Is a comedy show supposed to be just that, comedy; you know, like funny, haha, all the time or can they develop into a more mature show? Does a comedy show really need a plot or is just good for gutbusters and kneeslappers? I personally enjoy Reno 911 very much from a comedic standpoint, but what Reno does lack is a cohesive plot to tie all the episodes together. Sure, there are reoccurring characters and sometimes references are made to previous episodes, but it lacks a lot of the structural complexity that many of the other shows lack. My question is thus, does Reno 911 even need those structural elements? Obviously, my answer would be no, but I think some more complexity might better this show.

I think Reno 911 has set out what it originally wanted to achieve and that is being a satirical view on law enforcement and other shows such as “Cops.”

Despite these deep intellectual observations and questions swirling through my head while I was watching this episode, I found myself laughing hysterically at some of the scenes. The basic plot was that the Reno sheriffs department has issued new bullet-proof vests for the women on the force. These new vests would allow for more “breathing room” or, allow me to be frank, boob room. These vests seemed to cause only more trouble when the women put them on. They were quite revealing and allowed for an enormous amount of cleavage to be shown. The men were constantly being distracted by these newfound sights (Dangle even drives up on the curb in his cruiser at one point because he kept staring at Wiegel’s chest. In another scene, two of the female officers take over for two of the male officers when they can’t get someone to drop his weapon. They demand him to get in the car. He drops his weapon and goes directly into the back seat of the cruiser.)

Johnson gets fed up with the objectification of the women officers and boasts, “I don’t just have boobs, I have balls. I’m going to go get these things banned!” Well, she comes back, all smiles, and says she got a promotion. Wiegel looks around at the male officers in the room, perks her boobs up, and says she’s going to see if she can take advantage of the situation too and get a department popcorn machine.

What’s Reno trying to achieve here? Is this social commentary on some subtle level? What do you think? Is Reno’s audience intelligent enough to pick up on these sub-contextual messages or is it just a comedy show? Maybe I look too deep into these things.

The grand finale comes when Kimball says it’s time to break the new vests in and see how well they work. “Shoot me,” she says. Boom! Blood spatters the camera lens and silence ensues. Blank stares and open mouths all around. “Don’t worry,” says Wigel. “You still look good.”

With a marriage on the brink of divorce, relationships in turmoil, and a presidential election on the verge of complete obliteration, Brothers and Sisters aired on of its few new episodes that it had left in the vault as the writer’s strike continues to persist. These blogs will not serve as a summary or guide to what happened over any aired episodes. My views are just going to be strictly my opinions of each episodes.

This episode really proved to be just what was needed to rekindle my obsession (should I call it that?) with the show. The whole episode based around three main story lines that each could have sent the family spiraling off it’s usually uneven and floppy keel. All I have to say that it’s about time the whole Tommy/Lena/Justin/Julia debacle has come a head and interestingly, I was very surprised that Julia even cheating on Tommy as well. Tommy’s actions mimic his father’s and that again causes yet another on going feud between him and Justin. Meanwhile, Lena and Justin remain “together” as they try to figure out if what they have is special. Personally, I can totally agree with the Tommy and Julia’s response as anyone else that is married may. Marriage is forever and sadly in the world today, it’s just hard to remain faithful through it all. It’s good to see that the situation is finally discussed and things could move forward.

McCallister’s values and personal life also comes forward and much to the whole campaign’s dismay, he decides to discuss why he neglected to share with potential voters why he really was not a hero. This was great for the writers as they brought back a hidden story from season one. When this happens in a series, I think it says leaps and bounds to the writer’s ability to somehow keep old stories fresh. Granted, McCallister should have been upfront with the whole ordeal but just as his rather embarrassing confession was over, he later finds out he has become the front runner of the presidential race as the other candidate dropped out with a prior story as well. It was a great ending and left me just excited to see the next new episode.

Now comes my favorite part of every episode, the family meal. Throughout the show so far, it is a common red flag to anyone that all the shit is going to hit the fan as the whole Walker family joins together. In this case, Nora happened to bring her special guest Issac Marshall to dinner and in common Walker form not five minutes into a formal dinner did all hell break loose. I think what makes these scenes so special is that it connects everyone with any family. Specifically, every Walker dinner reminds me that of my family, cause for some unknown reason, my family is just as crazy as they are. It’s good to laugh at it too because it allows us to make fun of ourselves! The writer’s do a very nice job at poking fun of the American family….it’s great. Also, does anyone ever notice how much alcohol this family consumes? DAMN! It’s pretty damn amazing.

