Emmy Shortlist: Drama Supporting Actors

TNRLM Shortlist: Supporting Actress/Drama

Hope Davis, In Treatment: Davis took a character that on the surface - baby crazy, daddy issues, aggressive mood swings, inappropriately flirtatious – could have been an annoying cliché, and turned Mia into a mesmerizing foil for Paul. She was sexy, demanding, vulnerable and electric and totally believable.

Allison Pill, In Treatment: In Treatment has been a showcase for young actresses that I wasn’t that familiar with: last year, it was Mia Wasikowska and this year, it was Allison Pill. Pill was riveting as the cancer patient reticent to pursue medical treatment, and her sessions on Paul’s couch were as honest as they were showstopping.

Elizabeth Mitchell, Lost: Juliet has long been my favorite female character on the show, and Mitchell, despite how they wrote her character in the last hour of the season, was outstanding throughout the trek back to 1977. Mitchell and Josh Holloway made the audience totally invest in the Sawyer/Juliet pairing, and Mitchell is a master of conveying a lot with a little. The Dharma times were good, but her scenes at the drilling shaft in “The Incident” were heartbreaking.

Annie Wersching, 24: It’s hard to be the “sidekick” on 24, because you’re probably going to wind up dead or a mole. Agent Walker turned out to be neither of those, and we were the better for it. Wersching brought a touch of sass and emotional depth to the role, and helped frame Jack Bauer’s humanity and struggles to do the right thing.



Dianne Wiest, In Treatment: Wiest was fantastic as Paul’s friend/therapist Gina this season, and her character had her hands full as Paul dealt with a lawsuit, familial troubles and crises of professional faith.


Olivia Williams, Dollhouse: Adelle DeWitt could have been a Machiavellian, clichéd icy Brit (and at first, she was), but as the layers of the Dollhouse were peeled back, so too were the layers of the character. DeWitt showed us additional colors in two episodes (the one where she and Topher were under the effects of a drug that caused them to “loosen up,” where she was hilarious, and the one where we learned about her personal uses for Victor), and Williams knocked those out of the park.

TNRLM Shortlist: Supporting Actor/Drama

Jeremy Davies, Lost: Nobody was more crucial to Lost’s time trippy fifth season than Daniel Faraday, and Davies imbued the doomed, damaged scientist with a tragic nobility. If his scenes with Charlotte didn’t bring tears to your eyes, you don’t have a heart, and his note perfect acting grounded the loopier plot elements.


Michael Emerson, Lost: Originally intended to be nothing more than a guest for 3 or 4 episodes, Emerson turned Benjamin Linus into a must watch linchpin for the entire series. With his dry line readings and unique spin on the material, Emerson is fascinating to watch, and nobody makes persistent prevarication this entertaining.


Michael Hogan, Battlestar Galactica: Since donning the patch after the exodus from New Caprica, Hogan has done more with one eye than most actors do with their entire faces. In the final season, Saul Tigh dealt with the nature of his Cylon heritage, the loss of a child and the reappearance of his long lost true love, and Hogan was stellar.


John Mahoney, In Treatment: Mahoney’s Walter was one of the more difficult patients on the couch this year, and watching Mahoney and Byrne go toe to toe through the character’s arc was a delight.



John Noble, Fringe: Was there another character on a drama this year more fun to watch? Walter Bishop was indeed the stereotypical mad scientist, but Noble gave him more than just a childlike id and wonderment and obsession with cows and snacks. He also showed us a man struggling with his sanity and tenuous grasp on reality, and living with the ramifications of the things he believes he’s done.

Terry O'Quinn, Lost: Few things on TV this year were more heartbreaking than Locke’s “final moments” in that run down apartment in “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham. No matter what the producers ask him to do, O’Quinn always delivers, and his “reappearance” in the final episodes of the season as a more confident, motivated John Locke was no exception.

Jon Scurti, Rescue Me: The show has come back with a vengeance this season, and Scurti continues to shine as the funniest member of the crew. Nobody on the show is better with a joke, but we also saw different sides of Lou as he dealt with his memories of 911 with the French reporter, and in what should be his Emmy highlight reel, castigated Tommy for his ongoing self-absorption.

Season Finale Haiku

Chuck
"Guys. I know kung fu!"
Happily, not the last words,
We will hear Chuck say.

Lost
Not all black and white.
Lots of secrets to Un-Locke.
Kate still fucks it up.

Bones
What the hell was that?
Babies, brain tumors and sex?
I want amnesia.

How I Met Your Mother
Mom is in the class?
Don't care since we have Barney,
Robin and Aldrins.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Goodbye, smart sci-fi.
Loved the cast, and this John C,
Won't scream at DP.

American Idol
"Golden Idols" suck,
Homophobia clouds vote,
Kara fun at last.

House
Hallucination?
Only good cuz of Cutthroat.
Hugh still awesome, though.

Dollhouse
Wash is a badass.
Love for Adelle knows no bounds.
Bring on season 2.

Battlestar Galactica
All just chess pieces,
Cuz god did it all along.
Where did Starbuck go?

Fringe
Dimension doorway,
Hey look! It's Spock! Walter rocks.
Peter spry for dead.

Desperate Housewives
Please, Dave, kill Susan.
Did anything fun happen?
Why do I still watch?

The Office
God no! Not babies!
Always kills a show for me.
Picnics are awkward.

Supernatural
Heaven has cold beer.
And burgers. Angels are dicks.
Ruby can't act. Bye!

24
Kim and no cougar.
Red is hot and goes Jack-side.
Quiet end. Good day.

Heroes
More lame upon lame.
Put B. Fuller on GOOD show.
Cast can't save plotting.

I'll take potpourri for $5,100, Alex

Go through all 7 seasons of Buffy in less than four minutes.

