UPDATE: The Trailer for Cocaine Bear is here! Continue reading Cocaine Bear Trailer Released!
Tag Archives: Margo Martindale
2013 Pilot Watch: CBS
As CBS will tell you themselves, quite often and with a bit of smugness, they are “America’s Most Watched Network”. I struggle to see how that is possible given that all their shows seem to be the same – either a predictable crime procedural or a predictable sitcom – but apparently people like predictability because CBS sits on top of ratings and has done so for years. They have a lot of pilots in production, a lot is typical CBS fare (I wonder if Chuck Lorre has naked pictures of Les Moonves somewhere, or he’s just made a deal with the devil that somehow the free world will love his crappy shows) but there are a few that look to be somewhat promising.
[tabgroup][tab title=”Backstrom”]
I’m choosing to believe that this one will be better than the typical crime procedural. I don’t know why I’m doing this, but I am. After NBC decided not to go forward with a Dwight centered spin-off of The Office, Rainn Wilson has found himself on CBS playing an “overweight, offensive, irascible detective as he tries, and fails, to change his self-destructive behavior.”
Based on a Swedish series of crime novels, THR has said that the show would take place in Portland which will be interesting to see if they make the city a character itself. Hart Hanson, creator of Bones, is behind this project which is promising. No matter how crappy Bones has become, it started off quite strong and was also based on a series of novels so he’s in familiar territory. Not only that but any show that has Dennis Haysbert is one I will watch.
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[tab title=”Super Clyde & Unnamed project”]
If you aren’t watching Raising Hope on Fox, well then you need to remedy that, immediately. Greg Garcia’s show about a man who finds himself a single dad raising his daughter while living with his parents is easily one of my favorites. Add in My Name is Earl and Yes, Dear and it’s safe to say I’m a Greg Garcia fan. So you can only imagine my excitement when I saw he was developing not one, but two pilots this year. They both have potential and some pretty big names attached.
The premise of the unnamed project looks to have similar plot points as Garcia’s Raising Hope given that it’s a grown man living with his parents. This time, however, it’s Margo Martindale (who is perhaps one of the greatest character actresses ever) moving in with her recently divorced son, Will Arnett while her husband, Beau Bridges, moves in with their daughter Mary Elizabeth Ellis who you probably know as the Waitress from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Add in Michael Rapaport and this is a great looking cast.
One has to imagine that Will Arnett is primed to have a commercially successful show. We all know that Arrested Development is a genius show, but his 2010 sitcom, Running Wilde, was also really good but sadly was canceled after one season. Up All Night had potential but has crashed and burned in spectacular fashion. Is this Will Arnett’s time? We’ll have to wait and see.
If Super Clyde doesn’t get picked up and CBS instead opts for another mindless crappy formulaic sitcom, I might cry. I have a feeling I’ll be joined by quite a few Anglophiles and Potterheads.
Ron Weasley is possibly coming to TV and I couldn’t be happier. Rupert Grint stars in the title role of Garcia’s Super Clyde playing the fast-food worker who decides to become a superhero. Everything in that sentence sounds awesome. If I needed more reason to want this show to make it to air, I’d find it in Stephen Fry. Yes, Stephen Fry. That Stephen Fry.
This show is a fangirl’s dream come true!
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Speaking of My Name is Earl and all things Britain, Jason Lee is returning to network TV in a remake of the British crime drama, Second Sight.
I’ll admit that I really didn’t think anything of this pilot until I saw the logline.
[quote]Based on the British crime drama, the gothic psychological thriller follows a detective who is suddenly afflicted with an autoimmune virus that causes him to hallucinate about subjects in his subconscious. He soon learns that catching killers depends as much on insight as eyesight.[/quote]
I have not seen any of the British version so I can’t attest to how successful this premise is, but it certainly sounds different and promising. Perhaps a bit of Medium mixed with Ghost Whisperer with a bit of Memphis Beat added in for good measure. Set in New Orleans, much like Backstrom I imagine the city will be a star as well.
Michael Cuesta is behind Second Sight and if his work on the re-imagining of the Israeli show Hatufim (Cuesta is an executive producer of Homeland) is any indication, the production value of Second Sight should be rather high. He’s also worked on this little show called Dexter that has a few fans so he’s no stranger to big shows.
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[tab title=”The Surgeon General”]
Lie to Me, Awake, Commander-in-Chief, Lord of the Rings, Ringer
That’s just some of the shows and movies people involved both in front of and behind the camera of The Surgeon General have on their resumes. Given how much I like each of those shows and movies, I imagine that my knowledge of the Surgeon General is going to go beyond this episode of West Wing.
