Posted Mar 13th 2009 1:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Interviews, Reality-Free, Kings
Dylan Baker is one of those "That Guy" actors, a guy you've probably seen in a million different shows and movies, but can't quite place his name. But his "That Guy-ness" has a twist: he generally plays creeps, scumbags, pedophiles, and otherwise not-so-nice people. It's a lot in life he seems to be perfectly OK with. "I think they're more interesting. They're more fun to play."
In
Kings (which
Danny previewed earlier today), the Biblical-themed soap that premieres on NBC on Sunday, March 15, Baker finds himself in as equally reprehensible role: he plays William Cross, the head of a huge conglomerate that holds the purse strings behind the power of King Silas Benjamin of Gilboa (Ian McShane). The complicating factor is that he's also the brother of Silas' wife, Rose (Susanna Thompson).
I spoke to the 49-year old character actor about the show, how he thinks his character has a little bit of Dick (Cheney) in him, how he can play a child molester (fans of the 1998 movie
Happiness will know what I'm talking about) and how much he loved working on the doomed sitcom
The Pitts.
Continue reading Dylan Baker talks about Kings, playing creeps, and The Pitts - VIDEOS
Posted Mar 13th 2009 12:10PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Site Announcements, Reality-Free
The folks at our sister site
Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:
- I have Verizon FiOS at home, and when I watch any On Demand ABC show, they play the same trailer of Race to Witch Mountain during every commercial break. It has made me hate the idea of this movie more than anything. You can see if it's actually any good by checking out Cinematical's review of Race to Witch Mountain.
- I don't really like the idea of movies being turned into Broadway musicals, so I don't know what to think about Heathers getting the musical treatment. It could be the worst idea ever, but on the other hand, putting "I love my dead gay son" to music? May be brilliant.
- Hey, Watchmen nerds; you should appreciate this: A round-up of Watchmen-related humor.
- Well, they said that this Andy Richter car commercial would probably be better suited for TV Squad, so here you go.
- Some of these were funny, but some just made me sick for no reason. Cinematical Seven looks at the most pointlessly disgusting scenes in movies.
Posted Mar 13th 2009 11:02AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
NBC is showing a set of
international low-budget science-fiction television shows this summer. The network is also moving some of its season finales to June to help Conan O'Brien with his initial ratings when he takes over for Leno on June 1st.
I've heard lukewarm reviews about the BBC's
Merlin (a show
I've already written about) and I'm glad to get the opportunity to watch it and judge for myself.
The Listener is a Canadian production about a telepathic paramedic. NBC is definitely taking a page from the Sci Fi Channel by having a couple of science fiction disaster mini-series to fill some summer programming space with
The Storm and
Meteor.
I just wonder if the WGA strike had something to do with their choice of programming. It is a lot cheaper to license an international program (particularly when you don't even need to use subtitles) than try to create original programming, particularly if your only goal is to fill timeslots.
Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:02AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Law and Order, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, Pushing Daisies, Reality-Free, Gossip Girl, TV Squad Ten
There's a reason why when you watch
The Mentalist, there are always subtle close ups of
Simon Baker's eyes or of his mouth when he's talking. The producers know he's hot and they know women are watching. Between him, the cast of
Friday Night Lights, and a whole other
list of DILF's, there's a lot of male eye-candy on TV right now. But what about the women? Of course television is filled with hot chicks, but who do other women like to watch?
There are certain female characters who, when you watch them, you just want to hang out with. Either you think she'd be a good friend, or exciting to have around, or maybe you just kind of want to
be her. This, my friends, is a Girl Crush. Here is my list of Top Ten TV Girl Crushes.
Continue reading TV Squad Ten: Girl Crushes
Posted Mar 13th 2009 9:01AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Early Looks, Reality-Free, Kings
My television has missed Ian McShane since
Deadwood went buh-bye. His cunning and devious but seemingly moralistic portrayal of Al Swearengen made for a great complex character who could be a villian or an angel, depending on the situation and how evil you are.
