Tag Archives: TV preview

TV Reminder: Childrens Hospital returns tonight at midnight on Adult Swim

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The hilarious web series turned TV show Childrens Hospital returns tonight for its third season. And the whole gang of idiots is back! Creator Rob Corrdry reprises his role as Dr. Blake Downs, a clown who believes in the healing power of laughter. But as we learned last season, Childrens Hospital is in fact a show within a show, so these characters are actually playing “doctors” on the show. So for instance, Corrdry’s Dr. Blake Downs is really a man named Cutter Spindell. The same goes for the rest of the all-star cast: Ingrid Hagerstown is Dr. Valerie Flame (Malin Akerman), Dixie Peters is Dr. Cat Black (Lake Bell), Lynn Williams is Dr. Lola Spratt (Erinn Hayes), Just Falcon is Dr. Glenn Richie (Ken Marino), Rob Huebel is Dr. Owen Maestro (Rob Huebel), Lady Jane Bentick-Smith is Chief (Megan Mullally); and Fred Nunley is hospital administrator Sy Mittleman (Henry Winkler).

This series is more than a parody of Grey’s Anatomy-type shows. It completely does away with episode continuity and this makes for an off-the-walls, truly organic laugh-fest every week. In an interview with IGN, Erinn Hayes explains it. “We don’t have any regard for episode to episode continuity,” she says. “There’s a chart somewhere in the production offices that shows who is having a relationship with who in a particular episode so they don’t have too many of the same pairings. They don’t want repeats.” Co-star Rob Huebel adds, “We have no continuity. One episode I’m dating one girl and the next episode I’m married to someone else. There’s no continuity at all so we don’t care about that. The only thing we really care about is that it’s funny.” And forget about medical training. Hayes continues, “This season there have been two scenes where we have to actually look like we’re trying to save someone’s life and we just have no idea what to do. There’s not even a hint of reality. All we knew how to do was check his pulse and say ‘we’re losing him.'”

The 14-episode third season of Childrens Hospital premieres tonight at midnight on Adult Swim. The uninterrupted 15 minute episode is titled “Run, Dr. Lola Spratt, Run” and is about a kid getting stuck in quicksand; watch out for guest stars Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Lisa Edelstein (House). See images from the ep below, and watch a preview after the break. New episodes will air every Thursday at midnight. And if you missed the first two seasons, they’re now available on DVD.

Continue reading TV Reminder: Childrens Hospital returns tonight at midnight on Adult Swim →

TV preview: Josh Holloway in ‘Community’

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The man known ’round the world as James “Sawyer” Ford is about to make a visit to Greendale in the upcoming paintball episode of Community. Lost actor Josh Holloway plays Black Rider, “a mysterious stranger who’s thrown a wrench into the paintball game,” as described by show creator Dan Harmon. NBC plans to air the Community finale in two parts. The next paintball epic will begin May 5 in the episode titled “A Fist Full of Paintballs,” and Holloway will make his mark here. Part 2 airs May 12.

In an interview with EW, Harmon details how the two-parter will work. “It’s designed to exist both as one story but also two separate episodes. [The first] one has a Sergio Leone Western motif, so there’s more emphasis on tension, scarcity of ammo, and who might draw on who. But the second one erupts — the Western motif falls away and an out-and-out war happens. There’s a kind of an epic, wartime, band-of-rebels-against-a-larger-force Star Wars feel to the second one … If we only did the Western one, there might have been some people who said, ‘Oh it’s great, but it’s not ‘Modern Warfare.’ And then there’s other people who, if we had only done ‘Modern Warfare,’ would say, ‘Eh, same thing again.’”

Watch the brief but titillating preview featuring Black Rider’s first interaction with Alison Brie’s Annie. Tune into Community Thursday nights at 8PM on NBC.

