Charlot: November 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

'Chuck' recap: The leftovers were better the first time around

Timothy Dalton was going to hold this episode of "Chuck" together with his teeth, if he had to, and, in the end, he was the element that did the most to keep the whole enterprise from falling apart. "Chuck Versus the Leftovers" wasn't a bad episode, but it offered a bad case of ... of, well, the leftovers, as many of the major plot points were either things the show has harped on endlessly this season -- like Ellie not wanting Chuck to get back into the spy game she doesn't know he's back into -- or basic plots the show has returned to again and again and again -- like the idea of the bad guys taking over the Buy More. Heck, the episode's major pop culture references were all to "Die Hard," and the show has made jokes about that movie many times, but, most notably, in the last Christmas episode the series did, "Chuck Versus the Santa Claus."

Now, "Santa Claus" is still my favorite episode of the series, so if the show has to emulate an episode, I don't mind it choosing that one. And "Die Hard," of course, is one of the all-time great movies to watch at Christmas that has very little to do with Christmas (a list that also features that other '80s classic, "Gremlins"). Plus, it's not as though the episode has very much to do with the holidays at all. Heck, it's more of a delayed Thanksgiving episode. There are certainly original elements here, but the overall effect is very much like loading up a plate with stuff you just enjoyed at Thanksgiving dinner and tossing it in the microwave. Everything still tastes good, and it's ultimately satisfying, but a lot of that comes from your warm memories of the original meal, rather than any particular excitement from reheating that meal.

But then there's Dalton. I was interested to see what the show's producers would do with Dalton when his casting was announced, but I have to admit I didn't expect anything this terrific from the show or the actor. Every time the show hands Dalton's character, Volkoff, a silly plotline -- like Volkoff being in love with Frost all of this time but apparently never doing anything about it or Volkoff demanding he get to know Frost's family over late Thanksgiving dinner -- the actor makes even the goofiest things the character does feel vaguely threatening. And the writers, who've written a fair number of goofy bad guys in the past, largely rise to the challenge of writing for Dalton. The threat to kill Jeff and Lester in this episode, something that could have been played for more laughs than it was, feels less like comic business and more like an actual threat, making Morgan's journey through a long list of "Die Hard" references that much more exciting.

Much of the time when a show lands a major guest star for a several-episode arc, that guest star is mostly just there to cash in the checks. They'll come in, say a few lines, maybe drop a few references to whatever made them famous, then head home and roll around in their giant money bin, Scrooge McDuck-style. While the show has had a few groan-inducing moments in these regards with Dalton and Linda Hamilton (whose "come with me if you want to live" wasn't nearly as witty as anyone thought it was tonight), both the series and the actors seem fully committed to this story of constant double-crosses and a deadly former British agent who went rogue. Hamilton, as Chuck's mom, alias Frost, is playing the emotional beats of the "is she good or is she evil?" storyline so well that the fact this has been done many times before is less irritating. And Dalton, as mentioned, brings such a solid note of pure evil to the proceedings that waiting to see what he'll do next is a lot of fun.

And, goodness, does this episode need that element of shock and surprise. Because just about everything in it has popped up on "Chuck" in one form or another before. Now, a show in its fourth season is obviously going to repeat itself from time to time. That's fine. But it's a problem when the return to things that may have worked at one time is as blatant as it is here. Volkoff trying to get into the holiday fun, including playing charades, just wouldn't have worked without Dalton there. Since he is, it's a lot of fun, but it can't stop the nagging sense that the show has done this and done it better before. Similarly, Morgan trying to retrieve the gun taped to his back in a ridiculous dance was the comic highlight of the episode, but it didn't negate the fact that we've seen the Buy More fall many times before and this particular crisis wasn't as interesting as those.

And that's to say nothing of the episode's most original element. (If, indeed, the basic idea of the characters discovering a new piece of technology planted by Chuck's father isn't one that the show hasn't turned to too many times, as it may very well be for some viewers.) The idea that Ellie would have a secret spy gift bequeathed to her by her father was a good one, but after we spent last week trying to guess a password, we spent this week ... trying to guess a password. And the reward at the end of the tunnel? Chuck got re-Intersected, something that needed to happen sooner or later but feels sort of abrupt happening in the way it does. I suppose an argument could be made that the Intersect that pops into Chuck's head at episode's end was meant to be another software upgrade, but it really does feel like the parents Bartowski planned this whole thing out decades ago, and that strains believability.

On the other hand, warmed-over "Chuck" is still "Chuck," just like Thanksgiving leftovers are usually delicious. I think the tone of this review makes me sound angrier about the episode than I actually was. I had fun with what was going on onscreen, even if some of it felt a little lazy. The moments that made me genuinely unhappy (like, say, Volkoff demanding to meet Frost's family) were few and far between, and for every moment that the show has turned to again and again, there was one that was brand new, like Mary having to tell Volkoff that Chuck was her son, not just some spy she was refusing to kill for some reason. Normally, the ratio of new to old is skewed more toward the new on "Chuck," and while that balance was off in "Leftovers," it didn't mean that what was there didn't offer its own enjoyment.

Some other thoughts:

-Awesome got a lot of nice little moments here, like guessing "The Bourne Identity" at charades shortly after Chuck did or handing Chuck the laptop and excoriating the guy for getting involved in the spy game again.
-For as much as I enjoyed Morgan's little dance, I did sort of wonder why Volkoff's lackeys didn't just shoot him. I get that he's a regular and we're supposed to? believe that the lackeys were so confused by what he was doing that they momentarily took leave of their senses, but it did diminish the danger of the story just a bit.
-That's it for "Chuck" until January, but looking at the schedule, I don't think we'll have a ton of reruns. There are 14 episodes left, which means we'll probably take a few weeks off here and there, but we should be all new for much of the spring, which is impressive, considering the show only got a 13-episode order at first. And though the show fell to its lowest ratings ever last week, I continue to think it's likely to get at least a short fifth season. NBC has so many problem spots that it seems unlikely they'll take away a solid, stable performer, even if that show tends to get very low ratings. That doesn't mean you should stop writing letters or buying Subway sandwiches or anything, but I do think the show is in a stronger position, perversely, than it has been in years.

--Todd VanDerWerff (follow me on Twitter at @tvoti)

Photo: Capt. Awesome (Ryan McPartlin, left) isn't too happy when Chuck (Zachary Levi) gets him back in the spy game. (Credit: NBC)

'Chuck' recap: Sarah Walker will have her revenge

'Chuck' recap: Scared yet?

Complete Show Tracker 'Chuck' coverage

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'Gossip Girl' recap: 'A troubled young woman'

No matter how bad your Thanksgiving was, the "Gossip Girl" crew's was almost certainly worse. By now, these dark holiday episodes have become something of a tradition, and after all the turkey and togetherness that most shows force us to stomach every November, they're always a refreshing palate cleanser. This year's model wasn't the best I've seen (I'm partial to Season 2's "The Magnificent Archibalds"), but it may well have been the most twisted.

The episode opens with our Upper East Siders preparing for Thanksgiving. Serena hasn't shown her face since the Saints and Sinners ball, but no one is particularly worried. While Blair assumes she's hiding at Lily and Rufus', Lily decides Serena's out having some kind of temper tantrum, as usual, and resolves not to go looking for her. The preparations for a lavish Humphrey-Van der Woodsen Thanksgiving go on as planned — until Blair and Lily compare notes and realize that Serena is missing.

That's when we cut to the heiress herself, waking up groggy in an unfamiliar room littered with pills and alcohol bottles, still wearing her Saints and Sinners dress. She gropes for her bedside phone, calls 911, and rasps that her name is Serena van der Woodsen, and she doesn't know where she is. With the ambulances en route, she's out cold again and doesn't wake up until she's at the hospital, where Lily has already decided to send to her to rehab.

It's an odd choice, to be sure. Although the doctor tells Serena's family that she called them from a motel room in Queens, where she suffered a minor overdose, the story just doesn't add up. One of the drugs in her possession was an antidepressant that would most likely have been used in a suicide attempt. The idea that Serena — who hasn't had a drug problem in a good, long time — would choose to end a bad night out with a deadly bender or by purposefully offing herself doesn't make much sense to me. Everyone on "Gossip Girl" is always acting like Serena's a time bomb, liable to explode at any second, but if all we ever see her doing is acting confused and stealing people's boyfriends, then how are we supposed to believe she's dangerous?

