Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

2 April 2020: Jason Katims on how Friday Night Lights would have addressed the pandemic. This literally made me tear up.

Kyle Chandler's New Show

He'll be on a new show called The Vatican. Given my love for all things Coach Taylor, you know I'll be watching.

Best part of this article: "Jesus, Chandler! You've already made us feel totally screwed up by making us want you as both a husband and a father. Now you're adding Catholicism to it? Are you trying to kill us with guilt?"

Connie Britton interview

This woman can do no wrong. I'd watch her do anything. Anyway, check out this interview. Worth noting (in no particular order of interest):

• She still keeps in touch with members of the FNL cast (all the cool ones, of course) and had to close her eyes while watching Taylor Kitsch in Savages. (Aww!)
• She also has to close her eyes while watching parts of American Horror Story. (Me, too, but mostly for those uber-creepy opening credits.)
• She was worried about what FNL fans would think of "Mrs. Coach" in such a different role on AHS. No worries, Connie: you rocked it on AHS.
• Nashville will feature original music from folks like Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, and T-Bone Burnett. How amazing is that?

A couple of quick cross-posts (sort of) from my advanced comp class's blog...

1) I am THRILLED about Fringe's renewal. Take a look at this interesting piece about it. The piece's author explores how the TV landscape has changed since the days of Firefly. He also discusses the roles fans can play in "saving" a show.

Some important selections:

"Not so long ago, TV shows like 'Firefly,' 'Wonderfalls,' 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' and 'Dollhouse' were mourned by science fiction fans as having been canceled before their time, due -- as it always is -- to low ratings.

Another thing each had in common: They aired on Fox on Friday nights.

So observers of the TV world were surprised Thursday to learn of the network's renewal of the series 'Fringe' for a full fourth season after two months in a Friday timeslot."

 

2) Because there's a Buffy reference in it...

and because it's a very funny piece...

and because I love Adrianne Palicki (formerly of Friday Night Lights, one of the best TV shows ever...), who will be playing the new Wonder Woman...

and because it makes some great points about woman super heroes...

I am linking to this column about Wonder Woman's wardrobe. (Yeah--it's a doozy.) Good stuff.

TV's most datable characters...

EW.com has a fun poll going on right now asking which TV characters are most "datable." There are quite a few attractive candidates on both sides, but you know my votes went to Eric and Tami Taylor from Friday Night Lights. (I was awfully tempted to vote for Chuck or Richard Castle, though.)

Anyway, below the voting boxes, there are some "fun tidbits from the nomination round." Be sure to check those out. The one that stood out to me: 11 people were willing to date Dexter. I wonder what it says about me that I thought, "Oh yeah, I get that."

Emmy Nominations

So I know I've been complaining about being busy, and yet, here I go writing a big old blog post about TV. Yeah, the irony isn't lost on me.

Anyway, I've been meaning to do a quick post about the Emmy nominations and could use a break from Hawthorne. Overall, I am super-excited about some of the nominations, especially Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler. It's about time! Connie Britton needs to win this one. She just does. Did you see Friday's episode? Amazing. Also, check out this interview. Don't you just want to be her friend? Other thoughts:

All the love for Modern Family, the best new show of the season (yeah, including Glee, which I do love, but more about that below). But no nomination for Ed O'Neil? He really is fantastic on that show--a wonderful combination of funny and sweet. You buy him as a dad, a grandfather, and as Gloria's husband. Makes you totally forget Al Bundy, a character I never liked.

Nominations for more of my favorites: my beloved NPH, Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick, Glenn Close, Terry O'Quinn, Michael Emerson, and Rose Byrnne .

The nods to Lost: Matthew Fox really was a lead actor/heart of that show, so an Emmy this year would be awesome (but maybe not at Kyle Chandler's expense?). And hell yeah, Elizabeth Mitchell! Good thing I'm not an Emmy voter, because I'd have a heck of a time deciding between O'Quinn and Emerson (but would probably end up voting Emerson.)

Love that Burn Notice gets a bit of notice with the fun nomination of Sharon Gless. This isn't a superb show, but it's a lot of fun and she's terrific on it. These summer shows (including The Closer) are changing the way we think about TV. I like that.

Very happy for Julia Louis Dreyfus. New Christine was a show that was too funny to be canceled. (Ausiello's got an post-nomination interview with JLD here.) Too bad Better Off Ted didn't get any love either. Man, that show was hilarious--like Arrested Development with less of a mean streak.

