new show review: life unexpected

While I'm on the subject of show's I think I will like (see below), let's talk about Life Unexpected. If The Deep End was a show I was supposed to like, Life Unexpected was a show I was basically required by law to like. I really had no choice in the matter.

Prior to actually seeing the show, I knew three things: critics were comparing it to Gilmore Girls (an untouchable show in my book), executive producer/director Greg Fleder was involved (whose work I loved on October Road), and the show deals with an adolescent's experience in the foster care system, a story I feel goes grossly untold in this country.

Knowing all of this, I did my best to keep an open and cautious mind watching the first two episodes. Afterall, a show about a 16-year-old girl in foster care who tracks down her parents seeking a signature for emancipation only to find a home seems a little schmaltzy, no?

Thankfully, good characters and strong writing keep this show on the right side of the dangerous schmaltz line. 16-year-old Lux is played by Brittany Robertson, a young actor who you'll recognize from shows like Swingtown and movies like Dan in Real Life. A lot rests on Robertson's shoulders to play this character in a way that's both realistic and likable. She's does it with ease.

Lux was given up for adoption at birth by Cate Cassidy, who (at 15) was told she would find an adoptive home easily. Unfortunately, Lux had a heart condition that had her in and out of surgery until the age of three - a much more difficult age to find an adoptive home, especially with a medical condition. She's been in and out of foster homes ever since. We meet her the day before her 16th birthday when she's about to apply for emancipation from the system. Before doing so, she needs a signature from her birth parents. Not trusting the system to obtain these signatures in a timely fashion, she goes in search of her parents on her own.

First, we meet Baze or Nate Bazile played by Kristoffer Polaha, who's had roles in a handful of short-lived series and guest appearances on shows like Mad Men. Baze never knew Cate went through with having the baby after getting her pregnant in the backseat of his van after the prom. Baze has a bit of a Peter Pan complex living with his two best friends above a bar that he owns and operates. Lux showing up at his door is a huge surprise, but he handles it relatively well and tries to help her out by contacting Cate (Shiri Appleby, who you'll also recognize from a bunch of things like ER and Roswell).

Cate is a local radio personality, co-hosting a morning show with her fiancee (Kerr Smith of Dawson's Creek fame), who's more than disturbed to hear from Baze in the middle of her show one morning. When she finds the reason for his call, her world is turned upside down with the news that Lux never found a family. It's apparent that Cate never got over giving her up, dealing with some trust issues of her own.

In the first two episodes, we see this odd little family come together. Cate and Baze convince Lux (and the courts) to let them share custody (Lux living with Cate) for the time being. Lux deals with learning to trust, leaving her plans to move in with her best friend and boyfriend - thereby abandoning the family she built for herself in order to take a chance on a "real" family.

Cate and Baze certainly have their issues (made more complicated by their decision to drunkenly sleep together the night they find out about Lux), but they are able to put aside their differences and residual feelings aside to try to do the right thing for Lux. It's pretty apparent that Lux will often play the role of adult in their life together.

We still have a lot to learn about the characters, and also whether or not this show will find an audience, but I have high hopes for both. Call me a hopeless optimist.

Check it out Mondays at 9:00 on CW.

new show review: the deep end

As an avid television fan, I usually have an idea of whether or not I will like a new show. ABC's The Deep End (Thursdays at 8:00) has all the ingredients of what often constitutes a winner in my book. I'm a sucker for an ensemble cast and plots that combine both serial and case-of-the-week storytelling. As a bonus, The Deep End has some of my favorites like Tina Majorino (Veronica Mars, Napoleon Dynamite) and Matt Long (Jack & Bobby). All of that said, this one just didn't come together for me.

Sterling is a major law firm in Los Angeles with a new crop of junior associates. We start with the four new associates interviewing with Rowdy Kaiser the recruitment associate (played by the brilliant Norbert Butz, better known as the original Fiero from Wicked). The four are pretty predictable: Addy Fisher (Majorino) the awkward, wholesome hard worker with a heart of gold, Dylan Hewitt (Matt Long) the handsome do-gooder boy nextdoor, Liam Priory (Ben Lawson) the British cocky ladies man, and Beth Bancroft (Leah Pipes) the privileged over-achiever.

Cut to three months later, they're all fretting about "The Prince of Darkness" who we learn is senior partner Cliff Huddle (Billy Zane). He is married to fellow senior partner Susan (Nicole Ari Parker), and chair partner Hart Sterling (Clancy Brown) is returning after a long leave of absence due to his wife's illness, during which he left Cliff in charge.

As for the cases:

Cliff sticks Dylan with a pro bono case that Hart forced on them (because first day junior associates always get their own cases). It's a birth mother versus her mother-in-law who is suing for custody of her grandson (baby daddy died). Dylan defies Cliff's attempts to settle the case due to mother-in-law's local power and wealth, and does the right thing to restore custody to the mom. Aww.

Liam accidentally gives a prospective client the impression that he's Jewish, a secret that's only revealed when the client comes across a very un-Jewish part of his anatomy.

Addy tries balancing the demands of multiple senior partners getting arrested in the process. When she finally stands up for herself, Susan takes her on as a mentee.

Meanwhile, Beth is tasked with helping an old CEO hand over the reigns to a new guy only to find out he has Alzheimer's disease. She must decide whether to close the deal or reveal that the poor old man has no idea what's going on. She turns to her father for advice. A cut throat, rival attorney played by the wonderful Tom Amandes (Everwood, Eli Stone). In the end, Beth opts to screw the old man and makes the deal for the firm.

Through it all, we learn a little about the firm. Hart is taking the reigns back from an very reluctant Cliff who has steered the firm in a much more money-hungry and power-seeking (but also more successful) direction. Hart exerts his authority by showing Rowdy the recruiting associate the error of his recent ways and hiring a fifth first-year associate, Malcolm Bennett (Mehcad Brooks).

At one point, Cliff threatens to set Dylan on fire, throws a stack of paper at him, and tells him he will make sure he "never practices law again" if he doesn't make sure his client's 6-year-old son is given over to his grandmother. Oh, and he's having an affair with paralegal Katie. Sorry, I just barfed cliche.

In the end, Hart and Cliff agree to co-lead the firm. Beth gets it on with Liam in their office, Dylan gets it on with Katie in her apartment, and Cliff is on his way to get it on with his wife at a hotel, but not before dropping by Katie's apartment. And scene.

The problem is, I can't decide what I like and don't like. It's all so uneven. To me, a pilot's task is to introduce you to the characters and show you that they've got a story to tell. By the end of the episode, I was just left... blahh.

Despite all this, I decided to give the show a second chance with the next episode. Sometimes pilots can be tricky due to all the rewriting, network influence, etc. It was very evident that too many writers were involved - or seemed to be - because of the unevenness of the plot and characters. So...episode two. Plus, it's directed by Timothy Busfield, so how could I not?

Essentially, two cases and two love stories were presented. In the first case, Beth assumes second chair with Cliff in a faulty product lawsuit against Beth's high-powered attorney father (played again by Tom Amandes, who's underused here). Pipes was okay as Beth, but I felt thrown into her daddy issues with little background. An unevenly dramatic ending that I didn't end up caring about. The second case involved Addy accidentally taking on a medical marijuana clinic as a client. I really like Addy - probably my favorite character because Majorino plays her with such ease and authenticity - but this story line was completely lost on me. First, the clinic owners tried to pull a fast one on Addy by sending her a batch of marijuana in order to hide it from the feds. Then, Hart claimed the marijuana was his in order to protect the firm - but also to show his support for medical marijuana, I think? In the end, Addy figured out a way to get Hart's charges dropped and fired the client. I didn't understand the point of it.

As for the "love" stories, we learn Cliff not only had an affair with Katie but promised her a job at the firm. But she broke up with him and slept with Dylan. For fear that she would find out, Cliff told Susan about the affair. Susan then transferred Katie to their office in Montana. Got all that? Care? Neither do I. Although, judging by the inappropriately sentimental goodbye between Katie and Dylan at the end of the episode, I think the writers wanted us to care.

Second love story involves Liam's quest to relive his first kiss - a standard to which he holds every new woman. In an effort to help, Addy tells all the women in the office to kiss him throughout the day. Seriously, all day. All over the office. This is a place of business, is it not? I rarely get insulted by the way women are written on television, but this was both insulting and ridiculous. In the end, turns out Liam's dream kiss came from Beth, not that he would let her know that, and not that we care. Liam's character seemed to have potential, but again, I'm left with very little.

