This visit was to Great Neck, New York, to an Italian restaurant called Trobiano's. The restaurant is co-owned by Anthony and the parents (Joe and Pat) of Anthony's girlfriend Tiffany. Anthony is also the executive chef and Tiffany is a waitress in the restaurant. The business isn't doing all that well, but Anthony has implemented an early bird special which practically fills the restaurant at 4:30 with old people, but by the normal dinner rush of 7pm, the restaurant is empty. The portions are also so big that many people have enough leftovers to take with them to be a meal for the next day. Gordon comes in and sees the limited business that the restaurant has as well as the wastefully large servings, and on top of that, he hates the food. When he berates Anthony for his seeming lack of care, and Anthony is unresponsive, Gordon leaves, but Anthony goes after him, and after a sidewalk chat, Gordon is convinced to come back and try again.
The first thing Gordon does is to take all four of them to a farm and have them each milk a cow. They then bring the milk back to the restaurant where Gordon teaches them to make homemade and fresh mozzarella cheese, which will be the new signature dish/ingredient in the restaurant. He also introduces a new menu with new dishes which are more properly proportioned.
One problem that persists, though, is that Anthony is not tasting the dishes he sends out, so many get sent back because they're not done correctly or don't taste good. It's an obstacle Anthony manages to hurdle just in time for the arrival of Bon Appetit's editor-in-chief. Luckily, she and others at her table seem to like their food. Gordon takes Anthony aside and says there's only one thing missing, and that's his long-put-off proposal to Tiffany. Gordon presents Anthony with a ring to give to her, and after Gordon presents executive chef Anthony to the restaurant, he calls Tiffany to him, gets down on one knee and proposes, which she accepts. Gordon then says that he's arranged for them to get married that very night, which does happen. I thought the whole proposal thing was pretty cute, but the wedding thing was a bit much for me. Being that rushed and not being able to enjoy it wouldn't have been my choice. All I can think is that Gordon talked to both Anthony and Tiffany about it, and they each had expressed a desire to get married soon. I'm also not sure about the wisdom of Joe and Pat putting their home and whole life savings at stake for the sake of a mere boyfriend of their daughter's.
In the second part of this double episode, we go to the heart of New York City, to Black Pearl, which has three owners that end up creating chaos for the staff. One of the owners (David) is so controlling that he doesn't even allow the head chef to season his own dishes, which Gordon finds appalling. Gordon then later gets into a heated disagreement with David about the difference between Maine lobsters, which is what the menu advertises serving, and Canadian lobsters, which is what the restaurant actually serves. (From doing a search on the net, there seems to be a lot of dispute about whether or not there is actually a difference between the two. Fascinating.)
The consensus is that the restaurant has no direction or leadership, so it's decided that one of the three managers needs to be the general manager so that there's really one voice making the decisions. Gordon sends home one of the managers, who seems to have almost no real interest in the restaurant, and the remaining two managers, David and Greg, take turns running the restaurant's dining room and being the expediter. David is condescending and arrogant as an expediter and downright rude, including to guests, as manager of the dining room. Greg is better running the dining room, and though he initially struggles as the expediter, he manages to finish the task. A poll of the restaurant staff determines that the overwhelming majority would rather have Greg as the General Manager, so that is implemented. To help promote the new place, Gordon introduces a lobster claw machine in the restaurant, like the kind where you normally get stuffed animals, but in this case, they are live lobsters in a water tank - if you pay the money and can fish one out, they'll cook it and feed it to you for free. To help promote the new restaurant, Gordon also arranges for a walkaround lobster - "Louis" - to be with them as they pass out flyers in Times Square. I thought the lobster claw machine was actually pretty funny, but I also thought that, as well as Louis, were a bit odd and a bit of a departure from what Gordon normally does.
The third partner seemed to agree that he really shouldn't be in the restaurant business, but David was in total denial and blind about the harm he was doing the restaurant and the staff with his attitude and behaviour. Gordon says that the restaurant has a chance of surviving if the other two get out and Greg is left as the sole owner of the restaurant. It will be interesting to see if they revisit this place to see if it survives.
One problem I still have with this show is that they seem to run short on content and expend inordinant amounts of time showing you what you're about to see in the next segment. It's like watching a trailer for a movie that shows you all the plot points of the movie. What's the point of that? They must take hours and hours of footage for each show, and they can't cobble together 48 minutes or so of actual show from that?
Showing posts with label Kitchen Nightmares. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kitchen Nightmares. Show all posts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
"Kitchen Nightmares" - September 11, 2008 and September 18, 2008 episodes
September 11, 2008 episode
The Handlebar Restaurant in Mt. Sinai, NY doesn't have any problems attracting bar patrons, but the restaurant's tables sit mostly empty. Owner Bill seems completely clueless about how to run a restaurant and is even fairly ignorant about his staff, including an executive chef who doesn't want to be a chef. Bill and his wife Carolyn bought the restaurant with a dream but apparently no real conception of how to run one. It was in a horrendous condition when they bought it, but Bill feels that he's done a lot with it from what it was before. When Gordon Ramsay came in and found that things hadn't been cleaned and all kinds of other problems with it, Bill got mad that Gordon didn't give him credit for everything that he *had* done with the restaurant. Bill didn't seem to understand that "it doesn't suck as much as it used to" really wasn't going to cut it. The more Gordon criticized, the madder Bill got until he walked out and refused to speak to Gordon, and he called up Carolyn to tell her he was just going to sell the restaurant. Carolyn rushed over but missed him, and when she saw how much her staff was doing to try to get the restaurant to the right place (a fact that Bill completely disregarded), she decided they needed to keep going and at least try to bring the restaurant back.
OK, so when Carolyn came in and was talking to Gordon, was she not drunk? At first, I couldn't understand why she seemed weird, but then I realized that she was kind of slurring her words and talking in an oddly slow way, and this was all very different than her behaviour prior to that point and after that point. At first, I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I couldn't think of any other explanation for her behaving so oddly in that fashion all of a sudden. The husband's comment was that she was "plastered". And then later, after dinner service started and Bill came back, I couldn't believe that Carolyn was still cajoling him. I would have been so mad that he wanted this restaurant but that he was completely incapable of seeing what was wrong, even when someone on the level of Gordon Ramsay was telling him, and he was just being a complete baby, but she kept trying to placate him. I turned to the husband and told him that in a similiar situation, I would so be yelling at him, and he agreed that I should be.
In Bill's absence, the staff had continued to work, which bolstered Carolyn's resolve to give it a go. Gordon showed them how to make fresh home-made potato chips, which were given as a complimentary snack to all patrons as they perused the menu, and fried clams, which was offered as an appetizer. Both were well received by the customers.
Bill eventually came around and began to see that Gordon was right, and Bill became more receptive to Gordon's suggestions. The last obstacle was not-chef Melissa, who tried to do everything herself and when frustrated just shut down and stopped communicating. After much cajoling by Gordon and Bill, she was finally able to ask for help from the other two cooks, and she delegated tasks to them, so working together, they made the kitchen hum.
September 18, 2008 episode
Giuseppi's Trattoria outside of Detroit is owned by Joe and Kathy, where Joe served as the executive chef and son Salvatore (Sam) served as another chef. Joe wanted Sam to run the restaurant, but he was constantly in the kitchen telling Sam what to do and what he was doing wrong. Joe has diabetes, which hindered him, but he seemed incapable of letting go, even when his health was at stake. The kitchen relied entirely too much on microwaving food in an effort to get the food out faster, but faster isn't better, since microwaving can change the texture of food, and heating is also uneven, so even though the food was sent out quickly, it was just as quickly sent back because of problems. Joe finally kicked Sam out of the kitchen, and Sam continued to be at a loss at how to please his father.
Gordon proposed a cook-off between father and son, and the staff would have a taste test to see which dish was better, and the winning dish would be the special for the night. Joe's pork chop ended up beating Sam's salmon, but Gordon deemed them both good enough to be specials. It was actually nice to see each of them making their dishes, and Sam had already expressed his dislike for the microwave, but it makes you wonder why Joe settled for serving his customers microwaved food when he could cook such great food himself.
As much as they told Joe that he had to pull back and let Sam do his thing, succeed or fail, Joe had a difficult time letting go, and Gordon himself had to personally kick Joe out of the kitchen multiple times. Things finally started to work, but then Brian the sous chef was joking around too much, which distracted Sam, and things went bad again. When Gordon tried to reign them in, Brian blamed the problems on Gordon and then just left. I sure hope they fired his ass. With Brian gone, father and son were actually able to work together to successful send out dishes.
Gordon had some food and restaurant issues to fix, but the biggest problem to solve was between father and son. Gordon had asked Kathy to write a letter to Joe and Sam and had individually asked Joe and Sam to write a letter to the other person, all expressing exactly what they wanted to say. He then had each person read their letter in front of all of them, and they all teared up at the pent up words and real feelings that had never really been expressed. Sam was finally able to see and hear that his dad was proud of him and loved him, and it looked like Joe might finally be able to let go and let Sam run the place and get the rest he needed to properly fight his diabetes.
One thing that I noticed and disliked particularly in this episode, probably because it was even more prevalent than in other episodes, is that they spent a lot of time showing you what you were going to see in the rest of the show. There was one "and coming up next" segment that was so incredibly long that I at first thought I'd fast-forwarded through parts of the actual show. When I went back and watched it, it turned out that no, that ENTIRE SEGMENT was actually all stuff that was going to be shown after the next commercial break. Maybe they just have episodes that are short and where there isn't enough footage, so they have to put so much more filler in. I just find it hard to believe that with as much footage as I would presume they shoot, that they can't come up with enough to fill a one-hour show.
The Handlebar Restaurant in Mt. Sinai, NY doesn't have any problems attracting bar patrons, but the restaurant's tables sit mostly empty. Owner Bill seems completely clueless about how to run a restaurant and is even fairly ignorant about his staff, including an executive chef who doesn't want to be a chef. Bill and his wife Carolyn bought the restaurant with a dream but apparently no real conception of how to run one. It was in a horrendous condition when they bought it, but Bill feels that he's done a lot with it from what it was before. When Gordon Ramsay came in and found that things hadn't been cleaned and all kinds of other problems with it, Bill got mad that Gordon didn't give him credit for everything that he *had* done with the restaurant. Bill didn't seem to understand that "it doesn't suck as much as it used to" really wasn't going to cut it. The more Gordon criticized, the madder Bill got until he walked out and refused to speak to Gordon, and he called up Carolyn to tell her he was just going to sell the restaurant. Carolyn rushed over but missed him, and when she saw how much her staff was doing to try to get the restaurant to the right place (a fact that Bill completely disregarded), she decided they needed to keep going and at least try to bring the restaurant back.
OK, so when Carolyn came in and was talking to Gordon, was she not drunk? At first, I couldn't understand why she seemed weird, but then I realized that she was kind of slurring her words and talking in an oddly slow way, and this was all very different than her behaviour prior to that point and after that point. At first, I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I couldn't think of any other explanation for her behaving so oddly in that fashion all of a sudden. The husband's comment was that she was "plastered". And then later, after dinner service started and Bill came back, I couldn't believe that Carolyn was still cajoling him. I would have been so mad that he wanted this restaurant but that he was completely incapable of seeing what was wrong, even when someone on the level of Gordon Ramsay was telling him, and he was just being a complete baby, but she kept trying to placate him. I turned to the husband and told him that in a similiar situation, I would so be yelling at him, and he agreed that I should be.
In Bill's absence, the staff had continued to work, which bolstered Carolyn's resolve to give it a go. Gordon showed them how to make fresh home-made potato chips, which were given as a complimentary snack to all patrons as they perused the menu, and fried clams, which was offered as an appetizer. Both were well received by the customers.
Bill eventually came around and began to see that Gordon was right, and Bill became more receptive to Gordon's suggestions. The last obstacle was not-chef Melissa, who tried to do everything herself and when frustrated just shut down and stopped communicating. After much cajoling by Gordon and Bill, she was finally able to ask for help from the other two cooks, and she delegated tasks to them, so working together, they made the kitchen hum.
September 18, 2008 episode
Giuseppi's Trattoria outside of Detroit is owned by Joe and Kathy, where Joe served as the executive chef and son Salvatore (Sam) served as another chef. Joe wanted Sam to run the restaurant, but he was constantly in the kitchen telling Sam what to do and what he was doing wrong. Joe has diabetes, which hindered him, but he seemed incapable of letting go, even when his health was at stake. The kitchen relied entirely too much on microwaving food in an effort to get the food out faster, but faster isn't better, since microwaving can change the texture of food, and heating is also uneven, so even though the food was sent out quickly, it was just as quickly sent back because of problems. Joe finally kicked Sam out of the kitchen, and Sam continued to be at a loss at how to please his father.
Gordon proposed a cook-off between father and son, and the staff would have a taste test to see which dish was better, and the winning dish would be the special for the night. Joe's pork chop ended up beating Sam's salmon, but Gordon deemed them both good enough to be specials. It was actually nice to see each of them making their dishes, and Sam had already expressed his dislike for the microwave, but it makes you wonder why Joe settled for serving his customers microwaved food when he could cook such great food himself.
As much as they told Joe that he had to pull back and let Sam do his thing, succeed or fail, Joe had a difficult time letting go, and Gordon himself had to personally kick Joe out of the kitchen multiple times. Things finally started to work, but then Brian the sous chef was joking around too much, which distracted Sam, and things went bad again. When Gordon tried to reign them in, Brian blamed the problems on Gordon and then just left. I sure hope they fired his ass. With Brian gone, father and son were actually able to work together to successful send out dishes.
Gordon had some food and restaurant issues to fix, but the biggest problem to solve was between father and son. Gordon had asked Kathy to write a letter to Joe and Sam and had individually asked Joe and Sam to write a letter to the other person, all expressing exactly what they wanted to say. He then had each person read their letter in front of all of them, and they all teared up at the pent up words and real feelings that had never really been expressed. Sam was finally able to see and hear that his dad was proud of him and loved him, and it looked like Joe might finally be able to let go and let Sam run the place and get the rest he needed to properly fight his diabetes.
One thing that I noticed and disliked particularly in this episode, probably because it was even more prevalent than in other episodes, is that they spent a lot of time showing you what you were going to see in the rest of the show. There was one "and coming up next" segment that was so incredibly long that I at first thought I'd fast-forwarded through parts of the actual show. When I went back and watched it, it turned out that no, that ENTIRE SEGMENT was actually all stuff that was going to be shown after the next commercial break. Maybe they just have episodes that are short and where there isn't enough footage, so they have to put so much more filler in. I just find it hard to believe that with as much footage as I would presume they shoot, that they can't come up with enough to fill a one-hour show.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
"Kitchen Nightmares" - September 4, 2008 episode - season premiere
"Kitchen Nightmares" is back for another season, and this season's opener involved re-visiting six restaurants from last year, to see what has happened to the restaurants in the year that has gone by. Have the restaurants survived? Have they thrived? Or did they revert back to their old ways?
The first restaurant was Finn McCool's, the Irish pub. Ramsay's family recipe of shepherd's pie that he gave to the chef has been a huge hit. The spring rolls that Ramsay hated so much have made their way back to the menu due to popular demand, but it's all made with fresh ingredients now, and when Ramsay is served the new spring rolls, he gives them a thumbs up.
