Category: television

“The Hills”: Season 2 Trailer

Via a friend’s blog, I came across the trailer for the upcoming season of The Hills. The production values on this show continue to amaze me – some films don’t have trailers this enticing (NBC promo gerbils, pay attention!). Old friends, new boys, and (gasp!) a possible conflict between the two stalwart female leads – what more can I ask for? I will say that Heidi’s pregnancy scare looks staged, though.

In other Hills-related news, Lauren’s choice of Jason over Paris made Entertainment Weekly‘s “Best of TV Watch 2006.”

EDIT: Via Canoe, found out that The Hills will begin airing on MTV Canada on February 5.

CTV’s Broadband Network

In November, CTV landed the rights to stream both The O.C. and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on their Broadband Network site in Canada, available on-demand immediately after their respective television broadcasts. Full-length Studio 60 episodes are currently available on the NBC website, but only for American users.

I decided to try out this site on Thursday to watch an episode of The O.C. that I had missed. Broken down into five parts, each separated by a commercial for the release of the Superman Returns DVD (yes, shown four times), I found this a convenient, accessible way to stay caught up with one of my television favorites. Although I still prefer the comfort of my couch and larger-screen TV, I found the resolution crisp, the sound clear, and the streaming uninterrupted (no annoying “buffering” stops and starts). I also appreciated the fact that the shows were separated into sections, so I could easily find and rewatch just a moment of that particular episode online.

I am a firm believer in appointment television, but now and again, when I slip up, I am glad the Broadband Network is available to support my addiction.

“The Hills”: Season 2 Announcement

I stumbled across the announcement today that the second season of The Hills is due to start airing in the States on January 15! All four of the original cast members, LC, Heidi, Audrina, and Whitney are set to be back.

I tried unsuccessfully to locate the Canadian premiere date on MTV Canada. Their website is awful, and kept trying to stream videos and show clips as I browsed for information. I’m estimating though, that those living in the Great White North will get their Hills fix sometime in February. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

“Prison Break” Fall Season Review

I’ve never been partial to shows on the basis of a beautiful cast, but it is difficult to overlook Prison Break‘s smokin’ hot men, arguably the most attractive group assembled in recent memory. I mean, Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell and Amaury Nolesco (Sucre!) all on screen simultaneously? Kiefer may be hot, but he’s just one man.

Besides FOX’s monopoly on the pretty, they seem to be doing well with the serial drama concept as well, first with 24 (sixth season to start January 14th) and now Prison Break.

After the “Fox River 8” escaped, I was sure the show would not be able to recover. Little did I know what the writers had in store. Not only did they introduce the determined, ruthless and legally shady Alexander Mahone (played by the amazing William Fichtner), but they also chose the route less traveled with Sara and Michael’s relationship – the yellow brick road shouldn’t come without further discussion of Michael’s betrayal. But best of all, the story has begun to explore the morally and ethically grey areas induced with the release of several guilty inmates along with the innocent ones. I can vouch that the dialogue arising in my beloved forums are darn interesting.

Now for the downside of the season – it’s on hiatus until January 22. What’s a girl to do?

“Studio 60” Reprieve

I was getting ready to write a post titled “In Memoriam: Studio 60” when NBC officially granted the flailing drama a full season on Thursday.

I loved Aaron Sorkin’s previous effort, The West Wing. I quote the show incessantly, compare moments in real life to scenes in an episode, and talk about the characters as if they were actual people. But that’s it – the world Sorkin created was so rich, so palpable, and so true that it’d be a wonder if the audience wasn’t affected in such a way. The characters were three-dimensional, not stock in any sense, and developed gradually over time. Moreover, the political forum was a medium that allowed issues to be brought up and debated, so education ended up an appropriate and inadvertent byproduct of the show.

By contrast, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip seems to be on a mission to force the viewers to not only like the characters, but also to bow down to high-brow television too. The show’s “Big Three” are part-stereotype, part-political touchstone: Harriet is the liberal Christian entertainer, with values that continuously conflict with Hollywood expectations; Simon is the black comic who grew up in the ‘hood, with interest for equal representation behind the scenes; and Tom is the young actor from the Midwest with a brother in Afghanistan and parents who don’t understand his career decision. Critics and the general public alike have chastised the show for being too pushy and pedantic, overindulgent in its adoration for itself. Who really cares about the ratings of a sketch-comedy show, or whether or not a politically incorrect piece makes it on air? Whereas West Wing‘s POTUS dealt with an assassination attempt, impeachment, genocide and terrorism, NBS network chief Jordan McDeere frets over censors, negative publicity, and signing the next bit hit.

Despite my criticism, it hasn’t been all bad. My favorite scene so far is a tender moment between Matt and Harriet, the show’s will-they-or-won’t-they couple, underscored by a lute version of Sting’s “Fields of Gold.” Lovely.

I will continue to watch simply because it’s Sorkin. However, I do hope that the talk about the show coming down from its pedestal is true – Studio 60‘s longevity depends on it.