TV Reminder: South Parks returns tonight at 10PM on Comedy Central

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HUMANCENTiPAD

The boys of South Park return tonight! For the season fifteen premiere, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have something quite disturbing in store for us. What do you get when you bring together Apple’s iPad and the Dutch horror film The Human Centipede. Well, um, the “HUMANCENTiPAD” of course! And that is the title of tonight’s episode. It’s bound to be a riot. Watch a cartoony Steve Jobs introduce the revolutionary new product in the preview above and tune into Comedy Central at precisely 10PM for the goods.

2011 Midseason TV Preview

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Doesn’t it feel like you were just reading my 2010 Fall TV Preview back in mid-September?  You know what they say–time flies…when you’re watching so much TV.  I’m going to run through the new network shows that I’m most anticipating and I’ll let you know which returning shows you should be watching.  In addition, I will comment on the new shows that debuted this fall and let you know when they return from holiday hiatus, as well as say goodbye to the ones that prematurely got axed.  Cable TV gets some love down there, too.  Feel like skipping past my opinions and want to see the midseason schedules for the big four networks?  They’re right here: CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC.

CBS: The most watched network is introducing two new dramas with Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and Chaos, a comedy in Mad Love, and marking the the return of Paula Abdul with her reality series Live to Dance.  If you’re a fan of Criminal Minds, you’ll likely want to tune into the new spinoff series starring Forest Whitaker.  Chaos is being described as a “comedic drama about a group of rogue CIA spies” and it stars Eric Close (NCIS), James Murray (UK’s Primeval), and Kurtwood Smith (That 70s Show).  Sounds like a typical CBS procedural to me.  Mad Love is hoping to break out in CBS’ Monday night comedy lineup; it stars American Pie‘s Jason Biggs, Judy Greer (Arrested Development), and Sarah Chalke (Scrubs).  Do you find yourself obsessing over reality shows like So You Think You Can Dance? Abdul’s Live to Dance will be right up your alley.

This fall saw the premiere of a handful of new CBS series, but the one I was most looking forward to was Hawaii Five-O.  The explosive and highly entertaining pilot led into many other exciting episodes.  It did not take very long for me to realize that a CBS procedural had become my favorite new network series.  Alex O’Loughlin does a fine job at playing Steve McGarrett, but it’s Scott Caan’s Danno (who recently received the Best Supporting Actor nomination) who steals the show with quick wit and perfect compatibility with his partner O’Loughlin.  With Victor Hesse pulling strings behind bars and the introduction of the infamous TV villain Wo Fat at the end of the latest episode, there’s much to look forward to when Hawaii Five-O returns with all new episodes Monday, January 3 at 10PM.

NBC: This network is still trying to find its feet after last year’s Jay Leno Show fiasco.  Midseason premieres include David E. Kelly’s Harry’s Law (starring Kathy Bates), America’s Next Great Restaurant, Perfect Couples, and The Cape.  I am most looking forward to the latter two programs.  NBC actually ran a preview episode of the comedy Perfect Couples last week and unfortunately it didn’t fare so well with me.  The jokes it tried to make were rather bland and the interesting assortment of characters did not share much in common.  If you can think back to the fantastic Modern Family pilot, that is what I was sort of expecting here; three distinctly unique couples with a common thread tying them together in a way that makes you care about their relationship to one another.  This was, however, a preview and I’m hoping that the actual pilot contains a spark to keep in interested in these characters and their lives; also, let’s hope the jokes get funnier.  Perfect Couples premieres January 20 at 8:30PM.

Next up is The Cape.  If you watch TV you’ve likely seen many commercials promoting the superhero drama.  David Lyons (ER) stars as Vince Faraday, a cop who is framed for a series of murders and sets out to become “The Cape”, a comic book superhero, and he “takes the law into his own hands.”  The most recent preview I saw on TV revealed a wide range of villains Faraday will be fighting against; James Frain is Peter Fleming, The Cape’s nemesis.  And don’t forget about Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) who stars as Orwell, an investigative blogger and The Cape’s ally.  It looks like a spooky action-packed drama that should take the place of the ill-fated Heroes and the sub-par new series The Event while it’s on hiatus.  The Cape‘s two-hour premiere airs Sunday, January 9 at 9PM; it’s regular time slot is Mondays at 9PM.