The next restaurant was The Olde Stone Mill Steakhouse. It's a thriving business, and they even got a terrific review from The New York Times.
After that, it was back to the Mixing Bowl Eatery, where the manager was giving huge discounts to people and having outrageous signs on the front of the restaurant. The restaurant is thriving, so no gimmicky promotions are needed to draw customers in. I still hate that "eatery" is in the name of the restaurant.
Next up was Dillon's Restaurant, which was renamed Purnima and turned into an Indian restaurant. This was the restaurant where Martin, the General Manager, was completely ineffective and ended up quitting, later suing the show. The case was sent to arbitration, but I can't find any kind of update about what happened. The restaurant is now doing quite well, and the consultant chef is still with the restaurant.
The next visit was back to Campania, where they were serving huge portions of food so that everyone had leftovers. They were also keeping too many supplies on hand, which would go bad before they could use them, wasting lots of money. Ramsay had taught them to cut down on the portions and use fresher ingredients and introduced a signature dish of meatballs, which are now hot sellers.
Last was a visit to Peter's Italian restaurant. Manager Peter had been using the restaurant's money to spend on himself, even though the restaurant wasn't doing well, but his turnaround has stuck, and the restaurant is doing very well. Odd that the restaurant doesn't have its own website, but odder still was that this was the one place that Gordon Ramsay didn't return to himself. It was just clips of the restaurant staff talking about the changes.
It was nice to see how the restaurants had maintained their new habits and thrived. I would have liked to have seen one or two that didn't, as there had to be those, but I figured those restaurants wouldn't have allowed them to come back to show what they're like now. The husband also reminded me that at the end of a couple episodes last year, we were told if a restaurant reverted back and didn't make it.
The first restaurant was Finn McCool's, the Irish pub. Ramsay's family recipe of shepherd's pie that he gave to the chef has been a huge hit. The spring rolls that Ramsay hated so much have made their way back to the menu due to popular demand, but it's all made with fresh ingredients now, and when Ramsay is served the new spring rolls, he gives them a thumbs up.
The next restaurant was The Olde Stone Mill Steakhouse. It's a thriving business, and they even got a terrific review from The New York Times.
After that, it was back to the Mixing Bowl Eatery, where the manager was giving huge discounts to people and having outrageous signs on the front of the restaurant. The restaurant is thriving, so no gimmicky promotions are needed to draw customers in. I still hate that "eatery" is in the name of the restaurant.
Next up was Dillon's Restaurant, which was renamed Purnima and turned into an Indian restaurant. This was the restaurant where Martin, the General Manager, was completely ineffective and ended up quitting, later suing the show. The case was sent to arbitration, but I can't find any kind of update about what happened. The restaurant is now doing quite well, and the consultant chef is still with the restaurant.
The next visit was back to Campania, where they were serving huge portions of food so that everyone had leftovers. They were also keeping too many supplies on hand, which would go bad before they could use them, wasting lots of money. Ramsay had taught them to cut down on the portions and use fresher ingredients and introduced a signature dish of meatballs, which are now hot sellers.
Last was a visit to Peter's Italian restaurant. Manager Peter had been using the restaurant's money to spend on himself, even though the restaurant wasn't doing well, but his turnaround has stuck, and the restaurant is doing very well. Odd that the restaurant doesn't have its own website, but odder still was that this was the one place that Gordon Ramsay didn't return to himself. It was just clips of the restaurant staff talking about the changes.
It was nice to see how the restaurants had maintained their new habits and thrived. I would have liked to have seen one or two that didn't, as there had to be those, but I figured those restaurants wouldn't have allowed them to come back to show what they're like now. The husband also reminded me that at the end of a couple episodes last year, we were told if a restaurant reverted back and didn't make it.
Monday, September 1, 2008
2008 fall television season
Since today is Labor Day, that means it's September, and September means that the start of the new fall TV season is imminently upon us. Here's a run-down of the shows that I plan to be watching this year, which means, unless I get another really bad case of writer's block when it comes to TV shows, these are the shows I will be blogging about.
America's Toughest Jobs - Monday, 9pm, NBC - I really don't need another reality show to watch, but the previews for this show intrigued me enough to watch the first episode. I like that this show isn't just about made-up challenges - the challenges are actual jobs that the contestants have to do, and these aren't run-of-the-mill desk jobs. The first episode involved going out on crabbing boats and being on the water for 24 hours with very few breaks and amazing swells and lots of heavy ropes and cages to lift and sorting through crabs and just a ton of work. It definitely made me appreciate all the work that crabbers have to go through, and it made me annoyed with the people who just wouldn't do the work. I did think it was funny that the person on each team who did the best was a woman, especially since some of the guys had been smack-talking about how it was hard work and it was no place for girls to be. Yeah, dude, shut up and just do the work. They've shown previews of the other jobs/challenges that will be coming up, so I'm looking forward to seeing more.
90210 - series premiere Tuesday, Sept. 2, 8pm, CW - I loved the old "Beverly Hills 90210" show, so I'm going to give this new show a shot. I'm not sure I'm still going to be interested in high school antics, but we'll see. If nothing else, I have to see what they do with Kelly's and Donna's characters.
Kitchen Nightmares - season premiere Thursday, Sept. 4, 8pm, Fox - I have to remember not to eat while watching this show, or at least not look at the screen too closely, but I like this alternate side of Gordon Ramsay. The first episode, showing this week, is supposed to revisit some of the restaurants featured on previous shows, to see what has happened to those restaurants since the shows aired. That should be interesting to see.
Hole in the Wall - series premiere Sunday, Sept. 7, 8pm, Fox - This is the American version of the Japanese show Human Tetris. I've been looking forward to seeing this, though I'm not actually sure how long it's going to be able to retain my interest since the games will be fairly repetitive. But maybe watching people trying to contort themself without having to think too hard about the show might be a nice weekly break.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - season premiere Monday, Sept. 8, 8pm, Fox - I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the new season of this show. The end of last season was quite explosive, literally, so I want to see how they explain some of the new developments.
Fringe - series premiere Tuesday, Sept. 9, 8pm, Fox - I'm not entirely sure what the show is about, and I haven't even really seen a trailer for the show, but seeing the billboards has intrigued me. I'm not particularly in the J.J. Abrams fan club, but I'm curious enough to give this show a try.
The Big Bang Theory - season premiere Monday, Sept. 22, 8pm, CBS - I'm looking forward to seeing the show this season, to see where they take the Penny/Leonard thing, and to hopefully see them build on the great start from last year. This is my only sitcom this year, so I need it to provide me with lots of laughs.
Heroes - season premiere Monday, Sept. 22, 9pm, NBC - They've already told us what to expect this year by subtitling the show "Villains", and apparently, Nikki isn't so much dead. I didn't think last season was as good as the first season, but I'm still liking the show, and the previews look great.
Knight Rider - series premiere Wednesday, Sept. 24, 8pm, NBC - I enjoyed the movie earlier this year, so I'm glad the show got picked up. Go, Justin Bruening! Looking forward to seeing this show.
Survivor: Gabon - season premiere Thursday, Sept. 25, 8pm, CBS - I've been watching the show now since the end of the first season, but I actually haven't decided whether I'm going to be watching this season. I've gotten a little tired of it, so it will probably be a matter of whether the previews interest me and if the first couple of episodes make me invested enough to keep watching. Sometimes, the people are just too stupid and aggravating to me for me to enjoy the show.
Desperate Housewives - season premiere Sunday, Sept. 28, 9pm, ABC - Since the new season continues the five-years-ahead jump that ended the last season, I'm interested in seeing what all the new developments are, especially since Edie didn't leave like I thought she had.
There are two other shows that I'm looking forward to seeing, but they won't be on for a while.
24 - Yes, the stupid writers' strike meant that last season didn't happen at all, so I have to wait until January 2009 for the new season to start, though there's supposed to be a movie in November, I think. Need to see Jack Bauer again!
Dollhouse - The show isn't currently on Fox's schedule, but it's expected to start airing probably sometime in January. The premise sounds interesting, and I like both Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku, so I've definitely got to give the show a try.
These are the shows that I'll be watching, and here's an article that has the season/series premiere dates for all the returning and new fall TV shows so you can find the ones you're interested in.
America's Toughest Jobs - Monday, 9pm, NBC - I really don't need another reality show to watch, but the previews for this show intrigued me enough to watch the first episode. I like that this show isn't just about made-up challenges - the challenges are actual jobs that the contestants have to do, and these aren't run-of-the-mill desk jobs. The first episode involved going out on crabbing boats and being on the water for 24 hours with very few breaks and amazing swells and lots of heavy ropes and cages to lift and sorting through crabs and just a ton of work. It definitely made me appreciate all the work that crabbers have to go through, and it made me annoyed with the people who just wouldn't do the work. I did think it was funny that the person on each team who did the best was a woman, especially since some of the guys had been smack-talking about how it was hard work and it was no place for girls to be. Yeah, dude, shut up and just do the work. They've shown previews of the other jobs/challenges that will be coming up, so I'm looking forward to seeing more.
90210 - series premiere Tuesday, Sept. 2, 8pm, CW - I loved the old "Beverly Hills 90210" show, so I'm going to give this new show a shot. I'm not sure I'm still going to be interested in high school antics, but we'll see. If nothing else, I have to see what they do with Kelly's and Donna's characters.
Kitchen Nightmares - season premiere Thursday, Sept. 4, 8pm, Fox - I have to remember not to eat while watching this show, or at least not look at the screen too closely, but I like this alternate side of Gordon Ramsay. The first episode, showing this week, is supposed to revisit some of the restaurants featured on previous shows, to see what has happened to those restaurants since the shows aired. That should be interesting to see.
Hole in the Wall - series premiere Sunday, Sept. 7, 8pm, Fox - This is the American version of the Japanese show Human Tetris. I've been looking forward to seeing this, though I'm not actually sure how long it's going to be able to retain my interest since the games will be fairly repetitive. But maybe watching people trying to contort themself without having to think too hard about the show might be a nice weekly break.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - season premiere Monday, Sept. 8, 8pm, Fox - I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the new season of this show. The end of last season was quite explosive, literally, so I want to see how they explain some of the new developments.
Fringe - series premiere Tuesday, Sept. 9, 8pm, Fox - I'm not entirely sure what the show is about, and I haven't even really seen a trailer for the show, but seeing the billboards has intrigued me. I'm not particularly in the J.J. Abrams fan club, but I'm curious enough to give this show a try.
The Big Bang Theory - season premiere Monday, Sept. 22, 8pm, CBS - I'm looking forward to seeing the show this season, to see where they take the Penny/Leonard thing, and to hopefully see them build on the great start from last year. This is my only sitcom this year, so I need it to provide me with lots of laughs.
Heroes - season premiere Monday, Sept. 22, 9pm, NBC - They've already told us what to expect this year by subtitling the show "Villains", and apparently, Nikki isn't so much dead. I didn't think last season was as good as the first season, but I'm still liking the show, and the previews look great.
Knight Rider - series premiere Wednesday, Sept. 24, 8pm, NBC - I enjoyed the movie earlier this year, so I'm glad the show got picked up. Go, Justin Bruening! Looking forward to seeing this show.
Survivor: Gabon - season premiere Thursday, Sept. 25, 8pm, CBS - I've been watching the show now since the end of the first season, but I actually haven't decided whether I'm going to be watching this season. I've gotten a little tired of it, so it will probably be a matter of whether the previews interest me and if the first couple of episodes make me invested enough to keep watching. Sometimes, the people are just too stupid and aggravating to me for me to enjoy the show.
Desperate Housewives - season premiere Sunday, Sept. 28, 9pm, ABC - Since the new season continues the five-years-ahead jump that ended the last season, I'm interested in seeing what all the new developments are, especially since Edie didn't leave like I thought she had.
There are two other shows that I'm looking forward to seeing, but they won't be on for a while.
24 - Yes, the stupid writers' strike meant that last season didn't happen at all, so I have to wait until January 2009 for the new season to start, though there's supposed to be a movie in November, I think. Need to see Jack Bauer again!
Dollhouse - The show isn't currently on Fox's schedule, but it's expected to start airing probably sometime in January. The premise sounds interesting, and I like both Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku, so I've definitely got to give the show a try.
These are the shows that I'll be watching, and here's an article that has the season/series premiere dates for all the returning and new fall TV shows so you can find the ones you're interested in.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
"Kitchen Nightmares" and "Survivor"
"Kitchen Nightmares"
This episode was about a restaurant called Secret Garden in Moorpark, CA. It's apparently so secret that Gordon had a hard time finding the front door - not a good omen to start with.
Another pattern I've noticed - the owner of the restaurant is in complete denial about their circumstances. Maybe they just don't like being confronted, and their egos take over. Michel says that he's in debt at the restaurant for something like over $200,000? And they've obviously applied to have the show and Gordon come in. But when Gordon confronts him about it, he says the restaurant is doing just fine? Ummm, ok, whatever.
And then Michel references having worked for Thomas Keller. I have recently learned a lot about and become quite enamoured of Thomas Keller, and if Michel had managed to work for one of Keller's restaurants, he must not have been there long. Michel's restaurant was filthy. Thomas Keller's restaurants are immaculate, and he's a stickler for cleanliness, much like the quick glimpse that we were given of the kitchen of one of Gordon's restaurants earlier in the season. Keller would have been appalled to have seen the state of the store room at Secret Garden, not to mention the inefficiency at getting the food out, making his customers wait so long before they're brought anything they've ordered. And Michel doesn't realize that he's dropping Thomas Keller's name, but Gordon is a name that could be equally thrown out in that vein, and yet Michel is completely dismissive of him.
It was funny to see that Gordon had arranged to have the restaurant boarded up. I guess that was the most extreme example he could give Michel. I thought it was funny that Michel was mad because he said people would see the signs and it would be broadcast on the evening news that he was closed. Does he really think his restaurant has garnered enough attention that its closing would actually make the news, even in a small town like Moorpark?
Gordon's new menu specials are a hit, but that only solves one problem - there's still no one really running the restaurant. There's zero communication between the kitchen and the servers - the kitchen has run out of some food items, but no one bothers to tell the servers, who then get yelled at because they're taking orders for food they didn't know had run out? Michel is also making things worse by not even letting his sous chefs help him. There's "hands on", and then there's an inability to delegate. What's the point of having all those people in the kitchen if you won't let them do anything? No wonder it takes so long for food to be prepared.
I did think the bit with the bus of 24 people arriving was a bit ridiculous. Most restaurants wouldn't even agree to accommodate something like that with zero notice.
But in the end, Michel does learn his lesson. He's still skeptical of Gordon's changes, but he decides to let his customers be the final test. And when they tell him how much they love everything, he finally lets it all sink in. And we were really happy that he promoted Jane to manager!
This is the last episode of the season, so it's another show to cross off my list of shows to watch. With the writers' strike still in full swing and the regular holiday hiatus coming up, there will be fewer and fewer things to watch.
"Survivor"
The reward challenge was fun because it wasn't just a matter of winning or losing on your own. You could potentially have done horribly on your own but still won because of other people. I did think it was interesting that Courtney got the most arrows. I can't believe that it was because she was all that popular. I'm wondering if so many people gave her so many arrows because they figured she wouldn't do well, so she was the least dangerous. Todd did a great job, but in the end, Courtney was responsible for Denise winning the challenge.
