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Critic Tom Maurstad and contributor Darla Atlas offer views, news and nuggets on all things television. February 2010
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February 9, 2010
I'll go ahead and say it: I was a little let down by Monday night's finale, "Brave New World." After a season of build-up, slowly amassing Samuel's apocalypto-creepy status, setting the stage for what seemed like it was going to be kaleidoscopic-crazy showdown in Central Park, between the evil and/or duped carnies and the Justice League of Benevolent Specials, it all amounted to some jittery camerawork, a few exploding light bulbs and some fairly rinky-dink cracks-in-the-earth effects. The fight between Peter and Samuel was especially lame as they sent unseen seismic waves back and forth at each other while grunting and straining heroically or villainously, depending on whose turn it was to grunt and strain.. Likewise, Sylar's showdown with the Puppetmaster was more pffft than pow, and mostly happened off-camera. The whole fairgrounds scene just looked so staged and small -- they kept talking about "thousands" being killed but you never saw a crowd that looked like more than a few dozen, and zero sense of it being in Central Park. This was a finale that seemed severely under-produced (and under-budgeted?). No suprise then, that the best moments were the quietest and those rooted in the writing and acting. The hospital-room interlude between Hiro and Charlie, when Hiro discovers that Charlie was swept back to the 1940s by one of Samuel's minions and has been living (and growing old) ever since. The scene of him watching through a window as the now elder, and dying, Charlie is surrounded by her kids and grandkids was a sweetly-sad moment of truth for Hiro, and us. And the exchange between HRG and Claire was likewise satisfying as he shared his dying testimony with her in that buried trailer. That scene tied directly into the closing vignette that served as the kick-off of the next chapter -- if there is a next chapter. Claire climbing to the top of the ferris wheel and throwing herself off as the Big Apple's TV camera and reporters watch. "What's she doing? asks Lauren. "Breaking my heart," says HRG. Claire gets up and resets her broken bones and says "That's suicide attempt number, I've lost count.'' So now the secret is out and the world will know that "they" (the specials) are among us. Unless, of course, NBC cancels the show. But why in the Southland would they do that? Oh yeah. The entry "What We're Watching: Heroes Finale" is tagged: Heroes , What We're Watching
Monday, May 10: Trauma (8-9 p.m.) The entry "NBC announces finale dates" has no entry tags.
The new theme of Chuck seems to be testing the now seemingly impervious Chuck. And boy, does the show know how to hit our hero where it hurts. We know he's brainy and in possession of super-spy skills, but his heart is still the same mushy, weak lump it always was. So Monday's episode was a great one in that it didn't ask Chuck to choose between Hannah and Sarah per se (although, by the end of the episode, he did) but choose between safety and risk, logic and emotion. The entry "What we're watching: Monday night, 'Chuck'" has no entry tags.
Spoiler alert! Monday's episode of Fox's 24 made one thing perfectly clear: Renee should never, ever be a contestant on Iron Chef.You really don't want her to be left alone with knives. She and Jack continued undercover in Vlad's lair, but when Vlad got a little too frisky (again), Renee lost it and stabbed him. And stabbed him. And stabbed him. And then, because she's a little bit -- what's the word? -- nuts, she stabbed Jack (but only once). There followed a semi-romantic interlude (with blood!) between Renee and Jack that had me squirming both physically and emotionally. I'm all for Jack getting some love in his life, but I wish he'd find a girl with fewer psychotic tendencies. Meanwhile, President Taylor's peace talks continue to go awry. That angelic sheen of goodness that originally surrounded Hassan has acquired a nasty tarnish, as he continues to go after dissidents in his home country. And now he's going after their families. Bad form, Mr. Hassan. Very bad form. Speaking of which, Dana's ex and his loco buddy screwed up their police-locker burglary and have now hurt, possibly murdered, a cop. They did all this with Dana's help in getting into the place, and I believe that's called "felony murder" in most states. She might not have been there, but her hands are bloody all the same. And that pretty much sums up this episode: bloody hands all around. Oh, and that weapons-grade plutonium? Still floating around New York City somewhere. Not to worry, I'm sure. The entry "'24' recap: Paging Renee - your padded cell awaits" is tagged: 24 , Fox February 8, 2010
Before the rose ceremony, Ali dropped by Jake's hotel room to tell him she had to choose between hanging around to fight for his love, or losing her job. She was all teary and puppy-dog-eyed. I got the distinct impression that she wanted him to break down in hysterics, begging her to stay. He did not. In fact, he held up pretty well. The entry "Bachelor: Ali's big decision" has no entry tags.
Clearly, this girl is head over heels for Jake. Not that the others aren't, but the rest are always worried about the competition. Vienna is just 100 percent focused on Jake -- which I suspect is why she's still around. The entry "Bachelor: Vienna" has no entry tags.
Wearing polka-dotted rain boots, sweet little Tenley took Jake to her hometown dance studio, where she said, "My ex-husband never really saw me dance the dance that was in my heart." She then proceeded to dance that dance, and Jake was pleased. The entry "Bachelor: Tenley " has no entry tags.
