Sad and Strange TV News

Starting with the sad, Emmy-winning/nominated actors Bradley Whitford (The West Wing, Studio 60) and Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) filed for divorce on Friday; August would have been the 17th wedding anniversary for these parents of 3. Whitford (a TV favourite of mine) can next be seen alongside Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under), Amy Acker (Dollhouse, Angel), Fran Kranz (Dollhouse), Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek) and Tom Lenk (Buffy) in the 2010 thriller The Cabin in the Woods, written by TV hotshots Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) and Drew Goddard (Buffy, Angel, Alias, Lost).

As for the strange, be sure to head to your local theatre to see the typical but sweet (and surprisingly funny) romantic comedy The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Office fans will be in for a shock when they encounter an exuberant Oscar Nunez playing a role very different from the dead-pan accountant he portrays in the NBC sitcom.

Skins: Series 1

The problem with being a television fanatic as well as a pop culture fiend is that you often run into spoilers regarding your favorite series. Without seeing even a single episode of the most recent season of Grey’s Anatomy, I already know some of the major story lines (Izzie’s brain cancer, her reunion with Alex, George’s departure/death, the big proposal). I knew that Alan Tudyk was the doll-gone-wrong Alpha before he even appeared on Dollhouse. Most recently I unfortunately learned that Nancy Botwin is pregnant without even seeing a single episode of season four (let alone season five). Needless to say, spoilers tend to, well, spoil things.

Because of this I decided to try out a series I knew barely anything about: Skins. Going into this series I only knew two things: 1/ Dev Patel was in it and 2/ it’s about sex. What I discovered was a refreshing series full of unexpected storylines and an intense cliffhanger.

It’s hard to review this series without giving away those dreadful spoilers but I shall do my best. Essentially, you take a tight-knit group of British teens, throw in some sexual tension, add a bit of serious life lessons and you get Skins. Notice only “some” sexual tension. As it turns out, while sex drives most of the plotlines, the series tends to focus more on the gradual formation of intense relationships rather than the lustful hanky panky.

The group of friends is made up almost entirely of your stereotypical teens. Sid Jenkins (the main character) is a slightly dorky, physically unappealing virgin. Sid’s best friend is the morally corrupt Tony who serves as the resident popular stud. The two friends find themselves in a somewhat love triangle with Tony’s girlfriend Michelle. As the typical “hot” lead, Michelle lacks a large amount of substance. There is barely anything appealing about her until half-way through the series. Essentially, Tony dates Michelle but Sid has a massive crush on her and Michelle is fully aware of said crush. The supporting casts consists of Maxxie (the out and proud homosexual), Chris (the typical fun guy), Anwar (Dev Patel’s Muslim character who manages to balance his religion with his horny teenage life), and Jal (the sage of sorts who essentially exists only to give her friends advice). If these were the only individuals offered by the series I probably would have stopped watching after a few episodes. Luckily, the heart and soul of this quirky British teen drama is Hannah Murray who plays the delightfully individualistic Cassie Ainsworth. Initially it seems Cassie’s only here to fill in the best friend role for Michelle. But this spacey blond with an eating disorder really carries the entire show. Cassie may have a drug problem early on, she may not eat anything ever, and she way look and act like a Mary-Kate Olsen knock-off, but gosh darn it the girl’s got some serious likability. Once you look past the annoying anorexia storyline you see Cassie for what she really is: a surprisingly mature teen who, like most, just wants to be loved. Cassie throws herself into the love triangle, without really intending, and this results in a horrendous amount of heartbreak. Luckily for us, Cassie isn’t an emotional, self-pitying teen so we get to see her subtly deal with her emotions.

The biggest flaw with Skins is the depiction of the kids’ parents. Don’t expect to find any Sandy Cohens in this group. Instead we have a bunch of self-obsessed parents who the audience is clearly supposed to blame for how their kids turned out. The parents themselves are typically too busy with their own lives to really care about their children. Cassie’s stay far away from her rehab center and would rather paint nude portraits of each other than drive her daughter to the doctors. Tony’s want to have some family time but easily give up because they don’t know how to talk to their children. Michelle’s mother is so involved with her new husband that she offers no sympathy for her own daughter’s heartache. I can live with some unrealistic storylines (and trust me this series has several) but I don’t buy the parents-are-to-blame-for-everything scenario. The only real villains in this series are the parents (unless you argue that the arrogant Tony is simultaneously everyone’s friend and enemy…which you could definitely argue). However, Skins saves its own ass by (finally) introducing a good parent in the season finale. To elaborate on that would be far too spoilerific so that’s all you get.

The best thing about Skins is the gradual progress of all the relationships and storylines. Occasionally the writers throw in random plots which came out of nowhere, but they clearly knew where they were heading with the entire first series. The real success of the series is that even though the writer’s knew where they were going, I was left kind of clueless. Maybe this is because I knew nothing about the series or maybe it’s because I wasn’t wholeheartedly invested until about half-way through, but it took me a few episodes to realize that it wasn’t Sid’s crush on Michelle that drives the plot. Instead, to keep the viewer’s watching, the writer’s rely on the superb acting skills of Hannah Murray to portray Cassie’s gradual infatuation with Sid. Sid and Cassie’s relationship is almost in complete opposition to the other strong relationship in the series: Maxxie and Anwar. Cassie and Sid meet during the premiere episode and slowly get closer as the series progresses. Maxxie and Anwar are best friends at the start of the series but gradually grow apart. Sid and Cassie can’t be together because Sid loves Michelle. Maxxie and Anwar can’t be friends because Maxxie loves men and this is against Anwar’s religion. The finale of series one is almost too good to be true. The two relationships are somewhat resolved and the individuals involved learn exactly what it means to love. There’s never a doubt that Cassie loves Sid or that Anwar and Maxxie love each other, but it becomes a question of whether or not that love is strong enough to bring them together. For a show seemingly about horny teens who only want sex, these four characters teach us that love is really the most powerful thing in this world…even more so than the libido.

