Texas, for...five years

Magnet #1159 - Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose!

Been holding on to this magnet for a while now, waiting for the inevitable bitter end. And, much as I was loathe to, I ended up finishing up the last four episodes of Friday Night Lights today on the train.

I'm so very, very sad that it's over. Let's face it though - when the show first started five years ago, no one thought it was gonna last.

Sure, critics loved it, fans loved it, but no one thought it was gonna come back. So technically, each season has been such a wonderful gift, we can't really be greedy, methinks. Still. I will miss this show ever so much.

Anyway, since the woman beside me here on this train didn't realize I was watching the very. last. episode. ever. and was subsequently spoiled (like crazy), I'm feeling especially sensitive to not loading this post up with any spoilers. So I won't.

But, here's what I will say that IS spoilery.



Stop reading now if you DO NOT WANT to be spoiled.



This is your last warning.



I mean it. I'm warning you.



Really. Stop now.



Did you stop?



Be sure now.



Ok. Here goes.


I didn't think it was possible for Kyle Chandler to look hotter than when he wore his Dillon Panthers Blue golf shirt and hat out on the field. He was so darned pretty in that color.

Then he donned the East Dillon Lions Red and Black. And he was even hotter in black that golf shirt out on the field.

And by goodness, ya'll, I honestly didn't think he could get hotter.

Until he put on that Pioneer Green.

Holy freakin' cow does that green bring out the color in his eyes.

What?

I keed, I keed!

Magnet #692 - Triumph the Insult Comic Dog

I got this from an NBC Universal stock photo rep I met with years ago, and I promised myself I'd never, ever use this Triumph the Insult Comic Dog magnet, mainly cuz, ewwww.

But, after reading Your Nose Is Quite Big's blogpost, plus having read what my fave critics have to say (Jace Lacob, Alan Sepinwall, Maureen Ryan, and Ellen Gray) what better way to be like NBC and break my promises use this magnet to add myself on Team Conan?

Frankly, I'm not even a big late-night viewer, watching only sporadically, and then only for the guests. I really could care less who is in the interviewer chair, if George Clooney's on the couch.

So, I guess ya'll should really just add me to "Team can't believe how far NBC was driven into the ground by Ben Silverman (& TPTB that let him) and now just hopes that they can turn around this debacle with the swiftest of haste, so we can all get back to our regularly scheduled used-to-be-a-great-timeslot NBC dramas at 10." Seriously.

Conan wrote a fantastic letter to the People of Earth, he really did. Classy all the way. And I watched his last two shows - announcement day, where (God bless) Tom Brokaw for helping him through and supporting him, and yesterday, when Ricky totally kicked ass with the funny, and cracked Conan up.

I do wonder if NBC's just not even watching the Tonight Show anymore, given how much leeway they've given Conan with his (well-deserved) NBC-bashing. At some point, Conan's not-veiled-at-all bitterness won't be adequately covered any amount of "I kid, I kid."

Right now, it's funny as hell, because everyone knows what a mucketyclusterduck this whole NBC programming mess has become.

But, at what point does NBC's PR team say, hold up, enough is enough, let's get this settled, so we can stop being the laughingstock of our industry and devaluing our own hallowed NBC brand?

eta:
Eh. I know. Everyone's commenting on Conan. Look at it this way. I could have told you the story of my friends' dog, Benji. And how I learned the true meaning of this magnet.

See?

Must see T-what?

Magnet#586 - Reflections

Another stockhouse swag magnet that I just realized had a tiny tv on it. Perfect, as I reflect upon the fact that this time last year, my year-round TV Dance Card had 64 shows on it.

Now, it's the end of September and we're smack in the middle of fall premieres, I find my DVR at 65% full.

A sad state of affairs. Of course, that's after I wiped off a good 30% this past weekend, and have three hours of that Ken Burns' National Parks documentary sitting on it.

I can't figure out if we're still feeling the effects of the strike, or the dismal economy, but I don't know what's up with Fall TV this year. This is the first time in years that I haven't gone to the Paley Center premiere parties, where they preview the new shows a couple of days before they air.

Not a one show was worth rushing up to Midtown after work for me. Sad.

So what's left on the roster, and left to try when they air*?

ABC (7)
Private Practice, Brothers & Sisters, Grey's Anatomy, LOST, Castle, FlashForward, V*
(Tried and Dumped: Eastwick)

CBS (5)
NCIS, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, Flashpoint, Three Rivers*
(Tried and Dumped: NCIS: Los Angeles and probably The Good Wife)

NBC (2)
Chuck, Friday Night Lights
(Tried and Dumped: Mercy and probably Trauma)

FOX (2)
Fringe, Bones
(Tried and Dumped: Dollhouse and Glee. Yes, that's right. I dumped Glee. You know there's a magnet a-comin'.)