I'm disappointed because I could have used a fun new show, but looks like this just won't be it for me. It feels like they've taken everything that has worked in successful series past - Grey's Anatomy's torrid love stories, Boston Legal's quirky cases, etc. and tried to make something new - but it just ended up feeling like a recycled imitation.

new show review: human target

FOX aired the pilot of new action drama Human Target a few times this week as well as the second episode on Tuesday. The show will find a home on Tuesdays at 9:00 from now on.

This isn't really my kind of show - based on a DC Comics graphic novel and comic book series - but I'm giving it a look because I like Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies, Boston Legal). He plays Winston, partner to main man Christoper Chance played by Mark Valley. Valley seems to be the leading man who can never hold onto his own show - you'll recognize him from soaps, Boston Legal, and a brief stint on Fringe.

The two work as team - Chance is a private security contractor/body guard, and Winston is his business partner. Basically, Vance integrates himself into his clients' lives in order to protect them from a threat. His past is a mystery, which we expect will be revealed over time.

We meet them when they're hired to protect a woman who's in charge of a major public transportation project in California (fancy fast train). Someone tried to blow up her car. The train's maiden voyage is tomorrow, and Vance will need to tag along with her, posing as her interpreter in order to get the guy to reveal himself. Meanwhile, Winston helps gather and transmit info to Vance from the office.

In comes additional team member, hired gun Guerrero. He's played by Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach from Watchmen). Vance wants to bring him into the job because of his coercive investigation expertise, but Winston has strong reservations. But he steps in to help in his own quirky, creepy way. He's interesting to watch on screen, but goodness is he funny looking.

During the process, Chance acts like some combination of Dr. House and Jack Bauer. He identifies a poisoned drink by the cubed rather than crushed ice cubes.

Vance's clever observations makes the killer think he's been caught. So, he pulls a bunch of emergency breaks, which, mixed with the speed of the train, will cause the who thing to explode. Naturally.

The fun begins when the killer tracks them down and chases Chance and his charge all the way down the train - Chance getting shot in the bullet proof vest a few times along the way. This also involves a pretty cool fist fight in an air shaft - must have been really cool/impossible to shoot.

In the end, Chance does his part to protect train lady from the assassin (really tough fight - effects are pretty cool), then comes back to warn everyone of the impending train explosion. Train lady saves the day with her knowledge of the train. She loads everyone into last car, which has backup breaks. In an unfortunate twist, train lady's husband tries to trap her and Chance out of the breaking car. The coolest part comes when Chance rigs a harness system and uses the wind force to para(shoot) them straight out of the train.

Guerrero does his part to solve the underlying mystery behind train lady's death threats. Turns out, she had an affair and the husband wanted her dead for the train building bonus money. There you go kids, cheaters never win. In a bizarre sentimental moment between Chance and train lady - complete with Casablanca-style music - he takes her wedding rings as payment. I didn't understand it.

During the last scenes, Chance flashes back (or forward?) to guarding Danny Glover and blowing up a car. This is either a mystery that will unfold or a preview of next week's episode.

As a leading action man, Valley is good but not great. Not yet anyway. He definitely has potential, but is coming across a little too stiff. He will need to show a more humanism for viewers to get attached and root for him. Winston and Guerrero are fun to watch, but it's still not clear what Winston actually does.

With all the returning and new television on this spring - not to mention the Olympics - I think I will skip this one. But if anyone has a strong argument for keeping it on the DVR, post in the comments!

new show review: men of a certain age

TNT's new drama (dramedy?) Men of a Certain Age premiered last night to the tune of 5.4 million viewers - quite a decent run for a cable net. And most of the critics have good things to say. I've been looking forward to this new show for a while - good timing for something new as we enter the winter hiatus. And I'm a sucker for those extended promos they've been showing at movie theatres. The big screen gets me every time. Let's get to it.

Starting with the cast, which is basically a television dream team - a collection of veterans from a line of ultra-successful shows. First, Ray Romano as Joe, the lonely, separated father of two teenagers, who's living in a hotel and has a gambling problem. Scott Bakula as Terry, the chick-magnet unemployed actor. And Andre Braugher as Owen, the bitter, but happily married father of three young ones.

The three went to college together and are now settling or unsettling into their late 40s. We first meet them on the way to take a morning hike together - a daily ritual. Joe hits a possum in the road and struggles to decide whether to take him to the vet. Instead, he runs over the animal twice more to put him out of his misery. Low and behold, the possum gets up an walks away. I've never trusted possums.

Throughout the day, we learn about each of the guy's day jobs:

Owen is a frustratingly underachieving car salesman. He works for his unsupportive father, who picks this day to tell Owen that he's an embarrassment, and he will not be passing management of the business over to him - one of his reasons being Owen's need to self-administer diabetic insulin shots during the work day. Truly heartbreaking scene.

Joe owns and operates a party supply store where he has a practice golf course set up in the back room. He did a couple rounds on the "mini tour" trying for professional golf back in the day. We also learn that debts from his gambling problem are owed. Although it's hitting all of them, Joe has the most outwardly obvious midlife crisis going on. He measures the amount of weight he loses when he pees (record is 2.5) and stresses over not being able to read the ketchup bottle label, among other things.

Terry is temping at an office where he shows up at 12:30 and refuses to own a cell phone. "Those things are just a phase." It's obvious Terry gets by on cool. But cool doesn't do much for him when he shows up at a "cattle call" for a Lifetime movie role, obviously frustrated and confused about where his career has gone. He's befriended the local young barista Annie, played by Carla Gallo, who you'll recognize from shows like Mad Men and Bones. Looks like we'll be seeing more of her.

[Sidenote: Just saw a preview for Southland premiering on TNT on January 12th. So glad the show found a home on this network! Seems like a perfect fit.]

On the next morning's hike, Owen has a diabetic seizure and collapses. The boys rush him to the hospital, but not before failing to belt him in, which results in a nose breaking against the dashboard. The boys chose not to tell Owen that detail, but are utterly incapable of telling a coherent lie. I found that scene pretty hilarious (and realistic).

The episode ends on a sad note for Joe. Feeling guilty for lying about Owen's nose, Joe calls his wife to tell her what happened. He asks her what to do and slips in that he's quit gambling. It's obvious that she's tired of it. Later, he meets a debt collector outside of the store to pay some gambling fees. With a full envelop in his pocket, Joe claims he doesn't have the money. After realizing the collector won't be getting violent, Joe produces the money. I think maybe he wanted to be punished thinking this would discourage the habit? In the words of the unscary collector, "You're a little weird Joe."

Owen's ending is a bit more hopeful. After a talking-to from his wife, Owen realizes he can't quit his job while supporting three young children. He returns to work with an renewed determination and literally pushes down the competition. Owen might be my favorite.

In the end, Joe asks the unscary debt collector to help him "take care" of the possum. They find him dead, and Joe builds him a little grave. Gotta love when the story comes full circle.

It's obvious this pilot was all about introducing us to the characters and setting the stage for our window into this difficult stage of their lives. I need to watch a few more episodes to get comfortable with them, but I like what I'm seeing so far. This is a refreshing change from the typical aging sitcom dad (sorry Ray) that we've seen over and over. It's a dark show, but I did laugh out loud a few times. I know there's a lot more to be said about each of their journeys, but I'll keep it here for now. If you didn't see it, check out a rerun on TNT this week and let me know what you think!

Favorite lines:

Joe: Saw my ass in the mirror the other day.
Terry: Yea, how was it?
Joe: Not good. Got like an extra crease where there wasn't one.

P.S. Is Ken Jeong is everything now?

new show review: v

It's a little late, but I want to weigh in on "the most talked about pilot of the season." ABC loves that line. It might actually be somewhat true this time though. Delaying the premiere until November was a smart move for the network because V premiered right when everyone was starting to get bored with buzzing about the new fall shows. Problem is, we'll only see 3 or 4 episodes before the winter hiatus, and it's not clear if the show will return before or after the Olympics.

