In the fall TV season, we saw some breakout hits: Modern Family, The Good Wife, NCIS: Los Angeles and Glee have all found healthy audiences, critical acclaim and/or award nominations. We also had some fallen soldiers: RIP, Hank, The Beautiful Life: TBL, Eastwick and Three Rivers. Where do your favorite shows stand? Let's check in.
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Question: I gotta tell you, Rescue Me's killing off Johnny just strikes me as cheap storytelling. Sure, they're doing a good job handling the aftermath, and the writing and acting are solid, but I think it's a lazy way to wrap up a love-triangle story line. Pearl Harbor did the exact same thing; you have two guys and one girl. So your solution: Kill one of the guys. Have I got a point, or am I being too critical?
Answer: Not too critical — you have a right to your opinion — but for me, calling it lazy is way too simplistic. I mean, comparing this show to a cardboard epic like Pearl Harbor? Get serious. This was not just another clichéd love triangle — in which case killing one of the rivals might have looked like a cliché. This was a seriously warped, deeply disturbing mess of a relationship involving two brothers and one of the brothers' ex-wives, all clouded by the aftermath of life-altering tragedy (the death of young Connor, Tommy and Janet's only son). The fact that the brother ...
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Question:
I am so glad to hear that Everwood creator Greg Berlanti is now collaborating with the writing team for Brothers & Sisters. This show has been a big question mark for me (along with Six Degrees), but I have been looking forward to trying it out. It has a great cast, appealing promos and now a fantastic writer! Do you think Berlanti's involvement has the potential to make this my Everwood semireplacement?
Answer: The news that Berlanti is giving Brothers a creative hand is one of the few positive headlines I've heard lately. I'm still not sure a show like this can fill the Everwood void, though. Also on the Brothers & Sisters front, Ryan wonders: "I heard a rumor they are reshooting the pilot of Brothers & Sisters without Dan Futterman! Say it ain't so! He had great chemistry with Calista Flockhart in The Birdcage, and in the scene available on the Web from the original pilot. I was ecstatic when he returned to Judging Amy in 2004 and saddened that it was the show's final
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Question: What's your opinion of the Friday-night slot awarded to Ugly Betty? I keep hearing glowing reviews from most of the critics who have seen the pilot, so I cannot understand why ABC would try to kill this show before it even takes off. Don't you think Sunday night's slot following Desperate Housewives would be a much better fit? This sounds like a show that would have a similar audience.
Answer: This conversation came up a lot during the critics' press tour, and quite a few of us agree with you, with the caveat that none of us have seen the still-being-revised pilot of ABC's Brothers & Sisters, which will occupy the post-Housewives slot in the fall. The reason Ugly Betty would be such a good fit is because it shares many of the attributes of Housewives at its best: namely, a stylized blend of high comedy and soap-opera intrigue. Because ABC's entertainment chief feels Betty is better suited for an earlier time period, it's airing Fridays at 8 pm/ET, which you rightfully describe
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