When Eric and Lily come to visit her in rehab, Serena still can't remember what happened to her, but she's sure she isn't responsible and lashes out at her mom for having her committed. (I was kind of excited to see her express a strong, clear emotion, for once.) "Your daughter wakes up alone, drugged in an empty motel room, and you don't call the cops?" Serena demands. "You don't ask if she's OK or what happened? You just have her committed? What kind of mother does that?" It's a good question. Lily has never been the world's most sensitive or attentive mother, but she's really gone off the rails this season.

Only Dan believes Serena, and his support probably has more to do with his undying love for her than anything else. Leading with his hero complex, he breaks her out of rehab. They head to the Brooklyn apartment to regroup and plan a temporary escape from the city, but when they open the door to leave, they run right into Blair and Lily. Perhaps Lonely Boy should have realized that home was the first place the family would come looking for them. Lily briefly maintains that her daughter is "a troubled young woman" before admitting to Dan that her own insecurities are stopping her from listening to what Serena has to say.

Clearly, this kind of rationality can't last. Cue Gossip Girl! As soon as the clan converges to figure out what to do about Serena, the scourge of the Upper East Side is back with a damning photo of her snorting a line with her mask still on. Now, even Serena is convinced she's out of control and goes willingly back to rehab.

Of course, the photo isn't of Serena. It's the final element of Juliet's set-up. And it's kind of strange that no one — including Serena! — realizes it. They may be wearing the same dress and mask, but Juliet and Serena aren't twins!

Another surprise: It isn't Vanessa who cracks under the pressure of Serena's tragedy and confesses the Saints and Sinners plot to Rufus — it's Jenny. And later, when she goes looking for Juliet, she finds her co-conspirator's apartment abandoned. Only a few trash bags remain, along with the mask in the photo. When she figures out what has happened, Jenny runs straight to Blair before heading home to Hudson to extricate herself, once again, from the machinations of Manhattan's elite.

This also strikes me as a weird decision. Why would Jenny, who's supposed to be done with scheming, go to her enemy with the information instead of enlightening her family and getting Serena out of rehab? Obviously, it will be more fun to watch Blair ruin Juliet than to see Rufus and Lily call the cops on her. But is this a decision any real person, even Jenny Humphrey, would make? I don't think so.

Before the episode is out, we do learn something interesting about Juliet: She didn't let Ben in on her plan to drug Serena. In fact, when she visits him in prison, proud of her success, even he thinks she went too far. So, Juliet has gone rogue and is about to disappear, but not before extorting some cash from Lily for keeping Serena's secrets, warning her that she'd better send a new bribe check each month and wishing her a happy Thanksgiving. That's the closest we get to holiday cheer on "Gossip Girl," and I, for one, continue to like it that way.

Other scattered thoughts:

-- How symbolic is the moment when Vanessa walks into Lily and Rufus' apartment to celebrate Thanksgiving only to find that everyone's gone but Dorota and her baby? If that is not a metaphor for the character's diminishing place on the show, I don't know what is.

-- Dorota and her baby! They are wonderful! I may be a coldhearted lover of dark holiday programming, but even I cannot deny the adorableness of that child.

-- Now that Juliet is finished manipulating Nate, the writers seem to have no idea what to do with his character. Hence the totally random (and utterly shrug-worthy) subplot about his attempt to reunite his mother with his incarcerated father. Sadly, even in throwaway scenarios, Nate is stupid and gullible. It turns out his dad only wants his mom back because it would look good for his parole.

-- Finally, an episode where Chuck and Blair's star-crossed love is reduced to less than five minutes of screen time. Let's have a few more of these, shall we?

Your weekly "Gossip Girl" fashion top five:

1. Jenny's silver Tania Spinelli boots.

2. Blair's orange, yellow and brown plaid dress.

3. Chuck's rich, brown suit and plum shirt.

4. Vanessa's gold earrings with the enormous, dangly black stones.

5. Lily's belted camel coat.

— Judy Berman
twitter.com/judyberman

Photo: Jenny discovers Serena's mask at Juliet's apartment. Credit: Giovanni Rufino / the CW.

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Tuesday TV Highlights: 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' on CBS

Strange Days With Bob Saget: The former “Full House” star and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” host gets a new reality series (10 and 10:30 p.m. A&E).?

Sons of Anarchy: The biker-gang drama rolls to the end of another season (10 p.m. FX).?

SPECIALS

The Billionaires’ Road Trip: Warren Buffett and Bill Gates travel to China in this new special (6 and 10 p.m. CNBC).?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The stop-motion animated holiday tale returns (8 p.m. CBS).?

Christmas in Rockefeller Center: Natalie Morales and Al Roker host the 78th annual tree-lighting ceremony, with scheduled performers including Susan Boyle, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, Annie Lennox, Kylie Minogue and Jessica Simpson (8 p.m. NBC).?

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Boris Karloff narrates this beloved holiday classic (8 p.m. ABC).?

The Real Story of Christmas: Yule surely enjoy this account of The origins of beloved holiday traditions (8 p.m. History).?

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show: Supermodels are underdressed for the occasion in this new special featuring musical performances by Katy Perry and Akon (10 p.m. CBS).?

?MOVIES

The Road: Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce star in this post-apocalyptic 2009 tale (8 p.m. Showtime).?

National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: Ryan Reynolds slacks off in this 2002 campus comedy (8:15 p.m. TMC).?

SPORTS

Basketball: The Lakers visit the Grizzlies (5 p.m. KCAL).?

Hockey: The Blues battle the Blackhawks (5 p.m. VS).?

Photo:?Classic Media

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Monday, November 29, 2010

"Amazing Race" recap: Enter the draggin'

One mustn’t look to reality-show competitions to right the wrongs of an inherently amoral universe.? But even as I acknowledge this, a question surges up from the very depths of my soul:? Why?

Why, “Amazing Race” producers, didn’t you get rid of Nick the Swine when you had the chance?? Was it too much to ask that he be sent back to the sty that spawned him?? Did you really have to grant him a reprieve for the second freakin’ time?? Were you afraid that Thomas, with his healthy sense of competition and his unhealthy attachment to Notre Dame, wouldn’t rise to quite the same level of maleficence?

Oh, yes, producers, I hear your legalistic nattering: “Non-elimination rounds are determined in advance of the competition.? We have no say over who will benefit.? We do not intentionally privilege any competitor over anyone else.”? Et cetera post habeas corpus facto, and guess what, guys?? I ain’t buying it.? I think you watched the early rushes of Nick in Hong Kong, saw him scorching every last article of adjacent humanity, and decided that, divine justice notwithstanding, there was no way you could kick this creep to the curb.

Not when he’s screaming at his asthmatic girlfriend Vicki for making him miss the ferry.? (“I’m sick of your being sorry. ... I’m not stopping next time.? You better step it up.? Quit crying!”)? Not when he’s oscillating so dependably between ugly one-upmanship and prostrations of self-pity.? (“This is ridiculous.? God, I just want to choke somebody. ... I just want to quit.? I’m tired. ... I haven’t got any food today, I haven’t got any sleep in the last two days...”)? Oh, I get it, producers.? It’s been a long time since you’ve had a villain quite so un-Machiavellian, so nasty and ineffectual in the same breath.? Even the normally enabling Vicki was moved to say: “You didn’t deal with anything today good.”

What Vicki and the producers may have failed to realize is that Nick wants to be kicked off this show every bit as much as we want him to be.? “Get me outta this place,” he moaned.? “It’s 4 in the morning.? Get me outta here.? Can’t wait to be home.”? Yes, dreams of 12-hour sleep cycles and uninterrupted bong hits teem inside that doo-ragged head, and my suspicion is that Nick will put his six-hour delay and his speed bump to strategic use in the next episode and get the release he so devoutly wants.

