Lost Linkage

For some reason, there are some good chats out there about Lost today. Check this one out, from E!, an interview with Michael Emerson who plays my creepy secret boyfriend, Benjamin Linus. The show has been so on this season, but he continues to blow my mind (ew, not like that) each week with his portrayal of Ben. And if last week's episode didn't have "Emmey reel" written all over it, then I'm not Maggiecats.

Here is the transcript to the weekly Lost hour online chat hosted by the Washington Post crew. Liz and Jen pick up on a lot of the little details that I miss, and just help me figure out what the heck is going on.

Finally, hottie Henry Ian Cusick was also online for The Post taking fan questions. While most of his answers veer in the disappointing provide-no-real-answer "thanks for writing me!" vein, the "Ian, exactly how many more buttons on that blue shirt does Des expect to lose during all these adventures?" question cracked me up. The amount of chest he's showing is getting a tad ridiculous. Not that I mind.

Frankie Says, "Relax."

The first sign that you might be taking your reality show obsession a smidge too seriously? When you STAB someone for talking during the show. And not just any show, but Top Model no less.

Yeah, I'm not making this up.

The scariest part? "The suspect was still at large early Thursday evening."

AHHH! There is a roving Top Model fanatic with a knife at large! What if she kicks down my door and stabs me for laughing too loudly at what Tyra is wearing at panel? Hey, it could happen.

Sequels and the law of diminishing returns

It is a plain fact that the sequel to a movie is never as good as the original (notable exceptions being, by and large, book adaptations). But the Hollywood Movie Machine is in love with repeating formulas, which is much easier and safer than trying creative ideas. Or maybe it's us, too willing to buy tickets to the same shit in a different pile.

Take The Cutting Edge - the quintessential romantic comedy. A brutish young man and a frigid young woman are thrown together by circumstance and shared ambition. Sparks and witty banter fly to a early 90's soundtrack. Misunderstandings, rivalry, and drunken confessions all culminate in that one perfect moment - the music crescendos and they kiss. Roll credits.

It's schmaltz, pure and simple. But it's just so good. The story is alchemical, greater than the sum of its parts. If you don't like this movie, you're missing an X chromosome. Or a soul.

"You are an immature asshole of the lowest order. "
She so wants him.

You think to yourself, The Cutting Edge seems bad but is actually good - it's sequels seem much worse and should, by extension, be better! Sadly, this is not the case. ABC Family has been showing all three Edges back to back - the original, Going for the Gold and Chasing the Dream. And like some sort of exquisite train wreck, I can't turn away.

Going for the Gold tries to follow the pattern of the original as closely as possible. Doug's hockey career is replaced by Alex's surfing fame. Jacki (Doug and Kate's daughter) is just as talented and insufferable as young Kate. Even key scenes are repeated, like that embarrassing hotel room scene with Alex's fiancee Heidi taking the place of Lorie Peckarovski. It's like someone scarfed down the original movie, and vomited up Going for the Gold. No wonder D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly couldn't be convinced to reprise their roles.

Of course, they go right for the "ice princess" pun
the original worked so hard to avoid.

Chasing the Dream tries to shake things up - this time, the figure skater is a man (Zack) and the hockey player is a woman (Alexandra). And she's Latina! Can't go wrong with an ethnic mismatch comedy. But again, Chasing the Dream just rehashes the original - down to the running gag of "toe pick!" and the use of The Pamchenko Twist. Jacki (Christy Carlson Romano) appears as Zack and Alexandra's coach, and tries desperately to lend the movie some thin veneer of authenticity. Needless to say, she fails.

Why, God? Why?

The best Edge sequel is not actually a sequel at all, but a satire: Blades of Glory - the bromantic comedy starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as the first male/male figure skating team. It doesn't recycle the plot of the original, it lampoons it to hilarious effect. If you haven't seen it, run - don't walk - to add it to your Netflix queue.

Finally, a movie worthy of The Cutting Edge legacy.

Sword of Truth

You would think someone who helped manage a tv blog would be up on the latest news. Yeah, not so much.