This seems like a good point to address another accomplishment of this series. It’s not often on television that a platonic friendship between a gay male and a straight male is portrayed. Typically gay men have their female friends, their boyfriends, or the straight males who magically go gay for them. For a while I worried that the friendship between Anwar and Maxxie would turn into something more. I was concerned the tension between the two was a result of some sexual confusion on Anwar’s part. Luckily, the writers did something absolutely unheard of: they took sex completely out of the equation and portrayed a shockingly realistic (yet uncommon) friendship between two polar opposites. I applaud them for this.

There are so many wonderful moments in this series which need to be addressed in full (I didn’t even mention the student-teacher affair between Chris and Angie) but they also need to be experienced first hand to appreciate. Give Skins a chance and let it play out a bit before you make judgments. It isn’t until the episode “Michelle” that Skins really comes together. Somehow the episode which focuses on the least intriguing character managed to make me really commit to the show. That’s a sign of damned good television and I can’t wait to watch series two.


Some memorable quotes to end:

“I didn’t eat for three days so I could be lovely.”- Cassie

“It’s like a fucking episode of The OC in here.” -Chris

“Sex plus power equals fun”- Tony

“And I’m really really sorry for being a slut okay!” -Maxxie

“We have so much in common….depression….self-loathing.”- Cassie and Simon

“Of course I’m fucking ashamed of you.”-Angie

TV's Best Dads

In honour of fathers' day tomorrow I thought it fitting to honour the best dads on TV. From the knowledgeable caregivers you looked up to as a kid to the flawed and well-intentioned patriarchs of a more current television landscape, these are the men who's fatherly devotion really made an impression.

1. Keith Mars - Veronica Mars

2. Sandy Cohen - The O.C.

3. Alan Matthews - Boy Meets World

4. Ray Campbell- Sister Sister

5. Danny Tanner - Full House

6. Jed Bartlet - The West Wing

7. Bill Cosby - The Cosby Show

8. Dr. Andy Brown - Everwood

9. Yasir Hamoudi- Little Mosque on the Prairie

10. Martin Crane - Frasier

Best Non-Dad Dad:

Rupert Giles- Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Kelly Reviews Rachael's Shows

Each of us here at My TV has our specialties. For example, Lauren likes comedy so she mostly sticks to sitcom coverage. I watch pretty much everything from Big Brother to The West Wing, commenting mostly on whatever provokes an emotional reaction from me (whether it be a moving scene between Nicki and Bill Henrikson, a particularly whore-ish episode of The Bachelorette, a laugh-out-loud quip from Better Off Ted's boss Veronica or a thrilling hip hop by Tabitha & Napoleon D'Umo). And though she dabbles in everything, the majority of Rachael's posts concern genre shows. She writes essay-long reviews about the metaphorical significance of space aliens, complicated technologically based mythologies and Whedon's commentaries on the human soul. A big fan of some genre shows like Chuck and Dollhouse, I generally put off watching them (having just finished the latest seasons of both of these tonight) and almost never write about them... tonight I figured out why that is.

*CAUTION SPOILERS AHEAD*

I thoroughly enjoyed the ending to both seasons but, when it came to some of the smaller plot details, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I got Chuck's unselfish love for Sarah in his willingness to let her go save the world, leaving him behind. I got Sarah's unselfish love for Chuck in her decision to give it all up and be normal with him. I got Chuck's growth in finally deciding to be the hero that he is and how very awesome it was that Awesome got to be in on the secret. I got Casey's battle with his loyalties and his ambition; I got Morgan's quest for fulfillment; I even got that Chuck now has kung fu skills. But his dad is a super genius CIA agent with his own intersect? Bryce knew? (by the way, where's Bryce been this whole time?) How do images supply one's muscles with martial arts ability? Was Bryce duped by the evil guys or just conveniently put in harm's way? Who are the new evil guys anyway? It's a simple show but their MacGuffin could use a little clearing up.

But here's the thing, on Chuck at least it is MacGuffin; it's unimportant plot that really just serves to get the characters where they need to be to tell the emotional story. On Dollhouse it's a complete different thing. There is absolutely nothing about Dollhouse that isn't crucial. Every line, every grimace, every piece of set dressing can easily be a game changing thing in the frustratingly complex world that Whedon's handing his uberfans this time. I'd say I'm a pretty savvy TV viewer with a complete understanding of the Whedon vernacular but I gotta say, I find it hard to keep up with this show. I spent the entire finale screaming at my TV screen: "SERIOUSLY? NO WAY! OH MY GOD! WHAT?". So there was a glitch a few years back and Alpha got too many imprints at once and he snapped? Was that before or after he chopped up Amy Acker's face? What's the significance of that particular duo of imprints? Is he still glitching or is that just the personalities fighting each other? And if it is, why didn't Echo glitch the same way? Does the fact that Echo was a hero when uploaded with the dozens of personalities and Alpha was a villain have to do with who they were as people (killer vs. coed?) does it have to do with the souls Ballard is convinced live on? How is it that post-wipe, Echo is conscious of Caroline? So Amy Acker's character has been living in a permanent state of imprint? (the imprint of an old man nonetheless?), why was she imprinted with hatred for the Dollhouse?Victor can no longer function as an active because he is no longer "his best"? What does it all mean? What deep message does it carry about the fate of humanity? What is Joss Whedon on and is it possible that he's not human? I simply don't get it.

So what have I learned from my foray into deciphering the twists and turns of genre shows? Just sit back and enjoy... and leave the analysis (and the task of noticing that the door in the background was open when it wasn't before, which could mean that the salvation of the characters lies with an inside man slowly scratching away at the integrity of the ambiguous big bad) up to Rachael.

My Current Actor Obsession

Tina Majorino.

Tina first came into my consciousness as the cute little girl in 1994's Corrina, Corrina.

Since then, she graduated high school at the age of 15, became a trained opera singer, earned her black belt in martial arts and went on to star in one of the biggest cult films of the decade (Napoleon Dynamite).