Denise picking Courtney to go with her made perfect sense as payback, and while there's a part of me that understands P.G. getting upset that Denise didn't pick her to go, it wouldn't have made any sense strategically to pick her. Denise's refusal to vote off Todd the week before pretty much cemented that Denise was sticking with her tribe, and as grateful as she might have been that P.G. took her to the Shao Lin Temple, that wasn't going to obligate Denise to return the favor. I understood Denise's comment about not wanting P.G. to get stronger, but I was surprised that she said it loud enough for P.G. to hear. I can't remember how close they were to each other in proximity.
I was really surprised at how completely lost Denise, Todd and Courtney were with the hot pot cooking. OK, so there's raw meat and vegetables and a boiling hot pot. It's not obvious that you cook your own food in there? Not a single one of them has had any experience with anything remotely like that? All that food, and they thought it was confusing? No wonder Amanda and P.G. were later annoyed by their comments. I thought Courtney's comment about just having pizza was pretty stupid. Ummm, hello, you're in China - they've already fed you American food a few times. Why would you expect that you'd be having pizza at the Great Wall of China? I thought Courtney's comment about Amanda being less likely to stir up trouble was pretty stupid too. Did she completely forget that it was Amanda who had engineered blindsiding James by voting him off?
It was nice to see the scenes of P.G. and Amanda bonding. I can see how demoralizing the whole experience can be for P.G., so at least she had some time of fun.
The immunity challenge with the revisiting of challenges was fun. It was seriously surprising that Todd did so poorly and was the first one kicked out. You could see the complete look of shock on P.G.'s face. The second person out was, not surprisingly, Denise on the balut challenge. She couldn't do it last time, so I'm not surprised she couldn't do it again. Jeff made a comment about it being a $1,000,000 decision, but honestly, it's really just about money. If it was something else, like her daughter would be killed if she didn't eat it, you'd bet she'd be able to get it down then. It's a matter of what's enough motivation for you. On the bouncing ball on a drum competition, Courtney lost, so it was down to Amanda and P.G. P.G. came close, but in the end, Amanda was faster, mostly because she chopped through the ropes faster.
P.G. fought a good battle, but in the end, she lost the war.
So I guess there's going to be no car challenge this time? I don't remember it coming this late. And it sounds like they're going back to having final two, not final three like they've had the last few times. I still want Todd out. I'd be ok with either Denise or Amanda winning, so that's who I want in final two. I am absolutely going to scream if it comes down to Courtney and Todd. I would pick Todd as more deserving, but to have Courtney in at the end? NO FRICKIN' WAY!
Season finale is on Sunday, and then the reunion episode!
This episode was about a restaurant called Secret Garden in Moorpark, CA. It's apparently so secret that Gordon had a hard time finding the front door - not a good omen to start with.
Another pattern I've noticed - the owner of the restaurant is in complete denial about their circumstances. Maybe they just don't like being confronted, and their egos take over. Michel says that he's in debt at the restaurant for something like over $200,000? And they've obviously applied to have the show and Gordon come in. But when Gordon confronts him about it, he says the restaurant is doing just fine? Ummm, ok, whatever.
And then Michel references having worked for Thomas Keller. I have recently learned a lot about and become quite enamoured of Thomas Keller, and if Michel had managed to work for one of Keller's restaurants, he must not have been there long. Michel's restaurant was filthy. Thomas Keller's restaurants are immaculate, and he's a stickler for cleanliness, much like the quick glimpse that we were given of the kitchen of one of Gordon's restaurants earlier in the season. Keller would have been appalled to have seen the state of the store room at Secret Garden, not to mention the inefficiency at getting the food out, making his customers wait so long before they're brought anything they've ordered. And Michel doesn't realize that he's dropping Thomas Keller's name, but Gordon is a name that could be equally thrown out in that vein, and yet Michel is completely dismissive of him.
It was funny to see that Gordon had arranged to have the restaurant boarded up. I guess that was the most extreme example he could give Michel. I thought it was funny that Michel was mad because he said people would see the signs and it would be broadcast on the evening news that he was closed. Does he really think his restaurant has garnered enough attention that its closing would actually make the news, even in a small town like Moorpark?
Gordon's new menu specials are a hit, but that only solves one problem - there's still no one really running the restaurant. There's zero communication between the kitchen and the servers - the kitchen has run out of some food items, but no one bothers to tell the servers, who then get yelled at because they're taking orders for food they didn't know had run out? Michel is also making things worse by not even letting his sous chefs help him. There's "hands on", and then there's an inability to delegate. What's the point of having all those people in the kitchen if you won't let them do anything? No wonder it takes so long for food to be prepared.
I did think the bit with the bus of 24 people arriving was a bit ridiculous. Most restaurants wouldn't even agree to accommodate something like that with zero notice.
But in the end, Michel does learn his lesson. He's still skeptical of Gordon's changes, but he decides to let his customers be the final test. And when they tell him how much they love everything, he finally lets it all sink in. And we were really happy that he promoted Jane to manager!
This is the last episode of the season, so it's another show to cross off my list of shows to watch. With the writers' strike still in full swing and the regular holiday hiatus coming up, there will be fewer and fewer things to watch.
"Survivor"
The reward challenge was fun because it wasn't just a matter of winning or losing on your own. You could potentially have done horribly on your own but still won because of other people. I did think it was interesting that Courtney got the most arrows. I can't believe that it was because she was all that popular. I'm wondering if so many people gave her so many arrows because they figured she wouldn't do well, so she was the least dangerous. Todd did a great job, but in the end, Courtney was responsible for Denise winning the challenge.
Denise picking Courtney to go with her made perfect sense as payback, and while there's a part of me that understands P.G. getting upset that Denise didn't pick her to go, it wouldn't have made any sense strategically to pick her. Denise's refusal to vote off Todd the week before pretty much cemented that Denise was sticking with her tribe, and as grateful as she might have been that P.G. took her to the Shao Lin Temple, that wasn't going to obligate Denise to return the favor. I understood Denise's comment about not wanting P.G. to get stronger, but I was surprised that she said it loud enough for P.G. to hear. I can't remember how close they were to each other in proximity.
I was really surprised at how completely lost Denise, Todd and Courtney were with the hot pot cooking. OK, so there's raw meat and vegetables and a boiling hot pot. It's not obvious that you cook your own food in there? Not a single one of them has had any experience with anything remotely like that? All that food, and they thought it was confusing? No wonder Amanda and P.G. were later annoyed by their comments. I thought Courtney's comment about just having pizza was pretty stupid. Ummm, hello, you're in China - they've already fed you American food a few times. Why would you expect that you'd be having pizza at the Great Wall of China? I thought Courtney's comment about Amanda being less likely to stir up trouble was pretty stupid too. Did she completely forget that it was Amanda who had engineered blindsiding James by voting him off?
It was nice to see the scenes of P.G. and Amanda bonding. I can see how demoralizing the whole experience can be for P.G., so at least she had some time of fun.
The immunity challenge with the revisiting of challenges was fun. It was seriously surprising that Todd did so poorly and was the first one kicked out. You could see the complete look of shock on P.G.'s face. The second person out was, not surprisingly, Denise on the balut challenge. She couldn't do it last time, so I'm not surprised she couldn't do it again. Jeff made a comment about it being a $1,000,000 decision, but honestly, it's really just about money. If it was something else, like her daughter would be killed if she didn't eat it, you'd bet she'd be able to get it down then. It's a matter of what's enough motivation for you. On the bouncing ball on a drum competition, Courtney lost, so it was down to Amanda and P.G. P.G. came close, but in the end, Amanda was faster, mostly because she chopped through the ropes faster.
P.G. fought a good battle, but in the end, she lost the war.
So I guess there's going to be no car challenge this time? I don't remember it coming this late. And it sounds like they're going back to having final two, not final three like they've had the last few times. I still want Todd out. I'd be ok with either Denise or Amanda winning, so that's who I want in final two. I am absolutely going to scream if it comes down to Courtney and Todd. I would pick Todd as more deserving, but to have Courtney in at the end? NO FRICKIN' WAY!
Season finale is on Sunday, and then the reunion episode!
Monday, December 3, 2007
writers' strike - the effect on primetime television
Anyone who watches primetime television either has already been or will be affected by the writers' strike. The strike means that no new scripts are being written or rewritten, so the production companies only have what scripts were completed before the strike started.
Someone on one of the discussion boards I participate in posted
this link to a TV Guide article that details how many episodes there are left of various network television shows, as of November 30, 2007. It's not yet a comprehensive list - he's still trying to track some information down. Have a look, and you can see what to expect from the shows you watch.
I had already heard that "The Big Bang Theory" had exhausted all of their shows, so I wasn't expecting any more. However, I had also heard that "Back To You" was out of episodes, but according to this chart, there are two left. That depends on whether the two episodes have already been shot or if they still need to be shot. Sitcoms were being hit the hardest initially because they tend to need more rewrites, which obviously wouldn't be going on now. If the shows were already shot, we'll likely see them. If they weren't actually shot yet, we might not, if they need any kind of significant work on the script.
"Survivor" is obviously going to be completed, as would "Kitchen Nightmares", for whatever they can produce, since those shows aren't governed by the WGA.
"Desperate Housewives" should have one left, since an episode aired last night. However, after last night's episode, there was no preview of the next episode, and there's no new show this coming Sunday, so not sure when the final available episode will air.
"Heroes" is airing their last show tonight.
"Law and Order: SVU" has five episodes left, plenty for the rest of the year.
"24" - It's already been announced that while they have completed something like 8 episodes, they're not going to run any of them until they know they can run them all consecutively. This is the show that I'm going to miss the most because of the strike.
"Lost" - I know a lot of people watch this show. I haven't heard what they're going to do, whether they're going the "Heroes" route and showing what they have or if they're going the "24" route and holding them until more can be made. I don't personally care. I've already given up on the show. Last year was the final straw for me.
I'm waiting for the return of "Law and Order" itself. Not sure if episodes were already shot before the strike started, so we'll see if it comes back in January. I'm also looking forward to seeing "The Sarah Connor Chronicles", so the same story with those new episodes.
Someone on one of the discussion boards I participate in posted
this link to a TV Guide article that details how many episodes there are left of various network television shows, as of November 30, 2007. It's not yet a comprehensive list - he's still trying to track some information down. Have a look, and you can see what to expect from the shows you watch.
I had already heard that "The Big Bang Theory" had exhausted all of their shows, so I wasn't expecting any more. However, I had also heard that "Back To You" was out of episodes, but according to this chart, there are two left. That depends on whether the two episodes have already been shot or if they still need to be shot. Sitcoms were being hit the hardest initially because they tend to need more rewrites, which obviously wouldn't be going on now. If the shows were already shot, we'll likely see them. If they weren't actually shot yet, we might not, if they need any kind of significant work on the script.
"Survivor" is obviously going to be completed, as would "Kitchen Nightmares", for whatever they can produce, since those shows aren't governed by the WGA.
"Desperate Housewives" should have one left, since an episode aired last night. However, after last night's episode, there was no preview of the next episode, and there's no new show this coming Sunday, so not sure when the final available episode will air.
"Heroes" is airing their last show tonight.
"Law and Order: SVU" has five episodes left, plenty for the rest of the year.
"24" - It's already been announced that while they have completed something like 8 episodes, they're not going to run any of them until they know they can run them all consecutively. This is the show that I'm going to miss the most because of the strike.
"Lost" - I know a lot of people watch this show. I haven't heard what they're going to do, whether they're going the "Heroes" route and showing what they have or if they're going the "24" route and holding them until more can be made. I don't personally care. I've already given up on the show. Last year was the final straw for me.
I'm waiting for the return of "Law and Order" itself. Not sure if episodes were already shot before the strike started, so we'll see if it comes back in January. I'm also looking forward to seeing "The Sarah Connor Chronicles", so the same story with those new episodes.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
"Law and Order", "Kitchen Nightmares", "Survivor" and "Desperate Housewives"
"Law and Order: SVU" - I didn't think this was as good as some of their other ones, though it did give Mariska Hargitay a chance to shine some more. The main story seemed a little more personal than they normally are, especially given how hard it hit Elliott. We don't usually get quite that much about their lives. And I'm not happy about how they never resolved the issue of what would happen to Tommy. His mother's dead, his father's going to jail for life for killing his mother, and he saw both his dead mother and his dead nanny. And now, he's probably going to be awarded custody to his biological father, who his mother was having an affair with, and who is a complete stranger to him. Think all that might scar him a bit? There had also been a build-up last week about Olivia and Kathy getting hit while in the car, and the baby's life hanging in the balance. OK, I had thought that might be interspersed a bit in the regular story, but that was just the story at the end. And while the scenes with Olivia and Kathy, and the rescue workers trying to get them out and Olivia having to do all sorts of things for Kathy and then basically taking Elliott's position while Kathy gave birth, were all good, there wasn't that much time when the baby was really in danger. By the time Elliott gets there, it's all good. I liked the hug that Elliott gave Olivia, presumable for all that Olivia did for Kathy and the baby, but I really would have liked just a simple "thank you" from Elliott to Olivia before they went back to normal. You got the look, but for me, it wasn't enough. Next week, you have the stunt casting of Method Man. I hope he's as good as Ludicrous was.
"Kitchen Nightmares" - OK, so you don't know anything about running a restaurant or about cooking really, and so you decide to open a restaurant? Ummm, ok, why? I'm amazed they were open for 18 months with the way things were going, but he was seriously in debt by that time. It's kind of interesting that even if you don't know anything about the business, you apparently can't figure out that having a "fun" working atmosphere is detrimental to your business. Yeah, you want to make it a pleasant place for people to work, but not at the expense of your customers. One of the things I don't get about a lot of these people is that they can't see some of the obvious problems with their restaurants, that they can't put themselves in the shoes of their customers and know that in their position, they wouldn't put up with certain things. A few of the people in this restaurant said it's known for people having to wait for their food. And the owner can't figure out that's a bad thing. He'd sit in a restaurant and wait a really long time for food and keep going back? It took Gordon to come in and see that their "fun" environment was entirely too loud for the customers, and maddening on top of that when you hear people goofing around while you sit there waiting endlessly for your meal? It was also amazing that there was so little business in the restaurant, but there were so many people on staff. As Gordon was counting them, it seemed to me that there were way more people working the restaurant than were eating in the restaurant.
One curious technical part for me - when Gordon was at their house and interviewing the wife, there's one scene at the end of that segment where Gordon and the wife are what looks to be in another room, and the cameraman was peering at them through a slightly open door. What was up with that?
I also found it odd that Gordon decided to take on the woman who was complaining about the food. I didn't think she was making a scene or anything, and Gordon really cussed her out. Seemed a bit odd to me.
