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WONDERFALLS!! KING'S KINGDOM!! PRACTICE_II_&_III!! LAW & ORDER IV!! CSI III!! JOEY!! Strong Box!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
A little housecleaning and a lot of old news for those who might have missed it:
* WHERE’S WONDERFALLS? “Wonderfalls,” the best new show of the season and a pretty strong candidate for the best show of any kind currently cranking out new episodes, airs a new episode 9 p.m. Thursday. That’s THURS-day. If you tune in 9 p.m. Friday (the show’s regular timeslot), you will discover only the mammothly dull reality dumpling “Forever Eden.” So don’t screw this up. A rerun of the “Wonderfalls” on March 18 brought the series its best ratings yet, so Fox execs may be hoping for big things. Here’s the bad news. NBC blockbuster “The Apprentice” was a “recap” episode (there was no new firing) on March 18. The new episode airing this week will whittle the contestants from five to four. If the programming geniuses at Fox really want to do themselves a favor, they’ll move “Wonderfalls” to Tuesdays at 9 p.m. (after “American Idol”) and let established hit “24” prop up “Fox Friday” for a while.
* KINGDOM SACKED? “Wonderfalls” isn’t the only series having to compete with a new installment of “The Apprentice” this week. “Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital,” despite a respectably rated debut, is apparently doing so poorly ABC is shuffling it, too, to 9 p.m. Thursdays, beginning this week.
* FOR THE PEOPLE, STAR TREK, BARBARY COAST, T.J. HOOKER, TEKWAR AND … William Shatner’s latest TV series will be “The Pratice II,” or whatever ABC decides to call David E. Kelley’s “Practice” spinoff. Shatner’s co-stars are expected to include current “Practice” players James Spader, Rhona Mitra and Jessica Capshaw, as well as skinny young actresses named Lake Bell and Faye Masterson. (This is not Shatner’s first time playing a lawyer on a regular basis; almost 40 years ago he played a hard-driving assistant district attorney in 13 episodes of CBS’ “For the People.”) Camryn Manheim is not expected to be a regular part of the “Practice” spinoff, but ABC and Kelley are reportedly developing a second spinoff, a midseason half-hour sitcom that would revolve around Manheim’s Eleanor Frutt character.
* DE MATTEO DOING? Drea De Matteo, who essays Christophah’s girl Adriana on “The Sopranos,” will play Joey’s sister, Gina Trebbiani, on the “Friends” spinoff likely to take over the “Friends” timeslot come autumn. (Note please that Marla Sokoloff played Joey’s sister Dina Trebbiani two seasons ago.) No one expects the new show to interfere with De Matteo’s ability to appear the sixth and final season of “Sopranos.” Pundits predict “Joey” could be bigger than “AfterMASH.”
* LAW & ORBACH? Jerry Orbach, now in his 12th year of playing the detective who likes to make fun of victims’ lifestyles on “Law & Order,” is rumored to be leaving that show to star in a fourth “L&O” franchise. In other spinoff news, Gary Sinise’s “CSI: New York” co-stars are now expected to include Melina Kankaredes (“Providence”), Carmine Giovinazzo (“Shasta McNasty”) and the dreamy Vanessa Ferlito (“25th Hour”).
* KINGDOM SACKED? “Wonderfalls” isn’t the only series having to compete with a new installment of “The Apprentice” this week. “Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital,” despite a respectably rated debut, is apparently doing so poorly ABC is shuffling it, too, to 9 p.m. Thursdays, beginning this week.
* FOR THE PEOPLE, STAR TREK, BARBARY COAST, T.J. HOOKER, TEKWAR AND … William Shatner’s latest TV series will be “The Pratice II,” or whatever ABC decides to call David E. Kelley’s “Practice” spinoff. Shatner’s co-stars are expected to include current “Practice” players James Spader, Rhona Mitra and Jessica Capshaw, as well as skinny young actresses named Lake Bell and Faye Masterson. (This is not Shatner’s first time playing a lawyer on a regular basis; almost 40 years ago he played a hard-driving assistant district attorney in 13 episodes of CBS’ “For the People.”) Camryn Manheim is not expected to be a regular part of the “Practice” spinoff, but ABC and Kelley are reportedly developing a second spinoff, a midseason half-hour sitcom that would revolve around Manheim’s Eleanor Frutt character.