The CW (5)
90210, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries
(Tried and Dumped: Beautiful Life, and probably Melrose Place)

TBS (2)
The Closer, Saving Grace

USA (5)
Psych, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Royal Pains, White Collar*

BBC-A (3)
Doctor Who, Top Gear, Skins
(Hiatus/in production/not airing stateside yet, so doesn't count: Torchwood, Gavin & Stacey, Robin Hood, MI-5, Merlin, Being Human, Primeval)

AMC (1)
Mad Men

ABC Family (1)
Greek

FX (1)
Sons of Anarchy

Lifetime (1)
Army Wives

Sundance (2)
Architecture School, Iconoclasts

Total: 37

Well, Jay, you see, it's like this...

Magnet #566 - Jay Leno and George Clooney

Because everyone needs a little happy now and then.

What? My friend got me all these magnetic supplies, so blame her for the monster she's created! I had this postcard from the nice folks at the NBCU Photo Bank, and have thusly converted it into a magnet! Woot!

It's pretty apropos for a couple of reasons.

First. Jay, Jay, Jay. I heard somewhere that your show is starting next week on NBC weeknights at 10pm. Hmmm, now where did I hear that...? Oh, yes. Everywhere. Seriously. You're stalkin' me, man. On TV ads. In Times Square ads. On FB. On messageboards. On Twitter. And that doesn't even count the PR/TVcrix blitz! Oiy. I love you man, but overkill on the marketing dollars. Also? I hope the new timeslot works out for you. And NBC.

Second. George, George. George. The festival season has begun, and my boyfriend and his (real) girlfriend are making the red carpet rounds. (Hmph. My boyfriend certainly has a type, doesn't he.) But, back to the movies - between his serenading O Sole Mio and the many flicks he's showing at many festivals, he's wowing all the crowds at many turns.

Let's see, there's The Men Who Stare at Goats, which I can't wait to see, even if Clooney's sportin' a 'tache that just isn't cute.

There's Up in the Air, which I can't wait to see, even if Clooney's playin' a professional terminator.

And, there's Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I can't wait to see, even if Clooney's pretty mug will be in the shape of (fittingly, albeit dated) a fox.

Hee. It's gonna be a busy, busy rest of 2009, Clooney-movie wise. I love when he goes on a new movie tear - it means he's totally gonna be on every A- and sometimes B-list talk show and in every entertainment magazine, blog and website. Yay for press junkets!

Mind you, my problem is that by the end of it (like every other junket), once you've heard the same messaging and the same stories, you've heard them all. Literally.

That's ok. No doubt, I'm perfectly happy hearing George tell the same (not about the new girlfriend, please have mercy) stories til the foxes come home.

Money for nothing

Magnet #488 - South Africa Taxi

Tonight's the premiere of NBC's The Philanthropist, which they premiered last night at the Paley Center, complete with a cast/production team panel (which I loved) and an exclusive afterparty (which of course I didn't go to).

I love going to these events at the Paley, because you just never know who is going to show up in the audience.

Last night's surprise was Sting. No. Seriously. Just walked right on by us. Here's something - we have no proof. No one has any pics of him (yet), and he didn't do the tiny little red carpet with the 'razzi corps. So now I'm second-guessing if it was him. (Of course, it was.) Other people were there as well - Julian Schnabel of Diving Bell/Butterfly fame, a ton of network execs, and Paley stakeholders. You know it's big when they reserve the entire center of the auditorium for special guests, and leave the riff-raff members to fend for themselves.

We screened the pilot of the show, which is based on the philanthropy of this real-life guy Bobby Sager who spends 10 months out of the year, striving to make real change in this world. And that's what James Purefoy's character does - he gets tired of the little that he can do with his money, and he goes out in the world to help people, really help them.

Not surprisingly, I'm totally on the fence about this show. I like James Purefoy a lot, but I'm not totally sold on his character, Teddy Rist - there's a smugness in Teddy that I don't like, but it will be interesting to see if they continue to have his character journey match his physical journeys. In other words, how much his character will grow with each new situation he helps with. To be honest, there's a part of me that wants to see if Teddy ends up wearing (with a suit) the funky lime green converse high-tops that Mr. Sager was wearing last night. Very Doctor Who-y. Hee.

But mostly, I had real issues with the VO flashback exposition...that's a function of the pilot, I know. So hopefully they move away from that format in the next seven episodes. (They have eight in the can.) It was fairly well written, and it did keep me entertained. Some of it was over the top and melodramatic, and some was a little teary.

