruffness is such a good match that it makes me giggle. It will be strange to see him with two eyes again, but I imagine we’ll muddle through. You’ve seen Mr. Hogan before on fare as varied as The L Word, Monk, Millennium, Road to Avonlea…is it filmed in Vancouver? He might have been in it. His lovely partner in crime has appeared in Men in Trees, Dark Angel, Millennium…did we mention the Vancouver thing? The Warehouse 13 ep is a nice reunion with creator Jane Espenson, who also wrote for BSG. Bonus squee–Roger Rees is in the episode, too! Come on–Lord John Marbury and Saul Tigh? There wouldn’t have been any alcohol left on that battlestar. Warehouse 13 is genial fun anyway, if a little too harmless, and guests like this will go a long way toward making it top shelf fun. On SyFy (really? SyFy?) at 9pm Eastern.

Preview: SyFy's Alice

walkallday — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:38:27 +0000

It’s quite a ways off, but there’s a pretty cool promotional trailer already for SyFy’s upcoming four-hour two-part mini-series Alice. The production is a reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s twisted yet family friendly Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland.

From the official SyFy press release:

For this re-imagined adaptation, writer/director Nick Willing mines the bizarre ingenuity and twisted logic of Carroll’s work to create a daringly different, boldly colorful and delightfully skewed dreamscape of his own.

The project features a large and impressive cast that, if you’re familiar with the sci-fi genre and/or Canadian TV, you’ll be astounded by. The lineup consists of stars (not just guest stars, but actuall cast members) of: Primeval, Steven Spielberg’s Taken, Eureka, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Battlestar Galactica, Crash (the tv series), Kingdom Hospital, Sanctuary, Robson Arms, Corner Gas, Davinci’s Inquest, Intelligence, North of 60, and Men In Trees, among many many others. To top all that, they’ve also landed Tim Curry and Cathy Bates! Whew – that’s alot of talent.

According to the network:

“An incredible creative team has been assembled to re-interpret this familiar tale in an imaginative and innovative way,” said Mark Stern, EVP of Original Programming for Syfy. “This exciting new vision is one of the reasons we’ve been able to attract such high-level talent.”

Alice is set to premiere on SyFy in December of 2009. We’ll keep updated as it approaches!

And so as not to confuse anyone, SyFy’s Alice is in no way related to the upcoming Tim Burton film starring In Treatment’s Mia Wasikowska that we reported on some months back.

Fox and Sony to Bring Back ‘Heathers’

goremasterfx — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:41:27 +0000

Christian Slater and Winona Ryder in Heathers

From MovieWeb.com

According to Variety, Fox and Sony TV are developing a new version of Heathers for TV.

The original film was directed by Michael Lehmann and penned by Daniel Waters. This new take will be written and executive produced by Mark Rizzo (Men in Trees) and Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City). Lakeshore Entertainment is also producing.

There is no word yet on how this movie will be updated but it is reported that the characters of Veronica Sawyer (played in the original film by Winona Ryder), J.D. (played by Christian Slater) and the “Heathers” themselves will be in it.

The original film focused on Veronica as she moves through a clique of mean girls — who are all named Heather — but she rebels when she meets J.D., the new guy at school. Shortly after, the Heathers begin to die at the hands of Veronica and J.D. They make the deaths seem like suicides and Veronica writes down everything in her diary.

“We had the title, and talked about doing a film remake at times,” stated Lakeshore president Gary Lucchesi. “But doing it for TV seemed like a fresh and original idea.”

Scott Elrod - A Man No Longer In The Trees

beeheard — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:34:13 +0000

Lately, I have been watching my “carb” intake instead of just “in-taking” carbs. Ya’ now while I sometimes feel they are the Anti Christ, them carbohydrates – A lack there of sure does wreak havoc with a guys mood! Me moody? I know the notion sounds impossible to comprehend. So when I got the opportunity to connect with my “uber” cool new TDCLHBFF or (Tree Dwelling Car Loving Hottie Best Friend For Ever) Scott Elrod I was concerned I would come off as a raging, nasty Blogger and heaven help us we have far too many of those already! Anywayyyyy

The phone rang and the voice on the other end was a down to earth, wickedly funny guy who just happens to have been in one of my all time favorite shows Men In Trees starring Anne Heche. As her “on again/off again” boyfriend “Cash” we certainly saw a lot of Scott, as he was strategically nearly naked in most of his scenes. When I asked him why he appeared in a jockstrap so often he reminded me… “It was not quite a jockstrap as it was sorta’ missing the strap!” Ah such a pity huh ladies?