Apparently, the news that Sam Raimi was creating a television series from Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels has been out there for a while, but this is the first I've heard of it. Thanks, Wikipedia!

According to a press release on Terry Goodkind's website, the series will be one hour long, is aimed for the forthcoming Fall 2008 season, and will be aired in syndication.

As a fan of the books, I'm pretty excited about this, just as I am about HBO producing a series from George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. My only concern is that fantasy series in syndication seem to trend more towards the Xena and Hercules area then the more serious, adult themes consistent with the Sword of Truth books. But I will withhold judgment until I see it and until then will just be excited!

Look, I love me some Joxer. But Xena wasn't exactly known for it's seriousness, you know? Also, that's Sam Raimi's brother! Ted Raimi is so adorkable. Seaquest DSV, represent!

Buffy-a-thon 2008

To celebrate my purchase of The Chosen Collection Maggie, our friend Kristin, I had a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon this weekend. It was truly glorious - the three of us geeked out, ate vampire cupcakes and quoted lines for about sixteen hours (two episodes per season plus bathroom and pizza breaks ... not to be confused with bathroom-and-pizza breaks, which would just be gross). And because I know you all want to be just like us, here's the list of episodes we watched:

Season One- We decided to watch the first and the last episodes of this season, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "Prophecy Girl."

Season Two- James Marsters is my TV boyfriend, so we watched "School Hard," the first appearance of Spike. We added "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" to celebrate the light-and-fluffier side of the first few seasons. Also, Xander/Cordelia = awwwww!

Season Three- Okay, "Band Candy" was a must just to see Giles as Ripper, mackin' on Joyce. Hi-larious. And because we secretly love Badass Vampires!Willow and Xander, Kicked Puppy!Angel and Cleveland?!?Buffy, we had to watch "The Wish."

You ask what he's rebelling against and he says,
'What have ya got, pig?'

Season Four-

Me: I will fight to the death over "Something Blue!"
Maggie: You know, "Pangs" has more Spike -
Me: Done.

And then we watched "Restless," because it is a classic Kristin and I couldn't remember watching. 'I wear the cheese ... it does not wear me.'

Season Five- At this point, Kristin and Maggie are so worn down by my constant Spike squee-ing that they let me have "Fool for Love." But then it was time to bring the room down a bit with "The Gift." *sniff sniff*

Season Six- This was a hard decision, because we didn't want to get too much into Willow's whole mess. So we chose "Life Serial" for whacky Trio hijinks and "Tabula Rasa" for shits and giggles.

Aaaah, vampires!!

Season Seven- 'Buffy, the Slayer of the Vam-pyres.' For that line alone, we had to watch "Storyteller." And to bring the marathon to a close we watched the series finale, "Chosen."

Me (with a blanket over my head): I love this show so much! *sob*
Maggie: You are ridiculous.

The Two Spocks, Together At Last

I think the world might implode from the collective awesomeness that is the two Spocks being together in the same room. While this interview from TV Guide with Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto, my secret boyfriend, is way too short, it is very cute. And I cannot wait for the new Trek movie. Let's take a slingshot trip around the sun and try to travel into the future, k?

One Spock, two Spock, mwah ah ah!

Thoughts on Miss Guided

While surfing through the channels and pining for the return of Ugly Betty (April 24th at 8pm, bitches!) I stumbled upon Miss Guided, ABC's other quirky-girl comedy. It stars Judy Greer as Becky Freeley, a guidance counselor who returns to work at her own high school. The format of the show is reminiscent of a mockumentary, complete with characters who monologue to the camera. Best Line Of The Series (so far) goes to Earl Billings as Principal Huffy: "Some people think this job is easy. It's not. You have to be fair, firm and impersonal. Here's my secret - I'm dead inside."