Because, as he himself pointed out with uncharacteristic wisdom: “You can’t keep throwing up all night.? You have to draw the line somewhere.”? He was referring to the latest gustatory ordeal: a massive Chinese buffet -- “both lavish and sumptuous,” promised Host Phil -- that harbored five cunningly disguised items of faux food.? Pick the wrong one, and you had to eat it.? My dim-sum-loving son was salivating at the prospect, but the prospect of binge-eating in front of raucous Hong Kong diners and karaoke singers wasn’t quite so pleasing to the American girlz, and Claire’s face quickly assumed the pallor associated with raw tuna.? “She’s supposed to be on a diet for her wedding,” noted pal Brook.? Never fear.? Involuntary bulimia has now ensured that Claire will fit into (I’m imagining here) that three-quarter-sleeve Alencon lace gown with the silk satin waist sash.? And if she doesn’t, well, she need only recall the advice of Brook, home shopping priestess and cultural historian: “Just keep puking.? That’s what they did in Renaissance times."

And with that, I believe, the whole mystery behind Mona Lisa’s smile has been cleared up.? Puke, puke, me hardies!? But do keep a vomit bag handy.? You don’t want to walk that long Trail of Shame to the nearest bathroom.? Which brings up another point: Wasn’t Episode 10 a tad sadistic, even by “Race” norms?? Jill and Thomas’s needle-in-a-haystack tram-ride quest, with the camera gloatingly picking out the three signs that no one in a million years would have seen?? The lantern-lit, parakeet-laden sampan crawl through the Hong Kong harbor, with contestants squinting out registration numbers in blackest night?? It all had the feel of a not very edifying dream, presided over by the statue of Bruce Lee.

-- Louis Bayard

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'Boardwalk Empire' recap: Here come the payoffs

It's taken a while (some would say too long), but "Boardwalk Empire" finally sent its characters careening off into potential devastation with this, the next-to-last episode of its first season. Stuff that's been boiling away all season long came to a head, and major secrets were revealed, both to the characters and the audience.

The list of terrific scenes and setpieces is lengthy, and although there's one major casualty with the death of a character audiences have gotten to know quite well, it's a character few would have predicted would die, much less in the manner in which he did. All in all, "Paris Green" should make anyone who worried none of this was going to add up but stuck with the show anyway feel as though they're in good hands. It's a swift-moving, fascinating episode of television, one that reveals a picture the show's been constructing all along. It's not my favorite episode of the season (I tend to prefer the more character-heavy hours such as "Home"), but it's bound to keep me buzzing right up until the finale airs.

"Paris Green" is full of moments that have been a long time coming, some since the days of the pilot. In particular, we get to see Nucky make a break with both Margaret and Eli, two issues that have been hanging over the show for weeks now. If the first half of this first season was an old-fashioned, boy-meets-girl love story about two unlikely lovers who found each other after a series of unlikely circumstances (including the boy having the girl's husband killed), the second half has been about Margaret's growing disenchantment with the situation she finds herself in. In many ways, Margaret is the true face of where the world of "Boardwalk" is headed. She's the face of a country that gradually will take power from the networks of powerful men who control the levers of society and distribute it more evenly among more people. And yet she finds herself sharing the bed of one of those powerful men, even as she's acutely aware of where his power comes from.

So she launches into an angry tirade against Nucky. He thinks it's because his friend's lady friend, Annabelle, came on to him. And, yeah, she's upset about that, but she's also upset about all of the compromises she's made to be his girlfriend and live in the lap of luxury. To be fair, both parties get in some good digs here (including Nucky taking her to task for acting upset about how she gets her nice things for a moment or two, before giving in to how nice it all feels), but ultimately Margaret raises the issue neither of them has talked about, suggesting that perhaps Nucky had her husband killed to get closer to her. It's true, but she doesn't know it. She just suspects. At the same time, Nucky doesn't deny it either, a move his brother castigates him for later. The next day, Margaret is gone, having left a few items with Richard Harrow to take to the neighbors. She wants nothing to do with Nucky any more or so it would seem.

Meanwhile, Jimmy's about to undergo a breakup of his own, though he has no idea that's the case. He's too wrapped up in taking care of his dying father, the Commodore, a man he doesn't seem exceptionally close to and with good reason. (The Commodore requested Nucky procure Jimmy's mother for him when she was but 13. Yikes.) Still, he's doing it for his mother and, possibly, for the possibility that when the Commodore dies, all of this will be Jimmy's. The Commodore even suggests as much, wondering why the city he built out of swamps into a great empire is now in the hands of Nucky and not his son and heir. Jimmy, so closed off he doesn't even seem that moved by his father's dead dog lying in a casket, just shrugs this off, but it's clear the man's words sting on some level. As it turns out, someone's poisoning the Commodore with arsenic (Paris Green variety), but a large dose hasn't been enough to kill the irascible old man, a situation that leads to any number of questions. All of this taken care of, Jimmy heads home ...

... where we know that he'll discover a goodbye letter from Angela, who's headed off to Paris with her son and her girlfriend. The arrangements have been made between Angela and Mary (the girlfriend), and all that remains is to pack a couple of bags and get ready to go to Europe. But when Angela and Tommy arrive at the photography studio to embark on their voyage, there's no one there, just the landlord sweeping out the place. Mary and her husband sneaked out the night before, possibly headed to Paris, and the devastation on Angela's face is more moving than pretty much anything else in this storyline. She heads back home with Tommy, where Jimmy is and has, presumably, read her letter. But instead of reacting in anger, he does nothing, just returning to the patterns the little family has had in the past.

Finally, there's Van Alden, who continues to try to figure out just what his partner, Sebso, did when the star witness was shot a few weeks ago. Van Alden knows something is wrong here, continually pointing out the flaws in Sebso's story, but it doesn't seem as though anyone cares about any of this or about how Sebso has those nice, new wingtip shoes. Sebso, as we learn, is on the take from Nucky, rather than some other player, and Nucky turns over the location of some bootleggers, the better for Sebso to make a bust and regain his partner's trust. Instead, the location Nucky describes is occupied by a large group of Baptists, who are in the process of full-immersion baptism. (Apparently, they're always there, too, as Van Alden and Sebso make two visits to the group.)

On the second visit, Van Alden asks if he can baptize Sebso, who's actually Jewish and doesn't seem keen on the idea but eventually goes along with it. In a long, terrifying scene (among the most horrifying in the show's run), Van Alden tries to break Sebso with a series of long dunks beneath the surface of the river, dunks that get longer and longer until Sebso drowns. Van Alden screams in righteous fury, then emerges from the river, gun held high, daring any one of the witnesses to say anything about what they've seen. In some ways, I wonder if the show has done enough to distinguish Van Alden from the many other unstable lawmen in this genre over the years, but man, the writers have done a great job of finding ways to make him seem out of his head.

If you've stuck with "Boardwalk Empire" all this way, then this is the episode that rewards you for your faith, that lets you know that this is a show that can do the big payoffs when it needs to. And, what's more, it seems like all of this is mere foreshadowing for what's coming next week (when, among other things, it seems like Harrow will strike back at the D'Alessios). It's important that a series with an epic sweep like this nails the payoffs. If it can do that, we'll forgive any number of narrative digressions. And in "Paris Green," "Boardwalk Empire" suggests that it very much knows this fact and it's more than happy to give us our dessert.

Some other thoughts:

--Rothstein continues to be confined to the edges of the storyline, and we don't see Chalky at all. Honestly,? I don't know if we'd notice how far out of the loop these characters were if they were cast with unknown actors, rather than Michael Stuhlbarg and Michael K. Williams, two actors who've distinguished themselves in other projects.

--According to Nucky, the Daughters of the American Revolution appeared from the ground like pumpkins back around the Revolutionary War. He's joking, but it's still good to know.

-- We finally get to see Harry Houdini's brother Hardeen perform his act. It's about as disappointing as you'd expect, though he spends most of his private show for Nucky and company offering up offhand remarks of great thematic importance.

--Nucky seems concerned about how much time the Republicans spend joking around in their club, compared with the Democrats, who are working hard for every vote. Relax, Nuck! I've read Wikipedia, and I know how this all turns out for Warren G. Harding and friends.

--I don't have a screener for the finale, and it seems unlikely HBO will send one out. Next week's piece, accordingly, may go up a little late.