* DE MATTEO DOING? Drea De Matteo, who essays Christophah’s girl Adriana on “The Sopranos,” will play Joey’s sister, Gina Trebbiani, on the “Friends” spinoff likely to take over the “Friends” timeslot come autumn. (Note please that Marla Sokoloff played Joey’s sister Dina Trebbiani two seasons ago.) No one expects the new show to interfere with De Matteo’s ability to appear the sixth and final season of “Sopranos.” Pundits predict “Joey” could be bigger than “AfterMASH.”
* LAW & ORBACH? Jerry Orbach, now in his 12th year of playing the detective who likes to make fun of victims’ lifestyles on “Law & Order,” is rumored to be leaving that show to star in a fourth “L&O” franchise. In other spinoff news, Gary Sinise’s “CSI: New York” co-stars are now expected to include Melina Kankaredes (“Providence”), Carmine Giovinazzo (“Shasta McNasty”) and the dreamy Vanessa Ferlito (“25th Hour”).
* DE MATTEO DOING? Drea De Matteo, who essays Christophah’s girl Adriana on “The Sopranos,” will play Joey’s sister, Gina Trebbiani, on the “Friends” spinoff likely to take over the “Friends” timeslot come autumn. (Note please that Marla Sokoloff played Joey’s sister Dina Trebbiani two seasons ago.) No one expects the new show to interfere with De Matteo’s ability to appear the sixth and final season of “Sopranos.” Pundits predict “Joey” could be bigger than “AfterMASH.”
* LAW & ORBACH? Jerry Orbach, now in his 12th year of playing the detective who likes to make fun of victims’ lifestyles on “Law & Order,” is rumored to be leaving that show to star in a fourth “L&O” franchise. In other spinoff news, Gary Sinise’s “CSI: New York” co-stars are now expected to include Melina Kankaredes (“Providence”), Carmine Giovinazzo (“Shasta McNasty”) and the dreamy Vanessa Ferlito (“25th Hour”).
Watch “Wonderfalls”!! Herc says it’s the season’s best new show!! 9 p.m. Thursdays!! Fox!!
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Why no alias news/reviews/posts all of the sudden??
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Could somebody please confirm this for me-- the last time there was a cross-format character was Lou Grant, segueing from 30-minute sitcom character to 60-minute drama lead. I'm not really counting Trapper John MD, because it wasn't Wayne Rogers spinning off-- and they say it's based on the Elliot Gould character from the movie anyway.
Oh, and who's gonna tune in to a Camryn Manheim sitcom? Will there be guest appearances by characters from Ally McBeal, The Practice (hey, there's Dylan McDermott!), Boston Public, or Gideon's Crossing (you heard me)? Eleanor had lots of friends on many series for a little while.
She should be neighbors with Joey Tribbiani. Blow our minds, people. You can do it.
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There are show all better than Wonderfalls, 1)Sopranos 2)Angel 3)The Shield 4)24 5)Alias, yet we continue to have to see posts for it. Why don't you put a little of this energy into saving Angel or posting about something else. I understand posting about it's timeslot being changed, but it seems like there is a Wonderfalls post just about every other day.
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"Wonderfalls. What can be said about your show that hasn't already been said about Afganistan. It is bombed out and depleted."
Give it up Herc. -
Mar 30, 2004 8:43:24 AM CST
CBS and NBC should just rename their networks "CSI" and "L&O", r
by prof. pop-cult
Damn. How many more hours of CSI and L&O can one watch? I'm surprised they haven't done this yet with E.R. (E.R. L.A., E.R. NYC, etc.)
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All of you whiners can just ignore them if you don't like the show.
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Geez, this site should be called "Aint-it-Cool-Stuff-People-Learned-Long-Before-They-Read-It-Here."
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Mar 30, 2004 9:36:40 AM CST
I, for one, would never have watched Wonderfalls if it wasn't fo
by col. klink
I would have missed the best new show on TV if I hadn't read Herc's review. Thank you, Herc.
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Didn't Jerry Orbach put Baby in the corner?
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Don;t know if you would count this but the hour drama show Tattingers tanked so badly they then spun it off into a 1/2 hour sitcom (Nick and Nora)that tanked even worse
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Should include the tagline "When she sits around the house, she sits around the house." I'll be here all week. Be srue to tip your wait staff.
