Question: Just so you know, this is going to be part question, part rant. I'm getting really tired of people talking about so-called "jump the shark" moments on television series. Every time I turn around, I hear/read somebody decrying that this show or that show has jumped the shark when they apparently don't know what the term actually means. I thought the real meaning was the point at which a show has lost its creativity and resorts to cheap stunts to boost ratings. That is the definition, correct? Instead of trying to understand the term, I hear many people use the term every time a show disappoints them in any way. Some say that Alias jumped the shark in Season 2. Are they high? The show remained creative long past that point, dipping only a bit in Season 3 with the whole Mrs. Vaughn thing. But I digress. I just wish some people would shut up about things they don't fully understand. Well, thanks for listening to my little rant!
Answer: And thanks for giving me something to close
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Question: I am going to preface my question by trying to establish a little street cred. My favorite shows include Veronica Mars, Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Galactica, The Sopranos and The Wire. While I have enjoyed new shows like Dirty Sexy Money and Chuck, there has been one show, to my big surprise, that has become my favorite: Moonlight. I know, the pilot was horrible. I originally checked it out to see alums from Veronica Mars and Alias, but I have stayed because of Alex O'Loughlin. I think he has created a really interesting, layered character, and the show's mythology and character development are really starting to take off. It's a fun guilty pleasure. It's not award-winning TV, but it's a lot of fun with a very charismatic lead. I think critics should give it a second chance. It's the first time I have watched anything on CBS in, like, 10 years. Any news on the prospects of this show given the strike?
Answer: First off, you don't have to justify your enjoyment of any TV show
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Calista Flockhart, Dave Annable and Sally Field in Brothers & Sisters by Craig Sjodin/ABC
How’s this for irony? All last week, trying not to get too depressed about what a protracted writers’ strike might mean for the TV season and the industry at large, I was secretly looking forward to a weekend getaway: catching former Alias star Jennifer Garner’s Broadway debut in a revival of Cyrano, opposite Kevin Kline and Rescue Me’s Daniel Sunjata. Unfortunately, my tickets were for Saturday night, by which time the stagehands’ union had initiated their own sudden walkout and work stoppage.At this rate, I might actually finish the book I’ve been reading since mid-October.(Thankfully, I was lucky enough to catch Aaron Sorkin's new play, The Farnsworth Invention, before the strike. It was scheduled to have its official opening night later this week, but when it reopens, I predict a healthy run for this fascinating, entertaining play recounting the birth of television.)While consumers of TV, movies and even theater wait for unions and producers to reac...
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Question: I've noticed a recurring theme in a lot of this season's shows that I like to call "the Alias effect": a protagonist with enhanced abilities who disappoints the people he/she loves because he/she can't tell them about a secret life/world-saving mission. Chuck, Journeyman, Reaper, Pushing Daisies and Bionic Woman all come to mind. And it also shows up in some second-season shows as well, like Dexter and Heroes. Do you think this says something about the national psyche in 2007, or is it simply an overused genre situation?
Answer: While there may be some sort of wish-fulfillment element in the zeitgeist, I'd vote for the latter. When this fall lineup went hero-crazy in the wake of Heroes, the ubiquitous secret-identity twist came along for the ride. How well this "Alias effect" plays out depends, as usual, on execution, because unless you really care about the person living the double life (questionable in the case of Bionic Woman and Journeyman so far, in particular, and maybe
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Cheri Oteri by Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com
Could this be off the shelf? Even though TV Guide had heard the J.J. Abrams/Cheri Oteri half-hour comedy was shelved a few weeks ago, Oteri tells TV Guide she’s back working with Abrams on the project. SNL alum Oteri spoke to TV Guide on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at the premiere of her indie film Park (which also stars Dirty Sexy Money’s William Baldwin, and Ricki Lake). Abrams, currently at work on the latest Star Trek feature film, is best known for Lost, What About Brian, Alias and Felicity, all of which displayed some comedic elements, but he has yet to produce a half-hour comedy. Abrams did, however, direct an episode of NBC’s The Office this year."I met him years ago," Oteri says of Abrams. "He said, 'I’ve always wanted to do a comedy and I only want to do it with you.'"According to Oteri, the project is slated for 2008. "Working with him is just a dream come true," she says. As for dream cast mates, Oteri’s leaving that to Abrams. "He’s got such great in...
