The 8 episode arc of House‘s reality game show has finally come to an end…and we will see what happens with his new team when the writer’s strike it over…hopefully. 

So hopefully you saw last night’s episode or you wouldn’t be reading this.  House picked Taub and Kutner, firing 13 and *****.  This upset Cuddy because she wanted House to pick a girl for his team.  Why?  I’m not quite sure, other than it makes for better dynamics for a television show.  So she told him to go rehire 13.  The only thing that makes me wonder is why in the heck they chose to show ***** at the end of the show in the musician’s room.  Will they actually bring her back?  Intriguing.

Alright, I know a couple of posts ago I said I’d talk about Heroes, but alas, recording on my VCR always doesn’t work.  I forgot to turn it off on Monday and missed Heroes and Journeyman.  Luckily though, NBC airs repeats of their shows on their website.  I just need to find the time to sit in front of a computer for an hour to watch the show.  Also they may re-air the show on Saturday.  I will have to wait and see what will be repeated.  Good luck to all for now!

Posted under Television

So, I guess I’ve been going to Galaxy a lot.  I went to Enchanted with a friend this weekend at Galaxy.  We were going to actually go see August Rush again, but we saw that Enchanted was on the mega screen so we went to that one just to see the mega screen…okay, I wasn’t impressed with the movie or the mega screen.  People, save your money and go to the movies on the regular screens.  The mega screen ain’t worth it…and Enchanted isn’t worth it. 

The movie was too predictable.  I have a feeling my nieces and nephew, who range from 6 to 8 years old, wouldn’t even like this movie.  I just have to saw, wait til it comes out on DVD.  It ain’t worth it otherwise.  It was a good way to pass the time, but I was disappointed with the movie.  Sorry, Laura.

Posted under Film

Sorry people.  I’ve been busy with sweeps and I’ve been ill.  So here it goes again.

I went to August Rush and I was IMPRESSED!!!  I’ve never really been a big music fan.  But I have to tell you Freddie Highmore, the little boy in August Rush and he was in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is a great, great actor and is going places.  This movie combines two very different styles of music and pulls it off.  And the acting.  Wow!!! 

The only complaint I have is Robin Williams.  That surprised me.  I mean, hello?  Why did they have him in there?  They could have written his character better, but other than that (and the fact that it was a little slow in the beginning) the movie was AWESOME!!!  I don’t cry in movies, but I did in this one.  I just felt so bad for August.  He was just so innocent.  He better win an award for this movie.  Wow, I can’t wait for it to come out in DVD. 

A must see, a must own. 

Posted under Film

I just want to let you all know that I WILL be back to blogging this week.  Heroes was absolutely phenomenal last night.  The writers did this episode justice.  I’ll write soon though. 

And I did see Fred Claus this weekend at Galaxy.  AND the CW, KTTC, and Rochester Lapidary have a special screening of August Rush tonight at Galaxy.  See you fellow movie goers there!

Jenn

Posted under Television

Heroes has finally started coming around.  Why did Hiro get sent back and time and why should we care?  Because Kensei, Hiro’s childhood hero, is now Adam, who is important to the story.  We just don’t know if he is now a good guy or a bad guy.  And he makes me question how old the company really is.  Hello!  The guy is supposedly 300 some years old.

Tim Kring and his band of writers have seemed to draw out the parts people don’t care about and rush through the parts we wanted to know about.  Four months in ONE episode.  It was A LOT to take in.  Let’s try and do what Tony Danza used to do with 24…summarize the episode in 24 seconds….

Peter exploded, but was able to get control of his powers again in order to save Nathan from falling to his death.  Kensei is still alive, but he’s now Adam Trent who "The Company" tried to hold captive, and who may or may not be a bad guy.  But Peter broke him out and now the two of them are on the run.  They saved Nathan’s life with Adam’s blood.  The Haitian sent Peter to Ireland and took his memory (in an effort to try and save his life), so Peter couldn’t meet up with Adam in Canada like they had planned.  So now after Peter’s trip into the future (2008) we know what they have to try and save, but everyone may be too selfish.  Hiro may try and save his dad, Micah wants to save his dad, Kensei wants to get even with Hiro for stealing his girl…..will they save the world or become greedy and selfish????

Whew!!!!  Well, that’s my take on Heroes (in 24 seconds or longer).  What will happen next?  The writers have finally started to turn the show around into something people can care about.

Now, I have to go join in the watercooler gossip about last night’s turn of events in the fall finale of Prison Break.  More on that later………….

Posted under Television

FOX 47

American Idol:  Not affected.  The show is unscripted.