So what makes Scott tick and what has he been up to? An army brat, he was born in Germany… His father, an F-16 pilot inspired in Scott a need for speed and a love for fast machines both flying and terrestrial… Not to mention while other dads were lovingly showing up for Career Day at school – Ya’ gotta’ admit Scott was scoring points with “Hi this is my father the fighter pilot!”

So a recap thus far- Friendly, funny, cool dad and sexy as hell. I could really learn to hate this guy except he is so damn nice!

With some really edgy, independent films on the horizon like Death and Cremation, Knife Point, and Hard Breakers- Scott is showing his acting chops and receiving rave reviews. Not to mention The Baster with some “unknown” Jennifer Aniston…Has anybody heard of her?????

As is fast becoming an “On Demand” from readers here – Scott was also willing to give up his quest for world peace long enough to offer me his “Wish List”

A helicopter – specifically an Astar
P-51 Mustang (to give to dad)
A certain unnamed project to be funded

Sounds like a plan to me…

Of course how could I end an interview without a question that takes my irreverent style and gives it some creditability? The choice was simple. “Boxers or briefs?” And to that a resounding “Oh definitely boxer briefs” – My kinda’ guy! Well not in the biblical sense of course.

Thanks Scott and feel free to gimme’ a ride in that helicopter sometime soon.

Join me on face book at

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=799075719&ref=profile

And Twitter @celebbbuzzz

Uptown thinking of Small Town...

uptownsmalltown — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:33:43 +0000

While I take my time uploading photos of the trip to the South of France (clearly I’m still operating on vacation time), I was (perhaps because I’ve been questioning what it is I really want– a dangerous question!), thinking about what home is to me. (obviously a topic on my mind)

Home, in its ultimate sense, is in the center of me and yet paradoxically much bigger than me, but I think what I mean here is the home one builds for oneself throughout life. The center that expands as we come across new desires, “additions” if you will, and that we continue to remodel and redesign as we zoom around discovering new adventures and ways of being.

Lately, perhaps because I’ve been living in those “uptown” city apartments for so many years, I find myself really craving the manifestation of home… the home that I knew growing up with a yard and a garden and a dog and a view and a kitchen guests are welcome in and a deck that invites friends to stay in their pajamas while laughing and visiting in the sunshine well past the morning hours. Home.

A friend of mine and I actually have a code word for this: Both of us grew up in a small mountain community and both of us are living that city girl life. Whenever stress levels reach the point of ridiculousness, we say to each other “Elmo!” (If you’ve ever seen the show “Men in trees”– that’s where this is from.) To us, Elmo! is that word that means, get me back home to real life!!

So, while I’m not quite pulling the Elmo! card here (how could I? I still have vacation glow), I am saying that vacation has given me a time to think and breathe…

And for those of you who know me… this can lead to many things. (She says with a devious smile.)

Tree House from http://snugglemuffin.vox.com/

A Day Without Buzz

beeheard — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:24:49 +0000

Today while I was waiting to hear back from Ryan Seacrest (no one on Facebook seems to believe me) I realized the life of a Blogger is a lonely one. – (insert deep sigh). Add to that my passion for Pop Culture and sometimes it seems like the well runneth dry.

Now I realize we are never at a loss for celebrity fodder, but fodder without a foundation is…Well – Fodder without a foundation. I had been taking it rather personally as I have come a great distance. I was the fat kid in school, I had food thrown at me (you know who you are) and I fought with a damn cowlick that made me look like the half-breed of Prince Charles and Dame Edna…But nothing compares to the pain of casting my net out over the often torrid seas of Tinsel Town only to pull up anchor and find I have snagged nothing but a ruined manicure and chapped lips.