But it wasn't until her turn as blue-haired Mac (Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie aka Veronica Mars' Q) that Tina Majorino became a My TV favourite.

Now, as I finally watch season 3 of Big Love, she remains at the top of the "unsung supporting actress" list. Throughout the series, Tina's role as Heather, a conservative Mormon struggling to look past her own beliefs to be friends with the daughter of polygamists, Sarah (played by the incomparable Amanda Seyfried, another Veronica Mars alum), was a key part of what made Big Love such a multi-faceted show. Heather's conflict with Sarah coming to a head in season 3 only served to showcase Tina Majorino's underrated skill all the more unmistakably.

A child star who turned out sane, complete with a host of hidden talents, a good head on her shoulders and impeccable taste in TV roles, Tina Majorino is one in a million.

Simply put, the girl is really cool.

Highlights of SYTYCD Week 1- Wade Robson Jazz

in this strange and delightful Wade Robson piece, one of my favourite couples, Ashley and Kupono, bring brilliant character and mastery of unique movement to the stage.

Highlights of SYTYCD Week 1- Foxtrot

controversial contemporary star Brandon and sizzling salsa dancer Janette dance an elegant Foxtrot to Michael Buble's "Come Fly with Me"

Highlights of SYTYCD Week 1- Bollywood

adorable couple Jason and Caitlin dance a challenging Bollywood number that fights to keep up with last season's inaugural Josh and Katee Bollywood.

Highlights of SYTYCD Week 1- Samba

Kayla and Max are the first couple to make Mary's infamous "hot tamale train" with this samba.

Highlights of SYTYCD Week 1- Contemporary

the naughty ballerina and dancing dj Melissa and Ade dance a Mandy Moore contemporary to Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting"

Highlights of SYTYCD Week 1- Hip Hop

fan favourite Phillip and unknown but adorable Jeanine dance a gorgeous Tabitha and Napoleon lyrical hip hop routine.

Highlights of SYTYCD Week 1- Jazz

Evan and Randi dance a hot Tyce Diorio jazz routine. This might have been my favourite of the week.

Must Have DVD

The long-awaited Everwood season 2 DVD comes out tomorrow. Don't forget to pick up your copy and finally find out what happens after season 1's life-altering cliffhanger.

Perhaps the series' most dramatic season, season 2 features the amazing Marcia Cross in a guest arc as Harold Abbott's sister Linda, some of Emily Van Camp's best work as a spiralling Amy, the fleshing out of Bright's character into a real highlight of the series and the introduction of Sarah Lancaster as Madison, who will change the Browns' lives forever.

Get your copy tomorrow or order it online at Amazon.com

An Abrupt Goodbye

Last night marked the ending of the beloved quirk-ball that was Pushing Daisies. As a series, Pushing Daisies was unique. It stretched the boundaries of television aesthetics with a vibrant colour palette, eccentric costuming, dreamy locales and post-production innovation. Featuring one of TV's best casts (led by the delicious Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride and Kristen Chenoweth), some innovative plotting and plenty of quotable lines, Pushing Daisies stood out in the television landscape.

Sadly, the product itself did not always live up to the sum of its

ingredients. Always enjoyable but not consistently engaging, Pushing Daisies struggled to find its audience. The strike-shortened 2007-2008 TV season provided it with a second chance to impress the next year, as ABC generously renewed multiple fledgling series that had been crippled by shortened seasons. In fall 2008 Pushing Daisies was welcomed back to the schedule with open arms by the few devoted fans it had won last year.

Unfortunately, a lack of promotion and summer re-running made for few new viewers for the second season. After airing 10 episodes of season 2, ABC cancelled the series (along with their 2 of their other smartly scripted shows, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money) and burned off their final 3 episodes in early summer.

Since production had wrapped by the time the producers were notified of the cancellation, the ending of Pushing Daisies is rushed and somewhat unsatisfactory. A standard episode ends with a game changing cliff-hanger. Desperate to give their devoted fans an ending, the producers retooled in post-production, adding a voice over and montage that hastily wraps up the stories and reminds the audience that "the ending is just the beginning".

While this gesture of closure is appreciated by all of us who remember being left hanging on cliff hangers at the ends of such series as American Dreams, Grosse Point and Freaks & Geeks, it is extremely bittersweet. The complicated stories in Pushing Daisies needed more time to play out, and in the absence of that time, I sort of feel as though leaving their resolution completely up to the imagination would have been in keeping with the fantastical tone of the series more than giving them one sentence conclusions. After all, many series finales deliberately leave the audience hanging, letting them interpret their own ending (The Sopranos being the most famous example but Veronica Mars ending on a similar note).

But hasty finale aside, for 2 short seasons Pushing Daisies was a welcome break from the dramatic doom of most television. It was pleasant and fun and certainly not devoid of depth (for all its sugar, spice and songs). I will surely miss my time with the pie maker.

Being a Fan of Erica

In such an American saturated market, it's rare for a Canadian TV show to grab the attention of the nation. But that's what Being Erica did. Of the very few well-known Canadian series in existence, only 2 have merited mention on this blog (Canadian editions of international shows don't count, ie: So You Think You Can Dance Canada); as of today, that number is 3 (the other 2 are Slings & Arrows and Little Mosque on the Prairie). 

Being Erica has gotten rave reviews. I've had friends who barely watch TV tell me to watch this show. It's been lauded as better than almost anything else to come out of the (admittedly weak) Canadian television industry. But, being in Boston most of the year, I never got to see it. 

Now, over the last 2 days, I've had the chance to sit down and watch the series' first season online at CBC.ca (only 13 episodes). And I've gotta say, this might be my new favourite show. 

Starting with the basics, Being Erica is a full scale production. Coming in at the full dramedy length of 45 minutes an episode and lacking the low-budget folksy nature of small shows like Little Mosque, Being Erica has all the technical markings of a well-oiled machine of a production. They use stellar locations (more on that later), beautiful sets, actors who can actually act, writers who can write and effects guys who manage to make time travel not seem too hokey (serious credit also goes to the hair, makeup and wardrobe people on this one). 

