The West Wing

The West Wing aired a live debate between the two candidates who hope to succeed President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen): Republican Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) and Democratic Congressman Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits), who is Latino. Partly a creative experiment, and partly an effort to boost falling ratings, the broadcast absolutely had the look and feel of a real debate. There were only two commercial interruptions, allowing for a continuity of dialogue. The episode resisted the typical trappings of TV drama—there were no jump cuts following zinging one-liners, no cheesy music leading to breaks. The characters’ lines were scripted and rehearsed, just like real-life candidates, but the actors also improvised, with the pauses and hiccups in their delivery adding to the impression that the debate was “real.” The debate was performed twice, aired live for both the East and West Coasts.

The Simpsons: Testify

While it might not appear as a perfect bell curve, the 19-season trajectory of The Simpsons follows a steady ramp-up through “kinda funny” to a blissful peak of “hilarious and surreal” and then a steady settling back into “kinda funny”. Sure, the show still offers the occasional hilarious moment—such as Bart and Lisa’s elaborate cardboard fort battle with hundreds of brown-uniformed delivery workers who stream into the backyard like a horde of orcs from The Lord of the Rings—but the show’s not side-splitting anymore, and certainly not as quotable.
Part of the problem might be that, after so much time, the show’s once daring humor seems more like an enjoyable old friend than the vibrant pioneer of animated comedy it used to be. It’s not for lack of ambition on the show’s part, though, especially regarding the musical numbers. Recent seasons have seen an American Idol parody, a full-on Evita homage, and even a stab at My Fair Lady with Groundskeeper Willie at its clearly enunciated center. But the musical segments now seem to suffer the same malaise as the show’s regular comedy, often starting off with a good idea, but rarely flashing that special spark of absurdity that takes it over the top. Alf Clausen’s arrangements are still top-notch, but the lyrical content just doesn’t seem as sharp.
Consequently, Testify, covering Seasons 10 through 18, rarely satisfies. Nothing here equals past favorites like “We Do (The Stonecutters’ Song)”, “See My Vest”, “Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel”, or “Dr. Zaius”. In fact, you forget many of Testify‘s tracks right after you hear them.

The Apprentice

My favorite firing on The Apprentice came two episodes into the second season. Bradford, who had earned immunity because he led his team to victory, incurred the sudden wrath of the Donald. Confident in his own performance, Bradford relinquished his immunity, but Trump turned on him like a shark scenting chum. He called Bradford “stupid,” chastised him for giving up immunity, and fired him.
Granted, Bradford erred in giving up his immunity, but Trump’s firing and not someone more deserving reads like a mission statement for The Apprentice. The point is to stab your opponent in the back before she stabs you. It’s like high school: the pretty people with money, having conquered those who lack both, turn on each other.
At the start of this fifth season, Trump greeted the contestants on a windswept runway and selected project managers for the first competition. Though the new cast is promoted as having an “international” flavor, they look much like they have in the past, the only difference being the addition of a Brit and Russian to the standard WASPs and yuppies. Tarek led the Gold Rush team for the first challenge; he looks like a brawny Orlando Bloom and enjoys mentioning that he’s in MENSA at every available opportunity. Allie, a perky blonde, headed the Synergy team. They were tasked with selling Sam’s Club memberships, and with the bombastic score and sweeping camera movements that have become hallmarks of reality TV, the games began.

The West Wing

In "The West Coast Feed" the TV show does seem like it's hitting its groove. But even in this groove there seems to be something missing. Too much emphasis is being placed on the relationship between Matt and Harriet. Is the audience supposed to be invested in this for some reason? Sorkin seems to be playing on moments that he hasn't earned. Though Sarah Paulson and Matthew Perry are finally developing some real chemistry, it still feels as though the cart was before the horse here.

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is probably one of the greatest TV shows ever. This satirical animated take on Middle America has remained one of the most popular and even important shows in the last 11-12 years. Many years ago a handful of silly Simpsons arcade games hit the arcades, when there were arcades to go to, and you could play as your favorite Simpsons family member in what was a simple action game. These arcade games weren't horrible, they were just silly, and back then, the whole Simpsons thing was still quite fresh, so the arcade games were somehow more entertaining.

The Apprentice

After a lot of speculation about it's fate, and even the mention by Donald Trump that it could possibly end up at another network, NBC has renewed The Apprentice dvds for at least one more season. Reuters is reporting that a source has told them that NBC will officially announce the return at the upcoming TCA press tour, but that an agreement has already been made. In May, when NBC announced their 2007-2008 lineup, the Mark Burnett produced reality series was conspicuously absent, and its fate had been unclear until now. The Apprentice was a big hit when it debuted in 2004, but has declined dramatically in the ratings in the years since.

Stargate Atlantis DVDS

Stargate Atlantis DVD is coming to an end. SCI FI Channel have decided to end the spinoff series of Stargate SG-1 at the conclusion of its current fifth season in January. At the same time, the cable network has announced that they will be making a two-hour Atlantis TV-movie, which will follow the series. The movie will be written by Stargate Atlantis' executive producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, who also serve as series showrunners. There have been two movies featuring the SG-1 cast since that series ended, but those went straight to DVD and have not aired on SCI FI Chanel.

Grey's Anatomy' recap:Captain Hook

More babies on the brain this week, which I like — Grey's Anatomy DVD is growing up with its audience (or at least the audience members who are Meredith and company's age cohorts), and babies should be on the brain. I suspect that will continue, at least in a thematic sense, until this season's finale of Grey's Anatomy DVD set, even though we did get the one actual baby — Mark's grandson — out of the way in this episode, born in the first few scenes and handed off by the show's end to adoptive parents. This week, on 18 and Pregnant and the Daughter of a Guy Who Works at Seattle Grace....