But what I can't complain about was the absofreakin'lutely beautiful the location shooting is. That's why I picked this magnet my friend gave me, because when they needed Africa, they went to Africa - though bless him, Peter Horton thought he could make do with shooting Germany for Africa. Heh. But the location shoot added so much to the show, and I can't wait to see where they go next. The score was pretty good, and we were wondering if that's why Sting was there. (Yes, he was.)

Finally, it'll be interesting to see how this particular story (of a wealthy man giving away his money to people in need around the world) plays in today's current economic and political climate. What's more, it will be even more interesting to see if it can inspire John Q. Public to go out and make concrete baby steps toward a better world - which is part of what everyone associated with the project wants to have happen. (Besides wanting you to watch the show.)

Oh, let's face it. We all know I'm going to end up watching it, no matter how many critics pan it, or love it. It's summer. It's pretty. He's pretty.

So, yeah. Totally watching. Come. Join me.

eta:
OMG! I forgot the biggest, most relevant to my job, part of last night's pilot! The integration of bing.com for their global navigation - kinda like how Doctor Who closes in on Earth and zooms in? Yeah, just like it.

There's a part of me that thinks it was very cleverly done, because God help me, by the end of the episode, I actually waited for bing's logo to pop up in the corner.

Then, there's the other part of me that knows it was a blatant sell, and was annoyed by it.

Then, there was the other part of me that grudgingly and somewhat jealously applauded the terrific marketing team on both ends (NBC/show/agencies/bing) that brokered the deal.

What's bugging joy

Magnet #265 - John Derian Bug 31

Ok, ok, I know it's really an insect, but a friend of mine bought me a John Derian magnet set from Target* and I've decided to use them for when I'm cheesed off about something, or when something's just buzzing around in my head. Yes, I know, bugs don't buzz.

Yesterday morning, on my hellish subway commute, I had thought to do my first "What's bugging joy" series today with a post about stupid people in the subway, but damned if my pal over at One for the Other Thumb didn't do a fab rant about it yesterday afternoon!

Then, just a few hours ago, I found out some really buggy news. For me, anyway. NBC finally decided to cut bait.

They canceled My Own Worst Enemy and Lipstick Jungle. No big surprise. Worst Enemy was a gamble to begin with, and Lipstick, well, they made that show walk the Friday Night plank to its death a couple of weeks ago.

I used my supercool Spy vs. Spy magnet to talk about how much I was surprised to like Worst Enemy. Because I did, despite myself, and despite all the critics not liking it. There were 4.3 million people watching...as my sister said, in the UK, that'd be a hit!

And Lipstick Jungle made me happy, not just because Paul Blackthorne was back on my tv every week, but because it won last year's war against Darren Star's craptastic Cashmere Mafia. We all know it should have just combined and renamed itself The Crappy Version of Sex and the City.

But, this season, Lipstick actually got good! I've been pleading with NBC (via my TV) not to yank it until Joe finally gets together with Victory. Please, just let the silly Victory (played by showkiller extraordinaire Lindsay Price) marry billionaire Joe (played by Brat Packer Andrew McCarthy). Sigh. Not for nothing, but 3.3 million viewers would also be a hit in the UK.

Look, obvi, with more than 60 shows on my 2008 tv dance card, I have enough to worry about. It just bugs me when shows I actually like are canceled. Dammit.

And yet for some stupid reason, there's room on the schedule for unscripted dreck.


*If you visit this Target link, you'll see the main section of the website in the middle, flanked by two red panels full of Target logos. Drag your cursor around those panels - you can actually shuffleboard the red Target logos off to the side. It freaked me out a bit when I saw it, but you can imagine the level of detail the Target web team went to for the site. Well done, Target interactive AOR!

Ya'll can have Doctor Who, Doug Ross is MY doctor

Magnet #74 - NBC Studios

In keeping with my love for studio tours...NBC's the most corporate studio tour that I've ever been on. And that's on both the left and right coasts.

The NY tour has a long, storied past - their uniformed NBC Pages have been around for decades. And they really are just like how they were in George Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and in 30 Rock, as well. They take you through the standard History of NBC corporate presentation and then walk you though several sets in 30 Rock - newshows and Conan, and SNL, too.

The LA tour is just as corporate, but when I went, it was Leno and Marlena's living room from Days of Our Lives. However, I just found out that they're planning a huge revamp over there, so YAY, new tour!

But, the real reason I'm using NBC for today's magnet is because it's May 6, George Clooney's birthday. And, truly, without NBC and ER, George might still be stuck doing what he was doing before ER went into production 14 or so years ago.

Amazing how one life can turn out so different in the hands of some programming directors and producers.

Happy 47th birthday, George!