-- Todd VanDerWerff (follow me on Twitter at @tvoti)

Photo: The Commodore (Dabney Coleman) is a monster of a man, but he's still Jimmy's dad. So when he gets sick, Jimmy's gotta do something, right? Credit: HBO

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'Walking Dead' recap: Is this 'Lost' in translation?

Hmmm, let's see: We have a group of survivors stranded in a remote location who are forced to overcome their trust issues if they want to defeat the mysterious predatory forces surrounding them on all sides, and now there's a lone scientist manning an abandoned underground outpost conducting possibly futile experiments while struggling to retain a slippery grasp on his own sanity after "wildfire" was declared. If a character named after a philosopher or a smoke monster or maybe a randomly generated series of numbers turns up next week, J.J. Abrams might want to consider making a few well-placed phone calls.

Seriously, though, if the comparisons between "The Walking Dead" and "Lost" hadn't been heated enough before Sunday night's episode of the survival-horror series, "Wildfire" certainly should put them over the top. Tonight, we met Jenner (Noah Emmerich), who is first glimpsed speaking directly into some sort of camcorder and finally giving viewers a better idea of just how long it's been since the world fell to the walkers. To be precise, it's been 63 days since the disease went global, though "wildfire" was declared 194 days ago (the code word, naturally, isn't explained). Though Jenner admits he's made "no clinical progress," we see him conducting an experiment, one that ultimately goes awry, triggering a computerized alarm system that engulfs his lab -- and some important tissue samples -- in flames.

Alone and pondering suicide over a glass of red wine, Jenner spies Rick and Lori and Shane on the security cameras outside the Centers for Disease Control, which is home to his bunker, and he stares in disbelief at the survivors, who are desperate to find a way inside, what with it being dusk, and they're having little food or fuel to make it through the night. Just how did they turn up at the CDC? In honor of "Lost," here's a flashback.

The action picks up with Rick on his walkie-talkie, attempting to raise Morgan, warning him to stay out of Atlanta, that the city "belongs to the dead now," and trying to guide him to where the camp is located (though he mentions that last night walkers came out of the woods, so the site has been compromised). At the camp, the others are throwing corpses on a pyre made of burning tires as Andrea sits cradling the body of her sister, Amy, who was killed by the walkers. Several people, including Lori and Dale, try to coax her to step away, but she remains rooted to the spot until Amy awakens as a walker -- and then Andrea tells zombie Amy that she loves her and shoots her through the temple.?

The bigger dilemma, though, is that Jim has been bitten by a walker. Rick argues that they should all head to the CDC, that if there is any vestige of government left, that facility, which was said to be working on a cure, must still be operational and represents Jim's best chance for survival. Shane, however, argues that they should all go toward a military base, one that happens to be 100 miles in the opposite direction. (The former partners are at odds, too, over Rick's decision to go back to Atlanta to retrieve the guns and attempt to rescue Merle Dixon; Shane tells Rick that had he and the other men been at the camp, they might have helped save lives by killing more walkers, with Rick arguing that it was the fact that they had so many weapons that helped the campers fare as well as they did against the ghouls.)

With Jim becoming feverish and delusional, they ultimately decide to head to the CDC in a caravan of vehicles, though Morales opts out of the plan and instead heads to Birmingham with his family. When the RV breaks down, though, Jim, momentarily lucid, implores Rick to leave him behind, saying that his "bones are like glass" and that he wants to be with his family. The group unanimously agrees to grant Jim his wish and leaves him sitting next to a tree, the virus taking hold of his body. Rick offers to leave him a gun -- should he desire to avoid what appears to be his inevitable transformation -- but he declines and gazes up at the sky as the others pull away, still headed, it turns out, to the CDC and what certainly seems destined to be a fateful meeting with Jenner in the series season finale, set to air Dec. 5.

-- Gina McIntyre

Photo: Andrew Lincoln in "The Walking Dead." Credit: AMC

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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Weekend TV Talk Shows for Nov. 27 – 28

SATURDAY

Good Morning America (N) 7 a.m. KABC

The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer Airport security screenings: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas.). (N) 3 p.m. CNN

McLaughlin Group (N) 6:30 p.m. KCET

SUNDAY

Today Cyber Monday; apologizing; apples. (N) 6 a.m. KNBC

The Chris Matthews Show Sarah Palin as presidential candidate; airport security screenings. (N) 5:30 a.m. KNBC

Good Morning America (N) 6 a.m. KABC

State of the Union With Candy Crowley North Korea, “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” future of Congress: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz); family memories: former President George W. Bush, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.); future of Congress, reflections on time in Washington: Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.); presidential photography: Pete Souza, White House photographer. (N) 6 and 9 a.m. CNN

CBS News Sunday Morning An anonymous donor who helped Depression-era families; comedian Andy Borowitz; Molly Ringwald; Lionel Richie. (N) 7 a.m. KCBS

Fareed Zakaria GPS Afghanistan, Iraq, U.S. security challenges: Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (N) 7 and 10 a.m. CNN

Meet the Press Airport security screenings, congressional agenda, the economy, Bush tax cuts, North Korea: Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). (N) 8 a.m. KNBC

This Week With Christiane Amanpour Philanthropy: Warren Buffett, Ted Turner, Tom Steyer, Bill and Melinda Gates. (N) 8 a.m. KABC

Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace Airport security screenings, North Korea: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). (N) 8 a.m. KTTV

Reliable Sources The 24-hour news cycle; airport security screenings. (N) 8 a.m. CNN

Face the Nation New books: Edmund Morris, Ron Chernow, Bob Woodward, Arianna Huffington. (N) 8:30 a.m. KCBS

60 Minutes Drug abuse and corruption problems plague the Afghan national police force; former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. (N) 7 p.m. KCBS

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Saturday's TV Highlights: 'Leap Year' on HBO

MOVIES

Click: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale and Christopher Walken stars in this 2006 fantasy-comedy (8 p.m. Fox).

Debbie Macomber's Call Me Mrs. Miracle: Doris Roberts (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) stars in this made-for-cable holiday fable (8 and 10 p.m. Hallmark).

Bee Movie: Jerry Seinfeld and Renée Zellweger lend their voices to this animated 2007 tale (9 p.m. NBC).

When in Rome: Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel star in this 2010 romantic comedy (9 p.m. Starz).

Triassic Attack: Dinosaur skeletons come to life in this 2010 creature feature (9 p.m. Syfy).

SPORTS

College basketball: The Trojans take on Nebraska (3 p.m. FSN).

Hockey: The Ducks visit the Coyotes (5 p.m. FS Prime), and the L.A. Kings host the Chicago Blackhawks (7:30 p.m. FSN).

Boxing: Michael Katsidis and Juan Manuel Marquez meet in a 12-round lightweight title bout in Las Vegas (6:45 p.m. HBO).

Basketball: The Bulls battle the Kings (7 p.m. WGN America)

Photo credit: Jonathan Hession / Universal Pictures

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Fictional mystery writer in 'Castle' creates another real bestseller with 'Naked Heat'

It's not exactly a novel idea to create a TV show based on a bestseller ("True Blood," "Dexter," "Gossip Girl"), but turning a plot device into a bestselling book has become a popular trend in prime time (but not a new one). ABC's quirky crime drama "Castle" has churned out two bestsellers: "Heat Wave" (16 weeks on New York Times list), and its sequel, "Naked Heat" (No. 19 on Los Angeles Times list), which were used in key storylines. Carolyn Kellogg examines this publishing phenomena?in Friday's Calendar section.

Publishing the books was a natural progression as "Castle's" premise began with a serial killer imitating the plots of the show's star, famous mystery writer Richard Castle's?books. The charming,?wise-cracking novelist (played with panache by Nathan Fillion) and the tough, sexy, NYPD Det. Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), whom he accompanies to crimes scenes to assist in solving cases, exchange innuendo-filled banter reminiscent of David and Maddie in "Moonlighting".

Other shows have experimented with this type of cross marketing with varying degrees of success.

In 2001, HarperEntertainment published a novel featured on the NBC soap opera "Passions." "Hidden Passions: Secrets from the Diaries of Tabitha Lenox," tied into a storyline that involved characters promoting the book that exposed secrets of the locals. It reached No. 4 on the New York Times bestseller list.