Ears and language rejoice! You will no longer be defiled by a Florida education. Emmitt is not coming back to ESPN. (With a list of his top 10 attempts at a coherent sentence, and video).

Sarah Connor ratings low, but steady. Dollhouse drops a bit, does okay in the demo. Can the show get in a groove and build?

Fringe moves production to Canada. Who cares? Walter can obsess about snack food in a basement anywhere. And The X-Files filmed there forever, before moving stateside late in its run.

TWOP looks at "familiar" characters in Dollhouse.

Mo Ryan continues her series of excellent interviews with BSG writers, this time with Jane Espenson. More here with the writers of "No Exit." She also chats with BSG and Dollhouse actor Tahmoh Penikett. (Between BSG and Dollhouse, typing his name is killing my spell checker).

And BSG composer Bear McCreary chats with another Final Fiver, Michael Hogan.

"Geek" shows (and Desperate Housewives and Grey's?) dominate the torrent downloads.

And the Oscar for best red carpet nipples goes to....

A really good list of the best movies about television.

Watchmen is coming! EW has a primer. So does TWOP. And geek icon Wil Wheaton saw the flick and says RELAX, it's AWESOME.

Info on the latest "standalone" story (about Faith and Giles) from the Buffy S8 comics.

Fast food ads vs. reality. The dream dies hard.

Five great careers derailed by the Oscar.

Cordy will be showing up on CSI.

Video of Matt Stafford showing some throwing skills (but not at the combine).

Good idea for Trek newbies: "Best of" samplers, with some very good eppy selections.

TIME has a Q&A with Joss.

This is Teh Awesomes. A "trilogy meter." Take a look.

In the SEC, who is each school's biggest rivals? Seems about right.

Looking back at the 2006 college recruiting classes. UGA's 2006 rank? 4th. Evaluated in hindsight? 4th.

The NYT talks to 24's resident nerd comics.

The 10 Worst Places to Work on TV.

Two little kids recreate the diner scene from Pulp Fiction.

From Jorge Garcia's blog, a look at the cake the folks from Ace of Cakes made for Lost's 100th eppy.

Pretty cool. Magenta isn't a color.

Phlox makes like Arzt, goes BOOM!

I haven't written much about the new season of 24 yet. However, this seems like a good time to check in, since we just got one major threat resolved (the ridiculously uber powered "CIP" device), and we're moving on the next, and usually troublesome, phase of the show -- the "filler" middle episodes before the true "big bad" is revealed and all the tension ratchets up to the finale.

Overall, this has been a HUGE improvement over Day 6's debacle. The entire cast is staffed with competent, compelling actors, and the characters have been fairly interesting. A few comments:

• The "to torture or not to torture" debate was recognized, and dealt with, if a bit ham handedly. At least the producers acknowledged the issue (perhaps a few times too many), and moved on.
• I like the new president, though she hasn't been given much to do yet other than speechify. She's certainly a big improvement over David Palmer's milquetoast younger brother (though not as much fun as the delightfully deranged and Eeeeevil Charles and Martha Logan).
• Jack's new sidekick Renee is fine, cute and kicks ass. Remarkable healing powers she has, to come back from being shot in the neck and buried alive, only to help the raid on Dobaku's lair, all with extraordinarily shiny hair.
• Nice to see Bill pitching in on the ass kicking.
• Jack's body count was starting to feel underwhelming until Monday's ep. We definitely need to see more Bauer fodder coming up.
• While I wasn't bored by the First Husband's search for his son's killer, it was nice to see him tied into the main plot more.
• John Billingsly, who played Phlox on Star Trek: Enterprise among many other roles, made a good twitchy CIP enabler. It was a shock, and kind of a laugh, too, in a sick way, to see him make like Artz on Lost and get turned into taco filling.
• I keep expecting Rhys Coiro to revert to his "Billy Walsh" character and storm out of the FBI in search of booze and whores.
• Ever Carradine sightings are always welcome.
• Janeane Garafalo's Janice (“Ma’am, as I just stated, I’m with the FBI. Does that sound vaguely important to you?”) has been a worthy peer/foil for Chloe. Now, we just have to get these two neurotic, socially inept hackers together!
• The only major downside I've noticed is that they "time rules" seem to be even more flexible than before. Getting around Washington DC is laughably convenient, and I think we're just at the point where a few minutes here and there don't even phase me anymore.

So, welcome back, Jack.

I'll take potpourri for $3,500, Alex

Perhaps absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Here's an extended trailer for the upcoming season of 24.

Unhappy 40th birthday, MPAA. Nice list.

Don Draper on 30 Rock? The world might explode. (And I posted one clip from Jon Hamm's SNL appearance last week, where he was in character as Don Draper. But if you can find the "Vincent Price Halloween Special" sketch around -- it's not on Hulu -- go see it. Hamm does a fantastic James Mason).

A cornucopia of expansive and thoughtful Matt Weiner interviews. Here, Here and Here.

Dr. Horrible is one of Time's "Best Inventions of the Year." Damn straight.

Cats and dogs living together? A sign of the apocolypse, or the coming of the Stay-Puft marshmallow man? Perhaps. But damn, this story is cute enough to make even my black heart beat a little.

Some much deserved love for BSG and Sarah Connor hottie, Stephanie Jacobsen.

Empire asked David Fincher to scribble down his favorite movies of all time. His list makes me appreciate him even more. What he scribbled (and my agreement on "favorites" in yellow):

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Chinatown
Dr. Strangelove
Godfather 2
Taxi Driver
Being There
All The Jazz
Alien
Rear Window
Zelig
Cabaret
Paper Moon
Jaws
Lawrence of Arabia
All the Presidents Men
8 1/2
Citizen Kane
Days of Heaven
Animal House
Road Warrior
Year of Living Dangerously
American Graffiti
Terminator
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Exorcist
The Graduate

David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who. My Whovian experience only goes back as far as the new series, but the casting of both "new" Doctors has been spot on. I have confidence the next one will be an inspired and talented choice.

