Revenge
Some thoughts on a few of the shows that got 2012 off to a (mostly) promising start. Which means I've already forgotten that ABC's grotesquely unfunny Work It exists — and if you thought that was bad, wait until you see (or better yet, don't) next week's comedy disasters: CBS' offensively stereotypical Rob and NBC's rancid hangover of a dud Are You There, Chelsea? But for now, let's accentuate the (mostly) positive.
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Work It
Some like it hot, but more like it funny. By either or any standard, ABC's atrocious Work It fails miserably.
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Frances Sternhagen
As if the Braverman clan wasn't big enough already, Frances Sternhagen has been cast as Zeek Braverman's mom on Parenthood, TVLine reports.
True Blood's Courtney Ford heads to Parenthood
A casting call for the part describes her as a sassy and...
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Kyra Sedgwick
Jeers to the Screen Actors Guild Awards for overpraising The Closer.
Want more Cheers & Jeers? Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine.
I've never been impressed by ...
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The Closer
The Yuletide episodes of The Closer are true standouts every season, and this one's got it all: holiday hilarity, family dysfunction and, of course, murder. The two-parter opens tonight at 9/8c on TNT with a death on Christmas Eve in a case that threatens to dash everybody's holiday plans. "Brenda [Kyra Sedgwick] and Raydor [Mary McDonnell] always fight to gain control of cases, but they're fighting to give this one away," says exec producer James Duff.
Things get even screwier after Brenda's parents (Frances Sternhagen and Barry Corbin) show up...
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Kyra Sedgwick
Kyra Sedgwick lets out a big "Ha!" when asked how Brenda Leigh Johnson, the Georgia peach—turned—Los Angeles police babe she plays on The Closer, has changed after six seasons on TNT. "That's the wonderful and fun thing about Brenda," she says. "The woman really hasn't evolved."
On one level, Sedgwick is right. The Closer returns tonight for five episodes ending with ...
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Question: I really like the idea of Brenda getting with her boss on The Closer. Will we ever see some action?
Answer: Doubt it. They've been there, done each other. Brenda's only got eyes for Fritz — though they're going to have their share of ups and downs this season. I also hear that Brenda will start seeing a shrink after she kills someone in self-defense. And ooooh, this just in: Barry Corbin (One Tree Hill, Northern Exposure) has been cast as Brenda's dad. He'll appear in four episodes, as will Frances Sternhagen, who's returning as Brenda's mom.
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Jon Tenney, The Closer
TNT's The Closer (Mondays at 9 pm/ET) is the hottest show on cable right now, and it has the numbers to prove it. On the day that the Season 2 premiere's record ratings came in, TVGuide.com got on the phone with Jon Tenney, who plays FBI agent Fritz Howard, beau to Kyra Sedgwick's crafty, if curt, police chief.
TVGuide.com: So you're a star of TV's most-watched — what's the qualifier again? — ad-supported cable drama telecast ever?
Jon Tenney: "Ad-supported, original scripted cabl
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Hard to remember the last time I turned to AMC for an actual classic movie. So what a pleasant surprise that when this channel ponies up (so to speak) for its first TV-movie, it ranks among the best I've seen in years.
There is beauty and darkness, sentimentality and toughness, brutality and discreetness in director Walter Hill's masterfully filmed Western Broken Trail (Sunday, June 25, and Monday, June 26, at 8 pm/ET). This smaller-scale Lonesome Dove has a heart as wide-open as the plains its taciturn heroes ride upon.
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