Since yesterday was primarily an off-day, I fill most of today's column with short reviews of stuff airing later in the week ("Dresden Files," "Galactica" and the "Scrubs" musical), plus a few leftover news tidbits (including the fact that, yes, Lucy Punch is no longer working on "The Class").
Instead of watching the Golden Globes, I went out to see "Pan's Labyrinth," about which I'm still pondering. The fantasy sequences are amazing, and I loved Sergi Lopez's performance as the fascist captain, even if he was maybe too relentlessly wicked (as a fairy tale for adults, shouldn't there have been just a little nuance). I'm just not positive the two halves hung together well enough.
As for the Globe results themselves, happy to see America Ferrera and Alec Baldwin get some love, though neither was a surprise. She's a Young Ingenue, he's a Famous Hollywood Star, and those are the types the HFPA typically fawns over. Would've liked to see Sacha Baron Cohen's speech, but beyond that, I'm good. These days, I only watch awards shows if I have a professional obligation to do so.
Today's a set visit day, the highlight of which should be a stop by the "Studio 60" studio -- if only because I look forward to Sorkin's defense of the show, and/or Sarah Paulson attempting to say nice things about the material she has to play.
Lucy Punch leaving "The Class" is a good thing, though I'm hoping that they don't do it with a bang. Richie told his wife last week that his secret girlfriend was "Holly Ellenbogen," and killing people? Not funny.
ReplyDelete> Would've liked to see Sacha Baron Cohen's speech
ReplyDeletehmmm... youtube, perhaps?
I haven't watched the show either, although I did record it and the post show. I skipped thru, after picking up (and settling in) the new TV, and watching What About Brian, 30 Rock, and last week's Greys (last 2 for the brother's benefit)
New TV pretty
Grey's and Hugh Laurie -- happy happy.
No Zach Braff -- sad. :-(
Pam -- wondering if it's still subarctic in L.A.
Well, I'm happy that I have not spoiled myself by watching the Scrubs vids, then. When I get there, all but a verse or two should be shiny and new! And thanks for the heads up on homages to shows I have never seen. I'll keep an ear open. (i know a couple songs from each, and with all the Aaron Sorkin I've watched, Penzance shouldn't be hard to spot (also, we did Pinafore in 6th grade))
ReplyDeletePam -- with shiny new TV that none of my 16 remote controls recognize....
It's freezing here, Pam! Well, freezing by SoCal standards, at any rate.
ReplyDeleteAlan, how long are you in town? I taped the awards and can dump them onto a DVD & bring it by if you want.
Alan, are you going to blog Dresden Files, pretty please?
ReplyDelete"The Class" did need to be trimmed a bit, and the very gay hetero husband gag was tiresome. So good bye and good luck to Lucy Punch, who was part one of the funniest bit on that show: Holly is reporting in a hurricane and just gets creamed by a flying stop sign. Just like the characters, I had to stop and watch that bit again.
ReplyDelete"The Class" did need to be trimmed a bit, and the very gay hetero husband gag was tiresome. So good bye and good luck to Lucy Punch, who was part one of the funniest bit on that show: Holly is reporting in a hurricane and just gets creamed by a flying stop sign. Just like the characters, I had to stop and watch that bit again.
ReplyDeleteI did like the episode when she killed the bunny with her high heels, and then the video was emailed all around the world...
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they'll add any new characters?
I did notice the casts on Richie's girlfriend (can't be that great a show if I can't remember her name) are getting smaller. I think it's time to lose them already.
Hey Alan, when you're visiting the Studio 60 set, get your picture taken with the Nazi Santa. It will make a great Christmas Card photo next year.
The last thing "The Class" needs is more new characters. As "Friends" proved, six is about the cap for a half hour sitcom to managably deal with, and we're headed there--Kat, Ethan, Richie, Lena, Duncan, and Nicole. Kyle is apparently sticking around, but he seems to be relegated to "gay buddy!" duty.
ReplyDeleteHolly as incompetent reporter was pretty good, but outside of that, she really didn't work. I'm usually amused by something each week on the show, but disappointed by something else. Last night Duncan's mom had me cracking up, even though I should have seen it coming the second time, but Ethan's freakout was just dumb.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say 6 is the absolute maximum - MASH and Cheers were both running 8 characters for awhile, although they also had clearly defined lead and supporting characters, and they took awhile to get there. Newsradio had 8 from the get-go, but it's also easier to have everyone in one place in a workplace show. (Mary Tyler Moore might be a good reference here, but I've never really watched it & don't even know how many characters they had.) And even on Friends, you could argue that Phoebe was a step behind everybody else.
I kind of lost my point, but I don't think 8 characters is the biggest reason The Class doesn't quite work.
Since no one has posted this yet, here's the YouTube link to the (awesome) Sacha Baron Cohen speech:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j339HVDLXA
Enjoy...