24:  Premiere postponed.  FOX would rather that the season go uninterrupted, so instead of airing the already-made episodes, they will postpone until they can ensure an uninterrupted season.

As to shows such as Prison Break, House, Bones, K-ville, and The Simpsons, FOX is juggling the schedule.  According to FOX, they will start airing episodes of Bones, House, and ‘Til Death on Fridays, starting January 4.  The shows may or may not air on their original night again; FOX has plans to do so but who knows at this point.  There will be a mixture of repeats and new episodes (whenever the shows do air). 

FOX does have a number of reality shows, such as Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Don’t Forget the Lyrics, Cops, and America’s Most Wanted.  These shows will continue to air original episodes throughout the strike.

Midseason premieres, such as New Amsterdam and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, are still planned but their airdates will probably change.  Check your TV schedules.

KTTC

Many NBC shows have come to a halt.  Most, if not all, reality shows should continue.   

Nine of 22 episodes have been completed for Medium; no word as to whether they will start airing in January, as previously planned. 

Twelve of the 18 ordered episodes for Scrubs have been filmed.  The series finale may not be produced; in that event, it is likely that the creator, Bill Lawrence, will try to get it on the DVD release.

On a different note, actor Steve Carell refused to cross picket lines, effectively shutting down filming for his comedy, The Office.  He has also turned down jobs writing for The Daily Show and The Drew Carey Show.

Actress Tina Fey also joined the picketers, thus stopping production for her comedy 30 Rock.

ABC

Shows have scripts but no definite word as to whether they will be filmed and, if filmed, whether they will be aired before the strike is over.  Here’s a list of some shows and their current status:

Desperate Housewives has nine scripts and Grey’s Anatomy 13.

Boston Legal has 14 or 15 episodes completed. 

Lost is expected to have eight of the 15 episodes prepared and will likely be premiering in February of 2008. 

Private Practice has nine episodes written. 

Ugly Betty has at least nine episodes completed.

Samantha Who has seven episodes and Women’s Murder Club eight episodes.

Dancing With the Stars is planning to continue, with hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris ad-libbing their lines.

CBS

Production has stopped on the following shows: The Big Bang Theory, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, and Rules of Engagement.

Big Brother moved production up.  They are expected to move the premiere date of the new season to just a few weeks from now.

Talk Shows

Most talk shows, such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show With David Letterman, and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, began immediately airing repeats November 5th, the day the strike began. 

The Ellen DeGeneres Show originally began airing reruns but will continue new shows.  Talk show host DeGeneres explains that while she supports the writers, it is sweeps, which is also important.  She also explained that she felt she had to give something to the people who traveled across the country to be in the audience of her show.  To show her support to the writers, she did not do a monologue on Thursday’s episode.

Soap Operas

Soap operas should be relatively unaffected for a long time, as most have scripts written for episodes until January 2008.

Kid Shows

According to a blog about Hannah Montana, the Disney show starring Miley Cyrus, the strike should not affect Disney shows as most of the shows have scripts enough to last for the remainder of the season.

For More Information:

For those that want to know more or want to check on shows I did not mention, I suggest the following sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike#Effect_on_television

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/home.aspx

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide.aspx?id=strike_scripted

How long will the strike last?

Who knows?  The last strike, which occurred in 1988, lasted 22 weeks.  If both sides continue to drag their feet, we may be in for an even longer strike.  Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

Some more not so good news:

The whole entertainment industry may go on strike.  The contracts for the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America are set to expire in July 2008.  Let’s hope the writers and the AMPTP are able to sit down to work this out before the actors and directors strike as well.  If they don’t, all three unions could join forces against the AMPTP and effectively bring the film and TV industry to a complete standstill.

For now, I don’t know about you, but I plan to watch all the James Bond movies, the Godfather movies, and play board games with my family.

Posted under Uncategorized

I would like to introduce for the next two posts, a guest author, Laura Janvrin.  Why are the writers striking?  How will it affect MY TV viewing?  She’ll let you know.  If you have any comments, or questions, I will make sure Laura gets them.

Thanks for taking the time, Laura!!!

The writers strike struck fear in the hearts of TV viewers everywhere.  What chaos will Dr. House reek?  Will Michael be able to escape on Prison Break?  What about Jack Bauer’s 7th day of terrorist havoc on 24?

Will America have to wait for its next idol?

Why are the writers doing this to us, their adoring public?

For those of you who want to 411 on the strike and what this means for your favorite shows, here’s a quick rundown:

The Players:

Two unions are striking: Writers Guild of America, East (WGAe) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw).  These unions represent the writers of film, television, radio, and new media.