Here and here are some options for making Firefox as dark as night.

Part 1 and Part 2 of a long interview with Jon Favreau about Iron Man, The Avengers and more.

How cute is this hoodies for geeks? I need to meet someone who would wear this.

Holy Shit! MTV does music videos? Online, at least. The "channel" is still littered with reality whores, though.

A can't miss interview with Michael Taylor, BSG writer. Lots of good stuff for fans in there (and of course, as all good writers should be, he's a fan of Mad Men).

Joss talks about what the hell has been going on with Dollhouse.

The "Big O" thinks that success and keeping what you earn is "selfishness." Sigh. Ayn Rand rolls over in her grave. Can we all go John Galt next week after the election?

I fucking hate clamshell packaging. It's a wonder anyone has fingers left after frakkin' with those things. But check this out!

Comic-Con done broke Google Reader

Of the 60+ RSS feeds I get into Google Reader, many of them are focused on geeky entertainment. And with Comic-Con going this week, the damned feed has almost exploded. Fortunately, I have no life and I've managed to make my way through them all and find my cup of nerd knowledge overflowing. Some highlights:

What to wear at Comic-Con. I particularly like the Captain Hammer shirt, and the "all the robots that matter" one.

Jack Bauer screams "Dammit!" at a fan (all in good fun). And there's a reference to a 24 drinking game (I seem to recall getting plastered playing my own version of this one).

Highlights from the Watchmen panel. First, Carla Gugino is smoking hot. (She was also on a panel for a "re-imagining" of childhood fave Escape to Witch Mountain). Also, good insight from the actors on getting into their characters. Speaking of the flawless Gugino, here's a look at a Vargas-style pinup of her character, Sally Jupiter. Another recap of the panel is here.

Kinda cool: a look a concept art for the lightcycles in TRON. Awesomely Fucking Cool: Out of the blue and unannounced, Disney previewed a teaser (or "proof of concept") for a TRON sequel, called TR2N, featuring The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges. Here's a grainy, camera phone view of the footage.

Dexter made an appearance at the Con. Here's a write up on the panel. And check out the season 3 preview!

Thoughts on The Middleman panel. And they are cutting back from 13 eps to 12? Sigh. I, too, was worried that the smart, funny show might be too "niche-y" to find a mainstream audience (especially on ABC Family) despite all the glowing reviews. I certainly hope it comes back for a second season, but if you're not watching it, you should be, while you can. There's really nothing like it on TV, and it's the laugh out loud funniest take on "superheroes" since The Tick.

Farscape is coming back with comics and webisodes.

I knew a Wolverine movie was coming out, but I didn't realize there would be an appearance from everyone's favorite lingerie-wearing, psychotic, psionic uber-bitch, Emma Frost. Awesome. I wonder who will be playing her? How about Christina Cole? Or Emily Blunt with blonde hair?

Video from the panel with the Lost guys. Plus more on Chuck, Sarah Connor and Lost.

The 50 Greatest Television Shows of All Time

Empire, the UK's preeminent entertainment magazine (and really, one of the best out there period) just published a list of the 50 Greatest Television Shows of All Time. While it has a certain British sensibility, and includes several shows many of us in The Colonies haven't seen, it is a solid list and one that deserves comment. So open up another tab in your browser, and follow along with me as I count (most of) them down.

Nice to see some love for Quantum Leap

Would not put Prison Break in the Top 50. Or Top 250.

Veronica's best episode is NOT the S2 finale. And I might put it higher on the list.

DS9's best ep would be "Far Beyond the Stars," Trials and Tribbilations" or "In the Pale Moonlight."

Nice to see Farscape love, too. I would put it higher than 45. I would have never believed I could take seriously a show that featured muppets as aliens, but damned if it didn't work, thanks to inventive scripting and downright sizzling performances by Ben Browder and Claudia Black.

Star Trek at 43? Kidding, right? Dammit, Jim, that's too low!

Band of Brothers. Cool. I hate the way I finally got around to watching this one, though.

For Star Trek: TNG, they rightly named "Best of Both Worlds (Parts I and II)" as the best ep, though I would put "Yesterday's Enterprise" just a notch below that one.

Alias that high? Above 3 Treks and Farscape? I liked Alias, but not that much.

Deadwood at 31. Ahhh, dearly departed Deadwood. I realize there was more to Deadwood's demise than the creation of the trippy, challenging and ultimately frustrating John From Cincinnati, but I would have easily forgone that for one more season with Al Swearingen. And an average of 1,000 "fucks" per 12 episode season? That's 83 "fucks" per episode. That's fucking awesome, fuckers.

Love that Dexter made the list.

Bender on Futurama is named after Judd Nelson's character in the Breakfast Club? Cool.

Nice choice with Angel at 21. Numfar does the dance of joy. And of course, I would have it higher.

Scrubs at 19? Wha? Huh? I mean, I liked Scrubs for a while, until it became all about kids, but 19?

Best. Sitcom. Ever. Arrested Development at 18. Sweet, but it should be even higher.

South Park is still as funny today as it was when it premiered.

Heroes at 15? Has anyone watched season 2? Although I will agree with them about "Five Years Gone." I still have that ep saved on the TiVo, even after all this time.

Firefly at 14! Shiny! How do you pick a "best" episode here? "Out of Gas" is a very solid and obvious choice, though I'm also partial to the more existential "Objects in Space" (Jubal Early is a fantastic creation) and "Shindig" never fails to crack me up. And that's not even mentioning "Our Mrs. Reynolds" with the duplicitous and adorable YoSaffBridge.