Anyway, let's get into it. I've only seen the pilot so far, and I'm coming into the story of V as a newbie. As I said here, after some Wiki research, I learned that V was a two-part miniseries written by Kenneth Johnson that aired in 1983. Johnson wrote a sequel miniseries called V: The Final Battle to conclude the story. As networks often do, NBC decided to keep it going by creating a series in 1984. Johnson parted ways with the project, and the show only lasted one season. The new series is a remake/reconceptualization of the story - an extraterrestrial race arrives on Earth with seemingly good intentions, only to slowly reveal their true machinations the more ingrained into society they become.

With that bit of background, I started into the pilot. The first 5 minutes moved quite quickly...very much in the style of Lost or FlashForward. Not to dwell on the comparison, but I thought V had a better disaster intro than FlashForward. What initially seems like an earthquake hitting the entire planet, turns out to be a fleet of space ships hovering over the major cities across the world - the special effects around the ships are pretty amazing.

During these scenes, we meet Erica Evans, an FBI agent, played by Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) and her son Tyler played by Logan Hufman. Also, her friend and partner Dale Maddox played by Alan Tudyk (Firefly, A Knight's Tale). Then we have Ryan Nichols played by Morris Chestnut (The Best Man, Ladder 49) and his girlfriend Valerie Holt played by Lourdes Benedicto (The Nine, 24). And cautious priest Father Jack Landy (Joel Gretsch). Finally, there's Scott Wolf (Everwood, Party of Five) playing local newscaster Chad Decker.

The "Visitors" introduce themselves by way of a videocast of their (conveniently) beautiful leader, Anna (Morena Baccarin), who promises they have come in peace and are met by applause from most civilians watching in the streets. Right off the bat, Erica is skeptical. She and Dale begin investigating a terrorist sleeper cell they believe may be connected. I imagine they're not the only law enforcement personnel in the world doing so, but of course, we're to believe they are.

If the Visitors just learned about Earth, why are they so easily adapting to Earth culture? Anna held a press conference. Many of the most experienced public speakers on this planet cannot pull that off. Science fiction, suspend belief.

I'm having a bit of a hard time seeing Elizabeth Mitchell as a cop-type (and as a mother to a teenager), but I think that's lingering Lost attachments. She's consistently authentic in her performances, and I like Tudyk playing her partner. They start to uncover some fishy stuff related to a terrorist sleeper cell, including stockpiles of hidden C4 and a murder victim.

We always believe aliens will have much cooler modes of transportation - this is certainly no exception. Tyler and his friend ride a V shuttle to the mother ship with a bunch of other curious humans. This ship is all kinds of rad. They must think humans are living like pilgrims. The lucky boys confirm the theory that all Vs are attractive, including Lisa (Laura Vandervoot), who tries recruiting them for a V ambassador program. They're too young to join, but not too young to get roped in.

Meanwhile, Father Landry sees an influx of attendees at Mass looking for support and answers, including a man claiming to have been healed of paralysis in his legs. They all seem inspired with renewed faith since the arrival of the Vs. He's not convinced this is good news. Soon after, he's visited by a gravely injured man who turns over an envelope of information about the dangerous Vs.

Turns out Ryan (Chesnut) has a connection to the case that Erica and Dale are investigating. He has a shady past connected to some kind of citizen vigilante group. Erica finds an invitation to one of these meetings believing it's tied to the sleeper cell. She goes to check it out by herself because that's what badass female television cops do. Erica learns that the group (Father Landry's there too) has formed in resistance to the Vs. They claim this is not the Vs' first appearance on Earth, that they are disguised by cloning human flesh over reptile skin and are implementing a plan for decades to exterminate the human race by infiltrating all facets of life. The leader of the group warns against their plan to gain the trust of all mankind with the promise of friendship and technology - the "saviors" of mankind.

Meanwhile, chronically underachieving newscaster Chad has been chosen by Anna for an exclusive interview. The writers haven't given him much depth yet, but superficially, Scott Wolf is the perfect choice for this character. The pre-interview begins with Anna asking Chad to refrain from "asking questions that will portray them in a negative light." She threatens to cancel the interview without this guarantee, basically threatening him. Britney Spears is wishing she had this woman running the show about two years ago. He proceeds with the interview.

Anna claims the Vs have evolved to expel all negative feelings. They care only about tranquility and peace. She's a real sweet talker, this one. She goes on about their plans to open a healing center in every major city across the world (universal healthcare). This starting to sound a little familiar?

Back at the meeting, Father Landry shows proof of Vs living on Earth - photos from the dying man at the church - including one of the sleeper cell terrorist that Erica is investigating. A sleeper cell of Visitors? Suddenly, the meeting is invaded by a scary floating computer bomb and some really violent dudes. Ryan shows up at the last minute to kick some butt, and it turns out Erica can hold her own too. Mid-fight, Erica realizes she is fighting Dale. Guess what? He has reptile flesh. He is one of them. Damnit. I did NOT see that coming. So much for that partnership.

In the end, we see Tyler forge his permission slip to become a V ambassador. Erica didn't see Ryan at the meeting, but we do seem him talking to the group leader revealing that he also has reptile flesh. He claims to be a trader/deserter who promises to help defend the Earth against the Vs. Is he telling the truth? Is Dale a trader/deserter too? Looks like Erica will be joining the resistance group along with Father Landry. She observes, "They arming themselves with the most powerful weapon out there...devotion."

I won't get into the political parallels and symbolism of the show right away, but I do think some of the major themes are not surprisingly convenient for the current political climate. Overall, the pilot was really compelling. I think there are two types of pilots - those that can stand on their own as mini-movies and those that set up a bunch of scenarios and questions for the season. The best ones do both (Lost still has the number one spot), but I think this was more of the latter.

This may be because I haven't been enjoying FlashForward lately, but I can safely say V currently has a DVR reservation as my favorite new sci-fi action drama. At least until Lost comes back. (UPDATE: I lied. That spot still belongs to Fringe for the time being).

new show reviews: mercy & trauma

Sometimes my TV schedule happens by natural selection. I program a bunch of series recordings at the beginning of the season, some are old standbys, others are new shows that seem promising. Among the news shows, many are watched right away, others linger in the DVR for a while.

Right now, I have three episodes of Mercy and two of Trauma lingering. I haven't decided if I'm interested in another medical drama. Trauma and Mercy are two of only three new shows for NBC this season (not counting Jay Leno). The only two new dramas for the network that brought us The West Wing, ER, Law & Order, NYPD Blue... they have to be good right?

Trauma
Up against Dancing with the Stars and Two and a Half Men, Trauma is struggling in the ratings. But as we know, bad ratings don't always equal bad show. Trauma has all the makings of successful shows we've seen in the past - gory medical cases, attractive docs and EMTs, stuff blowing up. But is that enough?

The pilot introduces us to a team first responders in San Francisco, including EMT partners Nancy (Anastasia Griffith) and Terry (Ryan Kennedy), who are getting busy in the back of the ambulance. This seems unprofessional. Also, partners Boone (Derek Luke) and Briggs (Kevin Rankin). Then, we have cocky helicopter rescuer Reuben or "Rabbit" (Cliff Curtis) and ER doctor Saviano (Jamey Sheriden, who I recognize from Law & Order: CI).

The fun begins during the first rescue scene on the roof of building where the two EMT teams have just put a critical victim onto Rabbit's helicopter, and Terry hopped in to help him. Rabbit then crashes with another helicopter subsequently tearing up the top floors of the building. Great special effects, and we learn that all the actors can scream.

Turns out, this was a flashback. In present day, that accident happened one year ago exactly and seven people died, including Terry. There's a new helicopter pilot partnering with Rabbit, Marisa Benez (Aimee Garcia) who's just back from Iraq. The first anniversary involves a multi-car crash and explosion caused by a texting driver (don't text and drive, kids), and we see the crash is still affecting the crew, all manifesting in different ways. Boone is cheating around on his wife, Nancy is shutdown, and Rabbit believes he can't die, which incidentally is not a healthy attitude.

In the second episode, we learn Nancy's new partner is cute newbie Glenn (Taylor Kinney), and Marisa is not into the "people" part of the job. She's a copter pilot and wants to steer clear of everything else in her post-war career. Boone is in couples counseling with his wife.

Cases support character development and filter throughout the episode in a similar style to ER. The writing of the cases is strong, the acting is not bad, but I don't find myself attached to any of the characters. It looks like Nancy, Boone and Rabbit are the semi-leads. I didn't find them very memorable, although Rabbit has potential.

