Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Question: Well, it's that time again — time to rejoice and weep about the Emmy nominations. I was actually pleasantly surprised this year. After last year's debacle (it can't be called anything else), I wasn't expecting much. But this year, probably 75 to 80 percent of my wish list was granted, which, when it comes to Emmy nominations, is pretty good. Nothing's perfect, of course: In particular, I was disappointed that Lost wasn't nominated for best drama (but Boston Legal was? What?) and that Matthew Fox and Elizabeth Mitchell weren't recognized for their riveting performances. As a new convert to Friday Night Lights, I was also disappointed (but hardly surprised) to see that the show received no nominations at all. But there was good news to balance things out: I was particularly thrilled to see nominations for Ugly Betty, and for America Ferrera and Vanessa L. Williams. I also think they got it right in nominating Sally Field, Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn for their great weekly ...
read more
Kyle Chandler in Friday Night Lights by Van Redin/NBC Photo
Remember how Charlie Brown used to end up on his back every time he went to kick the football after Lucy pulled it away? Well, that was me, in the pre-dawn of Thursday morning at the TV Academy building in North Hollywood, as the first Emmy category (for best drama series) was read aloud. Amid a gaggle of impatient media crews and anxious publicists, I once again felt sucker-punched by the cluelessly inexplicable whims of the Emmy nomination process. (Go here for a list of nominees.)The football analogy applies because, once again, the Emmy system dropped the ball, failing to acknowledge NBC’s critically worshiped freshman underdog Friday Night Lights, instead finding room for ABC’s cartoonishly lurid freak show Boston Legal (on the basis, so I hear, of a rare detour into quality with a post-Katrina episode). A chagrined Academy source tells me that Friday Night Lights came close, but speculated that it may have flown too far under the radar in a way overcrowded field. Hea...
read more
Those promos at the end of last week's episode were right. We finally got answers to so many questions involving Orson's past:— He was in a psychiatric ward in 1976 after the supposed suicide of his adulterous but religious father. (But now we know Gloria staged the suicide the same way she was trying to stage Bree's.)— Gloria had blamed Orson for her husband's death, saying Orson was supposed to watch out for him, but chose to go out with friends.— It was Gloria who killed Monique with Mike's wrench.— Orson buried Monique in the dirt while Gloria removed Monique's teeth (ouch).Ahh... closure, at last. I knew it would be good tonight since it was written by Marc Cherry and Joe Keenan. As discussed here before, Marc had to finish up Bree's story line earlier than originally planned due to Marcia Cross' pregnancy. I was very happy that Gloria ended up alive at the end. When Ida Greenberg found the bodies of Alma and Gloria lying on the lawn, I figured they were bot...
read more
Three weeks ago (when the last new episode aired), I briefly whined: "When oh, when will we get to see Monique in flashbacks again?" So you know I was screaming with joy when I got my wish tonight! Not only did Monique (Kathleen York) reappear in a flashback, but we also got so many answers, as did Mike Delfino, all thanks to his hypnotherapist (Miriam Flynn). So Mike didn't kill Monique — Orson framed Mike by giving Mike his wrench back — the wrench that had Monique’s blood on it. Now we know why Mike's phone number was written on Monique's hand. We also know that Mike never dated Monique: "I'm flattered, but I'm seeing somebody." Monique: "Me, too, but he's married and I'm drunk." I do wonder what Orson told Bree when he "confessed" and told her "the truth." He said she was upset, but apparently not too upset, since she was still living with him before the ladder accident. As usual, we got some answers but were still left with further questions. Like, why would Glor...
read more
After last week's laugh-filled hour, tonight was a bit of a letdown as far as the humor level goes. This doesn't mean I didn't like this episode — I just enjoyed it less, and I am in agreement with those of you who are starting to get a bit tired of the Alma story line. When, oh, when will we get to see Monique in flashbacks again? At least we know that those teeth are actually Monique's, as expected, and we found out what Alma was injecting herself with — hormones, so she'd get pregnant more easily. Speaking of which, how about Alma giving Orson both sleeping pills and Viagra so that she could rape him while he was passed out? I do give the writers (Valerie Ahern and Christian McLaughlin) credit for making references to Viagra without actually mentioning it, like Alma saying she gave Orson something "to keep the part of you I need nice and perky." That was pretty creepy when Gloria mentioned how much she wanted a grandchild while Alma got ready for her night with Orson by...