Frak Yeah. BSG at 13. Too Low? So Say We All. And for my take on the best episode (and hell, ALL the episodes), check out this Very Special Edition of TNRLM's "The Canon"

Hard to argue with Seinfeld at 11, but I still put Arrested Development as the best sitcom ever, a c-hair ahead of this show and Cheers.

Now we're in the Top 10, with the X-Files at 9. Despite some hits and misses (mostly the unsatisfying wrap up and faltering under its own weight mythology), this still ranks as one of the best shows of all time. Best episode? They cite "Jose Chung," which might be worthy, but there are so many to consider, like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "Bad Blood" and many others, including "Home" (check out the Did You Know blurb at the bottom for the surprising origin of that story).

Never watched The Wire. Dunno. Just no interest.

24 at 6? I love watching Jack Bauer whoop some terrorist (or bystander) ass with the best of 'em, but as Gob Bluth would say...."Come On!"

Lost checks in at 5. Given my obsession with the show (I just received 2 "Dharma" and one "Oceanic Air" t-shirts I ordered last weekend), I can't argue with that one. Another show that's tough to pick a best episode. What about "Walkabout?" Or last season's finale, "Through The Looking Glass?" Or this season's "The Constant?"

You woke up this morning. Got yourself a gun. Mama always said you'd be the chosen one. Or at #3. "Long Term Parking" is indeed a fine episode, but "Pine Barrens" is a fucking masterpiece.

I'm fond of The Simpsons, and it certainly has had a significant cultural impact and impressive staying power. That's their choice for number 1. However, speaking of "The Chosen One," my choice for number 1 would be Empire's choice for number 2. The answer, of course, is the television masterpiece Buffy The Vampire Slayer. If you are still scared by the silly title, you're really missing out (much like I assume some folks are by Battlestar Galactica) and owe it to yourself to go buy all seven seasons on DVD right now. Trust me, you won't regret it. Or, if you like, you can do a little sampling at hulu.com. And then you'll go buy all seven seasons on DVD. I'll even get you started right now:

As for the "best" episode of Buffy? You can check out this other Very Special Edition of TNRLM's "The Canon" right here.

As you can tell, I don't have that many quibbles with the list overall, despite the omission of some "classic" series (Twilight Zone, Magnum PI, Cheers, M*A*S*H, etc.). The only "new" series I would think merits inclusion is the compelling Mad Men.

What's missing? Agree or disagree? What are the best episodes? Whatcha think, TNRLM readers?

Jack's new advertising campaign is a killer.

Great, funny piece over on TWOP that envisions how 24 would change if other prominent showrunners take the reigns of Jack Bauer's next worst day ever. Take a look at that, smile, laugh and come back.

All done? Good. Most of the obvious choices were taken, but here's TNRLM's stab at one more:

Matthew Weiner

After finding coded messages in a cigarette advertisement about building a nuclear weapon, Jack Bauer goes undercover in a swanky Madison Avenue ad agency, taking Chloe along as his "girl Friday." Playing method actor just like he did when he became addicted to drugs, detoxed and kicked the habit in 11 hours, Jack is consumed with his new identity as Ron Raper, adman extraordinaire, and tries to sever all ties to his former life as a suspect torturing, never pissing, one man killing machine. In fact, Jack is so deep undercover he doesn't notice that everyone is wearing skinny ties and that his magical cell phone that never runs out of power hasn't yet been invented. Meanwhile, office queen bee Joan takes Chloe out for a makeover that turns her boobs into conical weapons of mass destruction, and teaches her the value of not being so sullen to her supervisor and co-workers. Bonding over martinis and ass hugging skirts, Chloe lets slip that Ron isn't really who he says he is. Later, while having convenient three hour lunch sex with agency partner Roger Sterling, Joan outs Ron's identity. Roger is panicked because he intentionally created a shitty image campaign for Richard Nixon while being secretly on the payroll for the Soviets. Chloe passes Ron/Jack some secret intel on mimeograph paper, and remembering his true identity, Jack screams "Dammit!" Jack goes down to Roger's office, pours himself a glass of scotch, smokes a pack of Chesterfields, then bashes Roger's head to a bloody pulp with an IBM Selectric. For good measure, he walks down to Pete's office and asphyxiates him with the laundry bag his tailored suit came in.

Saturday Morning Entertainment Potpourri!

Rescue Me's Dammit Janet! will be appearing on Lost next year.

The talented and adorable Kristen Bell makes her first appearance on Heroes Monday. Can she use all her charm to make me give a shit about Peter and the Lucky Charms gang? Perhaps. Check out a preview of her here.

Nine reasons to Love Mad Men from TV Guide, here. I've yet to watch the season finale, though my non-spoilery web-skimming indicates that it is fantastic -- though with a controversial plot element. Hmmm. That should be interesting.

More from TV Guide: notes about the debut of the 24 Season 7 trailer. After last season's colossal misfire, I'm hoping for a strong rebound. I posted my thoughts on how to "fix" things here. Doesn't sound like they really listened to me, but I am mildly intrigued. Billy Walsh/Wally Balls? Faux Kristen Chenowith's real life girlfriend as the Prez? Tony! Left wing nutjob though still adorable Janeane Garofalo? Will she and Chloe have a pout and snark-off? Doctor Phlox? Amateur poon-ographer Brent from Dirt? I'll check it out. Here's the countdown to the trailer premiere.

One of my pet peeves is mis-quoted movies. Here is a list of the most frequently mis-quoted quotes. And another one.

And you thought people were through debating whether or not Tony Soprano is dead? Think again. Apparently, David Chase made a comment about Gerry Torciano's whacking in the restaurant in front of Silvio, and that spurred another round of detailed analysis. Fascinating stuff.

