I love weekends if for no other reason that it’s my time to veg on the couch and catch up with the past week’s shows. Today, I started with UGLY BETTY, which I was psyched about because of the whole Wicked tie-in. But truth be told, the scenes involving the Broadway hit were the least successful part of an otherwise pretty great episode. For one thing, I was annoyed on behalf of everyone in the theater when Betty was texting Henry and then arguing with Daniel. Just as when it happens in real life, I wanted someone to boot their butts. And as much as I love the music from Wicked, the only scene in which it really worked for me was the beautiful montage set to “I’m Not That Girl.” But how much to I love Cliff and Marc? They may be my favorite couple since… well, Marc and Wilhelmina. Or maybe Marc and Amanda.
I finally realized why I’m so head over heels for WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB: It’s a weird combination of HART TO HART, MATLOCK, MURDER SHE WROTE and even CHARLIE’S ANGELS. I mean, seriously, when the ladies began investigating the deaths at the senior center and met the horny old guy, it was just silly fun. And in typical 80’s-TV style, the bad guy pulled a gun and started firing indiscriminately as Angie Harmon gave chase and elderly folks shrieked, culminating in Angie tackling the guy – as we knew she would – into a conveniently placed pond. Good times.
I’m happy to report that GREY’S ANATOMY renaissance continues. I’ll admit to never having been a huge Kathrine Heigl fan before this show. I always found her the weak link in the ROSWELL cast. But man, did she rock that fantastic monologue in which Izzy begged off sex with George because she was too tired. It was also another episode filled with great quotes, most of them — as usual — coming from Christina. “Being aware of your crap and actually overcoming your crap are two very different this,” she told Meredith in what may be the truest words ever spoken. And if I didn’t already love Dr. Hahn, I’d have been a goner for sure when she dubbed Derek and Mark “pretty and prettier.”
Because I’m a total glutton for punishment, I gave PRIVATE PRACTICE another try this week. Damnit, I want to like this show. The cast is appealing enough, but there’s just something missing. Yes, Addison and Wilder have great chemistry together, as do Wilder and prickly doc Charlotte, and the rest of the cast is uniformly… fine. But the whole thing has a been there, done that feel that just doesn’t work for me. Maybe it’s the nature of the holistic treatment center that the cases seem ho-hum at best. Even the personal storylines are predictable. Oh, look, hot secretary boy knows a patient is being abused because he was abused. And of course the woman with the fatal genetic disorder decides to live for today and give her hubby a baby (with only the most casual of nods to the fact that the child has a 50/50 shot of having the same genetic disorder). Bored now.
If Kristen Chenowith and Chi Mcbride of PUSHING DAISIES don’t win supporting actor Emmy nods for their roles as Olive and Emerson, respectively, then I will personally spearhead a move to overthrow the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. I sat back quietly when they all but ignored the casts of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and GILMORE GIRLS, but snubs of PD might just prove the straw that breaks this camel’s back.
Was THE REAL WORLD always populated with such despicable creatures as populate the current Sydney-based season? Dunbar needs to seek some serious therapy as does his sap of a girlfriend who came to visit a few weeks ago. That girl is so gonna wind up battered and bruised. And Shauvon — who this week packed her bags and headed home because her boyfriend was threatened by the notion of her experiencing life — might well be the new poster girl for every man who ever cursed the rise of feminism. The only even remotely likeable cast member is Isaac, and one gets the sense that he could morph into a psychopath at any moment. Maybe it’s that shaved head, wild-eyes thing.