Overall, the second episode was better than the pilot, which is a good sign because that's more indicative of the formula we can expect. It's essentially a procedural with good special effects, but I'm not craving more. I'll probably watch another episode or two, but I don't think this one will earn it's place in natural selection.

Mercy
Mercy is right in the middle of the ratings pack at 8:00 on Wednesdays, which is a pretty light timeslot. The show is aiming for a unique look at the medical drama by focusing on the nurses. Right off the bat, the show is much more character-driven than I expected. Here they are:

Veronica or Ronnie (Taylor Schilling) is the main character. She's a former military nurse with a hefty case of PTSD from Iraq. She's currently living with semi-functionally alcoholic parents (played by talented TV vets Kate Mulgrew and Peter Gerety) and has three pesky and rambunctious full-grown brothers. Her husband/high school sweetheart Mike (Diego Klattenhoff) slept around while she at war, but now wants her back. He's a nice working class guy, felt abandoned by her leaving, worships her, etc. She agrees to give their marriage another try just before Dr. Sands shows up at the hospital.

Dr. Sands (James Tupper of Men In Trees) has arrived at Mercy Hospital in Newark, New Jersey with the intention of winning the love of Ronnie, with whom he had a relationship in Iraq. He's brooding and heroic and gets Ronnie's panties in a bunch, but not enough to pull her away from her recommitment to her husband. The catch is, Dr. Sands signed a two-year contract, so he's not leaving and not giving up. Love triangles give me anxiety, so I don't love this plotline at all. However, a pretty hilarious tirade about being stuck in awful New Jersey was enough to make me like him a little. Sorry Jersey, but it was funny.

Sonia (Jaime Lee Kirchner) is a gorgeous nurse, who's also Ronnie's best friend. She's gets a lot of attention from the boys, but is reluctantly getting involved with a detective who frequents the hospital. Her character is really likable and she's not a vaudevillian best friend figure, which is always good to see. She has her fair share of drama as well, including a gang member drug dealing brother who shows up at her apartment for stitches after he's been shot.

Chloe (Michelle Trachenberg) is the bright eyed and bushy tailed new nurse . Chloe is bugging the crap out of me. Her sweet persona is over-the-top and the crying is not believable. Shockingly, the little innocent thing isn't taking too well to the big, scary hospital, but the other nurses seem to give her sympathy and ridicule in equal parts. In the second episode, we start to see Trachenberg coming into her own a little, and the character becomes more believable.

Other more minor characters include, head nurse Klowden (Margo Martindale), the fairly funny boy of the group, nurse Angel (Guillermo Diaz), asshole nurse-underappreciator Dr. Harris (James LeGros), and nicer Dr. Parks (Delroy Lindo). There have been a few other docs as well, but not sure who's sticking around on a recurring basis.

I've heard on good authority (my mom) that the show doesn't depict nurses well or accurately, and I believe it. If you take that away (which is supposed to be the point of the show), there are some pretty good stories told in the hospital - not quote ER or Grey's Anatomy caliber, but there's potential. We see much more of the nurses dealing with the emotional side of the patients then actually seeing them in action, which is a little disappointing. The treatment from the doctors is seems a bit cliched. I wouldn't mind seeing a fuller picture of that dynamic with more emphasis on how the nurses keep the place running.

In terms of the characters' personal stories, as I said, there's a lot more than I expected. Ronnie's family brings a little humor and New Jersey color to the story, which is fun.

Bottom line: I was all ready to hate this show, and I didn't. But if it turns into the "Ronnie and Dr. Sands will-they-or-won't-they hour," I'm taking the next train out of Newark.

Quick sidenote, Trauma and Mercy each have a full 30-second intro complete with cast credits. You don't see that very often on network television anymore. Old school. Trauma's is melodramatic and Mercy's seems to belong on a 1990s sitcom.

new show review: eastwick

Eastwick is based on a novel by John Updike that was also adapted to a movie in 1987 starring Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandan. It's tough going for female-dominated shows. We saw the quick demise of Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle in the last year. Desperate Housewives is probably the best success story in recent years. Let's see how this one fairs... it's a little different with some fantasy thrown in.

We first meet the ladies at some sort of Halloween festival in their small New England town. During these scenes, we get a voiceover by town historian Bun Waverly by way of a story she is reading to the kids about the history of witches in the town. Call me cheesy, but I actually think it's a cute and clever way to start the story. By the way, Bun is played by Veronica Cartwright, who was also in the movie. Veronica is one of my favorite character actresses, who's been around forever (though she looks great). You may remember her as Jack's mom on Will & Grace, but I loved her as the mom in Flight of the Navigator.

But I digress... first up is Roxie played by Rebecca Romijn. I think critics are tough on Rebecca, maybe because she's so darn beautiful, but I've always liked her. She played a charming tranny on Ugly Betty. Roxie is an eccentric artist widow with a teenage daughter Mia (Ashley Benson) and a nearly teenage boyfriend Chad (played by Kyle XY's Matt Dallas). Also, I covet her hair.

Then we have shy journalist Joanna played by Lindsay Price who is trying her darndest to be more confident and attract the man of her dreams, photographer Will (Johann Urb). Lindsay was most recently seen in Lipstick Jungle, ill-fated but I did love her clothes, and of course you remember her Janet, the girl who finally tamed Steve on 90210. Joanna's best friend is Penny (played by the lovely Sara Rue), who seems to be there to push her around a little.

Kat played by Jaime Ray Newman. I know her best as Kristina Cassadine from General Hospital during my college days. She's either a nurse with a litter of children and an obnoxious slacker husband Raymond (played by Jon Bernthal from The Class, who has highly unfortunate hair in this role).

The three ladies each come across a coin during festival and are mysteriously compelled to toss them into a fountain with a wish at the same time. As that happens, red ants attack poor storyteller Bun. They end up at the hospital for Bun until Roxie suggests getting drunk at her house. And the ladies bond. As ladies do.

The next day, Roxie gets a wax-sealed invitation (I need to get a wax seal to a mansion recently purchased by a new arrival in town Daryl Van Horn (Paul Gross). This was the Jack Nicholson role in the movie, and I'm not sure how I feel about this casting yet. He's handsome and cocky, but maybe too good looking?

When Roxie arrives, he propositions her for sex and offers her $50,000 to create a sculpture of him trying to appeal to her hidden desire for someone to take control and rock her world. She tells him off and leaves. Oddly, this was the wish Roxie made to the fountain.

Later, we find out that the mysterious Daryl bought Joanna's newspaper, the candle factory where Kat's husband used to work, and the town inn. Low and behold, Joanna meets Daryl the outside the newspaper office where he infuses her enthusiasm for her thankless job by pitching a juicy story... conveniently, also what she wished for in the fountain.

Kat gets to meet Daryl when he shows up at the inn where she's having dinner with the girls. He's thrilled to see the three of them together. She's not impressed by his smooth talking and magic water...until said water starts to get them a little tipsy. Tipsy enough to take a little dip in the fountain. Daryl fulfill her fountain wish when he promises to help with her divorce by taking care of her lawyer.

Through the episode, we start to see the ladies exhibit interesting "powers". Roxie sees the future in her dreams, Kat causes the earth to shake knocking her slacker husband from his hammock (and later gets him struck by lightening!), and Joanna makes her boss (and conveniently Will) say exactly what she wants.

The creepiest scene of the episode comes when Kat is caring for Bun at the hospital, and she suddenly wakes from her coma. She tells Kat "it's all your fault... it's happening again... he's been here before... he's evil... yadda yadda." And someone left a death notice for a Daryl Van Horn on Penny's doorstep...wha what?

So, it remains to be seen. Are they good witches or bad? How much control to they have over their powers? Will they help them or hurt them? Is Daryl there to protect them or control them? Will he stop hitting on them long enough for us to tell?

Maybe I'm just looking for something different, but this show was pretty cute. It also doesn't hurt that they're reusing the lot from Gilmore Girls. Oh Stars Hollow. You get me every time.

new show review: flashforward

FlashForward was another one on my list of most anticipated new shows. And I know I was not alone, ABC is really pushing this as the replacement for the soon-to-retire Lost. It's a big bite to chew, so let's get into it.

