Arrested Development Blame vacation...
Zach Braff, Scrubs
Arrested Development Blame vacation hangover, but I'm betting I missed about half of the references to
AD's imminent cancellation or (please!) move to another network, and the not-desperate ratings stunts they cribbed from other shows. Of course, I don't even have to say this, but please write in with what I've left out. There was the promise before the credits that someone would die and that the show would be live, the 3-D tomato toss and the flashing SaveOurBluths.org. So as not to break the third wall, that thinly veiled plot about raising money for a new attorney opened the door for the Bluths to beg for their survival, and to discuss whether they'd received help from the Home Builders' Organization (HBO, for those of you not yet over those hangovers) or if they'd have to rely on "showtime," and, of course, the special guest appearance of
Andy Richter — whose own show was another casualty of Fox's poor treatment of comedies — at their fund-raiser. Loved Michael's observation that "This family is finally becoming sympathetic and relatable — that's what people want to see." It was such a perfect dig at the traditional sitcoms that somehow succeed so easily. But
Ron Howard's completely undisguised comments were my favorites: "Now that's a clear situation with the promise of comedy," he said of the catering disaster. "Tell your friends about this show!" And in subplot news, how completely amazing is
Michael Cera as George Michael? Between his nervous cleaning-up after Lindsay and his performance at Openings, he had me writhing in embarrassed amusement — as usual. Take that, sympathetic and relatable! —
Sabrina Rojas Weiss
Las Vegas
So I just spent the weekend in Las Vegas and I'm sorry to say, 1) I didn't run into anyone who looked remotely like Josh Duhamel, Molly Sims, Vanessa Marcil, Nikki Cox or James Lesure; and 2) No one tried to steal diamonds, hold us hostage or rob the casino vaults... that I know of. Don't get me wrong, it was a great New Year’s, but hey, after watching this show I had some seriously high expectations. OK, back to regularly scheduled programming. It's been a month since we've seen the Montecito gang. I'm kind of wondering what they have in store for the second half of the season since they unleashed Rachael Leigh Cook, Lara Flynn Boyle and Dean Cain on us during the first half. Lil' Flip was the musical guest star, but he got to do more than just stand on stage and rap away. He was kind of playing cupid for Danny and Delinda, too, which is just weird for me, 'cause I thought Danny and Delinda were done a long time ago. Like first season. So what's up? Are they revisiting this pair? And if so, what about Danny and Mary? Or Danny and Sam? Sex and the City's Stanford seemed like he was angling for a permanent gig on the show, didn't he? And I knew there was no way Mike would actually lead a double life as a male stripper that goes by the name Hot Chocolate (hee hee). But I can't believe he wouldn't capitalize on the sizable reputation he sort of grew overnight, if you know what I mean. I guess it's not that much of a shocker that he's such a good guy after all. — Bettina Charles