A school guidance counselor's job ranges from the monotonous to the heart-wrenching ... they have to deal with troubled kids, but they also have to fill out the paperwork after. Becky's life is free of these burdensome responsibilities - she has plenty of time to wander the halls, getting up to all sorts of wacky shenanigans. If you are looking for a sensitive and accurate portrayal of life as a guidance counselor, Miss Guided is not the place. On the other hand, all the med students I know love the train wreck that is Grey's Anatomy ... maybe when you have a tough job, you don't mind someone romanticizing it a bit (read: until it's completely unrecognizable).

Also, Chris Parnell! Everybody wins.

Oh, thank the Lord.

I was really starting to question Rob Thomas' judgment there. Sacrilege, I know!

Going to the Chapel

Congratulations to Caroline and Joe! That's right folks, TV Sluts co-founder, Caroline, got engaged over the weekend to her boyfriend, Joe. We're looking at September 2009 for the big day, so mark your calendars now and start searching for that perfect gift. Fondue pot? Broiler pan? Candlesticks? How will I ever decide?

Guess this means Caroline is going to have start watching shows like The Real Wedding Crashers, Whose Wedding is It Anyway, and pretty much everything that airs on WE (television for women). Look for exciting reviews of these tv shows soon!

Not.

Congratulations Caroline and Joe!

Somewhere, Jason Dohring is pouting

What to Watch: The Paper

I pretty much abandoned MTV about 3 years ago. While I was known to indulge in the occasional Sunday morning marathon of Made during law school (great way to get over a hangover), I don't watch The Hills, or The Real World, or Road Rules Ultimate Smackdown, or any of the other crappy shows and non-music videos they currently air. Is TRL even ON anymore?

BUT.

There is a new show airing tonight on MTV at 10:30pm called The Paper. Basically, it's a reality show about a bunch of high-schoolers who work on an award-winning school newspaper. And if you think this sounds boring, then you have obviously never known any of those crazy, over-achieving, must-get-into-an-Ivy-League-college-or-I-will-die kind of high-schoolers. Because I think this show sounds AWESOME.

While my federal government firewall prevents me from offering a link to MTV homepage for the show, feel free to peruse these reviews from Newsday, Variety, and The New York Times.

Excerpt from NYT:

It’s funny to see a show on MTV whose drama stems in part from mayhem over page layouts. Even if very little of the actual practice of journalism is on view in “The Paper” — no 10th graders confronting county superintendents about proposed budget cuts — the series holds valuable life lessons for teenagers. A whole lot of working life involves talking about work, and the hard-driving loudmouth usually wins.

Oh, I cannot wait! Life lessons! Bitchy editors! Geeky high school students! Teenage breakdowns! This show will have it all.

A few thoughts on The Office

Ok, so The Office came back last night. I was really looking forward to its return, but to my dismay, we only spent about 2 minutes in the actual office. Instead, the episode took place in Michael and Jan's condo where they had a couples-only dinner party.

And explored the limits of the word awkward.

Seriously. I had to watch most of the episode from behind my fingers, as the on-screen situations because so uncomfortable that I really think it reached epic proportions. Watching the dissolution of Michael and Jan's relationship was just...painful. Almost too painful. The Office has always excelled at mixing those uncomfortable situations with humor, and while last night's episode was funny (especially the Hunter shout-out), I can't help but feel...almost dirty after watching it. It was more like watching two real people completely coming apart at the seams than it was watching a tv comedy. And put alongside the last new episode from before the strike ("The Deposition), we are clearly at a dark place in The Office's timeline.

And it seemed rather out of character for Jim to almost ditch Pam at the party, no? I was surprised he would be that selfish.

Hopefully the coming weeks we'll see more of a light-hearted The Office. Because I shouldn't feel depressed after watching this show, right? Although Ricky Gervais might disagree. Especially about this whole spin-off idea. That is probably cause for depression.

Ted Mosby is a Jerk

*This post was originally written about a week ago, and for some reason got lost in the ether. But it's still true. And Neil Patrick Harris is a genius.


How I Met Your Mother has been on a role lately. The show has been consistently funny since it aired, and basically reinvented Neil Patrick Harris (although Harold and Kumar didn't hurt), but this Monday's episode really hit it out of the park. Barney (NPH) created his own March Madness bracket to discover which woman he had screwed over the most in an attempt to uncover who was stalking him and warning his potential one night stands that he was a total asshat.

