Category Archives: Non-Reality TV

“Weeds” Season Six: Botwins On the Run

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It seems like a lifetime ago that Weeds season five ended on Showtime. The last scenes were of Shane Botwin, age 16, killing Pilar, the rich and powerful controller of Esteban (Nancy’s new husband and baby- daddy, who happens to be both a Mexican politician and a drug-running mafioso) with a croquet maillot, while Nancy stares at her lifeless body lying facedown in the pool in disbelief.

But, back it is, and it looks to be another great season. In the first episode, “Thwack,” Nancy takes the family on the run to protect Shane. Alanis Morissette is back as Dr. Audra Kitson, with whom brother-in-law Andy is obsessively in love.

On the lam, the family change their names from Botwin to Newman and Nancy, Andy and Silas get jobs at a hotel. Here’s Nancy as a chambermaid.

The hotel’s valet is also a pot dealer, but he’s on strike. Continue reading →

“24” Season 8: Premiere Tonight

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The four hour premiere of “24: Season 8” begins tonight. Two hours Sunday, and again on Monday. There’s a lot of information at KeiferSutherland24.net.

Joining the cast: Katee Sackhoff, Freddie Prinze Jr., Mykelti Williamson, John Boyd, Jennifer Westfeldt and Chris Diamantopoulos.

Season Eight begins in Manhattan. CTU has been upgraded and is run by BRIAN HASTINGS. Freddie Prinze Jr. plays COLE ORTIZ, an ex-Marine who wants to follow in JACK BAUER’s footsteps. He runs the division’s Field Operations.

ROB WEISS is PRESIDENT ALLISON TAYLOR’s new chief of staff, and MEREDITH REED is an ambitious journalist with ties to the unfolding situation.

Keifer Sutherland, Cherry Jones, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Annie Wersching return. And Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor (“Slumdog Millionaire”) makes his American TV debut as OMAR HASSAN, a Middle Eastern leader who comes to the U.S. on a peacemaking mission.

“Weeds” Season Finale Tonight

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This season of “Weeds” went by so fast. Tonight is the finale:

When Nancy discovers what’s in store for Esteban… She does all that she can to protect herself and her family. Elsewhere, Andy decides it’s time for a significant change in his life. Dean, Doug, and Celia reach a truce of sorts. And Silas lends a hand to Adelita, who faces a troubling medical problem.

Update: The finale had three great parts: Adelita’s “medical problem,” Guillermo’s phone call and the ending which I doubt anyone saw coming. These might be the best script writers on television. Season-wise, Alanis Morisette was a huge bonus this season. I hope she’s back for Season Six. The only excess baggage is Doug and Celia’s ex-husband — same-old, same-old. The Celia-Raylene story line was much better. I wish we didn’t have to wait 6 months for what comes next.

“Nurse Jackie” Premieres Tonight

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Nurse Jackie

What makes Showtime so great? Its series, like Weeds and Nurse Jackie.

It may say something about the times, or at least the proclivities of Showtime executives, but all these shows rely on the same twist: good people who do bad things and don’t express remorse.

Nurse Jackie premieres tonight on Showtime (as does the season premiere of Weeds.)

Jackie, played by Edie Falco (Carmela of the Sopranos) is a nurse with an addiction to painkillers.

Ms. Falco, who played Carmela on “The Sopranos,” is Jackie Peyton, a tough, brusque and dedicated nurse at All Saints, a fictional Roman Catholic hospital in Lower Manhattan. She knows more about emergency medicine than patronizing doctors do, and she isn’t afraid to speak up. Double shifts and 80-hour weeks have left her with a bad back, and that has led her to grind Percocet into her coffee sweetener and snort lines of Adderall in the ladies’ room.

I love the tagline accompanying the photo above on the show’s homepage: “Life is full of little pricks”

“24” Season Finale

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Kiefer Sutherland

I won’t be watching the finale of “24” until after The Bachelorette.” But I’m already thinking about it. I’ll update after I’ve watched it.

Update: The finale was great. I think one of the things I like best about the show is how un-Hollywood in appearance so many of the characters are. The casting is just great.

Of all the finales I’ve seen this week, this was the only one without an annoying “cliffhanger.” You know Jack is going to survive through the stem cell transplant from his daughter and you know what decision the FBI agent makes. And they cleared up the “why” behind Tony Almeida’s working for both sides. And finally, Olivia got her due. She was one of the most unpleasant characters to watch. Continue reading →