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Well, in an age where no TV show is safe and you don't know if your favorite show is going to get a true ending, there is hope.
This week, from Wonder Con in San Francisco, creator Josh Schwartz (he of Gossip Girl fame) told the press that the finale to Chuck's second season would be "a game-changer" and would be a jumping off point for a new season. He went on to say that it is the ending they've had in mind since the show began.
This news made me pretty darn happy, considering that Chuck taps into my geekiness, my dopey romantic and my comedy sides. Like I said in my article about Life on Mars' cancellation, good writing is a rare commodity on TV and should be cherished.
Schwartz went on to talk about Chuck's chances for a third season, which he's optimistic about, saying that NBC has been supportive of the show from a creative standpoint. While I love to hear this news, it makes me wonder what if ABC managed their network the same way?
It's hard for me to come up with a pithy, witty headline for a story about Life on Mars getting the axe. Life on Mars was my favorite new show of the season and one of the few shows I made time for every week.
The news came down Monday night from Variety. Life on Mars can be added to the long line of British shows that didn't make the switch across the pond. Keep in mind that for every Office, there's a Coupling and countless other shows that were adapted for US audiences and didn't find an audience.
The best news to come out of this garbage dump of a situation (to borrow a phrase from Brenda from Juno) is that Life on Mars will get an ending and the mystery of Sam Tyler and why he has been transported to 1973 will be revealed.
This came as really sad news for me. I feel like shows that have the writing, plots and charismatic actors like Life on Mars aren't around much anymore. Sure, it might have been hackneyed at times, but melodrama is part of all of the top TV dramas on right now. Life on Mars delved into a lot of existential thought and reminded me, at its best moments, of the Watchmen graphic novel, where it is really a philosophical discussion between characters. I hope that everyone involved with the show can find something of a similar caliber to work on next.
The biggest impact has to be with the e-bayers of the world, of which I am one. I have an entire storage space full of converter boxes and now I have to wait til June when they run out in stores to list them? Not cool Congress, not cool at all.
First off, earlier this week, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart bid a fond farewell to resident fill-in-the-blank correspondent Rob Riggle. As Variety reported back in October, Riggle will be taking his comedic persona over to CBS where he has been given a talent holding deal, which includes development of a half-hour comedy show in which Riggle will create and star. While CBS certainly has comedy success in How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men, but is CBS really the place for Riggle to go for comedy?
Along with Riggle, husband and wife Daily Show correspondents Jason Jones and Samantha Bee are also developing a half-hour laffer, but it remains to see how long those two will stick around before joining the ranks of other departed correspondents like Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and Ed Helms who left for broadening careers. I'm glad to see Riggle stretching his wings, but I just don't know if CBS is the right home for these edgy comedians. Check out Daily Show's tribute to Riggle embedded below. Jon Stewart and company will be back will be back with new episode of Daily Show after the New Year.
Another great cast member from another great and incresingly improving comedy team is also looking to branch out as Amy Poehler appears on her last episode of Saturday Night Live as a regular cast member. As it has been said on air in recent episodes of Poehler's absence from Weekend Update, she will have her hands quite full with her and husband Will Arnett's newborn son.Poehler joined SNL back in 2001 (actually her first episode was SNL's return to television after 9/11) and has since become a highlight of the late night sketch show and creating a close knit personal and comedic relationship with then head writer Tina Fey. It became clear in recent years that the only place Poehler had to go was up as she has had bit parts in numerous films and even co-starred with Tina Fey in this past year's comedy Baby Mama (not the best endeavor, but a stepping stone to more for sure).
Poehler's residence at SNL is now only bested by Seth Meyers who also joined the cast in 2001 and Darell Hammond who is 417 years old and was on SNL before Lorne Michaels was born. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what Poehler may do on the big screen or elsewhere on the small screen.