We have to hand it to Jason Issacs who resisted the urge to burn NBC to the ground after his show Awake was canceled. I don’t think anyone would have blamed him as it was as close to a crime as you can get without actually committing a crime. Now he’s moved on over to CBS and is in the lead role as the top doctor in the country, the Surgeon General. His chief of staff is being played by one of my favorites, Kathryn Morris. She’s done a few things here or there but has mostly been unheard of since her show Cold Case went off the air in 2010.
Both Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings obviously) and Mike Colter (Ringer) are listed as doctors but their roles aren’t any more specified than that.
From Samuel Baum, who created Lie to Me, The Surgeon General looks to be like most other political shows but instead of the President, it’s the Surgeon General. Will this be enough to make it seem like a fresh and unique show? Well Rod Lurie is directing that pilot and he did a pretty nice job making a show about the President seem new when he was an executive producer of the canceled before it’s time, Commander in Chief, so chances are good.
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[tab title=”The Crazy Ones”]
BUFFY IS BACK!!!!!
Okay, well sort of. Sarah Michelle Gellar is back at least. After spending a year over at CW with Ringer (a show people should have stuck with as it got much better as it went on), Gellar is teaming up with a little known actor/comedian named Robin Williams for a workplace comedy about a father/daughter run ad agency.
If Gellar and Williams weren’t enough to pique your interest (seriously?) then some of the other cast will. Hamish Linklater (The New Adventures of Old Christine) will play the agency’s art director and James Wolk (Political Animals) has signed on as a copywriter.
Of course having big on-screen names is great, but having TV royalty behind the scenes is even greater. David E. Kelley might not have hit gold with Harry’s Law but one has to imagine that Crazy Ones will find an audience pretty quickly, even if they are people who are just looking to finally have something to fill that Just Shoot Me! void in their lives.
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So there we go! A somewhat varied group of prospects that hopefully will see the light of day. If for no other reason than perhaps we can see something else besides Big Bang Theory and NCIS promos on the network. That would be a refreshing change.
Update: As series orders roll in, see how I did across the board!
NBC Comedies
NBC Dramas
ABC
FOX and The CW
Critics Choice TV Awards: Results Don’t Lend Same Credibility Nominations Did…
A couple weeks ago I got excited and told you about the quality of nominations from the first ever ‘Critics Choice TV Awards’. Representation for Community, Parks and Rec, Always Sunny, and Justified made me think someone had finally gotten it right. Then the winners were announced. Most of the good-will they had built with me has since disappeared. Let’s take a look…
BEST DRAMA SERIES
– Desired Winner: Justified
– Predicted Winner: Boardwalk Empire
– Actual Winner: Mad Men
This is about the least inspired choice possible. Way to distinguish yourselves by picking the show that has won this award 3 years running from the Emmy committee. I feel like they mailed this one in for a bid to be taken seriously, and in that bid I think they lose credibility.
It’s nice to see Justified nominated, but it looks like this one was over before it started. Mad Men is obviously not a terrible pick as all the shows were good, just seems uninspired.
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
– Desired Winner: Kyle Chandler, “Friday Night Lights”
– Predicted Winner: William H. Macy, “Shameless”
– Actual Winner: Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
This is again predictable. I really like Jon Hamm, but so far this looks just the same as every other awards show out there, giving gold to maybe the most over-rated show on television.
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
– Desired Winner: Connie Britton, “Friday Night Lights”
– Predicted Winner: Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”
– Actual Winner: Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
This is a show that I admit to have not watched, so I can say anything against the pick, but can’t speak for it either. Julianna Margulies is a solid actress and I’ve heard only good things about this show, so I’ll just give them the benifit of doubt and assume this was the right pick, but it’s too bad FNL didn’t get any love from the voters. This is the spot I thought Mad Men would get it’s statue, but obviously they still cleaned up without it…
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
– Desired Winner: Walton Goggins, “Justified”
– Predicted Winner: Walton Goggins, “Justified”
– Actual Winner: John Noble, “Fringe”
Normally I wouldn’t have any problem with the greatly under-rated Fringe collecting some accolades, except in this case where it costs Goggins a much deserved victory here. Noble is great, I just thought it was Boyd Crowder’s year is all…
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
– Desired Winner: Margo Martindale, “Justified”
– Predicted Winner: Margo Martindale, “Justified”
– Actual Winner: TIE: Margo Martindale, “Justified”/Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”
Well HOLY SHIT, I almost called one right! Justified almost took the spotlight, but instead had to share it with – You Guessed It – Mad Men. Now I love Hendricks from her days on Firefly, but come on. This is a sham. A tie? BOOO. Martindale should’ve had this one to herself.