That was my day today and then BAM! First an email from Katrina Campins of Miami Social…Sexy, smart BFF… SHABAM! An email from Olympic Gold Medalist Greg Louganis, SHWAP! (no, not SHWING!) A ping from Season Six American Idol Finalist – Leslie Hunt and VAVOOOOOOOOOM! contact with Adrian Paul, Highlander (star sci-fi feature Eyeborgs opens fall 2009, star of The Heavy openly June 3rd, London; star of 9 Miles Down opening Summer 2009), Kevin Sorbo, Hercules, Andromeda, Max Ryan, Death Race, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and star of Dark Moon Rising” opening fall 2009, Daniel Alter, producer of Hitman, the upcoming Hack/Slash, Johnny Quest, Scott Elrod, Men In Trees and Lifetime’s upcoming Uncorked Steven Man, Savage Island, star of upcoming One In The Gun and Melissa Farman, ABC’s Lost, co-star of HBO’s “Temple Grandin”… Ah was that just LOST you read??? Hmmm

Moving on… Paul Ashton, Australia’s hit TV series, The Secret Life of Us, star of upcoming Serial Buddies with Maria Menounos, Luke Eberl, Planet Of The Apes (co-star sci-fi feature Eyeborgs opens fall 2009) Megan Blake, Taledega Nights & Animal Attractions TV (star sci-fi feature Eyeborgs opens fall 2009).

KA-THUMP! can you hear those names dropping? Honestly, I have the best job in the world talking to some of the most interesting and intriguing people. So as I say “Adios” for today remember one thing… Even the fat kid with the cowlick can go from Zero to Hero! Well at least his mom thinks so.

walden everywhere

waldenredux — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:35:16 +0000

As US so diligently pointed out to me recently, it’s Henry’s birthday on July the 12th. No, not Henri the omnipresent feline, who will probably live forever, but *the* Henry after whom this blog was inspired. Lately I have been amazed by the fact that Thoreau has been popping up at every turn. Maybe I am unnaturally attuned to it but someone seems to be mentioning him at least once a week lately – on the telly, on the net and in books. Maybe we are set for a massive waldenesque back-to-nature revival, a la sea/tree change. Boy am I glad I reserved my crappy derelict excuse for a cabin in the woods before someone else got their grubby hands on it.

Well anyway. Seriously people. Here are two examples:

1. Men in Trees. Sex and the City meets Northern Exposure. I am loving this, who knows why. Perhaps it is because the main character, Marin Frist, just bought herself a dilapidated cabin in the woods and didn’t even last her first night. Mind you, she did have a *grizzly bear* in her house. All I’ve got is a possum. And some very loud cows.

2. Walden pops up in the weirdest of places. I am currently reading The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, and enjoying it. But I just had to quote you this delectable bit from the story Ghosts (for those who haven’t read it, this is a detective story, with Blue assigned to watch over another man, Black. Yes just like in Reservoir Dogs, but no-one’s ear gets ripped off this time. Black spends his days reading Walden, and Blue decides he must read it in order to see what the fuss is about):

“Even experienced and sophisticated readers have had trouble with Walden, and no less a figure than Emerson once wrote in his journal that reading Thoreau made him feel nervous and wretched. To Blue’s credit, he does not give up. The next day he begins again, and this second go-through is somewhat less rocky than the first. In the third chapter he comes across a sentence that finally says something to him – Books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they were written – and suddenly he understands that the trick is to go more slowly , more slowly than he has ever gone with the words before. This helps to some extent, and certain passages begin to grow clear: the business about clothes in the beginning, the battle between the red ants and the black ants, the argument against work. But Blue still finds it painful, and though he grudgingly admits that Thoreau is perhaps not as stupid as he thought, he begins to resent Black for putting him through this torture. What he does not know is that were he to find the patience to read the book in the spirit in which it asks to be read, his entire life would begin to change, and little by little he would come to a full understanding of his situation. But lost chances are as much a part of life as chances taken, and a story cannot dwell on what might have been.”

I love this idea. Slow reading, like slow cooking, but with less calories.

To get on to more pragmatic matters, geez it’s cold up here. It would have been great if I had remembered to reorder the gas bottles. Either one of them, not fussy which. All I know is they are not there and it has to be under 5 degrees in here. That will serve me right for being pathologically absent-minded. I have checked the websites though to guard against hypothermia and apparently as long as I wear all my clothes to bed tonight and use every blanket I own I should still wake up. In the epic words of Simon and Garfunkel… I gather all the news I need on the weather report …

And in the meantime I am going to make Henry a ‘mix tape’ for his birthday that I think he will like in my iTunes. I am going to make sure to put in some soothing Satie, some melancholy French trip-hop and a touch of indie grunge. Well, it’s the thought that counts. I like to think he is loving it. Perfect for moping by the Pond.

