Monthly Archives: June 2009

“Nurse Jackie” Premieres Tonight

Posted on by

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”

“Raising the Bar” Season Opener

Posted on by

Raising the Bar

The season opener of “Raising the Bar” is tonight on TNT. From a review:

Tonight’s hour starts wonderfully, as friends roast Jerry Kellerman (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) on his birthday. The guy’s a public defender – passionate, caring and profoundly disheveled. Then – for the sake of a client – comes a transformation. That signals a strong start for the second season of this show from Steven Bochco, the “NYPD Blue” and “L.A. Law” producer.

Viewers will like these idealistic lawyers,changes and all. Jerry has had a makeover, Bobbi (Natalia Cigliuti) is getting a divorce; their boss (Gloria Reuben) is working cases again, because of funding problems. And viewers will care about the cases. Tonight, a decent chap may go to jail, because his nephew was selling drugs in the back of his barber shop. It’s smart, Bochco-quality TV.

I will DVR it for later watching, as the Bachelorette, Nurse Jackie and especially Weeds are first on my list.

For those of you who watch The Closer, that has its season opener tonight as well.

What Is the Draw for “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here?”

Posted on by

I'm a Celebrity

I thought the second episode of “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” would be more watchable without Heidi Montag and her husband Spencer, neither of whom I had heard of before yesterday. I also thought it would suffer an immediate ratings failure and death.

I forgot how America loves a train wreck. Spencer and Heidi whoever are not only back, they are probably going to spike the ratings.

Reality television is supposed to be escapist and entertaining. This show is non-stop, wall-to-wall whining –by all of them, except, so far, Patti Blagojevich. She’s the only half-normal person on the show.

Tonight’s episode opens with a former NBA star crying because his apology for a crude statement to Janice Dicksonson wasn’t accepted. Who are these people? Is anyone besides Stephen Baldwin, who was a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice, even remotely recognizable? Is anyone not tethered to a hospital bed watching?

Bachelorette Episode 3: Spoilers and Recap

Posted on by

Spoiler Alert: Tonight the Bachelorette and her 16 remaining suitors are still in L.A. You’ll see a one-on-one rappelling date with Ed that goes well and one with Sasha at an automotive museum (and then cruising in a Ferrari) that doesn’t end well. Jillian twirls the rose around in her hand in the Ferrari, but declines to give it to Sasha. Why? Perhaps because he’s said he’s never been in love. Who needs a romantic kindergartner?

It’s also the Western episode (like the General Hospital episode of last season) where the guys and Jillian act out scenes, almost all involving kissing. I think this is where Brad makes his fatal mistake that gets him sent home at the rose ceremony. Continue reading →