If the barometer of an interesting TV awards show is the number of fresh faces invited to the party, then the Golden Globe nominations (announced Thursday morning) passes the test. Not with a perfect score, mind you. Any institution that so completely ignores NBC's wonderful Friday Night Lights deserves some spirited jeering.And the Globes' addiction to sexy sizzle and hype can lead to some puzzling choices: Big Love, fun as it is, over The Sopranos' final season? Bill Paxton over James Gandolfini? (And if the Globes is going to shower love on Big Love, how could the women who play Bill's wives go unheralded, especially Ginnifer Goodwin?) Californication over Weeds?But let's look at the bright side. The Hollywood Foreign Press clearly spent some time checking out the TV landscape during last summer's remarkable season of cable breakthroughs. My own pick for No. 1 show of the year, AMC's Mad Men, is nominated for best drama, along with its dashing leading man, Jon Hamm. FX's Damages,...
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Written by guest blogger Katie BottnerChuck and Ned fans, I can hear you breathing a sigh of relief that the Olive/Ned kiss was just a dream sequence. Though for a moment I thought that was real Chuck that tripped and was going to fall on Ned — I got scared for a second there. But alas it was all in Ned’s head as he became conflicted over being able to touch Olive but being in love with Chuck. And lucky for us, poor Emerson got to once again be the soundboard for this dilemma. Kudos go to Olive for coming clean to Chuck about the kiss, which Ned did not mention, but I feel sad for Olive — and my sadness for her deepened throughout this episode.The facts of the case are these: One Harold Hundin (Joel McHale), president of a local kennel and breeder of the perfect dog, Bubblegum, is found dead. As we know, "where there is a reward, there is Emerson Cod," who with Ned and Chuck found out at the morgue that Harold was murdered by his wife. Simple? Not so much — he ha...
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Question: Is Pushing Daisies going to submit itself in the comedy category or drama category at the upcoming Golden Globes? I only ask because I want to start placing my bets now on Kristin Chenoweth, Chi McBride and Lee Pace!
Answer: Pushing Daisies rightfully considers itself a comedy, and that's where it will be competing in all of the many awards ceremonies awaiting us in the new year. Let's just hope it gets the love it deserves ...
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Question: Recently I overhead a coworker saying how awful they thought Pushing Daisies was. I, of course, interjected that I love it, while sadly consigning myself to the fact that this is going to be a love-it-or-hate-it show (and that chatter may unfortunately turn away viewers who would potentially enjoy it). Perhaps I'm a child at heart, but I can't help but cherish Chuck's enthusiasm, the whimsical effects, the expressions Chi McBride uses and storyline twists such as sword-fighting with an Asian confederate's descendant. I then decided to try out Viva Laughlin, despite the warnings of you and other critics. I thought if nothing else, it could be a guilty pleasure, "so bad it's good." I was wrong. It was mind-numbingly awful, with no pleasure of any kind. My biggest fear, though, is that this will discourage networks from taking chances on musical shows in the future. Though I don't think there will ever be a musical on the level of CSI or Desperate Housewives in popularity, I do ...
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Nearly five months passed between the time I got my first look at the miraculous Pushing Daisies pilot and the second episode. It was worth the wait. I am officially in love.Flashback (I wish I could count back the days, hours, minutes and seconds as precisely as Jim Dale does in his spot-on narration): It’s the week before the network upfronts in May, and I’m in Los Angeles working on the TV Guide Network’s America’s Next Producer show when a studio exec not even associated with Pushing Daisies leaks me a copy of the pilot, which I’d heard was good but had no idea was THIS good. From the moment I saw it, I was enchanted and could only hope that fellow critics and viewers with open minds and open hearts would share my enthusiasm. I was also so satisfied by what I’d seen that I couldn’t help wondering if they’d be able to pull it off on a weekly basis.Flash to the second week of October, and in brilliant high definition, I watch the second epis...
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