Has Sarah Palin Tainted Alaska's Mystique?

John Aronno — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:23:46 +0000

This Letterman v. Palin business is getting completely out of hand, and by calling it that we are setting ourselves up for our Governor misquoting the spat as a supreme court case decision that she fundamentally disagrees with.

In the late spring of 2006, I made the decision to throw my poor, unsuspecting dog in the car, and move to Alaska. It started with a drive from the Bay Area in California up to Bellingham Washington, where I hopped on the ferry, enjoyed the boat’s bar for a few days, arrived half asleep and hungover in Haines, drove to Tok, caught a nap, and eventually made my way into Anchorage. Despite my chaotic travels in the past sending me to every other state in the union, and a fair share of Europe and Japan, I found myself here in the last frontier, in late September, making my first stop at the Carr’s on Minnesota and Northern Lights. I was confronted with a very worn down pick-up truck that narrowly missed me as it skid into an open space. The truck had a bumper sticker that read: “Vote Confederate.”

I found a space and pulled in. I turned the engine off, and immediately felt the impact of the rushed move, long journey, and life that I had left behind. Before entering Carr’s, I simply sat in silence and smoked two cigarettes until the embers and filters were bedfellows. I was not in the Bay any more.

The gubernatorial race was in full swing by the time I finally was able to admit that, no matter how badly I wished it, Comcast wasn’t going to sweep in and save the day. However, GCI provided me with coverage of one of the debates between Knowles, Halcro, and Palin. I don’t remember all that much about the discussion, but I did remember hearing Palin field one question about Creationism, and I remember her stating that she still believed in it. The “vote confederate” bumper sticker flashed through my mind, just for a brief second. Thankfully, Andrew Halcro was there to pick up the pieces, actually sounding like what you would want a gubernatorial candidate to sound like. Sadly, in true independant fashion, he didn’t even muster ten percent of the vote. I have a hunch he’ll do a bit better next time around, but that’s another story entirely.

When I was back in California, playing music, it was a landscape comparable to what we face now in Alaska. Grey Davis had just been recalled and the “Governator” was installed in Sacramento on the promise of fixing the budget shortfalls with his “own money” if he had to. Every state I visited during that time period looked down on California (a sentiment very much shared up here, for reasons both good and bad) for our poor political decisions. We were the butt of the joke. The kindergarten cop was running our state. It was time to unveil the plans for Skynet, let the machines rise, and increase taxes. He and Danny Devito would finally get hitched and raise their kid in the state capitol. Maria Schriver has three breasts, like “the chick in Total Recall.” There were many jokes. It was a rough go while touring.

I was pretty sure that Alaska would be a fine refuge to escape the kind of sentiment surrounding Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the short-sighted, gimmick vote that put him in office.

Yeah, that lasted.

Is Sarah Palin’s choice (and it is a choice) to involve herself almost exclusively on the national level, and only in matters not substantial but venomous and tabloid-ready, causing real damage to the lower forty eight’s perception of Alaska? I know that there is an almost ubiquitous reaction by folks up here to shrug off the importance of what outsiders might think of us. We are cut off. People that have never been up here for any substantial period of time don’t get it. And we all have stories of people not getting it.

But we have to be aware of the costs to us, as a society, when a figurehead like Palin abandons the residents of the state she is the Governor of, while running around the country accusing a well respected talk show host of wanting to rape her fourteen year old daughter, all while under the banner of the Alaskan flag.

Remember when the Deadliest Catch first caught the attention of television audiences around the country, and the world? Remember how so many people were routing for Kai on the Biggest Loser? Remember how many copycat shows were all rallying around the theme of filming and capturing life in Alaska? Men in Trees, the Simpsons Movie, Emergency Vets, Alaska Week on the Discovery Channel, Ice Truckers, Expedition Alaska, the Alaska Experiement, Survivor Man: Alaska, Iditarod… It goes on and on, until McCain announced his running mate.