"Survivor" - I thought this was a terrific episode all around. So the big twist was that they did an immediate reward challenge after tribal council, with the winner and two people going to the exclusive Shaolin temple. I was actually very happy that PG won that one. You could see the look on her face when Jeff announced the prize. I think she would have been crushed if she hadn't won or hadn't been chosen to go. The only Chinese contestant actually wins the most cultural award to date on this season. Interesting that the subject of the challenge was about the culture itself. Did they engineer this for her to win, since she would have had more of a background, other than Jean Robert, though they were probably all given stuff to read? I thought she was going to pick James and Todd to try to play game, but it was actually nice that she picked Eric and Denise, more so once we found out that Denise had some training in karate. It was interesting that the outcasts got to go on the reward challenge while the main alliance all stayed at camp. There really wasn't that much game to discuss, though Amanda showed that she had other ideas.
The karate demo was pretty cool to watch, but as soon as they mentioned Denise's training, I knew that was going to show up some time. It was cool that she got to demo to the kids. Being able to perform at Shaolin temple is probably going to be something that Denise never forgets, though when she thanked PG for choosing her, I was figuring that meant she would probably vote her off at the next tribal, since that's how it happens a lot.
Courtney is still bugging me. When outcasts came back and PG was talking about the reward, it wasn't like she was just volunteering. She was asked. And Courtney is going on about "her" cave. Ummm, when did she become master of the cave?
I was also annoyed at Todd for being mad at PG for trying to play the game and suggest voting him off. Ummm, yeah, he's one of the strongest players, and she's on the chopping block. Of course she's going to try to stir it up to save herself and target him. I don't get when people think it's fine when they have to do this or that to play the game (considering Todd was going to try to blindside James previously), but if the game is played on them, then they're mad and it's not right, blah, blah, blah.
So Amanda now embraces and even implements the plan to blindside James that Todd had previously advocated and that she didn't like. Maybe they just haven't showed footage, but it's about time more people are seeing exactly how big a threat James was, both in his actions and with his two hidden immunity idols.
I liked the flying stars challenge - culturally related and fun to watch. Nice that Eric came out on top. I also liked in the machinations before tribal when Amanda had to finally convince PG to stop stirring the pot and just act as if she was going home. I know it must have taken a lot for PG to believe her.
And then we got to one of the best tribal councils ever, second to one from last year, imo. Everyone played the role they needed to play, especially PG emphasizing her being voted out and being on the jury and people needing jury votes. Even after they voted, and before Jeff started reading the votes, Amanda and Courtney were looking back and forth at people, rather guiltily. OK, you're not out of the woods yet. Until Jeff has read the first vote, James can still play an idol. Stop looking and acting guilty. But even though James later admits that he was suspicious, he doesn't play either of the idols - and he is completely blindsided. You could see Todd trying not to laugh, and when it all became obvious, we were busting up at the look on his face, and his pulling his cap down, the look of sheer joy on PG's face as she realized she was not in fact going home, and the laughter of the jury members at what was happening.
And to top it off, major kudos to James for accepting his position graciously. He wasn't angry about being voted off. He understood why it happened and that it was his mistake not to play an idol. Very classy.
"Desperate Housewives" - A tornado (or other natural or created disaster) hitting the major members of the cast is a staple in daytime soaps, but it's usually accompanied by a lot more drama. Given the catastrophic nature of the disaster and the hype for the last couple weeks, I thought it was a fairly ho-hum episode. Yeah, there were a few major revelations, but they've had those without the added fury of Mother Nature. I get the depiction of the literal and figurative tornado as goes through, shredding and changing lives, but a lot of it fell flat for me.
Gabrielle and Carlos - OK, still don't really care. OK, so Gabrielle and Edie called a truce, more or less. Victor was conveniently killed by Mother Nature herself, so that frees up Gabrielle, though I thought that was a little too trite. I would have liked to have seen Victor torture Gabrielle and Carlos for a while. She and Carlos now no longer have to run, and their secret regarding Victor is now safe, but now that Carlos' millions of dollars is literally lost in the wind, they'll have to find something else to do.
Susan and Mike - Again, it's another soap staple - throw the pregnant lady down a flight of stairs. It's usually a rival that does it, but in this case, it's to show us the decline of Mike. Too bad since he's been actually a pretty good character. Didn't much care about that either, except that I wondered about a doctor prescribing pain meds to a pregnant woman. I wouldn't think she'd be allowed to take something that strong.
Bree got herself much more than she bargained for when she invited psycho-Chicago lady into her home. I also wondered why she had to take Benjamin out with a stroller when she was only going a couple doors down. She couldn't just hold him? In the increasing winds, wouldn't that also have been safer, rather than a buggy that is hard to handle and can blow away? I did love the scene when Bree inadvertently confirms to Katherine that her husband did in fact have an affair with psycho woman. Can't wait for the fallout of that.
And then we get to Lynette. She's usually the reasonable one in the bunch, but I had a serious problem with her. OK, so they're not prepared for the tornado. I understand that she wants to keep her family safe, so I can let go her basically bullying Mrs. McCluskey into letting her entire family into the basement for shelter. But after inviting herself and her clan in, she can't believe that Mrs. McCluskey won't also agree to toss out the cat? Yeah, ok, it's a cat, but it's also someone else's home, someone else who didn't invite her or her family to begin with. And then on top of that, she surreptitiously takes the cat out while they're not looking? (And that wouldn't really have helped anyway, since the cat's hair and dander would still be in the basement, so Tom's allergies weren't going to get any better anyway.) Wow, talk about breach of etiquette and courtesy! And even the ending, when Lynette is screaming because Mrs. McCluskey's house has been levelled. OK, well, she's just lost her entire house, but Lynette is the one freaking out. I mean, I would think that since the family was in the basement, that would mean they're ok.
The opening of the show said someone would lose a husband (that would be Gabrielle, since Victor's now dead) and someone would lose a friend. Who's the friend? The cat? Mrs. McCluskey's friend? Did I miss something?
"Kitchen Nightmares" - OK, so you don't know anything about running a restaurant or about cooking really, and so you decide to open a restaurant? Ummm, ok, why? I'm amazed they were open for 18 months with the way things were going, but he was seriously in debt by that time. It's kind of interesting that even if you don't know anything about the business, you apparently can't figure out that having a "fun" working atmosphere is detrimental to your business. Yeah, you want to make it a pleasant place for people to work, but not at the expense of your customers. One of the things I don't get about a lot of these people is that they can't see some of the obvious problems with their restaurants, that they can't put themselves in the shoes of their customers and know that in their position, they wouldn't put up with certain things. A few of the people in this restaurant said it's known for people having to wait for their food. And the owner can't figure out that's a bad thing. He'd sit in a restaurant and wait a really long time for food and keep going back? It took Gordon to come in and see that their "fun" environment was entirely too loud for the customers, and maddening on top of that when you hear people goofing around while you sit there waiting endlessly for your meal? It was also amazing that there was so little business in the restaurant, but there were so many people on staff. As Gordon was counting them, it seemed to me that there were way more people working the restaurant than were eating in the restaurant.
One curious technical part for me - when Gordon was at their house and interviewing the wife, there's one scene at the end of that segment where Gordon and the wife are what looks to be in another room, and the cameraman was peering at them through a slightly open door. What was up with that?
I also found it odd that Gordon decided to take on the woman who was complaining about the food. I didn't think she was making a scene or anything, and Gordon really cussed her out. Seemed a bit odd to me.
"Survivor" - I thought this was a terrific episode all around. So the big twist was that they did an immediate reward challenge after tribal council, with the winner and two people going to the exclusive Shaolin temple. I was actually very happy that PG won that one. You could see the look on her face when Jeff announced the prize. I think she would have been crushed if she hadn't won or hadn't been chosen to go. The only Chinese contestant actually wins the most cultural award to date on this season. Interesting that the subject of the challenge was about the culture itself. Did they engineer this for her to win, since she would have had more of a background, other than Jean Robert, though they were probably all given stuff to read? I thought she was going to pick James and Todd to try to play game, but it was actually nice that she picked Eric and Denise, more so once we found out that Denise had some training in karate. It was interesting that the outcasts got to go on the reward challenge while the main alliance all stayed at camp. There really wasn't that much game to discuss, though Amanda showed that she had other ideas.
The karate demo was pretty cool to watch, but as soon as they mentioned Denise's training, I knew that was going to show up some time. It was cool that she got to demo to the kids. Being able to perform at Shaolin temple is probably going to be something that Denise never forgets, though when she thanked PG for choosing her, I was figuring that meant she would probably vote her off at the next tribal, since that's how it happens a lot.
Courtney is still bugging me. When outcasts came back and PG was talking about the reward, it wasn't like she was just volunteering. She was asked. And Courtney is going on about "her" cave. Ummm, when did she become master of the cave?
I was also annoyed at Todd for being mad at PG for trying to play the game and suggest voting him off. Ummm, yeah, he's one of the strongest players, and she's on the chopping block. Of course she's going to try to stir it up to save herself and target him. I don't get when people think it's fine when they have to do this or that to play the game (considering Todd was going to try to blindside James previously), but if the game is played on them, then they're mad and it's not right, blah, blah, blah.
So Amanda now embraces and even implements the plan to blindside James that Todd had previously advocated and that she didn't like. Maybe they just haven't showed footage, but it's about time more people are seeing exactly how big a threat James was, both in his actions and with his two hidden immunity idols.
I liked the flying stars challenge - culturally related and fun to watch. Nice that Eric came out on top. I also liked in the machinations before tribal when Amanda had to finally convince PG to stop stirring the pot and just act as if she was going home. I know it must have taken a lot for PG to believe her.
And then we got to one of the best tribal councils ever, second to one from last year, imo. Everyone played the role they needed to play, especially PG emphasizing her being voted out and being on the jury and people needing jury votes. Even after they voted, and before Jeff started reading the votes, Amanda and Courtney were looking back and forth at people, rather guiltily. OK, you're not out of the woods yet. Until Jeff has read the first vote, James can still play an idol. Stop looking and acting guilty. But even though James later admits that he was suspicious, he doesn't play either of the idols - and he is completely blindsided. You could see Todd trying not to laugh, and when it all became obvious, we were busting up at the look on his face, and his pulling his cap down, the look of sheer joy on PG's face as she realized she was not in fact going home, and the laughter of the jury members at what was happening.
And to top it off, major kudos to James for accepting his position graciously. He wasn't angry about being voted off. He understood why it happened and that it was his mistake not to play an idol. Very classy.
"Desperate Housewives" - A tornado (or other natural or created disaster) hitting the major members of the cast is a staple in daytime soaps, but it's usually accompanied by a lot more drama. Given the catastrophic nature of the disaster and the hype for the last couple weeks, I thought it was a fairly ho-hum episode. Yeah, there were a few major revelations, but they've had those without the added fury of Mother Nature. I get the depiction of the literal and figurative tornado as goes through, shredding and changing lives, but a lot of it fell flat for me.
Gabrielle and Carlos - OK, still don't really care. OK, so Gabrielle and Edie called a truce, more or less. Victor was conveniently killed by Mother Nature herself, so that frees up Gabrielle, though I thought that was a little too trite. I would have liked to have seen Victor torture Gabrielle and Carlos for a while. She and Carlos now no longer have to run, and their secret regarding Victor is now safe, but now that Carlos' millions of dollars is literally lost in the wind, they'll have to find something else to do.
Susan and Mike - Again, it's another soap staple - throw the pregnant lady down a flight of stairs. It's usually a rival that does it, but in this case, it's to show us the decline of Mike. Too bad since he's been actually a pretty good character. Didn't much care about that either, except that I wondered about a doctor prescribing pain meds to a pregnant woman. I wouldn't think she'd be allowed to take something that strong.
Bree got herself much more than she bargained for when she invited psycho-Chicago lady into her home. I also wondered why she had to take Benjamin out with a stroller when she was only going a couple doors down. She couldn't just hold him? In the increasing winds, wouldn't that also have been safer, rather than a buggy that is hard to handle and can blow away? I did love the scene when Bree inadvertently confirms to Katherine that her husband did in fact have an affair with psycho woman. Can't wait for the fallout of that.
And then we get to Lynette. She's usually the reasonable one in the bunch, but I had a serious problem with her. OK, so they're not prepared for the tornado. I understand that she wants to keep her family safe, so I can let go her basically bullying Mrs. McCluskey into letting her entire family into the basement for shelter. But after inviting herself and her clan in, she can't believe that Mrs. McCluskey won't also agree to toss out the cat? Yeah, ok, it's a cat, but it's also someone else's home, someone else who didn't invite her or her family to begin with. And then on top of that, she surreptitiously takes the cat out while they're not looking? (And that wouldn't really have helped anyway, since the cat's hair and dander would still be in the basement, so Tom's allergies weren't going to get any better anyway.) Wow, talk about breach of etiquette and courtesy! And even the ending, when Lynette is screaming because Mrs. McCluskey's house has been levelled. OK, well, she's just lost her entire house, but Lynette is the one freaking out. I mean, I would think that since the family was in the basement, that would mean they're ok.
The opening of the show said someone would lose a husband (that would be Gabrielle, since Victor's now dead) and someone would lose a friend. Who's the friend? The cat? Mrs. McCluskey's friend? Did I miss something?
Saturday, November 24, 2007
television round-up - "Heroes", "Hell's Kitchen", "Survivor" and "Law and Order"
"Heroes" - I liked this episode, with a few more bits of information revealed to us. I'm finding myself interested again in how the issues will be resolved, at least temporarily.
It was pretty much telegraphed that Matt Parkman was going to go where he ended up going with using more of his power, but I like that they did it in bits, first with him getting Molly to do what he wanted and then getting his boss to let him continue investigating. I think we were left to hope that he wasn't really going to go all the way when Angela Petrelli told him that he was becoming just like his father, but since he did get the name of the mystery woman in the end (and I keep thinking she looks an awful lot like Joanna Cassidy), he must have had to take that from Angela against her will.
I think the story of Elle is kind of interesting, but I'm not sure if they're going to be able to give her the depth that she needs. So far, she's a fairly one-dimensional character. She's pretty much been sheltered all her life, and she's been taught that people are toys or pets, which explains her behaviour towards Peter previously and in reference to Mohinder, her comment of "he's adorable - can I keep him?" They tried to give her a little more background by telling you about her life growing up, so that you do start to feel a little sympathy for her, but it's not until the end that you see something might actually be happening to change her. Guess we'll see in the next episode. However, I did think it was great when she woke up and realized she was tied up and then just tried to zap her way out of it - only to elocute herself because her feet were in a bucket of water and she'd been spritzed with water. Priceless.
When Bob was posing as a Board of Education member or whatever and talking to Claire and then calls her "Ms. Bennett" - was that really an accident? From the way he was wording it, it almost seemed like he meant to do it. He was saying things as if to let her know that he was onto her, so what better way than to call her by her real name?
Hiro's travels with his father was a bit of a diversion, but I liked the end result, that his father was taking his death calmly, that Hiro came to accept that he couldn't just save his father because he personally wanted to do it, and the closure that was arrived between father and son before the father's death. But the reveal I've been waiting for happened - Hiro looked into the face of the man who killed his father and saw that it was Adam/Kensei.
Oh, and I liked the explanation of why Adam hasn't aged, that he's regenerated so many times so he stays at that age. I wonder what the threshold is. I mean, how many times has Claire healed herself? And does it have to be completely or just parts? We know she did a lot of experiments in her original high school at least.