As part of his quest, Barney revisited a certain lovely woman he had told he was "Ted Mosby...the architect." Ted, is of course, the narrator of the show and Barney's best friend. While yelling at Barney, the woman mentioned that she had, of course, created a website at www.tedmosbyisajerk.com. Because this show is so awesome, that website actually exists. It also contains a 20 minute theme song that is a must-hear.

But the best part of the episode was the tag at the end during the credits. As the camera pans across a bedroom wall, familiar computerized plinking musical notes begin. The opening credits of Doogie Howser,M.D. And there we find Barney sitting at his laptop, writing in his computer journal, with word perfect no less, just as his other tv persona, Doogie Howser, did at the end of every episode. The lesson Barney learned through his latest adventure was that he is awesome. But the lesson I learned is that this show is awesome. And the bump in ratings from the Britney guest star episode (which was also really really funny) means a fourth season is assured.

Well, color me surprised.

I was so confident going into last night's Make Me a Supermodel that Ronnie would win, that I didn't even watch the show. Also, when you get up before 6:00, staying until 11:00 at night to see Ronnie's inevitable victory seemed kind of pointless. Instead, I was watched the show as I got ready for work this morning.

And, whaaa? I mean, who, in the how, in the what? Holy crap, you guys! Ronnie didn't win!

Go Holly!

Ok, so let me explain. By the time this show was about half way through its run, I was rooting for Holly. It was clear to me that she was the best model of the bunch, and isn't that what the show should be about? Yeah, not exactly. All one had to do was peruse the Bravo TV website for the show, or read afterelton.com to see that the gay community had really embraced this show, especially Ronnie. And why not? Dude is hot and often awesome. There's a reason why so many men made it to the finale. Gay guys were watching this show and voting in large numbers. Only one person mentioned this at last week's reunion show (Dominic, I think?) and when the judges kept going on and on about why Ronnie was still on the show because he had really grown as a model blah blah blah, I couldn't help but snort. He's hot, yo. That's why he's still here.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Bravo made the show so America would vote for who they liked. And lots of people liked Ronnie. In my opinion, he is a great model and would have been a good choice for the win. I think Holly is the better model, but to each his own.

But in the end, Holly pulled through. I'm not exactly sure how...but I'm not going to wonder too much. Because it made me happy. She's fierce, y'all:

Just so you know, that's not her actual hair.

And here is my prediction. Holly will go on to have a long successful career as a model. She'll book campaigns and runway shows and work steadily. But I don't think anyone can deny that Ronnie is going to be the break-through star of this show. I'm not sure his fame will culminate in his being a "supermodel," although I am sure Ralph Lauren will be calling him soon, but I think Ronnie is going to become more a general celebrity, making personal appearances and the like. I would not be surprised to see him become some kind of spokesman in the future.

So, well done all! While some of the finalists occasionally engaged in various degrees of douchebaggery, by the end, I found myself liking them. Even Ben. Even though every word out of his mouth usually made me roll my eyes.

The only thing that really made me sad about Ronnie not winning, was what his Mom had said the night before. Something along the lines of, "I was always second best, but you are going to be number one." And then when he almost made it to the end, but not quite...sniff. Poor Ronnie's Mom! I think she was my favorite, they should make her a supermodel.

DT on Friday Night Project

Friday Night Project is a hilarious variety show on the BBC, going into it's sixth season. The last episode was hosted by none other than David Tennant, with an appearance from Freema Agyeman. Warning: the following clips include extremely awkward moments, including a reading of Doctor Who fanfiction. No, Maggie, I did not write the Doctor/Jack excerpt. As if I would ... Jack/Ianto OTP!


Part One


Part Two


Part Three


Part Four


Part Five

LOL! Will it never end?

I've blogged about Lost. I have even blogged about LOL Cats. But now I can blog about both!

Behold.

The end is totally nigh.