Archive: March 2011 (151-160 of 379)

Mar 21 2011 04:22 PM ET

Can sinking the 'Titanic' salvage the network miniseries?

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Categories: Inappropriate Crushes, Remakes, Television, This Could Be Interesting...
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Image Credit: Everett Collection

Esteemed miniseries still get produced by PBS, like last year’s Return to Cranford, but the major broadcast networks abandoned the genre after cable proved so adept at it (See: Band of Brothers, Angels in America, Broken Trail). A network miniseries hasn’t been nominated for an Emmy since 2005 (Elvis) or won since 2001 (Anne Frank: The Whole Story). But now ABC plans to bring back the spectacle of those must-see events. Not only is the network developing an eight-hour version of Wicked with Salma Hayek, but ABC recently announced it’s producing a four-parter about the doomed voyage of the Titanic, scripted by Julian Fellowes, who gifted us PBS’s recent prize, Downton Abbey. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 21 2011 01:41 PM ET

'Big Love': Were the final 15 minutes a blessing or a sin?

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Categories: About Last Night, Big Love, Everyone's a Critic, Television

With last night’s shocking series finale, Big Love left some of its fans praising the heavens and others cursing the writers for ending the Henricksons’ saga on a note of tragedy. If you haven’t seen the finale yet, stop reading now. Otherwise, join me after the jump for the debate… READ FULL STORY »

Mar 21 2011 01:39 PM ET

Randy Quaid explains his 'Star Whackers' theory in song form

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Categories: Ouch! That Was My Ear!, The Bad Man Scares Me!, This Would Never Fly In Sweden

Given all the big-name celebrity meltdowns lately, you’d be forgiven if you’ve already forgotten the strange saga of Randy and Evi Quaid, who dodged various criminal accusations before escaping to Canada, where they claimed in a strange interview with Good Morning America that they were fleeing from a conspiracy of “star whackers” who killed celebrities or maybe just embarrassed celebrities or something something the Mafia! Since the married couple seemed legitimately unhinged, it was difficult to find any humor in the situation. But now Randy Quaid has debuted his new song, “Star Whackers,” with his band Randy Quaid and the Fugitives. Based on his performance at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom, “Star Whackers” sounds a little bit like the prose-poetry of Jim Morrison crossed with the lounge singing of Tony Clifton: Quaid makes repeated reference to “Those sleazy Star Whackers … they’ll sell your vital organs on eBay.” Start the theories now: Is that non-sequitur towel serving the same purpose as Linus’ security blanket? Also, is this funny or sad? Check out the video after the jump and decide for yourself… READ FULL STORY »

Mar 21 2011 01:09 PM ET

Martin Sheen on Charlie Sheen: 'Emotionally, he still is [a kid].'

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Categories: Charlie Sheen, Movies
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Image Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com

Martin Sheen and his eldest son, Emilio Estevez, picked a complicated time to promote their film, The Way, the story of a man (Sheen) who embarks on an arduous pilgrimage in order to mourn and better understand his estranged son (Estevez). The former Brat-Pack idol wrote, directed, and co-stars in the film, but the personal story of a father and his son lends itself all too easy to journalists’ questions about that other Sheen, the embattled and increasingly erratic former Two and a Half Men star. Martin Sheen was generally sympathetic to his son’s plight in a recent interview to the London Telegraph, saying, “I know what hell he’s living in. I’ve had psychotic episodes in public. One of them was on camera — the opening scene of Apocalypse Now. So I know what Charlie is going through. And when you do something like that, that is out of control, that’s the most difficult thing. You have to have courage.” READ FULL STORY »

Mar 21 2011 12:45 PM ET

'Franklin & Bash' promos: Looks like TNT knows comedy, too

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Categories: Grooming, Television, Waiting

Get ready, viewers of TNT who do not fast-forward through commercials: Tomorrow, the network begins airing promos for Franklin & Bash, its new “buddy lawyer series” starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer premiering June 1. Judging from the first round of spots (watch a few below, catch more at weretotallylawyers.com), Gosselaar and Meyer have solid chemistry. We particularly enjoy when Gosselaar giggles after Meyer says “stipulated.” Also, it appears producers took our advice to keep Gosselaar’s hair short, even if he and Meyer begin the show as fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants street lawyers (who join a button-down law firm with an eccentric patriarch played by Malcolm McDowell). Gosselaar’s character, Peter Bash, is said to have a knack for connecting with jury and judge, so we assume he’s the heart of the show. Meyer’s character, Jared Franklin, meanwhile, loves sticking it to authority every chance he gets and apparently makes a killer margarita.

It’ll be interesting to see how much comedy there actually is in the series, which started out as a TBS pilot, and, if it goes the way of the returning Rizzoli & Isles or the canceled Trust Me. Because of our history with Gosselaar here at PopWatch HQ, we hope it’s the former. After watching this behind-the-scenes video and discovering their man cave not only has a bar but also a “shot station,” we are optimistic. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 20 2011 11:00 PM ET

'The Celebrity Apprentice': And the fired celebrity is...