And then the tone shifted. Despite, as a state, offering lucrative tax incentives to companies interested in filming here, there was definitely something new happening. The television shows were still ensconced in Alaska-fever, but it wasn’t Les Stroud braving the arctic wilderness. It wasn’t the crew of the Northwestern being filmed in the Bering Sea. It was Jessica Yellin and Kyra Phillips from CNN. It was Greta Van Susteren from Fox News. Troopergate, rape kits, rumors of banned books, Bristol and Levi, the bridge to nowhere, the Charlie Gibson interview, the Katie Couric interview, “Pallin’ around with terrorists,” Meg Stapleton, RNC money spent on her clothes, the First Dude, the Thanksgiving Day Turkey…

It is a reality that every one, rich and famous or poor and struggling, has their issues. “Liberal California” still has Bakersfield and Orange County, Bill Clinton still has Monica Lewinski, Mark Foley and Larry Craig still have “urges,” and Hugh Grant still has Divine Brown. We all have dirty laundry, it just comes in different baskets. The problem, and it’s a new one for Alaska, is what to do when your dirty laundry has national interest? Sarah Palin, and Meg Stapleton (good lord, Meg Stapleton), have not learned how to start the rinse cycle and turn a new page; one with fabric softener.

It is not Sarah Palin that is to blame for Alaska losing its sex appeal. It is her inability to maturely and responsibly address this issue, combined with stubborn pride, and a brazen lack of interest in anyone’s opinion aside from her own. Every family has a drunken uncle, a disappointing son, a slutty sister, a cougar aunt; you can insert your own experience here. What, through societal adaptation, human beings have tried to organize is a uniform approach where we don’t put them all on television. Almost every family has a calm and collected individual, some times maternal and other times paternal (sanity is an equal opportunity employer), who steps out in front and handles the public family business, while making sure that the absurdities that are inherent in every household are kept behind closed doors, where they are dealt with quietly.

Sarah Palin has kicked the door wide open and aired out all of our dirty laundry, to the extent that people viewing from home, who are isolated from us in a way that is even more drastic than how we are cut off from them, are gaining the perception that we are all inarticulate, gossiping, vindictive, ideological, nonsensical narcissists with sociopathic tendencies. And when she went on Saturday Night Live and did her little musical number on Weekend Update, where she signed her name on the check.

In case you forgot, here you go:

The result? Unless we tighten up and say “No” to this image that has been thrust upon us by our own volition, look to a future of naive commentary. Not in the same ballpark as an accurate depiction of Alaskan life and culture, but every-day “Joe Six-pack” only has this paint-by-numbers etching of our reality up here, which Sarah Palin has hand delivered to the “gotcha elite liberal media” who she can’t seem to stop supplying with crude and childish material, to our own deteriment as a state, culture, and community.

Go Sarah Go. Anywhere but here.

"PREP AND LANDING" -- ABC'S FIRST TV SPECIAL PRODUCED BY WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS

tvviewdottv — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:00:46 +0000

“Prep And Landing” is ABC’s first television special produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The half-hour holiday special reveals the never-before-told tale of an elite unit of Elves known as Prep & Landing. Every Christmas Eve this high-tech organization ensures that homes around the world are properly prepared for the yearly visit from The Big Guy, their code name for Santa Claus. The animated special will air during the 2009-10 television season.

After working tirelessly on Prep And Landing for 227 years, an elf named Wayne is upset when he doesn’t receive an expected promotion to be the Director of Naughty List Intelligence. Instead, Magee, the North Pole Christmas Eve Command Center Coordinator (NPCECCC for short), partners Wayne with Lanny, an idealistic rookie who has an undying enthusiasm for Christmas. During their Christmas Eve mission, Wayne and Lanny encounter unexpected challenges that push them to their limits. Will the elves be able to guide Dasher, Dancer and the rest of the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh through a raging snowstorm to ensure a Merry Christmas for all?

The cast of “Prep And Landing” includes Dave Foley (“The Kids in the Hall,” “NewsRadio”) as Wayne, Sarah Chalke (“Maneater,” “Scrubs”) as Magee and Derek Richardson (“MEN IN TREES,” “Hostel,” “Dumb and Dumberer”) as Lanny.