BEST COMEDY SERIES
– Desired Winner: “Parks and Recreation”
– Predicted Winner: “Modern Family”
– Actual Winner: “Modern Family”
I really have no issue here. Parks and Rec I thought deserved it, but Modern Family is a great show. And to be honest, with the quality of nominees here, so long as it didn’t go to Glee or The Big Bang Theory I was gonna be ok with it. That being said, Modern Family would’ve been 3rd on my list, behind Community at 2nd. Anyhow, who can complain about a show that stars Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen, with Al Bundy to boot?
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
– Desired Winner: Charlie Day, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
– Predicted Winner: Steve Carell, “The Office”
– Actual Winner: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”
This is without a doubt the biggest issue I have with this list. The Big Bang Theory is unbelievably stupid and keeps getting rewarded for it’s formulaic CBS assembly line style of comedy. Nothing against Parsons personally, but this just seems to be a show about who non-nerd imagine real nerds act. And his character is annoying. I hate this show. And when you take into account the other 4 nominees, this decision makes even less sense…
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
– Desired Winner: Martha Plimpton, “Raising Hope”
– Predicted Winner: Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”
– Actual Winner: Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Not it’s not unusual to hear me praise Tina Fey, I’m a huge fan of her’s. The problem I have here is that this was easily the weakest season of 30 Rock to date, while Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation really took off this season and I just don’t get the choice. Sure, in 2009 – Fey over Poehler is a no-brainier, but this one just seems like a reputation win…
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
– Desired Winner: Nick Offerman, “Parks & Rec”
– Predicted Winner: Nick Offerman, “Parks & Rec”
– Actual Winner: NPH, “How I Met Your Mother”
If Jim Parson’s won is my #1 issue, this is my #1B issue. I like NPH, but as we’ve talked about in the past HIMYM isn’t what it once was, and this was without a doubt Nick Offerman’s award. Offerman’s ‘Ron Swanson’ is the best character on television and he was absolutely robbed here. It makes me wonder if the voters even watched Parks and Rec this season. As much as I like Harris, he actually would’ve been last on my list of the 5 nominees…
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
– Desired Winner: Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
– Predicted Winner: Jane Lynch, “Glee”
– Actual Winner: Busy Philipps, “Cougar Town”
I was rooting for Bowen because I think she gets overlooked, but I can’t badmouth Busy Phillips. I don’t watch Cougar Town, but she was a principal character on Freaks and Geeks, and was in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles so she’s ok in my book…
This could’ve gone anyway really, all the nominees were deserving.
Where I will give them credit is that they awarded the first Critics’ Choice Television Icon Award to Danny Devito, star of Taxi and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Critics Choice TV Awards: No ‘Two & A Half Men’ Here…
While many awards shows (like anything on MTV) make a habit of rewarding mediocrity, much like Fan Voting on All-Star ballots. Often times the most deserving candidates are ignored for more popular or recognizable choices. However the new “Critics’ Choice TV Awards” seem to more on target. Today they released a list of nominees for the June 20th Award Show. Here is a list minus the ‘Reality TV’ bullshit, along with who I think should win in RED, and who I think will win in BLUE. If the choice is the same, it’ll be GREEN. Pretty simple.
BEST DRAMA SERIES
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Dexter”
“Friday Night Lights”
“Fringe”
“Game of Thrones”
“The Good Wife”
“Justified”
“The Killing”
“Mad Men”
“The Walking Dead”
I don’t watch Mad Men anymore, and I fricking love Game of Thrones, to be honest, I really like all these shows. This is an excellent list. And while Justified is my favorite show on TV, critics typically like the period stuff. So I think Boardwalk Empire has the best chance here…
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire”
Kyle Chandler, “Friday Night Lights”
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Timothy Olyphant, “Justified”
It’s hard for me to not pick Olyphant here, but I skip him only because, in season 2, as good as he was, he was out-shined by Walton Goggins. Kyle Chandler on the other hand carried FNL for years and deserves some recognition. The reason however I’m predicting Macy for the win is his history of love from the critics, and Shameless being such a departure from his normal role. Plus, they over looked Emmy Rossum for ‘Leading Actress’, so this could be their make-up.