The other grown-up theme of the night was job security, namely Grey's Anatomy DVD boxset. Though it should be noted that more than just Kim Raver's future as an actress was at stake here — no less than Seattle Grace's heart was in play. Or at least its chief cardiothoracic surgeon, a job that's been quite the problem for this place. An apparent god named Thomas Evans was in town scoping out the job, though we learned of his awesomeness namely through hearsay so as to not get too attached to him. (I knew he was no threat simply because I had heard nothing of his casting, which, in much-reported Grey's Anatomy seasons 1-5 DVD boxset land, means he can't be that important. Alas.) We learned that he had great bedside manner when he told an older lady she'd be taking the stairs instead of the elevator in no time, and we learned that he was a wonderfully encouraging teacher when he took Grey's Anatomy DVD right under his wing. Enough said.

The medical case that would ultimately test Teddy's staying power: a guy who'd been out fishing with his son and came in with a shark hook through him. (Also an overexposure problem for this show: the fact that ABC Grey's Anatomy DVD set all the highlights of the medical cases in its promos. By the time I saw this in the actual show, I wasn't that excited — I was just anxious to get on with it already.) His kid had apparently accidentally let go of the rope and thus the hook grabbed Dad, who was (Grey's Anatomy DVD boxset) cranky about it. He blamed the kid, and that resonated particularly as Mark cradled his obscenely adorable newborn grandson across the hospital. I mean, time stopped whenever this kid was on the screen. So much so that Grey's Anatomy seasons 1-5 DVD boxset was suddenly considering keeping him, and Mark was offering to let her stay with him indefinitely.

This all rattled baby-hungry Callie, of course, Grey's Anatomy DVD, by extension, anti-baby Arizona. I do appreciate the show's never-ending supply of strong, independent ladies ambivalent about maternity and marriage. Grey's Anatomy DVD setIn a world full of movies about women whose entire life goal it is to have a wedding, we can use all of those we can get. Eric Dane got to do some real acting in this storyline, too — a welcome change for him. Nonetheless, Arizona's point — personal or not — that adoption was the way to go with Sloan was soon proven when Sloan had an alarming Grey's Anatomy DVD boxset over the baby crying when it turned out he really did just need to be fed.

Scott Cohen on “Gilmore Girls”

As mentioned earlier this week, Scott Cohen (Max Medina on Gilmore Girls DVD) guest starred in the April 29th episode of Gilmore Girls DVD set, ‘Hook, Line and Sinner.’ The episode featured a very popular cardio surgeon coming to the hospital to perform a surgery… and to perhaps consider taking over the deparment.

Scott Cohen played this surgeon, Tom Evans, Gilmore Girls DVD boxset almost has celebrity status in the surgery field. Indeed, Cristina Yang was enamored with him… until Teddy reminded her that, though the surgery was fantastic, she merely observed it. Tom was a terrible teacher.

The latest Gilmore Girls seasons 1-7 DVD boxset piece of news is that the series will now be available for digital download purchase on iTunes. The Complete Series of Gilmore Girls DVDwill now be available as well as seasons 3-7 in high definition for the first-time ever!

To celebrate this news, Warner Bros. has offered Gilmore Girls DVD set News readers a contest! We are giving away a gift pack featuring 2 mugs – a Luke’s mug and a Dragonfly Inn mug. Of course, you can also buy these mugs and other Gilmore Girls items at the WBShop.

Simply leave a comment on this post. If you want to be creative, share your favorite snack for watching Gilmore Girls DVD boxset episodes (on topic with our junk food discussion, if you want!).

The contest will close on April 22nd at 2pm PST. The Gilmore Girls DVD will be drawn randomly and will be emailed for their address.

One entry per person. A valid email address must be included in the email part of the comment form. Contest open to US residents only (sorry!).

People still say to me that they haven’t watched the final episode of Gilmore Girls seasons 1-7 DVD boxset because they don’t want it to be over. You have to be proud of something that captures people’s imagination like that.”

On real life parenthood: “If I met someone who had children, that would be Gilmore Girls DVD exciting to me. But at the same time, my sister’s my family, my grandmother’s my family, my godson is my family. I have a really full life, and I’m really happy with what I have.”

On signing on for Gilmore Girls DVD set: “You make a list of all the things you want, but what you really want is to fall in love with somebody. You want a good partnership with a writer of Gilmore Girls DVD boxset who is a good storyteller and can write for you. After I read the pilot, I felt this show is something I could spend years on and feel challenged and represented.”

Aside from being a more sane life for sure, I find that I have to really make sure I know where I am in the story because in Gilmore Girls DVD I’m not in every scene and I have to sort of think about it as an actor in terms of the arc of each episode of Gilmore Girls seasons 1-7 DVD boxset in a more deep way instead of trusting that since I’m in most of the scenes I can kind of gauge where I am. I’ve actually found this work really gratifying because it is more specific, you’re working with a smaller amount of material and therefore everything is really important. On Gilmore Girls DVDsometimes I’d be in a scene that was just there kind of for fun, where as here each scene really is an important part of where my character is… And I think what I’ve discovered and what I’ve really enjoyed… is just finding the ways in which this character just continues to sort of feel like a failure. As opposed to Lorelai Gilmore Girls DVD set who had a very sunny outlook on things, it’s been really interesting for me to play someone who is kind of shouldering a lot of baggage in terms of being disappointed about where she is in life and just the feeling of living in your Gilmore Girls DVD boxset’s house at 38 and how that informs everything and doesn’t make you feel too great. Looking at life through the eyes of disappointment is kind of a thing I think about a lot with Sarah.