TUNE IN TO JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE tonight to see Stanley Cup winners the L.A. Kings on the show! Woot!
ROYAL PAINS: I talked to exec producers Andrew Lenchewski and Michael Rauch about the new season that kicked off last Wednesday. The scoop-y Q&A is at the end of today’s Surf Report.
SONG OF THE SUMMER REDUX: Jimmy Fallon and the Roots did a backstage version of “Call Me Maybe” with Carly Rae Jepsen that out-charmed the original version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEsPhTbJhuo
In a Fallon-related note, Jimmy’s new record “Blow Your Pants Off” is out today! http://www.blowyourpantsoff.com/
MAD MEN SEASON FINALE: There seems to be a good amount of disappointed fans because the finale didn’t have more dramatic fireworks. The Joan/Peggy episode and the Lane suicide episode were the heights of the season so I didn’t expect a big bang in the season finale. Quick thoughts:
–I was disappointed that we spent so much time on Pete and his ennui; I don’t much care about him or his infatuation with Beth. I did like the fact that Pete liked a woman who couldn’t recognize him after her shock treatment; there was a perverse justice in that and Pete seems karmically due for that kind of thing.
–I loved Don running into Peggy at the movies and him voicing, very literally, how people succeed and move on. There was so much on the nose dialogue in this episode that I was surprised he didn’t say, “People get successful and leave ME.” Oh Don, you and your abandonment issues. Love that both scenes we saw Peggy in, she was in red, a true power color to go with her power in her new job.
–Don’s rotten tooth and seeing his dead brother Adam (who also committed suicide by hanging himself) — more on the nose dialogue when Adam said to Don, “It’s not your tooth that’s rotten.”
–The spectacular emotional cruelty of Megan’s mother and the fact that Megan and her artistic moods are Don’s problem now.
–Beautiful callback to the classic Polaroid carousel episode as Don watched projected footage of Megan.
–I can’t get the entire final sequence out of my head: the one that started with Don on the soundstage with Megan as the commercial was about to shoot and then his slow walk into the shadows and to a bar where he’s instantly hit on by women. The closing song, “You Only Live Twice” as the woman asks Don, “Are you alone?” We all know the eternal answer to that query is, “yes.”
What was your favorite part of this season of MAD MEN? I can’t pick one moment but the two episodes I cited were standouts in my book. It was the season of the women (Peggy, Joan and Megan) on MAD MEN.
TRUE BLOOD SEASON PREMIERE: An OK start to the season but I’m not a Tara fan so not particularly happy to see that she’s back from the dead and now a vampire. Not sure what Bill and Eric are in for as they face the vampire authority but I’m dying to see what they give Chris Meloni to do and I’m hoping Pam (Kristen Von Bauer Straaten) has a LOT more to do this season because she’s freakin’ great.
THE TONY AWARDS: Neil Patrick Harris continues to be a national entertainment treasure. His hosting is the standard of excellence (I reference the opening and closing numbers and the fact that he hung upside down like Spiderman for an entire segment of the show) and I hope he gets a shot at the Oscars. He said awhile ago that he doesn’t want to host the Oscars but I hope he changes his mind and does it soon. I realize he’s more at home with the theatre community because he’s done many shows, but I have no doubt that he could lift the Oscar show to a new level of fun and cheekiness.
GIRLS: The Hannah/Marnie fight was a dramatic standout with its blunt honesty and I definitely had a flashback to my 20s while watching it. In a related note, I like Marnie a whole lot more when she’s being a bitch. Note, the show’s season finale airs this Sunday at 10pm (not 1030pm).
BUNHEADS: This new show created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (GILMORE GIRLS) premiered last night on ABC Family. The pilot will repeat this week so just search your onscreen guide. Sutton Foster (Broadway talent extraordinaire) stars with Alan Ruck and Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore!) and it’s a dramedy about a woman (Foster) who dreamed of being a Broadway dancer but wound up a showgirl. She decides to marry an ardent admirer (Ruck) and he takes her to his hometown in California, where he shares a house with his mother (Bishop). Foster’s character winds up teaching ballet to the local girls. There’s the trademark ASP fast banter and pithy dialogue, which is wonderful to hear again. Sutton Foster is lovely and I think it’s impossible not to like Alan Ruck – yes, he’ll always be Cameron (FERRIS BUELLER) to me.
REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK: The new ladies seem like wallflowers but then, they’re put next to Ramona Singer, who is now full-blown, no-internal-editor-at-all crazypants. In what may be the show’s downfall, Ramona is now the centerpiece of RHONY with her inappropriate remarks, nasty uncensored thoughts and often ignorant questions such as “What does LGBT stand for?” Sonja Morgan is a tiny step behind with her aging boozy floozy routine and nonstop sexual innuendos. Together, the two are a hot mess and that’s what RHONY fans love to see. Carole Radziwill, a writer/contributor to Glamour magazine, looks like Bill Shakespeare next to those two nattering parrots. Heather Thomson seems nice but she can’t let anyone speak to her without constantly uttering, “Uh huh,” “right,” “I know what you mean” and talking about her recently deceased father. Aviva Drescher (yes, she’s related to Fran Drescher) is a mom and more down to earth which immediately makes one wonder why she joined the show. That said, I have to respect a woman who has no qualms about talking about her prosthetic leg on national TV and Aviva is very matter of fact about it, which immediately made me like her even more.
THIS THURSDAY 6/14: BURN NOTICE and SUITS return at 9pm and 10pm respectively, on USA. Michael Westen is on a personal mission to save his longtime love Fiona as the new BURN NOTICE season begins. I’ll be watching the SUITS season premiere later today or tomorrow but suffice it to say that Gabriel Macht and Patrick Adams make a strong legal odd couple.
TODAY’S SURF WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO: The Black Keys “I Got Mine” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2cB5Vkyuv4&feature=related
BONUS TWINSPIN! Jack White – “Sixteen Saltines” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWOsb9KThfE&feature=relmfu
Tonight’s rundown:
ABC 8:00 p.m. Jimmy Kimmel Live 8:30 p.m. NBA Countdown 9:00 p.m. NBA Finals, Game 1
CBS 8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) 9:00 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles (R) 10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery (R)
NBC 8:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent (R) 9:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent 10:00 p.m. Love in the Wild
Fox 8:00 p.m. Hell’s Kitchen 9:00 p.m. Masterchef
CW 8:00 p.m. The Catalina 9:00 p.m. The L.A. Complex (R)
SERIOUSLY – if you missed THE L.A. COMPLEX the first time the episodes aired, tune in and watch. You’ll be surprised by how addictive it is. Trust me.
Bravo: 9pm: Real Housewives of Orange County, 10pm: Pregnant In Heels
Oxygen: 10pm: The Glee Project
A&E: 9pm: Barter Kings series premiere
MTV: 10pm: Teen Mom season premiere
That’s a wrap for now.