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Connie Britton, “Friday Night Lights”
Mireille Enos, “The Killing”
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”
Katey Sagal, “Sons of Anarchy”
Anna Torv, “Fringe”
How Emmy Rossum got skipped over here is beyond me. She would’ve been my pick to win it, but as she’s not an option I had to look elsewhere. I went to the FNL well again as the final season really focused on Coach and his wife. The show would lack credibility however if Mad Men went winless, so they’ll give it to Moss.
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Alan Cumming, “The Good Wife”
Walton Goggins, “Justified”
Shawn Hatosy, “Southland”
John Noble, “Fringe”
Michael Pitt, “Boardwalk Empire”
John Slattery, “Mad Men”
This one should be over before it begins. Walton Goggins has to be the winner here or this Awards Show will be a joke. Goggins took what was a great character in season 1 and somehow stepped it up a notch. Put a bow on it, Boyd Crowder is winning this one…
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Michelle Forbes, “The Killing”
Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”
Margo Martindale, “Justified”
Kelly Macdonald, “Boardwalk Empire”
Archie Panjabi, “The Good Wife”
Chloë Sevigny, “Big Love”
This one is another slam dunk for me. Like with Walton Goggins, I had my winner here picked before I even saw the nominees. ‘Mags Bennett’ is one of the best villains to come on TV in years.
If you need proof: CLICK HERE
BEST COMEDY SERIES
“Archer”
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Community”
“Glee”
“Louie”
“The Middle”
“Modern Family”
“The Office”
“Parks and Recreation”
“30 Rock”
It would appear Modern Family is their darling, receiving 6 nods, and while I love that show, I would say it’s really only 3rd best on this list behind Parks and Recreation and Community.
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Steve Carell, “The Office”
Louis C.K., “Louie”
Charlie Day, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
Joel McHale, “Community”
Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”
Seems like it’d be a perfect ‘Swan Song’ for Steve Carell here, but The Office isn’t the show it once was. And I for one would love to see It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia get some much deserved love.
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Courteney Cox, “Cougar Town”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Patricia Heaton, “The Middle”
Martha Plimpton, “Raising Hope”
Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”
Amy Poehler seems like a shew-in for this award. 30 Rock has taken a bit of a slide this last season, and Cox and Falco just feel like long shots. My pick here would be Martha Plimpton and her career resurgence with Raising Hope. Show is greatly under-rated, admittedly I might be a bit partial since she was a Goonie, but there it is. Live with it.
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
NPH, “How I Met Your Mother”
Nick Offerman, “Parks & Rec”
Ed O’Neill, “Modern Family”
Danny Pudi, “Community”
Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family”
This might be the greatest collection of nominees ever. There isn’t a single character on this list I don’t love. But as much as it pains to again pick against Community, there really is only one choice here. Ron F–king Swanson – The best character on Television.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
Jane Krakowski, “30 Rock”
Jane Lynch, “Glee”
Busy Philipps, “Cougar Town”
Eden Sher, “The Middle”
Sofía Vergara, “Modern Family”
I hate Glee, but the critics don’t. For my money though I’d have to give it to Happy Gilmore’s girlfriend Julie Bowen. I bet you were expecting me to pick Sofia Vergara here just so I could justify putting up her picture. Well guess what, Julie Bowen is beautiful too! Jane Lynch not so much…
There is also the fact that it’s my website and no one can stop me from ALSO posting a picture of Vergara…
So we’ll check back in and see who wins once it’s announced, I’m sure my predictions will be way off!
What are you’re picks for each category? Please comment below…
Justified: Cottonmouth – Harlan County’s Best of the Season
Regular readers of the site should already know my feelings on season 1 of the FX show Justified. I loved it. It was well written, excellently acted, and entertaining as hell. And it closed up with maybe the best season finale of any show since Dexter‘s fourth season. So far, through 4 episodes of it’s 2nd season we’ve seen a lot of new characters introduced, and what seems to be a promising new story arc. And while it’s been really good, it’s not been great. That is until the 5th episode aired on Wednesday night. This episode, titled Cottonmouth, is one of the single best mid-season episodes of any show I’ve ever seen. While premiers and finales are known for packing in a lot major events to kick off, or wrap up a story, here we see no less than 5 major plays made that will have effect on the rest of the season.
1. Arrested Development
Raylan visits Dewey Crowe in prison, at Crowe’s behest. Dewey is worried about getting shived and offers up a trade to Raylan – Info on the Bennetts for early release into a Half-Way-House. The scene opens with an absolutely awesome shot of Raylan sitting in the dark, the screen cap below does it no justice.