And the painting comes true - Mohinder kills Noah. Ummm, well, he shoots Noah at least. But then you get that funky, gross resurrection scene at the end. Hmmm, so Bob got enough blood from Claire to heal Noah *and* Nikki? Is there any left over? If Claire just becomes the sole donor to the Red Cross, everyone's good. Well, at least until that nasty virus hits next week anyway.
And now, Peter has gotten sucked into Adam's plan. Peter, who was given information by his later-ally Hiro has now thrown in with Hiro's arch-nemesis (?) to save the world. Question is, does Peter really know what he's gotten himself into? And did Adam change his ways from wanting to hurt Hiro any way he could, or is that really still the driving force behind his actions?
"Hell's Kitchen" - The episode was pretty much what the previews had promised from the week before. As the owner was talking about how she took all her money and opened this restaurant, and she couldn't figure out what was wrong, I was screaming at the TV that what was wrong was that she was opening a fine dining restaurant in POMONA. Are you kidding me? Did she just pick some random city to open the restaurant in without thinking about what city she'd picked? She can't have been from anywhere around there to think, hey, I know what Pomona needs - a fine dining restaurant!
And she was completely abdicating any responsibility for the place. I've found that interesting in a few of these cases. OK, so you're the owner - shouldn't you know what's going on in your restaurant? Shouldn't you be the one in charge? And if you don't have the guts to be in charge, why did you decide to be the boss?
I thought the test of the chef and sous chef was interesting of whether they could identify cuts of meat while they were blindfolded. I honestly can't imagine how you could mix up beef and chicken - they have completely different texture and taste, even if you cook the beef all the way through. If you've got beef that is the texture of chicken, you've got a problem, and vice versa. I probably don't have pork often enough to know whether or not you should be able to tell the difference.
And I know there are differences in fine dining but powdered mashed potatoes? And frozen everything? And what's the point of having things on the menu that you never actually have available? How can you not see that would be a problem? And again, why didn't the owner know that, and if she did, why did she allow it to continue?
When Gordon was working on the new menu with them and told them to come up with something, I cracked up when he mentioned the Pomona Salad, and how it should evoke and represent Pomona. Ummm, ewwwww. Seeing Pomona Salad on the menu isn't going to make me want to order that, no matter where I am.
I didn't think Gordon would be able to get the executive chef to come around, but it was nice that he did. Demoting him seemed to have done some good, but you get the impression that a lot more happened to make the turnaround in both the executive chef and Gordon. It was nice that Gordon was able to make a change, but apparently, it happened too late in the game since the restaurant didn't survive.
"Survivor" - I wasn't really expecting an episode of the show since it was Thanksgiving, so the fact that they showed a recap show wasn't a big thing, and we didn't really learn anything significant that we didn't already know. Looking forward to seeing what the big twist is on this week's show.
"Law and Order: SVU"
two weeks ago - This was the episode about the crazy woman who was killing to impress her serial killer "boyfriend" who was in prison for life for multiple murders. It's always been a point of discussion to figure out why some people (mostly women) are so fascinated and fixated with men in prison, particularly those who have committed heinous crimes, and who even go to the point of falling in love with them. It was great seeing the disgust on Casey's face when she realized that she would have to work with the serial killer to convict the woman doing the copycat killing. At least they came up with a fairly understandable reason why this woman fell for him as she did - the ones where there is no explanation are the freakier ones.
OK, are the detectives just not paying attention or have I been watching too many of these episodes. As soon as they said there was a pizza delivery for Olivia and she said she didn't order it, I knew there was a problem. But they just all accepted it until it went kablooey. Ummm, ok, asleep at the wheel much?
But then Olivia got great payback. How unlucky do you have to be to choose to attack a police officer in her own home, while she's on the phone with her office so she can immediately call for backup, and then beats you to a bloody pulp with a really thick, heavy book before finally realizing to pull back before she beats you to death with it?
But Casey won it all. I loved that when the serial killer changed his testimony on the witness stand, she managed to play to his ego and have him critique the copycat killing. But her best play was even yet to come. Mr. Serial Killer dude was all smirky because she had made a deal to transfer him to a different prison. But he didn't know that she could keep her deal with him *and* arrange for him to be transferred to a prison with tighter security and more restrictions so that he would be even more isolated and cut off from the world for the remainder of his life sentences.
last week's episode - This was a stellar episode, turning an issue on its head, as they're so famous for. They find out that a man has committed rapes on several young girls, only to discover when they finally catch him that he's been off his psych drugs and committed the crimes while off the drugs, and there are at least extenuating circumstances for what caused him to commit the crimes. However, usually, the argument is that he shouldn't be sent to prison because he wasn't responsible for those crimes since he wasn't on the drugs. In this case, though, when the rapist is on his drugs and lucid, he is absolutely horrified by what he's done, and he's not only ready to face his punishment, but he'd rather be extradicted to a different state that has the death penalty as a consequence of the crimes he has committed. You don't feel sorry for him or feel empathy for him really, but it's the first time you actually feel *their* sorrow and actual remorse. He can't live with himself, so you at least respect that in his medicated form, he is not a monster, but you realize along with him that he can't be trusted to stay that way and that he still needs to pay for what he did.
One of the issues this episode does bring up is that of the death penalty. It's a very short scene, but several of them do go through the pros and cons of having a state that employs the death penalty. And you discover that a cop and a prosecutor are perhaps not surprisingly on opposite sides of that discussion. I didn't much care for the ending though. Casey tries to convince the guy that he needs to forgive himself. But I think he's right. In the light of day and under his meds, he knows how horrible his actions were, how those girls that he hurt are going to be scarred for life, and even if there were extenuating circumstances and he wasn't on meds, he still knows he did it. How can you *ever* forgive yourself for that? How *do* you live with that?
But the best part of the episode was the appearance of Sam Waterston. I had seen his name in the credits earlier, so I knew he'd be in it, but I'd forgotten about Jack McCoy's promotion. Or maybe I just didn't think it had gone through yet. Casey has to defend her very unorthodox and unapproved actions to her new boss, the new District Attorney, Jack McCoy. When the old DA stepped down, Jack was promoted. I've been wondering how that's going to play out on "Law and Order" since he's really my favorite part of that show, and with him being DA, he might not be in it as much, unless they change the format a bit. But it was great seeing him here, dressing down Casey. Welcome back, Jack. Looking forward to seeing more of him on new episodes of "Law and Order" in January.
this week's episode - I didn't think this episode was as good as the last two. You kind of got a little of everything - a little bit about a father's taking justice and revenge in his own hands, little bits about race issues, and quite a bit about the foster kids, but I think they've done better stories about the foster kids. The story of the two brothers was a little too easy, a little too formulaic, and then of course, you had to throw in that the newbie in the squad room was also a foster kid. And the resolution to the murder case itself was fairly convoluted so that the whole story just seemed manufactured to tell the foster children story. Like I said, they've done that story much better before.
"The Big Bang Theory" and "Back to You" - Both of these shows are in reruns early. The writers' strike has hit the comedies early, since they don't tape as far ahead, and they require more on-set rewrites than do dramas. There won't be any new episodes of these shows, if at all, until probably a few weeks after the strike is finally over. Since this is the first season for both shows, that could put them in jeopardy. I hope the strike doesn't tank either one of those shows.
It was pretty much telegraphed that Matt Parkman was going to go where he ended up going with using more of his power, but I like that they did it in bits, first with him getting Molly to do what he wanted and then getting his boss to let him continue investigating. I think we were left to hope that he wasn't really going to go all the way when Angela Petrelli told him that he was becoming just like his father, but since he did get the name of the mystery woman in the end (and I keep thinking she looks an awful lot like Joanna Cassidy), he must have had to take that from Angela against her will.
I think the story of Elle is kind of interesting, but I'm not sure if they're going to be able to give her the depth that she needs. So far, she's a fairly one-dimensional character. She's pretty much been sheltered all her life, and she's been taught that people are toys or pets, which explains her behaviour towards Peter previously and in reference to Mohinder, her comment of "he's adorable - can I keep him?" They tried to give her a little more background by telling you about her life growing up, so that you do start to feel a little sympathy for her, but it's not until the end that you see something might actually be happening to change her. Guess we'll see in the next episode. However, I did think it was great when she woke up and realized she was tied up and then just tried to zap her way out of it - only to elocute herself because her feet were in a bucket of water and she'd been spritzed with water. Priceless.
When Bob was posing as a Board of Education member or whatever and talking to Claire and then calls her "Ms. Bennett" - was that really an accident? From the way he was wording it, it almost seemed like he meant to do it. He was saying things as if to let her know that he was onto her, so what better way than to call her by her real name?
Hiro's travels with his father was a bit of a diversion, but I liked the end result, that his father was taking his death calmly, that Hiro came to accept that he couldn't just save his father because he personally wanted to do it, and the closure that was arrived between father and son before the father's death. But the reveal I've been waiting for happened - Hiro looked into the face of the man who killed his father and saw that it was Adam/Kensei.
Oh, and I liked the explanation of why Adam hasn't aged, that he's regenerated so many times so he stays at that age. I wonder what the threshold is. I mean, how many times has Claire healed herself? And does it have to be completely or just parts? We know she did a lot of experiments in her original high school at least.
And the painting comes true - Mohinder kills Noah. Ummm, well, he shoots Noah at least. But then you get that funky, gross resurrection scene at the end. Hmmm, so Bob got enough blood from Claire to heal Noah *and* Nikki? Is there any left over? If Claire just becomes the sole donor to the Red Cross, everyone's good. Well, at least until that nasty virus hits next week anyway.
And now, Peter has gotten sucked into Adam's plan. Peter, who was given information by his later-ally Hiro has now thrown in with Hiro's arch-nemesis (?) to save the world. Question is, does Peter really know what he's gotten himself into? And did Adam change his ways from wanting to hurt Hiro any way he could, or is that really still the driving force behind his actions?
"Hell's Kitchen" - The episode was pretty much what the previews had promised from the week before. As the owner was talking about how she took all her money and opened this restaurant, and she couldn't figure out what was wrong, I was screaming at the TV that what was wrong was that she was opening a fine dining restaurant in POMONA. Are you kidding me? Did she just pick some random city to open the restaurant in without thinking about what city she'd picked? She can't have been from anywhere around there to think, hey, I know what Pomona needs - a fine dining restaurant!
And she was completely abdicating any responsibility for the place. I've found that interesting in a few of these cases. OK, so you're the owner - shouldn't you know what's going on in your restaurant? Shouldn't you be the one in charge? And if you don't have the guts to be in charge, why did you decide to be the boss?
I thought the test of the chef and sous chef was interesting of whether they could identify cuts of meat while they were blindfolded. I honestly can't imagine how you could mix up beef and chicken - they have completely different texture and taste, even if you cook the beef all the way through. If you've got beef that is the texture of chicken, you've got a problem, and vice versa. I probably don't have pork often enough to know whether or not you should be able to tell the difference.
And I know there are differences in fine dining but powdered mashed potatoes? And frozen everything? And what's the point of having things on the menu that you never actually have available? How can you not see that would be a problem? And again, why didn't the owner know that, and if she did, why did she allow it to continue?
When Gordon was working on the new menu with them and told them to come up with something, I cracked up when he mentioned the Pomona Salad, and how it should evoke and represent Pomona. Ummm, ewwwww. Seeing Pomona Salad on the menu isn't going to make me want to order that, no matter where I am.
I didn't think Gordon would be able to get the executive chef to come around, but it was nice that he did. Demoting him seemed to have done some good, but you get the impression that a lot more happened to make the turnaround in both the executive chef and Gordon. It was nice that Gordon was able to make a change, but apparently, it happened too late in the game since the restaurant didn't survive.
"Survivor" - I wasn't really expecting an episode of the show since it was Thanksgiving, so the fact that they showed a recap show wasn't a big thing, and we didn't really learn anything significant that we didn't already know. Looking forward to seeing what the big twist is on this week's show.
"Law and Order: SVU"
two weeks ago - This was the episode about the crazy woman who was killing to impress her serial killer "boyfriend" who was in prison for life for multiple murders. It's always been a point of discussion to figure out why some people (mostly women) are so fascinated and fixated with men in prison, particularly those who have committed heinous crimes, and who even go to the point of falling in love with them. It was great seeing the disgust on Casey's face when she realized that she would have to work with the serial killer to convict the woman doing the copycat killing. At least they came up with a fairly understandable reason why this woman fell for him as she did - the ones where there is no explanation are the freakier ones.
OK, are the detectives just not paying attention or have I been watching too many of these episodes. As soon as they said there was a pizza delivery for Olivia and she said she didn't order it, I knew there was a problem. But they just all accepted it until it went kablooey. Ummm, ok, asleep at the wheel much?
But then Olivia got great payback. How unlucky do you have to be to choose to attack a police officer in her own home, while she's on the phone with her office so she can immediately call for backup, and then beats you to a bloody pulp with a really thick, heavy book before finally realizing to pull back before she beats you to death with it?
But Casey won it all. I loved that when the serial killer changed his testimony on the witness stand, she managed to play to his ego and have him critique the copycat killing. But her best play was even yet to come. Mr. Serial Killer dude was all smirky because she had made a deal to transfer him to a different prison. But he didn't know that she could keep her deal with him *and* arrange for him to be transferred to a prison with tighter security and more restrictions so that he would be even more isolated and cut off from the world for the remainder of his life sentences.
last week's episode - This was a stellar episode, turning an issue on its head, as they're so famous for. They find out that a man has committed rapes on several young girls, only to discover when they finally catch him that he's been off his psych drugs and committed the crimes while off the drugs, and there are at least extenuating circumstances for what caused him to commit the crimes. However, usually, the argument is that he shouldn't be sent to prison because he wasn't responsible for those crimes since he wasn't on the drugs. In this case, though, when the rapist is on his drugs and lucid, he is absolutely horrified by what he's done, and he's not only ready to face his punishment, but he'd rather be extradicted to a different state that has the death penalty as a consequence of the crimes he has committed. You don't feel sorry for him or feel empathy for him really, but it's the first time you actually feel *their* sorrow and actual remorse. He can't live with himself, so you at least respect that in his medicated form, he is not a monster, but you realize along with him that he can't be trusted to stay that way and that he still needs to pay for what he did.
One of the issues this episode does bring up is that of the death penalty. It's a very short scene, but several of them do go through the pros and cons of having a state that employs the death penalty. And you discover that a cop and a prosecutor are perhaps not surprisingly on opposite sides of that discussion. I didn't much care for the ending though. Casey tries to convince the guy that he needs to forgive himself. But I think he's right. In the light of day and under his meds, he knows how horrible his actions were, how those girls that he hurt are going to be scarred for life, and even if there were extenuating circumstances and he wasn't on meds, he still knows he did it. How can you *ever* forgive yourself for that? How *do* you live with that?
