NBC Brings Us Holemdy Cheer

Holemdy= Holiday Comedy. I made that up myself. Thanks.

Warning: this is full of spoilers and obnoxiously long

You know, with all the conjecture and criticism surrounding NBC and its Comcast-bought future (may I direct you here and here for more information), last night’s Thursday Night Line-Up reminded me that despite low ratings and a lack of juggernaut TV like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, NBC has some of the best writers, best actors, and best stories on TV.

Last night’s holiday episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and (to a lesser extent) 30 Rock delivered superb episodes in what have been consistently strong seasons. The Office and 30 Rock usually deliver great holiday episodes (Benihana Christmas, anyone?), so it’s nice to see the fledgling Community and Parks do the same.

Here are some something things I thought about them.

Pilot Review: FlashForward

ABC just premiered their biggest SciFi drama since LOST. A prime 8:00 Thursday slot, the show features some pretty heavy hitters- Shakespeare in Love’s Joe Fiennes stars alongside John Cho (Harold or Sulu, depending on your preference), Broadway megastar Brian O’Bryne, Dominic Monagahan (Charlie from LOST), Sonya Walger (Penny from LOST….ABC doesn’t stray too far from the genre actors they know, apparently). The premise of the show kicks in about minute 6, when everyone IN THE ENTIRE WORLD blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Then it turns out, they didn’t blackout, but had some sort of collective vision of the same hour six months from when the blackout occurs. It’s a very interesting plot, and incredibly unique, especially for network standards. I’m certainly all for shows based on crazy apocalyptic events, but this one left me a little underwhelmed. Let’s explore, shall we?

Jaceface’s List of TV Show Pros and Cons, Flashforward edition.

OurNamesRhyme Tony Awards Awards

Neil Patrick Harris, Everyone.

So, the Tony’s were on last night. The Biggest Night of the Great White Way. And it was a moderate disaster. There were highlights, there were debacles, and there were some HOT MESSES. To recap, I’ve decided to give out my own awards for the evening….

Yea, I saw it. And it was awesome.

Dear Haters,

I know you think Miley Cyrus sucks. I know you think she’s annoying and untalented. I know you think she’s secretly a crazy jesus freak. I know you think it’s weird that she’s 16 and her boyfriend is 20 and her best friend is 22 and they make really obnoxious youtube videos. I know you think she has crooked teeth and some kind of small speech impediment. I know you think any teenager who threatens to single handedly ruin Radiohead should probably get thrown off the planet. I know she’s terrible singing live and drinks ketchup and takes pictures of herself half naked and….wait, where was  I?

Oh, right…BUT she still has Hannah Montana. And, readers, Hannah Montana is freaking adorable.

A sort-of kinda TV recommendation

I’m usually pretty vocal about what TV shows I watch. I haven’t been ashamed of any of my TV habits since some uber-religious friends in high school looked a little judgmental after I mentioned that I liked “Roswell.” (Or maybe I was just projecting my self-judgment onto them.) But I’ve never really gotten around to mentioning to anyone, ever, that I watch…

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose

I am pleased as Texas Sweet Tea to announce that Friday Night Lights has been renewed for not one, but TWO more seasons! At 13 episodes each, they will air first on DirectTV, as they did with season 3, then again in weekly installments on NBC.

If you still haven’t taken my advice about this show, I urge you to give it a shot. It’s television at it’s finest, and possibly the most moving show currently on air. And, against all odds, it just keeps getting better and better.

More from EW’s Ausiello here

A crowning achievement? A royal screw-up? A kingdom of monarchy-related puns?

Well, at least one of us has been posting pretty regularly on this blog. It hasn’t been me. But hey! A new show recently premiered! And I remembered to watch all of it!

My favorite TV comments from this weekend

“This is the internet establishment. You put me in front of a judge, he’ll take you down. He’ll throw the Kindle at you.”

-Patton Oswald guest starring on Dollhouse as an internet mogul

“It’s like everything is different now. Like I’m not Daddy’s Little Girl anymore.”

-Julie on Friday Night Lights, on the real reason she was upset her dad caught her in bed with Matt.

“Yes, Richard, I’m your grandfather.”

Zedd, Legend of the Seeker. TWIST (yes, I watch it. And it’s awesome)

Jane Fonda: Serious Actress

Apparently, somewhere out there, a large number of people regard Jane Fonda as a great dramatic talent. I was completely unaware of this.

When All Hope Seems Lost

Dedicating so much time to the arts scene in NYC does have a pretty significant downside. A lot of it is terrible. Like, really, really bad. The ugly side of such a vibrant performance city can rear its head through a bad play, an overly political indie movie, a wannabe hipster band. And recently, I’ve had to endure the most depressing of all. The Scene Night.

It’s an Oscar BONANZA

Ournamesrhyme is up way too early on a Saturday. What would make us do such a crazy thing, you ask? MOVIES, of course. 

Unfortunately, we’ve encountered a huge problem over the last 6 months: no time to see Oscar Movies. At all. None. Except Tracy saw Slumdog. But that doesn’t really count, cause everyone and their grandmom saw Slumdog (oh it’s so heartwarming and clever how they use that Millionaire show! Look at the sweet Indian people!). Anyhoo, today that will be remedied for us, and for you.

Why you should be watching Friday Night Lights

TV is always spotted with those elusive critically acclaimed but underwatched shows. Recently, we’ve had 30 Rock, Mad Men, True Blood, Dexter, the late Pushing Daises, Firefly, Wonderfalls… the list goes on and on… I’ve watched these shows and they’re great and it’s sad when they get canceled because no one watches, whereas One Tree Hill, The Bachelor, and a gazillion other CW and reality shows are going into their 5 or 6th seasons. And that’s fine. It’s the cycle of life, as far as our beloved moving picture box goes. Once in a while, though, one of these shows will come along that is so good, so different, that it’s almost perfect. Arrested Development is probably the most well known example of this from recent years. I would argue Freaks and Geeks is as well. Both cut far too short. Currently, however, we have at our remote holding fingertips one of these elusive “perfect” shows.