On the other side of the negotiating table is the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).  They represent America’s film and TV industries.

The Issues:

There are two major issues.

1.  Home Video Market

In 1985, the WGA negotiated for a percentage of the money made from VHS sales.  It was less than .5%.  This deal was never changed when DVDs became the mainstream, even though DVDs are cheaper to make.

2.  New Media

In the digital age, the entertainment industry has exploded on the Internet, offering full downloads from sites such as iTunes and Amazon.com and video streaming, programs that you can view on your computer or phone but aren’t saved.  Though the entertainment industry makes money in this market, writers are excluded from this completely.

Now the thing we all want to know: what will this do to our shows?

Stay tuned for the next post: TV Without Writers: How Long Will My Shows Live?

Posted under Current Affairs, Film, Television

Is House truly as good without his team?  Without someone to bounce off of, House seems to drop the ball.  In the first episode, House pulled the janitor in to consult with him.  He NEEDED someone to bounce off of.  In last night’s episode, he just wasn’t as good without his team. 

Also, he was told upfront that his patient and those trying to help him were lying.  They were lying about everything.  This ended up almost costing "John" his life.  Even when it was admitted that he wasn’t going to get the truth, he couldn’t figure out the answer until he almost killed the patient.

I like though, how things played out while House was gone.  They couldn’t have done this episode, if Foreman wasn’t brought back.  Foreman trying to not be House at every possible turn.  Telling the patient she was just heat stroke.  Then telling her whatever he thought the second diagnosis was and that he was positive it was that.  Then trying to not be like House he admitted to her that he was wrong and made a mistake.  He then gave up and admitted that it could be polio.  Again trying to not be like House.  He finally let the interns win.  He was trying to not be like House, when if he would have acted like House and stuck to his first diagnosis of heat stroke, the girl would have been just fine.  Well, she would have if she wasn’t then poisoned by the one fellowship candidate, Brennan.  But thankfully House came in to save the day.

It will interesting to see what happens with the CIA doctor, Dr. Terzi.  The writers must have decided that they didn’t some of the original actors hired to play the fellowship candidates.

Oh, well.  Come back tomorrow for my take on Kid Nation. 

Posted under Television

You know, just when I think Prison Break can’t make anymore twists, turns, or veers, it goes in the completely opposite direction.  Last nights two hours were no exception.  (THANK YOU FOX for giving us our Prison Break fix!!!) 

Alright, I knew their escape plan was going to be foiled.  But I thought this was going to be because Michael had challenged Whistler to fight.  I should have known that Michael would never willingly put himself in a position to have to kill someone.  But then we found out that Michael was just using it as a ruse to get the other prisoners to gather in the courtyard.  So, they then try to escape and it failed, just like what I’d been reading said.  When they had to climb back up the makeshift ladder and back into the prison, I wasn’t too surprised.  I was then able to guess that the failed escape attempt (the ladder falling out the window) saved them from having to fight.  So, yippe yeah, right?  First attempt, failed, checked off.

Next, though, the head guy, LeChero (or however you spell it) wanting to go with Michael when he escapes.  I didn’t guess it, but it’s not totally unexpected.  Michael had everybody and their dog wanting to go with him when he got out of Fox River.  The twist, though, that I never saw coming, is that Whistler is orchestrating it all!!!  He got Susan B. Anthony (or as we now know, Gretchen) to get to Lincoln, by kidnapping LJ.  He got the brothers to get him out of hiding.  He’s been doing the whole thing.  We always knew that someone was Susan B. Anthony’s boss, but hello???  Whistler?  I always thought it was "The Company".  So maybe Whistler works for "The Company", but I’m just baffled.  How are the writers (if they decide to continue writing) going to be able to explain this???

We’ll have to find out.

Posted under Television

Whoops, wrong theatre…You know, I like the new theatre, but they have two themes going.  A royalty theme and a 50s theme.  Other than that, the theatre is pretty cool.  There were people working who knew what was going on, even though they were training a lot of people.  And what is it they have?  Digital projectors?  Like watching a really huge HDTV.  Great!!!

The movie Martian Child was utterly amazing, too.  John Cusak is an excellent actor.  He can play funny and serious.  And the kid, Dennis, played by Bobby Coleman…what a great, great actor.  Nine years old and wow!!!  I can’t wait to see his other movies that are coming up.  Martian Child was his first starring role in a movie.  This kid is good.  Overall, the movie reminded me of K-Pax (starring Kevin Spacey) except from a child’s point of view.  This movie is a must see.  A definite must see, no matter what theatre you go see it at.

Posted under Film