?"Lost" fans were treated to "Bad Twin" (Hyperion), written by fictitious author Gary Troup,?a supposed passenger on the doomed Oceanic Flight 815. His draft, turned in before he boarded the flight, contained secrets to several castaways lives.

Last month, womanizer Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), star of the CBS hit sitcom "How I Met Your Mother," wrote (along with staff writer Matt Kuhn) "The Playbook: Suit Up. Score Chicks. Be Awesome." (Touchstone).

Most recently, Grove Press issued the "reprinting" of "Sterling's Gold: Wit & Wisdom of an Ad Man," the long lost musings of "Mad Men's" silver haired ad exec Roger Sterling.

"Castle" is taking the cross marketing one step further, venturing onto the soundstages?of Hollywood. An upcoming episode follows the crew to L.A. where the movie version on "Heat Wave" is being filmed. Laura Prepon ("That 70's Show") has been cast as the actress hired to play Nikki Heat (aka Beckett) who follows the detective around as she tries to solve a murder.

And just who does Richard Castle think should play the fictional magazine journalist, Jameson Rook, in the "Naked Heat" movie?

"If it were up to him, he'd have George Clooney," said executive producer Andrew W. Marlowe. "But it'd probably be Jason Bateman because of the resemblance." Perhaps a clue to upcoming stunt casting?

Who do you think should play Castle??

?-- Liesl Bradner

Top image: Cover of "Naked Heat." Credit: Associated Press

Bottom photos: Actor Nathan Fillion, left, and Jason Bateman. Credit: Getty Images

?RELATED:

Richard Castle's elaborate fiction

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Friday, November 26, 2010

Friday's Highlights: '20/20' on ABC

MOVIES

The Road: Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, this 2009 melodrama casts Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smith-McPhee as a father and son in search of others who have survived an apocalypse (8 p.m. Showtime).?

Enchanted: If Disney's princesses were to come to life, the composite undoubtedly would be like Amy Adams' character in this 2007 comedy-fantasy about a cartoon beauty who runs afoul of a prince's (James Marsden) stepmother (Susan Sarandon), who sends her into the real world (Manhattan, specifically), where she meets an attorney (Patrick Dempsey) who may turn out to be the man of her dreams (9 p.m. NBC).?

SPORTS

College football: Louisville at Rutgers (8 a.m. ESPN2); Auburn at Alabama (11:30 a.m. CBS); Colorado at Nebraska (12:30 p.m. ABC); UCLA at Arizona State (12:30 p.m. FS Prime); Arizona at Oregon (4 p.m. ESPN); Boise State at Nevada (7:15 p.m. ESPN).?

Hockey: The Chicago Blackhawks visit the Ducks (1 p.m. FSN).?

Basketball: The Lakers visit the Utah Jazz (6 p.m. KCAL); the Clippers visit the Phoenix Suns (6 p.m. FS Prime).

Photo: Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press

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Jennifer Carpenter Talks About Her Brotherly Love on 'Dexter'

November 25, 2010?|?10:03 am

Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter, who play half-siblings on Showtime's "Dexter," knew they were taking a risk when their off-screen relationship a few years ago started developing into a romance.

"We were just friends, and it was very easy to be friends," Carpenter said. "We were both surprised when this other thing happened. We did a lot of talking about it -- can we kiss, what will that mean, will we damge the credibility of our characters? We were very practical."

She smiled: "But in the end, the heart wanted what the heart wanted."

For more on Carpenter and how she has helped make "Dexter" one of TV's top dramas, check out this feature.

?--Greg Braxton???

Photo: Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C. Hall of "Dexter." Credit: Matt Sayles/AP

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Friday's Talk Shows

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Nov. 21 - 27 in PDF format

TV listings for the week of Nov. 21 - 27 in PDF format (alternate link)

Weekly TV Listings can also be found at: www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv

This week's TV Movies

The Early Show (N) 7 a.m. KCBS?

Today Justin Bieber; Lee DeWyze. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC?

KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA?

Good Morning America Emeril Lagasse; Barbara Walters. (N) 7 a.m. KABC?

Good Day L.A. (N) 7 a.m. KTTV?

Rachael Ray Tackling the biggest shopping day of the year. (N) 9 a.m. KCBS?

The Doctors Factors that may cause an early onset of hearing loss; Natalie Cole. (N) 11 a.m. KCAL?

The Fran Drescher Show (Series Premiere) Kirstie Alley and Dr. Ian Smith; Fran's parents. (N) 2 p.m. KTTV and KCOP?

Dr. Phil A family copes with the loss of father; finding and closure and peace. (N) 4 p.m. KCBS?

The Ellen DeGeneres Show Heidi Klum; Ne-Yo performs. (N) 4 p.m. KNBC?

Larry King Live (N) 6 and 9 p.m. CNN?

Tavis Smiley Phylicia Rashad. 7 and 11 p.m. KCET?

Washington Week Afghanistan; North Korea; START treaty: Peter Baker, the New York Times. Sarah Palin's new book and her presidential prospects: John Dickerson, Slate. Cases on the Supreme Court's docket: Joan Biskupic, USA Today. (N) 8 p.m. KCET?

Chelsea Lately Animal expert Donald Schultz. (N) 11 p.m. E!

Charlie Rose (N) 11:30 p.m. KCET?

Late Show With David Letterman Denzel Washington; Bon Jovi performs. 11:35 p.m. KCBS?

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Anne Hathaway; Brian Wilson; Aaron Neville. 11:35 p.m. KNBC?

Nightline (N) 11:35 p.m. KABC?

Jimmy Kimmel Live Mandy Moore; John Qui?ones; Atomic Tom performs. 12:06 a.m. KABC?

The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson Juliette Lewis; author Cornel West. 12:37 a.m. KCBS?

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Tom Selleck; Anthony Bourdain; Trace Adkins. 12:37 a.m. KNBC?

View the original article here

Thursday, November 25, 2010

'Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now?': We chat with Ali Vincent

There are two high points in every "Biggest Loser" season: the makeovers -- which we saw this week, and, of course, the finale.

In a category all its own: "The Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now?"

We'll find out Wednesday night at 9 p.m with a two-hour special on NBC. Ali Vincent, the Season 5 winner of the "The Biggest Loser" and the first female winner, is among those featured. She spoke with us recently about life since the show, and let a few secrets drop, including: Tonight's show includes a Thanksgiving dinner with past winners, hosted by celebrity chef Curtis Stone.

"It was really a family reunion, but a family of some people that I'd never met before," Vincent said. Family such as Eric Chopin. Chopin, as devoted fans of the show know, is the Season 3 winner who gained much of his weight back, leading him to hide out in his home for fear of being seen. He "outed" himself on Oprah, and has been struggling to lose the weight once more. Vincent said she felt deep compassion for him. "He had it, and then he lost it, and then he had this notoriety, and then the weight is worse than it was before."

Also on the episode, she said: Viewers will learn about engagements, some Tongan action and baby-making. Wow!

Vincent, 35, wrote a book ("Believe it, Be It") after her win and remains an in-demand public speaker. One of her passions is encouraging exercise among kids. "I tell parents, give them one hour of really sweaty play each day, and one hour of screen time." She is particularly active with the Phoenix Children's Hospital and their Families in Training program, which encourages exercise and a healthy diet among parents and kids. She recently moved to Spokane, Wash., but travels frequently to Phoenix to foster her commitments there.

But let's get down to numbers. Vincent weighed 122 pounds at the finale, having lost 112 pounds or 47.86% of her body weight. That didn't last for too long, but she certainly didn't go to pot. "I live my life at 125 to 130 pounds," she said, adding that she remains vigilant and balances any weight gain beyond that with more exercise and a cleaner diet.

"I don't have all the time in the world to work out," so every minute has to count, Vincent said. She currently aims to do one hour of cardio a day, five days a week, plus strength training a few days a week. She occasionally adds in swimming and spin classes, but doesn't consider that working out because they are so much fun.

She says her continued weight maintenance comes down to one word: balance.

Vincent says she constantly stops herself through the course of her day for a gut check. Is she eating right? Is she pushing herself to hard? Is she getting enough rest? Is she paying enough attention to friends and family. And, most importantly, is she putting herself first. Not in a selfish way. But in a, "I need to take care of myself so I can take care of everyone else" way.

