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Critic Tom Maurstad and contributor Darla Atlas offer views, news and nuggets on all things television. March 2010
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What we're watching: 'Southland' finally goes to 'Phase Three' Recent Comments
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March 3, 2010
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The entry ""Lost" haiku: S6, Ep. 6" has no entry tags.
Yay for new Southland! Well, yay for you, I should say. The episode's called "Phase Three," and it is the first completely brand spankin' new episode to air since NBC canceled the show and TNT picked it up. And I was anticipating this day, until I remembered that me and some other lucky Dallas fans already saw this episode at a January screening. Yeah, kind of a bummer, but the thing with Southland is that it's awesome. Those of us that have been watching since the very beginning are invested. And if Jay Leno can return to The Tonight Show and beat David Letterman just like that, than doggone it, we're going to make sure everyone knows about the greatness that TNT's bringing us. The episode starts with the cool, HBO-like intro stills, then we see Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie) getting jumped after he and his partner, John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz), come on the scene of a small riot. We then backtrack and see an elderly man pruning rose bushes in his front yard before a shadowy figure approaches. Then, Detective Lydia Adams (Regina King) is on the phone with her partner, Russell, who we last saw shot and bloody in the season finale. He's in the hospital with a nasty scar on his stomach, but otherwise he seems good - and almost like he's flirting with Lydia?
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The entry "What we're watching: 'Southland' finally goes to 'Phase Three'" is tagged: Ben McKenzie , cable tv , cops , Regina King , Southland March 2, 2010
SPOILER ALERT! Don't read any further if you don't want to know what happened on tonight's episode of Lost. Haiku reminder: Check back here on Wednesday morning for Samantha Urban's much shorter -- and more poetic -- recap. Finally, the Sayid episode (OK, I admit it, while everyone else was oohing and ahhing over Jack and Sawyer, Sayid was always my Lost crush). Sayid (Naveen Andrews) spent the entire episode, both on the island and in Sideways World, wrestling with his evil past (Iraqi Republican Guard, torture, etc.) and the hope for a violence-free future. On the island, he confronts Dogen (Hiroyuki Sanada), who nearly kills Sayid until he's stopped by the sight of a ... rolling baseball. Dogen, lovingly caressing his baseball, tells Sayid to leave the temple and never return. And yes! A baseball has 108 stitches -- I learned that from Bull Durham -- and so does a Buddhist or Hindu rosary (not a Catholic rosary, as also stated in Bull Durham -- it's not the one-stop resource for info, apparently, that I'd always thought it was.) But anyway, there's that pesky 108 again. We learn later that Dogen's 12-year-old son was killed on the way home from a baseball game, when Dogen was driving drunk. PHOTO by Mario Perez/ABC: Naveen Andrews as Sayid on Lost
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The entry "'Lost' recap: Sayid chooses, and it's a bad choice" is tagged: Andrea Gabriel , Bull Durham , Emilie de Ravin , Evangeline Lilly , Hiroyuki Sanada , Kevin Durand , Lost on ABC , Naveen Andrews , Terry O'Quinn
Andrew Garcia, Aaron Kelly and Jermaine Sellers all sort of fell into the same trap. It's called Boring. (No offense, because I love Andrew in particular. Not tonight, though.)
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The entry "Idol: The rest" has no entry tags.
The Duncanville resident jokingly called last week's horrendous performance (and subsequent lashing by Simon) "a great confidence booster." This week, he went back to his original style with "Come On Get Higher." Was it stupendous? No. But it was 100 times better than last go-round.
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The entry "Idol: Tim Urban" has no entry tags.
In another attempt to make a popular song his own, Todrick chose Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It." But unlike last week, he kept the basic melody, which was nice. I personally enjoyed the whole thing. (Except for the backup singers, who were distracting.)
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The entry "Idol: Todrick Hall" has no entry tags.
The North Richland Hills teen is in a very good position at this point in the show. Not only is he a great singer, he's somoene the judges want to take under their wings. Simon even said he wished he could pick out Alex's songs for him. Wow.
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The entry "Idol: Alex Lambert" has no entry tags.
I love that our locals are so darned likable. Casey, the 27-year-old from Fort Worth, said in his montage that he a) has never watched American Idol; b) hasn't had a TV for most of his life (a lightning storm blew out their set when he was 7 and they never got around to replacing it); c) bought and restored his house ("It's a tiny little house, but it's home so I love it"); and d) has a mysterious pre-show ritual that involves something hidden in a small box.
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The entry "Idol: Casey James" has no entry tags.
Poor guy can't seem to get a break. During his montage, he mentioned his band, Purple Haze, and how they're missing him as the lead singer.
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The entry "Idol: John Park" has no entry tags.
At the start of the show, Ryan reported that Crystal Bowersox was taken to the hospital "and under doctor's orders will not be able to perform tonight." Apparently, she will bounce back completely by tomorrow. Which makes one wonder what her mysterious ailment could be.
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The entry "American Idol: Men's Night (unexpectedly)" has no entry tags.
Ali Fedotowsky didn't win the heart of Bachelor Jake Pavelka, but she'll get another chance to search for a mate on TV as star of ABC's The Bachelorette when that new season starts May 24. Fedotowsky, 25, was a frontrunner on the just-finished Bachelor, but left to keep her job. She had second thoughts, but was told it was too late to rejoin the show.
