Austin Nichols, who starred as HBO's John from Cincinnati, is returning to his hometown of Austin, Texas, to play a Dillon High teach on NBC's Friday Night Lights, reports the city's Statesman paper. Nichols' multiple-episode arc will begin soon after the Oct. 5 season-opener.... Regina Hall (Ally McBeal) will play Cedric the Entertainer's successfully entrepreneurial housewife in the comedian's comedy pilot for ABC, says the Reporter.
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Question: HBO is premiering its new show Tell Me You Love Me this Sunday, and to my astonishment, you haven't yet written a single word about it. You're my go-to TV critic, and I'm especially eager to hear your opinion on this one. Some critics love it, calling it the HBO version of a Herskovitz-Zwick program (a huge endorsement in my book), while others think it's dull and pretentious. What do you say?
Answer: Thanks for asking. One of the reasons no official review has yet appeared in the magazine or elsewhere is because there was no room for my regular column in the jam-packed Fall Preview issue (on stands now; I recommend you all go out and get one). The magazine review goes out next week, but this gives me an opportunity to weigh in a few days early, and I'm happy to, because I think Tell Me You Love Me signals HBO getting back on track after John from Cincinnati (which I did feel was dull and pretentious) with a powerful, demanding and at times excruciatingly painful drama about
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Sundays are seldom as busy during the regular TV season as was the case this weekend, with season and series finales all over cable. So much for summer being the sleepy season. If you'd been watching any of these shows this summer, you wouldn't have wanted to miss the payoffs.Big Love: So much drama and trauma on HBO's increasingly addictive domestic melodrama about a family man and the three wives who alternately adore and tolerate his whims, schemes and transgressions. One reason I love the show is that it has lines of dialogue you could never hear anywhere else. Here’s Nicky: “Our husband’s dating life is none of our business.” Bill to Barb: “There are two other people in this marriage.” Bill to Margene: “You are not having the neighbor’s baby!” Barb to Bill: “I don’t want a fourth [wife].” Margene: “Boss lady outed us to the neighbors!”So twisted, and yet presented in such a way that it almost seems normal. Th...
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The ridiculous (in a good way) ratings for Disney Channel's multiple record-breaking weekend launch of High School Musical 2 was just the most spectacular reminder of what a great TV summer this has been — if you have cable.Not even a big hit like TNT's The Closer can match HSM2's numbers, and some of the best series, like AMC's mesmerizing Mad Men, are only doing so-so. But that's only to be expected given the glut of programming on many nights — including Thursdays, when Mad Men goes head-to-head with USA Network's latest clever breakout caper, Burn Notice. I thought my DVRs would get a break this summer. Didn't happen.Just look at the options we’ve had over the last few nights, including terrific new episodes of Burn Notice and Mad Men on Thursday. I’m really enjoying Burn now that ex-spy Michael Weston is getting closer to the truth about how he was set up to be fired. And what can I say about Mad Men besides the word I used to start my initial review of th...
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Question: I'm listening to last Friday's podcast, and I take offense to my family being associated with John from Cincinnati! I've never even watched it and now you go and sum it up in two words: "pretentious Hooie"? First of all, I've never met a pretentious Hooie. We're not a huge family, but there are many of us in the southeastern U.S., and while some may be selfish, sarcastic, apathetic, apologetic, humorous, philosophical, ambitious or even self-deprecating, they are never pretentious! If you're going to hang out with the podcast crew (and I hope you do!), you'd better be more careful about angering the Hooies. We're a nasty bunch when we get riled — nasty, but never pretentious!
Answer: HA! Biggest laugh of my week, and I thank you for that. It was especially welcome after I forced myself to watch the final miserable episode of that pretentious hokum known as JFC, which thankfully won't be testing our patience beyond this first season. Until I hear from a Hokum family, I'll star ...
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