Blog Archives
‘Heat Vision and Jack’: Knowledge is Power… For Real!
The wonders of sharing footage and communicating with sapiens of similar tastes can be a blessing or a nuclear bomb for television nowadays. Forums of a show can be where creators get their most intimate feedback, and fan pages are where a show might be petitioned to return, sometimes to actual avail. But one of the more fascinating uses for TV fans on the internet is the ability to witness behind the scenes footage and features, things that never made it to the airwaves. This is the case for failed pilots like Conan O’Brien’s satirical crime show Lookwell, the clumsy American remake of Spaced that existed for all of five seconds, and possibly the buried pleasure of unaired pilots: Heat Vision and Jack.
Late to the “Arrested Development” Party? No Problem!
Netflix released the fourth season of Arrested Development on May 26. Now that the initial frenzy is over, it is fair to say that fans who waited seven years for a new season were disappointed. However, I was not one of those fans, which worked out in my favor.
To be honest, I was 12 when I saw first two episodes, which means I was way too young to understand the show. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon once all my friends were declaring it their favorite show, I waited because popularity doesn’t necessarily mean good. Well, my friends were right this time: Arrested Development is an excellent show, but I am happy its new to me.
So, Why am I glad I was late to the Bluth party?
1. I haven’t been annoyed at Fox for the last 7 years.
For some reason, Arrested Development fans are hardcore. Fans who became fans well after Fox canceled the show were annoyed that the show was cancelled. Until recently, half the time a fan brought up Arrested Development, it would be followed by a bitter swipe at Fox. Granted, most fans do not have an attachment to the show that parallels Buster and Lucille’s relationship. However, those that do were the most vocal and tainted even the most well adjusted fans view of Fox and its treatment of the show.
“The Mindy Project” Has Potential
It’s difficult to tell the direction that The Mindy Project is headed in after just one episode, but the show definitely has promise.
The Mindy Project revolves around competent OB-GYN, Dr. Mindy Lahiri, who despite being a very accomplished doctor, has very little else figured out in her life. The episode begins with a voice-over detailing Mindy’s upbringing. She was basically raised on romantic comedies and describes Tom Hanks as her first boyfriend. The highlight of her college life was being able to watch as many romantic comedies as she wanted without supervision. It’s clear that she has a very distorted and unrealistic view of love.
At first, it seems like this show is going to be nothing more than a deconstruction of clichéd romantic comedy plots which seems boring. Then, it is revealed that Mindy is in the middle of a interrogation for public intoxication. Apparently, she did not find this as relevant as detailing her relationship with a handsome oral surgeon that ended badly when he left her to marry someone else. The opening minutes of the show demonstrate well where Mindy’s priorities are, especially since her relationship with the oral surgeon was completely irrelevant and had no bearing on the plot.
The Cliched “Ben and Kate”
Ben and Kate is one of those shows that has been done in one form or another a million times. Kate is the responsible sister and single mother, who has settled down with her daughter to live as normal a life as possible. Ben is her annoying brother, who has never grown up and always arrives at Kate’s house unannounced with a problem. The dynamic is not original, but that does not mean the show has to be completely clichéd. The pilot episode seems to forget that even unoriginal concepts can be done in an original way. Anyone who has ever sat through more than one sitcom will be able to spot the obvious jokes before they come out of the characters’ mouths.
The pilot of Ben and Kate starts with a prologue from Kate’s point of view. It basically says what the audience picks up in the first 5 minutes: Kate grew up too fast because she got pregnant at a young age, whereas her brother never grew up and always ruins anything remotely adult. There are times when Ben acts less mature than Kate’s 5-year-old daughter, Maddie.
Kate and her British female friend, BJ, work at Buddy’s Bar & Grill, which is also the place Ben and his friend Tommy hang out. The bar seems to exist solely as a place to set up overdone jokes. Kate walks around wearing a fanny pack, which the guys and BJ hate. This results in a nasty, yet playful, exchange of insults between BJ and Kate. BJ asks her friend, “Do you know what fanny means in my country?” Kate retorts, “Do you know what BJ means in my country?” To which BJ just responds, “Very well, very well, indeed.” Once the girls are away from the boys, Kate refers to her desire to have sex with her boyfriend George as having “the sex” and says guys want to do her all the time. Of course, BJ feels the need to point out they are not going to have sex if Kate keeps on calling it “the sex.”
