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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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March 10, 2010
OK, I have a confession. If a singer chooses a song I've never heard of, my mind tends to wander. I don't believe I'm alone in this bad habit, right?
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The entry "Idol: Michael Lynche" has no entry tags.
After two weeks of rather baffling performances, Todrick needed to impress the judges tonight. And he did with a rousing, entertaining version of Queen's "Somebody to Love." Heck, I just enjoyed the fact that he moved around on the stage and even KNEELED at one point. Is that what's missing this season? Greater mobility? Perhaps. (Among other things.)
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The entry "Idol: Todrick Hall" has no entry tags.
Have we seen Casey in anything other than a blue shirt? (Besides the time he went shirtless, I mean?) Just wonderin'.
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The entry "Idol: Casey James" has no entry tags.
Who could have predicted this? Two weeks ago, Simon basically told him to pack up and leave (again, as he wasn't originally supposed to be in the top 24), as he was horrific. Now, with a version of "Hallelujah" that was at least as haunting as Jason Castro's rendition a couple of seasons ago, Tim won the judges' hearts. (For this week, anyway.) Ellen ran over and gave him a hug, Kara called the performance "honest and interpretive" and Simon said he was "very, very smart with this song. It was by far the strongest performance you've given in the competition."
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The entry "Idol: Tim Urban" has no entry tags.
Still rockin' the mullet. Maybe he'll start a fashion trend!
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The entry "Idol: Alex Lambert" has no entry tags.
At the halfway point in the show, I have to say that I'm heartened that tonight's episode is actually entertaining. (As opposed to last night, which featured the girls. No offense.)
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The entry "American Idol: Guys" has no entry tags.
Miles tells on Linus.
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The entry ""Lost" haiku: S6, Ep. 7" has no entry tags.
SPOILER ALERT: You know the drill. Come back here Wednesday morning for the latest in Samantha Urban's increasingly fabulous series of Lost haikus. You know that saying about something being all "smoke and mirrors"? That's exactly what the final season of ABC's Lost is turning into. And I mean that as a compliment. I'm starting to think that the creators, in all their warped wisdom, at some point just turned to each other and said, "Let's make something that really is all about smoke and mirrors." Hence we have this season's emphasis on Smokey the monster, a.k.a. Evil Locke (Terry O'Quinn), who wasn't seen this episode -- but we did hear that trademark ominous clicking right before E.L. appeared, so we know it was there. And mirrors -- they're everywhere, both literal and metaphoric, starting with that mirror in Jacob's lighthouse, to the endless shots of characters gazing at themselves in mirrors, to the mirrored realities of Island World and Sideways World. PHOTO by Richard Drew/The Associated Press: Michael Emerson, who plays Ben Linus on 'Lost'
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The entry "'Lost' recap: The redemption of Ben Linus" is tagged: Jeff Fahey , Jorge Garcia , Lost on ABC , Matthew Fox , Michael Emerson , Nestor Carbonell , Terry O'Quinn , Zuleikha Robinson March 9, 2010
Was anybody else wishing for something a bit more caffeinated in terms of song choice? It was one slow, somber tune after the other. But there was one bright moment: Crystal Bowersox, who showed off her star power once again with "Give Me One Reason." I don't think she really has much competition on the ladies' side of the stage. Lilly Scott? Maybe, but I agreed with Simon that her take on "I Fall To Pieces" failed to wow.
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The entry "Idol: Lullaby Week" has no entry tags.
As the girls take the stage tonight, some of them don't seem to be trying all that hard. Katie Stevens took Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" and made it sound like a funeral dirge, while Kateylyn Epperly (as Randy said) put nothing special into "I Feel the Earth Move." In other words, the earth stayed still.
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The entry "American Idol: Countdown to the Top 12" has no entry tags.
Apparently, between Chuck and Gossip Girl, Monday night is now Josh Schwartz night for me. It feels like our favorite Upper East Siders have been absent for a looong time. Here's where we left off: - Nate and Serena finally became a couple.
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The entry "What we're watching: Monday night, 'Gossip Girl'" has no entry tags.
After years of awkward moments and terrible secrets, Morgan finally knows that his best friend is a spy... and he couldn't be more psyched. (The same goes for the Chuck audience.) The Ring lured Sarah, Casey and Shaw away from the base under the false impression that they were targeting Awesome while he was on vacation with Ellie. But back at the Buy More, Ring agents were pretending to be "cleaning house" as Buy More executives while they were really searching for the C.I.A. base. Believing everyone was going to be fired, Lester and Jeff lead a revolution - leading to some of the funniest scenes ever filmed at the Buy More. (By the way, leading man Zachary Levi directed the episode and did some very fine work indeed.)
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The entry "What we're watching: Monday night, 'Chuck'" has no entry tags.
If you really and truly think you can dance, now's your chance to prove it. From FOX's Web site: We want YOU to audition for Season 7 of SYTYCD! It's another opportunity to become America's Favorite Dancer! Wednesday, March 10, 2010 Dress to impress! Print and fill out these forms and bring them to the auditions. Doors open at 8 a.m. Be prepared to stay for an extra two days for potential callbacks. Keep checking FOX.com/dance for the latest information regarding audition details, music options and for all audition updates. I'll say this - while a student at SMU, I was unaware that they held auditions on campus. I went to Stromboli's for pizza that afternoon and was surprised to find it packed with people in Bedazzled leather jackets and leg-warmers. So... you know... dress to impress.
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The entry "'So You Think You Can Dance' auditions in Dallas this week" has no entry tags.