He's born to play gruff badasses with gravely voices and icy cold stares that could land a bruise without him lifting a finger. That complex character has returned in McShane's new utopian morality drama
Kings, much more toned down, of course.
After all, this is NBC, network television. They have enough
money troubles without having the FCC breathing down their neck.
Continue reading Kings -- An early look
Posted Mar 13th 2009 8:02AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: News, The Daily Show, Reality-Free
The war of words that erupted between
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the CNBC network started with
Stewart's righteous rant over CNBC's lackadaisical coverage of the crumbling markets and ended last night. Or did it?
It officially went to Defcon 3 when
Mad Money host Jim Cramer, CNBC's biggest name (which I assume is a lot like being the biggest star on UPN), got caught in the crosshairs.
Thankfully, the news media has been there to cover this feud from the first "#*$& you" to the last "lighten up" that culminated last night when Cramer and Stewart sat down for a face-to-face face-off on
The Daily Show. Thank you TV news! You're the gossipy older sister I never had.
Continue reading Who got the horns in the battle of Stewart v. Cramer? - VIDEO
Posted Mar 13th 2009 2:40AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: OpEd, 30 Rock, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S03E14) "Passing out? Cursing? On St. Patrick's Day? Is nothing sacred?" - JackWasn't it great to see an episode of
30 Rock that revolved around NBC and
TGS and the work of the staff? Sure, there was the plot with Liz trying to get out of jury duty, but even that was tied into her work life at the studio. We've had a lot of episodes that had the various characters scattered away from each other, involved with people and places that had nothing to do with NBC, so it's great to see the writing staff working together, Jenna going crazy at the studio, Tracy wanting to take over all of the advertising on the show, and Jack working on a new microwave product.
Continue reading 30 Rock: The Funcooker
Posted Mar 13th 2009 2:03AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E17) "There's no fixing you. You're a lemon." - Derek
It's official: I'm an emotional loser. After two weeks without my weekly Medical/High School drama,
Grey's is back and even more dramatic than I remember. Has
Grey's Anatomy been this good in a while? I always thought that with such a big ensemble cast, the show was bound to have loose ends. With this episode, it seems as though each character is what I remember from the first two seasons.
With no big guest stars this week, the characters developed amongst themselves. I appreciate the return of the Meredith/Christina friendship, now back at full strength, but why does it seem like when Meredith solves one thing, another falls apart? She suffers from the Chaos theory.
Continue reading Grey's Anatomy: I Will Follow You Into the Dark
Posted Mar 13th 2009 1:33AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: The Office, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E17) I'm with Jay Black: l
ast week's episode of The Office was kind of "meh" for me. Luckily, this week more than made up for it. Even though season five has our favorite Dunder-Mifflinites looking way more glamorous than in the first season (I mean, really. I know Pam's in love, but it does not make your hair
that shiny), we've gone back to season one levels of Michael Scott stupidity.
At first, when Jim and Michael were freaking out about giving 10% off to one of their biggest clients, I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. I mean, I love sales and all, but 10% isn't enough "whimsy" to make me want to wear a top hat. Then I realized that the coupon was for 10% the
entire year -- and as Darryl said, they use three pallets of paper a week. So that's bad enough -- but then it turned into 50%, and I can see why everyone was freaking out.
Continue reading The Office: Golden Ticket
Posted Mar 13th 2009 12:30AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S18E05) "The tribe has spoken." -- Jeff ProbstI'll be the first to admit that I thought the first episode of
Survivor Tocantins didn't exactly rock my world. But now that we're a handful of shows in, I'm entertained. That's all I ever ask of a television show -- entertain me! One thing that's bothering me is that I still don't have a handle on some of the castaways. Sure, we know all about Coach, Taj, and a few selected others.