But the best part of the episode was the appearance of Sam Waterston. I had seen his name in the credits earlier, so I knew he'd be in it, but I'd forgotten about Jack McCoy's promotion. Or maybe I just didn't think it had gone through yet. Casey has to defend her very unorthodox and unapproved actions to her new boss, the new District Attorney, Jack McCoy. When the old DA stepped down, Jack was promoted. I've been wondering how that's going to play out on "Law and Order" since he's really my favorite part of that show, and with him being DA, he might not be in it as much, unless they change the format a bit. But it was great seeing him here, dressing down Casey. Welcome back, Jack. Looking forward to seeing more of him on new episodes of "Law and Order" in January.
this week's episode - I didn't think this episode was as good as the last two. You kind of got a little of everything - a little bit about a father's taking justice and revenge in his own hands, little bits about race issues, and quite a bit about the foster kids, but I think they've done better stories about the foster kids. The story of the two brothers was a little too easy, a little too formulaic, and then of course, you had to throw in that the newbie in the squad room was also a foster kid. And the resolution to the murder case itself was fairly convoluted so that the whole story just seemed manufactured to tell the foster children story. Like I said, they've done that story much better before.
"The Big Bang Theory" and "Back to You" - Both of these shows are in reruns early. The writers' strike has hit the comedies early, since they don't tape as far ahead, and they require more on-set rewrites than do dramas. There won't be any new episodes of these shows, if at all, until probably a few weeks after the strike is finally over. Since this is the first season for both shows, that could put them in jeopardy. I hope the strike doesn't tank either one of those shows.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
"The Big Bang Theory", "Back to You", "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Survivor" (and "Big Brother" note)
"The Big Bang Theory" - Another funny episode. I loved Penny's line to Sheldon that someday, she'll get the hang of talking to him, and Leonard's response that his mother's been saying that for years. I think it's interesting that they've made it so Penny likes half of the foursome (Leonard and Raj) and more or less dislikes the other half (Sheldon and Spock). It still bugs me that they pretend The Cheesecake Factory is something else entirely. Sheldon made a reference to a business in Reseda, so they're definitely in Southern California. I'm not sure why Penny needed people to actually order drinks though. I mean, can't they just give her names of drinks to test her? And Sheldon with his Diet Coke was a riot. In response to his request for a wedge of lime, I loved Penny's response of "then swim to Cuba". And the magic grasshopper allows Raj to actually talk to Penny. That was cool. However, he was such the bore with Lolita on their date.
I loved the twist they gave Sheldon. He's been the uber-geek one, but yet, they showed a completely different side of him with the Indian [Lolita: "Us Indian or come to our casino Indian?" :) ] fairy tale that he'd learned as a kid when he'd apparently fallen in love with the Indian princess. You totally believed that Lolita was much more into him than Raj, but as far as Sheldon was concerned, it was ultimately nothing. When he returns from the date, and Leonard asks if he's going to see her again, he's honestly incredulous at the question, because why on earth would he see her again since he already has a dentist. He also had no idea that it was bad form to leave with her when she was Raj's date.
I did disagree with one thing, though. While I thought it was funny to have Sheldon playing the keyboards and belting out songs, I thought it was wrong to have Penny spike his Diet Coke. It just really struck me as wrong for her character.
"Back to You" - I thought it was a decent episode, though it really didn't do much in the way of story. It was mostly interesting bits. (I'm a little disappointed that the bit about Montana's Hispanic heritage was apparently only being used in the first show.) I loved the scene of the birthday cake sliding down and being whacked by the windshield wipers, though even if that hadn't happened, who would have wanted rain-soaked cake? And I laughed at the exchange between Kelly and Montana when Montana comes in out of the rain and had no idea it was coming, and when Kelly points out that she's the weather girl, she is completely oblivious to the irony. The whole bit about the raccoon was actually pretty hysterical.
"Kitchen Nightmares" - This was an ok episode. It always kind of amazes me that chefs keep telling Gordon that he has no idea about anything about cooking. Ummm, hello? It also surprises me how many of these places lack any kind of major signage to tell people they're there. Next week's episode should be interesting. A restaurant in Pomona? OK...
"Survivor" - This was a good episode. I felt sorry for P.G., but she really needs to learn to shut her mouth. Yeah, ok, so you're frustrated, but making the target on your back bigger and brighter is *not* the way to go. It's kind of funny that she's the only Chinese person there and yet she hasn't been part of any winning team that gets to experience some local culture. I was glad she won immunity, though - it threw a nice wrench into things. I used to like Frosti, but I think I totally lost respect for him because of his connection with Courtney. What the heck was up with that? She's almost literally a stick - she might as well be a boy because she's got zero curves. I don't get that we see her eat, and she chose to eat during the immunity challenge even though she'd also eaten on the boat as part of the reward challenge, but she still weighs 4 pounds. I can't even imagine why Frosti finds her attractive. I think I noticed that Eric has bigger boobs than she does. I still want her to go. Eric was pretty funny with his goat noises. And if they kicked off Frosti because he's a big threat, then they might want to start *really* looking at the big pink elephant in the room - James. Strong and two idols? Yeah, I'm thinking it's time to go through with that blindsiding thing they'd planned on previously. And what was up with the end of tribal council? Guess we'll have to wait until next week.
On a slight tangent, I did notice that one of the ads during the show was a casting call for "Big Brother". That show only runs in the summer, but with the current writers' strike, they're looking for more reality programming, and there had been talk about them doing the next "Big Brother" early. Now would be a good time to start casting to get the show up and running in January or February if the strike is still going on.
I loved the twist they gave Sheldon. He's been the uber-geek one, but yet, they showed a completely different side of him with the Indian [Lolita: "Us Indian or come to our casino Indian?" :) ] fairy tale that he'd learned as a kid when he'd apparently fallen in love with the Indian princess. You totally believed that Lolita was much more into him than Raj, but as far as Sheldon was concerned, it was ultimately nothing. When he returns from the date, and Leonard asks if he's going to see her again, he's honestly incredulous at the question, because why on earth would he see her again since he already has a dentist. He also had no idea that it was bad form to leave with her when she was Raj's date.
I did disagree with one thing, though. While I thought it was funny to have Sheldon playing the keyboards and belting out songs, I thought it was wrong to have Penny spike his Diet Coke. It just really struck me as wrong for her character.
"Back to You" - I thought it was a decent episode, though it really didn't do much in the way of story. It was mostly interesting bits. (I'm a little disappointed that the bit about Montana's Hispanic heritage was apparently only being used in the first show.) I loved the scene of the birthday cake sliding down and being whacked by the windshield wipers, though even if that hadn't happened, who would have wanted rain-soaked cake? And I laughed at the exchange between Kelly and Montana when Montana comes in out of the rain and had no idea it was coming, and when Kelly points out that she's the weather girl, she is completely oblivious to the irony. The whole bit about the raccoon was actually pretty hysterical.
"Kitchen Nightmares" - This was an ok episode. It always kind of amazes me that chefs keep telling Gordon that he has no idea about anything about cooking. Ummm, hello? It also surprises me how many of these places lack any kind of major signage to tell people they're there. Next week's episode should be interesting. A restaurant in Pomona? OK...
"Survivor" - This was a good episode. I felt sorry for P.G., but she really needs to learn to shut her mouth. Yeah, ok, so you're frustrated, but making the target on your back bigger and brighter is *not* the way to go. It's kind of funny that she's the only Chinese person there and yet she hasn't been part of any winning team that gets to experience some local culture. I was glad she won immunity, though - it threw a nice wrench into things. I used to like Frosti, but I think I totally lost respect for him because of his connection with Courtney. What the heck was up with that? She's almost literally a stick - she might as well be a boy because she's got zero curves. I don't get that we see her eat, and she chose to eat during the immunity challenge even though she'd also eaten on the boat as part of the reward challenge, but she still weighs 4 pounds. I can't even imagine why Frosti finds her attractive. I think I noticed that Eric has bigger boobs than she does. I still want her to go. Eric was pretty funny with his goat noises. And if they kicked off Frosti because he's a big threat, then they might want to start *really* looking at the big pink elephant in the room - James. Strong and two idols? Yeah, I'm thinking it's time to go through with that blindsiding thing they'd planned on previously. And what was up with the end of tribal council? Guess we'll have to wait until next week.
On a slight tangent, I did notice that one of the ads during the show was a casting call for "Big Brother". That show only runs in the summer, but with the current writers' strike, they're looking for more reality programming, and there had been talk about them doing the next "Big Brother" early. Now would be a good time to start casting to get the show up and running in January or February if the strike is still going on.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
television round-up - "Desperate Housewives", "Heroes", "The Big Bang Theory", "Back to You", "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Survivor"
"Desperate Housewives" - This week was a pretty light episode overal. I'm not sure I entirely get the deal with Susan and Mike's dad. I mean, yeah, ok, genetics and all that, but before she starts to worry about whether Mike and his dad have passed along any homicidal or psychotic genes to her unborn baby, maybe she ought to think about the seriously neurotic genes that she's passing along to the poor child. But then, look at Susan and her ex-husband, and Julie turned out ok.
I did love the bit with Bree and Danielle at the end. The scenes at the Halloween party pretty much continued to set them up as adversaries, but it was pretty sweet when Bree was encouraging Danielle to hold her newborn baby, and you could see the conflict in Danielle's eyes, and the worry on Bree's face at the very end when Danielle was leaving.
Gabrielle is so fickle about Carlos and Victor. At least Carlos finally had the nerve to leave Edie. But now that Victor knows about Gabrielle and Carlos? Guess we'll find out.
And then, we find out that Lynette's cancer is in remission. The whole storyline with the possum was actually quite nice. You knew something was wrong, but you weren't quite sure what. It wasn't until the night of the party and the conversation between Tom and Lynette about the possum that you're told what exactly is going on. And Lynette sobbing at the end.
But on a lighter note, I loved it when Lynette's trick-or-treating kids saw "Frankenstein" holding up the new baby! ;)
"Heroes" - There were parts of this week's episode that I liked, but it was losing me with all the popping around that Peter was doing. Great, *yet* another time period.
When Hiro was talking to Yaeko about Kensei, I kept expecting him to say, "There is still good in him. I have felt it." Shades of Vader much? But at least Hiro is back with Ando, and the look on Hiro's face when Ando had to tell him about this father was heartbreaking.
I liked the resolution of Matt's story with his dad and how that saves Molly. I also liked the stuff with Niki. And we found out who Adam Monroe is. I had a feeling that the explosion wouldn't be the end of him.
Apparently, at least one of the creators/writers of the show realizes the mistakes that they've made so far this season, so that bodes well for the future of "Heroes" - after the current writers' strike is over, that is.
Here's the article.
The teaser for next week's episode better be right. I expect ANSWERS.
"The Big Bang Theory" - Another stellar episode. Another one where we had to stop the DVR and go back so we could watch a scene again. I loved the Chinese restaurant episode. Chinese waiter dude is like the only working Chinese actor in Hollywood, if you don't count Chow Yun Fat and Jet Li, and you won't find either of them pretending to be a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. (I think this is the same guy who was in the Chinese restaurant episode of "Seinfeld", one of like two episodes of that show that I saw. I think I also saw the "we can't remember where we parked our car in the parking structure at the mall so we have to wander around everywhere looking for it" episode. But I digress...) I loved his retort when Sheldon was talking about "where he comes from": "I come from Sacramento," and then the look of utter embarrassment on Sheldon's face as he tries to hide. As Sheldon listed off what they usually order (steamed dumplings, general so's chicken, beef with broccoli, shrimp with lobster sauce and vegetable lo mein), and he then asked what was wrong, my response was "you're ordering BORING food!" It didn't get any better when either Leonard or Raj suggested ordering soup instead, and what would they be ordering? Won ton soup. Puhleeze.
I loved how anal Sheldon was being about not being able to divide everything evenly since Spock was with his new girlfriend. When Raj suggested cutting the fourth dumpling, Sheldon's response was that it's then no longer a dumpling, "at best, it's a very small open-face sandwich". And when waiter dude suggested "accidentally" dropping the fourth dumpling, and Leonard said, "No one will know," Sheldon was emphatic about "I will know."
I loved Penny's look when Leonard made her promise not to gnaw the meat off their bones after Leonard's and Sheldon's earthquake supplies discussion. And what the heck was up with Raj still munching on a sandwich in the kitchen? Too funny.
But the best bit really was when they were playing Halo 3, and Penny was kicking the crap out of Sheldon on her first try. Leonard: "Penny, you're on fire." Penny: "So is Sheldon." And then Sheldon tried to walk away, but Penny convinced him to come back - only so he could witness her nuking him. Priceless.
"Back to You" - It was an ok episode, nothing too spectacular. It was funny watching weather girl practicing with station manager to say that weird name, and her repeated failure to do so, and then the later payoff with the little girl saying the same thing like 3 times. The casting of Charisma Carpenter as the boy's mother was inspired - the husband and I chuckled that the son's name was Xander. Oh, and Mr. Investigative Reporter having to instead cover the birth of the baby hippo was probably funnier to me than most people.
"Kitchen Nightmares" - I think all of the restaurant owners/managers are vying for "most pigheaded restaurant person of the year". What amazes me is that this is the second person who has run a restaurant and admitted that they didn't care about the quality of the food. In the first case, the person just cared that the food was sent out. In this case, he just cared that it was "unique". Nothing about the quality. Umm, ok, great "concept" for operating a restaurant.
We couldn't figure out the whole "this restaurant will probably close down in 6 months" thought, followed by "we can franchise!" Yeah, franchise serving frozen food? Blech.
And I couldn't believe that the sign for the restaurant was advertising the wood-burning pizza ovens - that they weren't even using! What, you figure having them as decoration was enough?
Apparently, the makeover didn't last - Sebastian apparently went back to his "20 flavors combination" utterly confusing menu. Here's the link to the menu. I'm mildly curious, but I don't think I'm curious enough to actually go and try it.
"Survivor" - Tonight was a fun episode. The constant flipping by Todd was interesting, but it did make sense, even though Amanda was confused by it. Who would have thought that Courtney would *ever* have been able to win a challenge? She must weigh like 4 pounds. I don't think there's ever been anyone skinnier than her on a Survivor. When Jeff put the immunity necklace around her, it was bigger than her and probably heavier than her. The husband and I applauded loudly when Jean-Robert was kicked off. The look on Todd's face as he was trying not to bust out laughing was priceless. It was also fun to watch P.G.'s face as she began to realize that she wasn't being kicked off that night. Jean-Robert was still delusional though. In his farewell speech, he talked about him being the biggest threat. No, dude, they really didn't like you and only kept you around because they needed the numbers. And what was with being a poker player and being used to using strategy and stuff and then just being a big lumbering oaf who just kept threatening people?
But you know something happened to Denise. First, she wasn't picked by either side for the reward challenge. And then she was the only one who voted for P.G. because "her tribe" didn't tell her what they were doing. You could see how mad she was. It'll be interesting to see how alliances might change next week.
I did love the bit with Bree and Danielle at the end. The scenes at the Halloween party pretty much continued to set them up as adversaries, but it was pretty sweet when Bree was encouraging Danielle to hold her newborn baby, and you could see the conflict in Danielle's eyes, and the worry on Bree's face at the very end when Danielle was leaving.
Gabrielle is so fickle about Carlos and Victor. At least Carlos finally had the nerve to leave Edie. But now that Victor knows about Gabrielle and Carlos? Guess we'll find out.
And then, we find out that Lynette's cancer is in remission. The whole storyline with the possum was actually quite nice. You knew something was wrong, but you weren't quite sure what. It wasn't until the night of the party and the conversation between Tom and Lynette about the possum that you're told what exactly is going on. And Lynette sobbing at the end.