A simple and goofy concept of a 30-something with regrets being given the chance to go back and fix her life, becomes a human and complicated and very funny story in the hands of very skilled storytellers. Creator Jana Sinyor developed a wonderful cast of characters in Erica's friends and family, as well as Erica herself (a delightfully flawed heroine), who are just engaging enough to have the audience invested in their story and just frustrating enough to elicit a very cathartic sense of schadenfreude. 

The regrets Erica tries to remedy range from such seemingly trivial events as getting drunk at a school dance to such disastrous tragedies as the death of her brother. It's this juxtaposition that gives Being Erica its extra something special. It is at once a joyful romp of a series, full of misadventures, cheesy voice overs and romantic escapades and a serious character drama about love, loss and disappointment. 

I also like that it's a story about taking responsibility. Not like in a Seventh Heaven kind of way where you have to pay the price of "borrowing" your dad's car by being grounded, but in a "we are the sum of our choices" kind of way. Unlike so many modern heroines, Erica isn't an underdog plagued with the unfair constrictions of a society that doesn't understand or deserve her. She's just a girl; a girl who's afraid of having peaked in high school; a girl who's hit a few snags, made some wrong turns and ended up nowhere near where she thought she wanted to be; a girl who learns the lessons that Dr. Tom teaches and doesn't make excuses for having to learn them. Erica's just normal, insecure, optimistic and human; the biggest thing she has to overcome is herself, isn't that the way it actually is?

And then there's Dr. Tom, the series' resident advisor. He's like 

God to Joan of Arcadia, the talking animals to Wonderfalls or the Quizmaster to Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Full of vague advice and quotations from everyone from Ghandi to Anthony Rapp, Dr. Tom leads Erica through her list or regrets, sending her back in time with some unexplained (and frankly, unimportant) form of magic. Season 1 ends with Erica breaking her agreement with Dr. Tom and his replacement (and polar opposite) arriving in Erica's life, so the lovely quotation-heavy dialogue might disappear from season 2, but it certainly was a highlight of season 1. 

Another highlight was Erica's best friend Ethan. Played by Wonderfalls' Tyron Leitso, Ethan is just a sweet, boy-next-door crush-worthy character that I'm always happy to see on screen. Other favourites among the stellar cast are Reagan Pasternak as Erica's boss, John Boylan and Kathleen Laskey as Erica's bickering parents, Paula Brancati as spunky friend Jenny, Laurence Leboeuf as Ethan's antagonistic wife Claire and, of course, the delightful Erin Karpluk as Erica herself. 

A little game of Vampire LARP, a Dirty Dancing-themed bat mitzvah, the world's most awkward Romeo & Juliet balcony scene and the best use of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" in broadcast history also play heavily into my love of this show. 

But perhaps my favourite thing about the show is that it is, in the words of my friend Chris, "a love letter to Toronto". For once, the greatest city in the world (in my opinion) is not dressed up as New York; it's not supposed to be Chicago, LA, Paris or even a fictional Canadian town. In Being Erica, Toronto gets to be itself, in all its multifaceted glory. With an unprecedented number of outdoor location shots, Being Erica explores its home city from trendy Front St. to posh Yorkville to the charming ambience of the Distillery District. They use locations like Toronto Island, The Royal Alex theatre and the Four Seasons Opera House as little shoutouts to their Torontonian audience, and this Torontonian eats it up. Appearances by actors I recognize from YTV, references to the Stratford Festival of Canada, scenes shot on the U of T campus and an episode set inside Casa Loma made me giddy with city pride and reminded me that while I may be watching a show of international calibre, it belongs to Canada; so, in a way, much more than all those other shows I invest myself in, Being Erica belongs to me. And I can't think of any show I'd rather have. 

Quality TV in the Summer?

This Saturday marks the return of NBC's ambitious passion project Kings. Predictably, the epic drama failed to produce the sort of ratings that the last place network needed so it was cancelled after airing only a few episodes this winter. Now the series will have a chance to burn off their remaining episodes and wrap up the stories in a satisfying way over 7 weeks, starting this Saturday (the 13th) at 8pm on NBC.

Also on Saturdays are the final episodes of Pushing Daisies on ABC. Be sure to tune in to see the ending of the happiest show on TV.

And with the final season 1 episodes of the new (and renewed) gem Better Off Ted scheduled to start airing June 23 on ABC, it seems as though summer may not be such a TV wasteland after all.

For my review of Kings' early episodes click here

The Dancing Talent Parade

To steal a line from the infamous Mary Murphy: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH"!!!

Last season saw some remarkable talent hit the So You Think You Can Dance stage. It boasted some of the most memorable routines of the series ("Bleeding Love", the bed routine, "The Garden"), some great

 personalities (Twitch, Mark) and some impressive technique 

(Katee, Josh, Chelsea). And the season before that was my favourite of all time, featuring an unparalleled technician and character story in Danny Tidwell, some other incredibly talented and fun competitors (Sabra, Neil) and some brilliant choreography (the business meeting). This fall, on the Canadian edition of the show, I really liked more members of the top 20 than ever before. 

But I've never seen anything like I saw tonight. 

Season 5's first top 20 show blew my mind. Every single dance was good. Actually, with only 2 exceptions, they were all fantastic. This new group of charming, vibrant, empathetic and absurdly talented dancers tackled everything from a trademark lyrical hip hop from Tabitha and Napoleon to a technically outrageous Bollywood number to an exquisite foxtrot to a sizzling samba, with unbelievable panache. 

And, for the first time ever, I really really like every single one of them. Of the many dancers that I didn't know going into tonight (the producers of SYTYCD are notably lacking, I'd just like to get that opinion out there), all but 2 of them really managed to make a positive first impression. My early favourites (Evan, Phil, Caitlin, Jason, Asuka, Janette, Kupuno and Melissa) all impressed with their performances. And even those I wasn't so sure about (Kayla, Randi and Brandon) won me over tonight. 

