Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome you’ve given me as well as your thoughtful comments. Please keep them coming. I’m going to keep the recap and comments a little short this week (hey, it’s a repeat after all) and pose some questions at the end, which I encourage everyone to respond to.I forgot how excited I was when Mario Cantone made his first guest appearance as Terry the hairdresser. I remember him so fondly from his days on Sex and the City. I wonder if Jenny Bicks will be able to entice anyone else from the show to make a guest appearance in Elmo. I hope so. But back to Mario. “I’m as New York as the Statue of Liberty but less of a queen,” he tells Marin when they meet, then promptly lops off way too much hair during a tremor. A larger tremor results in an avalanche that traps Patrick and his newly discovered father in Buzz’s cabin. Marin tucks her hair woes under a hat and teams up with Jack to help find the missing pair. And what’...
read more
Cynthia Nixon tells the New York Daily News' Gatecrasher that the recently resuscitated big-screen Sex and the City venture "is still in negotiations".... Per Reuters, Saturday Night Live cast member Kristen Wiig is in final talks to join John C. Reilly and the fabulous Jenna Fischer in the Walk the Line send-up Walk Hard.... Universal Pictures has opted to push back the Jamie Foxx-Jennifer Garner action thriller The Kingdom from Apr. 20 to Sept. 28, as the result of a successful research screening.
read more
Jordana Spiro, My Boys
TBS, well-known for keeping the bawdy memory of Carrie Bradshaw & Co. alive via frequent reruns, now has a twist on Sex and the City to call its own: My Boys, premiering tonight (at 10 pm/ET) and starring Jordana Spiro as PJ Franklin, a Chicago Cubs beat reporter whose circle of friends is primarily fellas. (Think Alfonso Soriano as opposed to Manolo Blahnik.) TVGuide.com asked the actress what it's like to "step up to the plate" as the star of TBS' first-ever original scripted comedy series.
TVGuide.com: So, is the pressure on? You feelin' it?Jordana Spiro: [Laughs] You know, I'm not feeling pressure, no. I'm definitely feeling busier than I felt before, but not pressure.
TVGuide.com: Let's say that PJ is 99 percent tomboy. What about yourself?Spiro:
read more
Yes! They're off and running as the episode opens with a turkey shoot. I thought it was kind of funny, and I don't ever remember laughing at the start of this show.But catching a gobbler is the least of their problems. The image of the parachutes floating slowly into Jericho was a combination of eerie and cool. I've really liked the visuals on this show all season — the explosion, the dead birds splayed all over the highway, the missiles streaming, even the incredibly sad scene of the dead a few episodes back. The way these moments are shot (or shown) create a significant impression… to me, at least.I'm trying to concentrate on the delivery from China but I'm distracted by Johnston's unfortunate choice of sunglasses. Somehow his renewed health doesn't include good fashion choices, but I'll let it slide. I'm glad Jake brought up the point that Hawkins recognized the language the newscasters were speaking a few weeks ago was Mandarin. I didn't forget that either, but Hawkins...
read more
Question: I normally really enjoy your column, but how could you label Standoff a loser? It's clearly one of the best new shows of the season so far. Ron Livingston proved himself worthy of leading-man status long ago with Office Space and Sex and the City, and he has great chemistry with Rosemarie DeWitt, who has already been labeled "the find of the season." The show is both funny and suspenseful with strong characters and an interesting premise. What's not to love?
Answer: Let's start with the premise, which pretty much exhausted itself in the pilot episode. Wouldn't it have been more interesting if their relationship hadn't been exposed in the very first scene? Then the situations, which get more ridiculous by the week. I won't argue that Livingston is a major star waiting to happen, but I can't imagine this will be the vehicle. Fox is getting off to a pretty rocky start again this fall, and I would imagine either Standoff or Justice will be gone before the new year. I'm sorry to
...
read more
Question: Is this the end of the HBO dynasty? I mean, HBO really set the standard for cable programming by having a small lineup of great shows and showcasing them one or two at a time (a formula that FX is using quite successfully). Now I'm wondering if it has fallen asleep at the wheel. While Showtime and FX are preparing shows such as Rescue Me, The Shield, Weeds and Sleeper Cell, HBO seems to be canceling a show every other month. Am I paranoid, or does the channel have some sort of master plan that no one knows about? Because if my math is correct, by the year 2008 The Sopranos, Deadwood, Rome and The Wire will all be gone.
Answer: I think it's fair to say that HBO is in a slump, and with more franchises nearing the ends of their runs, the network does need to step up and create another breakout show or two. I love Entourage, but it seems to lack the cultural oomph of Sex and the City — and I'm sorry, but Big Love is not the sort of show to build a network night around. Even wit ...
read more
Amy Sedaris, Strangers with Candy
Fans of the Comedy Central cult hit that chronicled 47-year-old ex-con junkie-whore Jerri Blank's rematriculation into high school are in for a big-screen treat as Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello and a veritable feast of famous faces bring
read more
Amy Sedaris, Strangers with Candy
Fans of the Comedy Central cult hit that chronicled 47-year-old ex-con junkie-whore Jerri Blank's rematriculation into high school are in for a big-screen treat as Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello and a veritable feast of famous faces bring
read more
Gina Gershon
What is it about Gina Gershon? I mean she just oozes sensuality... edginess... all kinds of things that can be wicked in excess. Even the press notes for her new film, One Last Thing (in theaters now), peg the actress as possessing "uncommon presence" — a boast that stymies even Gershon.
"I have no idea what that means. Like, I'm an alien or something?" she laughs as TVGuide.com points out her "uncommon" classification. Or, she suggests while motioning to an imaginary appendage, "It's my 'tail' that makes me different?"
Working to take an introspective look at herself, Gershon later cops to filling "uncommon" roles. "Listen, I definitely
read more
Question: Now that Joey is DOA on its return, again we have the debate about the death of what we know as the traditional sitcom. My question is, was Joey that bad? No, it wasn't as topical as Sex and the City or as well written as Frasier, but Joey never set out to be either of those shows. It was a sitcom with some basic, familiar characters and uncomplicated story lines. Twenty years ago shows like Growing Pains and Who's the Boss? were top-10 hits, and I think Joey compares in format to these shows. Do you think that Joey was a substandard version of the traditional sitcom, or have we so evolved due to clever writing that it has all but destroyed the basic sitcom? A show like Frasier or Seinfeld at its peak only comes along once in a decade, so if that has become our benchmark for comedy, of course anything else is going to pale in comparison. On a related note, can you envison a day when the comedy categories in the Emmys will become obsolete now that, by default, noncomedy shows ...
read more
