Project Runway, like Barbra Streisand or Avatar or my uncle with the speedboat, took us on an emotional journey last night. Tears fell. Gays blossomed. And I'm prepared to say we watched the best judging session in the history of the show -- qualified, detailed critiques with loads of fun disagreement among the panel. What is this, a show about respecting fashion? I don't understand anymore. Let's rip it all open.
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Project Runway's newly eliminated designer, 29-year-old Valerie Mayen, is a steadfast Clevelander with ideas and headbands galore. We caught up with Mayen to discuss the exhausting judging process, her pick to win the season, and her least favorite Cleveland nickname (Spoiler: "the Mistake on the Lake").
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Where would television be without stereotypes? There would be no Jersey Shore and no Real Housewives franchise, which means that American culture would be a little more respectable, Snooki would not have a book deal and Andy Cohen would be out of a job. Let's not spend a second longer worrying about those horrors though because television is an embarrassment of stereotype riches. Without any further hesitation, last week's boldest, brightest and most offensive oversimplified characters.
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Up was down and right was wrong last night on Jersey Shore: Ronnie was intentionally hilarious, Snooki was sort of out of line and Sammi wasn't unbearable. But Jersey Shore restored order when Angelina, our long-standing national nightmare, left the house for good. She's gone. She's not coming back. Until Jersey Shore/Road Rules Challenges are established, she's a nonentity to me. But that doesn't mean she gets to skip the judgment of this week's Fresh-to-Death Report Card. Ready for some grades 'n grenades?
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Stephen J. Cannell is the latest casualty of a tragic week in Hollywood. The prolific, veteran TV writer-producer behind The Rockford Files, The A-Team, 21 Jump Street and dozens of other series died last night at his Pasadena home; doctors attributed his death to complications from melanoma. He was 69. Cannell was also a bestselling novelist and an occasional actor, last appearing as himself on several episodes of ABC's Castle. RIP. [AP]
Why do you keep watching Grey's Anatomy, seven years after learning the kinds of discomfort that Meredith's schmaltzy voice-overs cause, the chest pain that erupts every time Cristina Yang is stubborn in the face of emotion and the full-on migraines that develop with every single Mer-Der scuffle? Because occasionally, after wading through forty minutes of finely acted melodrama (is there any better kind?), Grey's Anatomy will produce one wonderfully heartbreaking moment between the show's real soul mates, Meredith and Cristina.
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Far be it for me to understand how network executives value their content -- a television show doesn't have to be a ratings hit to be a "hit;" see: DVR, iTunes, online viewership, etc. -- but isn't it time we all started worrying about Community? Last night, the NBC sitcom finished third in its time slot (well behind both The Big Bang Theory and Bones), and was only watched by around 300,000 more people than My Generation. Considering that show is already being rumored as the next fall ratings casualty, this isn't exactly good news for the denizens of Greendale Community College.
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30 Rock delighted, dazzled, and rib-tickled from beginning to end last night. (Best line: Paul Giamatti as the mangy NBC editor who says he's working on a segment for the Today show "about how October is next month.") But one mysterious story line stuck out like Jenna's "white hooker" tattoo: Kenneth's Phantom of the Opera-esque stalking of NBC's corridors. Is his unhinged Pollyanna routine expired? Spoilers ahead.
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Better. Much, much better. Episodes like "Accounting for Lawyers" are probably why Community creator Dan Harmon stuck a dull knife into the heart of Greendale's love triangle during the season premiere. He doesn't need a love story to make us care about these characters; he just needs a Rob Corddry and a room full of lawyers.
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The Social Network crew was out en masse on last night's late night circuit. Aaron Sorkin discussed his fear of child porn being found on his hard drive, Jesse Eisenberg perfected his neurotic schtick and Justin Timberlake was incredibly cool and collected on The Daily Show. Meanwhile, Bryan Cranston spoiled one of this weekend's Saturday Night Live skits, Ryan Reynolds fired a Jimmy Kimmel staff member and Jon Stewart trash talked the president.
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It was nice to catch up with Olivia in last week's Fringe premiere, but the science-lite episode definitely left something to be desired -- namely more than two lines from Peter and Walter. (We met the Walternate quota, though. These are very different things.) Thankfully, in The Box, everyone's favorite LSD-addled, mad-scientist-and-son duo were back in the game as Peter dealt with some residual kidnapping-induced anger and Walter tried to get Gene the cow to produce chocolate milk. But unfortunately, filling the Walter void left a pretty big gap in the science. So how about that magical music box of death?
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Paul Giamatti crashes your primetime viewing experience this evening and goes mono a mono with the high priestess of the 8:30 timeslot, Liz Lemon. Elsewhere on the tube, Jersey Shore and Project Runway get dicey.
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It's The Flintstones's 50th birthday today, an occasion that warrants some water buffalo games, a full-body slurp from our pet dinosaur, and a long Winston cigarette break. But it's also a time to remember the series' great, stone-ified celebrity caricatures that popped up so often. Thanks to the wizards at Fanpop, we have a lovely collection of animated celebrities and their Bedrocked monikers.
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Survivor's sniveling Espada tribe decided to do something about the "threat" that football coaching legend Jimmy Johnson posed: They voted his wise, old gibbon face off the show. Of course, Survivor's real "threats" are the contestants who don't get anybody to talk about them, since it's clearly loudmouths like Wendy Jo, Shannon, and Jimmy who crumble. Still, let's see where it all went wrong for the S.O.L. NFL legend.
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"Would we really like to see our drama suffer the same fate as new critically acclaimed Fox 24-part series Lone Star? Premiered last Monday, axed yesterday[?]" So asks BBC drama controller Ben Stephenson, bristling at skeptics who think the Beeb's programs should expand their seasons to Stateside lengths. The accompanying headline goes even further: "We Need To Stop Punishing Ourselves For Not Being American." Seriously, Brits, cut it out! Especially when we're doing such a fine job of punishing you ourselves. [Deadline]