As for the only disappointments of the night (not even really big disappointments, just not extraordinary accomplishments like everything else), I'd same the blame lays partly with the choreographers and partly with the producers (the latter of which are not really up to snuff as a general rule). There's been a pattern over the years that every time a choreographer is tasked with creating more than one routine for the week, one will be brilliant and the other a let-down. 

This proved true again this week. Super-couple Tabitha and Napoleon created yet another show-stopping hip hop routine but then followed it up with one that was just OK. Then the multi-talented Tyce Diorio stepped in to create a Broadway number and a Jazz one. True to the pattern, the jazz piece was extraordinary (possibly my favourite of the night) while the Broadway routine was the unfortunate low-point of the evening. In both cases (particularly Broadway), the dancers in the routines were great, it was the routines themselves that lacked oomph. And since one mediocre routine can mean the end for a talented dancer in this competition (especially this early on), I think it's only fair that choreographers just be asked for one routine a week, they're at their best that way. 

The only routine that I thought was missing something from the dancers themselves was the cha-cha by Jonathan and Karla. Both unknown to the audience before tonight (let me reiterate, these producers suck) the two danced the routine well (not the most enthralling routine, I'll grant you, but not terrible) but lacked the sizzle that I've come to expect from the Latin dances. If you're working without the story or character that the other dance styles provide, you've got to really bring the sizzle. 

The evening's high points were Evan and Randi's surprisingly hot jazz routine (possibly Tyce Diorio's best creation ever), Ade and Melissa's touching Mandy Moore contemporary (to "Right Here Waiting", the same song as my favourite routine from season 1), Phillip and Jeanine's Tabitha and Napoleon hip hop squabble (I'm a sucker for any Tab&Nap lyrical piece) and a special (read: strange/delightful) Wade Robson jazz routine performed to perfection by the unexpectedly amazing duo of Kupuno and Ashley (who were the most engaging crash test dummies ever in this demanding yet oddly peaceful dance). 

In other news, it was great to make it back to the main stage for the real competition part of the show. I was happy to have Cat back as more than just a voice-over girl. I was impressed with Nigel's comment to Brandon about his feet, it was the first time I've ever heard the boy criticized by anyone other than those with random and unclear grudges against him. Mary needs to bring the volume down, she's a smart lady but she sounds like an idiot. And, in a complete 180, I am now an Adam Shankman fan. Now that he has proven himself with some solid judging, cut back a bit on the self-promotion and the long-winded comments and brought the fun by spontaneously swing dancing with an auditioner, I'm on the Shankman bandwagon this year (and will be seeing Step Up 3D, if only to see Katee, Josh, Ivan and Twitch). 

If they keep on like this, So You Think You Can Dance's 5th season promises to be their best ever... by a long shot. 

The Colbert Report In Iraq

I don't often report on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. There's only so many times a gal can blog: tonight Jon Stewart was witty and Stephen Colbert was hilarious, so if Jon Stewart's not feuding with a news anchor or interviewing a president, I'm normally pretty silent about the shows, even though I love them both.

And then Stephen Colbert, both the fictional representation and the real man, went to Iraq as part of a USO tour, and for the first time ever said tour is being broadcast from Iraq. It's pretty damn cool, not just of Colbert but of the US military for letting him do it all. And Colbert does a great job of it. Set in front of a huge audience of military personell instead of his usual blame-america-firsters, Colbert not only brings his usual brand of satirical hilarity (a long segment on "Don't Ask Don't Tell's" Inherent stupidity, talking about GM) but he's clearly thrilling the crap out of his audience. He goes to boot camp and you can hear the audience made up entirely of service men and women see a reflection of their own experiences in Stephen's goofy antics. He discusses the Iraqi weather and you can hear groans of appreciation. And then he shaves his head of perfectly coiffed TV-star hair to a military 'do, and it's like... nothing else.

I love when liberals refuse to allow "the troops" and patriotism to be coopted by uber-conservatives, and more than that I like when people who spend their lives and make their money entertaining us put their butts where the troops are.

I Unintentionally Lied To You All!

In my post about Season 4 of Weeds, I said that the premier of Season 5 wasn't until later in June. I was mistaken. It was last night. And Showtime is currently offering it for free on their website.

It was a pretty solid Season Premier, but reviewing individual episodes of Weeds would just turn into a weekly recap of bad Nancy decisions, funny Andy quips, and the new lows Shane and Silas are at, so I'll keep this brief. I'm not hating (yet) the show's portrayal of "in love" Andy, and hope they keep it at this sort of catatonic quiet. Shane appears to have aged seven years in between Season 4 and 5 (although it's not quite as jarring as the change between 3 and 4) but I'm actually grateful for this because it makes it a little less creepy to watch. I'm looking forward to meeting Nancy's sister and finding out if all this craziness is genetic (guest star Jennifer Jason Leigh, starting next week). This episode was especially funny, even if it wasn't huge on plot developments.

Okay one funny Andy quip of the week:

“You finked and they know it, don’t they? And now they’re just playing with you. You’re a cat toy! And they’re cats, Mexican cats. Gatos!”

Season Wrap Up: Brothers & Sisters

One Walker leaves, another shows up (not exactly a fair trade, but not devastating); one marriage falls apart as another grows stronger in its first year and yet another is in the works; two family members quit Ojai, another two are fired, a different two are hired and the first two return;  two matriarchs find love; there are two medical emergencies and one baby born: such is the world of Brothers & Sisters' third season, a solid outing but not its best. 

Let's start at the top, with the best things about the season. Kevin and Scotty, always a highlight of the series, thrived even more after their wedding last May. Challenged with Scotty's conservative parents, Kevin's intolerant bosses, returning exes and Walker drama up the wazoo, the pair made it through with admirable resilience and a whole lotta love.