read more
First thing I need to say right off the bat is how funny I thought the show was tonight. Not that I don't always think it's humorous, but I found it even funnier than normal. So I must commend the writers — co-executive producer Kevin Murphy and producer Kevin Etten — for a hilarious script. There were so many great lines, but I think my favorite was Lynette to Tom after Tom told her he wasn't inviting her to the opening of his new restaurant due to her snarky attitude, which made Lynette say no to sex. Tom: "So we're not havin' sex?" Lynette: "Hey — you banned me from your opening." Shut up. To think that Lynette had to expose her breasts to that old man Harry (Richard Herd) just to get him to sign off on Tom's liquor license. What a wife won't do for her husband. Mrs. McCluskey was an excellent inspiration for Lynette, so Kathryn Joosten was able to deliver one of the episode's many other zingers (re: Tom): "It's bad enough you cut off his cojones. Now you want to j...
read more
Dixie Carter, Desperate Housewives
What did she know, and when did she know it? Such questions apply not only to Desperate Housewives' devious Gloria, but also to her portrayer, Dixie Carter. TVGuide.com invited the veteran actress and stage star to take a long, hard look at her Machiavellian matriarch.
TVGuide.com: I understand they're expanding your presence on Wisteria Lane in the weeks to come?Dixie Carter: Yes.... My shows are going to air up to the first of April. I'm just thrilled to be doing this. This is really an extraordinary role. And, of course, we have to be very secretive about what's going to happen. Everybody grabs me in airports or shops and says things like, "Is he going to kill you?" Of course they mean, "Is your son, Orson, on Desperate Housewives going to kill you, his mother Gloria?" — but the
read more
It's always a treat when we get answers to questions that have been baffling our minds. But in the true Desperate Housewives tradition, questions still remain unanswered, so our head-scratching never truly comes to an end. Alma is alive and has been in hiding and in cahoots with Gloria (Dixie Carter) all this time. But where has she been? Has she been hiding because Orson was the one who killed Monique or did Mike? Since Mike still has amnesia, he doesn't even know (although Monique's blood was on Mike's wrench — uh-oh). When I saw Valerie Mahaffey listed with tonight's guest stars in the opening credits, I figured it was because she'd be seen in only flashbacks. When Gloria called that mystery person on her cell phone and said "meet me on the corner in an hour," my smart roommate Jason yelled: "I bet it's Alma!" I liked Susan sneaking into Orson's office and finding the evidence that he was in a mental hospital for psychological depression when he was younger. Plus, Susan hear...
read more
After last week's ending, I was really hoping that we'd find out more info on the backgrounds of Orson and Art tonight, but they are really taking baby steps when it comes to those two mysterious characters. So now we at least know (thanks to Orson's mama, Gloria) that Orson was having an affair with Monique while being married to Alma — the same Monique that had an affair with Harvey Bigsby, Carolyn's hubby. As Gloria so eloquently put it, Monique "got around." But Gloria still knows more and is holding those nuggets over Orson's head: "What are you going to do to me that hasn't already been done?" That look of death that Orson gave Gloria made me believe he'd kill her in the next scene. But instead, Bree packed Orson's things and asked him to leave, apparently believing Gloria. I'm still loving Dixie Carter as Gloria, and I hope she spills more of the beans about Orson soon. How perfect for Andrew to be in cahoots with Gloria, attempting to sneak her wine behind Bree's back, ...
read more
Well, you knew that after last week's standout shoot-out episode, tonight was going to be somewhat of a letdown no matter what. How can you top last week? Since my expectations were already lowered, I was able to enjoy tonight for the most part — especially the Bree and Orson scenes. Continuing in the tradition of casting the very best actresses in the business to play the mothers of the characters, Dixie Carter acted up a storm as Gloria, Orson's mother of a mother. As soon as Bree started talking to Gloria as though she were senile, you knew there was going to be hell. I like that we still don't know exactly why Orson wants to keep his mother in the nursing home, yet Gloria has something over Orson — something that could get him in big trouble: "I gave you life. You know I won't hesitate to take it away." Maybe we'll find out next week.It was great to see how frustrated Orson was getting around Gloria, which just frightened Bree and humored Andrew: "So — can we call...
read more