Once Raylan is back at the office, Arlo Givens shows up to return some of the money he stole, in hopes of having Raylan remove his ankle bracelet. The suspicions of Trooper Bergen about the missing Walt McCready‘s (murdered in the first episode by the Bennetts) government checks getting cashed, trigger Raylan to question Arlo about check cashing and gets a name – the now deceased Bowman Crowder. Raylan then proceeds to lock up his father. Now
2. The Dick Tase
The second event, and the one that has elicited an entire post over at Warming Glow, happens when Raylan goes to look into the check-cashing scheme in Harlan. The Crowder lead of course takes him to Boyd, who is not alone. Boyd is in distress, but chooses not to seek Raylan’s help, but instead gives him a name and sends him on his way. Raylan follows Boyd’s info to a man Winston Banks. Mr. Banks, who runs a religious ATV tour called “The Church of the Two-Stroke Jesus”, pulls a taser on Raylan once confronted. While being attacked however, Raylan manages to turn the attackers taser back on him…in the crotch.
This event leads Raylan and Trooper Bergen to believe that Walt is dead, most likely at the hands of the Bennetts, who are now in custody of Walt’s daughter Loretta. Combined with what Dewey told him, all signs point to the Bennetts being responsible for more than just slinging herb…
3. Always Be Cool
The third, and most exciting of these events revolve around everyone’s favorite Ex-Con, Boyd Crowder. This is where we see Boyd, being strong armed into robbing the coal mine, prove himself craftier than the average crook. Kyle and his cronies are determined to make Boyd part of their plan.
Upon learning that they expect him to kill Shelby, (Jim Beaver – Just one of many DEADWOOD alum to appear on the show) the manager at the mine, and suspecting they mean to end him as well, Boyd uses his cell to call the house, escaping the room to answer the phone. Boyd leaves the cell open and on the chair, bugging the room and hearing his suspicions confirmed as the others discuss their plans to end Boyd as well.
It’s around this time that Raylan pulls up to question Boyd about the Check-Cashing his brother used to do. Raylan immediately recognizes the ill-intent of Boyd’s guests and basically extends an offer of help. Boyd declines, passing up an opportunity to end the whole situation there. He has instead decided to rely and his own plan to sabotage the battery of the radio detonator they plan to use for the job, thus ensuring it doesn’t happen. When his cohorts though decide to move forward as planned anyhow, with out the battery, Boyd must quickly devise a new escape.
Once at the mine, as planned they break into the manager’s office, empty the safe, and grab the explosives. Boyd however loads some of the explosives into the cash bag. Once he takes Shelby into the mine, Kyle pulls his double cross and attempts to detonate the explosives. Which are in the money bag. Which is in his truck 5 feet away. In his attempt to kill Boyd and Shelby, Kyle instead blows up himself and his crew.
Well played Boyd.
Once home Boyd gives Ava $20k he kept from the holdup so she can fight off the bank from taking the house for a while. She is now an accessory to his crimes.
4. A Mother’s Love
While Boyd is explaining to Ava what went down at the mine, Dickie and Coover Bennett pay a visit to Winston Bank’s ATV warehouse to collect money owed them. Dickie then notices Marshall Raylan Givens sitting in the dark. Having now confirmed Raylan’s suspicion, they take off and empty-handed. Come morning over, they’re dirty Police Chief brother Doyle drops by their place with the family patriarch and mother: Mags Bennett. What transpires is something the likes of which haven’t been seen in Misery. Mags, enraged to find out that Coover and Dickie have been cashing Walt’s checks and raising the attention of the authorities, decides to teach a lesson to her dumber sons. Coover must now bear the brunt of his mother’s scorn.
Wow. Coover already blames Raylan for all his problems since he is an idiot, so I’m sure he’ll blame Raylan for this too. Oh, a mother’s love…
5. Lortetta’s Knight in Shining Armor
Little Loretta McCready. Heir to the vast nothing-ness left by her father, now taken in by the very people who murdered him. Earlier saved by Raylan when he whisked her out of the trunk of a child molester, she now is surviving how she see fit and doing what her Daddy taught her – Selling weed. Raylan, now convinced that the Bennetts did in fact murder her father, but with no proof as of yet, visits Loretta and to her delivers a cell phone. With the phone, this promise:
[quote]”I kicked a hornet’s nest last night. And things may start to happen, and I need you to know, if you find yourself in trouble of any kind, you can call me. I will drop whatever I am doing and I will come for you.”[/quote]
BOOM! If that isn’t a promise of some Epic Fricking Heroics playing out, then I don’t know what is. This season is really picking up now and I can’t wait for Wednesday.
Grizzly Bomb 