Another highlight of the season was the return of Ken Olin as Rebecca's real father, David. An interesting love interest for Holly, a grounding force in Rebecca's life and an all-round likable character, David is exactly what the Harper family needed to keep up with the dominating Walkers. The turn that the Elizabeth's paternity issue took made for some fascinating character growth for all the Walker boys (Kevin especially) and interesting repercussions at the season's end. Both Nora and Sarah found new ventures that allowed them to find themselves free of the William shadow; Justin found his calling in medicine; Julia's goodbye episode was exquisitely written; and the season was rife with tension-cutting comedy from the Greenatopia crew, a guest starring Dave Foley and even the Walkers themselves. 

As for the teeter-totter aspects of the season, there were many things that were a mixed bag of good and bad. Firstly, Justin and Rebecca's relationship, though icky if you give it too much thought, was really quite sweet in the end and their engagement in the final episodes made me unexpectedly happy. 

Nora's love life, though improbable and a little strange, made me happy too, if only because it kept her from butting in to her childrens' lives quite so much. Kitty's quest for motherhood came on a little suddenly but the tensions that Evan's birth caused in her marriage made for some interesting drama. And while I disagree with the show's eagerness to split up marriages (Kitty and Robert began falling apart less than a year after their wedding, marking the third Walker marriage failure in two years), I always appreciate a guest stint from one of my favourite TV actors (Matt Letscher, always charming and empathetic). The finale left Kitty just missing Robert's departing helicopter, here's hoping she intends to fight for him, who wouldn't fight for Rob Lowe? This season also saw Kevin cross the aisle to work as Robert's communications director in Kitty's place, an interesting if not enthralling development. 

And now for the bad. The ridiculousness that was Tommy's foray into fraud served mostly to minimize Balthazar Getty's role in the show. And while Tommy may be the least interesting Walker, the loss of Julia and Elizabeth paired with the terrible plotting surrounding his departure makes his loss mourn-worthy. The only other low point of the season? Ryan Walker. Boring, unengaging, off-putting and tedious, Ryan seems like a cheap plot device created to develop tension, force plot and remind the audience that William Walker was not a good guy. Unfortunately, with Saul's determination to make amends to him and the fact that there seems to be no question about his paternity, Ryan will probably be with us for quite some time. 

But problems aside, Brothers & Sisters remains one of TV's most engaging hours every week, populated with some of the greatest characters ever written, and this season moved many of them in exactly the right direction. As for Ryan, well... let's hope for more screen time for Kevin instead. 

FINALE GRADE: A-

SEASON GRADE: A-

Separating the Men from the Boys

Tonight's episode of The Bachelorette (the trash TV that is tiding me over until my beloved Big Brother returns to CBS) featured some intense drama, some serious tears and much talk of "real men" and "cowardly boys".

With the surprising departure of Mike (who I was convinced was a front-runner), the continuing charade of Wes the Oscar winning woe-er, the multiple tattle-tale sessions, the controversially cancelled cocktail party and the dramatic rose ceremony, the remaining bachelors moved up and down considerably in my estimation. 

In an appropriate move amidst uncertainty that all the men are single, Jillian said goodbye to slightly smarmy (though, I still maintain, well-intentioned) Juan and the horrifyingly aggressive David. This left Wes as the only villainous man in the running. Though Tanner P isn't my cup of tea, he's not an actually bad guy, so the field's been narrowed to the decent and the lovely (with a few glitches left in there for dramatic effect). 

As of tonight, my favourites are as follows:

-Michael (I can't wait for this earnest and energetic sweetheart to finally get a one-on-one with his self-proclaimed "crush")

-Jake (I'm sticking by my first favourite, even if he does think he's a little too perfect)

- Kiptyn (If this week's low-key date proved anything, it's that the Jillian/Kiptyn chemistry is close to flawless) 

Ed, Jesse, Mark, Reid and Robby still need to distinguish themselves a bit more but I started to see potential in Mark and Reid for the first time this week. 

Weeds Season Four: A Very Late Season in Review

As a show, Weeds has always kind of existed within its own little airtight moral vacuum. Sure, we, as the audience, could, like Nancy, often justify her early decisions, but as more time passed, Nancy's behaviour grew more and more erratic and motivated by fear and selfishness. For most of the show, Conrad remained the moral heart of the program, but after Agrestic went up in flames along with Nancy's grow business at the end of Season Three, so too, apparently, went Conrad, who hasn't been seen on the show since.

Season four, then, left us without my personal favorite character, sans one annoyingly catchy theme song, and in a whole new, beachy place. It should have sucked. But it might have been the best season yet. After last season, with the husband-killing, DEA-defrauding, UTURN-inspired craziness, I did not think Nancy (not to mention Silas, who last season started banging an Olsen twin, and Shane, who started talking to his dead father) could sink any lower. And then she tumbled through the metaphorical rabbit hole around the same time she allowed a Mexican drug kingpin to build a tunnel in the back of her store.

Celia, meanwhile, ended season three betraying Nancy happily to the police, spent the first third of this season in jail, the second third in a drug-induced haze, the last third in rehab, and the last episode being kidnapped by her own Kaitlyn-Cooper-esque daughter. She finally came to some sort of a... reconciliation is to strong a word, but what the hell, with her daughter and had a final shoutout with the ex-hubby. And all along she remained the Celia we've grown to know and love: unpredictable, endlessly selfish and mean, and yet the biggest survivor of them all.

Shane and Silas had an interesting season, particularly Shane, who, just in case you didn't think he was scarred enough from years of masturbating into socks and worrying that your mother was going to be killed any given night, managed to hit a whole new low in misplaced teenage sexual angst. Silas, in a parallel storyline, starting up a relationship with MILF Julie Bowen, and running his own successful, small-scale weed dealership from inside her cheese shop (not a sexual innuendo). Ironically, this is the most grown up we've ever seen Silas. In the final two episodes of the season, he even seemed to redefine himself as someone with a moral compass, albeit a skewered, Weeds-sort of moral compass. After sweetly telling Shane that if he didn't want to have a threesome with the two skanky girls currently inhabiting his bedroom (yup.) and then encouraging him to use a condom if he did ride the tricycle at the tender age of 13, one might have justly said that Silas had no concept of appropriate responses to his little brother. But then Shane shows up at the cheese shop, desperate for weed to make him seem more cool, and Silas has his most human and relatable moment to date: he looks sad at how far his and his mother's bad example has brought his little brother, and refuses to deal to him.