Parks and Recreation finally returns January 20 at 9PM.  After an admittedly lackluster first season, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and the entire Pawnee Gang picked up the slack and contributed toward a stellar second season.  No sophomore slump here!  Every single character is flawed in one way or another, but they also each have rewarding qualities that make you want to cheer them on.  Knope, for example, may come off as a dimwitted, idiotic political figure, but at her core she cares about her friends at the Parks Department and she’s willing to fight against all injustices within the town of Pawnee.  With the departure of fan favorite Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider), season three will more prominently feature Rob Lowe and Adam Scott, two characters with much potential who were introduced late last season.  The fourth episode is titled “Ron and Tammy II”, and if it plays out anything like its season 2 counterpart (stellar performances by Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally) I have full faith Park and Rec will continue to shine for years to come.

I had high hopes for The Event, but it’s quickly becoming the next FlashForward.  (In fact, I enjoyed ABC’s sci-fi drama a whole lot more.)  The network hyped The Event to be the next big hit, but in doing so it attached it to two other high profile series and the comparison made was ill-advised.  A commercial boasted, “If 24 and Lost had a baby, it would be The Event.”  The Event certainly tried to become the next Lost, with intermittent flashbacks for storytelling purposes but it failed to do it right.  After the first few episodes it started to feel like the show was trying to mimic Lost instead of branch off in a new direction.  With that said, I am happy to report that the show has learned from its early mistakes and is attempting to make good on them with intriguing character stories and mythos-packed action sequences.  The seemingly random flashbacks have been scrapped and replaced by detailed and emotional stories that shed light on the prominent characters; the Simon Lee and Blake Sterling stories proved to be the series best episodes thus far.  And speaking of mythos–as much as I am interested in Sophia’s plan for her people, one can only watch a show called The Event for so long without having an inkling as to what the event is.  Also, Sean and Leila have been on the run for way too long; here’s to hoping that the producers give them something more to do when The Event returns from an extended hiatus on March 7 at 9PM.  I admit I am hooked to the series, but only by a few weak threads. Continue reading 2011 Midseason TV Preview →

2010 Fall TV Preview

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It’s mid-September, my favorite time of year.  Brand new television programming begins and old favorites return.  I’m going to run through the new network and cable shows that I’m most anticipating, let you know which returning shows you should be watching, and I’ll hypothesize about which new shows are likely to get the axe.  Not so interested in my opinions?  Simply click here to view the 2010 fall schedule for the big four networks (including synopses, cast/creator info, and trailers) and decide what to watch on your own terms.

CBS: There’s a reason why CBS is the most watched network–they mostly air procedural crime dramas that do not force viewers to tune in every week.  Take, for example, the CSI franchise (which now includes CSI, CSI: NY & CSI: Miami) and the NCIS franchise (NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles).  Sprinkle in some fantastic comedies like The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother plus popular reality shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race, and Undercover Boss and you’ve got a worthy lineup that does not require weekly viewing.  Though I am not not the biggest fan of the procedurals, The Mentalist does a fine job of drawing me in when I happen to channel surf to the network.  Also, I’ve only heard good things about The Good Wife, so you might want to give that a try as well.

Of the five new shows premiering this fall on CBS, there’s only one that I’m fully interested in: Hawaii Five-O.  Again, crime procedurals are usually not my cup of tea but there’s no denying how action-packed and fun this 1960s reboot looks.  (The show originally aired on CBS for 12 seasons from 1968-1980.)   Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Fringe) serve as executive producers and stars Alex O’Loughlin (Three Rivers), Scott Caan (Entourage), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), and the beautiful Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica: The Plan) will work together to take down the villains.  Except tons of explosions, violent action scenes, and quick, witty banter from Caan.  It only helps that the backdrop to all of this is Oahu!  Premieres Monday, September 20 at 10PM.

Getting the axe?  $#*@ My Dad Says.

Continue reading 2010 Fall TV Preview →