You can catch Poehler's farewell tonight when SNL airs at 11:30 EST on NBC with host Hugh Laurie and musical gues KanYe West (And I still don't understand why his name is spelled like that now). Labels: Amy Poehler, Daily Show, Rob Riggle, Saturday Night Live, SNL, TV News
The previously described new host was referred to as being "way outside the box" and was not a television personality or any sort of stand-up comedian. As a matter of fact, along with this news comes, in my opinion, a bit of disappointing info that the usual opening joke bits that have consistently stood as the opening act for the Academy Awards is being put aside. And with the announcement of the potential new host, it's fairly easy to understand why.
Next year it looks like the Oscars will be hosted by recently dubbed Sexiest Man Alive, Aussie actor Hugh Jackman.
While negotiations are still in progress, and Jackman hasn't fully committed to the show yet, it seems like it's only the details being sorted out. However, Finke's post gives a bit more insight into the choice to remove the opening monologue that has preceded the awards ceremony. She writes comments by an insider, ""I don't want that for him. He is an actor with big movies behind him and one coming this summer. He didn't work the last 20 years to suddenly be a stand-up comedian."
Personally, I find this comment to be a bit insulting to stand-up comedians or anybody that has any respect or love for the art of comedy. Being a stand-up comedian is quite possible one of the hardest things you can do as an entertainer. You write your own script, perform by yourself, and when you bomb, you can literally hear yourself fail (*crickets*). But oh how lowly and insulting it must be to have to make people laugh...TELL ME A JOKE, MONKEY!
Backing up this position to make Jackman less of a funny man and more of a distinguished host is the use of Laurence Mark and Bill Condon as producers. Last year Mark and Condon worked together as producer and director (respectively) on the much praised semi-biographical musical Dreamgirls. So their musical interest seems to imply the desire to bring the Tony-award-winning performance roots from The Boy from Oz out of Jackman and onto the Academy Awards stage.
While I like the Academy's desire to do something different, especially after the abysmal ratings drawn in by last year's telecast, removing one of the more entertaining aspects of the consistently boring and hours long awards ceremony is not one of them.
If we're going to start with an overhaul of the Oscar telecast, the host isn't a bad place to start, but maybe first the Academy should consider getting a bit more in touch with the average audience and stop pandering to depressing, heavy dramas with the exception of the yearly little-Indie-movie-that-could ( Juno, Little Miss Sunshine). Personally I don't understand why a movie like The Bourne Ultimatum wasn't nominated for Best Picture last year over a similar and far less thrilling Michael Clayton, when in the past thrilling sort of action films like The French Connection and The Sting have been nominated and won the award. Hell, even Raiders of the Lost Ark was nominated. And while there's a lot of buzz around the crowd and critic pleasing The Dark Knight, I feel like most of the praise will go towards the late Heath Ledger, and a potential Best Picture nod will just be a publicity stunt to attract more viewers.
If the Academy really wants to get their audience back, they need to go back to the drawing board and really think about what it's like to sit in a movie theater, bewildered, mesmerized and inspired by a motion picture.
UPDATE: It's official. Hugh Jackman will be hosting the Oscars
Let's be honest: Grey's Anatomy is dying. Slowly, but is happening.
First there was the TR Knight/Isaiah Washington incident, which shook the world to its very core and proved just what a badass Patrick Dempsy really is followed by the rumors that Katherine Heigl was going to be taken off the show for being annoying both on and off screen. Then, Brooke Smith was unceremoniously fired from the show last November, just when her story line was getting interesting. And now comes the rumor that T.R. Knight has asked to be released from his contract. This isn't much of a surprise to anyone who watches the show and, like me, noticed to severe lack of George O'Malley.
The point is, we're reaching that moment when viewers of a once-popular show forget why they ever watched it in the first place and simply stop. Sure, the diehard fans will stick around, but doing this takes a kind of dedication apparently not found in the average Nielsen family.
Yes, it seems Grey's on its way out. And sure, while it's upsetting that we'll no longer be privy to the trials and tribulations of Seattle Grace's oddly sexual doctors, viewers can take solace in the fact that this might lead to the best last season ever.
And all of this has to do with a little theory I like to call "Good, Bad, Awesome."