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Question: I am shocked that in the many comments made about Bionic Woman, no one has mentioned the completely flat and robotic acting of lead Michelle Ryan. When I tuned in to the show to give it a try, I was completely turned off by Ryan's dismal performance. What could the producers and NBC have been thinking with that casting choice? One of the reasons Alias was such a critical and cult favorite was because of the fantastic lead performance of Jennifer Garner, who not only kicked butt, but also infused character Sydney Bristow with warmth, depth, intelligence and angst. Her multilayered performance "garnered" her several richly deserved Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, and even a Globe win. Sadly, I would not predict the same for Ryan. Do you agree that her lack of both acting skills and charisma will contribute to the failure of Bionic Woman?
Answer: I hardly thought this was a big secret. Seems to me lots of the negative commentary about this show has focused on the dour,
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Question: After reading your column last week, I am wondering why people are so passionate in their dislike for Bionic Woman. I've watched the first two episodes. Do I love the show? Not really, but my expectations are not for it to become a new Lost or Heroes. I'm in it for the brainless entertainment. And though its storytelling is disjointed and it has plenty of eye-rolling moments, the entertainment factor is there. I'd actually like to see a bit more of some Superman-like moments: a seemingly ordinary woman with incredible strength who can prevent everyday tragedies in between "saving the world"-type stuff. I don't think they've developed her action moments to the fullest. She needs some Buffy-level confidence but with Terminator seriousness. But it seems people want to hate the show and condemn NBC for seeing it through. What could it hurt? There's enough fodder for everyone else to watch in the meantime.
Answer: While it may be too early to give up on the show just yet — given
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Kristin Chenowith in Pushing Daisies by Scott Garfield/ABC
The early ratings are in, and it looks like the combination of aggressive promotion and laudatory media buzz paid off for the first round of ABC’s delightful Pushing Daisies, which handily won its time period Wednesday and is off to a solid start. Honestly, though, if any of the reality alternatives had prevailed (especially CBS’s snooze-inducing Kid Nation and the is-that-still-on stupid briefcase show over on NBC), I think I’d be wearing a black armband in to work for the rest of the season. I’m dying to see a second episode of Daisies, and am trying to pretend I’m not worried that ABC hasn’t supplied one yet. (A year ago, I was dazzled by the pilot of The Nine, an episode the series never again lived up to.) Still, after watching an opening hour as filled with wonder and whimsy as Daisies’ pilot (or “Pielette,” as the episode was titled), how can anyone express anything but hope?My other top Wednesday night priority was seeing how Priv...
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Michael Vartan, Big Shots
Michael Vartan is suiting up. As AmeriMart CEO James Walker on the new ABC series Big Shots (premiering tonight at 10 pm/ET), he doffs his secret-agent gear in favor of tailored suits as he contends not with rogue spies but with ruthless bosses, an unfaithful wife and his irrepressible alpha-male pals (played by The Practice's Dylan McDermott, West Wing's Josh Malina and funnyman Christopher Titus). Think of it as "Tons of Testosterone and the City." TVGuide.com invited Vartan to clear the air about his "controversial" new show. Plus: The Alias wish that went unfulfilled.
TVGuide.com: A foursome of well-off guys sitting around talking about the sorts of things guys talk about... is Big Shots as bold, even daring, a TV venture as some are making it out to be?Michael Vartan: I don’t think it is. The truth of the matter is, they're not talking about women the way men really talk about women, and thatR
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Masi Oka and David Anders in Heroes by Paul Drinkwater/NBC Photo
Already playing catch-up on only the second day of the official TV season. Geez, how will we ever survive Wednesdays and Thursdays? (Pause here for a silent prayer to the powers that protect my DVRs.)Anyway, the biggest news on Monday was how Heroes would bounce back from a first-season finale that disappointed many (I was not among them, but then, my expectations for this uneven show haven’t always been all that high). I was mostly enthralled, once I got over yet another tedious Mohinder speech to kick off the season with more blah-blah about destiny and the plague that threatens to eradicate these evolutionary wonder-heroes as “the fate of humanity itself hangs in the balance.” Seriously, they talk that way all the time on Heroes, and don’t I wish Mohinder would just put a sock in it.But then the story kicks in, and by the end, I’m even in awe of Mohinder, who’s in league with Noah Bennet (formerly HRG) to infiltrate The Company and bring them down. O...
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