Glee...well, I've been thinking a lot about this, and I am not sure how I feel about all the Glee nominations. Don't get me wrong: I love, love, love the show, but part of me doesn't believe it's superior TV. I think that what I love so much is the music. The writing can be so sloppy and cliched, some of the acting is pretty bad, and lots of times, you can't tell if it is a big old satire or serious. Lea Michelle deserves her nomination, as does Jane Lynch (someone needs to put together a gift book of Sue Sylvester insults), and Matthew Morrison's nod doesn't bother me.

The Glee nomination that intrigues me is the nomination for Chris Colfer. No one saw that coming. I'm not sure if it was his performance that was Emmy-worthy or the writing of his storylines, especially with his dad, played Mike O'Malley (who totally deserved his nomination). That was excellent stuff. A friend and I have had conversations about the character of Kurt: she hates him because he's so obnoxious and bitchy, but I think that makes him more realistic. What that portrayal shows you is that it is hard to be a gay high school boy (duh, right?) but instead of making him a sweet, always-victim, he's a bit of a brat at times. He makes a play for Finn even though he knows Finn is totally straight. That seems real. I don't know...it works for me. The same is true for Artie's struggles as a disabled person.

But other storylines (Finn's sadness over his absent dad, Rachel and Finn's on-again/off-again status, Ken and Emma's relationship early in the season) confuse me about the show's tone. It's like the show can't make up its mind about what it wants to be. (Kind of like Nip/Tuck, also created by Ryan Murphy.) Watch an hour of Glee and then an hour of Chuck. Chuck hits all the notes (seems like an appropriate metaphor): acting, writing, production, and has a sort of central theme/heart. Glee puts on a good show in terms of music and some laughs, but minute for minute, it seems to me to be the weaker show. Anyway, if any of you, dear readers, watch Glee, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this show--especially the whole satire vs. serious question.

Some snubs that bug me: No best drama for Friday Night Lights? No love for Chuck? No nomination for FNL's Zach Gilford? Nothing for John Noble on Fringe? Each of these is an absolute crime. But here's the deal: this year, it seems, there are far fewer of these types of crimes, and that's progress.

TV beyond Lost...

Two quick thoughts:

1) I feel obliged to state that the Chuck finale was fantastic. Everyone needs to watch Chuck. Seriously. I get that Lost was a kind of niche show--not for everyone. But Chuck has something--and something good--for everyone.

2) While I am still mourning the end of Lost, we've still got the other best show on TV, Friday Night Lights. Check out this fan promo for Emmy nominations for Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton. It is a crime that they haven't been recognized yet. The video encapsulates all the reasons it is so amazing.

Friday Night Lights

I know it wasn't too long ago that I blogged that Chuck and Sarah were my favorite TV couple, but even then, I felt like I was forgetting someone (or two). Last night's premiere of Friday Night Lights reminded me of TV's absolute best couple: Eric and Tami Taylor. This show and Lost are quite simply the best shows on TV. If you haven't watched FNL, you are really missing out.

I want to hang out with Connie Britton...

If you adore Friday Night Lights and the fantastic Connie Britton, you'll want to take a look at this item from EW's Michael Ausiello.

And in references to this post's title, I mean, seriously, doesn't she just look like she'd be fun to have dinner with? And knowing she's in it actually makes me look forward to the new Nightmare on Elm Street. That's no small statement since the original is one of the formative movies from my youth.

(Side note that should make you think my brother Christian is pretty cool: as I've mentioned before, my siblings and I love horror movies--always have. The original Nightmare on Elm Street scared me so much after I first watched it that Christian let me sleep in his bed and took the floor for himself. He also did this after The Exorcist. All together now: "Awwww.")

Two happy TV posts...

1) Some good news about characters from the Whedonverse: Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof have a brand-new baby girl.*

2) Friday Night Lights will be back--and here's the kicker--for TWO more seasons. This is amazing--way more than I could have dreamed for! If you aren't watching this show, you need to be. It's the best realistic drama on TV. Period.

*in other baby news...yay for Baby John!

Paleyfest

If you are a TV-lover like myself, then you were probably wishing you were at Paleyfest even once over the last couple of weeks--if only for the amazing Buffy Reunion. Other presentations I would have paid a lot of money to attend: The X-Files, Friday Night Lights, Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Damages, and even Gossip Girl. Anyway, here's a link to some video from the event.