As she and Jake strolled around Williamstown, Mass., the weather was so perfect and non-windy that it seemed like a soundstage. Their walk eventually led them to her deceased grandmother's mostly-empty house. The entry "Bachelor: Ali's town" has no entry tags.
Her mom is straight ouf of New Yorker central casting. "That's my concern, you know?" she said in her authentic and thick accent. "Is he gonna break Gia's haat." The entry "Bachelor: Gia's family" has no entry tags.
With four lovely ladies left, Jake is now visiting each of them in their home element. First up: Gia, who lives in New York City. After they boarded a boat to Manhattan and took some photos of each other, Jake said he's noticed that Gia doesn't talk about past relationship much. The entry "The Bachelor: Hometown dates" has no entry tags. February 7, 2010
The commercial I admire most is the Google ad: no flash, no special effects, no naked women, no talking babies, no screaming chickens. But it's such a smart idea, telling a love story (and telling it really well) through a procession of search questions, The arc from the unentangled beginning (student questions about programs in France) to the final "how to assemble a crib" is just beautifully, sweetly done. And it deepens your appreciation of the Google brand and what it does. But as far as Super Bowl commercials -- the good, the bad and the raunchy goes -- I liked Denny's screaming chickens, I liked the McDonald's early first quarter commercial that probably almost no one saw and the Brett Favre Hyundai commercial. But I'll go with Kia and its toy-filled Vegas bound joyride spot. The entry "Super Bowl Spots: So, Let's Pick our favorites" has no entry tags.
Funny new E Trade baby spot, "First Class," with the Wall-street-wise baby flying home after a business trip and explaining how E Trade "saved me a pantload." The entry "Super Bowl Spots: Oh Wait, no it isn't" has no entry tags.
It is finished. The entry "Super Bowl Spots" has no entry tags.
Wow. So GoDaddy.com isn't even trying to do anything but leer and provoke. A pseudo-interview with Danica Patrick, asking her if GoDaddy's commercials are "too hot for TV." When Patrick responds by demurely asking "What's too hot," her interviewers gets up and starts to strip with the inevitable tease telling viewers to go to the web site to see more. Ugh. The entry "Super Bowl Spots: GoDaddy go away" has no entry tags.
Bud Light boors bust into a all-woman book club and act like... Bud Light boors. Crudely cute closer -- woman: Do you like Little Women? dude: "Yeah, I'm not too picky." My guess is this and other Bud Light spots will be high on viewers top pick lists, but it's just strikes me as more lazy formula. The entry "Super Bowl Spots: Bud Light again" has no entry tags.
It's official: every one of the Doritos commercials, each produced based on an average person contest winner's idea, has been awful. Not funny, not clever but acting as if they were both. I wish I ate Doritos so I could quit eating them. The entry "Super Bowl Spots: Doritos" has no entry tags.
Maybe Super Bowl organizers should have picked Cheap Trick for its halftime entertainment. The reworked version of the band's hit Dream Police was more enjoyable 30 seconds of rock than the Who's entire set. Lots of funny gags in a commercial spoofily promoting the A3's "clean diesel" -- a guy being arrested for possession of an incandescent bulb, a hot tub bust for a tub that's too hot and a cop being ticketed for using a foam cup for his coffee. Doesn't make me want to buy a "clean diesel" Audi, but it's a funny 30-second distraction. The entry "Super Bowl Spots: Audi's Green Police" has no entry tags.
Usually it's monkeys (or Clydesdales) that are the big animal stars of the Super Bowl. This year, it's Denny's and its screaming chickens. The free grand slam breakfast makes it "a great day for people,a bad day for chickens." The second spot is my favorite, a montage of chickens screaming as they get the news -- the best is the silent, no-one-hears-you-scream-in-space scream from the chicken astronaut, although the oval office and the screaming president chicken is a close second. The entry "Super Bowl Spots: Denny's has a hit" has no entry tags.
While the flash-arty animation is cool enough, the Honda Accord Crosstour commercial made absolutely no sense to me. So the squirrel is storing all kinds of things, lamps and dumbells and whatnot for, presumably, winter and then a hatchback door opens and the car drives away. I don't get it. At all. The entry "Super Bowl Spots: another ball of $3 million confusion" has no entry tags.
Here's an interesting point about the EA spot for its new video game, Dante's Inferno. For the game that's set, literally, in Hell, the original tag line was "See you in Hell." That was rejected by CBS as objectionable, so it was changed to "Hell Awaits." Yeah, that's much more acceptable. It's easier to sleep knowing that the network censors are on duty. The entry "Super Bowl Spots: Dante's Inferno" is tagged: Super Bowl |
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I loved the Google ad - very effective.
In space, no one can hear the chicken s
Just having watched the movie "Up" last
That commercial is one big reason not t
A few weeks from now, all of them will
loved doritos bark collar. amazingly f
The Denny's screaming chickens...especi
Yes, it does have that all-too-familiar
Actually, it made me mad at the politic
LOVED that milkaholic Lindsey! Also lov