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Spader's been the best part of "The Practice" this year. Kinda unfair to the other actors, except Manheim and Harris, really, and to a lesser extent Capshaw, though she hasn't had much to do for several episodes, but the season as a whole has been far more entertaining than the last two. Oy. So this Ellenor spinoff, would it be about a single mom workin as a lawyer? Does she still even HAVE the kid? Been kinda absent from the show lately. Back to the spinoff, these last couple with Shatner have been just pure bizarre Kelley. Seeing Spader's already-quirky character react to Shatner's looney "Denny Crane"... priceless. Sunday's episode, where Young & Frutt & Berluti met to discuss settling with Shore & Crane was priceless... Crane, standing up the whole time, just kept randomly saying his name throughout the conversation, and seeing the reactions of Alan, Eugene & Jimmy was hilarious. I don't know if they can make it last, it'd take it more to an Ally McBeal level with two oddball lawyers and a couple hot lady lawyers, but I'll tune in. Oh yeah, bring back the Alias talkbacks! Another heartbreaking ending for Sydney, but no "holy shit!" final moment like last week's "Not if I see you first, love". Finding out Lauren's mom was Covenant, and framing her dad as the Covenant co-director, were the big reveals I guess. Question is, does badass Jack Bristow really believe the story?
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Friends really went down the tubes when Chandler and Monica got married. I wish sitcoms would just stay the same like Seinfeld. -
Mar 30, 2004 1:12:12 PM CST
They should've done a post-breakup Beatles-type thing and given,
by pardon_my_zinger
... And while I know it's customary to give spin-offs simple titles, i.e. just the name of the character ("Gomer Pyle," "Benson," "Frasier," etc.) I'm surprised the resisted the temptation to title Joey's show "How You Doin'?"
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Yeah, the most obvious one would be "Lou Grant" (hour-long drama) spun-off from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (half-hour sitcom). I agree that we can't really count "M*A*S*H*"/"Trapper John MD" as part of that; not so much because a different actor played the role as that both those shows actually split the difference between comedy and drama. Well, I suppose we COULD count that "The Honeymooners" was originally an ongoing sketch on a sketch-comedy show, the two-hour "Jackie Gleason Show"; in the same way that the half-hour sitcom "Mama's Family" was based on a recurring character which Vicki Lawrence did on the sketch-comedy "Carol Burnett Show" (you know, you'd think that after nearly THIRTY YEARS, they'd try ONE recurring "Saturday Night Live" character on their own half-hour sitcom). Beyond that... well, if you want to count that the entire cast of characters on the half-hour sitcom "The Brady Bunch" were first spun off into a musical variety show ("The Brady Bunch Hour") and then an hour-long comedy-drama ("The Bradys") And if we're stretching, we could count the many, many live action shows which were adapted into cartoons, many featuring the voices of the original actors ("Happy Days," the original "Star Trek," the aforemntioned "Brady Bunch," "Gilligan's Island" [twice], "Lavern & Shirley," "Mork & Mindy," "Emergency," etc.) But I can't think of any other sitcom-to-drama (or vice versa) situations.
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K.J. Steinberg played Gina Tribianni originally in the Friends episode The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister.
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I really hope "Wonderfalls" pulls better ratings in the Thursday timeslot, but I don't understand why FOX doesn't move it to Mondays at 9. FOX seems to like "Wonderfalls", they run ads for it during every other one of their shows, so why stick in a slot against ratings juggernauts like "The Apprentice" and "CSI"?
There is nothing on Monday nights. It's toughest competition would be NBC's "Las Vegas" and CBS's "comedy" block. And this past Monday night FOX was running an hour of reruns of "That 70s Show" in the 9 PM timeslot, so it's not like any giant FOX hit normally resides there.
And Herc, moving "24" to Fridays would be insane. While this season of "24" has been less than great, I still don't want to see it die a slow death on Friday nights. Friday nights are for crappy reality shows, unfunny family-friendly sitcoms, and generic dramas that specialize in stand-alone episodes. "24" is way too continuity based to survive on Friday nights. -
Never watched a CSI until near the end of season three. Haven't missed the original since - but have never watched a single CSI:Miami....and don't plan on doing so. Looking forward to CSI:NY though.
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It's going to Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, not Fox. I heard Fox may air the new episodes too, though.
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I don't know why, but that post about Baby made me laugh out loud! Maybe because it was on this weekend and my husband picked on me so much for watching the last 30 minutes...
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Mar 30, 2004 5:57:03 PM CST
Stop bashing Wonderfalls, Herc likes it, he's a site poster and
by stalking_goat
really its that simple bitches. So lets get back to whining about something else like Howard Stern or the fact that 90% of TV land is reality shows and spinoff hell.