It tied in particularly well with Silas's mythical 18th birthday, which provided much of the framing for the ultimate episode. After mommy dearest has to abandon her son to go see the drug impresario who may or may not be about to kill her for betraying him to the DEA, she leaves him a tear filled message via gift basket that simply, and beautifully, sums up Silas's character arch up until this point in the show: "Thank you for raising yourself. You did a good job."

Which brings us to Nancy. Oh Nancy. She of the 1,001 and bad decisions. It's telling that on a show that features immigrant-running, Oedipus complexes, and cocaine addiction, Nancy's still the one making the worst decisions. So first she teams up with Guillermo, the Puerto Rican gangster who burnt down Agrestic, and starts running drugs for him. But she's no good at that, because, well, she's Nancy and she acts like a crazy person under pressure and she dresses like a hooker, so she tends to stand out. Then she becomes the face of a maternity clothing store, which she knows is a front for something, but all she can concentrate on is the boring mundaneity of having to work a normal job. That's right, Miss I-do-this-all-for-my-family misses dealing drugs. Whatever. Then one day she discovers a big gaping hole in the back of the store, and, Alice-like, has to follow it. To Mexico. But Mexico isn't all drug-running, arms-dealing, and girl-selling. It also is home to Esteban, the charismatic mayor of Tijuana, who starts a relationship with Nancy by spanking her in his limousine and ends the season ready to kill her for betraying him.

I think Nancy could be the only protagonist in television history who I despise and yet don't hate. Characters you "love to hate" are one thing (Wilhelmina Season One, The Mayor, etc., Mary Cherry), and characters you just plain hate (Dawn Summers, The Duchess, Connor), but I truly despise so much of what Nancy does and stands for - I think she's a pretty despicable human being who messes up nearly everything she touches- and yet... Maybe it's because Weeds is such a gleefully amoral show, but I care what happens to Nancy, and I root for her to get out of these mountains of shit despite the fact that the mountains are entirely of her own design.

But even if this weren't true, Nancy the character showed tremendous, surprising, and ultimately redeeming growth in this finale. Because Nancy reached her breaking point. All of the drug dealing, all of the moral compromises, all of the millions of ways she's let down her kids, all of it becomes to much for her in one iconic image: a scared, so-young girl being brought out of the tunnel by Guillermo, clearly for slavery/prostitution/nothing good. And it spurs Nancy in to stupid, possibly suicidal action. The scenes leading up to this are nothing short of brilliant, and they focus on one of my favorite relationship in the show: Andy and Nancy.

Which brings me to my final point. Andy. On the surface, Andy provides comedic relief. He's the pot smoking, goofbag, do-nothing uncle who mooches off Nancy and teaches Shane how to masturbate without clogging up the toilets. But Andy is actually one of the most moral characters on the show, and his endless devotion to the kids provides the few touching moments. And he's sincere to a fault; stoned and ridiculous, yes, but sincere. When he says he wants to save Mexicans by bringing them into the US, sure he's doing it for money and for glory, but he at least believes all his own "El Andy" bullshit. And when he sadly looks down at naked pictures of Nancy hidden in Shane's room, you can really see his heart breaking for the kid.

In the last episode, Doug, still upset that Andy banged (one slash two times) his long-lost-Mexican love Maria, drops what he considers some insight onto Andy: you're in love with Nancy. Andy denies it. And denies it again. And then, finally, stops to consider it. Then he sees Nancy naked, and she confesses all her sins to him.

The show doesn't take a firm stand on whether or not Andy loves Nancy (I mean, you could easily argue "yes" but it wouldn't be too difficult to shy away from it either), but ends with him curling up into the fetal position with a pillow at the mere idea of it. AND LET ME STOP YOU RIGHT HERE, WEEDS. Please don't do this to me. I really, really, really love Andy and Nancy's relationship. I love the strange, dysfunctional, brother/sister vibe they have going, I like the innocent flirting, I like the way that against the odds they're coparenting two very messed up kids together. And Nancy... well, if Conrad's any indication, once she sleeps with a character I love, they're off the show. Not only would Nancy and Andy sex ruin the show, watching Andy mope about Nancy would just annoy me. Bring back the scary Israeli chick! Or Zooey Deschanel! Anything but that. PLEASE. You thought George and Izzie was bad on Grey's Anatomy? This would be one thousand times worse. (on a side note, why is it that Jeffery Dean Morgan's death seems to cause this sort of mayhem in television characters?)

With the exception of potential Andy and Nancy ickiness, I loved this season finale. As is Weeds stock in trade, it left all the characters on a precipice of ridiculousness, although this one seemed less dire than in the past. Nancy is banking on her pre-natal status to save her from Esteban's revenge, Shane's dealing drugs to his 13 year old cohorts, Silas and Andy are going in on mexican land together, Celia is being held for ransom by her daughter, and Doug... performed autoerotic asphyxiation on himself. All is well in Renmar.

FINALE GRADE: A-

SEASON GRADE: A-

Weeds comes back on the air in two weeks on June 16th on Showtime. And apparently Allanis Morrissett is set to guest star on it.

Season Wrap Up: The Office

The best way to describe the 5th season of The Office would be bittersweet. Everything from the season premiere that saw Jim coping with life in a Pam-less Scranton to the Superbowl episode in which overly cruel employees roast Michael to the finale that left Jim and Pam wordlessly celebrating life-changing news while Michael looked optimistically to the romance in his future; the whole season was a mix between sweetness and sadness, comedy and heartbreak. 

An above average season for The Office, in my opinion, season 5 was when Michael finally began to grow up. After throwing her a baby shower, Michael finally was able to let toxic Jan go and embrace a new character who brought out the best in him: Holly Flax. Whether they were rapping, flirting or performing "Slumdunder Mifflinaire" at the company picnic, Michael and Holly were the perfect complement to each other; she was the exact right combination that matched Michael's zaniness but also grounded him. And when they were torn apart and she moved on, Michael didn't make with the crazy as you might expect, rather he saw things with his newfound maturity and declared his and Holly's "a long [love] story" that just hadn't reached it's ending yet. 