John Lasseter is executive producer of “Prep And Landing.” Dorothy McKim is the producer and the directors are Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton.

Editor – www.tvview.tv

NBC ANNOUNCES AMBITIOUS LINEUP OF PROGRAMMING DOMINATED BY NEW SCRIPTED SERIES FOR 2009-2010 PRIMETIME SEASON

tvviewdottv — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:54:17 +0000

The Cast Of Community

NBC unveiled today a strong lineup of broad and diverse quality programming for the 2009-2010 television season announcing the pickups of six new series featuring four new dramas including “Trauma”, “Parenthood”, “Mercy” and the event series “Day One”, as well as two new comedies including “Community” and “100 Questions.” Four returning series pickups were also announced today including “Heroes,” “Southland,” “Parks and Recreation” and the addition of six new episodes of “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday” skewering today’s top stories in live half-hour primetime shows.

The new and returning series will launch next season and the epic event series “Day One” is slated to premiere out of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

“The Jay Leno Show” will be broadcast Monday-Fridays, 10-11 p.m. ET beginning in the fall. Previously announced series pickups include “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “The Biggest Loser,” “The Celebrity Apprentice,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Friday Night Lights,” and new alternative series “The Marriage Ref,” “Breakthrough With Tony Robbins” and “Who Do You Think You Are?”

Additional series pickups will be announced May 19, when NBC announces its 2009-2010 schedule.

NBC unveiled pickups for the upcoming broadcast season in the first of a series of presentations today and tomorrow to key advertisers from Studio 8H—the home of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”—at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Presentations will continue in Chicago on May 7 and Los Angeles on May 12.

“We are thrilled to be announcing such an awesome slate of new series that build on our existing quality brand and deliver emotional, human stories,” said Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. “NBC will strive to make viewers feel and our shows represent the full range of human emotion from laughter to tears. We can’t wait to share these concepts with our audience and our advertising partners.”

“These new series will showcase fresh talent and bold, original concepts that are extremely well executed,” said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios. “We are grateful to the producers, casts and crews — and our team — who have delivered incredibly compelling and entertaining new series.”

In response to an evolving media marketplace and the changing needs of advertisers, NBC has created a more innovative, client-centric approach to its traditional Upfront with a series of one-on-one client presentations, which began today in New York City. These presentations are interactive and, unlike other networks’ Upfront presentations, will include a Q & A with advertisers and NBC sales and entertainment executives.

NBC will also host advertisers and affiliates at a “Night of Comedy” featuring appearances by some of its biggest comedy stars including Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Rainn Wilson and Tracy Morgan on Tuesday, May 19 in New York City.

2009-2010 NEW SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

New Dramas

PARENTHOOD
From the executive producers of the box-office hit “Parenthood” — Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (Oscar winners for “A Beautiful Mind”), and writer/executive producer Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights”) — this contemporary re-imagining of the blockbuster film depicts the colorful and imperfect Braverman family — four grown siblings sharing the headaches, heartaches and joy of being parents. The star-studded cast includes Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen and Sarah Ramos. When Sarah Braverman (Tierney, “ER”), a financially strapped single mother, returns home to her parents and siblings in Berkeley, Calif. after packing up her Fresno apartment and uprooting her two inconvenienced kids, Amber (Mae Whitman, “In Treatment”) and Drew (Miles Heizer, “ER”), she is greeted by her opinionated father, Zeek (Nelson, “Family Stone,” “Coach”), and strong mother, Camille (Bedelia, “Heart Like a Wheel”), who are privately dealing with their own marital issues. As Sarah is reunited with her siblings — sister, Julia (Christensen, “Traffic”), and brothers Crosby (Shepard, “Baby Mama”) and Adam (Krause, “Six Feet Under”) — all struggling with issues of their own, it’s clear that the Braverman reunion is just what they need to face the everyday challenges of modern family life. “Parenthood” is a production from Imagine Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. Emmy winner Thomas Schlamme (“The West Wing”) directs the pilot.