The Jan 13,2008 episode of Brothers and Sisters pretty much was everything I wanted it to be. There are many great things that are coming up too. Sarah may finally be start dating that business man that constantly hits on her, Kevin’s ex is moving back to town, and Holly Harper might finally have found someone else to date since quite frankly, she’s never really gotten over her affair with William. Another ex…man, she loves to dwell on what she’s already used.

New episode and last one sadly (that is until the strike is over) in 12 days. It better be damn good if I won’t be able to watch the show the rest of the season.

Good evening TV viewers, this is Cory Barker, and I’ll be guiding you through “House” for the next three episodes and hopefully throughout the rest of the season when this damn WGA strike ends.

And just note for reference when it comes to my House recaps: I don’t plan on focusing too much on the medical aspects of the show. I’ll definitely cover them, as there extremely crucial to each ep, but my knowledge of anything medical is far from vast. But now that’s out of the way, let us get to the episode at hand, the tenth of this season, “It’s A Wonderful Lie.”
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This week’s episode picked up where the pilot left off–and don’t take those words lightly: As the first episode ended with Walter passionately seducing his pregnant wife, Skylar, the second episode begins with lots of panting and sweating going on between the two. This increased libido is only one of the many changes that Skylar is beginning to notice in Walter’s behavior, and this curiosity gives her a much bigger role in this episode.

The conflict of this episode is urged forward by the fact that one of the seemingly deceased drug lords (Crazy Eight) that Walter and Jesse have to dispose of is, in fact, still alive (I immediately thought of the opening sequence of Goodfellas, but I suppose it’s unfair to compare this episode to that particular masterpiece). The fact that the mustard gas that Walter so cleverly made to dispatch his would be dispatchers only killed one of them leaves Jesse and Walter with two immediate problems: a body to dispose of, and a barely alive drug dealer with whom they have no idea what to do. And so they let fate decide. By flipping a coin, Jesse is assigned the task of disposing of the dead drug dealer, and Walter the task of murdering Crazy Eight.

In a particularly gruesome yet funny scene involving a bathtub and hydrofluoric acid, Jesse is able to (mostly) dispose of the dead drug dealer. Walter’s task, however, isn’t so quick to be completed. When he finally decides the method of murder (suffocation), he descends into the basement where Crazy Eight is held captive after a brief escape (one of the funniest scenes of the show thus far), only to find the drug dealer alive and completely coherent. Walter’s heart goes out to the young man and instead of suffocating him, he makes the man a sandwich, which Crazy Eight eats only after peeling the crust off. This kind of humanity in the character is a brilliant touch to the show, even if it makes Walter’s mission nearly impossible to carry out.

The episode ends with two children playing in the New Mexico desert where Walter crashed his trailer only days before. A little girl finds the gas mask that Walter discarded and puts it on, standing triumphantly on top of a large rock to view the world through large, manufactured, gas-friendly eyes. I’m not sure if this is going to be important to the plot of future episodes or not, but this last image of innocence and corruption was quite unnerving.

Although I grew tired of hearing Walter and Jesse screaming at each other in panic, they both did it well. This episode was more comical than the first but still managed to delve into Walter’s character a bit more, and the balance of the two is well delivered, I think. Most of the comedy lies in the fact that Walter is a teacher, parent, and husband, while also being a meth dealer. Seeing him try to roll a joint is hilarious, as is hearing him describe the “emergency eye wash station” that he wants to install in his meth infested trailer. And yet seeing him moved to tears when he hears that his wife is going to have a baby girl is heartbreaking. The comedy is there, but the drama comes first, I think. In the end though, it’s the humanity that makes this show great.

Who would’ve thought One Tree Hill would last this long? The show, starting out as a bitter rivalry between two brothers who share a love for basketball, has now turned into a show set ‘four years later.’

I honestly didn’t think the show would make it this far, especially after they killed off Keith Scott. Unfortunate. But yeah, the fifth season is kicking and ready to go.