I finally watched last Friday's premiere of Women's Murder Club. It played like a combination of Sex In The City and CSI, and was a decent enough way to pass an hour while drinking beer and eating pizza. I love Angie Harmon (my favorite Law and Order ADA) and Laura Harris is a long time celebrity crush, with absolutely perfect hair. As I watched the credit unroll, I was flabbergasted by the producers: James Patterson, the former adman turned novelist, who wrote books on which the show is based. Showrunners/writers Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, former writers and story editors for Angel. Creepy daughter pimping loon Joe Simpson. Chubby Hollywood starlet-banging playa and hack director Brett Ratner. Did the latter two hatch this idea when they were sitting around Brett's hot tub talking about Jessica's tits? Just bizarre. Still, I like the cast and I'll always give a shot to any show featuring former Whedon writers.

Jack Bauer needs saving. I'm here to help.

Even the most devoted fans of 24, like myself, have to admit that Day 6 was a colossal disappointment. After all, Day 5 was almost universally acclaimed by critics, awards and fans as the "best ever." It had a solid mix of intrigue, multiple storylines, charismatic and interesting characters (besides Jack) and believable threats. But Day 6 collapsed under the weight of early promise, boring supporting characters, forgotten story threads and rehashed scenarios. Before we look at what went wrong with Day 6, and suggestions for improving Day 7, let's quickly look at some of the good from Day 6:

• Jack Bauer/Kiefer Sutherland. There's hardly a more compelling protagonist on TV than Jack Bauer. He's heroic, extraordinarily competent, conflicted, tortured and driven, and acted superbly. The stories -- as wacky and high concept as they can be -- only work if we believe in Jack, and Jack/Kiefer gets the benefit of the doubt every time.
• Bill Buchanan. Bill has been around a while now, and adds a gravitas to the proceedings usually being a glorified traffic cop and exposition provider. But he does it well.
• A try at something kinda different. You've got to give the producers credit for at least trying something different. Yes, we had lots of reheated terrorist shenanigans and tired scenarios, but the producers wanted to give us, and Jack, something a little out of the ordinary to play here and they offered us "The Bauer Family Reunion." In the end, it was a jumbled debacle (despite being cast with top notch actors) but at least they tried, right? Also, once they realized the plot was flagging and the audience carping, they wrapped up the initial threat early and changed gears, albeit not that compellingly. Give the producers and writers credit: they realized the problems just as we the viewers did and responded honestly and forthrightly.
  
• Action. 24 never fails to disappoint in the action category. And Jack killed more people than last year, (and beat Day 4's record of 44, too), at least according to this wonderful site. Plus, we had the "vampire bite" and "hanging Fayed by a chain" kills, and Doyle's "damn, Jack" response to the one man carnage. The shoot outs were solid, the "fake van terrorist rescue" was a nice twist, and the final explosions on the oil rig were feature film quality.
• Tom Lennox/Peter MacNicol. MacNicol's jittery presidential aide switched positions more times than Mitt Romney, but his self preservation and continued belief in "doing the right thing" made him one of the few compelling characters recently added.

Okay, so there a few things to keep us watching. But the problems were far greater:

• Recycled plot points. I know when you're doing a story about CTU, presidential intrigue and terrorists, there are only so many clubs in the bag. But the recycling and rehashing hit new lows this year, and it was just tough to care or be interested. We don't want to see anymore of: CTU invasions. CTU moles. Presidential pardons faxed at the last minute. Machiavellian White House power grabs. Presidential "bunkers." Assassination attempts.
• I loved DB Woodside on Buffy. But Wayne Palmer was no "RFK" to David Palmer's "JFK." I appreciate the fact that they tried to show his fallibility and living in his brother's shadow, but the in and out of coma stuff was just too over the top and silly.
• Wolverine-like healing power. I know 24 takes liberties with their hour to hour concept, but having folks recover from gunshot wounds and drill bits to the shoulder over the course of a couple of hours? Jesus.
• CTU has become predictable and boring. Everything that could possibly happen there has already happened. Coups. Moles. Tech shutdown. "Holes" in the satellite coverage. Tech omnipotence one minute, tech incompetence the next.
• Dumb escapes. How many times in 6 days has it looked like they have "the perimeter" set up, only to find the villain miraculously escape? They've even stopped giving excuses for how it happens. Enough.
• Dropped plot points and no follow through. What the fuck happened with former President Logan? And Martha? And Agent Aaron? We get one scene (with a fruit knife, for god's sake!) and then nothing? Not even a throwaway line?
• Dumb "love" triangles. Chloe, Milo and Morris? Doyle, Nadia and Milo? Jack, Graem and Marilyn? Lisa Miller, VP/President Daniels and "Daniel Jackson?" You're kidding, right?
• No interesting new characters (outside of Tom Lennox). Nadia, who was hot, but utterly boring. Doyle, who was okay, but not enough to latch onto. Palmer's shrieking sister and Wallid? Ugh. Papa Bauer, with ridiculous motivations? (All he wants is the grandson he threatened to shoot a couple of hours earlier?) And don't even get me started on the world's worst guest star, Eric Balfour, as Milo. About the only time I cheered all season was when he took one to the forehead.
• Complete misuse of Chloe. Other than Jack, Chloe is definitely the most interesting 24 character. And this year they stuck her in the torpid melodrama with Morris and Milo, and gave her virtually NO snark. Chloe with no snark is like Jack without a 9mm. And then the fucking "pregnancy" thing? Dear lord, don't they realize that kids kill shows? Hopefully, this will all be a "false alarm" for next year or something, but I don't want any fucking babies on 24.
• Charmless and inconsistent villains. The only one who seemed to have any depth or fun was ST:DS9/Kingdom of Heaven's Alexander Siddig, and he turned out to be a good guy. And dead.

