On June 21st, a ‘Behind the Scenes’ video of The Walking Dead cast on their first day of filming Season 2 was put onto AMC’s website. In the video, the cast were spending an awful lot of time underneath abandoned vehicles. Are they trying to relocate? Are they all together? I have so many questions! I am definitely not the only fan eagerly awaiting the next season, so seeing a little video of the set was almost enough to tide me over.
In the video, as I said, a few of the cast members were stationed under vehicles on the set. We also hear commentary from producers Frank Darabont and Gale Anne Hurd.
ALSO:
The famous McFarland toy company is at it again! The Walking Dead figures will be available in November! This will help me in figuring out what to get some of my friends for Christmas.
At this point in their careers, it is safe to say that the creators of Glee have turned everything they touch into gold. Glittery, shimmering gold. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, only 455,000 viewers tuned into Oxygen’s new show. The Glee Project premiered Sunday night at 9pm. This show begins by putting 12 people between the ages of 18-22 into a contest which includes vocals, acting, dancing, as well as taking direction. Every week the group has a guest judge. The first week’s guest judge was Darren Criss (Blaine Anderson). At the end of every week, the bottom three contestants are chosen to perform in front of the creator of Glee, Ryan Murphy.
I watched the premiere episode, and I have to say I liked it… but there were quite a few problems with it…
First off, I am not sure who was in charge of advertising for The Glee Project, but I have obsessively watched every single episode of Glee, not only at the time it was aired, but multiple times afterward. I can honestly say that I wasn’t quite sure what The Glee Project was when I was going to write this article. I had seen commercials about it, but they all said to go to a website, or download an app for more information. This show is much like American Idol, without seeing all of the embarrassing moments that everyone watches those types of elimination shows for. I think that if this show had been properly advertised, the premiere would’ve done better. In fact, I may have made an event of it. Hell, I would have auditioned.
Incognito
Secondly, the most interesting parts of the show were not drawn out as much as they should have been. They had a guest judge – one of the lovable gays from the show, and barely showed him when it aired. He worked with one of the contestants on his vocal, but you only see about a minute of them working together. I am not sure why they did that, but I would have wanted to see more Blaine…
The show needs a lot of work. As a Glee fan, I hope it does get better.
In my second piece of exciting news, Executive Producer Ian Brennan has said he wants to create an episode in Season 3 to feature Bruce Springsteen. It is rumored that The Boss might play Finn Hudson’s uncle on the show, which would be perfect!
Glee has already had fantastic guest appearances, such as Britney Spears, and a recurring role as a substitute teacher played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Not to mention Neil Patrick Harris, Kristin Chenoweth, and Uncle Jesse himself – John Stamos as a dentist.
I am very excited about my next order of Glee business. On June 13th, I attended a fantastic concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills (Home of the Detroit Pistons). One so fantastic, and full of so much talent (and so many 12-year-olds) that they must have made a fortune off of this show. I am, of course, talking about the Glee Concert. During this performance, all of the Glee cast members stay in character (Kurt is gay, Brittany is dumb, etc…).
This concert could not have been done better, in my opinion. The only critique is that it was a somewhat short show, but I understand that most of the fans had a long hard day of junior-high mathematics to attend the next morning. The cast pulled out all of the fans’ favorite show-stopping moments, including when Brittany was Britney Spears, when Kurt did the ‘Single Ladies’ dance, when normally disabled Artie gets out of his wheelchair and does the ‘Safety Dance’, and my personal favorite of the night, Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’ sung by Santana Lopez (played by Naya Rivera). Of course, my favorite performer is always Finn Hudson (played by Cory Monteith). You should see him sing live. He has a permanent O-face. It is extraordinary. Overall, the show was very well put together, with very intricate dance moves, and even special video recorded appearances by Jane Lynch and Matthew Morison.
I am not the only person to have seen the show…not by any means. But according to the Chicago Sun Times, one journalist has lost her job for fabricating details about the Glee Live Show on June 3rd. Chicago Sun-Times TV critic Paige Wiser had gone to watch the concert with her son and daughter. According to Wiser, at one point in the concert her daughter threw up and her son fell off of a chair. Under the stress of her job, she made a snap decision to continue the writeup of the concert and fabricate some details, even though she did not stay for the entire show. A reader noticed inconsistencies in her report, which lead Editor in Chief Don Hayer to announce Wiser’s dismissal in a note posted online on June 9.