"I'm always asking myself, 'Do I need to make some shifts?' " she said. "That's the key." Before the "Biggest Loser," she said, she was an all or nothing person. "I'd be hot or cold ... I learned it's better for me to operate on 'steady."

Although some of the past contestants went back to their old ways -- and we'll find out who -- Vincent says she never worries about gaining the weight back. "Never. I changed my life. I changed my lifestyle. I quit choosing to let someone else live my life. It used to be, I was living on auto pilot. Now, it's living consciously."

If she has one piece of advice, it's this: Just start writing down everything that you eat and become aware of what you are doing.

She said she believes another key to her continued success is that she doesn't have an "end goal." "I just didn't get in the game and see it as something with a start and a finish. There is no finish. This is my life now."

We tried to delve a little deeper into Vincent's personal life. And we got this much. "Let's just say I share my time with someone."

She said a personal goal is to do an Ironman triathlon. But she was a little squirrely as to a particular date or race. Why? She said she needs to leave some wiggle room for the possibility of family. (Translation: You can't train for the Ironman with a bun in the oven.)

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo: Ali Vincent. Credit: NBC?

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Thursday's TV Highlights: 'The Messenger' on Showtime

Taylor Swift: Speak Now: The country-music cutie performs for fans in this new special (8 p.m. NBC).?

Nutcracker on Ice: Skaters perform Tchaikovsky's musical holiday tale in this special (8 p.m. KCAL).?

Punkin Chunkin 2010: Contestants turn pumpkins into projectiles as this annual competition returns (8 p.m. Discovery).?

NBC's People of the Year 2010: LeBron James, Kim Kardashian and Justin Timberlake are among the celebrities featured in this new special (9 p.m. NBC).?

Beyoncé's: I Am... World Tour: The chart-topping R&B diva is featured in this new concert special (9:30 p.m. ABC).?

MOVIES

The Simpsons Movie: The animated TV family hit the big screen with this 2007 feature (8 p.m. Fox).?

SPORTS

Football: The Patriots play the Lions (9:30 a.m. CBS), the Saints face the Cowboys (1:30 p.m. Fox) and the Bengals battle the Jets (5 p.m. NFL).?

Basketball: The Wizards visit the Hawks (5 p.m. TNT), and the Clippers welcome the Kings (7:30 p.m. TNT).

Photo: Oscilloscope Laboratories

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Thursday's Talk Shows

Tavis Smiley Folk singers Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey. 7 and 11 p.m. KCET?

Chelsea Lately Monica Potter. 11 p.m. E!

Conan Jim Parsons; Marisa Miller; comic Brendon Walsh. (N) 11 p.m. TBS?

Charlie Rose (N) 11:30 p.m. KCET?

Late Show With David Letterman Taylor Swift; Seth Meyers. 11:35 p.m. KCBS?

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Elizabeth Banks; Marjorie Johnson; Carrot Top. (N) 11:35 p.m. KNBC?

Lopez Tonight Dwayne Johnson. (N) midnight TBS?

Jimmy Kimmel Live Patrick Dempsey; Armie Hammer; Nelly performs. 12:06 a.m. KABC?

The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Joe Theismann. 12:37 a.m. KCBS?

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Bill Hader; Victoria Justice; James Otto and Ronnie Milsap. (N) 12:37 a.m. KNBC

View the original article here

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Wednesday's Highlights: 'The President's Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office' on KCET

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Nov. 21 - 27 in PDF format

TV listings for the week of Nov. 21 - 27 in PDF format alternate link

Weekly TV Listings can also be downloaded here

This week's TV Movies

SMILE, MR. PRESIDENT: The new special “The President's Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office” chronicle of the work of presidential photographers, including Pete Souza, left, on KCET at 9:30 p.m.

SERIES

America's Next Top Model: The new episode “High Fashion Highlights” revisits what's happened so far in the show's 15th season (8 p.m. KTLA).

The Middle: Mike's (Neil Flynn) father and brother (John Cullum, Norm Macdonald) come over for Thanksgiving, and Frankie is unimpressed with their strong, silent act and urges them to share their feelings in this new episode (8 p.m. ABC).

Better With You: On Thanksgiving, the oven is broken, which means Vicky (Debra Jo Rupp) won't be able to experiment (8:30 p.m. ABC).

Hell's Kitchen: The five remaining chefs must serve their signature dishes to a busy Los Angeles lunch crowd (9 p.m. Fox).

MythBusters: In “Inverted Underwater Car,” Jamie risks Adam's life to revisit one of the show's most successful myths (9 p.m. Discovery).

SPECIALS

Merry Madagascar: In this holiday sequel of the animated franchise, Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria (voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith) must deliver Santa's presents to save Christmas when St. Nick gets amnesia following a crash landing on their island. And yes, those resourceful penguins also are on board (8 p.m. NBC).

Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special: If you've ever had to work on a holiday and hated it, the panda feels your pain. In this new special, Po is required to host a formal celebration at the Jade Palace and miss spending his favorite holiday with his family. Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie lend their voices to this new animated special (8:30 p.m. NBC).

CMA Awards 2010: Country music artists are recognized in this encore special featuring performances from Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, the Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Reba, George Strait and Keith Urban (9 p.m. CMT).

SPORTS

Hockey: The Kings visit the Montreal Canadiens (4:30 p.m. FSN).

Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

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Jennifer Grey wins: moral order restored to nation

Although accusations of "tea party" rigging briefly sent “Dancing With the Stars” onto the front pages of the national media, Tuesday’s inevitably drawn-out and often tedious finale put it all into proper perspective. When it comes right down to it, how politically significant can any show that features the song stylings and slow-motion shirtless charms of David Hasselhoff honestly be? ?

Not so much, as it turns out -- Bristol Palin and her partner, Mark Ballas, came in third, Kyle Massey and his partner Lacey Schwimmer came in second, and consistent high scorers Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough took the trophy.

So everyone can just settle the heck down and start watching some TV that actually matters. Like “The Middle” or “The Good Wife.”

As anticipated when her name was first announced as a contestant, Palin not only drove up ratings for the already unbelievably popular show, she also brought a whole new level of scrutiny and Internet-driven weirdness to this season’s proceedings. When the clearly accomplished and high-scoring Brandy got the boot last week instead of the slower-footed and less-polished Palin, many viewers and, more important, bloggers, lifted their heads from their tweets and texts to howl in fury. One man shot his TV set and more than a few others called for, if not a Supreme Court-settled, chad-challenging recount, then an overhaul of the system that seemed to give the supporters of Palin mere the power to control the fate of Palin fille.

Whether or not fans of the former vice-presidential candidate saw “Dancing With the Stars” as a straw poll, we’ll never know, though in other Palin-related reality TV news, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” saw a 40% viewership drop for its second episode. Make of this what you will.

For all the sudden strange socio-political cred, Tuesday’s episode was just as fabulously ridiculous as the show itself. Not only did Hasselhoff make not one but two return performances (like the Palins, the Hasselhoffs will soon be the subject of their own reality show) but we got to spend a little more time with The Situation, some of it shirtless, which is always a treat.

The high points of the show were provided by Christina Aguilera, showing everyone how it’s really done and, of course, shilling for her upcoming film “Burlesque.” (Forget “the next 'American Idol,' ” with all these publicity-driven appearances, “Dancing With the Stars” is in danger of becoming the next “Ellen DeGeneres Show.”)

Meanwhile, poor old Jennifer Grey, who danced her way through physical breakdowns and memories of Patrick Swayze, will inevitably take a back seat to Bristol — the news being, of course, not that Grey won, but that Palin didn’t. Sad, but also fitting — Grey is not only a very talented dancer, she is a trouper, in the old and best sense of the word. A performer whose career did not sustain the lift-off of “Dirty Dancing,” she has, nonetheless, stuck with it. And if she seemed the most well-trained and naturally gifted of all the contestants this season, she also seemed the most joyful. People go on this show for all sorts of reasons but Grey actually seemed less interested in winning than in just dancing. And that, as much as the light grace and undeniable nostalgia, was what made her worth watching.

-- Mary McNamara

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'Dancing With the Stars' results recap: We have a champion!