The cast is a pretty big ensemble. I really want to make this more of a review than a recap, but if we have another Lost on our hands, I feel like I need to capture it all, so please bear with me. The first ten minutes of the pilot are spent introducing us to the characters and setting up where they will be when the "flash" happens.

We first meet Mark Benford played by Joseph Fiennes, who most of you probably recognize from movies like Shakespeare in Love. His wife Olivia is played by the lovely Sonya Walger, better known as Penny from Lost. He leaves to spend his day as an FBI agent, and she's a doctor headed into surgery for the morning.

Before work, Mark goes at an AA meeting - enter baggage. After the meeting, Mark chats with his sponsor Aaron played by Bryan O'Byrne (Brotherhood) whose daughter was killed in Afghanistan two years ago. He's one of those guys who climbs telephone poles, which is where he's chilling with the flash happens.

Meanwhile, back and Mark and Olivia's house, babysitter Nicole played by Peyton List (Sterling's wife Jane on Mad Men) doing naughty things with her boyfriend.

Then, we meet Mark's partner Demetri played by John Cho, or Harold of the Harold & Kumar movies. He's younger and chatting about his engagement as they sit on some sort of stakeout. So far, I like their chemistry as partners. Their boss Stan is played by Courtney B. Vance, who is a veteran of cop dramas. And their co-worker Janis (Christine Woods) is manning phones at the office. Mark & Demetri end up in a high speed chase, during which I realize Demetri is not belted. Poor judgement.

Also, there's one guy we don't know who's holding a gun and about to off himself on a seaside pier.

FLASH.

And then everyone wakes up a few minutes later... Mark is trapped under his car, suicidal guy is lying on the pier (alive), Olivia and her staff are all on the floor of the operating room, Nicole was thrown to the floor and boyfriend is on the couch (nice guy), Aaron is stuck hanging from the flag pole.

Chaos ensues as the whole world seemingly comes to. This is followed by a series of really cool effects and explosions - the scenes are surprisingly realistic - as all of Los Angeles is in a state of mass destruction. There's looting and dead bodies all over the place... and oh yea, a kangaroo running around. Televisions reveal that this happened to the entire world.

We see all of our folks post flash.. Mark trying to make sense of things at the FBI, Olivia handling casualties at the hospital, suicidal guy - who we now know is a doctor - showing up to help at the hospital too, Demetri caught the high speed chase suspect, who's apparently a femme fatale terror suspect, Nicole checking to make sure her little charge is okay, Aaron hanging from the phone pole.

It's determined that everyone experienced a waking memory of events that haven't occurred yet, and it seems like everyone's future is consistent. And the future is April 29, 2010 at 10:00pm. They start to lose me a little when Mark, Demetri, and Janis are charged with investigating what caused this, and Janis suggests creating a website where people can log in and report their visions. LA FBI bureau is in charge, really? Flash facebook?

During the course of the hour, we get pieces of everyone's flash dream...

• Mark drinking again while at work investigating the incident, scary guys in masks are after him with guns
• Mark's young daughter Charlie dreamed "there are no more good days" which cannot be good for a child
• Janis was getting a prenatal sonogram
• Stan was on the toilet
• Demetri didn't see anything at all, which he fears means he's dead
• On the other hand, suicidal guy (who we now know is Bryce played by Zachary Knighton) is all happy because he's alive in his dream
• Aaron eerily sees his dead daughter alive in his flashforward
• Olivia says she sees herself with another man (uh oh Mark). We find out said man is the father of a young boy Olivia saved that day.

The fact that the future really does come true is confirmed when Mark's daughter Charlie presents him with a friendship bracelet that he remembers wearing in his dream. And the coolest and creepiest scene comes at the end when Janis surfs through surveillance footage and finds one lone black cloaked man walking around during the flash (at Detroit Stadium no less).

There are some really beautifully shot scenes, especially outdoors, which seem to use some kind of CGI, but it's not too unbelievable. I don't pretend to know what I'm talking about on that subject. They also make great use of light and dark and the colors seem very vivid.

For such far-fetched content and dramatic circumstances, the dialogue runs the risk of going totally over the top and ridiculous (the movie Day After Tomorrow comes to mind). But the writers are handling it very well so far. There's enough humor and realism thrown into the drama to make it tolerable.

I'm not as blown away by the pilot as I hoped I would be, but definitely intrigued enough and impressed by the actors (and the crazy previews at the end of the episode) enough to keep watching. I'll probably be blogging about it from time to time to make sense of things.

Anyone else watch? What did you think?

new show review: the good wife

I've been excited about this show for a while because it seemed like something different from the run of the mill legal show. And I've always wondered what happens to those wives after the devastating moments on camera standing by their guilty husbands. What are they thinking in that moment? What happens next? The Good Wife is telling that story in the pilot.

The episode opens with Alicia Florrick (Juliana Marguiles) standing by her man Peter Florrick (Chris Noth/Mr. Big) as he makes a statement to the press apologizing for illegal activities while serving as State Attorney. The scene is very strong focusing on Alicia, all of the images floating through her head and all she can do is focus on a tiny loose string sitting on her husband's suit sleeve.

Cut to six months later Alicia starting her new job at a law firm after a 15 year hiatus. Here, we meet the coworkers...and I'm smiling wider at every face I see. Josh Charles, one of my very favorites from Sports Night, a show I still mourn every day, playing Will a partner at the firm and old friend/classmate of Alicia. Right away, we know Alicia has someone in her corner, and Josh plays the character with ease charm as usual.

The brilliant Christine Baranski plays Diane, another firm head honcho, who transparently disapproves of Alicia's years as a mother and wife (of a State Attorney who no one likes) and owns a dog named Justice. And Gilmore Girls vet Matt Czuchry playing Cary, the other new associate, who is about half her age and does a bad job of hiding the competitive spirit behind his nice guy persona. We find out that there's actually only one associate position open, and the two will be competing.

Alicia is forced to jump in right away on a pro bono case that is being retried after a hung jury case tried by Diane. Here we meet Kalinda, the firms in-house investigator. It took me a while to place her, but with some help from IMDB, I realized she is Archie Panjabi, who played the sister in Bend It Like Beckham. She was a hoot in that movie (did I just type hoot?). She's British, playing an American here and could use a little practice with the accent, but I like her in this role. The two get off to a rocky start when we learn Alicia's husband fired Katrina in the past, and she's resentful of having to catch Alicia up on the case, which involves a young woman accused of killing her husband and making it look like a botched car jacking.

Along the way, we meet Alicia's family. Honest and frank, but not quite bratty, teenage daughter Grace (Mackenzie Vega) who's dealing with rumors (and truths) about her dad at school. Younger son Zack (not sure of the actor's name yet). Mother-in-law Jackie is played by none other than Mary Beth Peil, better known as Gram from Dawson's Creek. So good to see her on the small scene again. Although she's a judgemental nightmare, at least she's stepping up to help Alicia.

Alicia visits Peter in prison to get some signatures on paper work. We learn that his charges include running an "abusive office" and soliciting a prostitute. Peter is maintaining his innocence on the first, but there's video proof of the second that's all over the Internet. He loses me when he says "Thanks for playing the bread winner for a while."

The trial is interesting, but nothing ground breaking. After Peter tells Alicia that he heard rumblings about hidden evidence during the first trial, she and Kalinda dig up the evidence and find a more viable suspect, helping to get the young woman off the hook. Really, this was a way to show the challenges Alicia will be facing along the way, including prejudices from judges who didn't like her husband, the new State Attorney who's also not a fan, and fellow attorneys in the firm, who don't expect too much of her.

With friends and well-written characters on her side - I always say the secret to a procedural is excellent side characters! - Alicia could turn out to be a fun heroine to watch. One episode in, and I already feel myself caring about her. She's been through hell, she's not denying it, but she's not falling victim to it either. I could use some stronger writing on the cases, but otherwise, I'm really looking forward to seeing how the season goes.

new show review: cougar town

The moment of truth has arrived. Can we watch Courtney Cox without seeing Monica Geller? The ill-fated Dirt never gave us much time to decide. Now, she's back with a half hour comedy, though the format is very different from Friends - shot with one camera, no laugh track, and no Chandler.

I've written before about how news of the title almost completely turned me off from the show. Cougar, we're over it. (Not the concept, just the name. Go Demi.) But I'm giving it chance because I like Courtney, and I like that ABC has been taking some chances with comedy lately.