The thing is, there's an immense reservoir of goodwill built up for the character of Jack and the show as a whole. And the producers of 24 face a completely different challenge than most shows. On a typical show, if you have a bad episode or bad series of episodes or even a bad "arc," you can recalibrate and get on to the next thing later in the season. However, locked into the "one bad day" format, if 24 starts to go off the rails, then it's almost impossible to get it "righted" in the same season. Being a forgiving TV nation, we're willing to give 24 a "mulligan" on this season, and the fact that they've owned up to this season's shortcomings (just one short year after snagging Emmy gold) says a lot about the courage of the producers and their unwritten "contract" with their audience (unlike, say, Sorkin, who continued to shove the same crap down our throats -- with pseudo intellectual contempt, no less -- when it was abundantly clear audiences and critics weren't responding). They promise a different and more entertaining Day 7, and given their track record, I'm definitely going to give them, and Jack Bauer, of course, another chance to stay on my TiVo.

One fan's humble suggestions for Day 7:

1. Move out of LA. It's hard to believe so much has happened there. The setting is tired. Go someplace else.
2. Lose CTU as the primary "nerve center." It's played out. The dichotomy between their skill and incompetence has strained belief. We've done all we can there.
3. Have Jack work for a new, shadowy organization. Really, after all Jack has been through, having him work for the government is too much. Why would it not be plausible to have some extraordinarily wealthy, connected right wing patriot assemble his own team to "right wrongs" and combat terrorism? You could still have all the technological spy toys, except that they would be privately funded. It would make for interesting political debate, too, with all the action taking place "outside the law" but for the "right" reasons. And give us a perfectly good excuse to introduce new, interesting characters not constrained by the politics and precedents previously set up. Plus, with somewhat limited manpower resources, we wouldn't have to suffer though all the bullshit about the "perimeter being secure" with armed forces and FBI and local police, only to have the bad guy miraculously sneak through. In addition, it would "up the ante" with regard to conflict. Not only would Bauer and company have to be facing nefarious terrorist threats, they would also have to work around the government.
4. Bring Chloe into this new organization. But WITHOUT A CHILD. Give her her backbone and wit back. Have her still run point for Jack, and talk about "satellites" and "traces" and "sockets" and whatnot, but without worrying about a long and boring chain of command.
5. Here's one of the biggest things for me. Inject some humor. I'm not talking about making 24 into The Office. But plenty of shows (most notably, Angel, Firefly and Lost) take dark, grim circumstances and leaven them with occasional doses of well-placed wit, fun and smart-assery. Plenty of writers on the 24 staff have shown their skill in this area.
6. Limit the White House stuff. We've done pretty much all we can here. If things follow my lead, then there's no need for endless "bunker" or "Oval Office" discussions. Yes, you can still have some "palace intrigue" if you choose to, with the government wondering what the hell to do about Jack's effective new organization and the political fallout of it. But we wouldn't be tied intrinsically to it.
7. Add interesting new characters and actors. If we get out of the trappings of government service, the opportunities for charming rogues and misfits expand exponentially. They could come from any variety of backgrounds and countries, and have colorful backstories. You're telling me that Eric Fucking Balfour is the best 24 can do? There are a number of charismatic actors out there with a good following (that would generate some nice blog/geek/web buzz and discussion, too) that would make excellent additions. Just off the top of my head: Nathan Fillion. Alexis Denisoff. Connor Trinneer. Carla Gugino. Christian Kane. Adam Baldwin. Caroline Dhavernas. Amy Acker. David Anders. Ben Browder. Johnathon Woodward. Jolene Blaylock. Scott Patterson. Peta Wilson. Nicole Sullivan. Michael Imperioli. Victor Garber. Steven Weber. Billie Piper. Claudia Black. Kristen Bell. They could be analysts. Former government agents. Ex military. Spies. All part of a "rogue team" of anti-terrorists, brought together because of their bitterness and disillusionment with always going through the "proper channels." Or because they go to the highest bidder. Or because of personal vengeance. Getting out of the "government proper" creates a broader sandbox in which to play. Also, this season anytime we took the story away from Jack (which was far too often) no one cared -- especially with Chloe neutered. But who wouldn't mind taking time away from Jack to watch Veronica Mars and Captain Tightpants kick a little ass?
8. Also, don't be afraid to introduce a great character and threaten them. We all KNOW Jack isn't going to die. But if we introduce SEVERAL good, well written and well acted characters, and threaten and/or kill them, we're invested.
9. Set up multiple "threats" in the beginning. Don't just make it about "stop the nukes." If you have a singularity of purpose, and that storyline falters or doesn't capture the imagination of the viewers, then you can't move on to others without shoehorning it in at the last moment. There's no need to keep "upping the ante" with the significance of the threat, either (we've done nukes. Where to do from there? It's not the "size" of the threat that keeps us watching). It's compelling stories, action and characters.
10. Use "string theory" to plan most of the season. We're all familiar with the genre trope of "string theory" and the idea that there are multiple universes with multiple outcomes, each hinging on a potential action or reaction. Get a huge frakkin' whiteboard and plot out all the possible options for what could happen in the beginning. The producers admittedly went "by the seat of their pants" too much this year writing stories and plotting. Give some thought to it in the beginning, and plan for several interesting outcomes.
11. Give us fascinating villains. If we take things out of the realm of "state vs. state," they don't have do be either boring politicians or single minded unnamed middle eastern country zealots. Hell, this could even open the door for Charles Logan to return, if he survived his sporking.

Whatcha think? Who else has ideas for breathing some life into this great show?

Mini-Musings

Busy this week, but I'll share some abbreviated thoughts as the days pass.