But on a lighter note, I loved it when Lynette's trick-or-treating kids saw "Frankenstein" holding up the new baby! ;)
"Heroes" - There were parts of this week's episode that I liked, but it was losing me with all the popping around that Peter was doing. Great, *yet* another time period.
When Hiro was talking to Yaeko about Kensei, I kept expecting him to say, "There is still good in him. I have felt it." Shades of Vader much? But at least Hiro is back with Ando, and the look on Hiro's face when Ando had to tell him about this father was heartbreaking.
I liked the resolution of Matt's story with his dad and how that saves Molly. I also liked the stuff with Niki. And we found out who Adam Monroe is. I had a feeling that the explosion wouldn't be the end of him.
Apparently, at least one of the creators/writers of the show realizes the mistakes that they've made so far this season, so that bodes well for the future of "Heroes" - after the current writers' strike is over, that is.
Here's the article.
The teaser for next week's episode better be right. I expect ANSWERS.
"The Big Bang Theory" - Another stellar episode. Another one where we had to stop the DVR and go back so we could watch a scene again. I loved the Chinese restaurant episode. Chinese waiter dude is like the only working Chinese actor in Hollywood, if you don't count Chow Yun Fat and Jet Li, and you won't find either of them pretending to be a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. (I think this is the same guy who was in the Chinese restaurant episode of "Seinfeld", one of like two episodes of that show that I saw. I think I also saw the "we can't remember where we parked our car in the parking structure at the mall so we have to wander around everywhere looking for it" episode. But I digress...) I loved his retort when Sheldon was talking about "where he comes from": "I come from Sacramento," and then the look of utter embarrassment on Sheldon's face as he tries to hide. As Sheldon listed off what they usually order (steamed dumplings, general so's chicken, beef with broccoli, shrimp with lobster sauce and vegetable lo mein), and he then asked what was wrong, my response was "you're ordering BORING food!" It didn't get any better when either Leonard or Raj suggested ordering soup instead, and what would they be ordering? Won ton soup. Puhleeze.
I loved how anal Sheldon was being about not being able to divide everything evenly since Spock was with his new girlfriend. When Raj suggested cutting the fourth dumpling, Sheldon's response was that it's then no longer a dumpling, "at best, it's a very small open-face sandwich". And when waiter dude suggested "accidentally" dropping the fourth dumpling, and Leonard said, "No one will know," Sheldon was emphatic about "I will know."
I loved Penny's look when Leonard made her promise not to gnaw the meat off their bones after Leonard's and Sheldon's earthquake supplies discussion. And what the heck was up with Raj still munching on a sandwich in the kitchen? Too funny.
But the best bit really was when they were playing Halo 3, and Penny was kicking the crap out of Sheldon on her first try. Leonard: "Penny, you're on fire." Penny: "So is Sheldon." And then Sheldon tried to walk away, but Penny convinced him to come back - only so he could witness her nuking him. Priceless.
"Back to You" - It was an ok episode, nothing too spectacular. It was funny watching weather girl practicing with station manager to say that weird name, and her repeated failure to do so, and then the later payoff with the little girl saying the same thing like 3 times. The casting of Charisma Carpenter as the boy's mother was inspired - the husband and I chuckled that the son's name was Xander. Oh, and Mr. Investigative Reporter having to instead cover the birth of the baby hippo was probably funnier to me than most people.
"Kitchen Nightmares" - I think all of the restaurant owners/managers are vying for "most pigheaded restaurant person of the year". What amazes me is that this is the second person who has run a restaurant and admitted that they didn't care about the quality of the food. In the first case, the person just cared that the food was sent out. In this case, he just cared that it was "unique". Nothing about the quality. Umm, ok, great "concept" for operating a restaurant.
We couldn't figure out the whole "this restaurant will probably close down in 6 months" thought, followed by "we can franchise!" Yeah, franchise serving frozen food? Blech.
And I couldn't believe that the sign for the restaurant was advertising the wood-burning pizza ovens - that they weren't even using! What, you figure having them as decoration was enough?
Apparently, the makeover didn't last - Sebastian apparently went back to his "20 flavors combination" utterly confusing menu. Here's the link to the menu. I'm mildly curious, but I don't think I'm curious enough to actually go and try it.
"Survivor" - Tonight was a fun episode. The constant flipping by Todd was interesting, but it did make sense, even though Amanda was confused by it. Who would have thought that Courtney would *ever* have been able to win a challenge? She must weigh like 4 pounds. I don't think there's ever been anyone skinnier than her on a Survivor. When Jeff put the immunity necklace around her, it was bigger than her and probably heavier than her. The husband and I applauded loudly when Jean-Robert was kicked off. The look on Todd's face as he was trying not to bust out laughing was priceless. It was also fun to watch P.G.'s face as she began to realize that she wasn't being kicked off that night. Jean-Robert was still delusional though. In his farewell speech, he talked about him being the biggest threat. No, dude, they really didn't like you and only kept you around because they needed the numbers. And what was with being a poker player and being used to using strategy and stuff and then just being a big lumbering oaf who just kept threatening people?
But you know something happened to Denise. First, she wasn't picked by either side for the reward challenge. And then she was the only one who voted for P.G. because "her tribe" didn't tell her what they were doing. You could see how mad she was. It'll be interesting to see how alliances might change next week.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
television round-up - "The Big Bang Theory", "Survivor", "Kitchen Nightmares", "Back To You" and "Law and Order"
"The Big Bang Theory"
Last week's episode - I thought the game at the beginning was a little forced, but it sure brought back memories of playing adventure games in college. I remember playing some D&D-type adventure game in college with someone, and we had gotten pretty far. We had a group of decently-leveled players, lots of spells, weapons, etc. I wanted to quit for the night. He wanted to try one more level, and he talked me into it. I didn't want to go into the room. He did. We went into the room. And we were ambushed. We were seriously out-matched, and they got first shot at us. Whack, zing, bwap. Killed half our team on their first go-round, half of the rest of the team went running away and were lost and one or two players made it back up top alive, but severely bruised and depleted. End of game.
I loved that they brought Asimov's 3 laws of robotics into the show, and they even recited two of them! I was laughing so hard.
I want a hypo-allergenic calico. Not because of me, since I'm not allergic to cats, but I love calicos, and if I had a hyper allergenic one, a friend who's allergic to cats wouldn't have as hard a time when she comes over.
I want to know why Penny knows the term "centrifugal force". ;)
This week's episode - "I love buffets." "Don't they have buffets in India?" "Yeah, but it's all Indian food." :)
I loved the shopping trip to the grocery store, and all of Sheldon's comments and *especially* Penny's reactions. "You're just making really expensive urine." "What if that was what I was going for?" And Sheldon with all his little bits of information. And then their tampon discussion outside Penny's door about buying 30 years worth? Too funny.
Sheldon looked really funny wearing the poncho (not sarape) in the entire scene. And the loom was a funny thing that reminded me of a joke among a few of my friends. All they needed was a Xena-wannabee...
I loved the dynamic of Sheldon being the uber-scientist with his ultra-conservative religious mother. Laurie Metcalfe was awesome! "I've got two other kids who are dumb as soup." Her delivery of the question to Mr. I-don't-speak-to-girls about whether chicken was considered one of those magic animals had us busting up. And the whole exchange in Sheldon's boss's office, including the exchange between her and the boss was terrific. Hopefully, they'll bring her back periodically.
When Sheldon's mom was finishing up with the prayer, she seemed to also be directing the comment to Mr. Spock. I don't remember him having a particular religious bent. Is he supposed to be Jewish? That's the only thing I could think of that would make her including him on the comment make sense.
Loved the glow-in-the-dark fish at the end!
"Survivor" - Last week's show was kinda non-descript for me. Glad that Dave got kicked out because he's just annoying. Interesting, though, that it means two of the three people who have gotten kidnapped have then been immediately voted out. As for this week's episode, not really sure P.G.'s and Jaime's strategy to throw the challenges so they can vote off Aaron and James is going to work. (And if they were going to do it, you think they could have been a little more subtle about it?) The last tribe that threw a challenge to kick someone off paid for it dearly. In this case, they have to throw *two* immunity challenges. And since they voted off Aaron and kept James, he's going to be fit to be tied back at camp. I don't expect he'll be working hard to get water and other stuff now that he knows their strategy. Wonder if he'll somehow be able to convey it to the other tribe. Next week - scary Chinese food challenge! :)
"Kitchen Nightmares" - Really enjoyed this week's episode. It was cool that Gordon liked the building to begin with, but it was a bit odd that they only had a little sign that you could completely miss. Gordon really did have a challenge with Dean, the owner. He was so much in denial that he wouldn't even listen to Gordon. And there was really no one else there who could say anything to him. He was more concerned about just getting food out rather than the quality of the food? Yeah, that's a good way to run a restaurant. And I thought his wife was pretty stupid for not wanting to know. He said there was no need to know. Ummm, yeah, well, she's your wife, so you don't think she should know that you're half a million dollars in debt and that y'all could lose your house? What you don't know *can* in fact hurt you, very much so. I loved the torching of the salad funnels. And who wraps shrimp cocktail in phyllo dough? I thought it was cool that Gordon explored the town, and the first thing I thought was "No more Italian dishes." And then he found the meat shop. It was nice to see Dean be able to make the transition, and the look on his face when he saw the name of the restaurant projected onto the wall at the end. Next week looks to be the first restaurant outside of New York.
"Back To You" - Another funny show. I loved the shots from all the different cameras, especially the overhead camera. And I've done the carpool thing before where you're stuck with someone you don't dislike but really have nothing to talk about with. However, if I'd been stuck with Marsh, I'd have rather walked home! And I'm gonna agree with Chuck. There are a lot of people I can think of where I'd rather be out having dinner my myself than be stuck having dinner with them. I don't think it's a matter of being rude. I just think it's a matter of wanting to spend my time with people I like and not with people I don't want to. But in a rare instance, I actually had figured out the end before they showed the guy come out in the bathrobe.
"Law and Order: SVU"
Last week's episode - This was the one with Melissa Joan Hart playing the teacher, and she claims that she was raped, but her student claims that she seduced him. It was a good job of going back and forth where you didn't know which one was telling the truth, really until you get to the revelation about her abortion and her husband's reaction. And then when you get to the rest of the story about the student, and he pleads, you figure it's over. But it's not. He then has the worst thing possible happen to him in jail, but then he ends up with a windfall while the raped teacher gets nothing, and then the very last line from the student's attacker - you pretty much knew it was coming, but it was chilling all the same that he's claiming the same affliction as the student, and maybe that will get *him* off.
This week's episode - The little girl who played the autistic daughter has got to be in the running for an Emmy next year. It's one of those roles where you have to get someone so young and so talented and yet who won't be traumatized by what you're asking her to do. (Think Kirsten Dunst in "Interview with a Vampire".) The misdirection with the Homeland Security stuff was cool (and Karen Hayes from "24" is now apparently working with them! ;) ), but the bit by bit information you get that they coax out of the daughter was incredible, especially with the voices she was doing. And the fact that she could describe the timber of the voices she heard. Great episode all around.
Last week's episode - I thought the game at the beginning was a little forced, but it sure brought back memories of playing adventure games in college. I remember playing some D&D-type adventure game in college with someone, and we had gotten pretty far. We had a group of decently-leveled players, lots of spells, weapons, etc. I wanted to quit for the night. He wanted to try one more level, and he talked me into it. I didn't want to go into the room. He did. We went into the room. And we were ambushed. We were seriously out-matched, and they got first shot at us. Whack, zing, bwap. Killed half our team on their first go-round, half of the rest of the team went running away and were lost and one or two players made it back up top alive, but severely bruised and depleted. End of game.
I loved that they brought Asimov's 3 laws of robotics into the show, and they even recited two of them! I was laughing so hard.
I want a hypo-allergenic calico. Not because of me, since I'm not allergic to cats, but I love calicos, and if I had a hyper allergenic one, a friend who's allergic to cats wouldn't have as hard a time when she comes over.
I want to know why Penny knows the term "centrifugal force". ;)
This week's episode - "I love buffets." "Don't they have buffets in India?" "Yeah, but it's all Indian food." :)
I loved the shopping trip to the grocery store, and all of Sheldon's comments and *especially* Penny's reactions. "You're just making really expensive urine." "What if that was what I was going for?" And Sheldon with all his little bits of information. And then their tampon discussion outside Penny's door about buying 30 years worth? Too funny.
Sheldon looked really funny wearing the poncho (not sarape) in the entire scene. And the loom was a funny thing that reminded me of a joke among a few of my friends. All they needed was a Xena-wannabee...
I loved the dynamic of Sheldon being the uber-scientist with his ultra-conservative religious mother. Laurie Metcalfe was awesome! "I've got two other kids who are dumb as soup." Her delivery of the question to Mr. I-don't-speak-to-girls about whether chicken was considered one of those magic animals had us busting up. And the whole exchange in Sheldon's boss's office, including the exchange between her and the boss was terrific. Hopefully, they'll bring her back periodically.
When Sheldon's mom was finishing up with the prayer, she seemed to also be directing the comment to Mr. Spock. I don't remember him having a particular religious bent. Is he supposed to be Jewish? That's the only thing I could think of that would make her including him on the comment make sense.
Loved the glow-in-the-dark fish at the end!
"Survivor" - Last week's show was kinda non-descript for me. Glad that Dave got kicked out because he's just annoying. Interesting, though, that it means two of the three people who have gotten kidnapped have then been immediately voted out. As for this week's episode, not really sure P.G.'s and Jaime's strategy to throw the challenges so they can vote off Aaron and James is going to work. (And if they were going to do it, you think they could have been a little more subtle about it?) The last tribe that threw a challenge to kick someone off paid for it dearly. In this case, they have to throw *two* immunity challenges. And since they voted off Aaron and kept James, he's going to be fit to be tied back at camp. I don't expect he'll be working hard to get water and other stuff now that he knows their strategy. Wonder if he'll somehow be able to convey it to the other tribe. Next week - scary Chinese food challenge! :)
"Kitchen Nightmares" - Really enjoyed this week's episode. It was cool that Gordon liked the building to begin with, but it was a bit odd that they only had a little sign that you could completely miss. Gordon really did have a challenge with Dean, the owner. He was so much in denial that he wouldn't even listen to Gordon. And there was really no one else there who could say anything to him. He was more concerned about just getting food out rather than the quality of the food? Yeah, that's a good way to run a restaurant. And I thought his wife was pretty stupid for not wanting to know. He said there was no need to know. Ummm, yeah, well, she's your wife, so you don't think she should know that you're half a million dollars in debt and that y'all could lose your house? What you don't know *can* in fact hurt you, very much so. I loved the torching of the salad funnels. And who wraps shrimp cocktail in phyllo dough? I thought it was cool that Gordon explored the town, and the first thing I thought was "No more Italian dishes." And then he found the meat shop. It was nice to see Dean be able to make the transition, and the look on his face when he saw the name of the restaurant projected onto the wall at the end. Next week looks to be the first restaurant outside of New York.