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Categories: Donald Trump, Reality TV, Television, The Celebrity Apprentice

Image Credit: Ali Goldstein/NBC

In an episode that saw the teams tasked with creating a unique RV environment, and Gary Busey giving new definitions to pretty much every word in the dictionary, another “celebrity” was fired by The Donald. My full recap will be up at 2am (UPDATE: Click over now to read Dalton’s full Celebrity Apprentice recap), but if you’ve already watched and want to sound off on what happened and who went home, read on after the jump for more. [SPOILER ALERT: Read only if you've already watched Sunday's episode of The Celebrity Apprentice.] READ FULL STORY »

Mar 20 2011 03:00 PM ET

Goodbye, 'Big Love.' You almost made the idea of polygamy attractive.

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Categories: Big Love, Nostalgia, Television, Things That Are Sad
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Tonight we bid farewell to one of television’s first (and until recently, only) polygamous families, as HBO’s Big Love ends its fifth and final season. It’s going to be tough to say goodbye to the Henrickson clan which, despite their questionable lifestyle, managed to be one of the most functional — and moving, surprising, and entertaining — families on TV.

It’s hard to see how Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and his wives will get a happy ending — when last we left them, each was in crisis: Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and Bill are at a standoff over her belief that women can hold the priesthood and her decision to leave Bill’s church; Nicki (Chloë Sevigny) is devastated that her misguided attempt to end Cara Lynn’s relationship with her teacher has instead destroyed her daughter’s self-esteem; and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) is heartbroken after choosing her family over her career selling Goji juice. As for Bill? He’s about to face charges on statutory rape, seeing as Marge neglected to tell him she was only 16 when they got sealed.

I’ve given a lot of thought — arguably way too much thought — about how I want Big Love to end. Click through for my wish list for Bill and the sister wives, as well as clips of some of Barb, Nicki, and Margene’s best moments. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 19 2011 09:00 AM ET

Kevin Smith posts a scene from his hockey flick 'Hit Somebody.' We ask three-time Stanley Cup champ Ken Daneyko to review it.

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Categories: Everyone's a Critic, Kevin Smith, Movies, Sports
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Image Credit: Jim Spellman/WireImage.com; Peter Kramer/Getty Images

We all know Kevin Smith is a hockey fan. But is the rough scene he recently posted online from the current draft of his hockey movie Hit Somebody — based on the Warren Zevon song about a Canadian goon (a defenseman known for his hitting) who dreams of scoring a goal – as good as we think it is? To find out, we phoned TV analyst Ken Daneyko, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and logger of more than 2,500 penalty minutes with Smith’s beloved New Jersey Devils from 1983-2003, and asked him to break it down for us. First, read the full scene here. As Smith says in his set-up: “It’s 1961 and our lead character, Buddy McCracken, is 11. Buddy’s suffering from a personal loss when he’s visited on his family’s Saskatchewan farm by the man who’ll be his first hockey coach, Blue Jay Jennings (written for John Goodman).” Let’s start there…  READ FULL STORY »

Mar 18 2011 07:30 PM ET

Charlie Sheen For President? Ten reasons why it's not the worst idea ever

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Categories: Barack Obama, Charlie Sheen, Not Jon Hamm, Politics as Entertainment
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Image Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Charlie Sheen is an incredibly wealthy narcissist with a rapacious sexual appetite and a gift for saying incredibly memorable things that actually mean nothing at all. In short, he is the very model of the modern American politician. Which explains why, in a study undertaken by Public Policy Polling, independent voters say that they would support Charlie Sheen for President over ex-Governor Sarah Palin by a margin of 41 to 36. Sheen also tests well as everyone’s favorite anti-candidate, with Republicans favoring him 37-28 over President Obama and Democrats giving him a 44-24 edge over Palin. (So basically, the American political system has failed. Or maybe we just live in the most sarcastic nation in the world.) READ FULL STORY »

Mar 18 2011 06:23 PM ET

This week's trailers: 'Larry Crowne,' 'Conan the Barbarian,' and a new look at 'Friends with Benefits'

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Categories: Animation, Documentaries, Julia Roberts, Movie Trailers, Movies, Neil Patrick Harris, Tom Hanks
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There’s no lack of star power in this week’s trailer roundup: Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts grace the first look at the Hanks-directed dramedy Larry Crowne, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are Friends with Benefits, and Neil Patrick Harris hangs with The Smurfs. But we’ve also got peeks at some exciting indie projects from filmmakers like Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) and the legendary Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn). Plus, a tease of this summer’s Conan the Barbarian reboot: No Arnold this time, but still plenty of pecs courtesy of new Conan Jason Momoa. Check out all these and more after the jump! READ FULL STORY »

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