The opening scene of the pilot is enough to make me love Jules (Courtney) already. She spends her post-shower time examining the unfortunate changes her body is experiencing and then just yells "crap" at the mirror. We can be friends.

The name "cougar" actually comes from Jules' son's high school mascot. Son Travis is played by Dan Byrd, who you've seen around in shows like Aliens in America and Heroes. Already, he might be my favorite part of the show.

Younger best friend and coworker in real estate Laurie is played by Busy Philips. Her mission is to make Jules have fun (having been divorced for 5 months).

Other married best friend and neighbor Ellie is played by Christa Miller from Scrubs (who is also conveniently married to EP Bill Lawrence). So far, the best part about Ellie is her husband Andy, who's played by the hilarious Ian Gomes (played Javier on Felicity).

Cutie neighbor Grayson is played by Josh Hopkins (most recently doing unethical things with Addison on Private Practice). He's also recently divorced - as Jules discovers one morning - already having some fun with younger ladies. This pushes Jules to flash her lady parts to a poor unsuspecting young man riding his back by her driveway. He lands on a car. Unfortunately, said boy goes to Travis' school and word travels fast.

Ex-husband Bobby (played by Brian Van Holt) is refreshingly not a douchebag philanderer. Just an immature under-achiever, but a good guy who's still around for Travis. Jules is annoyed by him, but they don't hate each other. It's not the same divorced couple comedy we always see, which is good news.

With Travis at his dad's for the night, Laurie convinces Jules to join her for a night out. She ends up with a young cutey at home, ends her drought, and makes him crackers with peanut butter as a post-game snack. All is well, until poor Travis comes home to catch a glimpse of some life-scarring activities.

With apologies and a bonding moment with his mom, Travis recovers in the end. What I like about Jules, is she's not sad or desperate. She's just going through a rough patch in a confusing time of her life, and she's honest about it. Sometimes painfully honest to an over-the-top place, but it's not obnoxious. I hate to say it, but sometimes it's hard for non-twentysomething comedic actresses to avoid crossing that line. Courtney Cox has pulled it off, and I think I'll really like this character.

I'm almost surprised to find that I really like this show. You can definitely feel the Bill Lawrence (also creator of Scrubs) style thrown in. The comedy is quirky and uncomfortable, but moves fast and expects the viewer to be along for the ride. So far, the characters are really fitting well together, especially Jules and Travis. I'm looking forward to seeing if they can keep the momentum going.

Favorite lines:

Jules (to the bouncer at the club): You're really black! It looks great on you.

Jules (telling young hottie why she never studied abroad): I don't know. I was 19. I started thinking with my coochie-cooch. And then bam, I had a kid. (uncomfortable silence) And you are hot as balls.

Jules (to neighbor Grayson bringing home a lady across the street): Stop having sex with babies. In a hoodie, really?

Laurie: Can we stop sprinting now? I feel like my boobs are trying to kill me. (I hear ya girl)

new show review: modern family

I've been excited by the buzz around Modern Family for a while - so glad I'm finally able to see for myself. Did anyone else watch it? Thoughts? Here's make initial take...

Over the course of the pilot, we meet the three families at the core of the show. In doing so, we see talking head and couple-on-the-couch interviews with the different family members. This confuses a little because I'm not sure if we're supposed to be asking why they're talking to a camera, is it even a camera? Who are they talking to? The show is shot in a similar fashion to The Office (but not a literal) using one roaming camera that follows them around in a documentary style. Is this intentional? Are we supposed to think they're being filmed or are we to ignore that and just accept it stylistically? Let's get to the families...

Phil & Claire's Family
Phil (Ty Burrell, Back to You) and Claire (Julie Bowen, Ed and Boston Legal) have three young kids: Haley (Sarah Hyland, Lipstick Jungle), Alex (Ariel Winter), and Luke (Nolan Gould). They are the typical out of control family with three kids. Julie Bowen is funny and believable as the mom trying to be strict but coming off a little neurotic. Phil prides himself a "cool and whip" Dad, which he proves by learning all the dances in High School Musical. Even I'm embarrassed for these kids. Highlights: After Alex shoots his sister with a plastic BB gun, dad has to fulfill his (mom's) promise to shoot Alex as punishment. They make an appointment for the shooting at 4:15. Alex prepares by putting on 6 pairs of underwear. Unfortunately, cool dad can't do it. Instead, he accidentally shoots Alex in the wrist, then shoots Haley's new boyfriend, and himself.

Jay & Gloria's Family
Jay (Ed O'Neill, better known as Al Bundy) is married to the much younger and passionate Colombian Gloria (Sofia Vergara, Dirty Sexy Money, The Knights of Prosperity), who has a young son Manny. Highlights: Gloria and a reluctant Phil taking Manny, a mature romantic beyond his years (11), to the mall in his white puffy dress shirt to profess his love to a 16-year-old girl. After being mistaken for an elderly "mall walker" in his velour jumpsuit, Jay purchases some young, hip clothes and now looks like Ali G.

Mitchell & Cameron's Family
Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who I love and honestly think is one of the funniest actors on television right now) and Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) are a gay couple just returning home with a new baby adopted from Vietnam. Highlights: Mitchell accosting a lady who pointed to the "cute baby with the cream puffs" before realizing the baby was actually holding pastry. And Cameron revealing a mural he commissioned in baby Lily's nursery that features the couple as winged angels.

Apparently, the fact that they're all related was supposed to be a secret, but ABC has been promoting it for the past two months, so I'm not sure what happened there. Turns out, Jay is Mitchell and Claire's father. The whole family comes together in the last scene when Cameron invites Mitchell's family over for dinner to tell them about the new baby. Mitchell had been hiding the news for fear of his skeptical father's reaction. The last scene was by far my favorite part, when Cameron introduced the baby by donning a silk robe, blasting the theme from the lion king, and holding the baby over his head.

Overall, I'm still confused about the filming style and the talking head interviews, but I laughed more than I have in a while during a half hour comedy. Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet are the standouts by far. I'm afraid Ty Burrell's cool dad shtick as Phil is going to get old quickly. Julie Bowen and Ed O'Neill had some funny moments, but I hope the writing stay sharp enough from keeping their characters from becoming overly cliche. Still, Modern Family has cemented it's place as my favorite new comedy of the fall season.

Favorite lines:

Mitchell: "Just turn it off."
Cameron: "I can't turn it off, it's who I am."
Mitchell: "The music."
Cameron: "Oh."

Phil: "Lily? Isn't that going to be hard for her to say?"

Jay: "She's one of us now. Let me see the little pot sticker."

new show review: community

Community is one of the shows I've been most excited about this season. It definitely has a plum spot on NBC's class Thursday comedy night. Let's see if it fulfills the tall order.

The cast includes Joel McHale as Jeff Winger, a lawyer who was suspended by the bar and needs to get his college degree, so he's enrolled at the the local community college. His friend Duncan (John Oliver from The Daily Show) is a professor, who Jeff is hoping will help him breeze through classes with some test answers.

At school, Jeff meets Abed (Danny Pudi) a fast-talking slightly neurotic nerd. And Britta (Gillian Jacobs), a woman from his Spanish class who Jeff is crushing on. Jeff decides to create a fake Spanish study group in order to get to know her.

Pierce (Chevy Chase) has returned to school as he sits on a moist towelette fortune, Annie (Alison Brie, Trudy from Mad Men) is a paranoid over-achieving recovering pill popper fresh out of high school, Troy (Donald Glover) is also just out of high school where he was a jock who skated by on his popularity, Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) is a jumpy and possibly violent mom, who is falling victim to Pierce's sexual harassment.

The study group quickly falls apart as personalities clash, and they start to rip each other apart. Jeff - more concerned with securing test answers and a date with Britta - does not help matters. He redeems himself with a motivational speech that, while slightly misguided, works to bring the group together. And now it's official. It's a community. Except he doesn't get a date from Britta...or the test answers from Duncan.

In the end, the group comes together to give Jeff an unintentional pep talk, and he decides he has no choice but to earn his degree. They agree to officially form the study group.