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Mar 30, 2004 6:02:10 PM CST
"Gomer Pyle" wasn't he the recruit that went nuts and blasted R
by stalking_goat
when was this? and was it full of machine gun lovin?
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WONDERFALLS trod very shaky ground last week, dealing with a Catholic nun and priest. Future episodes need to deal with the gal's obvious schizophrenia and her failure to understand she is mentally ill. Doing good deeds every week could get to be monotonous very quickly. That's what the Hulk did for four or five years. That's what the Pretender did for a season or two. That's what the short-lived David Morse show did. That's what the Equalizer did for a couple of seasons. Enough is enough. Stil, it is the only watchable show on TV right now -- other than LAW & ORDER and to some lesser degree, WILL & GRACE.
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Or go to tvtome.com and join forum for the show you like. Like there is not enough forums on the web?
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sorry, gotta watch my apprentice. I'll most likely check it out when Donald is done the "Ultimate Job Interview"... maybe not, though. All the pimping for the show on the site is kind of giving me a headache and I don't wanna tune in just because I'm being annoyed to death to watch the damn show.
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Mar 30, 2004 8:05:56 PM CST
Sorry, but ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT is the best new show on TV.
by cornstalkwalker
And, yes I did watch the late Karen Sysco and Wonderfalls, both of which i did enjoy. But, Arrested Development seems to come off like a show that has been on for 2 or 3 years, not like a 1st seasoner. Not sure why the only people who talk about this show on this website are the talk backers, but the show is great anyhow.
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The Kingdom Hospital move was obviously a throw to the dogs. CSI and the Apprentice will trounce it harder than Law & Order ever could.
I've withheld any comments about Wonderfalls until I'd seen a few episodes. I will admit that this last episode was pretty darn good. The characters were much much easier to relate to and it was just goofy fun. The previous ones just felt a little too precocious and snooty. It would work a lot better as a half hour, though. Get in, get out, get on with the funny. In general, comedies just don't work in the hour long format. As much as I love Curb Your Enthusiasm, even I have to admit that the season final was too long at an hour.
I have to admit, though, I'd rather watch CSI than either Wonderfalls or Kingdom Hospital. -
Holly Golighty:
I agree 100%. 'Alias' deserves a talkback. Near the end of the 3rd season, it still rocks, and a little discussion would help with the complex storylines. -
Spader saved the Practice!
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Mar 31, 2004 2:15:15 AM CST
Wonderfalls == Joan of Arcadia.... David E. Kelly == BORING dayt
by doghouse
Arested Development is the best new tv show.
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Since they've established that the Practice and Ally McBeal take place in the same fictional universe, they need to get Robert Downey Jr. on the Practice spinoff to get the two back together again. Maybe Spader's character could help his old bud out with substance abuse again or something. Hell, maybe they could have Jack Bauer cameo at the Betty Ford clinic and we'd have the makings of a Brat Pack reunion.
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We need an Alias talkback just so we can try to figure out where the heck Lauren got her English accent. I'd always assumed her mom was English, but Sunday's episode just blows that theory away. Other than the fact that English accents are inherently evil, why does she even have one? It has been bothering me ever since Sunday.
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I type this as tonight's episode is playing. There are several problems with the show:
1. strange tonal shifts and musical interludes
2. pacing is WAY to slow
3. Abrupt editing and too many characters
4. Very weird characters
Now, I love King. I read everything by him and have liked some of the ABC minis in the past. "Storm of the Century" is still a fun movie on DVD. But ABC intercuts with 7 minutes of commercials every 10 minutes and it is impossible to keep track of what is happening on the show.
It's too slow to be the next "Twin Peaks" and too damn strange to be an effective horror movie. So it's left being odd. And oddness stretched over 13 hours is to much. I'm sure it will all tie together, but maybe uncut on HBO it would have been better. But that may not have even been able to save it.
"Arrested Development" is the best and funniest new show of the season. Now if people would turn off garbage like American Idol, and the other reality crap, maybe it could survive. -
Isn't Wonder Falls just a tired copy of Joan of Arcadia? Guess I'll just have to watch the Antiques Road show and shut the hell up....
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If I hear there is going to be another god damn Law and Order or CSI show I am going to puke. Geez. Cant they come up with anything new? The sad thing is, people watch this stuff and let stuff like Wonderfalls and Arrested Development go unwatched.It seems like thats all we get these days Reality shit and L&O and CSI. How long till the combine the two?
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