He wrote in that note: “Accuracy and honesty in reporting are essential parts of the promise we make to our readers. We regret the incident and apologize.” Wiser said that she is ashamed, and admitted responsibility. “I’m at fault. I do understand what a big deal this was. I am ashamed, and it’s just a matter of making bad decisions when you’re exhausted.”
For my final bit of information for you, I give you the host of this year’s Emmy Awards: Jane Lynch! I have to say, after seeing her on Saturday Night Live, I am looking forward to how she will put her spin on hosting an award show such as this.
Lynch won “Outstanding Supporting Actress” last year, and has been nominated for a Critics Choice TV Award“Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series”, which she would definitely deserve. The Emmys will air September 18 on FOX.
In this episode of South Park, Stan gets a ‘Tween Wave’ CD as a birthday gift. His mother says he can’t listen to it, and takes the CD away from him. When Stan’s dad Randy approaches his wife about it, he decides to take the kids’ side, and jumps on the ‘Tween Wave’ bandwagon.
I love the beginning of this episode for so many reasons, not the least of which being that this situation happened to me as a pre-teen. My mom took an Eminem CD away from my older sister that she and I listened to. My dad immediately took our side, and defended our right to listen to whatever music we want. It was hilarious.
The episode took an amazing turn when Stan visited the doctor, only to find out he has a condition called “being a cynical asshole”. The doctor said that as we grow older, our tastes in everything change, and things that used to sound great begin sounding like shit. Conversely, the things that used to look and sound like shit supposedly begin to seem less like shit. The doctor then tells Stan that his wires somehow got crossed and everything looks and sounds like shit. Then, I got to hear an AMAZING impression of Bob Dylan. Classic.
"Look at these 2 pictures. One of them is an ad for Kevin James' new movie THE ZOOKEEPER. And the other is a turd in a microwave. Which one is the ad for the ZOOKEEPER?"
Beginning this fall, NBC will be airing The Playboy Club every Monday night, and I will be watching this show. The show’s aesthetic is obviously inspired by the success of AMC’s Mad Men, which is set in the same era, and focuses on ‘men being men’ and has a cast full of beautiful women. Weather or not the Hugh Hefner’s legacy can inspire the same kind of quality and accolades as the AMC mega hit is yet to be seen. But it’s got a Network budget and an eye-catching subject matter, so if NBC really gets behind it, The Playboy Club could help turn around the struggling Network…
Set in 1963, at the original Playboy Nightclub in Chicago – hence the title. It’s a drama that will focus on the girls in the employ of Mr. Hefner, and will star former ‘Grizzly Girl of the Week’ – Amber Heard(Pineapple Express, Zombieland). This miraculously beautiful blonde is the newly hired ‘Bunny Maureen’ in the show, and she quickly creates some major trouble for herself.
Maureen is a somewhat naive and innocent girl, especially in comparison to some of the other bunnies, but she’ll be forced to grow up pretty quick when she accidentally kills a man with direct ties to a mob family. That’s when Nick Dalton (Eddie Cibrian – Invasion, CSI: Miami) stumbles across the bunny with bloody nylons, and decides to help her dispose of the body. Dalton seems to be the man to have on your side, as he acts swift and decisively, and instructs the new Bunny on what to do. Nick is a king at the club. Envied by men, adored by women, but it’s obvious that he’s really alone.
The show also stars some other – ahem…talented ladies. Some of the beauties include ‘Bunny Brenda’ (Naturi Naughton – ‘Fame’, former member of ear-rapists 3LW), who is an African-American beauty aspiring to be the first “chocolate centerfold”. Laura Benanti (2008 Broadway production of ‘Gypsy’) plays Bunny ‘Carol-Lynne’, the first Playboy Bunny. She is the mother hen of the group, and gives advice and instructions to the girls. Leah Renee Cudmore (‘True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet’), is ‘Bunny Alice’, a LESBIAN who is in a sham marriage with a gay man. So they cast a straight girl to play the lesbian, and then a leasbian (Heard) to play a straight girl. Acting! Finally we have Jenna Dewan(Star of the classic Horror Schlock – ‘Tamara’), as ‘Bunny Janie’. Janie in a strained relationship with Max (Wes Ramsey – CSI: Miami) who is incredibly overbearing when it comes to Janie’s position as a 1960s living, breathing fantasy. So there’s some built-in drama.
The real question though – Who wants to see some NUDITY? Don’t you worry, because NBC has you covered… or should I say uncovered?