Not a lot happened in the pilot besides bringing these people together. I feel like most of the funniest parts were in the many, many previews that NBC showed all season. The jokes in the pilot were a little heavy-handed, but that tends to happen with comedy pilots. McHale's performance is good, but a little overdone. I'm hoping that will go away in the coming episodes. Chevy's character is written perfectly for him. My favorite performance of the pilot was Danny Pudi as Abed, he's just ridiculous enough. Overall, I'm a little disappointed, but I'll keep watching.

new show review: the jay leno show

The Jay Leno Show premiered last night. I don't plan to watch, but I was curious to see the first episode. As much as NBC promoted a fresh comedy format at 10:00, it's really just Jay's Tonight Show an hour earlier.

There's no doubt, Jay Leno is a pro. He's been hosting for decades now, so he's completely comfortable on stage. He's a friendly, likable guy who tells topical jokes. If you like that, then you get to hold onto it for another season (at least). Kevin Eubanks is back as well - his music is great and his laugh is reliable as ever.

As someone who could take or leave Jay's Tonight Show depending on the guest, I'm not seeing anything new to keep me coming back. The opening monologue is exactly the same. Like I said, Jay can deliver a joke, but it's just not my kind of comedy. This was followed by Jay bringing out "one of the guys from The Hangover" who turned out to be the wedding singer from the final scene. Call me crazy, but I was hoping for Zach. Cut to a pre-taped segment with this guy singing at a carwash, which I didn't find funny at all. This was the best they could do for the first episode?

The guest segment is a little more casual - two chairs rather than a desk and a couch. Jay plans to have a variety of guests that will spend more time with him and talk comedy, rather than a parade of celebs plugging their latest project. Jerry Seinfeld was the first guest. This was my favorite part - you really can't go wrong with two veteran comedians bouncing off each other. You're bound to laugh eventually. Oprah also made a cameo via satellite.

The next segment was a sliced mock interview with President Obama. This format is slightly overdone now, with Jon Stewart really mastering it, but it's still good for a few laughs.

Jay made it a point to say how a daily show allows them to really keep the content current - all of this before introducing Kanye West for a brief interview to talk about "the incident" at the VMAs on Sunday. If you live in a hole, Kanye walked on stage during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, took her mic away, and told the world that Beyonce was robbed.

Kanye was already scheduled to perform with Jay-Z and Rihanna, and his media machine obviously jumped at the chance for him to redeem himself on national television. He sat down with Jay for about 5 minutes of extremely awkward questions. Look, Jay is not Diane Sawyer. Asking questions about what Kanye's mom would have thought about his actions was just awkward - not to mention Kanye sitting there in silence staring at the ground for 2 minutes.

I hate to say it, but I have a strange feeling that the entire thing was orchestrated by Kanye, including the VMAs and subsequent apologies. Kanye's main message to Jay was that he didn't take the necessary time off after his mom's passing to grieve, and he needs to disappear for a while. Why does it feel like he's manufacturing a "comeback"? He suffered a terrible loss, and I do think he deserves a break. I just hope this isn't a stunt.

The interview is followed by a performance of Jay-Z's new song with Rihanna and Kanye. This is the highlight for me. Jay-Z can do no wrong.

Jay wraps up the show with headlines, which they're saving for the end as a strong lead in to local news. Really? I can get funnier clips on fail blog every day.

Jay, I like you. I just wish you didn't take 10:00 away from other potential programming on NBC. Sorry, I won't be watching.

new show review: vampire diaries

I may be the only one on the planet at the moment, but I'm not into vampires. I've never seen True Blood, though I'm starting to think I'm missing out, and I've never read or seen anything of the Twilight persuasion. That said, I was a big Buffy fan, but I'm not sure that qualifies as hardcore vampire. Something tells me, neither does the new CW series Vampire Diaries.

I wasn't planning to watch, but I fell victim to some peer pressure from my favorite TV podcast. So, I'm giving the pilot a shot. Here are my thoughts...

The pilot begins with a young couple in love driving down a foggy dark backwoods road. You know this is going nowhere good. Sure enough, they hit a man in the middle of the road, who promptly bites their necks and kills them. Nice.

Cut to day time, we meet Elena (Nina Dobrev, Degrassi alum with surprisingly strong acting chops) who's living in a small town called Mystic Falls with her brother Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen, yup his grandson) and aunt Jenna (Sara Canning), and we learn the kids' parents were recently killed in a car accident.

Elena and Jeremy are starting their first day of school in the fall (both in high school). Looks like Jeremy has a little drug problem with a side of distribution. There's a new kid at school, more accurately a brooding bad boy in a leather jacket (looks like we have our vampire), named Stefan (Paul Wesley, 24, Everwood) who Elena and her best friend Bonnie (Katerina Graham) are scoping out.

We are getting two narrations throughout the episode - one through Stefan and one through Elena, both writing in their journals.

Elena visits her parents' grave at the cemetery and gets an eerie feeling that a nearby black crow is following her. The "vampire fog" starts to gather, and she tries to run away from the crow and falls on the ground. Low and behold, Stefan comes around the corner playing the part of the handsome new guy. She quickly forgets about the crow, but Stefan is salivating at the blood dripping from her injured leg. Thankfully, he resists. What a stand up guy.

Later, Stefan joins Elena at the town teen hangout The Grill. Showing up together turns heads, including that of Elena's former boyfriend Matt (Zach Roerig, Friday Night Lights). Teen chat reveals that Stefan's parents also passed away, and he lives with his uncle. Oh, and there's a big start of school rager in the woods that night. Surprise.

Meanwhile, Jeremy is crushing on Vicki (Kayla Ewell, The OC, Entourage), a popular pretty girl at school (also Matt's sister), who apparently scored some drugs a little extra from Jeremy over the summer. But now she wants him to stay away and not interfere with her bully cool guy boyfriend Tyler (Michael Trevino). More surprises.

Stefan returns home to said uncle. But what? Uncle (in his 30s) actually refers to HIM as Uncle Stefan, and we learn that fake uncle is actually Stefan's nephew Zach (Chris William Martin, health clinic boyfriend on Felicity). Zach is none too pleased to have found a dead animal carcass, an apparent sign of Stefan's continued vampiring ways, which he promised to give up. Is that even possible? I always thought, once a vampire, always a vampire. Looks like Stefan has been gone for quite some time, and this town has a distant past riddled with vampire troubles. As he rifles through old journals, Stefan finds a very old photo of woman named Katherine in 1864 who looks just like Elena. And the mystery continues...

Cut to big rager in the woods. Red plastic cups galore. Elena and Stefan go on a walk where we learn more about her parents' death - they drove off a bridge into a lake with Elena in the back seat. She survived, they didn't.

In other woods, Vicki's boyfriend gets rough with her until Jeremy shows up to break it up. Vicki is not pleased and still doesn't want him around even though he obviously helped her out. Girl's got issues. She ends up wondering into the woods alone and the vampire fog appears. Cut to black.

Elena and Jeremy find Vicki in the woods bleeding profusely from a bite on her neck. The kids carry her to help, and Stefan runs home. He tells Zach about Vicki, but says it wasn't him. And then we're introduced to Damon (Ian Somerhalder, Boone from Lost), Stefan's evil brother. So, he was the black crow and also the one nibbling at Vicki's neck.

We learn the brothers haven't seen each other in 15 years (though they've obviously been around for way longer than that) and didn't part on good terms. Damon's trying instigate Stefan. "When's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?" Them's fightin' words. Apparently, Stefan decided to stop eating people, which makes him weaker than Damon. Looks like Damon's going to make it his mission to bring the darker side to Mystic Falls.

In the hospital, Vicki wakes up to Matt sitting by her bed. She says "vampire". Oh snap.

We learn both Elena and Stefan are both trying to start over, but they can't escape the past. Stefan is here to try to start a new life with Elena, which has something to do with his long lost love (and Elena lookalike) Katherine.

I'm surprised how much I liked it. The music is good. Though somehow Ian Somerhalder has aged 20 years since Lost. The filming and small town setting remind me a little of CW's departed show Everwood. Overall, the young actors are really strong, especially Nina Dobrev playing Elena, which is good news. And they've set up an interesting mystery right off the bat (get it?). I think anyone who's into teen mysteries or vampire lore, but not too seriously, will like the show. It's definitely not hardcore vampire stuff, but more for the novice like me.