"Back To You" - Another funny show. I loved the shots from all the different cameras, especially the overhead camera. And I've done the carpool thing before where you're stuck with someone you don't dislike but really have nothing to talk about with. However, if I'd been stuck with Marsh, I'd have rather walked home! And I'm gonna agree with Chuck. There are a lot of people I can think of where I'd rather be out having dinner my myself than be stuck having dinner with them. I don't think it's a matter of being rude. I just think it's a matter of wanting to spend my time with people I like and not with people I don't want to. But in a rare instance, I actually had figured out the end before they showed the guy come out in the bathrobe.
"Law and Order: SVU"
Last week's episode - This was the one with Melissa Joan Hart playing the teacher, and she claims that she was raped, but her student claims that she seduced him. It was a good job of going back and forth where you didn't know which one was telling the truth, really until you get to the revelation about her abortion and her husband's reaction. And then when you get to the rest of the story about the student, and he pleads, you figure it's over. But it's not. He then has the worst thing possible happen to him in jail, but then he ends up with a windfall while the raped teacher gets nothing, and then the very last line from the student's attacker - you pretty much knew it was coming, but it was chilling all the same that he's claiming the same affliction as the student, and maybe that will get *him* off.
This week's episode - The little girl who played the autistic daughter has got to be in the running for an Emmy next year. It's one of those roles where you have to get someone so young and so talented and yet who won't be traumatized by what you're asking her to do. (Think Kirsten Dunst in "Interview with a Vampire".) The misdirection with the Homeland Security stuff was cool (and Karen Hayes from "24" is now apparently working with them! ;) ), but the bit by bit information you get that they coax out of the daughter was incredible, especially with the voices she was doing. And the fact that she could describe the timber of the voices she heard. Great episode all around.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
"The Big Bang Theory", "Back to You" and "Kitchen Nightmares"
"The Big Bang Theory" - I love this show. And I love having a comedy where I literally laugh out loud multiple times during the course of the show. I was laughing and cringing during the whole segment about Superman catching (and not cutting into three pieces) Lois Lane. As we fast forwarded through the next commercial, I asked my husband if he knew what was really scary about that. He said, "Because you know people like that?" "No," I said, "I've *been* that." (Original "Battlestar Galactica" - squadrons were purple and orange, and I was right.) OK, let's see if I can remember names from now on. Kaley's character's name is Penny. The taller, geekier-looking guy is named Sheldon, and the shorter, not-quite-as-geeky-looking guy is named Leonard. I loved the whole bit about Sheldon not understanding sarcasm, though in my experience, geeks are actually quite good at sarcasm, using and getting. But the sarcasm sign that Leonard makes later is a perfect payoff to the joke. And I haven't met too many geek neat freaks, so Sheldon's got a lot more going on with him. And do two people really have that many different kinds of cereal on hand? I think at most, I had two for myself at any one time. I loved Kaley's reaction expressions - she is so incredibly good at that. And now I'm interested to see if they're going to continue the Bart-writes-a-different-thing-on-the-chalkboard-each-time gag in the end title card that has the production company name on it. They had it last week, and this week, it's a different card, so we're pausing to read. This one just had random bits of advice that were really funny. My favorite was: "Don't eat anything bigger than your head. True in the sixties. Still true now."
"Back to You" - Nothing spectacular in this episode, but still very funny, and yep, laughed out loud literally again. I love the demo tape that the would-be anchor had. He really could be the break-out character on this show. I wasn't terribly happy with the angle that the daughter and Chuck bonded over making fun of mom, but the drinking game was pretty funny. I did like when she had the litany of things that Chuck could attend and/or help with so it wasn't just fun and games being a parent. And I loved the cracks about the Disney cruise.
"Kitchen Nightmares" - You could tell this was going to be a short episode because they had that long intro at the beginning, as if this was the first episode rather than the third. Was this episode intended to be the first episode? Why are we being introduced to a show that we've seen two episodes of already? And the wife's comment about "don't talk to me like that" was shown something like 5 times during the course of the episode. Ummm, ok, I get it. No footage. This episode at least had a slightly different twist in that it wasn't about how dirty and rotten the food/kitchen was. It really was just about the attitude of the people and especially Billy, the owner. The biggest thing that bugged me about The Mixing Bowl? That it's an eatery and a restaurant. Grrrrr.
"Back to You" - Nothing spectacular in this episode, but still very funny, and yep, laughed out loud literally again. I love the demo tape that the would-be anchor had. He really could be the break-out character on this show. I wasn't terribly happy with the angle that the daughter and Chuck bonded over making fun of mom, but the drinking game was pretty funny. I did like when she had the litany of things that Chuck could attend and/or help with so it wasn't just fun and games being a parent. And I loved the cracks about the Disney cruise.
"Kitchen Nightmares" - You could tell this was going to be a short episode because they had that long intro at the beginning, as if this was the first episode rather than the third. Was this episode intended to be the first episode? Why are we being introduced to a show that we've seen two episodes of already? And the wife's comment about "don't talk to me like that" was shown something like 5 times during the course of the episode. Ummm, ok, I get it. No footage. This episode at least had a slightly different twist in that it wasn't about how dirty and rotten the food/kitchen was. It really was just about the attitude of the people and especially Billy, the owner. The biggest thing that bugged me about The Mixing Bowl? That it's an eatery and a restaurant. Grrrrr.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
"Back to You", "Kitchen Nightmares" and "The Big Bang Theory"
"Back to You" - Another good episode. It was kind of weird to have the "previously" segment at the beginning for a comedy. They usually don't do that. Unless you count "Soap". I loved all the different bits with the goldfish getting killed. I think my favorite was the coffee in the cup. But the fish that Kelsey took out of the bowl when Patricia thought she killed it looked incredibly plastic/rubbery. And where was the disclaimer about "no goldfish were harmed in the filming of this episode"? ;) I loved the field reporter guy with all the tasering. He was amazing at the shaking, and it was so funny to watch him trying to eat at the end. I also give major credit to the three actors actually in the tasering scene with him for being able to not even look like they were trying to suppress laughter as he was shaking and trying to talk. Nothing much with Montana this time, but I loved the pumpkin festival bit.
"Kitchen Nightmares" - This episode was ok, but I could not watch the scenes with all the creepy crawlies in the supply basement. I just had to look away. Amazing that even in the end, Martin just didn't get it at all.
I remember hearing that a lawsuit had been filed even before the show was aired, but I didn't know who had filed the lawsuit. Apparently, it was Martin, who is suing for something like $1 million, alleging, among other things, that Gordon had the rotten food planted and that he (Martin) was forced to quit.
After seeing last night's show, I don't think he's going to have a leg to stand on. Apparently, he had also asked that the episode not be allowed to air, but that was shot down by the judge/court.
There are two commentary bits that I found that had some more information: here's the first one and here's the second one.
"The Big Bang Theory" - This week was the series premiere of the show, and I'm so happy to say that I've now got 2 new comedies on my schedule! Yippee!!!! I loved the show. Kaley was so good in "8 Simple Rules", so I'm glad she's getting another shot here. She's great with her expressions on reactions. I hope this show makes it. I was laughing so hard at all the geeks. They brought back a lot of college memories. (Going to a computer science club meeting, being the only female there, most of the people didn't know who I was, many of the people didn't know *what* I was.) Mr. Smooth Geek guy was a riot, and when he started singing at the end, the laughter on Kaley's part looked so genuine. Some of the dialogue for the geeks must be a handful to learn and say. The husband loved the elemental chart shower curtain, though he claims not to want one. And apparently, the geek guys use the same brand of shampoo that I do, though not the same flavor. And no, it wasn't Darth Vader. Looking forward to seeing more of this show.
"Kitchen Nightmares" - This episode was ok, but I could not watch the scenes with all the creepy crawlies in the supply basement. I just had to look away. Amazing that even in the end, Martin just didn't get it at all.
I remember hearing that a lawsuit had been filed even before the show was aired, but I didn't know who had filed the lawsuit. Apparently, it was Martin, who is suing for something like $1 million, alleging, among other things, that Gordon had the rotten food planted and that he (Martin) was forced to quit.
After seeing last night's show, I don't think he's going to have a leg to stand on. Apparently, he had also asked that the episode not be allowed to air, but that was shot down by the judge/court.
There are two commentary bits that I found that had some more information: here's the first one and here's the second one.
"The Big Bang Theory" - This week was the series premiere of the show, and I'm so happy to say that I've now got 2 new comedies on my schedule! Yippee!!!! I loved the show. Kaley was so good in "8 Simple Rules", so I'm glad she's getting another shot here. She's great with her expressions on reactions. I hope this show makes it. I was laughing so hard at all the geeks. They brought back a lot of college memories. (Going to a computer science club meeting, being the only female there, most of the people didn't know who I was, many of the people didn't know *what* I was.) Mr. Smooth Geek guy was a riot, and when he started singing at the end, the laughter on Kaley's part looked so genuine. Some of the dialogue for the geeks must be a handful to learn and say. The husband loved the elemental chart shower curtain, though he claims not to want one. And apparently, the geek guys use the same brand of shampoo that I do, though not the same flavor. And no, it wasn't Darth Vader. Looking forward to seeing more of this show.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
"Back to You" and "Kitchen Nightmares" - series premieres
Tonight was the premiere of two new series, "Back to You" and "Kitchen Nightmares".
"Back to You"
After reading a bit about "Back to You" and knowing that Kelsey Grammer was in the show, I had decided to give the show a try. I'm seriously hurting for comedies in my TV schedule - the funniest show I watch is "Desperate Housewives", which I really like and has its comedic moments, but it's not exactly a belly-laugh inducing sitcom. I've had a couple over the last year or two (including "Out of Practice" with Henry Winkler and Stockard Channing who were both excellent), but they haven't survived.
The half-hour sitcom about life at a local news show in Pittsburgh goes very quickly, helped along by very quick dialogue and a lot of throwaway lines that you're likely to miss if you blink or laugh too long at the previous joke. Kelsey as Chuck Darling is not quite as curmudgeonly as he was in "Cheers" and "Frasier", but he's still got great comic timing and sense. Patricia Heaton isn't someone I've really watched before, but she was very good in this, and there's a definite chemistry between the two of them. The actor who played the brother in "Out of Practice" plays a field reporter and wanna-be anchor, and he's great with the one-liners. There's a segment where he makes a comment about how he has to do a remote from in front of the empty dark courthouse in the pouring rain because that somehow lends credibility to the story, and anyone who's familiar with news shows can relate to the absurdity of that way of thinking. Fred Williard plays the sports anchor, and he's a joy to watch as usual. My favorite character, though, is Montana Diaz Herrera, the weather girl who plays up her Hispanic heritage up and over the top. She pronounces everything in a normal tone, except when she gets to her last name, which is overdone with a Hispanic accent. Later in the show, she brings up Chuck's stint in "Los An-heles". The husband and I were laughing hysterically. I'm not sure how well that plays in other parts of the country, but those in the Los Angeles area will be quite familiar with local broadcasters who use the same tactic in real life.
The series has a good production staff pedigree as well, with head writers who also wrote for "Frasier" and "Golden Girls" and the first episode directed by well-known and successful James Burrows.
I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of this show.
"Kitchen Nightmares"
I started watching "Hell's Kitchen" because the husband was watching it. I've seen the past couple seasons, and I usually start watching about half-way into the season. I'm not particularly keen on Gordon Ramsay's abrasive tactics, but you can see that he does really appreciate good cooking talent and expects of others the same that he expects of himself. So I decided to give this new show a try as well.
This show is like a combination of "Extreme Makeover" and "Supernanny". Ramsay goes into a different restaurant each week that is on the verge of failure and tries to help them fix it up. The first episode has him in a family-run Italian restaurant where the brother co-owner, Peter, is the major problem. It was really frustrating to watch Peter's antics, and it was really fun when Gordon gave him the needed dressing-downs, much to the amusement, appreciation and admiration of the sister co-owner and everyone else on the staff who has had to put up with Peter's shenanigans. Oftentimes, these kinds of shows are done from the restauranteur/businessman's perspectives, but knowing that Ramsay is an accomplished chef gives you a different look. When he is examining the refrigeration units and sees the rotting vegetables and other food and sees the deplorable state of the kitchen, with so many non-working or non-existent tools, you can see how appalled Ramsay is at those conditions.
It's an enjoyable hour of television, and it's being added to my schedule as well.
"Back to You"
After reading a bit about "Back to You" and knowing that Kelsey Grammer was in the show, I had decided to give the show a try. I'm seriously hurting for comedies in my TV schedule - the funniest show I watch is "Desperate Housewives", which I really like and has its comedic moments, but it's not exactly a belly-laugh inducing sitcom. I've had a couple over the last year or two (including "Out of Practice" with Henry Winkler and Stockard Channing who were both excellent), but they haven't survived.
The half-hour sitcom about life at a local news show in Pittsburgh goes very quickly, helped along by very quick dialogue and a lot of throwaway lines that you're likely to miss if you blink or laugh too long at the previous joke. Kelsey as Chuck Darling is not quite as curmudgeonly as he was in "Cheers" and "Frasier", but he's still got great comic timing and sense. Patricia Heaton isn't someone I've really watched before, but she was very good in this, and there's a definite chemistry between the two of them. The actor who played the brother in "Out of Practice" plays a field reporter and wanna-be anchor, and he's great with the one-liners. There's a segment where he makes a comment about how he has to do a remote from in front of the empty dark courthouse in the pouring rain because that somehow lends credibility to the story, and anyone who's familiar with news shows can relate to the absurdity of that way of thinking. Fred Williard plays the sports anchor, and he's a joy to watch as usual. My favorite character, though, is Montana Diaz Herrera, the weather girl who plays up her Hispanic heritage up and over the top. She pronounces everything in a normal tone, except when she gets to her last name, which is overdone with a Hispanic accent. Later in the show, she brings up Chuck's stint in "Los An-heles". The husband and I were laughing hysterically. I'm not sure how well that plays in other parts of the country, but those in the Los Angeles area will be quite familiar with local broadcasters who use the same tactic in real life.
The series has a good production staff pedigree as well, with head writers who also wrote for "Frasier" and "Golden Girls" and the first episode directed by well-known and successful James Burrows.
I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of this show.
"Kitchen Nightmares"
I started watching "Hell's Kitchen" because the husband was watching it. I've seen the past couple seasons, and I usually start watching about half-way into the season. I'm not particularly keen on Gordon Ramsay's abrasive tactics, but you can see that he does really appreciate good cooking talent and expects of others the same that he expects of himself. So I decided to give this new show a try as well.
This show is like a combination of "Extreme Makeover" and "Supernanny". Ramsay goes into a different restaurant each week that is on the verge of failure and tries to help them fix it up. The first episode has him in a family-run Italian restaurant where the brother co-owner, Peter, is the major problem. It was really frustrating to watch Peter's antics, and it was really fun when Gordon gave him the needed dressing-downs, much to the amusement, appreciation and admiration of the sister co-owner and everyone else on the staff who has had to put up with Peter's shenanigans. Oftentimes, these kinds of shows are done from the restauranteur/businessman's perspectives, but knowing that Ramsay is an accomplished chef gives you a different look. When he is examining the refrigeration units and sees the rotting vegetables and other food and sees the deplorable state of the kitchen, with so many non-working or non-existent tools, you can see how appalled Ramsay is at those conditions.
It's an enjoyable hour of television, and it's being added to my schedule as well.
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