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The entry "Ali is the new Bachelorette" is tagged: Bachelor , Bachelorette
SPOILER ALERT: Don't read this if you don't want to know what happened -- or didn't -- on Monday night's episode of 24. This will be my final recap of this season's 24. No, the season's not over -- not even halfway there -- but last night I fell asleep watching it. For someone who's been raptly tuned to every single episode of 24 since it began in 2001, that's saying something. And that something is not so good. Season Eight, thus far, has all the excitement and panache of creamed corn. I don't think 24 has jumped the shark so much as rolled over and let the shark eat it.
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The entry "'24' recap: What, there was an episode last night?" is tagged: 24 on Fox , General Hospital , Kiefer Sutherland , One Life to Live
The first post-Olympics Chuck was one of the weaker episodes of the season - but there were still enough bright spots to make it worth my while. The episode, "Chuck Vs. The Fake Name," revolved around Chuck's growing entrenchment in the spy world. He had to impersonate an assassin in front of some goofy stereotyped Italian mobsters that had something or other to do with the Ring. Turns out, they want to kill Agent Shaw (Brandon Routh), who's busy wooing Sarah... who reveals to Shaw that her real name is Sam. (I doubt it.) This revelation seems to spark something in Chuck, as he decides to break up with Hannah (Kristin Kreuk).
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The entry "What we're watching: Monday night, 'Chuck'" has no entry tags. March 1, 2010
Leno's return to late night television at the helm of the Tonight Show began with a spoof of The Wizard of Oz. In grainy black and white, Jay is lying in bed, surrounded by anxious friends, a re-enactment of the classic scene in which Dorothy awakens from Oz's technicolor dreamland to find herself back in her Kansas farmhouse. The difference is what Jay is waking up from was more like a nightmare. His opening monologue made only a few glancing references to the last several months of tumult and drama. No mention of Conan O'Brien, an affectionate jab at David (Letterman) and Oprah (Winfrey) with whom he appeared in a Super Bowl spot, and one joke at the expense of his home network NBC. Other than that, the "new" Jay quickly settled into "old" Jay mode and tossed out jokes about Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Tiger Woods and Toyota. With jokes about incompetent government and greedy airlines, Jay continued his re-branding as the Tea Party TV host, an effort that will receive a considerable boost tomorrow (Tuesday) night when his main guest will be former governor Sarah Palin.
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The entry "Jay Leno's return" is tagged: Jay Leno
Oh, it has been too long. What, you ask? Too long since I've blogged? Too long since we've had new episodes of How I Met Your Mother? How about too long since you've noticed just how precious teacup pigs are? Let's go with the last two. I was excited at the prospect of new HIMYM goodness, yet worried about Carrie Underwood's guest turn on this episode (I know I've got to let her "Christmas" special go, but... it wasn't just a dream). Nevertheless, the American Idol winner was, dare I say it, perfect for the role of a woman who was leading Ted along. Ergo the episode title, "Hooked." And did I mention teacup pigs?! Try to hate them, you can't.
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The entry "What we're watching: 'How I Met Your Mother,' teacup pigs and all" is tagged: Carrie Underwood , guests , how i met your mother
Before Jake's parents, siblings and siblings-in-law met the final two ladies, Jake blurted out that none of the other girls in the house liked Vienna. Warning bells went off all over the rented Pavelka abode.
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The entry "The Bachelor: Family input" has no entry tags.
"I need one girl to reveal herself as the perfect girl for the next 60 years of my life," Jake said at the start of tonight's finale. No pressure, Tenley and Vienna! (And what happens if they have a 61-year marriage? His wife can be a total slacker for the final few months?)
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The entry "The Bachelor: On the Wings of The Final Rose" has no entry tags.
Dallas' KERA-TV (Channel 13) has won a national Gracie Award for its original documentary Boyfriends, which features.local teen couples and their relationships. The award, from the American Women in Radio and Television, is for outstanding reality film. If you missed it, watch at www.boyfriendsweb.com, where you'll also find information on forming and keeping healthy relationships. Read on for KERA's news release:
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The entry "Win for KERA-TV's 'Boyfriends'" is tagged: KERA-TV; Boyfriends February 26, 2010
Listen to this week's Talking TV right here or download it on iTunes. This week, Tom and I discuss the need for a Olympics reality show, Jay Leno's smug commercials and whether or not laughing at Karl Pilkington on "The Ricky Gervais Show" is okay. You'll come for the TV talk, but you'll stay for Tom's imitation of a curling team.
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The entry "Talking TV: Winter Olympics, Leno's return and "The Ricky Gervais Show"" has no entry tags.
The Wheelmobile, a 39-foot Winnebago that tours the nation in search of Wheel of Fortune contestants, is coming to Dallas. It'll be at the Dallas Convention Center from 2 to 6 p.m. on March 6 and at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth from 2 to 6 p.m. on March 7.
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The entry ""I'd like to buy a vowel:" Be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune" has no entry tags. |
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Casey is in a no win situation now. Ka
Clearly Ali had already secretly signed
I only got as far as the dumb "Oz" open
I'm also not an Ali fan, Lila. She said
I am very happy about Jake's choice. Vi
Ali would have been the best choice. Sh
These people are awful. Jake is a wimp
I like the office but that Gervais show
funny i didn't even get a rerun. i got
Congrats on your mini-article landing o