There are a couple of problems with the plot so far.
1. Kevin Federline was hired to play a punk rocker with an ego. Right. That’s believable.
2. It’s four years later! I know you flashbacked a little bit, but c’mon!

Let me get you updated about the show:
Four years later, Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) is now a published writer, dating his editor, but stuck in writers block. Ohh, he still loves Peyton Sawyer (Hilarie Burton) but you know, things don’t always work out.

Brooke Davis’ (Sophia Bush) clothing line, Clothes Over Bros, is a phenom but she is unhappy because her business executive is her mother (Daphne Zuniga). She buys the cafe that Lucas’ mother owned, as she is traveling around the world with her daughter.

Peyton has a label now and signed a band, that is led by K-Fed. He looks AWESOME. Turns out, the girl pianist in the band is the bomb, and K-Fed gets fired. Oh well.

Nathan Scott’s (James Lafferty) plot for Season 5 is the most interesting and ridiculous. He was set to play in the NBA for the Seattle Sonics. He was making mad money from a shoe deal he signed, but got into a fight at a bar, was pushed through a glass window, leaving a shard of glass in his spine. Not only is he not playing basketball anymore, he is drinking, while growing his hair out . At the end of the last episode, he shaves and begins to rehabilitate himself.

While Nathan was in despair, Haley Scott (Bethany Joy Lenz) is working as a school teacher at Tree Hill High School. That’s pretty much her story line.

I have no written about Mouth, Skillz or anyone else yet. Let their plots develop a little more.

Questions I want answered this season:
1. What female lead is Lucas going to date this season?
2. Will Britney Spears get a guest spot as well?
3. What is really going to happen to Dan Scott, as he is in jail?
4. Will this be the final season?

As an avid reader and participant in the online community, especially when it comes to television, I’m no stranger to spoilers. And frankly, I don’t mind reading a few blurbs here and there about an upcoming episode of one of my favorite shows. But when it comes to bums on the production staff’s of shows leaking highly-sensitive, highly-thorough information about full episodes online, everyone gets a raw deal. These people are trusted members of a staff, and yet they betray their employer. And for what reason? To stick it to “the man?” I really have no idea.

Either way, at the end of last season, someone spoiled the entire episode, scene by scene of the LOST season three finale, “Through The Looking Glass,” which of course, included the mind-blowing flash-forward reveal. Thousands read it, and ABC even challenged a few episodes to take the info down. To avoid this crap, LOST producers – a group who are very vocal and friendly with the fan community – decided radio silence was the best bet for S4. But of course, now detailed spoilers are out there for the first four episodes of the new season. These idiots are at it again.

I, for one, plan on staying away from spoilers, no matter how tempting. How does everyone else feel about them?

Hey all, this is Cory Barker, and I’ll be guiding through LOST for this truncated, eight episode arc (of course due to the WGA strike).

Just a reminder for anyone not in the know, LOST returns THIS Thursday, at 8 p.m. on ABC for a “two hour event.” However, the first hour will solely be one of the review-esque, cumulative episodes. However, the season four premiere, “The Beginning of the End” begins at 9 pm so don’t miss it. And then don’t forget to check back on Friday for my review/synopsis of the ep.

There’s no doubt that AMC successfully proved itself with 2007’s Mad Men, the network’s first prime-time series that quickly turned into a Golden Globe winner. This past Sunday, the network launched its follow up drama, Breaking Bad.

Bad stars Bryan Cranston, who we all know for his role as the lovable father in Malcolm In The Middle, although this role couldn’t be a bigger departure. Cranston plays the gruff, middle-aged Walter White, a financially distraught high school chemistry teacher who turns to a life of crime after being diagnosed with chronic, inoperable lung cancer.

The pilot starts in medias res with Walter driving through the New Mexico desert in a rundown trailer, dawning nothing but his underwear and a gas mask. Two lifeless bodies shift around in the back as pink smoke rolls out the open windows. After Walter crashes the trailer and puts on a shirt, he tearfully leaves a message to his family through a handheld camcorder, and then raises a loaded gun toward the sound of oncoming police sirens.

Luckily, this tension is lifted during a flashback sequence that takes up the rest of the episode. Here, we see all the aspects that make up Walter’s sympathy-deserving life: a pregnant middle-aged wife, a son handicapped with cerebral palsy, two low paying jobs as a chemistry teacher and a car wash clerk, and a 50th birthday celebration.