She was pegged as the contender to beat from the start, and at the end, Jennifer Grey emerged as the champion of the Mirror Ball universe and the winner of Season 11’s “Dancing With the Stars” competition.

Johnny Castle was right: Nobody puts Baby in the corner.

Sure, in retrospect, it all made sense that Jennifer won. She was by far the most talented dancer going into these finals. But the producers and this roller coaster of a season had me thinking that it could be anyone’s game. Jennifer definitely held the lion’s share of judges’ points, but her steps were hobbled by injuries, which produced doubts about whether she could finish what she started. (She even suffered a ruptured disc during Monday night’s performances.) Disney star Kyle Massey was the ultimate crowd pleaser and Season 11’s Mr. Congeniality, the guy with the best attitude of the bunch. Teen activist and underdog extraordinaire Bristol Palin obviously had an avalanche of votes going her way (and said she wanted to win at this point, because “this would be a big middle finger to all the people out there who hate my mom and hate me”). And though both Kyle (a shoo-in for ABC’s next reality TV series, “Bootyshaking With the Stars”) and Bristol served up some stiff competition, in the end it was Jennifer’s night.

(Another advantage may have been the actress' final outfit, a metallic gold number, which matched the shininess of the mirror ball trophy better than her competitors' did. Kyle was a little matte with his black leather vest and dark shirt, while Bristol went fire-engine red in her fringe. Visually, didn’t it just make sense that the shiniest contestant would get to hold the shiniest trophy in victory over her head?)?

Let’s not forget to congratulate pro partner Derek Hough for his unprecedented three wins -– the most of any of the “DWTS” pro dancers. And how sweet was it that his best friend/greatest competitor/fellow finalist Mark Ballas hoisted him up on his shoulders during that raging confetti shower at the end?

But this epic two-hour, two-dance finale extravaganza did not start off with frills and fringe. At the beginning, it was almost as if “DWTS” had taken a somber, NBC Olympics-style turn, with Tom Bergeron doing his best Bob Costas impression and narrating the segment outlining the finalists’ journeys to this finale, uttering with utmost sincerity things like “These three, better than anyone else, knew what to do” and “In the end, the champion will know that what they did was indeed enough.”

Luckily, the somber tones were ditched like last week’s gold lame and the tempo picked up during the opening number, starting with our pros descending down the grand ballroom staircase in slinky burlesque numbers, only then to be joined by their Season 11 stars. Hoff! Cho! Situation! Flo! Fox! Kurt! Brandy! And in case we had trouble distinguishing the stars from the pros, the pros wore black and the stars were decked out in red. Though there were a couple of black holes in this program, as dogged Michael Bolton was performing at Royal Albert Hall in London and Audrina Patridge was out with an illness.

Christina Aguilera fit right in with the “DTWS” family with her itty-bitty gold fringe dress and her dance-friendly number, “Show Me How to Burlesque,” from the movie “Burlesque.” Liked how they upped the production value by having the bevy of scantily clad dancers come out from behind the mirrored bar. All in all, a big wallop of fringe-filled fun that just made me excited to see the movie. Not to mention those pipes! Xtina pared it down for her second number, a rendition of her hit “Beautiful” in which she was nearly enveloped in a blanket of smoke, then accompanied by a plainclothes backup crew who performed a combination of sign language and dance.

In the first round of finalist dances, each couple performed their favorite dance from the season. Kyle and Lacey Schwimmer and Bristol and Mark both reprised their tangos from Rock Week, while Jennifer and Derek redid their Viennese waltz from Week 1. The judges awarded them either an 8, 9 or 10 score. Not surprisingly, Jennifer and Derek’s sweetly lilting “These Arms of Mine” waltz was the unanimous winner and earned them another perfect 30 points. Kyle, deemed “a stage animal” by Bruno, was given second place with 26 points (though I was again distracted by Lacey’s striated dress and feathery Adam Lambert-esque shoulder pads). Bristol and Mark received 25 points for their tongues-out purple military-outfitted tango. As Len said, Kyle’s got the wow, but Bristol’s got the how, but Jennifer was the complete package.

The season’s contestants were given one last spotlight. Hoff showed good humor in appearing in a segment that had him reliving his “DWTS” Week 1 elimination pain. Naturally, he tried to ease the sting by taking a frolic on a Malibu beach, which resulted in a slo-mo run with a red lifeguard float, all the way to the soundstage. And then, oh my, he started singing! Are we in Germany? Because the crowd is going wild! David Hasselhoff may have been the first contestant voted off, but make no mistake: The Hoff is awesome. This man can sing, twirl and do a semblance of a ballroom dance with partner Kym Johnson and two other bedazzled Baywatchy babes, which, as Tom said, were added “at no extra charge.”

Rick Fox and Kurt Warner had a dance-off. The NBA champ and the Superbowl MVP talked some trash, donned their team colors, bumped chests and stomped with Cheryl Burke and Anna Trebunskaya to see who had the eye of the tiger and dominated the dance floor. And while Kurt lasted a week longer than Rick in the actual competition, I’m going to give this one to Fox: The Laker purple and yellow gave him the home team advantage.

Margaret Cho came back out in her rainbow fringe dress flanked by a bunch of he-men to redo her Copacabana routine with Louis Van Amstel, while Florence Henderson donned the brightest yellow in the history of the world to dance it out with Corky Ballas, all to a flutter of confetti at the end. Although apparently no one told Carrie Ann that the routine was over: The camera caught the judge dabbing on lip gloss while the other judges were applauding.

There was an alarming glimpse into the future that showed rampant moneymaker and an orange-juiced Situation being voted governor of New Jersey. He of the Jersey Shore and the raging tan came back out to the dance floor and mostly stood around topless while partner Karina Smirnoff and two other pros danced suggestively around him. Brandy also returned in good form and good spirits to perform her infectiously giddy quickstep to the “Friends” theme with rabble-rouser Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

And that wraps up yet another "DWTS" cycle. What did you think, ballroom fans? Did the right person win this season? Has the universe righted itself? Does the outcome justify all the surprises that occurred throughout the season? How did Audrina eating an onion measure up as a shock during the segment on surprises? Did Jamie Lee Curtis make a bracelet from all of her other accumulated studio audience bracelets? Last but not least, does this mean Joel Grey should make a bid for the presidency?

— Allyssa Lee

‘Dancing With the Stars’: And the winner is … not Bristol Palin

‘Dancing With the Stars’ recap: The final stretch

Complete ‘Dancing With the Stars’ coverage on Show Tracker

Photo credit: Adam Larkey / ABC

View the original article here

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

'Chuck' recap: Sarah Walker will have her revenge

"Chuck" has a relatively large ensemble, but the name of the lead character is right there in the title. It'd be hard to do an episode of "Chuck" without the main guy around to keep things humming, yet the series sets up as a challenge for itself to do a virtually Chuck-less hour of the show. What it ends up with is a very good episode of "Chuck." At the end, it maybe avoids some of the stakes it set up a little too neatly, and the comic relief subplot doesn't amount to much, but there's a real sense of these characters as people who care about each other in this episode, as all of the CIA gang decides to rescue Chuck from the Belgian before the Belgian can get the Intersect and do awful things to our hero. It's an episode full of great Morgan lines, some nice moments under pressure from everyone in the crew, some appropriately creepy dream sequences, and Yvonne Strahovski kicking people in the face.

If nothing else, in fact, this episode cements Strahovski's ability with a fight scene. There are a bunch of them, and she makes every one feel more than believable. Indeed, they're downright visceral. Sure, we've known that Sarah can fight before this (and that Strahovski can fake-fight), but in this episode, that gets taken right up to the next level. This is a woman who's not about to consign her boyfriend to death, particularly when she finds out he was about to propose. Sarah's fighting skills have a tendency to get a little lost in the shuffle on the show, so this is a great episode to remind us all that she's probably the best one in the whole gang when it comes to fisticuffs. In particular, that fight against the champion in Thailand, the fight she very well could have died in, has a thrilling quality to it that some of the action sequences this season have lacked.