Mariah Carey Joins American Idol
Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez vacated their judging positions only last week, but one seat on the American Idol judging panel has already been filled by Mariah Carey. Meanwhile, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said at a Television Critics Association meeting that since Lopez told Ryan Seacrest that she was only “99 percent sure” she was leaving, there is a 1 percent chance she will return. Then, Lythgoe went on to contradict himself. He also expressed a desire to keep the show fresh with new judges each season.
Over at The Hollywood Reporter, there are some interesting American Idol related charts, such the following one.
Do you think Mariah Carey will make a good judge? Does American Idol even matter anymore? Tell us what you think in the comments.
CBS Announces New Fall Schedule
On Wednesday, CBS announced its Fall 2012 schedule. While Fox and NBC have spread out their show debuts over a month and a half, all of CBS’s shows will debut toward the end of September.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, this is the full CBS Fall Schedule with new shows in ALL CAPS.
Wednesday, Sept. 19
8-9:30 p.m. Survivor: Philippines
Monday, Sept. 24
8-8:30 p.m. How I Met Your Mother
8:30-9 p.m. PARTNERS
9-9:30 p.m. 2 Broke Girls
9:30-10 p.m. Mike & Molly
10-11 p.m. Hawaii Five-0
Weekly TV Update: July 9
Each week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
Ernest Borgnine dies at 95. Before his death, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Borgnine about his 32 day marriage and his recurring role on Spongebob.
CBS and the cast of Happy Days reach an out of court settlement. The cast, minus Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, were suing because CBS was using their images in merchandising without paying royalties.
Adam Lambert may become the newest judge on American Idol.
Demi Lovato will host the 2012 Teen Choice Awards.
Fox Takes New Girl On The Road
New Girl, the Fox sitcom starring Zooey Deschanel, is hitting the road with “The New Girl True American Bus Tour.” The tour will feature the party school bus that Jess borrowed for Schmidt’s birthday and will visit various cities all over the country. At each stop, fans will be able to watch exclusive videos and various New Girl merchandise, such as Jess’s signature glasses and New Girl T-shirts with logos and catchphrases from the show. Some of the catchphrases available on the shirts are “Pink Wine Makes Me Slutty” and “Schmidt Happens.” You will also be able to reenact the New Girl‘s opening theme song in a photo, eat Jess’s cupcakes, and play “douchebag jar” pong for prizes.
The tour is in Atlanta this weekend. Here is the schedule: (Keep in mind the schedule may change.)
FRIDAY, JUNE 22 (ATLANTA)
9:00 – 10:00 AM
Live Appearance on “Good Day Atlanta”
11:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Brewhouse Café
401 Moreland Avenue Northeast
Fox Announces New Fall Schedule
Today, Fox announced its new schedule. It will start with the season premiere of the X Factor, which marks the debut of Britney Spears and Demi Lovato as judges.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, this is the full Fox Fall Schedule with new shows in ALL CAPS.
Wednesday, Sept. 12
8-10 p.m. The X Factor (Season premiere, part one)
Thursday, Sept. 13
8-9 p.m. The X Factor (season premiere, part two)
9-10 p.m. Glee
The rest of Fox’s Fall 2012 schedule is after the jump.
Choose Not to Watch The Choice
I wanted to like The Choice in a charmingly absurd kind of way. The premise of the show revolves around celebrities choosing dates based only on the sound of a suitor’s voice. The title is clearly a derivation of NBC’s singing competition show The Voice and this show seems to be trying to gain popularity based on viewers being familiar with the NBC show. That was really the main reason I was interested in watching it. I knew it wasn’t going to be “quality” television, but I still thought it was going to be enjoyable. I was mostly wrong.
The show opened with introducing the celebrities. They included recording artist, Romeo, Olympic athlete Jeremy Bloom, Jersey Shore cast member DJ Pauly D, and General Hospital star Jason Cook. None of these celebrities really interested me. Most of them are not really that famous. Of course, much like Dancing With The Stars, hiring low caliber “stars” is a common problem. I understand that most of the bigger “stars” already have their relationships constantly in the media or do not need the publicity, but the selection of celebrities was still a weak point for the show.
Wait! What's A Dial? 