Upon collapsing at his workplace, Walter is taken to the hospital and diagnosed with chronic lung cancer. This scene portrays television acting at its finest, folks. When the doctor asks Walter if he completely understands his situation, he can only answer “yes,” and the move on to quickly complain about a mustard stain on the doctor’s lapel. This gritty realism combined with Cranston’s acting is the backbone of the show. What better way to show a man at an ultimate low that to show him fascinated with all the little things that life has to offer–things like mustard stains that he knows he will not be able to appreciate forever.

Keeping the diagnosis a secret from his family, Walter decides on a plan of action: to put his chemistry skills to use by making and selling meth. Walter recruits Jesse, an ex-student turned drug dealer, to be his partner in crime.

If this isn’t conflict enough for you drama lovers, we get more when two drug lords come to confiscate Walter’s recipe for meth at gunpoint. With a gun to his head, Walter mixes up a batch of mustard gas in front of the ignorant drug dealers and traps them in his trailer to suffocate. It’s only then that we’re brought back to the beginning sequence with Walter barreling through the desert, two dead bodies riding shotgun, trying desperately to escape from oncoming sirens that turn out to be nothing but fire trucks.

With the next episode, Jesse and Walter have to find a way to get rid of the two bodies and keep their racket under wraps.

Only one episode in, and I’m hooked. Although the screenplay is a bit dramatic at times, it is balanced with Cranston’s top notch performance, dialogue that rivals any other TV drama, and the profound questions that it raises toward the viewers.

Is the world really black and white? What happens when good people do bad things? When good people “break bad,” does all of the blame lie with them? And finally…Isn’t it nice to know that one promising new series is on a horizon that’s dominated by the writer’s strike?

http://www.breakingbad.com/�

There’s bedlam amongst the Reno sheriffs department again in an all new season of Reno 911!

This second episode of season 5 brings in Diedrich Bader (formerly Oswald in now defunct Drew Carey Show) as Tommy Hawk. Images of Dog The Bounty Hunter quickly rose in my mind as Tommy redid many shots of his show. In one shot, the Reno department unexpectedly bump into Tommy as they both stalk after a bounty. Lieutenant Dangle is awestruck, fumbling for words to describe his admiration for Tommy, and Mr. Hawk orders the clueless sheriffs around, telling them how he wants the shot set up.

Once, Tommy Hawk’s episode is aired on television with the Reno department in it, they are depicted as bumbling buffoons while Tommy looks like the bad ass day-saver. Garcia, outraged, takes a few crack shots at the television with his gun, but misses. Wiegel asks, “Were you aiming for the TV?”

More Hilarity is packaged within the half-hour episode when the Reno sheriffs department hire on as a secretary an overseas prostitute they found in a suitcase with a few exotic birds. Lieutenant Dangle confronts her in one scene and tells her she is processing new inmates right except for one thing: she fingerprints fine, types information out fine, but, does too much of this (Dangle balls his fist and moves it up and down). The woman says, “But, don’t you want to keep the inmates happy?” This is also the same woman who refers to a fax machine as…. well, it starts with an f and ends with a k, machine.

The show is better than ever. The humor is still there, but never becomes tiresome. Some shows can only maintain their fan base if they can adapt and change their humor and mold it into something different, yet still the same. Reno 911 does just that.

Short recap: Last week the designers went avant-garde, and Kit got the boot. Too bad, because I felt she could go further, but it was clear that her concepts were not what high fashion demands. Too bad, too, about getting paired with Ricky, who dodged a bullet again. My favorite, Sweet P, stayed alive too, although Rami got knocked around for doing the same thing too many times.

Here we go with this week. The challenge this week involved an unnecessarily dramatic reveal for a bunch of Levi’s 501s. I don’t know what a warehouse has to do with jeans, but who cares? Their assignment is to “deconstruct denim” – something that Christian can’t stop deconstructing himself. I don’t know what middle school he went to, but I don’t remember deconstructing denim class. We watch the other designers disparage him before we cut to commercial. Throughout the show, the editors keep highlighting Christian’s obnoxiousness a la Santino, but somehow it seems forced, as if they need to create a “villain” for this season.

Recap with spoilers after the jump…

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