American Idol
No long recap here. Jordin wins.
She did Xtina's "Fighter" well enough, went back to the well with "Broken Wing" and sang the hell out the sappy "coronation" song.
Blake reprised his showstopping Bon Jovi tune, but it lacked suspense the second time around (but was still surprisingly entertaining). Then he did the Maroon 5 song I was so thankful he ignored last week (lame) and had no chance on the sappy coronation song -- it just wasn't designed for him. Question: why didn't they let him completely re-arrange it? Put down an uptempo synth beat and do something different? The producers, judges and everyone knows that head to head on pablum like that, Jordin will mop the floor with Blake 100 times out of 100. It might have been a huge trainwreck (and a slap in the face to the songwriters who won the contest -- but no more than the slap in the face this song in its utter insipid sameness did to viewers) but at least it would have been different and daring.
Daughtry rocked, but needs to lay off the eyeliner.

Veronica Mars
Two solid eps for the swan song, filled with snark, great performances and not a lot of closure. Even this year, where the storytelling and quality was more hit and miss than the first two seasons, Veronica remained one of the best shows on TV and it's a downright pitiful shame that it was cast aside for whoring sea donkeys.

Lost
I can't even convey how excited I am for the finale tonight, the first Lost finale I've approached spoiler free.

24
Finally, it's over. Despite Kiefer's heroic efforts and fantastic performance, this was the worst season of 24 ever. In the next week or so, I'll post a list of problems with this year and potential "fixes."

Heroes
Again, more coming later when I'm not swamped, but the finale was a huge letdown in terms of squandered comic book potential.

NBA Lottery
Only the Hawks could screw the pooch like this. They had to get in the top 3 to keep their pick and not give it to Phoenix. And this is a draft with TWO transcendent, franchise-making talents. So where do they wind up? Third. Par for the fucking course.

CSI Finale
Loved the insight into the Miniature Killer, and the creepy performance from the actress who portrayed her. I can't stand Jorja Fox nor her character Sara Sidle, so I hope she stays trapped and dead beneath a car while she tries once again unsuccessfully (and undeservedly) to renegotiate her contract.

The Office
I just started watching the last few weeks of this season. I can't believe I missed this the first go 'round, but this show is incredible (if a wee bit uncomfortable). Catching up on DVDs now.

New TV Season
I'll have my usual "new show picks" later this summer in a full season preview, but the leaders in the clubhouse now appear to be Reaper, Pushing Daisies and Bionic Woman. For those who read my old myspace blog, my picks for this year were Dexter, Shark, Heroes, Studio 60, Smith and The Nine. Guess I hit .500 in terms of them sticking around. Of those remaining, Heroes is great pulp entertainment with occasionally stellar acting and vision, Shark is scenery-chewing entertainment and a decent way to pass an hour, and Dexter approaches Battlestar Galactica for the title of Best Show on TV.

Whodat?

On Monday's Heroes, Ellen Greene was Sylar's mom. She's a Broadway vet, and probably most recognized as Audrey from the big screen Little Shop of Horrors. John Badham, of Wargames and Saturday Night Fever fame, was the director of the episode.

Michael Shanks, Dr. Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1, has been the spy collaborating with the Russians and banging the VP's girlfriend on recent eps of 24.

On last Tuesday's House, Shonda Farr played the chick in for a breast exam when Wilson was hysterically freaked out on uppers House had dosed his coffee with. I recognize her most as April, the fuckbot Warren built in Buffy's "I Was Made to Love You." Coyote Ugly's Piper Perabo was the vegan House is attempting to get jiggy with.

On last week's wacky CSI (and really, hasn't this been the best season of this show?) about alien conspiracy nuts, Ally Sheedy (Breakfast Club!) was "true believer" who bit Greg and beheaded the "serpent queen." Enrico Colantoni (Papa Mars, Galaxy Quest and Just Shoot Me) was the sleazy perp. Julie Hagerty (Airplane!) was his con victim who really, really wanted to believe the serpentine aliens were here on earth, who needed to be beheaded (Paris Hilton's head is still attached, so no "mission accomplished").

On Tuesday's superb return to form for Veronica Mars (why didn't they come back from hiatus with this ep, instead of the PSA about tolerance?), Paul Rudd was the snarkalicious former rock star, Desmond Fellows. Paul, of course, you would recognize from Clueless, Friends and all the Apatow comedies. Also on VM that night was Suzanne Cryer as the Chinese teacher who had a thing for Desmond. I've had a crush on her since she was Ashley on Two Guys and a Girl, and most recently she popped up on Desperate Housewives.

On last night's Bones, Emily Deschanel's father, noted cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, was the ep's director.

Whodat

On last week's Lost, there was yet another former denizen of Deadwood popping up. Cleo King, who played Aunt Lou, was the cubicle dweller denying Locke's psychiatric benefits. She's in addition to Joannie, Trixie and Calamity Jane, who also appeared in previous episodes of Lost.

On Sunday's Dresden Files, the always wonderful Claudia Black was sporting an American accent as Liz Fontaine, the "other dick" who helped Harry solve the case. Claudia is best known as Aeryn Sun from Farscape, and Vala Mal Doran on Stargate SG-1. Also, the incubus was played by Chris Owens, The X-Files Agent Jeffrey Spender.

Speaking of Stargate SG-1, one of Samantha Cartner's now dead beaus (Black Widow!), Martouf, played by JR Bourne, showed up briefly on 24 last night as the agent who ratted out hardcore Ricky Schroeder (remember Martouf, Peyton Manning kills snitches).

Today's Guilt

Just what it sounds like. Things I feel guilty about today.