The DVD release of the show has been approved to bare it all, if that is where their creative (or otherwise) juices take them. All of the stars have it in their contract to be shot in their birthday suits. I foresee a long line at Best Buy…
There is already plenty of controversy over this, especially from the idiots at the ‘Parents Television Council’, but none of that matters though. The show will get off to a strong start, and I predict that it will do quite well. Afterall, Playboy is an institution in this country…
This Fall, ABC will be airing Once Upon a Time, a fairytale with a twist. The plot revolves around Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison– House, How I Met Your Mother), a bail bonds collector who lives in Maine. She is a part of a parallel universe, along with several other people in her town, only none of them remember their true lives or their identities. She gave her son up for adoption years before to a town called “Storybrooke”.
Emma is now 28 years old, and her son Henry is in need of her help. After being given a book of stories by his school teacher (Ginnifer Goodwin – Big Love, Something Borrowed) Henry finds the mother who gave him up as a baby.
Jennifer Morrison and Ginnifer Goodwin.
Henry tells her of her other identity: She is Snow White’s daughter. Snow White (also played by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas – Thor) sent her away as a baby to protect her from the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla– 24). Also from the realm of fairy tales is the infamous Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle – 24: Redemption). Now, Emma must fight in an epic battle for good to power over evil.
Once Upon a Time comes from the creators of Lost, and according to THR, they’ve just added a writer who may sound familiar to many of you – Jane Espenson. Jane is probably most famous for her work with Joss Whedon on shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse and Firefely, but that’s not all she’s done. She was also one of the driving forces behind both Battlestar Galactica and it’s spinoff Caprica, and most recently penned the screenplay for the 7th episode of Game of Thrones – ‘You Win or You Die’.
The costumes and sets that are in the clips I’ve seen look absolutely phenomenal and not at all cheesy. My only worry is how they will transition from modern day Maine to a magical land with evil queens, curses, and fairytale characters.
I hope they do it like they did in Disney’s Enchanted… through a sewer. Here is the official trailer:
In addition, ABC has also released a couple of Sneak Peak clips…
The comic-turned-TV show The Walking Dead season one premiered on AMC, Halloween night 2010. The six-episode first season ended December 5th. I however, just recently got hip to this show, and watched all of the episodes. It is difficult to find a word to describe my excitement… so I will make one up. I am STUPENXCITED for the next season!
The Walking Dead is set in Georgia, but the group begins making their way across the U.S. in hopes of finding other survivors or a safe place away from the “walkers” (the undead). The main character is Rick Grimes (I call him “Grimey”). He is a cop who was left in a hospital and hooked up to life support when the undead attacked. He awakens find few survivors, but they search for their family and friends together.
For so many reasons that you MUST see for yourself, this show made my stomach do back-flips. Some of the images I saw during the duration of season one will be burned into my brain forever. This show has everything… blood, severed limbs, bigots, zombies, and sexy drama.
We saw a lot happen in season one. Officer Grimes and his wife Lori were eventually reunited, but not before we find out that she had been hooking up with his best friend Shane. Granted, Shane and Lori thought that Rick was dead, but still. Shane was Rick’s partner on the force, and helped Lori take care of her son Carl.
We saw the racist hick Merle get handcuffed to the top of a building, and after the key was dropped, get left there to be eaten. We later saw that he cut his own hand off and got out, leaving his brother Daryl to find only the hand.
There were also some very sad moments on top of all of the drama and gore. Andrea, one of the survivors, was forced to shoot her sister Amy after a major attack of the undead on the survivors at their camp. Amy was bitten and died on her birthday. And the last major moment was the group meeting up with the man from the CDC at one of their labs. He gave them food and shelter to remain safe from the walkers. When the CDC building power generators run out of fuel, there will be a two-stage explosion to blow up the place. Everyone from the group but Jacqui gets out in time. She decided to stay and suffer the explosion with the man who took them in.
The Walking Dead recently signed on for a second season which will contain 13 episodes. They are said to begin filming June first… my birthday! And since they haven’t released an official one yet, here is a Season 2 Fan Trailer:
There are already about a dozen potential spoilers about the new season online. However, I absolutely hate when people ruin things for me like that, so I will leave you to find those out on your own. All I can say is that there may be some involvement from Stephen King and or Lindsay Lohan. Also, we are supposed to find out what Jennifer whispered to Rick. I accidentally read a couple of spoilers and am very angry about it! They are juicy, so don’t seek them out unless you are prepared! Season 2 will air later this year.
The real question for fans of the books though: When is Michonne gonna show up with her Samurai Sword?
Grizzly Bomb 