This season also saw major growth professionally for both Michael and Pam. Michael saw some success when he was asked to go on a lecture circuit, teaching sales techniques to other branches. But, under-appreciated and under-respected, he finally reached his breaking point with the company when they cancelled his anniversary celebration. So, the series was tossed upside down for the first time since it's premiere 5 years ago, Michael started a competing paper company, taking Pam and Ryan with him. And though the storyline only lasted a couple episodes, it was a serious game changer for Michael, caused Dwight to reveal his true loyalties and moved Pam forward in the quest for self-fulfillment that she began 2 years ago at that infamous bonfire. 

Pam started the year out of the office. Her and Jim proved the strength of their relationship by going long distance for awhile while Pam went to art school in New York. In a somewhat lame move, however, Pam moved back to Scranton, seemingly giving up on her artistic aspirations. But she picked up new aspirations. As the only employee to walk out of the office by Michael's side, Pam demanded a sales position in his new venture, The Michael Scott Paper Company. And when the company merged back in with Dunder Mifflin, Pam carved out a space for herself on the sales team. She may not have moved as far as she wanted to go, but Pam finally got herself out of the receptionist chair she was so bored with. 

This is also the season that proved that Jim and Pam (as Rachael would say) are not Ross and Rachel but rather Chandler and Monica. Though it took them awhile to get together, this season proved that Jim and Pam aren't going anywhere, at least not without each other. Surviving the long distance thing, and Pam's multiple foray's into the world outside Dunder Mifflin, Jim and Pam grew even closer this year. They finally got engaged, Jim bought his parents' old house for them to live in and, in the final moments of the finale, they found out that Pam is pregnant (they're ecstatic about it, by the way). And in the episode when the couple was on the rocks because of Pam's parents' divorce, she summed up their relationship perfectly with the words: "When you're a kid you assume that your parents are soul mates. My kids are going to be right about that". 

As for the other main romance in the show, season 5 was a tumultuous one for Angela. She went from engaged (to Andy) with a bit of action on the side (with her secret true love Dwight) to single, hated and alienated. But the finale saw Andy healing and moving on, his attention caught by the new receptionist. We also got a little tease of a reconciliation between Angela and Dwight. Jim and Pam might have proved to be Chandler and Monica but Angela and Dwight have all the epic earmarks of a bizarro world Ross and Rachel. 

Filled with little delights like Phyllis' auctioned-off hug and Pam's secret volleyball skills; plagued with cringe-worthy things like the intervention for Meredith, the baby shower for Jan and Ryan's frosted tips; and packed with heartbreaking and heartwarming moments in between, The Office's 5th season isn't one to miss, though I wouldn't go into it expecting a barrel of laughs without a couple of tears. 

FINALE GRADE: A-

SEASON GRADE: B+

Season Wrap Up: Party Down

I watched the first episode of Party Down in an almost perfunctory manner. I mean, come on, it was by the guy who made Veronica Mars, and had promised guest stars that ranged from George Takeii to Rick Fox to Kristen Bell. And I really enjoyed that first episode, but I'm an inherently lazy creature and if something can't be TIVO'd more often than not I forgot about it.

Thank G-d for the summer TV hiatus. Because, as it turns out, that first episode just held the seedlings of the show to come.

Over its first ten episodes, Party Down deepened its characters and upped the hilarity factor incrementally. Although I'm still not entirely sold on the boss character Ron (he more often than not feels like an even sadder Michael Scott rip off), nearly every other main character has come into their own.

Especially Kyle, played by Ryan Hansen or as I like to call him Dick Casablancas, a character that had the unlikely effect of causing me to rethink my entire position on Dick Casablancas. Hansen imbues Kyle with so much dim-witted good natured boyishness it's hard not to like him.

Party Down walks a difficult line between slapstick ridiculousness (the penultimate episode takes place at a "Happy Acquittal" party for a mobster) and a sincerity that is almost shocking. The final episode, set at a gay wedding, is all about not giving up on your dreams. It could easily be a cloying message, but the episode is also about mushrooms, giving sexual favors to advance your career, and causing Sulu to go into anaphylactic shock.

There are still things to work on. In particular, Martin Starr's character, Roman, too often feels like just the butt of the jokes. I'd like to see Ron given more depth too, although with the finale they sort of started to show some growth on the whole "dark side of Michael Scott" thing.

Adam Scott, as Henry, the washed up actor turned caterer, grounds the show, and his relationship with Casey (Lizzy Caplan) works surprisingly well. I thought for sure that we were in for a slow, Jim-and-Pam-esque burn on this, but the couple gets together within the first five episodes; and their chemistry should be a lesson to all TV writers looking to hook up their main will-they-or-wont-they duo. They're cute and witty without ever seeming forced or cloying. It's a love story told on the brink of the void of depression and it works really, really well to offset the ridiculousness of bratty sixteen year olds, high school reunions, and possible hotel sex with Rick Foxx.

The season finale was a big game changer for the show. Casey's off to a cruise ship to pursue stand up comedy. Kyle's just been cast in a movie. Ron, it seems, will finally get his Super Crackers franchise. Constance is off with her Belarusian mobster. And Henry, despite his best efforts, may now be the new boss. While I'm all for character development, I've loved this season far too much to hope that any of these changes last. For one thing, I'll be super sad if Casey's actually gone (Casey was so cool I ALMOST forgot all about Caplan's recent turn on True Blood... almost.), unless of course that means that Henry will start up a relationship with recent guest star Kristen Bell. I didn't know it was possible for me to love Bell any more, but hearing her bark out orders like "you will be present at the fireworks, but you will not look up." and then proposition Henry was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

FINALE GRADE: A+ (any episode with this much VMars gets the +)

SEASON GRADE: A-