1. I really like UT basketball coach Bruce Pearl. Of course it's in my DNA to hate all things UT, and generally they make it easy with their pompous, backwoods and borderline illiterate football coach, mind-numbing "Rocky Top" song, checkerboard end zone, toothless inbred fans and school colors that look like the result of feeding a digestively challenged toddler too many strained carrots. But for some reason, I like Pearl. He led a small school to the dance previously, is about as charismatic as they come (today's appearance on PTI was another example of his wit and enthusiasm), produces results on the court, and of course there's his compelling train wreck of displaying school spirit by showing up shirtless and body painted for a Lady Vols game. Dammit. I hate this.
2. After starting off with an exhilarating 4 hours, this season of 24 has degenerated into a boring mess. Yes, there's always a lull in the middle hours. Yes, they still have one of the all time great TV characters and total badasses in Jack Bauer. Yes, Chloe is still endearingly annoying (kissing Morris for a "breath test" last night; telling former President Logan last week "Sorry, I'm feeling ambivalent. I'm going to go.") But the plots (after nuke detonation to begin the season) feel stale. I loved DB Woodside on Buffy, and even as the junior Palmer in previous seasons when we was just that -- a junior Palmer. But as president, he just doesn't have the gravitas to carry it off. Even the scenery chewing of Powers Boothe leaves the Oval Office feeling empty. I hate Milo (Eric Balfour), and the detour into the fucked up Bauer family was nothing but a semi-entertaining distraction (dry cleaning bags on the head are fun. James Cromwell's a hell of an actor, and Rena Sofer is hot. But still). Like I typically do, I'll continue to Tivo it and see if it picks up,(and I'm surprised it hasn't with all the talent available both behind and in front of the screen) but must-watch-TV had become I'll-get-around-to-it-later-especially-if-Heroes-is-on-TV.
3. I have a hankering for a huge plate of chili cheese fries. Not only are they a messy pain in the ass to make, and I'm a creature of limited willpower, but I've heard they're really not good for you.

Kim Bauer could have used a pen

Evidently, writing implements are critical in battle against wayward cougars.

Would Jack Bauer be more believable invisible?

Last night, I watched the joy ride that is the Monday "double feature" of 24 and Heroes. With the Tivo dual tuner set up, you could switch back and forth and avoid commercials entirely. However, doing this causes some serious disruption to the time/space continuum of both shows. I found myself trying to impose the "real time" format to Heroes occasionally. For example, how did Matt get to the airport in 2 minutes? How did Claire get to the trailer park in 5 minutes? Slightly confusing, but then I realized that 24, within its own "real time" constraints also has some leaps of credulity. Okay, it's not like this is exactly news, but still:

Helicopters fly across just nuked LA in one minute?
Morris recovers from being drilled in just a few minutes, and can then go back to work? That CTU medical staff can work wonders!
How about Milo uploading the entire contents of a laptop in 10 minutes? And in those same 10 minutes, analyzing the whole laptop and then finding a "fragment" of a message from a crazy Russian nationalist? Who has ever tried to find an old message in Outlook on your own PC? If you're looking for a message that you wrote, on your own (non-damaged) PC, that probably wasn't in Arabic nor encoded, didn't it take you more than 10 minutes? And that's assuming that there's some superpowered "remote" data pipeline in the safe house apartments or one of those remarkable CTU vans that allows you to instantly upload an entire laptop? Doesn't downloading a "patch" for Windows take half the fucking day, even on DSL?

That said, 24 was very entertaining last night. Keifer's scenes reacting to the death of his brother were outstanding. Tom's freak out before (almost) resigning and Bauer dad's chilling threats were also among the highlights. And I don't care that she almost got Jack blown up to save her (and possibly Jack's?) son, Rena Sofer is gorgeous. Beautiful eyes. I know she's a notorious "show killer" (and when she was paired with Eric Balfour, I was expecting Fox to break into the show and just cancel it on the spot), but hopefully after this and her recurring stint on Heroes as Nathan's wife, she'll be around for a while and creep further up my Top 10 list.

I'm also beginning to think that the CTU tactical teams should go ahead and just start wearing "red shirts."

Speaking of Trek, there were several (more) Trekkian moments on Heroes, too. Hiro's vulcan salute and "I come in peace!" "Thanks for the help, Sulu!" before punching out poor Hiro. And last night's ep was directed by B'lanna Torres (Voyager's Roxann Dawson).

Last night was also about the first time I think I liked Matt and the skank Niki.

Though we didn't "see" the invisible man last night, while I was wondering about leaps of faith in the 24 timeline I also considered exactly how Claude's powers of invisibility work. He can turn invisible, but also turn his clothes invisible? And anything he touches (pretzels, purses, etc.) also turns invisible? For how long? What about when he puts it down? Then why doesn't the lampost or table or door or anything he touches turn invisible, too? Or does he simply "think about" the specific things that are supposed to be invisible? Does he have to continue to think about the pretzel after he eats it while it's digesting? How exactly does this work? And then Peter, who can absorb powers, turns invisible when he touches Claude? And can stay invisible when he's in "close proximity" to Claude? After all, he "flew" after being around Nathan and read minds when being around Matt. How long do his "absorbed" powers last? After all, he healed long after Claire left when he got his ass kicked by Sylar. But when Claude was "testing him" last week during the purse snatching, he instantly reappeared and became visible the second Claude pushed him aside. Okay, I know. It's a TV show. Just go with the flow. But does anyone else worry about this stuff?

Whodat? from Heroes, in addition to the B'lanna directing credit:

The shady chick manipulating poor Hiro and Ando was Missy Pyle. Known for (among other things) being the alien chick that falls for Tony Shaloub in the underrated Galaxy Quest, Alexandra in Josie & they Pussycats (the band "Du Jour" still cracks me up) and the East German chick in Dodgeball.
Hotel guy (who turns out to be a federal agent) was Bill Fagerbakke -- Dauber in Coach and Tom Cullen (M - o - o - n!) in The Stand.