TRAUMA
Executive producer Peter Berg (NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”) delivers “Trauma,” the first high-octane medical drama series to live exclusively in the field where the real action is. Like an adrenaline shot to the heart, “Trauma” is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics. When emergencies occur, the trauma team from San Francisco General is first on the scene, traveling by land, by sea or by air to reach their victims in time. From the heights of the city’s Transamerica Pyramid to the depths of the San Francisco Bay, these heroes must face the most extreme conditions to save lives — and give meaning to their own existence in the process. Starring in “Trauma” are Derek Luke (“Notorious”), Cliff Curtis (“10,000 B.C”), Anastasia Griffith (“Damages”), Aimee Garcia (“George Lopez”), Kevin Rankin (“Friday Night Lights”) and Jamey Sheridan (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”). “Trauma” is a production of Universal Media Studios and Film 44. Berg, Sarah Aubrey (“Bad Santa,” “Friday Night Lights”), Dario Scardapane and Jeffrey Reiner (“Friday Night Lights”) serve as executive producers. The pilot was written by Scardapane and directed by Reiner.

MERCY
“Mercy,” a new medical drama with a unique point of view, portrays the lives of the staff at Mercy Hospital as seen through the eyes of those who know it best — its nurses. Nurse Veronica Callahan (Taylor Schilling, “Dark Matter”) returns to Mercy from a military tour in Iraq — and she knows more about medicine than all of the residents combined. Together with fellow nurses Sonia Jimenez (Jamie Lee Kirchner, “Rescue Me”) and Chloe Payne (Michelle Trachtenberg, “Gossip Girl”), Callahan navigates through the daily traumas and social landmines of life and love both inside the hospital and out in the real world. The cast also includes: James Tupper (“Men in Trees”) as Dr. Chris Sands, a new doctor at the hospital who complicates Veronica’s life; Diego Klattenhoff (“Supernatural”) as Mike Callahan, Veronica’s husband; and Guillermo Diaz (“Weeds”) as Nurse Angel Lopez. “Mercy” is a production from Universal Media Studios and Berman Braun. Joining writer/executive producers Liz Heldens (NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”) and Gretchen Berg & Aaron Harberts (“Pushing Daisies,” “Pepper Dennis”) are executive producers Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun. Emmy Award winner Adam Bernstein (NBC’s “30 Rock,” “Rescue Me”) is the director.

DAY ONE
From executive producer/writer Jesse Alexander (“Heroes,” “Lost,” “Alias”) and director Alex Graves (“Fringe,” “Journeyman”), “Day One” tells the story of life on earth following a global catastrophe that has devastated the world’s infrastructures. Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the cataclysmic event, an eclectic band of survivors — played by Adam Campbell (“Date Movie”), Catherine Dent (“The Shield”), Julie Gonzalo (“Eli Stone”), David Lyons (“ER”), Derek Mio (“Greek”), Carly Pope (“24″), Thekla Reuten (“Sleeper Cell”) and Addison Timlin (“Cashmere Mafia”) — strives to rebuild society as they unravel the mysteries of what happened and face their uncertain future. The group, all residents of one apartment building in suburban Van Nuys, Calif., embarks on a quest for survival and discovers that hope is found in small victories — and heroes are born every day. “Day One” is a Universal Media Studios production.

New Comedies

100 QUESTIONS (fka “100 Questions for Charlotte Payne”)
Emmy winner James Burrows (“Will & Grace,” “Friends”) directs “100 Questions,” a new comedy series written and executive-produced by Christopher Moynihan (“For Your Consideration”) that provides hilarious answers to 100 questions about love. Charlotte Payne (Sophie Winkleman, “Peep Show”) is looking for love and has rejected multiple marriage proposals — but she has yet to meet Mr. Right. When she joins a popular online dating site, she gets a little help from her dating counselor Ravi (Amir Talai, “The Ex List”) – who requires her to take a 100-question compatibility test. The questions aren’t easy for Charlotte to answer, and each one requires her to recount a poignant and humorous time in her life with friends Leslie (Elizabeth Ho, “Women’s Murder Club”), Jill (Joy Suprano, NBC’s “Law & Order”), Mike (Christopher Moynihan “For Your Consideration”) and Wayne (David Walton “Quarterlife”). The test becomes a journey of self-discovery for Charlotte who begins to realize what she truly wants in a relationship. Ron West (“Psych”), Kelly Kulchak (“Psych”) and Michelle Nader (“King of Queens”) join Moynihan as executive producers. The series is produced by Universal Media Studios and Tagline.