Continue reading Survivor: You're Going to Need That Tooth
Posted Mar 13th 2009 12:05AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Smallville, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S08E15) The show that wouldn't die is back from its break, and so is Lois. Tori Spelling also returns as Linda Lake, the gossip reporter with the Joker smile and the meteor-induced ability to turn to water, like Zan from the Wonder Twins.
Before I go all spoilery, I wanted to mention that I found the music of this episode distracting. It made the melodrama even moreso and was downright annoying.
Continue reading Smallville: Infamous
Posted Mar 12th 2009 5:24PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities, Reality-Free
It seems Jeffrey Ross already has the line of the night for Sunday's Roast of Larry the Cable Guy (Comedy Central, 10 PM), which isn't surprising, because he's a longtime Friars Club member. In the trailer, Ross slams, "This is ridiculous, he's not even a real person! Why don't we just roast Dora the Explorer or Popeye the Sailor Man?"
Fictional character he may be, Mr. The Cable Guy has attracted Jeff Foxworthy, Warren Sapp, Toby Keith, Gary Busey, Maureen McCormick, fellow comic Reno Collier, and Roast regulars like Ross, Greg Giraldo, and Nick DiPaolo. "Queen of Mean" Lisa Lampanelli will serve as the first female Roastmaster for the Comedy Central series (the Friars, originators of the roast, have only had a couple of female Roastmasters -- Susie Essman did the Smothers Brothers and Joy Behar did Danny Aiello).
Continue reading Comedy Central goes all-out to roast Larry the Cable Guy - VIDEOS
Posted Mar 12th 2009 4:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, then new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.- CBS has a new Survivor at 8, followed by new episodes of CSI and Eleventh Hour.
- FOX has new episodes of Bones and Hell's Kitchen.
- The CW has a new Smallville at 8, followed by a new Supernatural.
- At 8:30, NBC has the season finale of Kath & Kim, then new episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, and ER.
- At 9, Spike has a new TNA Impact.
- At 10, Biography has a new Chris Isaak Hour.
- Discovery has a new Treasure Quest at 10.
- Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
- Also at 10: VH-1 has a new Sober House.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: Smallville, CSI, Hell's Kitchen, Jim Cramer
Posted Mar 12th 2009 2:21PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Video, Heroes, Reality-Free
As if
Heroes hasn't had enough bad press lately. Here comes another controversy to deal with.
The makes of the Icelandic film
Astropia are
demanding an injunction against the NBC show, saying it has violated copyright laws. Remember the scene in the most recent episode where cheerleader Claire went to the record store to interview for the job left vacant when Aquaboy went on the run? The producers of
Astropia say that the scene is very similar to one that they had in their 2007 film. Both show girls going to a comic book store job interview.
This is the second time that the show has been accused of lifting material from another source. A
lawsuit came up during the show's first season.
The two scenes are after the jump. The first clip is from
Heroes, the second clip is from
Astropia. You be the judge! Is
Heroes just taking stuff from other sources or is this just a superficial similarity?
Continue reading Heroes accused of theft again - VIDEOS
Posted Mar 12th 2009 1:08PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, Music and Variety, Talk Show, Reality-Free
Last week U2 was on
The Late Show with David Letterman for five straight nights to promote their new album, and now another rock icon is going on Leno to promote his new albums.
Prince (so glad I don't have to find some way to type that funny symbol thing he went as for a few years)
will perform on Jay Leno's show for four nights, March 25 to 27 and then again on May 28. The appearances are to promote his two (yes, two) new albums,
Lotus Flower and
MPLSound, which will be released on May 29 in Target stores only. Leno's last show is that same night. Conan O'Brien takes over on June 1.
Prince sent out a special e-mail to fans on his mailing list and you can read it at the link above. Lots of uses of the number "2" for "two" and "to" as well as the number "4" for "four" and "for." I think Prince invented text messaging.
Next Page >
Dylan Baker talks about Kings, playing creeps, and The Pitts - VIDEOS
The new teams on The Biggest Loser are sucking the joy out of the show
TV 101: Why we need public figures who lie to us (and how TV screws that up!)