Less than 24 hours after Neil Patrick Harris performed a surprise musical number at the Academy Awards, we see him in another one on another solid episode of How I Met Your Mother. And with Jennifer Lopez this week, HIMYM once again kept the big! name! (yes?) guest star from overshadowing the show, while also enabling them to shine brilliantly amid all the seemingly random bits that combine to make for good comedy. I mean, seriously, how many stupid little songs-that-aren't-real-songs can they create before I'm groaning instead of laughing? "I said-a 'bang, bang, bangity-bang, bang-bang-bangity-bang!' " Especially ones with lines from Ben Stiller's 2003 film Duplex?!
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The entry "What we're watching: J. Lo and impromptu musical numbers on 'How I Met Your Mother'" is tagged: guests , himym , how i met your mother , Jennifer Lopez , musical March 8, 2010
Technically, what I was watching Sunday night was the Oscars, but early Monday morning I was watching the finale of what's been the best season of Big Love and, therefore, week in week out the best show on television. This has been a crazy season and fulfilling that craziness, the penultimate episode left so many ball up in the air, there seemed no way that the finale, in the span of 50-something minutes, could wrap everything up. The short answer is: it doesn't. But the slightly longer answer is: it deals with everything it needed to in really smart, surprising and provocative ways. Read on only if you're spoiler-safe.
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The entry "What We're Watching: Sunday night, Big Love finale" is tagged: big love , What We're Watching
Unless you made it through the entire Oscars telecast, then the local news and then the annual post-Oscars Jimmy Kimmel Live, you missed quite a funny sketch. Kimmel, in a riff on deciding who's hot and who's not, claimed to belong to a Handsome Men's Club. The members included Patrick Dempsey, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, John Krasinski and others. But the local laughs came when Tony Romo was revealed to be a member, despite Jimmy's disapproval of his ears. (Romo appears at the 4:50 mark.) "He can't even get his hat on frontways ever... 'cause his ears are so big."
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The entry "Tony Romo in Jimmy Kimmel's 'Handsome Men's Club'" has no entry tags. March 5, 2010
This week's Talking TV has a theme! (Gasp!) In "Ends and Beginnings," Tom and I discuss various ends (the Nip/Tuck finale, the Burn Notice finale, etc.) and beginnings (the Parenthood premiere, Monday's Gossip Girl premiere). Join us on moviesblog.dallasnews.com on Sunday night for our live commentary during the Oscars telecast. Listen to this week's Talking TV here or download it on iTunes.
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The entry "Talking TV: Ends and beginnings" has no entry tags.
Oh baby. I'm a die-hard "Office" fan, but I didn't really care for the much-hyped "baby" episode, "The Delivery." The first half focused on Pam being in labor, but not wanting to go to the hospital yet because the HMO only covers so much time in the hospital. Jim was practically doubled over with worry, but Michael decided to band the office together in an effort to distract Pam from her labor pains. Once the baby, a girl names Cecilia Marie Halpert, arrives, the episode divded itself between the Halperts getting to know their daughter and the action back at Dunder Mifflin, where a proud Michael tries to start new families within the office by playing matchmaker.
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The entry "What we're watching: Thursday night, "The Office"" has no entry tags.
Texas' Colby Donaldson survives to play another week on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, but it was a very close scrape Thursday night for one of the "good guys" of the Heroes team.' Read on for who was evicted:
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The entry "Survivor: Close one for Colby" is tagged: Cirie Fields , Coach Ben Wade , Russell Hantz , Survivor; Colby Donaldson March 4, 2010
The guest judges this week are Isabel Toledo, designer to the First Lady, and Stephen Webster, jewelry designer. On the runway, Mila's black and white plastic dress is pretty cool, but Jesse's metal puff ball is crazy. Jonathan's copper number is forgettable. Anthony actually made a feminine, lavender cocktail dress. Ben's copper outfit is overshadowed by the appearance of Emilio's "garment." Maya's dress looks like it belongs to Lady Gaga. During judging, Ben, Jonathan, Amy and Seth Aaron move on to the next round. Mila's paint tray dress gets rave reviews, but Emilio is taken down a peg for not having any discernible pattern. (They actually give him more credit than he deserves and think he was trying to be creative and not make a dress, when really, he just ran out of material.) Anthony (unjustly) gets insulted because he made something pretty and soft when he should have embraced the "hardness" of the hardware. Maya's dress recieves compliments, but Jesse's is compared to a dirty vacuum bag, a Hershey's kiss, a ballerina and the Tin Man. (Called it!) But Jay outshines everyone with his "luxury" trash bag outfit - he scores unanimous praise. Maya is in and Jay is the winner of the challenge. Mila and Anthony are in, too. It comes down to Jesse and Emilio... predictably, Jesse is out. Emilio committed a grave error, but at least it was a statement. Jesse's never been a shining star and so he didn't have anything to rest on. Oh well... Auf wiedersehen, Jesse! Next time: "Anyone could go at any time." "Is anyone else as worried as I am?" "It looks like a cat in a baby sling." All this and more on the next Project Runway!
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The entry "Project Runway: Hardware or "hard to wear"" has no entry tags. |
THINGS TO DO
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Wasn't it "It's A Woman's World"? Anywa
Hey Joyce -- yes, I figured that out af
My prediction for next season is as fol
Joy, it's very confusing for viewers, b
I think the office is done.
However, Pam breast feeding the wrong b
I thought I was the only one who wasn't
Kara was a BAD move. I can no longer w
I believe she is a diabetic.
To
I think that even more important than S