COMMUNITY
From Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and Anthony Russo (“Arrested Development”) comes “Community,” a smart comedy series about higher education — and lower expectations. The student body at Greendale Community College is made up of high-school losers, newly divorced housewives, and old people who want to keep their minds active. Within these not-so-hallowed halls, “Community” focuses on a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin’ lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, “The Soup”), who form a study group and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work. In addition to McHale, the series also stars: Gillian Jacobs (“The Book of Daniel”); Yvette Nicole Brown (“Rules of Engagement”); Danny Pudi (“Greek”); Alison Brie (“Mad Men”); and comedy legend Chevy Chase (“Saturday Night Live”). “Community” is a Krasnoff Foster Entertainment, Harmonious Claptrap and Russo Brothers production in association with Sony Pictures Television and Universal Media Studios. Russ Krasnoff (“The Soloist”), Dan Harmon (“The Sarah Silverman Program”), Joe Russo (“Arrested Development”), Anthony Russo (“Arrested Development”) and Gary Foster (“The Soloist”) serve as executive producers. Joe and Anthony Russo directed the pilot that was written by Dan Harmon.

Editor – www.tvview.tv

It's a Boy for Anne Heche and James Tupper: Welcome Baby Atlas

Baby Lifestyles — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:17:54 +0000

Anne Heche’s new little man has a big name to live up to. People and Us Weekly report the actress, 39, and her boyfriend, James Tupper, 43, welcomed Atlas Heche Tupper over the weekend.

If you’re a little rusty on your Greek mythology, Atlas literally carried the weight of the heavens on his shoulders. (You might recognize the statue in New York City.) Heche and Tupper’s future heavyweight — assuming Mother Nature doesn’t have a sense of humor — tipped the scales at 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

“They are ecstatic,” a rep says of the former “Men in Trees” co-stars.

This isn’t the first time Heche has picked a name rooted in classical mythology. She’s also mom to 7-year-old Homer, her son with newly minted ex-husband Coley Laffoon. “Homer is very excited to be a big brother,” an insider shares (no word on whether he exclaimed “d’oh!” over the name choice).

Heche and Laffoon, who split in January 2007, finalized their extended and epically bitter divorce earlier this week. They agreed to share custody of Homer, with Anne paying $3,700 a month in child support.

Sweden, Men In Trees, My Soul

magiawen — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 04:36:07 +0000

A month long sojourn in another country was supposed to clear my head. My life was stressful.

Now…it’s just complicated.

We do this to ourselves. I thought I would become clear, have some sort of answer and write. Things aren’t that way but I do have to say something like, “I found my soul.” Whatever that means. I have no idea.

There’s no Mountain Dew here. I really mean none. If there is some, they are hiding it…somewhere in some dark corner of some obscure grocery store.

I been watching a series called Men In Trees. I don’t know what I think it’s doing to me… probably nothing…probably my trip has made the change in me…but I’m hooked on the show. Understanding however much I thought I knew…I don’t know a whole lot. About much of anything.

Sweden is like home in another language…without judgement…at least judgement that I understand..since if they judge me, I can’t tell…I’m a foreigner here…and oddly feel home.

struckdumb — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:22:10 +0000

” It tastes like broken dreams. “
– Patrick, Men In Trees

Nuovi arrivi nel cast di Pushing Daisies

inotelefilm — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:13:20 +0000

Pushing Daisies, l’originale serie tv della ABC premiata per la migliore regia agli ultimi Emm

homens kd

Thiago Guimarães — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:22:48 +0000

men in trees é uma série sobre uma escritora que se muda para uma cidade pequena onde surpreendentemente existem mais homens que mulheres.

pra falar a verdade eu nunca assisti (nem tive vontade), então nem sei se essa sinopse é realmente adequada, mas pelo menos é o motivo pelo qual a série tem o nome que tem: men in trees. no caso, se fosse pra traduzir bem porcamente, seria algo como homens em árvores, mas, como eu disse, só se eu quisesse traduzir bem porcamente. se eu quisesse traduzir de uma forma digna e que fizesse jus à série eu faria que nem o sbt:

ainda bem que colocaram logo a sinopse embaixo porque, a julgar pelo nome, poderia muito bem ser a versão brasileira de queer as folk. ou ainda:

com banana split, quem sabe…