But it's not just a series of highlights of Strahovski's fighting ability, oh no. She also gets to look pensive when she sniffs Chuck's work shirt. She gets to show how far Sarah has come in overcoming her fear of relationships when Morgan tells her about Chuck's proposal plans. She gets to play the single-minded determination of a woman on a mission in all of the scenes where she gets closer and closer to finding out where Chuck is. She even gets to be downright terrifying in the scene where she threatens to poison the informant to death with ammonia, should he not explain to her where Chuck is right. Now. It's all good stuff, and it's all stuff Strahovski plays with absolutely smashing presence. This is a woman who's been wronged, and she's intent on reversing that wrong. Sure, Casey and Morgan are great in all of this, too, but the real best in show here is Sarah, who hasn't had a showcase like this in quite some time. Indeed, this might be Strahovski's finest work in the history of the series. (She even gets to be silly and sexy as Chuck's dream Sarah.)

Speaking of Chuck's dreams, the poor guy is hooked up to some sort of hallucination machine, designed to prompt the exact right combination of elements that will allow him to finally flash again, so the Belgian might take the Intersect and (presumably) simply rid himself of Chuck. To Chuck's credit, nothing gets him to flash, even when the dream adds Sarah leaving him, Ellie trying to pressure him, and the gang at the Buy More laughing maniacally on TV monitors. Now, I'd say that the episode probably set up some stuff it should have paid off by the suggestion that bits and pieces of Chuck's memory were being erased, since it seems a little too easy to have the power of Sarah's love thwart advanced neurobiology. But on the other hand, I don't terribly want to see a bunch of episodes where Chuck stumbles around trying to remember who everyone in his life is, so this is all probably for the best. I am impressed that the show continues to deprive him of the Intersect and that it returns to the idea that he makes a good, worthwhile member of the team, even without his special brain tricks.

Over in the B-plot, Ellie finds the secret laptop that was hidden under her dad's old car, but she has to go to the hospital for a 36-hour shift, which means Awesome is the one who gets to try to figure out what it is. At first, he can't even turn the thing on, but once he provides free medical testing for the entirety of the Buy More staff (seemingly), they figure out a way to get it on ... at which point he needs a password he doesn't know. Fortunately, Ellie knows exactly what it should be, and after she plugs it in, the screen flashes white and ... something happens. Ultimately, this whole storyline feels like kind of a tease and such obvious comic relief that it's a little irritating, but it's always fun to see Ryan McPartlin do things that don't involve his on-screen wife, so it's hard to get too upset, particularly when the main storyline is so engaging.

All in all, most of the pieces on "Chuck" were working perfectly tonight. I tend to watch this show on a Slingbox on delay, so I can zap the commercials if I want to, but I'll often use those commercials to write a few paragraphs about what I've just seen or something like that, the better to pull these pieces together quickly. Tonight, however, I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I was fast-forwarding the commercials as quickly as I could. If nothing else, that suggests that "Chuck" has found its groove thoroughly again. I don't know if the show will ever be as good as Season 2 again, but it's at least cranking out a fun, suspenseful ride every week, and that's something to be very thankful for indeed.

Some other thoughts:

--Looks like Chuck will already be celebrating Christmas next week. Man, Chuck gets around fast, doesn't he?
--Oh,? right, the perfect proposal thing. On the one hand, I much preferred this to the stupid, "Chuck holds up a ring that just happened to fall at his feet" thing from earlier this season. On the other hand, I do wonder just why the show seems to be rushing the relationship between Chuck and Sarah. I know that they've been together for roughly a year of show-time (right?), but it sure seems like they're rushing. They can't be together for even a season before getting this serious?
--Nice touch: The doctor going through Chuck's iPhone to figure out the people to introduce into the guy's hallucinations, then reading off the names to the slumbering Chuck. Though it did make it seem a little sad that Chuck only has friends who are in the regular cast in his contacts list.
--I'm not normally a big fan of torture scenes. They're too easy as a plot device (especially after "24," which came up with about every variation on the ticking bomb scenario it could think of), and there's often little thought paid to the idea that maybe the one being tortured has more to gain by NOT talking. But I did think the one in tonight's episode was good, particularly because the pain Sarah described sounded genuinely horrifying, enough to believably make the guy talk.
--The week in quotes, all Morgan Guillermo Grimes edition: "I think that's kind of international incident-y." "I overshare to connect. I'm a connector!" "Tonight, I ride in the back."

--Todd VanDerWerff (follow me on Twitter at @tvoti)

Photo: Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) will kick you in the face if you make her unhappy. Fact. (Credit: NBC)

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'House' recap: Facade is my co-pilot

Christ on a cracker — are they really going to show a guy getting crucified?

With God as my witness, they do, and it turns out that getting nailed to a cross can be hazardous to your health.

Who knew?

Well, a least one guy – Jewish fella – coupla thousand years ago. It was in all the papers. They even wrote a bestselling book about it.

Anyway, while hanging there, Patient of the Week (POTW) starts to bleed from the mouth, so his buddies take him down off the cross (maybe they can reuse the wood?) and directly to Princeton Plainsboro, where House and Cuddy are busy fighting.

Turns out, this man of faith, this POTW, has a deal with God. Seems his daughter, Marisa, had been diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma (brain cancer, for those of you who don’t have access to Google), which is basically a death sentence. Dad promised God that if his daughter survived, he’d nail himself to a cross every year. (I must have been absent from Catechism class the day they covered that.)

That was four years ago. The cancer went into remission. Marisa is a beautiful, healthy little girl (whose dad is a coupla wafers short of Communion).

The themes this week are faith and healing, lying and love. Cuddy is still angry at House for lying, which is causing friction because she needs a date to a wedding (older gentleman who happens to be a generous donor is marrying a woman –- shocker -- half his age).

At the same time, Taub suspects his wife is having an affair. She’s taking her cellphone into the bathroom when she showers. He snoops around her e-mail. The size 5 loafer is finally on the other foot. Except for the sex part: She’s having an “emotional affair” with a guy she met online. In a support group. For people with spouses who cheat. Irony is a dish best served cold.

Wilson’s girlfriend, Sam, is undergoing a clinical review at her hospital. So as a favor, Wilson goes over her files. Turns out, in five cases, she may have over-radiated cancer patients, who were terminal anyway. House and Wilson confer: Wilson probably would have done the same thing. But is it ethical?

The team tests POTW for infection. He works around barns and stables, and with his crucifixion habit (is that a pre-existing condition?), might have contracted Rhodococcus Equine. Except another symptom presents: His teeth are falling out.

Chase and Dr. Martha M. Masters (3M) go to his apartment. It looks like a Nordstrom after its semi-annual shoe sale: Almost no furniture, no TV, computer or stereo, and almost no food. They find a photo of him with his daughter years before: He used to be porky. Ah-ha! Malnutrition?

Then POTW’s legs start to hurt. Perhaps a neurological disorder would explain the symptoms and his religious delusions.

The team does a CT scan: POTW’s brain is riddled with multiple, dense lesions. Maybe it’s MS hiding behind malnutrition. Perhaps it’s Marburg’s MS, which is rare, but aggressive. It is known to be responsive to stem cell transplantation.

That’s what House urges: stem cell therapy. But it’s against POTW’s religion. House makes clear his stance on religious faith: It’s communicable, and it kills a lot of people. (And that’s in all the papers. Everyday.)

House asks his team to get Marisa to his bedside to talk some sense into him. She tearfully says that if Dad doesn’t go through with the treatment, if he dies, she’ll hate God.

Still, no go. (Do you think he signed?a “Do Not Resurrect” order?) House plays his trump card: He tells POTW that his daughter still has cancer. That the CT scans she has undergone missed it, but the PET scan he’s run (twice) didn’t. God has broken the covenant.

So POTW starts treatment. He starts to get better. House confesses: I lied. Marisa’s fine. And you will be soon. (We are awaiting Pope Benedict’s ruling on this tactic.)

Speaking of lying: House discovers Cuddy’s true age. He also reveals he knows that she was married before. In 1987. For six days. (Does that count? I’ve been to parties that lasted longer.)

And Wilson proposes to Sam. With the expected disastrous result.

Final thought: How can House dance? He barely gets down the hall leaning on a cane. Ah, I’ll pray about that. Perhaps I’ll get an answer.

--Linda Whitmore

Photo: House (Hugh Laurie) and Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) cut a rug. Photo credit: Adam Taylor?/ Fox

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