Problem is, the timeslot is Thursday night at 8:00, which means it's up against FlashForward on ABC, which I'm really looking forward to, and Bones on FOX, which is one of my staples. I wish CW would revive the old WB practice and run repeats on Sundays. Until they smarten up, I'll be keeping track of this on online.

Let me know if you caught the pilot and what you thought!

new show review: glee

Many saw the pilot preview of Glee last May - smart move by FOX because the show generated quite a bit of buzz over the summer. The second episode finally arrived last week. Are they following through on the hype? Here are my thoughts on the first two episodes...

Before I start, I'm fully aware that this show makes me write like a 16-year-old.

Will Schuester is the optimistic teacher (Matthew Morrison of Broadway fame), who attempts to save McKinley High's glee club from obscurity with a group of underdog aspiring performers (they had me at underdog). While most of the young actors are newcomers, you'll recognize Jayma Mays, playing germaphobe teacher and glee club (Will) supporter Emma Pillsbury, from movies and guest spots on shows like Ugly Betty, and the classic Jane Lynch, playing the scary scheming cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, from movies like 40 Year Old Virgin, Role Models, and this summer's Julie & Julia.

The pilot begins with Will asking for the glee club director job and trying to scrape together funds, support from the principal, and more students. Among the existing club members, we have Rachel (Lea Michelle), a self-proclaimed rising star, singing the classic cliche "On My Own" from Les Mis at their first audition. I laughed out loud at the gold star sticker she uses every time she signs her name. She has supportive stage dads and a self-promoting MySpace page. She's completely over-the-top and possibly the devil, but everyone at school is mean to her, so of course I love her.

The other original members include Kurt (Chris Colfer) the high fashion soprano, Mercedes (Amber Riley) the diva power voice, Artie (Kevin McHale) the geeky rock and roll guitarist, and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) the awkward punk rocker.

Will's efforts to find some cool kids to the glee club lead him to Finn (Cory Monteith) the quarterback rocking "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore" in the boys locker room showers. Will then bribes Finn into the glee club by planting a teacher's weed bag in his locker. We learn that Finn has a childhood music dream and agrees to join the club at the risk of violent retaliation from his sociopath football teammates and his Jesus freak mean girl head cheerleader girlfriend Quinn.

In short, things fall apart when Will is forced to quit his job after the news that his verbally abusive, money hungry wife Terri is pregnant (I could do with less of this side story). Finn subsequently quits until he has a moment of inspiration (and an unfortunate teen movie melodrama speech) in front of his football team.

The whole thing comes together in the end when the kids pull together a practice performance of "Don't Stop Believing" and (with the help of Emma the lovestruck guidance counselor) win Will back. Swoon.

At this point, the show might sound either ridiculous like some kind of warped teen drama. It's neither. The tone is hard to explain, but the execution is hilarious and genuine. The kids need some acting practice, but so far, I'm hooked.

In the second episode "Showmance", we learn from scary Sue (cheerleading coach) that Will needs 6 more students in the glee club to qualify for regionals this year - principal will pull their funding unless they place at this competition. Sue is after the funding, and she's not afraid to bully Will for it.

Finn's jesus freak mean girlfriend Quinn is pressuring him to quit because she doesn't want to be his "big gay beard", Rachel gets another slushy to the face while her crush on Finn grows, and the kids need to perform at the Friday pep rally to recruit more members. Unfortunately, Will chooses a disco number "Freak Out" as the performance piece.

Giving into the kids' demands, he brings them a more modern piece to work on for future shows - Kanye's "Gold Digger" - but they're still not thrilled about the disco number. Ok, I've heard mixed comments about the obvious lip synching during the show. Although we know these actors provide the vocals, it's nearly impossible to have them singing live on tape, so the lip synching is inevitable. I'm going to chose not to nitpick and enjoy the music.

In the end, the kids rebel against Will and perform a sexy version of "Push It" which is slightly painful to watch. The crowd's reception was great, but Sue and the principal (fueled by parental complaints) strongly disapprove (Sue suggests the kids be put into foster care) and deliver new Puritanic restrictions to future music selections. Will is none to pleased with the kids.

The pep rally does attract new tryouts though, which include Quinn and two other cheerleaders, who are actually pretty talented (evil). Sue supports their participation, so she can use them as spies. In a stroke of irony, Quinn wins the solo over Rachel because her song meets the principal's approved list of songs. This is all after poor Rachel gets kissed and ditched by an apologetic Finn during a private rehearsal turned traumatic teenage boy moment.

The B plots give us more of Will's horrible wife. I'm really having a hard time tolerating her. More kids, less Teri. We find out that she actually isn't pregnant, but not before Will ends up taking a night time janitorial staff to afford the grand foyer upgrade for Teri's dream cookie cutter house. Teri chooses not to tell Will there is no baby, but lets him quit the janitor job. Meanwhile, Emma is starting to give up on her crush and agrees to go out with Ken, the football coach.

Overall, I liked the second episode. Not quite as strong as the pilot, but definitely enough to keep me hooked. Next week is "Preggers" on Wednesday at 9:00.

new show review: melrose place

Here's the first of my reviews for the new fall shows. I'll try to write about as many pilots as possible (because I know you're on the edge of your seats). As usual, the CW got out in front with the first premieres of the season.

Obviously, Melrose Place is a reboot of the original 1990s series by the same name about an apartment complex in Los Angeles where the residents' lives are intertwined. While the two iterations share the premise - here's where I think they will differ. Like the original 90210, Melrose Place began at PG-13 with stories like Billy's personal crisis about whether or not he wanted to take over his family business. The show ended at R with murder and adultery... in every episode. From what I gather, the reboot is starting where the original ended.

Here's the cast/residents of Melrose place. Boyfriend and girlfriend Jonah Hill and Riley Richmond are played by Michael Rady (Greek, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and Jessica Lucas (90210, Cloverfield). Amanda replacement and Hollywood publicist Ella Simms is played by Katie Cassidy (Harper's Island, Supernatural). Auggie Kirkpatrick, a recovering alcoholic chef, is played by Colin Egglesfield (All My Children). David Breck, the bad boy and son of Michael Mancini, is played by Shaun Sipos (Shark). New Melrose resident, small town girl Violet Foster is played by Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. Young, responsible medical intern Lauren Yung (also Ella's roommate) is played by Stephanie Jacobsen (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles).

The pilot begins with the infamous Sydney. Back from the dead? Well, not for long anway. She shows up, once again, face down in a bloody pool. We know Sydney has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and a lingering affair with David, whose father Michael took him in when he was 13 (mother unknown so far), oh and apparently Michael helped Syndey fake her own death the last time around. Sydney also helped Ella get her apartment and ultimately very successful job and threatened to kick her out of the building on the night she died. The last known contact with Sydney was David, who passed out drunk doesn't remember anything until Violet screamed upon discovering the body.

Jonah is a filmmaker, who is represented by Ella. And she wants him. She's not thrilled that Jonah proposed to Riley that morning...may not be a problem though since she hasn't said yes yet. Jonah is filming a 16-year-old's birthday party when he accidentally records the birthday girl's film producer father making out with a teenager. He offers to Jonah $100,000 to write a screenplay in order to ensure his silence. Oh Hollywood. Good guy Jonah rejects the offer and Riley accepts his proposal.

Meanwhile, Lauren is struggling to pay her med school bills after her father lost his job, but she just happens to score a date with a patient's cute son, who creepily offers her $5,000 to "pay the bills". Upon returning from creepy date, Lauren runs into Violet, who we haven't seen much of yet. I really wanted Ashlee to be a good actor, I really did.

In retro land, we see that Michael now has a wife and son, but was at some point in the recent past fooled around with Sydney. Apparently, he couldn't shake the lady for the past 11 years.

The episode ends with an impromptu memorial service for Sydney around the pool (morbid). Looks like the mystery will unfold throughout this season. The closing music sequence shows Jonah and Riley heading upstairs to celebrate, Lauren showing up at creepy guy's hotel, David stealing a $1.3 million painting from what looks like Michael's house, Ella drinking alone making out with a lady stranger, Auggie burning some bloody clothes, and Violet stealing a framed photo of Sydney from her memorial. Do we think that was her mother?

Overall, the pilot was good, but not great. Actually, it was a little slow until the last two minutes. There's some good acting from more experienced cast members like Michael Rady, and some others are falling a little flat. I'm not hooked, but I'll probably give it a few more episodes to see where it goes.