LOST: Love transcends time. That’s my simple takeaway from “Happily Ever After” after only one viewing. Is that too simple? Because the episode focused on Desmond and Penny (my favorite LOST couple), it seems Desmond is destined to look for Penny no matter where he is in time. The Charlie/Des scenes were also strong and everyone I’ve spoken to loved when Charlie put his hand up to the car window after the car went into the water. Everyone had the same “Not Penny’s boat” flashback at that moment. I was bowled over again at Fionnula Flanagan’s performance as Eloise Hawking/Widmore; her strength of will comes through the TV screen and I loved seeing Daniel Faraday/Widmore as a musician instead of a gifted scientist. All roads lead to Charles Widmore. The other nice surprise in this episode: Fisher Stevens (Oscar winning producer of THE COVE documentary film) as limo driver George. My other thought/question: will the two timelines meld? I’m really not sure about this but it seems like they might from Desmond’s story.
V: The writers are very good at building tension and menace and Morena Baccarin is exceedingly good at going from serene to scary in mere seconds. The bliss scenes freak me out a little but I know they’re supposed to. I’m still enamored of the show’s look and mood and I’m wondering how soon the actual war will break out. How quickly will Anna’s army of soldiers hatch? I’ll be watching and waiting.
JUSTIFIED: I really loved Alan Ruck’s performance as the mild-mannered dentist with a dangerous past. Ruck is always good, he’s one of TV’s utility players, and his scenes with Tim Olyphant were wonderful as they were alternately adversarial and friendly. I like how Raylan Givens admires the craftiness and strategic smarts of the people he has to track down. We all know that the chase is an important part of any lawman’s work and Givens really enjoys outsmarting his prey. I realize JUSTIFIED is a procedural at its heart but the characters are drawn so well that I don’t mind the procedure.
HAVING A MOMENT: I keep thinking about this one-off Bravo special about Christian Siriano that aired Monday night, the PROJECT RUNWAY winner who is now a successful young designer. What I loved about this special was its combination of Christian as designer and Christian as media darling. As if designing collections isn’t time-consuming enough, Siriano knows full well that his in-person appearances at events like Fashion Night Out, media spots on talk shows and dressing celebrities will help him get his line into more stores. All this at the tender age of 24. It was a quick, breezy hour that also showed him spending a little time with his mom and like RUNWAY, it showcased how engaging some designers are in terms of persona and image. The special repeats tomorrow, Friday 4/9 at 1pm.
CONGRATS: To Diablo Cody, Academy Award-winning writer of JUNO and the creator of UNITED STATES OF TARA. Cody revealed she got married over the summer and is pregnant with her first child. Her husband Dan Maurio is a writer on Chelsea Handler’s show.
NAUSEATING: TLC made a deal with Kate Gosselin to do another show with her. It’s to be called “Twist of Kate” and since she is legally forbidden from being on TV with her own kids, she’ll be visiting other families. I’m assuming she’ll also show wives how to verbally abuse their husbands. This announcement bothers me for a variety of reasons but first and foremost is that I don’t think she should be rewarded for her behavior. It seems like TV reinforces all her nasty impulses and I’m thinking it would be better for everyone if she stayed home and raised her kids and found another way to support herself like writing more books or doing a speaking tour. But please oh please, keep her off the TV screen. Giving her a show of her own only encourages her.
TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTS: A new VAMPIRE DIARIES (and co-EP Julie Plec says it’s a BIG episode), a new REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK and the big 100th episode of BONES. Latenight note: Tina Fey and Justin Bieber (Bieber Fever!) guest on LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON and I hear some SNL people will also be turning up on tonight’s show.
TODAY’S SURF WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO: Fatboy Slim’s cover of Steve Miller’s hit “The Joker”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgk9ouBuj-4&feature=related
and just because I haven’t seen it awhile but I still love it, “Weapon of Choice” – a modern-day classic dance video from Fatboy Slim: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Ky5R-vxns&feature=related
Tonight’s rundown:
ABC: FlashForward, Grey’s Anatomy (repeat), Private Practice (repeat)
CBS: Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, CSI, The Mentalist
NBC: Community (repeat), Parks & Recreation (repeat), The Office (repeat), 30 Rock (repeat), Marriage Ref
FOX: Bones (100th episode), Fringe
CW: Vampire Diaries, Supernatural
A&E: The First 48, Fugitive Chronicles
Bravo: 10pm: Real Housewives of New York City, Watch What Happens
Centric: Keeping Up with the Joneses (series debut), Keeping Up with the Joneses
DIY: Yard Crashers (season premiere)
Food: Ace of Cakes
GSN: Instant Recall
HGTV: My First Place, My First Sale, Selling New York, Tough as Nails
Lifetime: 10pm: Project Runway, Models of the Runway
MTV: 10pm: America’s Best Dance Crew (season finale), Taking the Stage
Science: Factory Made, Build It Bigger (season premiere)
TLC: Police Women of Maricopa County, LA Ink
Toon: Johnny Test
truTV: Smoking Gun Presents: World’s Dumbest Drivers 17
TVOne: LisaRaye: The Real McCoy (series debut)
VH1: Celebrity Rehab Presents: Sober House
That’s a wrap for now.