Good, Bad, Awesome is a phenomena I've noticed in shows that start out red-hot, but slowly fade out of public conscious. This is currently happening with the downward spiral of Heroes. No one is watching, but they're bringing Bryan Fuller in to straighten things out.
The OC, for example started insane, but soon fizzled and was forgotten and hated by those who once considered themselves fans. What those who stopped watching missed out on was an amazing forth and final season.
LOST is another example of a show that started with amazing buzz, but got too slow and "kooky" for some viewers. What these poor saps missed out on is was the amazing last two seasons. And Sayid braking someone's neck with his feet.
SCRUBS, was quirky and original show that faught for ratings and viewers, only to slowly fade quietly into NBC's Thursday nights lineup. This show was even canceled, only to be saved by ABC, giving it a promising-looking last(?) season.
Now, the "Good, Bad, Awesome" theory doesn't always but if the Grey's team manages to get back to what is was that made the show good in the first place we could be in for an amazing, if final season in a couple of years.
Unfortunately I can't weigh on much of the bigger nominees for now since many of the awards contenders haven't made their way to our neck of the woods here in Indiana, but as time goes on we will certainly have reviews and commentary on awards season and a growing amount of firsthand knowledge on these praised films, and as the awards themselves draw closer, predictions will most certainly be made. There may be an incoming write-up from myself and our resident TV guru, Harry Nelson venting/praising about the nominations that we can competently comment on, but that's in the future.
For now, we'll just let you soak them in. The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards will take place on Sunday, January 11th, 2009 and will air live on NBC at 8 PM EST.
Motion Picture Nominations
Best Motion Picture (Drama)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Burn After Reading
In Bruges
Happy-Go-Lucky
Mamma Mia
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Supporting Actor
Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes - The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Best Director
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Steven Daldry - The Reader
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes - Revolutionary Road
Best Actor (Drama)
Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Best Actress (Drama)
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road
Best Original Song
"Down to Earth" -- WALL-E
"Gran Torino" - Gran Torino
"I Thought I Lost You" -- Bolt
"Once in a Lifetime" -- Cadillac Records
"The Wrestler" -- The Wrestler
Best Original Score
Defiance
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
Frost/Nixon
Changeling
Best Animated Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E
Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Waltz with Bashir
Best Actor - Musical or Comedy
Javier Bardem -- Vicki Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell - In Bruges
James Franco -- Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman - Last Chance Harvey
Best Actress - Musical or Comedy
Rebecca Hall - Vicki Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand - Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep - Mamma Mia
Emma Thompson - Last Chance Harvey
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Kate Winslet - The Reader
Best Screenplay
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare - The Reader
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Television Nominations
Best Television Drama
Dexter
House
In Treatment
Mad Men
True Blood
Best Actor - Television Drama
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors
Best Actress - Television Drama
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
January Jones, Mad Men
Anna Paquin, True Blood
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Best Television Musical/Comedy
30 Rock
Californication
Entourage
The Office
Weeds
Best Actor - Television Musical/Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Kevin Connolly, Entourage
David Duchovny, Californication
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Best Actress - Television Musical/Comedy
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Debra Messing, The Starter Wife
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
Best Mini-Series - Television
A Raisin in the Sun
Bernard and Doris
Cranford
John Adams
Recount
Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture - Television
Ralph Fiennes, Bernard and Doris
Paul Giamatti, John Adams
Kevin Spacey, Recount
Kiefer Sutherland, 24: Redemption
Tom Wilkinson, Recount
Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture - Television
Judi Dench, Cranford
Catherine Keener, An American Crime
Laura Linney, John Adams
Shirley MacLaine, Coco Chanel
Susan Sarandon, Bernard and Doris
Best Supporting Actor - Television
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Denis Leary, Recount
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Blair Underwood, In Treatment
Tom Wilkinson, John Adams
Best Supporting Actress - Television
Eileen Atkins, Cranford
Laura Dern, Recount
Melissa George, In Treatment
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers and Sisters
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment