The TV Addict 

Recently, the TV Addict had the opportunity to interview SMALLVILLE stars Allison Mack and Kristin Kreuk. Why was theTVaddict.com afforded such a fantastic opportunity? Turns out Allison and Kristin are as computer savvy and cool in real-life as they are on SMALLVILLE and will soon be launching their own web site [along with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's Nicki Clyne and Vancouver Actress Sarah Edmondson] that will be aimed at college students. And in an effort to create the best web site possible, Allison, Kristin, Nicki and Sarah would like to hear from YOU, the fans.

Simply click here to take the short and highly entertaining survey.

The TV Addict: Before I do my best to get you to spill upcoming SMALLVILLE secrets, let’s talk about this web site you’re developing. What’s the deal?
Kristin Kreuk: The purpose of this website is to provide a bunch of services for college students as well as an environment where they can really explore themselves and what they want to see in the world. But first, we just want to get as much data as possible. That’s what the survey’s about.

Is the web site going to be a social network like Facebook or MySpace?
Allison Mack: Right now it’s a secret, but it’s something that’s never really done before.

Is this web site a project that you cooked up because you found yourself with a little free time on your hands thanks to the unfortunate WGA strike?
Allison Mack: We originally thought of the idea six months ago. But now with the strike, we’ve found ourselves with a little bit of a break to work with.

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GMMR’s early morning post alerting fans to the fantastic news that GOSSIP GIRL and PUSHING DAISIES will be taking part in the 2008 Paley Festival got this TV Addict thinking.

GMMR scooped me again! How does she do it!

Actually, it reminded me of one fantastic, incredibly affordable last minute holiday gift you can get for the TV Addict in your life. Recordings from incredible one-of-a-kind events at the Paley Center for Media.

Can’t afford to send your loved one to this year’s Paley Festival in Los Angeles? Well, thanks to the wonder that is the internet, you, or the TV Addict in your life, don’t have to miss out on the fun.

Simply head on over to audible.com or iTunes [the TV Addict recommends audible because its cheaper] to check out some of your favorite shows.

For a mere $1.95 you can listen to J.J. Abrams talk about Sydney Bristow and Felicity Porter for one hour and thirty-five minutes. Or spend forty-five minutes with the cast of BROTHERS & SISTERS, DEXTER or LOST.

Pretty much, it’s the best gift idea ever. And guaranteed to make the TV Addict in your life smile.

ABC’s new limited-run game show, DUEL, is kinda fun, and I like the idea of watching for five nights, rooting for my favorites and then getting a pay-off in the end. But in a way, I don’t want it to be a hit because it’s not something I would watch regularly, and heaven knows the networks are completely incapable of letting something that has even a moderate following remain a nice little mini-event. Remember DEAL OR NO DEAL? I’d love to think that ABC learned something by driving WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? into the ground, but I think we all know that’s not the case. Oh, and I’d love to see the research supporting the network’s claim that this is “the most highly anticipated quiz show in the world.” I have a word for them: hyperbole. Look it up.

Holy crap, did you catch that fantastic promo for LOST that aired during DUEL last night? If not, head to youtube, ’cause I’m sure it’s there.

A moment during the end of last week’s episode of CANE has me so mad I could spit. In the next-to-last act of the episode, a character was trapped in a truck by a fire that raged out of control all around him. Great cliffhanger, right? Yup… except that CBS then cut to an in-house ad touting the truck featured in the scene, showing it plow through the burning field to make a great escape and touting the fact that viewers could go to their website to see how the stunt was done. The only problem? The escape scene hadn’t yet aired! I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that somewhere along the lines, it was pointed out to execs that they were giving away what would happen in the post-commercial scenes. And I’m just as certain that those execs said, “Yeah, but [insert name of truck manufacturer which I refuse to publicize here] will want the ad placed right after a scene in which it is heavily featured. By the time the next commercial break rolls around, people will have forgotten all about the truck.”

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The problem with being a self-proclaimed television addict is that people… well, they expect you to know stuff. For example, they assume that if I’m about to give them the dirt on TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, I am well-versed in the necessary lingo and terminology, allowing me to wax philosophically upon the difference between a T1000 and a T800 model of the killer creations running amok in the movies upon which the series is based.

But in the name of full disclosure, I think it only fair that I admit to being unable to tell a T1000 from my toaster. Although I’m pretty sure my toaster couldn’t hold a gun to my head and declare “Hasta la vista, baby!”

Hope not, anyway.

That said, I don’t need a PhD in everything ‘Arnold’ to know a good series when I see one, and from the first action-packed minutes of the pilot, Sarah, her son John and those cybernetic nightmares with big guns and bad attitudes had me gripped. And by the end of the episode, I was saying what FOX obviously hopes will be the mantra of millions: Give me more!

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And then there were 2! In 2 weeks, it’ll be 2008. I have to say wow again. As promised, I’m back this week with my Favorite Actresses of 2007. Before we jump in and start my list of fabulous ladies, big apologies to Edward James Olmos, Alec Baldwin, and Jon Hamm from Mad Men for not including them on my Actor list!!

Here we have my top “11” favorite actresses from 2007, and some honorable mentions. Believe me, I’m sure there are people missing, and I’m sure I’ll read your comments and know that I was wrong to exclude someone amazing, but here’s where I am right now (I used a lot of leeway on that top “11” list. There are definitely way more than 11 that made it)!

Connie Britton, Tami Taylor, Friday Night Lights
I sing Connie Britton’s praises just about every 5 seconds of every single day. She is gorgeous, she is fantastic, she makes me believe in her pains and struggles and just everything that Tami is going through. I believe that she loves her husband (Coach Eric Taylor) and that she is trying to do the best she can for her daughters and all the students at Dillon. She could easily be another football coach’s wallflower wife, but the way the character is written, and the way Connie plays it, she jumps off the screen. The fact that she isn’t getting accolades and awards and nominations just blows my mind.

The Women of the 13 colonies, Mary McDonnell (President Roslin), Tricia Helfer (Gina/Six), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), Grace Park (Boomer/Sharon), Michele Forbes (Admiral Cain), Battlestar Galactica
I didn’t want to get involved in what I called “another SciFi show that won’t hold my interest.” Then I watched one episode and I was hooked. Season 3 and the mid-way movie Razor just prove that these women deserve shelves upon shelves of awards because of how downright mind-blowing they are. I don’t want Roslin to die from the cancer that’s going to eventually over take her (I mean, she is the dying leader from the prophecy, right?). Like Michael C. Hall’s Dexter (a killer), who I shouldn’t identify with, I completely identify with Helfer’s Six and Gina, Cylons who just want the best for their own race. Grace Park is wonderful, so moving. Michele Forbes exudes awesomeness. And Sackhoff? She is just cool. And angry, and awesome. And big props to her for making a few of the scenes in Bionic Woman remotely watchable.

The Pie Hos, Kristen Chenowith (Olive Snook,) and Anna Friel (Charlotte Chuck Charles), Pushing Daisies
Olive is so in love with Ned. And she’s such a good dog-sitter of Digby. And she’s the perfect foil to Chuck. And she’s a great friend to Lily and Vivian. And I love her interaction with Emerson. She’s charming, and she speaks quickly, and she sings, and she dances. I’ve been a fan of hers for years, and it’s nice to see her getting celebrated for such a perfect role for her! Anna Friel is delicious. She plays her role with such wide eyed abandon. She’s so wounded and damaged, and dying to be loved, and missing the ladies she does love, and I love this role and I’m so happy that it was written and she was cast.

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BREAKING NEWS: TheTVaddict.com just received this secret video of the closed-door negotiations between the writers and the producers.

What’s worse. The video titled ‘Hollywood Rumble’ is well acted, excellently shot, and scariest of all — FUNNY!

In other-words: WGA, AMPTP, be afraid… be very afraid. Because this is just the beginning.

Watching television is habitual, an addiction if you will. Take THE DAILY SHOW and THE COLBERT REPORT. When they went off the air in November was I disappointed? Absolutely. But after seven weeks without my Comedy Central fix, I’ve found new ways to entertain myself [see: my Nintendo Wii that's recently found a permanent spot in my living room]

When are both the WGA and the AMPTP going to clue into the fact that they’re doing irreparable damage to the television industry we all love and get back to the negotiating table?

I caught the special Christmas episode of SUPERNATURAL the other night and… brace yourselves… I really liked it. What can I say? I’m a sucker for little old people who happen to be demon-worshipping pagans. Is it just me, or does this show — which, as many C.T. haters out there know, I’ve only see a few times — love to play with the homoeroticism between the brothers? When Sam and Dean tried to buy a wreath, the guy selling them obviously thought they were a couple and they played it up, very tongue in cheek. What? Is it just me? I know this isn’t the first time I’ve seen that kind of exchange played. Meanwhile, for those who recommended episodes for me to check out after my confession to, um, not liking (to say the least) this show, you might be interested to know that I’ve been doing just that and will be offering up a new piece in the next couple weeks which will… um… well, let’s just see how my viewings go, shall we?

Is it time for season three of DEXTER yet? I seriously love that show. Yes, I’d be a tad happier if they didn’t write every season-concluding episode as if it were a series finale. Would it kill them to give a guy a cliffhanger?

Am I the only one who fast-forwards through SURVIVOR’s “remember your fallen tribe mates” crap each and every season? I suppose if you’re going to do a three-hour episode, it’s good to have a block of time in which everyone can go make snacks, phone loved ones, check their e-mail. And if there’s one thing I never, ever want to hear another contestant on this show say it’s, “I’m not ready to go home yet.” I’d rather listen to them whine and complain about wanting to go home than have the final four using the worst line in the book instead of just being honest and saying, “You know something? I worked every bit as hard as you did, and I want that cold, cool million bucks. So hell no, I don’t want you voting my butt out.”

Before the new season of BIG BROTHER begins in February, Julie Chen should be forced to watch Jeff Probst whether he’s hosting tribal council or a reunion show. This guy is both entertaining and asks the hard questions. He calls people on their moronic moves, and finds out what we all want to know. “Courtney, are you anorexic, bulemic or delusional?” or “James, you had two hidden immunity idols and didn’t use either. Are you a moron?” Okay, so I’m paraphrasing.

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We interrupt your pleasant evening for a quick rant from theTVaddict.com.

NBC Nightly News is leading… I repeat LEADING with breaking news on the WGA Strike. At 6:30PM, Brian Williams gleefully announced that Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will be returning to television on January 2, 2008. With Letterman working feverishly to negotiate a deal with his writers to do the same.

Now, the TV Addict is no Brian Stelter, but does NBC News leading with a story on the WGA Strike not reek of a massive conflict of interest? I mean seriously, is NBC Nightly News really going to report anything negative about the AMPTP considering they’re owned by NBC?

And don’t even get me started on the fact that with an upcoming US election, a massive snowstorm across the northeast and that little skirmish still going on in Iraq, NBC Nightly News is leading with Jay and Conan returning to TV.

Since Stephen Colbert can’t say it, this TV Addict will. Brian Williams — you’re on notice.

It was announced today that Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will return to work on January 2, 2007.

In statements released this afternoon, Conan defended his decision by saying, “Unfortunately, now with the New Year upon us, I am left with a difficult decision. Either go back to work and keep my staff employed or stay dark and allow 80 people, many of whom have worked for me for fourteen years, to lose their jobs.”

In an eerily similar statement, Leno said, “Now that the talks have broken down and there are no further negotiations scheduled I feel it’s my responsibility to get my 100 non-writing staff, which were laid off, back to work. We fully support our writers and I think they understand my decision.”

The TV Addict’s take: While I appreciate the difficult situation both Leno and Conan find themselves in. I’m incredibly disappointed that they decided to go back to work.

Late Night is not only an enormous profit center for ABC, NBC and CBS, it’s an integral tool for the studios to use when marketing their major motion pictures. Leno, Letterman, Conan, Ferguson and Kimmel’s solidarity with the WGA was sending a very powerful and important message to the AMPTP.

Their return to work will be seen as nothing short of a serious blow to the striking writers. And while I respect that both Leno and Conan just gave around two hundred employees one helluva early holiday gift. Lest we forget the tens of thousands of workers still seriously affected by this strike.

Agree, Disagree, Post away.

At least there will be something interesting to watch come March 2008. Enjoy this chilling new teaser featuring our favorite crew members from BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.